123537479
Report on Stanford Superconductive Monopole Detectors
Since January, 1983 we have been operating a three loop superconducting detector with a signal to noise ratio of 100 for the direct detection of Dirac magnetic charges.1 Its sensing area averaged over solid angle is nearly 500 cm2 for double coincidence events. To date, the data contain no candidate events and set an upper flux limit of 2 × 10−11 cm−2 s−1 sr−1 at 90% C.L., 70 times lower than that suggested by the single candidate event2 seen on the prototype single loop detector. If supermassive magnetic monopoles exist they are rare and the need for cost-efficient larger area superconductive detectors is evident if we are to push forward a definitive search in the cosmic rays. Superconducting loop detectors can be constructed with 1 to 10 m2 planar areas coupled to a single SQUID while achieving a signal to noise ratio of 10 for the detection of a Dirac magnetic charge. A 100 m2 sensing area array of such detectors, which would reach the Parker flux bound in one year of operation, can be built at a cost comparable to that of typical high energy experiments. It remains quite possible that a monopole particle flux significantly higher than the Parker bound exists within our galaxy. In this paper the most recent results from low noise operation of the three loop detector are presented. Also discussed are our plans to build a larger fixed loop detector with a sensing area of 1.5 m2. It is designed as a prototype for a future yet larger 100 m2 array.
4989217
Low-threshold analysis of CDMS shallow-site data
Data taken during the final shallow-site run of the first tower of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) detectors have been reanalyzed with improved sensitivity to small energy depositions. Four {approx}224 g germanium and two {approx}105 g silicon detectors were operated at the Stanford Underground Facility (SUF) between December 2001 and June 2002, yielding 118 live days of raw exposure. Three of the germanium and both silicon detectors were analyzed with a new low-threshold technique, making it possible to lower the germanium and silicon analysis thresholds down to the actual trigger thresholds of {approx}1 and {approx}2 keV, respectively. Limits on the spin-independent cross section for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) to elastically scatter from nuclei based on these data exclude interesting parameter space for WIMPs with masses below 9 GeV/c{sup 2}. Under standard halo assumptions, these data partially exclude parameter space favored by interpretations of the DAMA/LIBRA and CoGeNT experiments data as WIMP signals, and exclude new parameter space for WIMP masses between 3 and 4 GeV/c{sup 2}.
118840672
Cosmic-ray monopole searches at Stanford using superconducting detectors.
45565394
Limit on the flux of cosmic-ray magnetic monopoles from operation of an eight-loop superconducting detector.
An eight-loop superconducting magnetic monopole detector has been in continuous operation for 547 days, starting 4 March 1987. Its sensing area is 1.1 m{sup 2} for double-coincident events. The data, which contain no candidate events, set an upper limit of 7.2{times}10{sup {minus}13} cm{sup {minus}2} s{sup {minus}1} sr{sup {minus}1} (90% confidence level) on the flux of monopoles of any mass and at any velocity passing through the Earth's surface.
2997571
Exclusion limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross section from the cryogenic dark matter search.
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs Ge and Si detectors to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) via their elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against interactions of background particles. CDMS data, accounting for the neutron background, give limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross section that exclude unexplored parameter space above 10 GeV/c2 WIMP mass and, at >75% C.L., the entire 3sigma allowed region for the WIMP signal reported by the DAMA experiment.
56569059
Search for annual modulation in low-energy CDMS-II data
We report limits on annual modulation of the low-energy event rate from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Such a modulation could be produced by interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with masses ~10 GeV/c^2. We find no evidence for annual modulation in the event rate of veto-anticoincident single-detector interactions consistent with nuclear recoils, and constrain the magnitude of any modulation to 98% confidence. For events consistent with electron recoils, no significant modulation is observed for either single- or multiple-detector interactions in the 3.0-7.4 keVee range.
119089791
Searching for Variability in the Globular Cluster Messier 4
Time-series data taken with the Hubble Space Telescope of a field six core radii (~5') from the center of the globular cluster Messier 4, and covering a period of about 10 weeks in early 2001, have been analyzed in search of variable objects. Various criteria were employed to select candidate variable stars. Period searches were performed on the selected candidates using phase dispersion minimization (PDM). The reliability of the PDM search results was tested using synthetic light curves of eclipsing binary stars and sinusoidal light curves of different periods. Results from this analysis showed that there are probably no eclipsing binary stars or periodic variables in our field with periods on the order of a few hours to a few days, down to limiting magnitudes of V ~ 25 and I ~ 24, which is consistent with the absence of contact binaries such as W Ursae Majoris systems. However, one candidate variable star does show an increase in brightness of ~0.1 mag in both bandpasses, which seems to last for a few days. Possible explanations concerning the nature of this object include a binary system with a white dwarf primary and a low-mass main-sequence secondary or a BY Draconis variable star. We are able to set an upper limit to the observed fraction of photometric variability in this data set of 0.05%.
88507576
PS1-10bzj: A fast, hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova in a metal-poor host galaxy
We present observations and analysis of PS1-10bzj, a superluminous supernova (SLSN) discovered in the Pan-STARRS Medium Deep Survey at a redshift z = 0.650. Spectroscopically, PS1-10bzj is similar to the hydrogen-poor SLSNe 2005ap and SCP 06F6, though with a steeper rise and lower peak luminosity (M bol –21.4 mag) than previous events. We construct a bolometric light curve, and show that while PS1-10bzj's energetics were less extreme than previous events, its luminosity still cannot be explained by radioactive nickel decay alone. We explore both a magnetar spin-down and circumstellar interaction scenario and find that either can fit the data. PS1-10bzj is located in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South and the host galaxy is imaged in a number of surveys, including with the Hubble Space Telescope. The host is a compact dwarf galaxy (MB –18 mag, diameter 800 pc), with a low stellar mass (M * 2.4 × 107 M ☉), young stellar population (τ* 5 Myr), and a star formation rate of ~2-3 M ☉ yr–1. The specific star formation rate is the highest seen in an SLSN host so far (~100 Gyr–1). We detect the [O III] λ4363 line, and find a low metallicity: 12 + (O/H) = 7.8 ± 0.2 ( 0.1 Z ☉). Together, this indicates that at least some of the progenitors of SLSNe come from young, low-metallicity populations.
99745709
Pionic resonance fluorescence
12169346
Mass Determination and Detection of the Onset of Chromospheric Activity for the Substellar Object in EF Eridani
EF Eri is a magnetic cataclysmic variable that has been in a low accretion state for the past 9 yr. Low-state optical spectra reveal the underlying Zeeman-split white dwarf absorption lines. These features are used to determine a value of 13-14 MG as the white dwarf field strength. Recently, 5-7 yr into the low state, Balmer and other emission lines have appeared in the optical. An analysis of the Hα emission line yields the first radial velocity solution for EF Eri, leading to a spectroscopic ephemeris for the binary and, using the best available white dwarf mass of 0.6 M☉, a mass estimate for the secondary of 0.055 M☉. For a white dwarf mass of 0.95 M☉, the average for magnetic white dwarfs, the secondary mass increases to 0.087 M☉. At EF Eri's orbital period of 81 minutes, this higher mass secondary could not be a normal star and still fit within the Roche lobe. The source of the Balmer and other emission lines is confirmed to be from the substellar secondary, and we argue that it is due to stellar activity. We compare EF Eri's emission-line spectrum and activity behavior to that recently observed in AM Her and VV Pup and attributed to stellar activity. We explore observations and models originally developed for V471 Tau, for the RS CVn binaries, and for extrasolar planets. We conclude that irradiation of the secondary in EF Eri and similar systems is unlikely and, in polars, the magnetic field interaction between the two stars (with a possible tidal component) is a probable mechanism that would concentrate chromospheric activity on the secondary near the substellar point of the white dwarf.
55650213
A Dyson–Schwinger study of the four-gluon vertex
We present a self-consistent calculation of the four-gluon vertex of Landau gauge Yang–Mills theory from a truncated Dyson–Schwinger equation. The equation contains the leading diagrams in the ultraviolet and is solved using as the only input results for lower Green functions from previous Dyson–Schwinger calculations that are in good agreement with lattice data. All quantities are therefore fixed and no higher Green functions enter within this truncation. Our self-consistent solution resolves the full momentum dependence of the vertex but is limited to the tree-level tensor structure at the moment. Calculations of selected dressing functions for other tensor structures from this solution are used to exemplify that they are suppressed compared to the tree-level structure except for possible logarithmic enhancements in the deep infrared. Our results furthermore allow one to extract a qualitative fit for the vertex and a running coupling.