117969814
Mutation of Andreev into Majorana bound states in long superconductor-normal and superconductor-normal-superconductor junctions
We study one-dimensional topological SN and SNS long junctions obtained by placing a topological insulating nanowire in the proximity of either one or two SC finite-size leads. Using the Majorana Polarization order parameter (MP) introduced in Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 096802 (2012)(arxiv:1109.5697) we find that the extended Andreev bound states (ABS) of the normal part of the wire acquire a finite MP: for a finite-size SN junction the ABS spectrum exhibits a zero-energy extended state which carries a full Majorana fermion, while the ABS of long SNS junctions with phase difference $\pi$ transform into two zero-energy states carrying two Majorana fermions with the same MP. Given their extended character inside the whole normal link, and not only close to an interface, these Majorana-Andreev states can be directly detected in tunneling spectroscopy experiments.
124148859
2-D fractional supersymmetry: From rational to irrational conformal field theory
118873533
From Andreev bound states to Majorana fermions in topological wires on superconducting substrates: A story of mutation
We study the proximity effect in a topological nanowire tunnel coupled to an s-wave superconducting substrate. We use a general Green's function approach that allows us to study the evolution of the Andreev bound states in the wire into Majorana fermions. We show that the strength of the tunnel coupling induces a topological transition in which the Majorana fermionic states can be destroyed when the coupling is very strong. Moreover, we provide a phenomenologial study of the effects of disorder in the superconductor on the formation of Majorana fermions. We note a non-trivial effect of a quasiparticle broadening term which can take the wire from a topological into a non-topological phase in certain ranges of parameters. Our results have also direct consequences for a nanowire coupled to an inhomogenous superconductor.
119500460
Coupled critical models: application to Ising-Potts models
Abstract We discuss the critical behaviour of 2 D Ising and q -states Potts models coupled by their energy density. We found new tricritical points. The procedure employed is the renormalisation approach of the perturbations series around conformal field theories representing pure models as already used for disordered spins models. This analysis could be useful to understand the physics of coupled critical models like the fully frustrated XY model.
27849603
Universal ratios in the 2D tricritical ising model
We consider the universality class of the two-dimensional tricritical Ising model. The scaling form of the free energy leads to the definition of universal ratios of critical amplitudes which may have experimental relevance. We compute these universal ratios by a combined use of results coming from perturbed conformal field theory, integrable quantum field theory, and numerical methods.
14198652
Bosonic-type S -matrix, vacuum instability and CDD ambiguities
Abstract We consider the simplest bosonic-type S -matrix which is usually regarded as unphysical due to the complex values of the finite volume ground state energy. While a standard quantum field theory interpretation of such a scattering theory is precluded, we argue that the physical situation described by this S -matrix is of a massive Ising model perturbed by a particular set of irrelevant operators. The presence of these operators drastically affects the stability of the original vacuum of the massive Ising model and its ultraviolet properties.
54505515
Evidence of the accelerated expansion of the Universe from weak lensing tomography with COSMOS
We present a comprehensive analysis of weak gravitational lensing by large-scale structure in the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS), in which we combine space-based galaxy shape measurements with ground-based photometric redshifts to study the redshift dependence of the lensing signal and constrain cosmological parameters. After applying our weak lensing-optimized data reduction, principal-component interpolation for the spatially, and temporally varying ACS point-spread function, and improved modelling of charge-transfer inefficiency, we measured a lensing signal that is consistent with pure gravitational modes and no significant shape systematics. We carefully estimated the statistical uncertainty from simulated COSMOS-like fields obtained from ray-tracing through the Millennium Simulation, including the full non-Gaussian sampling variance. We tested our lensing pipeline on simulated space-based data, recalibrated non-linear power spectrum corrections using the ray-tracing analysis, employed photometric redshift information to reduce potential contamination by intrinsic galaxy alignments, and marginalized over systematic uncertainties. We find that the weak lensing signal scales with redshift as expected from general relativity for a concordance ACDM cosmology, including the full cross-correlations between different redshift bins. Assuming a flat ACDM cosmology, we measure σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.51 = 0.75 ± 0.08 from lensing, in perfect agreement with WMAP-5, yielding joint constraints Ω m = 0.266 +0.025 -0.023 σ 8 = 0.802 +0.028 -0.029 (all 68.3% conf.). Dropping the assumption of flatness and using priors from the HST Key Project and Big-Bang nucleosynthesis only, we find a negative deceleration parameter q 0 at 94.3% confidence from the tomographic lensing analysis, providing independent evidence of the accelerated expansion of the Universe. For a flat ωCDM cosmology and prior ω ∈ [-2, 0], we obtain ω < -0.41 (90% conf.). Our dark energy constraints are still relatively weak solely due to the limited area of COSMOS. However, they provide an important demonstration of the usefulness of tomographic weak lensing measurements from space.
119206013
Galaxy-galaxy(-galaxy) lensing as a sensitive probe of galaxy evolution
Context. The gravitational lensing effect provides various ways to study the mass environment of galaxies. Aims. We investigate how galaxy-galaxy(-galaxy) lensing can be used to test models of galaxy formation and evolution. Methods. We consider two semi-analytic galaxy formation models based on the Millennium Run N-body simulation: the Durham model by Bower et al. (2006, MNRAS, 370, 645) and the Garching model by Guo et al. (2011, MNRAS, 413, 101). We generate mock lensing observations for the two models, and then employ Fast Fourier Transform methods to compute second- and third-order aperture statistics in the simulated fields for various galaxy samples. Results. We find that both models predict qualitatively similar aperture signals, but there are large quantitative differences. The Durham model predicts larger amplitudes in general. In both models, red galaxies exhibit stronger aperture signals than blue galaxies. Using these aperture measurements and assuming a linear deterministic bias model, we measure relative bias ratios of red and blue galaxy samples. We find that a linear deterministic bias is insufficient to describe the relative clustering of model galaxies below ten arcmin angular scales. Dividing galaxies into luminosity bins, the aperture signals decrease with decreasing luminosity for brighter galaxies, but increase again for fainter galaxies. This increase is likely an artifact due to too many faint satellite galaxies in massive group and cluster halos predicted by the models. Conclusions. Our study shows that galaxy-galaxy(-galaxy) lensing is a sensitive probe of galaxy evolution.
44434714
CFHTLenS: higher order galaxy–mass correlations probed by galaxy–galaxy–galaxy lensing
We present the first direct measurement of the galaxy–matter bispectrum as a function of galaxy luminosity, stellar mass and type of spectral energy distribution (SED). Our analysis uses a galaxy–galaxy–galaxy lensing technique (G3L), on angular scales between 9 arcsec and 50 arcmin, to quantify (i) the excess surface mass density around galaxy pairs (excess mass hereafter) and (ii) the excess shear–shear correlations around single galaxies, both of which yield a measure of two types of galaxy–matter bispectra. We apply our method to the state-of-the-art Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS), spanning 154 square degrees. This survey allows us to detect a significant change of the bispectra with lens properties. Measurements for lens populations with distinct redshift distributions become comparable by a newly devised normalization technique. That will also aid future comparisons to other surveys or simulations. A significant dependence of the normalized G3L statistics on luminosity within −23 ≤ Mr ≤ −18 and stellar mass within 5 × 10^9 M_⊙ ≤ M* ≤ 2 × 10^(11) M_⊙ is found (h = 0.73). Both bispectra exhibit a stronger signal for more luminous lenses or those with higher stellar mass (up to a factor of 2–3). This is accompanied by a steeper equilateral bispectrum for more luminous or higher stellar mass lenses for the excess mass. Importantly, we find the excess mass to be very sensitive to galaxy type as recently predicted with semi-analytic galaxy models: luminous (M_r < −21) late-type galaxies show no detectable signal, while all excess mass detected for luminous galaxies seems to be associated with early-type galaxies. We also present the first observational constraints on third-order stochastic galaxy biasing parameters.
119103864
The bispectrum covariance beyond Gaussianity - A log-normal approach
Context. To investigate and specify the statistical properties of cosmological fields with particular attention to possible non-Gaussian features, accurate formulae for the bispectrum and the bispectrum covariance are required. The bispectrum is the lowest-order statistic providing an estimate for non-Gaussianities of a distribution, and the bispectrum covariance depicts the errors of the bispectrum measurement and their correlation on different scales. Currently, there do exist fitting formulae for the bispectrum and an analytical expression for the bispectrum covariance, but the former is not very accurate and the latter contains several intricate terms and only one of them can be readily evaluated from the power spectrum of the studied field. Neglecting all higher-order terms results in the Gaussian approximation of the bispectrum covariance. Aims. We study the range of validity of this Gaussian approximation for two-dimensional non-Gaussian random fields. Methods. For this purpose, we simulate Gaussian and non-Gaussian random fields, the latter represented by log-normal fields and obtained directly from the former by a simple transformation. From the simulated fields, we calculate the power spectra, the bispectra, and the covariance from the sample variance of the bispectra, for different degrees of non-Gaussianity α, which is equivalent to the skewness on a given angular scale θg. In doing so, we minimize sample variance by selecting the same “phases” of the Gaussian and non-Gaussian fields. Results. We find that the Gaussian approximation of the bispectrum covariance provides a good approximation for degrees of nonGaussianity α ≤ 0.5 and a reasonably accurate approximation for α ≤ 1, both on scales >8θg. For larger values of α, the Gaussian approximation clearly breaks down. Using results from cosmic shear simulations, we estimate that the cosmic shear convergence fields are described by α < 0. 7a tθg ∼ 4 �� . Conclusions. We therefore conclude that the Gaussian approximation for the bispectrum covariance is likely to be applicable in ongoing and future cosmic shear studies.
53611492
Spatial matter density mapping of the STAGES Abell A901/2 supercluster field with 3D lensing
We present weak lensing data from the Hubble Space Telescope(HST)/Space Telescope A901/902 Galaxy Evolution Survey (STAGES) survey1 to study the three-dimensional spatial distribution of matter and galaxies in the Abell 901/902 supercluster complex. Our method improves over the existing 3D lensing mapping techniques by calibrating and removing redshift bias and accounting for the effects of the radial elongation of 3D structures. We also include the first detailed noise analysis of a 3D lensing map, showing that even with deep HST-quality data, only the most massive structures, for example M200≳ 1015 M⊙ h−1 at z∼ 0.8, can be resolved in 3D with any reasonable redshift accuracy (Δz≈ 0.15). We compare the lensing map to the stellar mass distribution and find luminous counterparts for all mass peaks detected with a peak significance >3σ. We see structures in and behind the z= 0.165 foreground supercluster, finding structure directly behind the A901b cluster at z∼ 0.6 and also behind the south-west (SW) group at z∼ 0.7. This 3D structure viewed in projection has no significant impact on recent mass estimates of A901b or the SW group components SWa and SWb