Fermi matrix element with isospin breaking

Prompted by the level of accuracy now being achieved in tests of the unitarity of the CKM matrix, we consider the possible modification of the Fermi matrix element for the β  -decay of a neutron, including possible in-medium and isospin violating corrections. While the nuclear modifications lead to very small corrections once the Behrends–Sirlin–Ademollo–Gatto theorem is respected, the effect of the u−d$u-d$ mass difference on the conclusion concerning V_ud$V_{ud}$ is no longer insignificant. Indeed, we suggest that the correction to the value of |V_ud|²+|V_us|²+|V_ub|²${|V_{ud}|}^2+{|V_{us}|}^2+{|V_{ub}|}^2$ is at the level of ¹⁰⁻⁴${10}^{-4}$.     

The neutrino mixing matrix could (almost) be diagonal with entries ±1

It is consistent with the measurement of _θ13∼0.15${\theta }_{13}\sim 0.15$ by Daya Bay to suppose that, in addition to being unitary, the neutrino mixing matrix is also almost Hermitian, and thereby only a small perturbation from diag(+1,−1,−1)$\mathrm{diag}(+1,-1,-1)$ in a suitable basis. We suggest this possibility simply as an easily falsifiable ansatz, as well as to offer a potentially useful means of organizing the experimental data. We explore the phenomenological implications of this ansatz and parametrize one type of deviation from the leading order relation |_Ve3|≈|_Vτ1|$|V_{e3}|\approx |V_{\tau 1}|$. We also emphasize the group-invariant angle between orthogonal matrices as a means of comparing to data. The discussion is purely phenomenological, without any attempt to derive the condition V^†≈V$V^{\mathrm{†}}\approx V$ from a fundamental theory.     

Thermodynamic geometry of a kagome Ising model in a magnetic field

We derived the thermodynamic curvature of the Ising model on a kagome lattice under the presence of an external magnetic field. The curvature was found to have a singularity at the critical point. We focused on the zero field case to derive thermodynamic curvature and its components near the criticality. According to standard scaling, scalar curvature R   behaves as |β−_βc|^α−2${|\beta -{\beta }_c|}^{\alpha -2}$ for α>0$\alpha >0$ where β is the inverse temperature and α is the critical exponent of specific heat. In the model considered here in which α is zero, we found that R   behaves as |β−_βc|^α−1${|\beta -{\beta }_c|}^{\alpha -1}$.     

Exact height distributions for the KPZ equation with narrow wedge initial condition

We consider the KPZ equation in one space dimension with narrow wedge initial condition, h(x,t=0)=−|x|/δ$h(x,t=0)=-|x|/\delta$, δ?1$\delta ?1$, evolving into a parabolic profile with superimposed fluctuations. Based on previous results for the weakly asymmetric simple exclusion process with step initial conditions, we obtain a determinantal formula for the one-point distribution of the solution h(x,t)$h(x,t)$ valid for any x   and t>0$t>0$. The corresponding distribution function converges in the long time limit, t→∞$t\to \infty$, to the Tracy–Widom distribution. The first order correction is a shift of order t−1/3$t^{-1/3}$. We provide numerical computations based on the exact formula.     

On DBI Textures with generalized Hopf fibration

In this Letter we show numerical existence of O(4)$O(4)$ Dirac–Born–Infeld (DBI) Textures living in (N+1)$(N+1)$ dimensional spacetime. These defects are characterized by S^N→S³$S^N\to S^3$ mapping, generalizing the well-known Hopf fibration into _πN(S³)${\pi }_N(S^3)$, for all N>3$N>3$. The nonlinear nature of DBI kinetic term provides stability against size perturbation and thus renders the defects having natural scale.     

On hydrogen transport in the first wall material of fusion devices in the presence of a broadband distribution of traps over the trapping energy

The dynamics of hydrogen dissolved in a sample with continuous distribution of traps over trapping energy φ(ε)∝exp(−αε)$\phi (\epsilon )\propto \exp (-\alpha \epsilon )$ (ε=E/T$\epsilon =E/T$ is the ratio of trapping energy E to the sample's temperature T  ) is considered. Assuming that the hydrogen density is smaller than the trap density and the most of hydrogen is trapped, we found that the dynamics of hydrogen transport can be described by either sub-diffusion or non-linear diffusion equations. Analysis of the outgassing of the sample homogeneously loaded with hydrogen gives, in the most important cases, both power-law, _ΓH∝t^−p${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{H}}\propto t^{-p}$ (p≥1/2$p\ge 1/2$) and exponential, ln(_ΓH)∝−t^α$\ln ({\Gamma }_{\mathrm{H}})\propto -t^{\alpha }$, time dependencies of the outgassing flux, _ΓH(t)${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{H}}(t)$.     

Vacuum phase transition at nonzero baryon density

It is argued that the dominant contribution to the interaction of quark–gluon plasma at moderate T?Tc$T?T_c$ is given by the nonperturbative vacuum field correlators. Basing on that nonperturbative equation of state of quark–gluon plasma is computed and in the lowest approximation expressed in terms of absolute values of Polyakov lines for quarks and gluons Lfund(T),Ladj(T)=(Lfund)^9/4$L_{\mathrm{fund}}(T),L_{\mathrm{adj}}(T)={(L_{\mathrm{fund}})}^{9/4}$ known from lattice and analytic calculations. Phase transition at any μ   is described as a transition due to vanishing of one of correlators, DE(x)$D^E(x)$, which implies the change of gluonic condensate ΔG₂$\mathrm{\Delta }{G}_2$. Resulting transition temperature Tc(μ)$T_c(\mu )$ is calculated in terms of ΔG₂$\mathrm{\Delta }{G}_2$ and Lfund(Tc)$L_{\mathrm{fund}}(T_c)$. The phase curve Tc(μ)$T_c(\mu )$ is in a good agreement with lattice data. In particular Tc(0)=0.27$T_c(0)=0.27$; 0.19; 0.17 GeV$0.17\text{ GeV}$ for nf=0,2,3$n_f=0,2,3$ and fixed ΔG₂=0.0035 GeV⁴$\mathrm{\Delta }{G}_2=0.0035{\text{ GeV}}^4$.     

Dynamical properties of a dissipative discontinuous map: A scaling investigation

The effects of dissipation on the scaling properties of nonlinear discontinuous maps are investigated by analyzing the behavior of the average squared action 〈I²〉$〈I^2〉$ as a function of the n-th iteration of the map as well as the parameters K and γ  , controlling nonlinearity and dissipation, respectively. We concentrate our efforts to study the case where the nonlinearity is large; i.e., K?1$K?1$. In this regime and for large initial action _I0?K$I_0?K$, we prove that dissipation produces an exponential decay for the average action 〈I〉$〈I〉$. Also, for _I0≅0$I_0\cong 0$, we describe the behavior of 〈I²〉$〈I^2〉$ using a scaling function and analytically obtain critical exponents which are used to overlap different curves of 〈I²〉$〈I^2〉$ onto a universal plot. We complete our study with the analysis of the scaling properties of the deviation around the average action ω.     

Exact classical solutions of nonlinear sigma models on supermanifolds

We study two-dimensional nonlinear sigma models with target spaces being the complex super-Grassmannian manifolds, that is, coset supermanifolds G(m,p|n,q)≅U(m|n)/[U(p|q)⊗U(m−p|n−q)]$G(m,p|n,q)\cong U(m|n)/[U(p|q)\otimes U(m-p|n-q)]$ for 0?p?m$0?p?m$, 0?q?n$0?q?n$ and 1?p+q$1?p+q$. The projective superspace CPm−1|n${\mathbf{CP}}^{m-1|n}$ is a special case of p=1$p=1$, q=0$q=0$. For the two-dimensional Euclidean base space, a wide class of exact classical solutions (or harmonic maps) are constructed explicitly and elementarily in terms of Gramm–Schmidt orthonormalisation procedure starting from holomorphic bosonic and fermionic supervector input functions. The construction is a generalisation of the non-super-case published more than twenty years ago by one of the present authors.     

Topology and phase transitions II. Theorem on a necessary relation

In this second paper, we prove a necessity theorem about the topological origin of phase transitions. We consider physical systems described by smooth microscopic interaction potentials VN(q)$V_N(q)$, among N   degrees of freedom, and the associated family of configuration space submanifolds _{Mv}v∈R${\{M_v\}}_{v\in \mathbb{R}}$, with Mv={q∈RN|VN(q)?v}$M_v=\{q\in {\mathbb{R}}^N|V_N(q)?v\}$. On the basis of an analytic relationship between a suitably weighed sum of the Morse indexes of the manifolds _{Mv}v∈R${\{M_v\}}_{v\in \mathbb{R}}$ and thermodynamic entropy, the theorem states that any possible unbound growth with N   of one of the following derivatives of the configurational entropy S(−)(v)=(1/N)logMv_∫dNq$S^{(-)}(v)=(1/N)\log {\int }_{M_v}{d}^{N}q$, that is of |k^∂S(−)(v)/∂vk|$|{\partial }^k{S}^{(-)}(v)/\partial v^k|$, for k=3,4$k=3,4$, can be entailed only by the weighed sum of Morse indexes. Since the unbound growth with N of one of these derivatives corresponds to the occurrence of a first- or of a second-order phase transition, and since the variation of the Morse indexes of a manifold is in one-to-one correspondence with a change of its topology, the Main Theorem of the present paper states that a phase transition necessarily stems from a topological transition in configuration space. The proof of the theorem given in the present paper cannot be done without Main Theorem of paper I.     

Partition function zeros of the antiferromagnetic Ising model on triangular lattice in the complex temperature plane for nonzero magnetic field

The grand partition functions Z(T,B)$Z(T,B)$ of the Ising model on L×L$L\times L$ triangular lattices with fully periodic boundary conditions, as a function of temperature T and magnetic field B  , are evaluated exactly for L<12$L<12$ (using microcanonical transfer matrix) and approximately for L?12$L?12$ (using Wang–Landau Monte Carlo algorithm). From Z(T,B)$Z(T,B)$, the distributions of the partition function zeros of the triangular-lattice Ising model in the complex temperature plane for real B≠0$B\ne 0$ are obtained and discussed for the first time. The critical points aN(x)$a_N(x)$ and the thermal scaling exponents yt(x)$y_t(x)$ of the triangular-lattice Ising antiferromagnet, for various values of x=e−2βB$x=e^{-2\beta B}$, are estimated using the partition function zeros.     

Right unitarity triangles,stable CP-violating phases and approximate quark–lepton complementarity

Current experimental data indicate that two unitarity triangles of the CKM quark mixing matrix V   are almost the right triangles with α≈90°$\alpha \approx 90°$. We highlight a very suggestive parametrization of V and show that its CP-violating phase ? is nearly equal to α   (i.e., ?−α≈1.1°$?-\alpha \approx 1.1°$). Both ? and α   are stable against the renormalizaton-group evolution from the electroweak scale MZ$M_Z$ to a superhigh energy scale MX$M_X$ or vice versa, and thus it is impossible to obtain α=90°$\alpha =90°$ at MZ$M_Z$ from ?=90°$?=90°$ at MX$M_X$. We conjecture that there might also exist a maximal CP-violating phase φ≈90°$\phi \approx 90°$ in the MNS lepton mixing matrix U. The approximate quark–lepton complementarity relations, which hold in the standard parametrizations of V and U, can also hold in our particular parametrizations of V and U   simply due to the smallness of |V_ub|$|V_{ub}|$ and |V_e3|$|V_{e3}|$.     

Constraints on sub-GeV hidden sector gauge bosons from a search for heavy neutrino decays

Several models of dark matter motivate the concept of hidden sectors consisting of SU_(3)C×SU_(2)L×U_(1)Y$\mathit{SU}{(3)}_C\times \mathit{SU}{(2)}_L\times U{(1)}_Y$ singlet fields. The interaction between our and hidden matter could be transmitted by new abelian U^′(1)$U^{\prime }(1)$ gauge bosons A^′$A^{\prime }$ mixing with ordinary photons. If such A^′$A^{\prime }$?s with the mass in the sub-GeV range exist, they would be produced through mixing with photons emitted in decays of η   and η^′${\eta }^{\prime }$ neutral mesons generated by the high energy proton beam in a neutrino target. The A^′$A^{\prime }$?s would then penetrate the downstream shielding and be observed in a neutrino detector via their A^′→e⁺e⁻$A^{\prime }\to e^{+}{e}^{-}$ decays. Using bounds from the CHARM neutrino experiment at CERN that searched for an excess of e⁺e⁻$e^{+}{e}^{-}$ pairs from heavy neutrino decays, the area excluding the γ−A^′$\gamma -A^{\prime }$ mixing range 10⁻⁷???10⁻⁴${10}^{-7}???{10}^{-4}$ for the A^′$A^{\prime }$ mass region 1?_MA′?500 MeV$1?M_{A^{\prime }}?500\text{MeV}$ is derived. The obtained results are also used to constrain models, where a new gauge boson X   interacts with quarks and leptons. New upper limits on the branching ratio as small as Br(η→γX)?10⁻¹⁴$\mathrm{Br}(\eta \to \gamma X)?{10}^{-14}$ and Br(η^′→γX)?10⁻¹²$\mathrm{Br}({\eta }^{\prime }\to \gamma X)?{10}^{-12}$ are obtained, which are several orders of magnitude more restrictive than the previous bounds from the Crystal Barrel experiment.     

First-order density matrices in one dimension for independent fermions and impenetrable bosons in harmonic traps

To complement existing knowledge of the density matrix γF(x,y)${\gamma }_{\mathrm{F}}(x,y)$ of independent fermions for N   particles in one dimension under harmonic confinement, the corresponding matrix γIB(x,y)${\gamma }_{\mathrm{IB}}(x,y)$ for impenetrable bosons is given for N=2$N=2$ and 3 (with the N=4$N=4$ form available also). For fermions the momentum density is then obtained and illustrated numerically for N=10$N=10$. The boson momentum density is studied analytically at high momentum p  , the coefficients of the p⁻⁴$p^{\mathrm{-4}}$ and p⁻⁶$p^{\mathrm{-6}}$ terms being tabulated for N=2–5$N=2\text{–}5$ inclusive. Their dependence on powers of N   is exhibited numerically. Finally, the functional relationship between γIB(x,y)${\gamma }_{\mathrm{IB}}(x,y)$ and γF(x,y)${\gamma }_{\mathrm{F}}(x,y)$ is formally set out and illustrated.