14449875
Almost conformal vacua and confinement
Dynamics of confining vacua which appear as deformed superconformal theory 
with a non-Abelian gauge symmetry, is studied by taking a concrete example of 
the sextet vacua of ${\cal N}=2$, SU(3) gauge theory with $n_f=4$, with equal 
quark masses. We show that the low-energy "matter" degrees of freedom of this 
theory consist of four magnetic monopole doublets of the low-energy effective 
SU(2) gauge group, one dyon doublet, and one electric doublet. We find a 
mechanism of cancellation of the beta function, which naturally but 
nontrivially generalizes that of Argyres-Douglas. Study of our SCFT theory as a 
limit of six colliding ${\cal N}=1$ vacua, suggests that the confinement in the 
present theory occurs in an essentially different manner from those vacua with 
dynamical Abelianization, and involves strongly interacting non-Abelian 
magnetic monopoles.
122228895
On the short distance behavior of string theories
Short distance behavior of string theories is investigated by the use of the discretized path-integral formulation. In particular, the minimum physical length and the generalized uncertainty relation are re-derived from a set of Ward–Takahashi identities. Several issues related to the form of the generalized uncertainty relation and to its implications are discussed. A consistent qualitative picture of short distance behavior of string theory seems to emerge from such a study.
123003167
Generation of mass hierarchies and gravitational instanton-induced supersymmetry breaking
Consequences of supersymmetry breaking by gravitational instantons are studied in the context of N = 1 supergravity models. In particular, models containing an additional term, proportional to the Euler characteristics density of the spacetime manifold, are shown to lead to a large hierarchy of masses, with the supersymmetry breaking mass scale much smaller than the Planck mass. Possible mechanisms of mass generation for gauge fermions, matter scalars and matter fermions are discussed. Models of this type can arise as a low-energy approximation to superstring models. Our analysis suggests the existence and importance of those nonperturbative effects in the underlying string theories that correspond to the Yang-Mills and gravitational instantons of low-energy effective field theories.
121970658
A Simple Algorithm for QCD Jets-An Introduction to Jet Calculus
A new, simple algorithm, recently proposed for QCD jets, is discussed. It allows to compute multiparton distributions inside QCD (q- or g-) jets, within the leading logarithmic approximation. Some of its applications are given.
119485873
A simple algorithm for QCD jets
Abstract A proposal is made, giving multiparticle (parton) spectra inside quark and gluon jets in terms of the tree diagrams of an effective field theory. The resulting “jet calculus” satisfies many consistency checks. A first sample of applications is given.
126281417
QCD Jet calculus
119204401
First-year Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II supernova results: consistency and constraints with other intermediate-redshift data sets
ABSTRACT We present an analysis of the luminosity distances of Type Ia Supernovae (SNe) from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) SN Survey in conjunction with other intermediate-redshift (z 97 per cent level from this single data set. We find good agreement between the SN and BAO distance measurements, both consistent with a Λ-dominated cold dark matter cosmology, as demonstrated through an analysis of the distance duality relationship between the luminosity (dL) and angular diameter (dA) distance measures. We then use these data to estimate w within this restricted redshift range (z < 0.4). Our most stringent result comes from the combination of all our intermediate-redshift data (SDSS-II SNe, BAO, ISW and redshift-space distortions), giving w = -0.81+0.16-0.18 (stat) +/- 0.15 (sys) and ΩM = 0.22+0.09-0.08 assuming a flat universe. This value of w and associated errors only change slightly if curvature is allowed to vary, consistent with constraints from the cosmic microwave background. We also consider more limited combinations of the geometrical (SN, BAO) and dynamical (ISW, redshift-space distortions) probes.
10089918
THE SLOAN DIGITAL SKY SURVEY-II SUPERNOVA SURVEY: SEARCH ALGORITHM AND FOLLOW-UP OBSERVATIONS
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large number of new transient sources in a 300 deg2 region along the celestial equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band (ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar system objects, galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae (SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of which 403 were identified as SNe. For the type Ia SNe, the main driver for the survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.
118626595
A MISMATCH IN THE ULTRAVIOLET SPECTRA BETWEEN LOW-REDSHIFT AND INTERMEDIATE-REDSHIFT TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE AS A POSSIBLE SYSTEMATIC UNCERTAINTY FOR SUPERNOVA COSMOLOGY
We present Keck high-quality rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) through optical spectra of 21 Type Ia supernovae (SNe?Ia) in the redshift range 0.11 ? z ? 0.37 and a mean redshift of 0.22 that were discovered during the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II (SDSS-II) SN Survey. Using the broadband photometry of the SDSS survey, we are able to reconstruct the SN host-galaxy spectral energy distributions (SEDs), allowing for a correction for the host-galaxy contamination in the SN Ia spectra. Comparison of composite spectra constructed from a subsample of 17 high-quality spectra to those created from a low-redshift sample with otherwise similar properties shows that the Keck/SDSS SNe?Ia have, on average, extremely similar rest-frame optical spectra but show a UV flux excess. This observation is confirmed by comparing synthesized broadband colors of the individual spectra, showing a difference in mean colors at the 2.4?-4.4? level for various UV colors. We further see a slight difference in the UV spectral shape between SNe with low-mass and high-mass host galaxies. Additionally, we detect a relationship between the flux ratio at 2770 and 2900 ? and peak luminosity that differs from that observed at low redshift. We find that changing the UV SED of an SN Ia within the observed dispersion can change the inferred distance moduli by ~0.1?mag. This effect only occurs when the data probe the rest-frame UV. We suggest that this discrepancy could be due to differences in the host-galaxy population of the two SN samples or to small-sample statistics.
44348672
Type II-P supernovae from the SDSS-II supernova survey and the standardized candle method
We apply the Standardized Candle Method (SCM) for Type II Plateau supernovae (SNe II-P), which relates the velocity of the ejecta of a SN to its luminosity during the plateau, to 15 SNe II-P discovered over the three season run of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey. The redshifts of these SNe—0.027 0.01) as all of the current literature on the SCM combined. We find that the SDSS SNe have a very small intrinsic I-band dispersion (0.22 mag), which can be attributed to selection effects. When the SCM is applied to the combined SDSS-plus-literature set of SNe II-P, the dispersion increases to 0.29 mag, larger than the scatter for either set of SNe separately. We show that the standardization cannot be further improved by eliminating SNe with positive plateau decline rates, as proposed in Poznanski et al. We thoroughly examine all potential systematic effects and conclude that for the SCM to be useful for cosmology, the methods currently used to determine the Fe II velocity at day 50 must be improved, and spectral templates able to encompass the intrinsic variations of Type II-P SNe will be needed.
117036676
Dependences of Type Ia Supernovae Lightcurve Parameters on the Host Galaxy Star Formation Rate and Metallicity
We present the dependences of the properties of type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) on their host galaxies by analyzing the multi-band lightcurves of 118 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Supernova Survey and the spectra of their host galaxies. We derive the equivalent width of the \rm{H}$\alpha$ emission line, star formation rate, and gas-phase metallicity from the spectra and compare these with the lightcurve widths and colors of SNe Ia. In addition, we compare host properties with the deviation of the observed distance modulus corrected for lightcurve parameters from the distance modulus determined by the best fit cosmological parameters. This allows us to investigate uncorrected systematic effects in the magnitude standardization. We find that SNe Ia in host galaxies with a higher star formation rate have synthesized on average a larger $^{56}$Ni mass and show wider lightcurves. The $^{56}$Ni mass dependence on metallicity is consistent with a prediction of Timmes et al. 2003 based on nucleosynthesis. SNe Ia in metal-rich galaxies ({$\log_{10}(O/H)+12>8.9$) have become 0.13 $\pm$ 0.06 magnitude brighter after corrections for their lightcurve widths and colors, which corresponds to up to 6% uncertainty in the luminosity distance. We investigate whether parameters for standardizing SN Ia maximum magnitude differ among samples with different host characteristics. The coefficient of the color term is larger by 0.67 $\pm$ 0.19 for SNe Ia in metal-poor hosts than those in metal-rich hosts when no color cuts are imposed.