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At least 1,261 records · Page 70

Gluon distributions and their applications to Ioffe-time distributions

We investigate unpolarized and polarized gluon distributions and their applications to the Ioffe-time distributions, which are related to lattice QCD calculations of parton distribution functions. Guided by the counting rules based on the perturbative QCD at large momentum fraction x and the color coherence of gluon couplings at small x, we parametrize gluon distributions in the helicity basis. By fitting the unpolarized gluon distribution, the inferred polarized gluon distribution from our parametrization agrees with the one from global analysis. A simultaneous fit to both unpolarized and polarized gluon distributions is also performed to explore the model uncertainty. The agreement with the global analysis supports the (1 - x) power suppression of the helicity-antialigned distribution relative to the helicity-aligned distribution. The corresponding Ioffe-time distributions and their asymptotic expansions are calculated from the gluon distributions. Our results of the Ioffe-time distributions can provide guidance to the extrapolation of lattice QCD data to the region lacking precise gluonic matrix elements. Therefore, they can help regulate the ill-posed inverse problem associated with extracting the gluon distributions from discrete data from first-principle calculations, which are available in a limited range of the nucleon momentum and the spatial separation between the gluonic currents. Given various limitations in obtaining lattice QCD data at large Ioffe time, phenomenological approaches can provide important complementary information to extract the gluon distributions in the entire momentum fraction region, especially at small x. The possibility of investigating higher-twist effects and other systematic uncertainties in the contemporary first-principle calculations of parton distributions from phenomenologically well-determined Ioffe-time distributions in the large Ioffe-time region is also discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The Early History of the Quark-Gluon Plasma

We present the historical antecedents to the field of relativistic heavy ion physics, beginning with early attempts to model the strong interaction and ending with the endorsement of a relativistic heavy ion collider in the 1983 U.S. Long-Range Plan for Nuclear Science. Particular attention is paid to two major themes: 1) A program to study high density states of nuclear matter emerging from the 1974 Bear Mountain conference and 2) Efforts to understand the predictions of QCD for matter at high densities and/or temperatures.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

QCD factorization and universality of jet cross sections in heavy-ion collisions

In this work, we review a recently proposed phenomenological framework to establish the notions of QCD factorization and universality of jet cross sections in the heavy-ion environment. First results of a global analysis of the nuclear modification factor of inclusive jets are presented where we extract medium modified jet functions using a Monte Carlo sampling approach. We observe that gluon jets are significantly more suppressed than quark jets. In addition, we study the jet radius dependence of the inclusive jet cross section in heavy-ion collisions and comment on a recent measurement from CMS. By considering for example jet substructure observables it will be possible to test the universality of the extracted medium jet functions. We thus expect that the presented results will eventually allow for extractions of medium properties with a reduced model bias.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Optical pulse-induced ultrafast antiferrodistortive transition in SrTiO 3

The ultrafast dynamics of the antiferrodistortive phase transition in perovskite SrTiO 3 is monitored via time-domain Brillouin scattering. Using femtosecond optical pulses, we initiate a thermally driven tetragonal-to-cubic structural transformation and detect the crystal phase through changes in the frequency of Brillouin oscillations (BO) induced by propagating acoustic phonons. Coupling the measured BO frequency with a spatiotemporal heat diffusion model, we demonstrate that, for a sample kept in the tetragonal phase, deposition of sufficient thermal energy induces a rapid transformation of the heat-affected region to the cubic phase. The initial phase change is followed by a slower reverse cubic-to-tetragonal phase transformation occurring on a timescale of hundreds of picoseconds. Here, we attribute this ultrafast phase transformation in the perovskite to a structural resemblance between atomic displacements of the R-point soft optic mode of the cubic phase and the tetragonal phase, both characterized by anti-phase rotation of oxygen octahedra. The structural relaxation time exhibits a strong temperature dependence consistent with the prediction of the equation of motion describing collective oxygen octahedra rotation based on the energy landscape of the phenomenological Landau theory of phase transitions. Evidence of such a fast structural transition in perovskites can open up new avenues in information processing and energy storage sectors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Theoretical and Phenomenological Studies of the Nucleon Structure in High Energy Reactions

The understanding of the internal structure of the proton and other strongly interacting particles is at the forefront of modern nuclear physics research. Generalized Parton Distribution Functions (GPDs) are a powerful tool to advance the understanding of hadron structure. In addition to the information about the one- dimensional collinear momentum distributions of partons (quarks, anti-quarks, and gluons) known from studies of high energy deep-inelastic reactions, GPDs also carry information on the distribution of partons in the transverse plane, and allow us in this way to access the three-dimensional structure of the nucleon. GPDs can be studied in hard-exclusive reactions and contain also information on the energy-momentum tensor form factors which will allow us to gain insights on quantities like pressure or angular momentum distribution inside the nucleon. The goal of this thesis is to deepen our understanding of the three-dimensional structure of the nucleon. We investigate energy-momentum tensor form factors and densities, and all leading-twist GPDs in the bag model. This quark model provides a consistent theoretical framework to investigate many general concepts that have recently attracted interest, and allows one to study insightful limits like the large-Nc limit, heavy-quark limit or the non-relativistic limit. Another important aspect of this thesis is the discussion of the monopole and quadrupole contributions to the angular momentum density. Finally, the description of pseudoscalar meson production in exclusive processes in terms of GPDs is discussed in the Goloskokov-Kroll model and implemented in the PARTONS framework, a software development project which will provide direct support for experiments at the Jefferson National Lab and the future Electron-Ion Collider.

Tezgin, Kemal↗

Taking aim at the wino-Higgsino plane with the LHC

In this work we explore multiple search strategies for Higgsinos and mixed Higgsino-wino states in the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) and project the results onto the ( μ , M 2 ) plane. Assuming associated production of Higgsino-like pairs with a W / Z boson, we develop a search in a channel characterized by a hadronically tagged vector boson accompanied by missing energy. We use as our template an ATLAS search for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson, but upgrade the search by implementing a joint-likelihood analysis, binning the missing transverse energy distribution, which greatly improves the search sensitivity. For Higgsino-like states (more than 96% admixture) we find sensitivity to masses up to 550 GeV. For well-mixed Higgsino-wino states (70–30% Higgsino) we still find sensitivities above 300 GeV. Using this newly proposed search, we draw a phenomenological map of the wino-Higgsino parameter space, recasting several complementary searches for disappearing tracks, soft leptons, trileptons, and hadronic diboson events in order to predict LHC coverage of the ( μ , M 2 ) mass plane at integrated luminosities of up to 3 ab − 1 . Altogether, the full run of the HL-LHC can exclude much of the “natural” ( μ , M 2 < 500 GeV ) wino-Higgsino parameter space. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

Predicting the dark matter-baryon abundance ratio

We discuss relaxation solutions to the dark matter-baryon coincidence problem in the context of QCD axion dark matter. In relaxation solutions, a moduli dynamically adjusts the mass of dark matter and baryons until their energy densities are 𝒪⁡(1) the same. Because the QCD axion is heavily connected to QCD, scanning the QCD axion mass inherently also scans the proton mass. In the context of relaxation solutions, this implies that the ratio of dark matter to baryon abundances (Ω DM /Ω B ) is a ratio of beta functions showing that these models can only accommodate discrete values of ΩDM/ΩB thereby “predicting” the ratio of the dark matter to baryon abundances. The original composite axion model has only a single integer degree of freedom 𝑁, the size of the gauge group, and we show that when 𝑁 =8 the observed value of Ω DM /Ω B =5.36 is reproduced to within its percent level error bars. Novel tests of this model include more precise measurements of Ω DM /Ω B , a better lattice determination of the dependence of the proton mass on the high energy QCD gauge coupling, as well as more traditional tests such as fifth force experiments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Anomalously Weak Solar Convection

Convection in the solar interior is thought to comprise structures on a spectrum of scales. This conclusion emerges from phenomenological studies and numerical simulations, though neither covers the proper range of dynamical parameters of solar convection. Here, we analyze observations of the wavefield in the solar photosphere using techniques of time-distance helioseismology to image flows in the solar interior. We downsample and synthesize 900 billion wavefield observations to produce 3 billion cross-correlations, which we average and fit, measuring 5 million wave travel times. Using these travel times, we deduce the underlying flow systems and study their statistics to bound convective velocity magnitudes in the solar interior, as a function of depth and spherical- harmonic degree l..Within the wavenumber band l < 60, convective velocities are 20-100 times weaker than current theoretical estimates. This constraint suggests the prevalence of a different paradigm of turbulence from that predicted by existing models, prompting the question: what mechanism transports the heat flux of a solar luminosity outwards? Advection is dominated by Coriolis forces for wavenumbers l < 60, with Rossby numbers smaller than approximately 10(exp −2) at r∕R-solar = 0.96, suggesting that the Sun may be a much faster rotator than previously thought, and that large-scale convection may be quasi-geostrophic. The fact that isorotation contours in the Sun are not coaligned with the axis of rotation suggests the presence of a latitudinal entropy gradient.

Sun↗

Moduli stabilisation and the statistics of axion physics in the landscape

String theory realisations of the QCD axion are often said to belong to the anthropic window where the decay constant is around the GUT scale and the initial misalignment angle has to be tuned close to zero. In this paper we revisit this statement by studying the statistics of axion physics in the string landscape. We take moduli stabilisation properly into account since the stabilisation of the saxions is crucial to determine the physical properties of the corresponding axionic partners. We focus on the model-independent case of closed string axions in type IIB flux compactifications and find that their decay constants and mass spectrum feature a logarithmic, instead of a power-law, distribution. In the regime where the effective field theory is under control, most of these closed string axions are ultra-light axion-like particles, while axions associated to blow-up modes can naturally play the role of the QCD axion. Hence, the number of type IIB flux vacua with a closed string QCD axion with an intermediate scale decay constant and a natural value of the misalignment angle is only logarithmically suppressed. In a recent paper we found that this correlates also with a logarithmic distribution of the supersymmetry breaking scale, providing the intriguing indication that most, if not all, of the phenomenologically interesting quantities in the string landscape might feature a logarithmic distribution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Seismic Observations of the OSIRIS-REx Sample Return Capsule Reentry: Deployment, Signal Characteristics, and Wavefield Phenomenology

Controlled spacecraft reentries from interplanetary trajectories provide rare, well-characterized hypersonic sources for advancing seismoacoustic observation techniques. Here we present seismic observations of the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule (SRC) reentry on 24 September 2023, recorded by 16 three-component nodal seismometers deployed near Eureka, Nevada, at ground distances of 7–20 km from the capsule trajectory. Air-to-ground coupled signals are detected at all stations, exhibiting impulsive onsets consistent with ballistic shock arrivals from the descending Mach cone. We characterize the seismic wavefield through signal amplitude, period, waveform cross-correlation, and array processing. Signal periods decrease systematically with increasing distance from the trajectory within the airport array, indicating that higher-frequency content becomes more prominent at greater offsets, opposite to expectations from geometric spreading and atmospheric absorption. Seismic array processing identifies frequency-dependent back-azimuth variations whose origin remains unresolved; possible contributing factors include source geometry, scattering by fine-scale layered structure in the stratosphere, and near-surface effects. These observations document a spatially complex seismic wavefield from a well-characterized hypersonic line source and provide constraints for future modeling of atmospheric propagation and air-to-ground coupling.

OSIRIS-REx↗

Micromechanisms of thermomechanical fatigue: A comparison with isothermal fatigue

Thermomechanical Fatigue (TMF) experiments were conducted on Mar-M 200, B-1900, and PWA-1480 (single crystals) over temperature ranges representative of gas turbine airfoil environments. The results were examined from both a phenomenological basis and a micromechanical basis. Depending on constituents present in the superalloy system, certain micromechanisms dominated the crack initiation process and significantly influenced the TMF lives as well as sensitivity of the material to the type TMF cycle imposed. For instance, high temperature cracking around grain boundary carbides in Mar-M 200 resulted in short in-phase TMF lives compared to either out-of-phase or isothermal lives. In single crystal PWA-1480, the type of coating applied was seen to be the controlling factor in determining sensitivity to the type of TMF cycle imposed. Micromechanisms of deformation were observed over the temperature range of interest to the TMF cycles, and provided some insight as to the differences between TMF damage mechanisms and isothermal damage mechanisms. Finally, the applicability of various life prediction models to TMF results was reviewed. Current life prediction models based on isothermal data must be modified before being generally applied to TMF.

Bill, R. C.↗

Accurate effective fluid approximation for ultralight axions

Ultralight axions are theoretically interesting and phenomenologically rich dark sector candidates, but they are difficult to track across cosmological timescales because of their fast oscillations. We resolve this problem by developing a novel method to evolve them efficiently and accurately. We first construct an exact effective fluid which at late times matches the axion but which evolves in a simple way. We then approximate this evolution with a carefully chosen equation of state and sound speed. With our scheme we find that we can obtain subpercent accuracy for the linear theory suppression of axion density fluctuations relative to that of cold dark matter without tracking even a single complete oscillation of the axion field. Furthermore, we use our technique to test other approximation schemes and to provide a fitting formula for the transfer function for the matter power spectrum in linear theory in axion models. Implementing our approach in existing cosmological axion codes is straightforward and will help unleash the potential of high-precision next-generation experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Evolving Dark Sector and the Dark Dimension Scenario

String theory naturally leads to the expectation that dark energy is not stable, and may be evolving as captured by the Swampland de Sitter conjectures. Moreover, motivated by the distance conjecture, a unification of dark sector has been proposed, where the smallness of dark energy leads to one extra dimension of micron size with dark matter being the Kaluza--Klein graviton excitations in this extra dimension. We consider the natural possibility that the radius of the dark dimension varies as the dark energy decreases, leading to the variation of the dark matter mass. This correlates the decrease of the dark energy with the variation of the dark matter mass as they depend on the variations of a scalar field $ϕ$ controlling the radius of the extra dimension. A simple realization of this idea for small range of $ϕ$ is adequately captured by choosing a potential which is locally of the form $V=V_0\ {\rm exp}(-cϕ)$ and dark matter mass $m_{\rm DM}=m_0\ {\rm exp}(-c' ϕ)$ where the sign of $ϕ$ is chosen such that $c'\geq 0$ while we have two choices for the sign of $c$ depending on whether the dark dimension expands or shrinks when the dark energy dominates. We find excellent agreement with recent experimental data from DESI DR2 combined with SN measurements (from DES, Union3 or Pantheon+) and reproduces the same significance as CPL parametrization with the added benefit of providing a natural explanation for the apparent phantom behavior ($w<-1$) reported by DESI and DES based on a physical model. DESI and SN datasets independently favor non-zero values of $c'$ and $c$, respectively, both lying within the expected $\mathcal{O}(1)$ range suggested by the Swampland criteria. Moreover, our best fit value $c'\simeq 0.05 \pm 0.01$ is remarkably consistent with the experimental upper bound of $c'\lesssim 0.2$ demanded by the lack of detection of fifth force in the dark sector.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗

Ab initio multishell valence-space Hamiltonians and the island of inversion

In the shell-model framework, valence-space Hamiltonians connecting multiple major-oscillator shells are of key interest for investigating the physics of neutron-rich nuclei, which have been the subject of intense experimental activity for decades. Here we present an extension of the ab initio valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group, which allows the derivation of such Hamiltonians nonperturbatively. Starting from initial two- and three-nucleon forces from chiral effective field theory, we then calculate properties of nuclei in the important island-of-inversion region above oxygen, so far unexplored with ab initio methods. In this work, our results in the neon and magnesium isotopes indicate the importance of neutron excitation from the $\textit{sd}$ to $\textit{pf}$ shells and ground states dominated by intruder configurations around $\textit{N}$ = 20, consistent with the conclusions from phenomenological studies. We also benchmark the excitation spectrum of 16 O with coupled-cluster theory, finding generally good agreement, and discuss implications for ground-state energies and charge radii in oxygen and calcium isotopes. Finally we outline the proper procedure for treating the longstanding issue of center-of-mass contamination, and show that with a particular choice of valence space, these spurious states can be removed successfully.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Fiber Supported Droplet Combustion-2 (FSDC-2)

Experimental results for the burning characteristics of fiber supported, liquid droplets in ambient Shuttle cabin air (21% oxygen, 1 bar pressure) were obtained from the Glove Box Facility aboard the STS-94/MSL-1 mission using the Fiber Supported Droplet Combustion - 2 (FSDC-2) apparatus. The combustion of individual droplets of methanol/water mixtures, ethanol, ethanol/water azeotrope, n-heptane, n-decane, and n-heptane/n-hexadecane mixtures were studied in quiescent air. The effects of low velocity, laminar gas phase forced convection on the combustion of individual droplets of n-heptane and n-decane were investigated and interactions of two droplet-arrays of n-heptane and n-decane droplets were also studied with and without gas phase convective flow. Initial diameters ranging from about 2mm to over 6mm were burned on 80-100 micron silicon fibers. In addition to phenomenological observations, quantitative data were obtained in the form of backlit images of the burning droplets, overall flame images, and radiometric combustion emission measurements as a function of the burning time in each experiment. In all, 124 of the 129 attempted experiments (or about twice the number of experiments originally planned for the STS-94/MSL-1 mission) were conducted successfully. The experimental results contribute new observations on the combustion properties of pure alkanes, binary alkane mixtures, and simple alcohols for droplet sizes not studied previously, including measurements on individual droplets and two-droplet arrays, inclusive of the effects of forced gas phase convection. New phenomena characterized experimentally for the first time include radiative extinction of droplet burning for alkanes and the "twin effect" which occurs as a result of interactions during the combustion of two-droplet arrays. Numerical modeling of isolated droplet combustion phenomenon has been conducted for methanol/water mixtures, n-heptane, and n-heptane/n-hexadecane mixtures, and results compare quantitatively with those found experimentally for methanol/water mixtures. Initial computational results qualitatively predict experimental results obtained for isolated n-heptane and n-heptane/n-hexadecane droplet combustion, although the effects of sooting are not yet included in the modeling work. Numerical modeling of ethanol and ethanol/water droplet burning is under development. Considerable data remain to be fully analyzed and will provide a large database for comparisons with further numerical and analytical modeling and development of future free droplet experiments aboard space platforms.

Colantonio, Renato↗

Precision Higgs couplings in neutral naturalness models: an effective field theory approach

The Higgs sector in neutral naturalness models provides a portal to the hidden sectors, and thus measurements of Higgs couplings at current and future colliders play a central role in constraining the parameter space of the model. We investigate a class of neutral naturalness models, in which the Higgs boson is a pseudo-Goldstone boson from the universal SO(N)/SO(N - 1) coset structure. Integrating out the radial mode from the spontaneous global symmetry breaking, we obtain various dimension-six operators in the Standard Model effective field theory, and calculate the low energy Higgs effective potential with radiative corrections included. We perform a χ 2 fit to the Higgs coupling precision measurements at current and future colliders and show that the new physics scale could be explored up to 2.3 (2.4) TeV without (with) the Higgs invisible decay channels at future Higgs factories. The limits are comparable to the indirect constraints obtained via electroweak precision measurements.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Correlations of conserved quantities at finite baryon density

Correlations involving the seven conserved quantities, namely energy, baryon number, electric charge, strangeness, and the three components of momentum, give rise to correlations in heavy-ion collisions. Through the utilization of a simple one-dimensional hydrodynamic model, we calculate the evolution of the entire 7×7 matrix of correlations as a function of relative spatial rapidity. This comprehensive analysis accounts for finite baryon density, which results in off-diagonal correlations between the charge-related quantities and the energy-momentum quantities. These correlations in coordinate space are subsequently transformed into correlations in momentum space using statistical weighting. As a result, the entire matrix of correlations is revealed to be highly sensitive to the equation of state, viscosity, and diffusivity.

Equations of state of nuclear matter↗