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DOE OSTI2016

Early-time radiation flux symmetry optimization and its effect on gas-filled hohlraum ignition targets on the National Ignition Facility

Achieving ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is tied to our ability to control and minimize deviations from sphericity of the capsule implosion. Low-mode asymmetries of the hot spot result from the combined effect of radiation drive asymmetries throughout the laser pulse and initial roughness on the capsule surface. In this paper, we report on simulations and experiments designed to assess, measure, and correct the drive asymmetries produced by the early-time (≈first 2 ns or “picket”) period of the laser pulse. The drive asymmetry during the picket is commonly thought to introduce distortions in the hot-spot shape at ignition time. However, a more subtle effect not previously considered is that it also leads to an asymmetry in shock velocity and timing, thereby increasing the fuel adiabat and reducing the margin for ignition. It is shown via hydrodynamic simulations that minimizing this effect requires that the early-time asymmetry be kept below 7.5% in the second Legendre mode (P{sub 2}), thus keeping the loss of performance margin below ≈10% for a layered implosion. Asymmetries during the picket of the laser pulse are measured using the instantaneous self-emission of a high-Z re-emission sphere in place of an ignition capsule in a hohlraum with large azimuthal diagnostic windows. Three dimensional simulations using the code HYDRA (to capture the effect of non-azimuthal hohlraum features) coupled to a cross-beam energy transfer model [Michel et al., Phys. Plasmas 17, 056305 (2010)] are used to establish the surrogacy of the re-emit target and to assess the early-time drive symmetry. Calculations using this model exhibit the same sensitivity to variations in the relative input powers between the different cones of NIF beams as measured for the “Rev5” CH target [Haan et al., Phys Plasmas 18, 051001 (2011)] and reported by Dewald et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 235001 (2013)]. The same methodology applied to recently improved implosions using different hohlraum geometries and picket powers show good agreement with experimental data.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2018

Monte Carlo calculation and verification of the geometrical factors for the NPDGamma experiment

The NPDGamma experiment measures the parity-violating asymmetry in gamma-ray emission in the capture of polarized neutrons on liquid parahydrogen. The sensitivity to the asymmetry for each detector in the array is used as a parameter in the extraction of the physics asymmetry from the measured data. The detector array is approximately cylindrically symmetric around the target and a step-wise sinusoidal function has been used for the sensitivity in the previous iteration of the NPDGamma experiment, but deviations from cylindrical symmetry necessitate the use of a Monte Carlo model to determine corrections to the geometrical factors. For the calculations, source code modifications to MCNPX were done in order to calculate the sensitivity of each cesium iodide detector to the physics asymmetry. We describe the MCNPX model and results from calculations and how the results are validated through measurement of the parity violating asymmetry of gamma-rays from neutron capture on chlorine.

Grammer, K. B.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Meridional Distribution of Aerosol Optical Thickness over the Tropical Atlantic Ocean

Previous studies showed that, over the global ocean, there is hemispheric asymmetry in aerosols and no noticeable asymmetry in cloud fraction (CF). In the current study, we focus on the tropical Atlantic (30 Deg N 30 Deg S) which is characterized by significant amounts of Saharan dust dominating other aerosol species over the North Atlantic. We found that, by contrast to the global ocean, over a limited area such as the tropical Atlantic, strong meridional asymmetry in dust aerosols was accompanied by meridional CF asymmetry. During the 10-year study period (July 2002 June 2012), NASA Aerosol Reanalysis (aka MERRAero) showed that, when the meridional asymmetry in dust aerosol optical thickness (AOT) was the most pronounced (particularly in July), dust AOT averaged separately over the tropical North Atlantic was one order of magnitude higher than dust AOT averaged over the tropical South Atlantic. In the presence of such strong meridional asymmetry in dust AOT in July, CF averaged separately over the tropical North Atlantic exceeded CF averaged over the tropical South Atlantic by 20%. Our study showed significant cloud cover, up to 0.8 - 0.9, in July along the Saharan Air Layer which contributed to above-mentioned meridional CF asymmetry. Both Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) measurements and MERRAero data were in agreement on seasonal variations in meridional aerosol asymmetry. Meridional asymmetry in total AOT over the Atlantic was the most pronounced between March and July, when dust presence over the North Atlantic was maximal. In September and October, there was no noticeable meridional asymmetry in total AOT and meridional CF distribution over the tropical Atlantic was almost symmetrical.

Cloud Fraction↗

DOE OSTI2020

High precision 5 MeV Mott polarimeter

We report on the design and performance of a Mott polarimeter optimized for a nominal 5-MeV electron beam from the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) injector. The rf time structure of this beam allows the use of time of flight in the scattered electron detection, making it possible to cleanly isolate those detected electrons that originate from the scattering foil, and resulting in measured scattering asymmetries which are exceptionally stable over a broad range of beam conditions, beam currents, and foil thicknesses. In two separate series of measurements from two different photocathode electron sources, we have measured the Mott scattering asymmetries produced by an approximately 86% transversely polarized electron beam incident on ten gold foils with nominal thicknesses between 50 and 1000 nm. The statistical uncertainty of the measured asymmetry from each foil is below 0.25%. Within this statistical precision, the measured asymmetry was unaffected by ±1-mm shifts in the beam position on the target foil, and by beam current changes and dead-time effects over a wide range of beam currents. The overall uncertainty of our beam polarization measurement, arising from the uncertainty in the value of the scattering asymmetry at zero foil thickness as determined from our fits to the measured asymmetries versus scattering foil thicknesses, the estimated systematic effects, and the (dominant) uncertainty from the calculation of the theoretical Sherman function, is 0.61%. A simulation of the polarimeter using geant4 has confirmed that double scattering in the target foil is the sole source of the dependence of the measured asymmetry on foil thickness, and gives a result for the asymmetry versus foil thickness in good agreement with both our measurements and a simple calculation. Future measurements at different beam energies and with target foils of different atomic numbers will seek to bound uncertainties from small effects such as radiative corrections to the calculation of the polarimeter analyzing power. A simultaneous high-precision measurement of the beam polarization with a different polarimeter, AESOP (Accurate Electron Spin Optical Polarimeter), under development at the University of Nebraska, clearly possible at the CEBAF accelerator, will allow a high-precision comparison of our measured asymmetries with theoretical calculations of the Mott analyzing power. Finally, the improved precision of the current Mott polarimeter along with similar improvements to other Jefferson Lab polarimeters warrants another precision comparison of all of these polarimeters when measuring a beam of the same polarization.

Grames, J. M. (ORCID:0000000193908752)↗

DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of the proton form factor ratio at low momentum transfer

Experiment E08-007-II measured the proton elastic form factor ratio μG E =G M in the momentum transfer range of Q 2 ~ 0.02 - 0.08 GeV 2 , the lowest ever measured by polarization transfer techniques. The experiment was performed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia, USA during 2012. A polarized electron beam with energies of 1.1, 1.7, and 2.2 GeV was elastically scattered off a polarized solid NH 3 target. The asymmetries between the cross section of positive and negative helicity states of the beam were determined. These asymmetries can be used to determine the form factor ratio. In this thesis, we present the asymmetry analysis of the experiment, discuss the main challenges and show preliminary results for part of the data. Preliminary asymmetries indicate an increase in the form factor ratio above unity. However, a complete analysis is required before any conclusion can be made. Further analysis is ongoing, and final asymmetry results and form factor extraction is expected during 2017. We also present first results for 14 N asymmetries for elastic and quasi-elastic scattering. The measured asymmetries are in agreement with the shell model approximation, within the low accuracy of the measurement. A change in the asymmetry sign between the elastic and the quasi-elastic processes is seen, and should motivate further theoretical studies. These experimental asymmetries will also be useful for systematic studies of other experiments using polarized NH 3 targets.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2016

Detailed high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of OMEGA separated reactants inertial confinement fusion experiments

Here, we present results from the comparison of high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) simulations with data from the implosions of inertial confinement fusion capsules with separated reactants performed on the OMEGA laser facility. Each capsule, referred to as a “CD Mixcap,” is filled with tritium and has a polystyrene (CH) shell with a deuterated polystyrene (CD) layer whose burial depth is varied. In these implosions, fusion reactions between deuterium and tritium ions can occur only in the presence of atomic mix between the gas fill and shell material. The simulations feature accurate models for all known experimental asymmetries and do not employ any adjustable parameters to improve agreement with experimental data. Simulations are performed with the RAGE radiation-hydrodynamics code using an Implicit Large Eddy Simulation (ILES) strategy for the hydrodynamics. We obtain good agreement with the experimental data, including the DT/TT neutron yield ratios used to diagnose mix, for all burial depths of the deuterated shell layer. Additionally, simulations demonstrate good agreement with converged simulations employing explicit models for plasma diffusion and viscosity, suggesting that the implicit sub-grid model used in ILES is sufficient to model these processes in these experiments. In our simulations, mixing is driven by short-wavelength asymmetries and longer-wavelength features are responsible for developing flows that transport mixed material towards the center of the hot spot. Mix material transported by this process is responsible for most of the mix (DT) yield even for the capsule with a CD layer adjacent to the tritium fuel. Consistent with our previous results, mix does not play a significant role in TT neutron yield degradation; instead, this is dominated by the displacement of fuel from the center of the implosion due to the development of turbulent instabilities seeded by long-wavelength asymmetries. Through these processes, the long-wavelength asymmetries degrade TT yield more than the DT yield and thus bring DT/TT neutron yield ratios into agreement with experiment. Finally, we present a detailed comparison of the flows in 2D and 3D simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2014

e08-008: Exclusive study of deuteron electrodisintegration near threshold

The study of threshold electrodisintegration of and elastic scattering on the only stable two nucleon system, the deuteron, can reveal specific aspects of the N-N interaction. The simplicity of electrodisintegration along with the simplicity of the deuteron makes this study most appropriate for revealing these interactions. By using an incident beam of polarized electrons and by measuring the polarization of the recoiling proton, the ratio of the electric (G {sub E }) and magnetic (G {sub M }) form factors for d( e-vector ,e{sup ′} p-vector ) (and p( e-vector ,e{sup ′} p-vector )) reactions may be extracted. This experiment was conducted in Hall A at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia using a beam of polarized electrons provided by the CEBAF Accelerator incident on a liquid deuterium (and hydrogen) target. The scattered electron and the recoiling (polarized) proton were detected using the High Resolution Spectrometers of Hall A. To determine the polarization of the recoil proton, an analyzing material was placed perpendicular to the protons trajectory through the spectrometer, in front of a set of straw chambers. Due to the spin-orbit interactions involved in the scattering of the proton from the analyzer material, asymmetries seen in the distribution of events detected by these straw chambers reveal the polarization of the recoil proton. By tracking the spin procession of the polarized protons from the straw chambers back to the target, the transferred and induced polarization of the proton may be determined. The (double-spin) asymmetries observed in the straw chambers will first be studied for the well-known elastic p( e-vector ,e{sup ′} p-vector ) process and compared to the asymmetries for d( e-vector ,e{sup ′} p-vector )n(x{sub B}=1). The analysis will then be repeated to determine how these asymmetries change with increasing x {sub B }(to the kinematic limit for deuteron electrodisintegration).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Laser and Electron Beam Technology for Parity Violating Electron Scattering Measurements

Parity violating electron scattering (PVES) is a precision tool used in a broad program of experiments which include studying the structure of protons and nuclei and searching for new Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics. In parity violation electron scattering experiments, a longitudinally polarized electron beam is incident on an unpolarized target. The sign of the longitudinal polarization is changed (making a parity transformation), and the fractional rate difference between right and left helicity states, dσ R and dσ L , is measured. An interference between the electromagnetic and weak amplitudes, M γ and M Z respectively, gives rise to a parity violating asymmetry A PV = $\frac{σ_{R}-σ_{L}}{σ_{R}-σ_{L}}$, defined by the fractional rate difference between right and left helicity states. A PV can be measured to extraordinarily high precision and is proportional to the ratio of the weak and electromagnetic amplitudes. This thesis highlights three such PVES experiments as well as a new polarized beam source which will improve their precision. The PVES experiments are PREX-II, MOLLER, and a 12 C transverse asymmetry measurement at Mainz. Chapters 1-3 of this thesis cover introductions to MOLLER and PREX-II, Chapter 4 contains the results of the 12 C transverse asymmetry measurement at Mainz, and Chapters 5-6 contain the original work performed by this author. PREX-II, the Lead Radius Experiment, measures the weak skin of the 208 Pb nucleus, provides a clean measurement of R N , the RMS radius of neutrons in a heavy nucleus, and constrains the equation of state (EOS) of highly dense matter which is important for describing neutron star structure, heavy ion collisions, and atomic parity violation experiments. The 12 C transverse asymmetry measurement at Mainz, and the future Mainz program of measuring the 208 Pb transverse asymmetry as well, addresses an important systematic correction for PREX and other PVES experiments preformed with heavy-nuclei. MOLLER (Measurement Of Lepton Lepton Electroweak Reaction) is an extremely precise PVES experiment searching for new neutral currents in electron-electron scattering. It’s called MOLLER because it will measure A PV in the Moller ee scattering process, and will infer the weak charge of the electron $Q^e_W$ to extremely high precision. MOLLER is sensitive to new Beyond the Standard Model physics at MeV and multi-TeV scales and will serve as an indirect complementary measurement to direct searches at high energy colliders. To achieve high precision measurements on A PV for MOLLER, we have developed an innovative Rubidium Titanyl Phosphate (RTP) Pockels cell in the polarized source to satisfy both statistical and systematic requirements as regards the electron beam produced. This new ultra-fast RTP cell design uses electric field gradients to provide unprecedented control over helicity correlated beam asymmetries and has been demonstrated to be capable of producing precisely controlled polarized electron beam at Jefferson Laboratory, controlling beam steering down to the nm-level. The precision reached with the RTP cell offers sufficient control over and minimization of helicity correlated beam asymmetries to perform PREX II. The RTP Pockels cell system will provide fast flipping and suitable control helicity correlated beam asymmetries and parity quality beam for the future MOLLER experiment, providing an unprecedented precision on the electron weak charge and electroweak mixing angle.

Palatchi, Caryn↗

DOE OSTI2017

Asymmetric Response of the Equatorial Pacific SST to Climate Warming and Cooling

The response of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to heat fluxes of equal amplitude but opposite sign is investigated using the Community Earth System Model (CESM). Results show a strong asymmetry in SST changes. In the eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP), the warming responding to the positive forcing exceeds the cooling response to the negative forcing, whereas in the western equatorial Pacific (WEP) it is the other way around and the cooling surpasses the warming. This leads to a zonal dipole asymmetric structure, with positive values in the east and negative values in the west. A surface heat budget analysis suggests that the SST asymmetry mainly results from the oceanic horizontal advection and vertical entrainment, with both of their linear and nonlinear components playing a role. For the linear component, its change appears to be more significant over the EEP (WEP) in the positive (negative) forcing scenario, favoring the seesaw pattern of the SST asymmetry. For the nonlinear component, its change acts to warm (cool) the EEP (WEP) in both scenarios, also favorable for the development of the SST asymmetry. Additional experiments with a slab ocean confirm the dominant role of ocean dynamical processes for this SST asymmetry. The net surface heat flux, in contrast, works to reduce the SST asymmetry through its shortwave radiation and latent heat flux components, with the former being related to the nonlinear relationship between SST and convection, and the latter being attributable to Newtonian damping and air–sea stability effects. FInally, the suppressing effect of shortwave radiation on SST asymmetry is further verified by partially coupled overriding experiments.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2023

Neutron Skin Measurement of 208Pb and 48Ca Using Parity Violating Electron Scattering

Parity-violating electron scattering experiments (PVES) provides a clean probe of neutron densities that is model independent and free from strong interaction uncertainties in interpretation. The PREX-2 and CREX experiments were run in 2019 and 2020 at Jefferson laboratory measured the nucleon skin thickness, the difference between the r.m.s. neutron radius Rn and the r.m.s. proton radius Rp, of 208Pb and 48Ca via parity violating electroweak asymmetry in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons. PREX-2 experiment was performed with 950 MeV electrons scattered at a 5¿ angle with Q2 = 0.00616 ± 0.00004 (GeV/c)2, while CREX used 2182 MeV electrons at the same angle with Q2 = 0.0297 ± 0.0002 (GeV/c)2. For PREX-2 the measured asymmetry was AP V = 550 ± 16 (stat.) ± (syst.) ppb, which corresponds to Rskin = 0.278 ± 0.078 (exp.) ± 0.012 (theo.) fm. The CREX asymmetry was AP V = 2668 ± 106 (stat.) ± 40 (syst.) ppb, which corresponds to Rskin = 0.121 ± 0.026 (exp.) ±0.024 (model) fm. One of the crucial systematic uncertainty that PREX-2 and CREX were sensitive to was the non-parity violating asymmetries that resulted from the helicity correlated false asymmetries in the polarized electron beam. There was a lot of work put towards understanding and suppressing the asymmetries arising from these effects. The parity violating asymmetry measurement required a very precise determination of the electron beam polarization. To accurately determine the beam polarization, a Compton polarimeter was used during both PREX-2 and CREX. A careful alignment of the laser to the Fabry-Perot cavity, data analysis and systematic control was employed to get a precise beam polarization result for the experiments. The PREX-2 measurement has broad implications for increasing our knowledge about neutron star structure and the equation of state of nuclear matter. The combined PREX and CREX results will have implications for future energy density functional calculations and the theory of nuclear structure.

Premathilake, Sachinthani↗

DOE OSTI2015

Asymmetric dark matter and CP violating scatterings in a UV complete model

We explore possible asymmetric dark matter models using CP violating scatterings to generate an asymmetry. In particular, we introduce a new model, based on DM fields coupling to the SM Higgs and lepton doublets, a neutrino portal, and explore its UV completions. We study the CP violation and asymmetry formation of this model, to demonstrate that it is capable of producing the correct abundance of dark matter and the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry. Crucial to achieving this is the introduction of interactions which violate CP with a T{sup 2} dependence.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Cogenerating and pre-annihilating dark matter by a new gauge interaction in a unified model

Grand unified theories based on large groups (with rank ≥6) are a natural context for dark matter models. They contain Standard-Model-singlet fermions that could be dark matter candidates, and can contain new non-abelian interactions whose sphalerons convert baryons, leptons, and dark matter into each other, “cogenerating' a dark matter asymmetry comparable to the baryon asymmetry. In this paper it is shown that the same non-abelian interactions can “pre-annihilate' the symmetric component of heavy dark matter particles χ, which then decay late into light stable dark matter particles ζ that inherit their asymmetry. We derive cosmological constraints on the parameters of such models. The mass of χ must be <3000 TeV and their decays must happen when 2×10{sup −7}<T{sub dec}/m{sub χ}<10{sup −4}. It is shown that such decays can come from d=5 operators with coefficients of order 1/M{sub GUT} or 1/M{sub Pℓ}. We present a simple realization of our model based on the group SU(7).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Coherent π{sup 0}-photoproduction on the deuteron near the η-production threshold including polarization observables

Coherent π{sup 0}-photoproduction on the deuteron including polarization observables is studied in the energy region near the η-production threshold at backward center-of-mass angles of the outgoing pion. This work is motivated by the measurements of the CLAS Collaboration at Jefferson Lab, where a cusp-like structure in the energy dependence of the differential cross section has been observed at extremely backward pion angles. The present approach is based on the impulse approximation and first-order rescattering diagrams with intermediate production of both π- and η-mesons. Numerical results for unpolarized cross sections, the linear photon asymmetry (Σ), the vector (T{sub 11}) and tensor (T{sub 2M}, M=0, 1, 2) deuteron target asymmetries, and the double polarization E-asymmetry are predicted and compared with available experimental data and other theoretical models. The effect of first-order rescattering is found to be much larger in spin asymmetries than in the unpolarized cross sections. It reaches on average about 40% in the tensor target and E asymmetries. Compared to the experimental data from CLAS Collaboration, sizable discrepancies are found. This is not the case for the linear photon asymmetry, for which a better comparison with the data from YerPhI Collaboration is obtained.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2016

Three-dimensional simulations of low foot and high foot implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility

In order to achieve the several hundred Gbar stagnation pressures necessary for inertial confinement fusion ignition, implosion experiments on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) [E. I. Moses et al., Phys. Plasmas 16, 041006 (2009)] require the compression of deuterium-tritium fuel layers by a convergence ratio as high as forty. Such high convergence implosions are subject to degradation by a range of perturbations, including the growth of small-scale defects due to hydrodynamic instabilities, as well as longer scale modulations due to radiation flux asymmetries in the enclosing hohlraum. Due to the broad range of scales involved, and also the genuinely three-dimensional (3D) character of the flow, accurately modeling NIF implosions remains at the edge of current simulation capabilities. This paper describes the current state of progress of 3D capsule-only simulations of NIF implosions aimed at accurately describing the performance of specific NIF experiments. Current simulations include the effects of hohlraum radiation asymmetries, capsule surface defects, the capsule support tent and fill tube, and use a grid resolution shown to be converged in companion two-dimensional simulations. The results of detailed simulations of low foot implosions from the National Ignition Campaign are contrasted against results for more recent high foot implosions. While the simulations suggest that low foot performance was dominated by ablation front instability growth, especially the defect seeded by the capsule support tent, high foot implosions appear to be dominated by hohlraum flux asymmetries, although the support tent still plays a significant role. For both implosion types, the simulations show reasonable, though not perfect, agreement with the data and suggest that a reliable predictive capability is developing to guide future implosions toward ignition.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2016

Integrated modeling of cryogenic layered highfoot experiments at the NIF

Integrated radiation hydrodynamic modeling in two dimensions, including the hohlraum and capsule, of layered cryogenic HighFoot Deuterium-Tritium (DT) implosions on the NIF successfully predicts important data trends. The model consists of a semi-empirical fit to low mode asymmetries and radiation drive multipliers to match shock trajectories, one dimensional inflight radiography, and time of peak neutron production. Application of the model across the HighFoot shot series, over a range of powers, laser energies, laser wavelengths, and target thicknesses predicts the neutron yield to within a factor of two for most shots. The Deuterium-Deuterium ion temperatures and the DT down scattered ratios, ratio of (10–12)/(13–15) MeV neutrons, roughly agree with data at peak fuel velocities <340 km/s and deviate at higher peak velocities, potentially due to flows and neutron scattering differences stemming from 3D or capsule support tent effects. These calculations show a significant amount alpha heating, 1–2.5× for shots where the experimental yield is within a factor of two, which has been achieved by increasing the fuel kinetic energy. This level of alpha heating is consistent with a dynamic hot spot model that is matched to experimental data and as determined from scaling of the yield with peak fuel velocity. Lastly, these calculations also show that low mode asymmetries become more important as the fuel velocity is increased, and that improving these low mode asymmetries can result in an increase in the yield by a factor of several.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2013

THE STELLAR NUMBER DENSITY DISTRIBUTION IN THE LOCAL SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD IS NORTH-SOUTH ASYMMETRIC

We study the number density distribution of a sample of K and M dwarf stars, matched north and south of the Galactic plane within a distance of 2 kpc from the Sun, using observations from the Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We determine distances using the photometric parallax method, and in this context systematic effects exist which could potentially impact the determination of the number density profile with height from the Galactic plane—and ultimately affect a number density north-south asymmetry. They include: (1) the calibration of the various photometric parallax relations, (2) the ability to separate dwarfs from giants in our sample, (3) the role of stellar population differences such as age and metallicity, (4) the ability to determine the offset of the Sun from the Galactic plane, and (5) the correction for reddening from dust in the Galactic plane, though our stars are at high Galactic latitudes. We find the various analyzed systematic effects to have a negligible impact on our observed asymmetry, and using a new and larger sample of stars we confirm and refine the earlier discovery of Widrow et al. of a significant Galactic north-south asymmetry in the stellar number density distribution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Hypermagnetic helicity evolution in early universe: leptogenesis and hypermagnetic diffusion

We study hypermagnetic helicity and lepton asymmetry evolution in plasma of the early Universe before the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) accounting for chirality flip processes via inverse Higgs decays and sphaleron transitions which violate the left lepton number and wash out the baryon asymmetry of the Universe (BAU). In the scenario where the right electron asymmetry supports the BAU alone through the conservation law B/3−L{sub eR} = const at temperatures T > T{sub RL} ≅ 10 TeV the following universe cooling leads to the production of a non-zero left lepton (electrons and neutrinos) asymmetry. This is due to the Higgs decays becoming more faster when entering the equilibrium at T = T{sub RL} with the universe expansion, Γ{sub RL} ∼ T > H ∼ T{sup 2}, resulting in the parallel evolution of both the right and the left electron asymmetries at T < T{sub RL} through the corresponding Abelian anomalies in SM in the presence of a seed hypermagnetic field. The hypermagnetic helicity evolution proceeds in a self-consistent way with the lepton asymmetry growth. The role of sphaleron transitions decreasing the left lepton number turns out to be negligible in given scenario. The hypermagnetic helicity can be a supply for the magnetic one in Higgs phase assuming a strong seed hypermagnetic field in symmetric phase.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Scalar triplet flavored leptogenesis: a systematic approach

Type-II seesaw is a simple scenario in which Majorana neutrino masses are generated by the exchange of a heavy scalar electroweak triplet. When endowed with additional heavy fields, such as right-handed neutrinos or extra triplets, it also provides a compelling framework for baryogenesis via leptogenesis. We derive in this context the full network of Boltzmann equations for studying leptogenesis in the flavored regime. To this end we determine the relations which hold among the chemical potentials of the various particle species in the thermal bath. This takes into account the standard model Yukawa interactions of both leptons and quarks as well as sphaleron processes which, depending on the temperature, may be classified as faster or slower than the Universe Hubble expansion. We find that when leptogenesis is enabled by the presence of an extra triplet, lepton flavor effects allow the production of the B-L asymmetry through lepton number conserving CP asymmetries. This scenario becomes dominant as soon as the triplets couple more to leptons than to standard model scalar doublets. In this case, the way the B-L asymmetry is created through flavor effects is novel: instead of invoking the effect of L-violating inverse decays faster than the Hubble rate, it involves the effect of L-violating decays slower than the Hubble rate. We also analyze the more general situation where lepton number violating CP asymmetries are present and actively participate in the generation of the B-L asymmetry, pointing out that as long as L-violating triplet decays are still in thermal equilibrium when the triplet gauge scattering processes decouple, flavor effects can be striking, allowing to avoid all washout suppression effects from seesaw interactions. In this case the amount of B-L asymmetry produced is limited only by a universal gauge suppression effect, which nevertheless goes away for large triplet decay rates.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗