Chelating agent effects in the synthesis of mesoscopic-size superconducting particles

Several routes and procedures have been used in these last years as an effort to achieve single-phase mesoscopic-size superconducting samples. In this paper, the effects of using citric acid (CA), tartaric acid (TA) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) as chelating agents and ethylene-glycol (EG) as polyhydroxy alcohol were studied in order to establish conditions to avoid the occurrence of BaCO(3) undesirable secondary phase in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) (YBCO). Thermal evolution of intermediate compounds formed during the calcinations process by the use of different chelating agents was traced using thermogravimetric and spectroscopic methods. The obtained results indicated that the polymer breakdown of samples prepared using EDTA occurs at higher temperatures than others chelating agents and also reduces the occurrence of BaCO(3) secondary phase as studied by X-ray diffraction measurements. Furthermore, the magnetic response of the mesoscopic-size YBCO specimens obtained was verified showing that samples present different superconducting response.

Mixing and motion of rice particles in a rotating drum

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Bounds on direct couplings of superheavy metastable particles to the inflaton field from ultra high energy cosmic ray events

Top-down models for the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR's) propose that these events are the decay products of relic superheavy metastable particles, usually called X particles. These particles can be produced in the reheating period following the inflationary epoch of the early Universe. We obtain constraints on some parameters such as the lifetime and direct couplings of the X-particle to the inflaton field from the requirement that they are responsible for the observed UHECR flux.

Concerning CP violation in 331 models

We consider the implementation of CP violation in the context of 331 models. In particular we treat a model where only three scaler triplets are needed in order to give all fermions a mass while keeping neutrino massless. In this case all CP violation is provided by the scalar sector.

Relic abundance of mass-varying cold dark matter particles

In models of coupled dark energy and dark matter the mass of the dark matter particle depends on the cosmological evolution of the dark energy field. In this Letter we exemplify in a simple model the effects of this mass variation on the relic abundance of cold dark matter. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Binding three-particles at the edge of stability

The stability threshold for an Efimov state is determined as a function of the physical scales of the system. Light exotic nuclei and triatomic molecules are investigated. Scaling, universality, and renormalization-group invariance properties are discussed in this context.

Exact renormalization of massless QED(2)

We perform the exact renormalization of two-dimensional massless gauge theories. Using these exact results we discuss the cluster property and confinement in both the anomalous and chiral Schwinger models.

Search for neutral, long-lived particles decaying into two muons in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

We present a search for a neutral particle, pair produced in pp collisions at root s=1.96 TeV, which decays into two muons and lives long enough to travel at least 5 cm before decaying. The analysis uses approximate to 380 pb(-1) of data recorded with the D0 detector. The background is estimated to be about one event. No candidates are observed, and limits are set on the pair-production cross section times branching fraction into dimuons + X for such particles. For a mass of 10 GeV and lifetime of 4x10(-11) s, we exclude values greater than 0.14 pb (95% C.L.). These results are used to limit the interpretation of NuTeV's excess of dimuon events.

Search for particles decaying into a Z boson and a photon in p(p)over-bar collisions at root s=1.96 TeV

We present the results of a search for a new particle X produced in p (p) over bar collisions at root s- = 1.96 TeV and subsequently decaying to Z gamma. The search uses 0.3 fb(-1) of data collected with the DO detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We set limits on the production cross section times the branching fraction sigma(p (p) over bar -> X) x B(X -> Z gamma) that range from 0.4 to 3.5 pb at the 95% C.L. for X with invariant masses between 100 and 1000 GeV/c(2), over a wide range of X decay widths. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermodynamics of quasi-particles

We present in this work a generalization of the solution of Gorenstein and Yang to the inconsistency problem of thermodynamics for systems with a temperature dependent Hamiltonian. We show that there are, in principle, an infinite number of solutions.

Flavor changing interaction models and strictly massless neutrinos

It is well known that experimental data, coming from solar and atmospheric neutrino detectors and also from experiments which look for neutrino oscillations. strongly suggest that neutrinos must have a mass different from zero. However at least the solar and/or the atmospheric neutrino data can be related to new flavor changing interactions beyond the standard model instead to the finite mass of neutrinos. This new physics may induce i) extra effects in neutrino-matter interactions, ii) CP violation in pion and lepton decays and, iii) muonium to antimuonium transition. We give two examples of models in which all those effects arise even with strictly massless neutrinos: the 331 model and multi-Higgs doublet extension of the standard model (mHDM) with flavor changing neutral currents in the charged lepton sector. It means that in this kind of models if neutrino masses were eventually needed, they will be independent of the parameters of the new interactions.

Renormalized new solutions for the massless Thirring model

We present a nonperturbative study of the (1 + 1)-dimensional massless Thirring model by using path integral methods. The regularization ambiguities - coming from the computation of the fermionic determinant - allow to find new solution types for the model. At quantum level the Ward identity for the 1PI 2-point function for the fermionic current separates such solutions in two phases or sectors, the first one has a local gauge symmetry that is implemented at quantum level and the other one without this symmetry. The symmetric phase is a new solution which is unrelated to the previous studies of the model and, in the nonsymmetric phase there are solutions that for some values of the ambiguity parameter are related to well-known solutions of the model. We construct the Schwinger-Dyson equations and the Ward identities. We make a detailed analysis of their UV divergence structure and, after, we perform a nonperturbative regularization and renormalization of the model.

Massless DKP field in a Lyra manifold

Massless scalar and vector fields are coupled to the Lyra geometry by means of the Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau (DKP) theory. Using the Schwinger variational principle, the equations of motion, conservation laws and gauge symmetry are implemented. We find that the scalar field couples to the anholonomic part of the torsion tensor, and the gauge symmetry of the electromagnetic field does not break by the coupling with torsion.

Connection between UHECR's and supermassive relic particles

One of the models proposed for the origin of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR's) suggests that these events are the decay products of relic superheavy metastable particles, which we call S particles. These particles can be produced in the reheating period following the inflationary epoch of the early Universe. We study this possibility and obtain constraints on some parameters such as the lifetime and direct couplings of the X-particle to the inflaton field from the requirement that they are responsible for the observed UHECR flux.

Lepton masses in a supersymmetric 3-3-1 model

We consider the mass generation for both charginos and neutralinos in a 3-3-1 supersymmetric model. We show that R-parity breaking interactions leave the electron and one of the neutrinos massless at the tree level. However, the same interactions induce masses for these particles at the 1-loop level. Unlike the similar situation in the minimal supersymmetric standard model, the masses of the neutralinos are related to the masses of the charginos.