No Arabic abstract
Recent hydrodynamical simulations of supernova (SN) evolution have highlighted the importance of a thorough control over microscopic physics responsible for such internal processes as neutrino heating. In particular, it has been suggested that modifications to the neutrino-nucleon elastic cross section can potentially play a crucial role in producing successful supernova explosions. One possible source of such corrections can be found in a nonzero value for the nucleons strange helicity content $Delta s$. In the present analysis, however, we show that theoretical and experimental progress over the past decade has suggested a comparatively small magnitude for $Delta s$, such that its sole effect is not sufficient to provide the physics leading to supernova explosions.
Muons can be created in nascent neutron stars (NSs) due to the high electron chemical potentials and the high temperatures. Because of their relatively lower abundance compared to electrons, their role has so far been ignored in numerical simulations of stellar core collapse and NS formation. However, the appearance of muons softens the NS equation of state, triggers faster NS contraction and thus leads to higher luminosities and mean energies of the emitted neutrinos. This strengthens the postshock heating by neutrinos and can facilitate explosions by the neutrino-driven mechanism.
Determining the nonperturbative $sbar{s}$ content of the nucleon has attracted considerable interest and been the subject of numerous experimental searches. These measurements used a variety of reactions and place important limits on the vector form factors observed in parity-violating (PV) elastic scattering and the parton distributions determined by deep inelastic scattering (DIS). In spite of this progress, attempts to relate information obtained from elastic and DIS experiments have been sparse. To ameliorate this situation, we develop an interpolating model using light-front wave functions capable of computing both DIS and elastic observables. This framework is used to show that existing knowledge of DIS places significant restrictions on our wave functions. The result is that the predicted effects of nucleon strangeness on elastic observables are much smaller than those tolerated by direct fits to PV elastic scattering data alone. Using our model, we find $-0.024 le mu_s le 0.035$, and $-0.137 le rho^D_s le 0.081$ for the strange contributions to the nucleon magnetic moment and charge radius. The model we develop also independently predicts the nucleons strange spin content $Delta s$ and scalar density $langle N| bar{s}s | N rangle$, and for these we find agreement with previous determinations.
The calculation of the nucleon strangeness form factors from N_f=2+1 clover fermion lattice QCD is presented. Disconnected insertions are evaluated using the Z(4) stochastic method, along with unbiased subtractions from the hopping parameter expansion. We find that increasing the number of nucleon sources for each configuration improves the signal significantly. We obtain G_M^s(0) = -0.017(25)(07), which is consistent with experimental values, and has an order of magnitude smaller error. Preliminary results for the strangeness contribution to the second moment of the parton distribution function are also presented.
The origin of the low-lying nature of the $N$*(1440), or Roper resonance, has been the subject of significant interest for many years, including several investigations using lattice QCD. The majority of lattice studies have not observed a low-lying excited state energy level in the region of the Roper resonance. However, it has been claimed that chiral symmetry could play an important role in our understanding of this resonance. The purpose of this study is to systematically examine the role of chiral symmetry in the low-lying nucleon spectrum by directly comparing the clover and overlap fermion actions. To ensure any differences in results are attributable to the choice of fermion action, simulations are performed on the same set of gauge field configurations at matched pion masses. Correlation matrix techniques are employed to determine the excitation energy of the first positive-parity excited state for each action. The clover and overlap actions show a remarkable level of agreement. We do not find any evidence that fermion action chiral symmetry plays a significant role in understanding the Roper resonance on the lattice.
How do massive stars explode? Progress toward the answer is driven by increases in compute power. Petascale supercomputers are enabling detailed three-dimensional simulations of core-collapse supernovae. These are elucidating the role of fluid instabilities, turbulence, and magnetic field amplification in supernova engines.