1471430
Neutrinos from Inert Doublet dark matter
We investigate the signatures of neutrinos produced in the annihilation of WIMP dark matter in the Earth, the Sun and at the Galactic centre within the framework of the Inert Doublet Model and extensions. We consider a dark matter candidate, that we take to be one of the neutral components of an extra Higgs doublet, in three distinct mass ranges, which have all been shown previously to be consistent with both WMAP abundance and direct detection experiments exclusion limits. Specifically, we consider a light WIMP with mass between 4 and 8 GeV (low), a WIMP with mass around 60-70 GeV (middle) and a heavy WIMP with mass above 500 GeV (high). In the first case, we show that capture in the Sun may be constrained using Super-Kamiokande data. In the last two cases, we argue that indirect detection through neutrinos is challenging but not altogether excluded. For middle masses, we try to make the most benefit of the proximity of the so-called 'iron resonance' that might enhance the capture of the dark matter candidate by the Earth. The signal from the Earth is further enhanced if light right-handed Majorana neutrinos are introduced, in which case the scalar dark matter candidate may annihilate into pairs of mono-energetic neutrinos. In the case of high masses, detection of neutrinos from the Galactic centre might be possible, provided the dark matter abundance is substantially boosted.
119148641
Electroweak symmetry breaking induced by dark matter
Abstract The mechanism behind electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and the nature of dark matter (DM) are currently among the most important issues in high energy physics. Since a natural dark matter candidate is a weakly interacting massive particle or WIMP, with mass around the electroweak scale, it is clearly of interest to investigate the possibility that DM and EWSB are closely related. In the context of a very simple extension of the Standard Model, the inert doublet model, we show that dark matter could play a crucial role in the breaking of the electroweak symmetry. In this model, dark matter is the lightest component of an inert scalar doublet. The coupling of the latter with the Standard Model Higgs doublet breaks the electroweak symmetry at one-loop, a la Coleman–Weinberg . The abundance of dark matter, the breaking of the electroweak symmetry and the constraints from electroweak precision measurements can all be accommodated by imposing (an exact or approximate) custodial symmetry.
119253725
Is the Lorentz limiting speed equal to the speed of light? Photons vs neutrino tests
We discuss the possibility that the “limiting speed” climit (cl) appearing in Lorentz equations might be different (i.e. slightly larger) than the observed speed of light cn. We show that such a possibility can be tested by state-of-the-art Michelson–Morley experiments, but also by careful measurement of neutrino speeds. It would indeed suffice to show that cn<cν≤cl. Quite interestingly, current limits from both approaches are competitive, in some circumstances. We also comment on competing tests using gamma-ray burst, assuming a dispersive character for the propagation of light.
118864268
Constraints on light WIMP candidates from the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission
Motivated by the measurements reported by direct detection experiments, most notably DAMA, CDMS-II, CoGeNT and Xenon10/100, we study further the constraints that might be set on some light dark matter candidates, MDM ~ few GeV, using the Fermi-LAT data on the isotropic gamma-ray diffuse emission. In particular, we consider a Dirac fermion singlet interacting through a new Z' gauge boson, and a scalar singlet S interacting through the Higgs portal. Both candidates are WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), i.e. they have an annihilation cross-section in the pbarn range. Also they may both have a spin-independent elastic cross section on nucleons in the range required by direct detection experiments. Although being generic WIMP candidates, because they have different interactions with Standard Model particles, their phenomenology regarding the isotropic diffuse gamma-ray emission is quite distinct. In the case of the scalar singlet, the one-to-one correspondence between its annihilation cross-section and its spin-independent elastic scattering cross-section permits to express the constraints from the Fermi-LAT data in the direct detection exclusion plot, σn0−MDM. Depending on the astrophysics, we argue that it is possible to exclude the singlet scalar dark matter candidate at 95% confidence level. The constraints on the Dirac singlet interacting through a Z' are comparatively weaker.
118917259
Relating leptogenesis and dark matter
A scenario that relates the abundance of dark matter to the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is presented. In this scenario, based on a left-right extension of the Standard Model, dark matter is made of light, ~ 1 GeV, right-handed Majorana neutrinos.
118889676
Masses of the Goldstone modes in the CFL phase of QCD at finite density
Abstract We construct the U L (3)× U R (3) effective lagrangian which encodes the dynamics of the low energy pseudoscalar excitations in the Color-Flavor-Locking superconducting phase of QCD at finite quark density. We include the effects of instanton-induced interactions and study the mass pattern of the pseudoscalar mesons. A tentative comparison with the analytical estimate for the gap suggests that some of these low energy momentum modes are not stable for moderate values of the quark chemical potential μ .
122512363
Exclusive meson production at HERMES
Abstract.Hard exclusive production of mesons in deep-inelastic scattering allows one to probe the so-far unknown Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) of the nucleon. The HERMES experiment has measured several different observables in exclusive meson production by scattering the 27.6GeV HERA lepton beam off an internal fixed gaseous target. Recent results on exclusive π+, ρ0 and pion pair production will be presented.
55047377
Optical characterization of n = 1.03 silica aerogel used as radiator in the RICH of HERMES
The optical properties of silica aerogel tiles with a refractive index of 1.03 and dimensions 11]11] 1c m 3, produced by the Matsushita Electric Works (Japan), have been measured in the wavelength range from 200 to 900 nm. The tiles are used as one of the two radiators of the ring imaging Cherenkov counter of the HERMES experiment at DESY-HERA. The transmittance of light has been measured on 200 tiles by means of a double beam spectrophotometer. The light trans#ectance and re#ectance have been measured on one tile by means of a single-beam spectrophotometer and an integrating re#ecting sphere. Typical values of the measured transmittances at a wavelength j"400 nm are around 0.67. The measured trans#ectance increases almost linearly from 0.4 to 0.96 in the interval 200}300 nm, and remains nearly constant at the value 0.95 in the complementary j-range. The measured re#ectance, mostly con"ned below 400 nm, is completely interpretable as backscattering from inside the aerogel, revealing an absence of light re#ection at the aerogel surfaces. The transmittance data have been "tted with the Hunt formula, whose parameters have been used to evaluate the number of unscattered and scattered Cherenkov photons produced by aerogel. For stacks of 5 tiles and quantum
125760852
Diffractive vector meson production at intermediate energies.
13891794
Vector meson production at HERMES.
Diiractive production of , , ! and J== mesons is observed at the Hermes experiment at DESY. Hermes scatters the 27.5 GeV longitudinally polarised positrons of the HERA storage ring oo an internal gas storage cell target. Polarised and unpolarised gas targets of diierent types are used. The exclusive production from diierent nuclear targets (H, D, 3 He and 14 N) shows coherent and incoherent contributions that depend on the atomic mass A and Q 2. For 3 He the incoherent contribution is smaller than for H and D. The nuclear transparency T has been extracted as a function of Q 2 and and shows no signiicant signal of color transparency eeects. The polari-sation of beam and target at Hermes will allow for the world's rst measurement of double-spin asymmetries in combination with decay angle information. This will allow a nearly complete characterization of the angular momentum structure of the reaction. First results for the longitudinal and linear polarisation of-mesons and for the ratio of the longitudinal versus transverse cross section of-mesons as a function of Q 2 are presented. J== mesons are observed at Hermes in the muonic and the electronic decay channel. As they are produced by photon-gluon fusion processes, the observed spin asymmetry from polarised target data contains information about the gluon spin distribution in the nucleon. As the available statistics is marginal for a determination of G, Hermes currently performs an upgrade of the spectrometer. A ring image Cerenkov detector, a muon detector and a small angle spectrometer will be installed in 1998 and an additional vertex detector in 1999. The upgrade will improve the identiication of charmed and strange mesons, the detection of heavy decaying and slow recoil particles and the detection of the scattered positron in low-Q 2 (photoproduction) events.
125736234
Recent HERMES Results on Inclusive Scattering and Exclusive Reactions