arXiv subjects

M. Cavaglia

Publications and source records attributed to M. Cavaglia.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2012

Implications For The Origin Of GRB 051103 From LIGO Observations

We present the results of a LIGO search for gravitational waves (GWs) associated with GRB 051103, a short-duration hard-spectrum gamma-ray burst (GRB) whose electromagnetically determined sky position is coincident with the spiral galaxy M81, which is 3.6 Mpc from Earth. Possible progenitors for short-hard GRBs include compact object mergers and soft gamma repeater (SGR) giant flares. A merger progenitor would produce a characteristic GW signal that should be detectable at the distance of M81, while GW emission from an SGR is not expected to be detectable at that distance. We found no evidence of a GW signal associated with GRB 051103. Assuming weakly beamed gamma-ray emission with a jet semi-angle of 30 deg we exclude a binary neutron star merger in M81 as the progenitor with a confidence of 98%. Neutron star-black hole mergers are excluded with > 99% confidence. If the event occurred in M81 our findings support the the hypothesis that GRB 051103 was due to an SGR giant flare, making it the most distant extragalactic magnetar observed to date.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2008

Gravitational-wave Astronomy: Opening a New Window on the Universe for Students, Educators and the Public

The nascent field of gravitational-wave astronomy offers many opportunities for effective and inspirational astronomy outreach. Gravitational waves, the "ripples in space-time" predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity, are produced by some of the most energetic and dramatic phenomena in the cosmos, including black holes, neutron stars and supernovae. The detection of gravitational waves will help to address a number of fundamental questions in physics, from the evolution of stars and galaxies to the origin of dark energy and the nature of space-time itself. Moreover, the cutting-edge technology developed to search for gravitational waves is pushing back the frontiers of many fields, from lasers and materials science to high performance computing, and thus provides a powerful showcase for the attractions and challenges of a career in science and engineering. For several years a worldwide network of ground-based laser interferometric gravitational-wave detectors has been fully operational, including the two LIGO detectors in the United States. These detectors are already among the most sensitive scientific instruments on the planet and in the next few years their sensitivity will achieve further significant improvement. Those developments promise to open an exciting new window on the Universe, heralding the arrival of gravitational-wave astronomy as a revolutionary, new observational field. In this paper we describe the extensive program of public outreach activities already undertaken by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, and a number of special events which we are planning for IYA2009.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2007

Catfish: A Monte Carlo simulator for black holes at the LHC

We present a new Fortran Monte Carlo generator to simulate black hole events at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. The generator interfaces to the PYTHIA Monte Carlo fragmentation code. The physics of the BH generator includes, but not limited to, inelasticity effects, exact field emissivities, corrections to semiclassical black hole evaporation and gravitational energy loss at formation. These features are essential to realistically reconstruct the detector response and test different models of black hole formation and decay at the LHC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Resolution of Nearly Mass Degenerate Higgs Bosons and Production of Black Hole Systems of Known Mass at a Muon Collider

The direct s-channel coupling to Higgs bosons is 40000 times greater for muons than electrons; the coupling goes as mass squared. High precision scanning of the lighter $h^0$ and the higher mass $H^0$ and $A^0$ is thus possible with a muon collider. The $H^0$ and $A^0$ are expected to be nearly mass degenerate and to be CP even and odd, respectively. A muon collider could resolve the mass degeneracy and make CP measurements. The origin of CP violation in the $K^{0}$ and $B^{0}$ meson systems might lie in the the $H^0/A^0$ Higgs bosons. If large extra dimensions exist, black holes with lifetimes of $\sim 10^{-26}$ seconds could be created and observed via Hawking radiation at the LHC. Unlike proton or electron colliders, muon colliders can produce black hole systems of known mass. This opens the possibilities of measuring quantum remnants, gravitons as missing energy, and scanning production turn on. Proton colliders are hampered by parton distributions and CLIC by beamstrahlung. The ILC lacks the energy reach.

hep-ph↗