arXiv subjects

James Jenkins

Publications and source records attributed to James Jenkins.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Survival in the Neptune desert: LTT 9779 b kept its atmosphere thanks to an unusually X-ray faint host star

The Neptunian desert is a region in period-radius parameter space with very few Neptune-sized planets at short orbital periods. Amongst these, LTT 9779 b is the only known Neptune with a period shorter than one day to retain a significant H-He atmosphere. If the Neptune desert is the result of X-ray/EUV-driven photoevaporation, it is surprising that the atmosphere of LTT 9779 b survived the intense bombardment of high energy photons from its young host star. However, the star has low measured rotational broadening, which points to the possibility of an anomalously slow spin period and hence a faint X-ray emission history that may have failed to evaporate the planet's atmosphere. We observed LTT 9779 with XMM-Newton and measured an upper limit for its X-ray luminosity that is a factor of fifteen lower than expected for its age. We also simulated the evaporation past of LTT 9779 b and found that the survival of its atmosphere to the present day is consistent with an unusually faint XUV irradiation history that matches both the X-ray and rotation velocity measurements. We conclude that the anomalously low X-ray irradiation of the one Neptune seen to survive in Neptunian desert supports the interpretation of the desert as primarily a result of photoevaporation.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2022

Self-diffusion in inhomogeneous granular shearing flows

In this letter, we discuss how flow inhomogeneity affects the self-diffusion behavior in granular flows. Whereas self-diffusion scalings have been well characterized in the past for homogeneous shearing, the effect of shear localization and nonlocality of the flow has not been studied. We therefore present measurements of self-diffusion coefficients in discrete numerical simulations of steady, inhomogeneous, and collisional shearing flows of nearly identical, frictional, and inelastic spheres. We focus on a wide range of dense solid volume fractions, that correspond to geophysical and industrial shearing flows that are dominated by collisional interactions. We compare the measured values first, with a scaling based on shear rate and, then, on a scaling based on the granular temperature. We find that the latter does much better than the former in collapsing the data. The results lay the foundations of diffusion models for inhomogeneous shearing flows, which should be useful in treating problems of mixing and segregation.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2021

Self-Diffusion Scalings in Dense Granular Flows

We report on measurements of self-diffusion coefficients in discrete numerical simulations of steady, homogeneous, collisional shearing flows of nearly identical, frictional, inelastic spheres. We focus on a range of relatively high solid volume fractions that are important in those terrestrial gravitational shearing flows that are dominated by collisional interactions. Diffusion over this range of solid fraction has not been well characterized in previous studies. We first compare the measured values with an empirical scaling based on shear rate previously proposed in the literature, and highlight the presence of anisotropy and the solid fraction dependence. We then compare the numerical measurements with those predicted by the kinetic theory for shearing flows of inelastic spheres and offer an explanation for why the measured and predicted values differ.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2020

Identification and Mitigation of a Vibrational Telescope Systematic with Application to Spitzer

We observed Proxima Centauri with the Spitzer Space Telescope InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) five times in 2016 and 2017 to search for transits of Proxima Centauri b. Following standard analysis procedures, we found three asymmetric, transit-like events that are now understood to be vibrational systematics. This systematic is correlated with the width of the point-response function (PRF), which we measure with rotated and non-rotated Gaussian fits with respect to the detecor array. We show that the systematic can be removed with a novel application of an adaptive elliptical-aperture photometry technique, and compare the performance of this technique with fixed and variable circular-aperture photometry, using both BiLinearly Interpolated Subpixel Sensitivity (BLISS) maps and non-binned Pixel-Level Decorrelation (PLD). With BLISS maps, elliptical photometry results in a lower standard deviation of normalized residuals, and reduced or similar correlated noise when compared to circular apertures. PLD prefers variable, circular apertures, but generally results in more correlated noise than BLISS. This vibrational effect is likely present in other telescopes and Spitzer observations, where correction could improve results. Our elliptical apertures can be applied to any photometry observations, and may be even more effective when applied to more circular PRFs than Spitzer's.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2012

Boiling Heat Transfer on Superhydrophilic, Superhydrophobic, and Superbiphilic Surfaces

With recent advances in micro- and nanofabrication, superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces have been developed. The statics and dynamics of fluids on these surfaces have been well characterized. However, few investigations have been made into the potential of these surfaces to control and enhance other transport phenomena. In this article, we characterize pool boiling on surfaces with wettabilities varied from superhydrophobic to superhydrophilic, and provide nucleation measurements. The most interesting result of our measurements is that the largest heat transfer coefficients are reached not on surfaces with spatially uniform wettability, but on biphilic surfaces, which juxtapose hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions. We develop an analytical model that describes how biphilic surfaces effectively manage the vapor and liquid transport, delaying critical heat flux and maximizing the heat transfer coefficient. Finally, we manufacture and test the first superbiphilic surfaces (juxtaposing superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic regions), which show exceptional performance in pool boiling, combining high critical heat fluxes over 100 W/cm2 with very high heat transfer coefficients, over 100 kW/m2K.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2009

A phenomenological study of photon production in low energy neutrino nucleon scattering

Low energy photon production is an important background to many current and future precision neutrino experiments. We present a phenomenological study of t-channel radiative corrections to neutral current neutrino nucleus scattering. After introducing the relevant processes and phenomenological coupling constants, we will explore the derived energy and angular distributions as well as total cross-section predictions along their estimated uncertainties. This is supplemented throughout with comments on possible experimental signatures and implications. We conclude with a general discussion of the analysis in the context of complimentary methodologies.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Semileptonic decays of light quarks beyond the Standard Model

We describe non-standard contributions to semileptonic processes in a model independent way in terms of an SU(2)_L X U(1)_Y invariant effective lagrangian at the weak scale, from which we derive the low-energy effective lagrangian governing muon and beta decays. We find that the deviation from Cabibbo universality, Δ_CKM = |V_ud|^2 + |V_us|^2 + |V_ub|^2 - 1, receives contributions from four effective operators. The phenomenological bound of Δ_CKM = -1E-4 +- 6E-4 provides strong constraints on all four operators, corresponding to an effective scale greater than 11 TeV (90% CL). Depending on the operator, this constraint is at the same level or better then the Z pole observables. Conversely, precision electroweak constraints alone would allow universality violations as large as Δ_CKM = -0.01 (90% CL). An observed nonzero Δ_CKM at this level could be explained in terms of a single four-fermion operator which is relatively poorly constrained by electroweak precision measurements.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Pseudo-Dirac Neutrinos in the New Standard Model

The addition of gauge singlet fermions to the Standard Model Lagrangian renders the neutrinos massive and allows one to explain all that is experimentally known about neutrino masses and lepton mixing by varying the values of the Majorana mass parameters M for the gauge singlets and the neutrino Yukawa couplings. Here we explore the region of parameter space where M values are much smaller than the neutrino Dirac masses. In this region, neutrinos are pseudo-Dirac fermions. We find that current solar data constrain M values to be less than at least 1E-9 eV, and discuss the sensitivity of future experiments to tiny gauge singlet fermion masses. We also discuss a useful basis for analyzing pseudo-Dirac neutrino mixing effects. In particular, we identify a simple relationship between elements of M and the induced enlarged mixing matrix and new mass-squared differences. These allow one to directly relate bounds on the new mass-squared differences to bounds on the singlet fermion Majorana masses.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Some Radiative Corrections to Neutrino Scattering: I Neutral Currents

With the advent of high precision neutrino scattering experiments comes the need for improved radiative corrections. We present a phenomenological analysis of some contributions to the production of photons in neutrino neutral current scattering that are relevant to experiments subsuming the 1% level.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Minimally Allowed Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Rates Within an Anarchical Framework

Neutrinoless double beta decay is the only realistic probe of the Majorana nature of the neutrino. In the standard picture, its rate is proportional to $m_{ee}$, the e-e element of the Majorana neutrino mass matrix in the flavor basis. I explore minimally allowed $m_{ee}$ values within the framework of mass matrix anarchy where neutrino parameters are defined statistically at low energies. Distributions of mixing angles are well defined by the Haar integration measure, but masses are dependent on arbitrary weighting functions and boundary conditions. I survey the integration measure parameter space and find that for sufficiently convergent weightings, $m_{ee}$ is constrained between (0.01-0.4) eV at 90% confidence. Constraints from neutrino mixing data lower these bounds. Singular integration measures allow for arbitrarily small $m_{ee}$ values with the remaining elements ill-defined, but this condition constrains the flavor structure of the model's ultraviolet completion. Bounds below $m_{ee} \sim 5\times10^{-3}$ eV should indicate symmetry in the lepton sector, new light degrees of freedom or the Dirac nature of the neutrino.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Minimally Allowed Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay Rates From Approximate Flavor Symmetries

Neutrinoless double beta decay ($β\beta0ν$) is among the only realistic probes of Majorana neutrinos. In the standard scenario, dominated by light neutrino exchange, the process amplitude is proportional to $m_{ee}$, the $e-e$ element of the Majorana mass matrix. Naively, current data allows for vanishing $m_{ee}$, but this should be protected by an appropriate flavor symmetry. All such symmetries lead to mass matrices inconsistent with oscillation phenomenology. I perform a spurion analysis to break all possible Abelian symmetries that guarantee vanishing $β\beta0ν$ rates and search for minimally allowed values. I survey 230 broken structures to yield $m_{ee}$ values and current phenomenological constraints under a variety of scenarios. This analysis also extracts predictions for both neutrino oscillation parameters and kinematic quantities. Assuming reasonable tuning levels, I find that $m_{ee}>4\times 10^{-6}$ eV at 99% confidence. Bounds below this value might indicate the Dirac neutrino nature or the existence of new light (eV-MeV scale) degrees of freedom that can potentially be probed elsewhere.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

The Physical Range of Majorana Neutrino Mixing Parameters

If neutrinos are Majorana fermions, the lepton mixing parameter space consists of six mixing parameters: three mixing angles and three CP-odd phases. A related issue concerns the physical range of the mixing parameters. What values should these take so that all physically distinguishable mixing scenarios are realized? We present a detailed discussion of the lepton mixing parameter space in the case of two and three active neutrinos, and in the case of three active and N sterile neutrinos. We emphasize that this question, which has been a source of confusion even among "neutrino" physicists, is connected to an unambiguous definition of the neutrino mass eigenstates. We find that all Majorana phases can always be constrained to lie between 0 and pi, and that all mixing angles can be chosen positive and at most less than or equal to pi/2 provided the Dirac phases are allowed to vary between -pi and pi. We illustrate our results with several examples. Finally, we point out that, in the case of new flavor-changing neutrino interactions, the lepton mixing parameter space may need to be enlarged. We properly qualify this statement, and offer concrete examples.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Model Independent Explorations of Majorana Neutrino Mass Origins

The scale of neutrino mass generation may be too large to explore directly, but useful information may still be extracted from independent experimental channels. Here I survey various model independent probes of Majorana neutrino mass origins. An introduction to the concepts relevant to the analysis is followed by a discussion of the physical ranges of neutrino parameters within the context of standard and non-standard interactions. Armed with this, I move on to systematically analyze the properties of radiatively generated neutrino masses induced by nonrenormalizable lepton number violating effective operators of mass dimensions five through eleven. By fitting these to the observed light mass scale, I extract predictions for neutrino mixing as well as neutrinoless double beta decay, rare meson/tau decays and collider phenomenology. I find that many such models are already constrained by current data and many more will be probed in the near future. I then move on demonstrate the utility of a low scale seesaw mechanism via a viable sterile neutrino model that satisfies all oscillation data as well as solves problems associated with supernova kicks and heavy element nucleosynthesis. From this I extract predictions for tritium and neutrinoless double beta decay searches.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2007

A Survey of Lepton Number Violation Via Effective Operators

We survey 129 lepton number violating effective operators, consistent with the minimal Standard Model gauge group and particle content, of mass dimension up to and including eleven. Upon requiring that each one radiatively generates the observed neutrino masses, we extract an associated characteristic cutoff energy scale which we use to calculate other observable manifestations of these operators for a number of current and future experimental probes, concentrating on lepton number violating phenomena. These include searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay and rare meson, lepton, and gauge boson decays. We also consider searches at hadron/lepton collider facilities in anticipation of the LHC and the future ILC. We find that some operators are already disfavored by current data, while more are ripe to be probed by next-generation experiments. We also find that our current understanding of lepton mixing disfavors a subset of higher dimensional operators. While neutrinoless double-beta decay is the most promising signature of lepton number violation for the majority of operators, a handful is best probed by other means. We argue that a combination of constraints from various independent experimental sources will help to pinpoint the ``correct'' model of neutrino mass, or at least aid in narrowing down the set of possibilities.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Neutrino Phenomenology of Very Low-Energy Seesaws

The Standard Model augmented by the presence of gauge-singlet right-handed neutrinos proves to be an ideal scenario for accommodating nonzero neutrino masses. Among the new parameters of this ``New Standard Model'' are right-handed neutrino Majorana masses M. Theoretical prejudice points to M much larger than the electroweak symmetry breaking scale, but it has recently been emphasized that all M values are technically natural and should be explored. Indeed, M around 1-10 eV can accommodate an elegant oscillation solution to the LSND anomaly, while other M values lead to several observable consequences. We consider the phenomenology of low energy seesaw scenarios with M less than and equal to approximately 1 keV. By exploring such a framework with three right-handed neutrinos, we can consistently fit all oscillation data -- including those from LSND -- while partially addressing several astrophysical puzzles, including anomalous pulsar kicks, heavy element nucleosynthesis in supernovae, and the existence of warm dark matter. Furthermore, low-energy seesaws -- regardless of their relation to the LSND anomaly -- can also be tested by future tritium beta-decay experiments, neutrinoless double-beta decay searches, and other observables. We estimate the sensitivity of such probes to M.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

What can we learn from neutrino electron scattering?

Precision tests of the standard model are essential for constraining models of new physics. Neutrino-electron elastic scattering offers a clean probe into many electroweak effects that are complimentary to the more canonical measurements done at collider facilities. Such reactions are rare, even as compared with the already tiny cross-sections for neutrino-nucleon scattering, and competitive precision measurements have historically been challenging to obtain. Due to new existing and proposed high-flux neutrino sources, this is about to change. We present a topical survey of precision measurements that can be done with neutrino-electron scattering in light of these new developments. Specifically, we consider four distinct neutrino sources: nuclear reactors, neutrino factories, beta-beams, and conventional beams. For each source we estimate the expected future precision of several representative observables, including the weak mixing angle, neutrino magnetic moments, and potential leptonic Z' couplings. We find that future neutrino-electron scattering experiments should add non-trivially to our understanding of fundamental physics.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Non-Oscillation Probes of the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy and Vanishing U_e3

One of the outstanding issues in neutrino physics is the experimental determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy: Is the order of the neutrino masses ``normal'' - m_1^2<m_2^2<m_3^2 - or is it inverted - m_3^2<m_1^2<m_2^2, with m_2^2-m_1^2 << m_2^2,m_1^2? While this issue can be resolved in next-generation long-baseline nu_{mu} to nu_e neutrino oscillation studies if |U_{e3}|^2 is large enough, a clear strategy on how to resolve it if |U_{e3}|^2 is sufficiently small is still lacking. We study the capability of non-oscillation probes of neutrino masses to determine the neutrino mass ordering. We concentrate on studies of m_{nu_e}, the kinematical neutrino mass to which precise studies of tritium beta-decay are sensitive, m_{ee}, the effective mass to which the rate for neutrinoless double-beta decay is sensitive if the neutrinos are Majorana fermions, and Sigma, the sum of the neutrino masses, to which cosmological probes of the energy budget of the Universe are sensitive. We find that combined measurements of m_{ee}, Sigma, and m_{nu_e} are capable of establishing the neutrino mass hierarchy if these measurements are precise enough and if one ``gets lucky.'' We quantify the previous sentence in detail by performing a numerical analysis of a large number of theoretical data sets, for different measured values of m_{nu_e}, m_{ee}, and Sigma, keeping in mind the ultimate sensitivity that can be reached by next (and next-to-next) generation experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Neutrino Mass Hierarchy, Vacuum Oscillations, and Vanishing U_e3

Is the relatively isolated member of the neutrino mass spectrum heavier or lighter than the two closely-spaced members? This question - the character of the neutrino mass hierarchy - is of great theoretical interest. All previously identified experiments for addressing it via neutrino oscillations require that the currently unknown size of the U_e3 element of the leptonic mixing matrix (parameterized by the unknown theta_13 mixing angle) be sufficiently large, and will utterly fail in the limit theta_13=0. For this reason, we explore alternative oscillation approaches that would still succeed even if theta_13 vanishes. We identify several alternatives that require neither a nonzero |U_e3| nor the presence of significant matter effects. All include multiple percent-level neutrino oscillation measurements, usually involving muon-neutrino (or antineutrino) disappearance and very long baselines. We comment on the degree of promise that these alternative approaches show.

hep-ph↗