Using the latest observational data we obtain a lower bound on the initial value of the quintessence field in thawing quintessence models of dark energy. For potentials of the form V(phi) phi^{pm2} we find that the initial value |phi_i|>7x10^{18}gev.
We then relate phi_i to the duration of inflation by assuming that the initial value of the quintessence field is determined by quantum fluctuations of the quintessence field during inflation. From the lower bound on $phi_i$ we obtain a lower bound on the number of e-foldings of inflation, namely, N>2x10^{11}. We obtain similar bounds for other power law potentials for which too we obtain |phi_{i}|>O(M_{P}.
We present the results obtained from a study of the variability of iron emission lines in the high mass X-ray binary pulsar Cen X-3 during the eclipse, eclipse-egress and out-of-eclipse phases using XMM-Newton observations. Three iron emission lines
at 6.4 keV, 6.7 keV, and 6.97 keV are clearly detected in the spectrum of the pulsar during the entire observations, irrespective of different binary phases. The properties of these emission lines are investigated at different intensity levels. The flux level and equivalent width of the emission lines change during the eclipse, eclipse-egress and out-of-eclipse orbital phases. Based on the results obtained from the time resolved spectral analysis, it is understood that the most probable emitting region of 6.4 keV fluorescent line is very close to the neutron star whereas the other two lines are produced in a region that is far from the neutron star, probably in the highly photo-ionized wind of the companion star or in the accretion disk corona.
In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), the scalar neutrino $tilde{ u}_L$ has odd R parity, yet it has long been eliminated as a dark-matter candidate because it scatters elastically off nuclei through the $Z$ boson, yielding a cross sec
tion many orders of magnitude above the experimental limit. We show how it can be reinstated as a dark-matter candidate by splitting the masses of its real and imaginary parts in an extension of the MSSM with scalar triplets. As a result, radiative Majorana neutrino masses are also generated. In addition, decays of the scalar triplets relate the abundance of this asymmetric dark matter to the baryon asymmetry of the Universe through leptogenesis.
{Comparison of mass density profiles of galaxies of varying sizes based on some gravity theories from observed galaxy rotation curves and assessing the need for dark matter.} We present an analysis of the rotation curves of five galaxies of varying g
alactic radii: NGC6822 (4.8 kpc), Large Magellanic Cloud (9 kpc), The Milky Way (17 kpc), NGC3198 (30 kpc) and UGC9133 (102.5 kpc). The mass and mass density profiles of these galaxies have been computed using the scientific computing s/w package MATLAB taking the already available velocity profiles of the galaxies as the input, and without considering any Dark Matter contribution. We have plotted these profiles after computing them according to three different theories of gravity (and dynamics): Newtonian (black line), Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MoND) (green line) and Vacuum Modified Gravity (red line). We also consider how the profile due to the Newtonian theory would modify if we take into account a small negative value of the Cosmological Constant (5 x 10^-56 cm^-2 from theory) (blue line). Comparing these mass and mass density profiles, we try to form an idea regarding what could be a realistic theory of gravity and whether we need Dark Matter to explain the results. Keywords : disk galaxy rotation curves, galaxy mass, mass density profile, dark matter, Newtonian theory, MoND, Vacuum Modified Gravity, negative cosmological constant
We show that a source-to-detector distance of 2540 km offers multiple advantages for a low energy neutrino factory with a detector that can identify muon charge. At this baseline, for any neutrino hierarchy, the wrong-sign muon signal is almost indep
endent of CP violation and $theta_{13}$ in certain energy ranges. This reduces the uncertainties due to these parameters and allows the identification of the hierarchy in a clean way. In addition, part of the muon spectrum is also sensitive to the CP violating phase and $theta_{13}$, so that the same setup can be used to probe these parameters as well.
Renormalization group (RG) evolution of the neutrino mass matrix may take the value of the mixing angle $theta_{13}$ very close to zero, or make it vanish. On the other hand, starting from $theta_{13}=0$ at the high scale it may be possible to genera
te a non-zero $theta_{13}$ radiatively. In the most general scenario with non-vanishing CP violating Dirac and Majorana phases, we explore the evolution in the vicinity of $theta_{13}=0$, in terms of its structure in the complex ${cal U}_{e3}$ plane. This allows us to explain the apparent singularity in the evolution of the Dirac CP phase $delta$ at $theta_{13}=0$. We also introduce a formalism for calculating the RG evolution of neutrino parameters that uses the Jarlskog invariant and naturally avoids this singular behaviour. We find that the parameters need to be extremely fine-tuned in order to get exactly vanishing $theta_{13}$ during evolution. For the class of neutrino mass models with $theta_{13}=0$ at the high scale, we calculate the extent to which RG evolution can generate a nonzero $theta_{13}$, when the low energy effective theory is the standard model or its minimal supersymmetric extension. We find correlated constraints on $theta_{13}$, the lightest neutrino mass $m_0$, the effective Majorana mass $m_{ee}$ measured in the neutrinoless double beta decay, and the supersymmetric parameter $tanbeta$.
