A generalized mechanistic codon model.

Models of codon evolution have attracted particular interest because of their unique capabilities to detect selection forces and their high fit when applied to sequence evolution. We described here a novel approach for modeling codon evolution, which is based on Kronecker product of matrices. The 61 × 61 codon substitution rate matrix is created using Kronecker product of three 4 × 4 nucleotide substitution matrices, the equilibrium frequency of codons, and the selection rate parameter. The entities of the nucleotide substitution matrices and selection rate are considered as parameters of the model, which are optimized by maximum likelihood. Our fully mechanistic model allows the instantaneous substitution matrix between codons to be fully estimated with only 19 parameters instead of 3,721, by using the biological interdependence existing between positions within codons. We illustrate the properties of our models using computer simulations and assessed its relevance by comparing the AICc measures of our model and other models of codon evolution on simulations and a large range of empirical data sets. We show that our model fits most biological data better compared with the current codon models. Furthermore, the parameters in our model can be interpreted in a similar way as the exchangeability rates found in empirical codon models

Muonium-antimuonium conversion in models with heavy neutrinos

We study muonium-antimuonium conversion and mu+ e- to mu- e+ scattering within two different lepton-flavor-violating models with heavy neutrinos: model I is a typical seesaw that violates lepton number as well as flavor; model II has a neutrino mass texture where lepton number is conserved. We look for the largest possible amplitudes of these processes that are consistent with current bounds. We find that model I has very limited chance of providing an observable signal, except if a finely tuned condition in parameter space occurs. Model II, on the other hand, requires no fine tuning and could cause larger effects. However, the maximum amplitude provided by this model is still two orders of magnitude below the sensitivity of current experiments: one predicts an effective coupling G_MM up to 10^{-4}G_F for heavy neutrino masses near 10 TeV. We have also clarified some discrepancies in previous literature on this subject.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, reference adde

On Sterile neutrino explanation of LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies

We examine the compatibility between existing experimental data and a recently proposed explanation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies, given in terms of a sterile neutrino $N$ whose decay is dominated by a radiative mode. We find that current experimental data on $\tau\rightarrow \mu\nu\nu\gamma$ decays are compatible with the sterile neutrino parameters required for the explanation of the anomalies, but $K\rightarrow \mu\nu\gamma$ shows a marginal tension with those parameters. We also propose experimental cuts on radiative $K$ decays that could test the sterile neutrino hypothesis better. Finally, we study the contribution of this sterile neutrino to $K\to\mu\nu e e$, and find that measurements of this process would provide powerful tests for the sterile neutrino explanation of the LSND and MiniBooNE anomalies, if the experimental cut on the invariant mass of the $e^{+}e^{-}$ pair could be reduced from its current value of 145 MeV to a value below 40 MeV.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, experimental cut taken into account, some conclusions change

Improvement of the size estimation of 3D tracked droplets using digital in-line holography with joint estimation reconstruction

International audienceDigital holography is a valuable tool for three-dimensional information extraction. Among existing configurations, the originally proposed setup (i.e. Gabor, or in-line holography), is reasonably immune to variations in the experimental environment making it a method of choice for studies of fluid dynamics. Nevertheless, standard hologram reconstruction techniques, based on numerical light back-propagation are prone to artifacts such as twin images or aliases that limit both the quality and quantity of information extracted from the acquired holograms. To get round this issue, the hologram reconstruction as a parametric inverse problem has been shown to accurately estimate 3D positions and the size of seeding particles directly from the hologram. To push the bounds of accuracy on size estimation still further, we propose to fully exploit the information redundancy of a hologram video sequence using joint estimation reconstruction. Applying this approach in a bench-top experiment, we show that it led to a relative accuracy of 0.13 % (for a 30 µm diameter droplet) for droplet size estimation, and a tracking accuracy of σ x × σ y × σ z = 0.15 × 0.15 × 1 pixels

NGC 7538 : Multiwavelength Study of Stellar Cluster Regions associated with IRS 1-3 and IRS 9 sources

We present deep and high-resolution (FWHM ~ 0.4 arcsec) near-infrared (NIR) imaging observations of the NGC 7538 IRS 1-3 region (in JHK bands), and IRS 9 region (in HK bands) using the 8.2m Subaru telescope. The NIR analysis is complemented with GMRT low-frequency observations at 325, 610, and 1280 MHz, molecular line observations of H13CO+ (J=1-0), and archival Chandra X-ray observations. Using the 'J-H/H-K' diagram, 144 Class II and 24 Class I young stellar object (YSO) candidates are identified in the IRS 1-3 region. Further analysis using 'K/H-K' diagram yields 145 and 96 red sources in the IRS 1-3 and IRS 9 regions, respectively. A total of 27 sources are found to have X-ray counterparts. The YSO mass function (MF), constructed using a theoretical mass-luminosity relation, shows peaks at substellar (~0.08-0.18 Msolar) and intermediate (~1-1.78 Msolar) mass ranges for the IRS 1-3 region. The MF can be fitted by a power law in the low mass regime with a slope of Gamma ~ 0.54-0.75, which is much shallower than the Salpeter value of 1.35. An upper limit of 10.2 is obtained for the star to brown dwarf ratio in the IRS 1-3 region. GMRT maps show a compact HII region associated with the IRS 1-3 sources, whose spectral index of 0.87+-0.11 suggests optical thickness. This compact region is resolved into three separate peaks in higher resolution 1280 MHz map, and the 'East' sub-peak coincides with the IRS 2 source. H13CO+ (J=1-0) emission reveals peaks in both IRS 1-3 and IRS 9 regions, none of which are coincident with visible nebular emission, suggesting the presence of dense cloud nearby. The virial masses are approximately of the order of 1000 Msolar and 500 Msolar for the clumps in IRS 1-3 and IRS 9 regions, respectively.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Decay-Time Asymmetries at the B-Factories

Absract (Invited talk at the X DAE High Energy Physics symposium in December 1992, held at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay)Comment: 20pages, TIFR/TH/93-1

Spin-down of neutron stars by neutrino emission

We study the spin-down of a neutron star during its early stages due to the neutrino emission. The mechanism we consider is the subsequent collisions of the produced neutrinos with the outer shells of the star. We find that this mechanism can indeed slow down the star rotation but only in the first tens of seconds of the core formation, which is when the appropriate conditions of flux and collision rate are met. We find that this mechanism can extract less than 1 % of the star angular momentum, a result which is much less than previously estimated by other authors.Comment: 9 pages, 2 eps figures, RevTeX 4-1. The paper was significantly modified. Now it addresses only the issues of a neutron star spin-down. Version to be published in Phys. Rev.

UV-visible Spectra and Gas-Phase Rate Coefficients for the Reaction of 2,3 pentanedione and 2,4-pentanedione with OH Radicals

International audienceThe UV absorption cross-sections of 2,3-pentanedione and 2,4-pentanedione were measured and their reactions with OH were investigated in the gas-phase using a relative rate method. A temperature dependence of the rate coefficients was observed for both reactions over the temperature range 298–338 K. This work provides the first UV cross-section in the gas phase for 2,4-pentanedione and the first kinetic data for the reaction of 2,3-pentanedione with OH radicals as a function of temperature. The tropospheric lifetimes obtained in this work suggest that once emitted into the atmosphere, these species could be quickly degraded close to their emission sources

K^+ -> pi^+pi^0e^+e^-: a novel short-distance probe

We study the decay K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 e^+ e^-, currently under analysis by the NA62 Collaboration at CERN. In particular, we provide a detailed analysis of the Dalitz plot for the long-distance, gamma^*-mediated, contributions (Bremsstrahlung, direct emission and its interference). We also examine a set of asymmetries to isolate genuine short-distance effects. While we show that charge asymmetries are not required to test short distances, they provide the best environment for its detection. This constitutes by itself a strong motivation for NA62 to study K^- decays in the future. We therefore provide a detailed study of different charge asymmetries and the corresponding estimated signals. Whenever possible, we make contact with the related processes K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 gamma and K_L -> pi^+ pi^- e^+ e^- and discuss the advantages of K^+ -> pi^+ pi^0 e^+ e^- over them.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure