118675013
Coulomb interaction and semimetal–insulator transition in graphene
Abstract The strong Coulomb interaction between massless Dirac fermions can drive a semimetal–insulator transition in single-layer graphene by dynamically generating an excitonic fermion gap. There is a critical interaction strength λ c that separates the semimetal phase from the insulator phase. We calculate the specific heat and susceptibility of the system and show that they exhibit distinct behaviors in the semimetal and insulator phases.
202110088
Search for resonances in the dijet mass spectrum from 7 TeV pp collisions at CMS
A search for narrow resonances with a mass of at least 1 TeV in the dijet mass spectrum is performed using pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb(-1), collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. No resonances are observed. Upper limits at the 95% confidence level are presented on the product of the resonance cross section, branching fraction into dijets, and acceptance, separately for decays into quark-quark, quark-gluon, and gluon-gluon pairs. The data exclude new particles predicted in the following models at the 95% confidence level: string resonances with mass less than 4.00 TeV, E-6 diquarks with mass less than 3.52 TeV, excited quarks with mass less than 2.49 TeV, axigluons and colorons with mass less than 2.47 TeV, and W' bosons with mass less than 1.51 TeV. These results extend previous exclusions from the dijet mass search technique. (C) 2011 CERN. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
118554000
OBSERVATION OF A RIDGE CORRELATION STRUCTURE IN HIGH MULTIPLICITY PROTON–PROTON COLLISIONS: A BRIEF REVIEW
This paper briefly reviews the striking experimental observation of a ridge-like dihadron correlation structure in high multiplicity proton–proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Recent progress of both experimental and theoretical efforts on understanding the physical origin of the novel effect is reviewed. Outlook on future direction of possible new studies is discussed.
209834550
Measurement of the differential cross section for isolated prompt photon production in pp collisions at 7 TeV
A measurement of the differential cross section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns recorded by the CMS detector at the LHC. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity range |eta|<2.5 and the transverse energy range 25 < ET < 400 GeV, corresponding to the kinematic region 0.007 < xT < 0.114. Photon candidates are identified with two complementary methods, one based on photon conversions in the silicon tracker and the other on isolated energy deposits in the electromagnetic calorimeter. The measured cross section is presented as a function of ET in four pseudorapidity regions. The next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations are consistent with the measured cross section.
119292700
Matter fields near quantum critical point in (2+1)-dimensional U(1) gauge theory
We study chiral phase transition and confinement of matter fields in (2+1)-dimensional U(1) gauge theory of massless Dirac fermions and scalar bosons. The vanishing scalar boson mass, r = 0, defines a quantum critical point between the Higgs phase and the Coulomb phase. We consider only the critical point r = 0 and the Coulomb phase with r > 0. The Dirac fermion acquires a dynamical mass when its flavor is less than certain critical value N c f , which depends quantitatively on the flavor Nb and the scalar boson mass r. When Nf < N c f , the matter fields carrying internal gauge charge are all confined if r 6 0 but are deconfined at the quantum critical point r = 0. The system has distinct low-energy elementary excitations at the critical point r = 0 and in the Coulomb phase with r 6 0. We calculate the specific heat and susceptibility of the system at r = 0 and r 6 0, which can help to detect the quantum critical point and to judge whether dynamical fermion mass generation takes place.
209836136
First Measurement of the Cross Section for Top-Quark Pair Production in Proton-Proton Collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
The first measurement of the cross section for top-quark pair production in pp collisions at the LHC at center-of-mass energy sqrt(s)= 7 TeV has been performed using 3.1 {pm} 0.3 inverse pb of data recorded by the CMS detector. This result utilizes the final state with two isolated, highly energetic charged leptons, large missing transverse energy, and two or more jets. Backgrounds from Drell-Yan and non-W/Z boson production are estimated from data. Eleven events are observed in the data with 2.1 {pm} 1.0 events expected from background. The measured cross section is 194 {pm} 72 (stat.) {pm} 24 (syst.) {pm} 21 (lumi.) pb, consistent with next-to-leading order predictions.
55046954
Berkeley Supernova Ia Program - I. Observations, data reduction and spectroscopic sample of 582 low-redshift Type Ia supernovae
In this first paper in a series, we present 1298 low-redshift (z ≲ 0.2) optical spectra of 582 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed from 1989 to 2008 as part of the Berkeley Supernova Ia Program (BSNIP). 584 spectra of 199 SNe Ia have well-calibrated light curves with measured distance moduli, and many of the spectra have been corrected for host-galaxy contamination. Most of the data were obtained using the Kast double spectrograph mounted on the Shane 3 m telescope at Lick Observatory and have a typical wavelength range of 3300–10 400 A, roughly twice as wide as spectra from most previously published data sets. We present our observing and reduction procedures, and we describe the resulting SN Database, which will be an online, public, searchable data base containing all of our fully reduced spectra and companion photometry. In addition, we discuss our spectral classification scheme (using the SuperNova IDentification code, snid; Blondin & Tonry), utilizing our newly constructed set of snid spectral templates. These templates allow us to accurately classify our entire data set, and by doing so we are able to reclassify a handful of objects as bona fide SNe Ia and a few other objects as members of some of the peculiar SN Ia subtypes. In fact, our data set includes spectra of nearly 90 spectroscopically peculiar SNe Ia. We also present spectroscopic host-galaxy redshifts of some SNe Ia where these values were previously unknown. The sheer size of the BSNIP data set and the consistency of our observation and reduction methods make this sample unique among all other published SN Ia data sets and complementary in many ways to the large, low-redshift SN Ia spectra presented by Matheson et al. and Blondin et al. In other BSNIP papers in this series, we use these data to examine the relationships between spectroscopic characteristics and various observables such as photometric and host-galaxy properties.
17627678
SN 2008S: A Cool Super-Eddington Wind in a Supernova Impostor
We present visual-wavelength photometry and spectroscopy of supernova (SN) 2008S. Based on the low peak luminosity for a SN of MR = –13.9 mag, photometric and spectral evolution unlike that of low-luminosity SNe, a late-time decline rate slower than 56Co decay, and slow outflow speeds of 600-1000 km s–1, we conclude that SN 2008S is not a true core-collapse SN and is probably not an electron-capture SN. Instead, we show that SN 2008S more closely resembles an SN impostor event like SN 1997bs, analogous to the giant eruptions of luminous blue variables (LBVs). Its total radiated energy was ~1047.8 erg, and it may have ejected 0.05-0.2 M ☉ in the event. We discover an uncanny similarity between the spectrum of SN 2008S and that of the Galactic hypergiant IRC+10420, which is dominated by narrow Hα, [Ca II], and Ca II emission lines formed in an opaque wind. We propose a scenario where the vastly super-Eddington (Γ 40) wind of SN 2008S partly fails because of reduced opacity due to recombination, as suggested for IRC+10420. The range of initial masses susceptible to eruptive LBV-like mass loss was known to extend down to 20-25 M ☉, but estimates for the progenitor of SN 2008S (and the similar NGC 300 transient) may extend this range to 15 M ☉. As such, SN 2008S may have implications for the progenitor of SN 1987A.
126042366
The Very Young Type-Ia SN 2012cg: Discovery and Pre-Maximum Brightness Follow-Up
15737210
CORONAL LINES AND DUST FORMATION IN SN 2005ip: NOT THE BRIGHTEST, BUT THE HOTTEST TYPE IIn SUPERNOVA
We present optical photometry and spectroscopy of SN 2005ip for the first 3 yr after discovery, showing an underlying Type II-L supernova (SN) interacting with a steady wind to yield an unusual Type IIn spectrum. For the first ~160 days, it had a fast linear decline from a modest peak absolute magnitude of about –17.4 (unfiltered), followed by a plateau at roughly –14.8 for more than 2 yr. Initially having a normal broad-lined spectrum superposed with sparse narrow lines from the photoionized circumstellar medium (CSM), it quickly developed signs of strong CSM interaction with a spectrum similar to that of SN 1988Z. As the underlying SN II-L faded, SN 2005ip exhibited a rich high-ionization spectrum with a dense forest of narrow coronal lines, unprecedented among SNe but reminiscent of some active galactic nuclei. The line-profile evolution of SN 2005ip confirms that dust formation caused its recently reported infrared excess, but these lines reveal that it is the first SN to show clear evidence for dust in both the fast SN ejecta and the slower postshock gas. SN 2005ip's complex spectrum confirms the origin of the strange blue continuum in SN 2006jc, which also had postshock dust formation. We suggest that SN 2005ip's late-time plateau and coronal spectrum result from rejuvenated CSM interaction between a sustained fast shock and a clumpy stellar wind, where X-rays escape through the optically thin interclump regions to heat the preshock CSM to coronal temperatures.
53121461
Quantum decoherence with holography
A bstractQuantum decoherence is the loss of a system’s purity due to its interaction with the surrounding environment. Via the AdS/CFT correspondence, we study how a system decoheres when its environment is a strongly-coupled theory. In the FeynmanVernon formalism, we compute the influence functional holographically by relating it to the generating function of Schwinger-Keldysh propagators and thereby obtain the dynamics of the system’s density matrix.We present two exactly solvable examples: (1) a straight string in a BTZ black hole and (2) a scalar probe in AdS5. We prepare an initial state that mimics Schrödinger’s cat and identify different stages of its decoherence process using the time-scaling behaviors of Rényi entropy. We also relate decoherence to local quantum quenches, and by comparing the time evolution behaviors of the Wigner function and Rényi entropy we demonstrate that the relaxation of local quantum excitations leads to the collapse of its wave-function.