arXiv subjects

M. R. Buckley

Publications and source records attributed to M. R. Buckley.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Initial results from the New Horizons exploration of 2014 MU69, a small Kuiper Belt Object

The Kuiper Belt is a distant region of the Solar System. On 1 January 2019, the New Horizons spacecraft flew close to (486958) 2014 MU69, a Cold Classical Kuiper Belt Object, a class of objects that have never been heated by the Sun and are therefore well preserved since their formation. Here we describe initial results from these encounter observations. MU69 is a bi-lobed contact binary with a flattened shape, discrete geological units, and noticeable albedo heterogeneity. However, there is little surface color and compositional heterogeneity. No evidence for satellites, ring or dust structures, gas coma, or solar wind interactions was detected. By origin MU69 appears consistent with pebble cloud collapse followed by a low velocity merger of its two lobes.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

The Pluto system: Initial results from its exploration by New Horizons

The Pluto system was recently explored by NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, making closest approach on 14 July 2015. Pluto's surface displays diverse landforms, terrain ages, albedos, colors, and composition gradients. Evidence is found for a water-ice crust, geologically young surface units, surface ice convection, wind streaks, volatile transport, and glacial flow. Pluto's atmosphere is highly extended, with trace hydrocarbons, a global haze layer, and a surface pressure near 10 microbars. Pluto's diverse surface geology and long-term activity raise fundamental questions about how small planets remain active many billions of years after formation. Pluto's large moon Charon displays tectonics and evidence for a heterogeneous crustal composition, its north pole displays puzzling dark terrain. Small satellites Hydra and Nix have higher albedos than expected.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2007

Quark mass uncertainties revive KSVZ axion dark matter

The Kaplan-Manohar ambiguity in light quark masses allows for a larger uncertainty in the ratio of up to down quark masses than naive estimates from the chiral Lagrangian would indicate. We show that it allows for a relaxation of experimental bounds on the QCD axion, specifically KSVZ axions in the $2-3 μ$eV mass range composing 100% of the galactic dark matter halo can evade the experimental limits placed by the ADMX collaboration.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

How can we test seesaw experimentally?

The seesaw mechanism for the small neutrino mass has been a popular paradigm, yet it has been believed that there is no way to test it experimentally. We present a conceivable outcome from future experiments that would convince us of the seesaw mechanism. It would involve a variety of data from LHC, ILC, cosmology, underground, and low-energy flavor violation experiments to establish the case.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

Ordered clusters and dynamical states of particles in a vibrated fluid

Fluid-mediated interactions between particles in a vibrating fluid lead to both long range attraction and short range repulsion. The resulting patterns include hexagonally ordered micro-crystallites, time-periodic structures, and chaotic fluctuating patterns with complex dynamics. A model based on streaming flow gives a good quantitative account of the attractive part of the interaction.

cond-mat.soft↗