arXiv subjects

Benjamin J. Owen

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin J. Owen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Light-quark contributions to the magnetic form factor of the Lambda(1405)

In a recent study of the Lambda(1405), the suppression of the strange-quark contribution to the magnetic form factor was interpreted as the discovery of a dominant antikaon-nucleon composition for this low-lying state. We confirm this result by calculating the light u- and d-quark contributions to the Lambda(1405) magnetic form factor in lattice QCD in order to determine the extent to which their contributions support this exotic molecular description. Drawing on the recent graded-symmetry approach for the flavor-singlet components of the Lambda(1405), the separation of connected and disconnected contributions is performed in both the flavor-octet and singlet representations. The relationship between light-quark contributions to the Lambda(1405) magnetic form factor and the connected contributions of the nucleon magnetic form factors is established and compared with lattice calculations of the same quantities, confirming the KN molecular structure of the Lambda(1405) in lattice QCD.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2016

Cross-correlation method for intermediate-duration gravitational wave searches associated with gamma-ray bursts

Several models of gamma-ray burst progenitors suggest that the gamma-ray event may be followed by gravitational wave signals of $10^3$-$10^4$ seconds duration (possibly accompanying the so-called X-ray afterglow "plateaus"). We term these signals "intermediate-duration" because they are shorter than continuous wave signals but longer than signals traditionally considered as gravitational wave bursts, and are difficult to detect with most burst and continuous wave methods. The cross-correlation technique proposed by [S. Dhurandhar et al., Phys. Rev. D 77, 082001 (2008)], which so far has been used only on continuous wave signals, in principle unifies both burst and continuous wave (as well as matched filtering and stochastic background) methods, reducing them to different choices of which data to correlate on which time scales. Here we perform the first tuning of this cross-correlation technique to intermediate-duration signals. We derive theoretical estimates of sensitivity in Gaussian noise in different limits of the cross-correlation formalism, and compare them to the performance of a prototype search code on simulated Gaussian-noise data. We estimate that the code is likely able to detect \emph{some} classes of intermediate-duration signals (such as the ones described in [A. Corsi \& P. Mészáros, Astrophys. J., 702, 1171 (2009)]) from sources located at astrophysically-relevant distances of several tens of Mpc.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Lattice baryon spectroscopy with multi-particle interpolators

In 2 + 1 flavour lattice QCD the spectrum of the nucleon is presented for both parities using local meson-baryon type interpolating fields in addition to the standard three-quark nucleon interpolators. The role of local five-quark operators in extracting the nucleon excited state spectrum via correlation matrix techniques is explored on dynamical gauge fields with $m_π$ = 293 MeV, leading to the observation of a state consistent with the S-wave $Nπ$ scattering threshold in the negative-parity sector. Furthermore, the robustness of the variational technique is examined by studying the spectrum on a variety of operator bases. Fitting a single-state ansatz to the eigenstate-projected correlators provides robust energies for the low-lying spectrum that are essentially invariant despite being extracted from qualitatively different bases.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2015

Transition of $ρ\rightarrow πγ$ in Lattice QCD

With the ongoing experimental interest in exploring the excited hadron spectrum, evaluations of the matrix elements describing the formation and decay of such states via radiative processes provide us with an important connection between theory and experiment. In particular, determinations obtained via the lattice allow for a direct comparison of QCD-expectation with experimental observation. Here we present the first light quark determination of the $ρ\rightarrow πγ$ transition form factor from lattice QCD using dynamical quarks. Using the PACS-CS 2+1 flavour QCD ensembles we are able to obtain results across a range of masses, to the near physical value of $m_π= 157$ MeV. An important aspect of our approach is the use of variational methods to isolate the desired QCD eigenstate. For low-lying states, such techniques facilitate the removal of excited state contributions. In principle the method enables one to consider arbitrary eigenstates. We find our results are in accord with the non-relativistic quark model for heavy masses. In moving towards the light-quark regime we observe an interesting quark mass dependence, contrary to the quark model expectation. Comparison of our light-quark result with experimental determinations highlights a significant discrepancy suggesting that disconnected sea-quark loop contributions may play a significant role in fully describing this process.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2015

Lattice QCD Evidence that the Lambda(1405) Resonance is an Antikaon-Nucleon Molecule

For almost 50 years the structure of the Lambda(1405) resonance has been a mystery. Even though it contains a heavy strange quark and has odd parity, its mass is lower than any other excited spin-1/2 baryon. Dalitz and co-workers speculated that it might be a molecular state of an antikaon bound to a nucleon. However, a standard quark-model structure is also admissible. Although the intervening years have seen considerable effort, there has been no convincing resolution. Here we present a new lattice QCD simulation showing that the strange magnetic form factor of the Lambda(1405) vanishes, signaling the formation of an antikaon-nucleon molecule. Together with a Hamiltonian effective-field-theory model analysis of the lattice QCD energy levels, this strongly suggests that the structure is dominated by a bound antikaon-nucleon component. This result clarifies that not all states occurring in nature can be described within a simple quark model framework and points to the existence of exotic molecular meson-nucleon bound states.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2015

Microphysics of Neutron Star Outer Envelopes in the Periodized, Magnetic Thomas-Fermi Model

Static and dynamic properties of low density outer envelopes of neutron stars are calculated within the nonlinear magnetic Thomas-Fermi model, assuming degenerate electrons. A novel domain decomposition enables proper description of lattice symmetry and may be seen as a prototype for the general class of problems involving nonlinear charge screening of periodic, quasi-low-dimensionality structures, e.g. liquid crystals. We describe a scalable implementation of the method using Hypre. Phase velocity of long wavelength transverse phonons is found to be a factor of 5-7 larger than in the corresponding Coulomb crystal model, which could have implications for low temperature phonon-mediated thermal conductivity. Other findings include $c'<0$ elastic instabilities for both bcc and fcc lattices, reminiscent of the situation in some light actinides, and suggestive of a symmetry-lowering transition to a tetragonal or orthorhombic lattice.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2014

On the Structure of the Lambda 1405

For almost 50 years the structure of the Lambda 1405 resonance has been a mystery. Recently, a new lattice QCD simulation showing that its strange magnetic form factor vanishes, together with a comprehensive Hamiltonian analysis of the lattice QCD energy levels, has unambiguously established that the structure is dominated by a bound anti-kaon--nucleon component [1]. Here we present supplementary information for Ref. [1] including a presentation of the relevant Hamiltonian effective field theory and an illustration of the volume dependence of the results and their connection to the infinite volume limit of Nature.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2014

R-mode frequencies of slowly rotating relativistic neutron stars with realistic equations of state

The frequencies of r-mode oscillations of rotating neutron stars can be useful for guiding and interpreting gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations. The frequencies of slowly rotating, barotropic, and non-magnetic Newtonian stars are well known, but subject to various corrections. After making simple estimates of the relative strengths of these corrections we conclude that relativistic corrections are likely to be the most important. For this reason we extend the formalism of K. H. Lockitch, J. L. Friedman, and N. Andersson [Phys. Rev. D 68, 124010 (2003)], who consider relativistic polytropes, to the case of realistic equations of state. This formulation results in perturbation equations which are solved using a spectral method. We find that for realistic equations of state the r-mode frequency ranges from 1.39 to 1.57 times the spin frequency of the star when the relativistic compactness parameter (M/R) is varied over the astrophysically motivated interval 0.11 to 0.31. The results presented here are relevant to the design of gravitational wave and electromagnetic r-mode searches, and following a successful r-mode detection could help constrain the high density equation of state.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Probing the proton and its excitations in full QCD

We present a first look at the application of variational techniques for the extraction of the electromagnetic properties of an excited nucleon system. In particular, we include preliminary results for charge radii and magnetic moments of the proton, its first even-parity excitation and the $Δ^{+}$.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2013

Electromagnetic Form Factors for the $Λ$(1405)

Building on our successful technique to isolate the otherwise-elusive $Λ$(1405) using correlation matrix techniques and multiple source and sink smearings, we present calculations of the quark sector contributions to the electric form factors of the $Λ$(1405). Using the PACS-CS $(2+1)$-flavour full-QCD ensembles available through the ILDG, our calculations reveal behaviour consistent with the development of a non-trivial molecular $\overline{K}N$ bound-state component as one approaches the physical values of the $u$ and $d$ quark masses.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2013

Implementation of the frequency-modulated sideband search method for gravitational waves from low mass X-ray binaries

We describe the practical implementation of the sideband search, a search for periodic gravitational waves from neutron stars in binary systems. The orbital motion of the source in its binary system causes frequency-modulation in the combination of matched filters known as the $\mathcal{F}$-statistic. The sideband search is based on the incoherent summation of these frequency-modulated $\mathcal{F}$-statistic sidebands. It provides a new detection statistic for sources in binary systems, called the $\mathcal{C}$-statistic. The search is well suited to low-mass X-ray binaries, the brightest of which, called Sco X-1, is an ideal target candidate. For sources like Sco X-1, with well constrained orbital parameters, a slight variation on the search is possible. The extra orbital information can be used to approximately demodulate the data from the binary orbital motion in the coherent stage, before incoherently summing the now reduced number of sidebands. We investigate this approach and show that it improves the sensitivity of the standard Sco X-1 directed sideband search. Prior information on the neutron star inclination and gravitational wave polarization can also be used to improve upper limit sensitivity. We estimate the sensitivity of a Sco X-1 directed sideband search on 10 days of LIGO data and show that it can beat previous upper limits in current LIGO data, with a possibility of constraining theoretical upper limits using future advanced instruments.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Maximum elastic deformations of relativistic stars

We present a method for calculating the maximum elastic quadrupolar deformations of relativistic stars, generalizing the previous Newtonian, Cowling approximation integral given by [G. Ushomirsky et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 319, 902 (2000)]. (We also present a method for Newtonian gravity with no Cowling approximation.) We apply these methods to the m = 2 quadrupoles most relevant for gravitational radiation in three cases: crustal deformations, deformations of crystalline cores of hadron-quark hybrid stars, and deformations of entirely crystalline color superconducting quark stars. In all cases, we find suppressions of the quadrupole due to relativity compared to the Newtonian Cowling approximation, particularly for compact stars. For the crust these suppressions are up to a factor ~6, for hybrid stars they are up to ~4, and for solid quark stars they are at most ~2, with slight enhancements instead for low mass stars. We also explore ranges of masses and equations of state more than in previous work, and find that for some parameters the maximum quadrupoles can still be very large. Even with the relativistic suppressions, we find that 1.4 solar mass stars can sustain crustal quadrupoles of a few times 10^39 g cm^2 for the SLy equation of state or close to 10^40 g cm^2 for equations of state that produce less compact stars. Solid quark stars of 1.4 solar masses can sustain quadrupoles of around 10^44 g cm^2. Hybrid stars typically do not have solid cores at 1.4 solar masses, but the most massive ones (~2 solar masses) can sustain quadrupoles of a few times 10^41 g cm^2 for typical microphysical parameters and a few times 10^42 g cm^2 for extreme ones. All of these quadrupoles assume a breaking strain of 0.1 and can be divided by 10^45 g cm^2 to yield the fiducial "ellipticities" quoted elsewhere.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Variational Approach to the Calculation of gA

We present a lattice QCD calculation of the nucleon axial charge, gA, using a variational approach. After a brief outline of how the variational method is applied to the calculation of form factors, we present results for gA using this method. We find that ground state dominance is rapid, evident in the early onset of a clear plateau in the correlation function ratio proportional to gA. Through a comparison with results obtained via traditional methods, we show how excited state effects can suppress gA by as much as 8% if sources are not properly tuned.

hep-lat↗

arXiv2013

Shear modulus of the hadron-quark mixed phase

Robust arguments predict that a hadron-quark mixed phase may exist in the cores of some "neutron" stars. Such a phase forms a crystalline lattice with a shear modulus higher than that of the crust due to the high density and charge separation, even allowing for the effects of charge screening. This may lead to strong continuous gravitational-wave emission from rapidly rotating neutron stars and gravitational-wave bursts associated with magnetar flares and pulsar glitches. We present the first detailed calculation of the shear modulus of the mixed phase. We describe the quark phase using the bag model plus first-order quantum chromodynamics corrections and the hadronic phase using relativistic mean-field models with parameters allowed by the most massive pulsar. Most of the calculation involves treating the "pasta phases" of the lattice via dimensional continuation, and we give a general method for computing dimensionally continued lattice sums including the Debye model of charge screening. We compute all the shear components of the elastic modulus tensor and angle average them to obtain the effective (scalar) shear modulus for the case where the mixed phase is a polycrystal. We include the contributions from changing the cell size, which are necessary for the stability of the lower-dimensional portions of the lattice. Stability also requires a minimum surface tension, generally tens of MeV/fm^2 depending on the equation of state. We find that the shear modulus can be a few times 10^33 erg/cm^3, two orders of magnitude higher than the first estimate, over a significant fraction of the maximum mass stable star for certain parameter choices.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

Parameter space metric for 3.5 post-Newtonian gravitational-waves from compact binary inspirals

We derive the metric on the parameter space of 3.5 post-Newtonian (3.5PN) stationary phase compact binary inspiral waveforms for a single detector, neglecting spin, eccentricity, and finite-body effects. We demonstrate that this leads to better template placement than the current practice of using the 2PN metric to place 3.5PN templates: The recovered event rate is improved by about 10% at a cost of nearly doubling the number of templates. The cross-correlations between mass parameters are also more accurate, which will result in better coincidence tests.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Maximum gravitational-wave energy emissible in magnetar flares

Recent searches of gravitational-wave (GW) data raise the question of what maximum GW energies could be emitted during gamma-ray flares of highly magnetized neutron stars (magnetars). The highest energies (\sim 10^{49} erg) predicted so far come from a model [K. Ioka, Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc. 327, 639 (2001)] in which the internal magnetic field of a magnetar experiences a global reconfiguration, changing the hydromagnetic equilibrium structure of the star and tapping the gravitational potential energy without changing the magnetic potential energy. The largest energies in this model assume very special conditions, including a large change in moment of inertia (which was observed in at most one flare), a very high internal magnetic field, and a very soft equation of state. Here we show that energies of 10^{48}-10^{49} erg are possible under more generic conditions by tapping the magnetic energy, and we note that similar energies may also be available through cracking of exotic solid cores. Current observational limits on gravitational waves from magnetar fundamental modes are just reaching these energies and will beat them in the era of advanced interferometers.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2010

Improved Time-Domain Accuracy Standards for Model Gravitational Waveforms

Model gravitational waveforms must be accurate enough to be useful for detection of signals and measurement of their parameters, so appropriate accuracy standards are needed. Yet these standards should not be unnecessarily restrictive, making them impractical for the numerical and analytical modelers to meet. The work of Lindblom, Owen, and Brown [Phys. Rev. D 78, 124020 (2008)] is extended by deriving new waveform accuracy standards which are significantly less restrictive while still ensuring the quality needed for gravitational-wave data analysis. These new standards are formulated as bounds on certain norms of the time-domain waveform errors, which makes it possible to enforce them in situations where frequency-domain errors may be difficult or impossible to estimate reliably. These standards are less restrictive by about a factor of 20 than the previously published time-domain standards for detection, and up to a factor of 60 for measurement. These new standards should therefore be much easier to use effectively.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2010

How to adapt broad-band gravitational-wave searches for r-modes

Up to now there has been no search for gravitational waves from the r-modes of neutron stars in spite of the theoretical interest in the subject. Several oddities of r-modes must be addressed to obtain an observational result: The gravitational radiation field is dominated by the mass current (gravitomagnetic) quadrupole rather than the usual mass quadrupole, and the consequent difference in polarization affects detection statistics and parameter estimation. To astrophysically interpret a detection or upper limit it is necessary to convert the wave amplitude to an r-mode amplitude. Also, it is helpful to know indirect limits on gravitational-wave emission to gauge the interest of various searches. Here I address these issues, thereby providing the ingredients to adapt broad-band searches for continuous gravitational waves to obtain r-mode results. I also show that searches of existing data can already have interesting sensitivities to r-modes.

gr-qc↗