We consider a framework where the Standard Model is augmented by a second SU(2) scalar doublet and by a real scalar singlet that, protected by a Z2 symmetry, provides a particle Dark Matter candidate. We show that this setup allows for doubly blind spots at both collider searches for anomalies in the Higgs invisible decay width, and at direct Dark Matter detection. The blind spots originate from cancellations between interfering diagrams featuring different neutral scalar exchanges, and from cancellations driven by the two-Higgs doublet structure in the vertex coupling the singlet state with the Standard-Model-like Higgs. We demonstrate that the blind spots arise in a wide and generic array of realizations for the two-Higgs doublet model, including scenarios with a non-trivial flavor structure. We provide analytical formul{\ae} that describe the location of the blind spots in the theory parameter space, and we discuss the resulting phenomenology.
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for content exchange in an information-centric network (ICN). During operation, a first node in the ICN receives an interest for a piece of content from a second node. The interest indicates a name of the piece of content and an incoming identifier assigned to the interest by the second node. The system identifies a matching entry in an identifier table stored on the first node that corresponds to the incoming identifier. The matching entry indicates a next-hop neighbor and an outgoing identifier. The system then updates the interest by replacing the incoming identifier with the outgoing identifier, and forwards the updated interest to the next-hop neighbor.
If dark matter is composed of primordial black holes, such black holes can span an enormous range of masses. A variety of observational constraints exist on massive black holes, and black holes with masses below $10^{15}\,\mathrm{g}$ are often assumed to have completely evaporated by the present day. But if the evaporation process halts at the Planck scale, it would leave behind a stable relic, and such objects could constitute the entirety of dark matter. Neutral Planck-scale relics are effectively invisible to both astrophysical and direct detection searches. However, we argue that such relics may typically carry electric charge, making them visible to terrestrial detectors. We evaluate constraints and detection prospects in detail, and show that if not already ruled out by monopole searches, this scenario can be largely explored within the next decade using existing or planned experimental equipment. A single detection would have enormous implications for cosmology, black hole physics, and quantum gravity.
Proton computed tomography (pCT) has been proposed as an alternative to X-ray computed tomography (CT) for acquiring relative to water stopping power (RSP) maps used for proton treatment planning dose calculations. In parallel, it has been shown that dual energy X-ray CT (DECT) improves RSP accuracy when compared to conventional single energy X-ray CT. This study aimed at directly comparing the RSP accuracy of both modalities using phantoms scanned at an advanced prototype pCT scanner and a state-of-the-art DECT scanner. Two phantoms containing 13 tissue-mimicking inserts of known RSP were scanned at the pCT phase II prototype and a latest generation dual-source DECT scanner (Siemens SOMATOM Definition FORCE). RSP accuracy was compared by mean absolute percent error (MAPE) over all inserts. A highly realistic Monte Carlo (MC) simulation was used to gain insight on pCT image artifacts which degraded MAPE. MAPE was 0.55% for pCT and 0.67% for DECT. The realistic MC simulation agreed well with pCT measurements (MAPE = 0.69%). Both simulation and experimental results showed ring artifacts in pCT images which degraded the MAPE compared to an ideal pCT simulation (MAPE = 0.17%). Using the realistic simulation, we could identify sources of artifacts, which are attributed to the interfaces in the five-stage plastic scintillator energy detector and calibration curve interpolation regions. Secondary artifacts stemming from the proton tracker geometry were also identified. The pCT prototype scanner outperformed a state-of-the-art DECT scanner in terms of RSP accuracy (MAPE) for plastic tissue mimicking inserts. Since artifacts tended to concentrate in the inserts, their mitigation may lead to further improvements in the reported pCT accuracy.
Given the absence of directly detected dark matter (DM) as weakly interacting massive particles, there is strong interest in the possibility that DM is an ultra-light scalar field, here denoted as fuzzy DM. Ultra-diffuse galaxies, with the sizes of giant galaxies and the luminosities of dwarf galaxies, have a wide range of DM halo masses, thus providing new opportunities for exploring the connections between galaxies and their DM halos. Following up on new integral field unit spectroscopic observations and dynamics modeling of the DM-dominated ultra-diffuse galaxy Dragonfly 44 in the outskirts of the Coma Cluster, we present models of fuzzy DM constrained by the stellar dynamics of this galaxy. We infer a scalar field mass of $\sim 3 \times 10^{-22}$ eV, consistent with other constraints from galaxy dynamics but in tension with constraints from Ly$\alpha$ forest power spectrum modeling. While we are unable to statistically distinguish between fuzzy DM and normal cold DM models, we find that the inferred properties of the fuzzy DM halo satisfy a number of predictions for halos in a fuzzy DM cosmology. In particular, we find good agreement with the predicted core size--halo mass relation and the predicted transition radius between the quantum pressure-dominated inner region and the outer halo region.
We investigate how to use information on the effective spin parameter of binary black hole mergers from the LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave detections to discriminate the origin of the merging black holes. We calculate the expected probability distribution function for the effective spin parameter for primordial black holes. Using LIGO-Virgo observations, we then calculate odds ratios for different models for the distribution of black holes' spin magnitude and alignment. We evaluate the posterior probability density for a possible mixture of astrophysical and primordial black holes as emerging from current data, and calculate the number of future merger events needed to discriminate different spin and alignment models at a given level of statistical significance.
Anthropologist Xavier Albó played a foundational role in the organizing of a research center in Bolivia. He also dedicated his professional life to animate the anthropology of indigenous-peasants of the Aymara ethnicity. This article historicizes an early impact on the author of this article as he was a high school student at the end of the 1960s.
