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Patrick Huber

Publications and source records attributed to Patrick Huber.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Upgraded experiments with super neutrino beams: Reach versus Exposure

We introduce exposure as a means to making balanced comparisons of the sensitivities of long-baseline neutrino experiments to a nonzero θ_{13}, to CP violation and to the neutrino mass hierarchy. We illustrate its use by comparing the sensitivities of possible upgrades of superbeam experiments, namely NOvA*, T2KK and experiments with wide band beams. For the proposed exposures, we find the best nominal CP violation performance for T2KK. For equal exposures, a wide band beam experiment has the best mass hierarchy performance. The physics concept on which NOvA* is based has the best potential for discovering CP violation only for exposures above a threshold value.

hep-ph↗

Neutrino Factory Superbeam

We discuss the optimization of a neutrino factory for large \sin^2 2 θ_{13}, where we assume minimum effort on the accelerator side. This implies that we use low muon energies for the price of an optimized detection system. We demonstrate that such a neutrino factory performs excellent if combined with the electron neutrino appearance channel. Instead of the platinum channel operated with the muon neutrinos from the muon decays, we propose to use the initial superbeam from the decaying pions and kaons, which might be utilized at little extra effort. Since we assume out-of-phase bunches arriving at the same detector, we do not require electron charge identification. In addition, we can choose the proton energy such that we obtain a synergistic spectrum peaking at lower energies. We find that both the superbeam and the neutrino factory beam should used at the identical baseline to reduce matter density uncertainties, possibly with the same detector. This effectively makes the configuration a single experiment, which we call ``neutrino factory superbeam''. We demonstrate that this experiment outperforms a low-energy neutrino factory or a wide band beam alone beyond a simple addition of statistics.

hep-ph↗

Capillary Rise of Liquids in Nanopores

We present measurements on the spontaneous imbibition (capillary rise) of water, a linear hydrocarbon (n-C16H34) and a liquid crystal (8OCB) into the pore space of monolithic, nanoporous Vycor glass (mean pore radius 5 nm). Measurements on the mass uptake of the porous hosts as a function of time, m(t), are in good agreement with the Lucas-Washburn square root of time prediction, typical of imbibition of liquids into porous hosts. The relative capillary rise velocities scale as expected from the bulk fluid parameters.

physics.flu-dyn↗

Structural transformations of even-numbered n-alkanes confined in mesopores

The n-alkanes C12H26, C14H30, and C16H34 have been imbibed and solidified in mesoporous Vycor glass with a mean pore diameter of 10nm. The samples have been investigated by x-ray diffractometry and calorimetric measurements. The structures and phase sequences have been determined. Apart from a reduction and the hysteresis of the melting/freezing transition, pore confined C12 reproduces the liquid-triclinic phase sequence of the bulk material, but for C16 an orthorhombic rotator mesophase appears that in the bulk state is absent for C16 but well known from odd numbered alkanes of similar length. In pore confined C14 this phase shows up on cooling but not on heating.

cond-mat.soft↗

Ultra high energy neutrino-nucleon cross section from cosmic ray experiments and neutrino telescopes

We deduce the cosmogenic neutrino flux by jointly analysing ultra high energy cosmic ray data from HiRes-I and II, AGASA and the Pierre Auger Observatory. We make two determinations of the neutrino flux by using a model-dependent method and a model-independent method. The former is well-known, and involves the use of a power-law injection spectrum. The latter is a regularized unfolding procedure. We then use neutrino flux bounds obtained by the RICE experiment to constrain the neutrino-nucleon inelastic cross section at energies inaccessible at colliders. The cross section bounds obtained using the cosmogenic fluxes derived by unfolding are the most model-independent bounds to date.

hep-ph↗

Detecting solar axions using Earth's magnetic field

We show that solar axion conversion to photons in the Earth's magnetosphere can produce an x-ray flux, with average energy \sim 4 keV, which is measurable on the dark side of the Earth. The smallness of the Earth's magnetic field is compensated by a large magnetized volume. For axion masses < 10^{-4} eV, a low-Earth-orbit x-ray detector with an effective area of 10^4 cm^2, pointed at the solar core, can probe the photon-axion coupling down to 10^{-11} GeV^{-1}, in one year. Thus, the sensitivity of this new approach will be an order of magnitude beyond current laboratory limits.

hep-ph↗

Solar mass-varying neutrino oscillations

We propose that the solar neutrino deficit may be due to oscillations of mass-varying neutrinos (MaVaNs). This scenario elucidates solar neutrino data beautifully while remaining comfortably compatible with atmospheric neutrino and K2K data and with reactor antineutrino data at short and long baselines (from CHOOZ and KamLAND). We find that the survival probability of solar MaVaNs is independent of how the suppression of neutrino mass caused by the acceleron-matter couplings varies with density. Measurements of MeV and lower energy solar neutrinos will provide a rigorous test of the idea.

hep-ph↗

Solidified Fillings of Nanopores

We present a selection of x-ray and neutron diffraction patterns of spherical (He, Ar), dumbbell- (N2, CO), and chain-like molecules (n-C9H20, n-C19H40) solidified in nanopores of silica glass (mean pore diameter 7nm). These patterns allow us to demonstrate how key principles governing crystallization have to be adapted in order to accomplish solidification in restricted geometries. He, Ar, and the spherical close packed phases of CO and N2 adjust to the pore geometry by introducing a sizeable amount of stacking faults. For the pore solidified, medium-length chain-like n-C19H40 we observe a close packed structure without lamellar ordering, whereas for the short-chain C9H20 the layering principle survives, albeit in a modified fashion compared to the bulk phase.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Probing the Origins of Neutrino Mass with Supernova Data

We study type II supernova signatures of neutrino mass generation via symmetry breaking at a scale in the range from keV to MeV. The scalar responsible for symmetry breaking can be thermalized in the supernova core and restore the symmetry. The neutrinos from scalar decays have about half the average energy of thermal neutrinos and are Bose-Einstein distributed. We find that, even without a detailed knowledge of the supernova parameters, a discovery is well within reach at Super-Kamiokande.

hep-ph↗

Supernova neutrinos can tell us the neutrino mass hierarchy independently of flux models

We demonstrate that the detection of shock modulations of the neutrino spectra from a galactic core-collapse supernova is sufficient to obtain a high significance determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy if the supernova event is observed in both a Mton-class water Cherenkov detector and a 100 kton-class liquid argon detector. Neither detailed supernova neutrino flux modelling nor observation of Earth matter effects is needed for this determination. As a corollary, a nonzero value of θ_x will be established.

hep-ph↗

Faraday Instability in a Surface-Frozen Liquid

Faraday surface instability measurements of the critical acceleration, a_c, and wavenumber, k_c, for standing surface waves on a tetracosanol (C_24H_50) melt exhibit abrupt changes at T_s=54degC above the bulk freezing temperature. The measured variations of a_c and k_c vs. temperature and driving frequency are accounted for quantitatively by a hydrodynamic model, revealing a change from a free-slip surface flow, generic for a free liquid surface (T>T_s), to a surface-pinned, no-slip flow, characteristic of a flow near a wetted solid wall (T < T_s). The change at T_s is traced to the onset of surface freezing, where the steep velocity gradient in the surface-pinned flow significantly increases the viscous dissipation near the surface.

physics.flu-dyn↗

From parameter space constraints to the precision determination of the leptonic Dirac CP phase

We discuss the precision determination of the leptonic Dirac CP phase $δ_{CP}$ in neutrino oscillation experiments, where we apply the concept of ``CP coverage''. We demonstrate that this approach carries more information than a conventional CP violation measurement, since it also describes the exclusion of parameter regions. This will be very useful for next-generation long baseline experiments where for sizable $\sin^2 2 θ_{13}$ first constraints on $δ_{CP}$ can be obtained. As the most sophisticated experimental setup, we analyze neutrino factories, where we illustrate the major difficulties in their analysis. In addition, we compare their potential to the one of superbeam upgrades and next-generation experiments, which also includes a discussion of synergy effects. We find a strong dependence on the yet unknown true values of $\sin^2 2 θ_{13}$ and $δ_{CP}$, as well as a strong, non-Gaussian dependence on the confidence level. A systematic understanding of the complicated parameter dependence will be given. In addition, it is shown that comparisons of experiments and synergy discussions do in general not allow for an unbiased judgment if they are only performed at selected points in parameter space. Therefore, we present our results in dependence of the yet unknown true values of $\sin^2 2 θ_{13}$ and $δ_{CP}$. Finally we show that for $δ_{CP}$ precision measurements there exist simple strategies including superbeams, reactor experiments, superbeam upgrades, and neutrino factories, where the crucial discriminator is $\sin^2 2 θ_{13} \sim 10^{-2}$.

hep-ph↗

Resonant X-Ray Scattering from the Surface of a Dilute Hg-Au Alloy

We present the first resonant x-ray reflectivity measurements from a liquid surface. The surface structure of the liquid Hg-Au alloy system just beyond the solubility limit of 0.14at% Au in Hg had previously been shown to exhibit a unique surface phase characterized by a low-density surface region with a complicated temperature dependence. In this paper we present reflectivity measurements near the Au LIII edge, for 0.2at% Au in Hg at room temperature. The data are consistent with a concentration of Au in the surface region that can be no larger than about 30at%. These results rule out previous suggestions that pure Au layers segregate at the alloy surface.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Pairing Interactions and Gibbs Adsorption at the Liquid Bi-In Surface: A Resonant X-Ray Reflectivity Study

Resonant x-ray reflectivity measurements from the surface of liquid Bi22In78 find only a modest surface Bi enhancement, with 35 atomic % Bi in the first atomic layer. This is in contrast to the Gibbs adsorption in all liquid alloys studied to date, which show surface segregation of a complete monolayer of the low surface tension component. This suggests that surface adsorption in Bi-In is dominated by attractive interactions that increase the number of Bi-In neighbors at the surface. These are the first measurements in which resonant x-ray scattering has been used to quantify compositional changes induced at a liquid alloy surface.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Precision spectroscopy with reactor anti-neutrinos

In this work we present an accurate parameterization of the anti-neutrino flux produced by the isotopes 235U, 239Pu and 241Pu in nuclear reactors. We determine the coefficients of this parameterization, as well as their covariance matrix, by performing a fit to spectra inferred from experimentally measured beta spectra. Subsequently we show that flux shape uncertainties play only a minor role in the KamLAND experiment, however, we find that future reactor neutrino experiments to measure the mixing angle $θ_{13}$ are sensitive to the fine details of the reactor neutrino spectra. Finally, we investigate the possibility to determine the isotopic composition in nuclear reactors through an anti-neutrino measurement. We find that with a 3 month exposure of a one ton detector the isotope fractions and the thermal reactor power can be determined at a few percent accuracy, which may open the possibility of an application for safeguard or non-proliferation objectives.

hep-ph↗

Wetting behavior at the free surface of a liquid gallium-bismuth alloy: An X-ray reflectivity study close to the bulk monotectic point

We present x-ray reflectivity measurements from the free surface of a liquid gallium-bismuth alloy (Ga-Bi) in the temperature range close to the bulk monotectic temperature $T_{mono} = 222$C. Our measurements indicate a continuous formation of a thick wetting film at the free surface of the binary system driven by the first order transition in the bulk at the monotectic point. We show that the behavior observed is that of a complete wetting at a tetra point of solid-liquid-liquid-vapor coexistance.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

Microscopic View on Short-Range Wetting at the Free Surface of the Binary Metallic Liquid Gallium-Bismuth: An X-ray Reflectivity and Square Gradient Theory Study

We present an x-ray reflectivity study of wetting at the free surface of the binary liquid metal gallium-bismuth (Ga-Bi) in the region where the bulk phase separates into Bi-rich and Ga-rich liquid phases. The measurements reveal the evolution of the microscopic structure of wetting films of the Bi-rich, low-surface-tension phase along different paths in the bulk phase diagram. A balance between the surface potential preferring the Bi-rich phase and the gravitational potential which favors the Ga-rich phase at the surface pins the interface of the two demixed liquid metallic phases close to the free surface. This enables us to resolve it on an Angstrom level and to apply a mean-field, square gradient model extended by thermally activated capillary waves as dominant thermal fluctuations. The sole free parameter of the gradient model, i.e. the so-called influence parameter, $κ$, is determined from our measurements. Relying on a calculation of the liquid/liquid interfacial tension that makes it possible to distinguish between intrinsic and capillary wave contributions to the interfacial structure we estimate that fluctuations affect the observed short-range, complete wetting phenomena only marginally. A critical wetting transition that should be sensitive to thermal fluctuations seems to be absent in this binary metallic alloy.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

X-ray study of the liquid potassium surface: structure and capillary wave excitations

We present x-ray reflectivity and diffuse scattering measurements from the liquid surface of pure potassium. They strongly suggest the existence of atomic layering at the free surface of a pure liquid metal with low surface tension. Prior to this study, layering was observed only for metals like Ga, In and Hg, the surface tensions of which are 5-7 fold higher than that of potassium, and hence closer to inducing an ideal "hard wall" boundary condition. The experimental result requires quantitative analysis of the contribution to the surface scattering from thermally excited capillary waves. Our measurements confirm the predicted form for the differential cross section for diffuse scattering, $dσ/dΩ\sim 1/q_{xy}^{2-η}$ where $η= k_BT q_z^2/2πγ$, over a range of $η$ and $q_{xy}$ that is larger than any previous measurement. The partial measure of the surface structure factor that we obtained agrees with computer simulations and theoretical predictions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗