Construction of the Conserved Non-linear Zeta via the Effective Action for Perfect Fluids
We consider the problem of how to construct the curvature perturbation $\zeta$ to nonlinear levels, which is expected to evolve time independently on super-horizon scales; in particular we concentrate on the situation where the universe is dominated by a perfect fluid. We have used a low energy/long wavelength effective action to model the fluid sector. Different from previous work, our approach assumes neither the absence of vector and tensor perturbations nor ``local homogeneity and isotropy''. As a corollary, we also show that the nonlinearly defined graviton field $\gamma_{ij}$ is conserved outside the horizon in the same manner as $\zeta$ is.

title: Solid Inflation
abstract: We develop a cosmological model where primordial inflation is driven by a ‘solid’, defined as a system of three derivatively coupled scalar fields obeying certain symmetries and spontaneously breaking a certain subgroup of these. The symmetry breaking pattern differs drastically from that of standard inflationary models: time translations are unbroken. This prevents our model from fitting into the standard effective field theory description of adiabatic perturbations, with crucial consequences for the dynamics of cosmological perturbations. Most notably, non-gaussianities in the curvature perturbations are unusually large, with fNL ∼ 1/( cs), and have a novel shape: peaked in the squeezed limit, with anisotropic dependence on how the limit is approached. Other unusual features include the absence of adiabatic fluctuation modes during inflation— which does not impair their presence and near scale-invariance after inflation—and a slightly blue tilt for the tensor modes.

title: No-go theorems for generalized chameleon field theories.
abstract: The chameleon, or generalizations thereof, is a light scalar that couples to matter with gravitational strength, but whose manifestation depends on the ambient matter density. A key feature is that the screening mechanism suppressing its effects in high-density environments is determined by the local scalar field value. Under very general conditions, we prove two theorems limiting its cosmological impact: (i) the Compton wavelength of such a scalar can be at most ~/= 1 MPc at the present cosmic density, which restricts its impact to nonlinear scales; and (ii) the conformal factor relating Einstein- and Jordan-frame scale factors is essentially constant over the last Hubble time, which precludes the possibility of self-acceleration. These results imply that chameleonlike scalar fields have a negligible effect on the linear-scale growth history; theories that invoke a chameleonlike scalar to explain cosmic acceleration rely on a form of dark energy rather than a genuine modified gravity effect. Our analysis applies to a broad class of chameleon, symmetron, and dilaton theories.

title: Classical stability of the Galileon
abstract: A bstractWe consider the classical equations of motion for a single Galileon field with generic parameters in the presence of non-relativistic sources. We introduce the concept of absolute stability of a theory: if one can show that a field at a single point — like infinity for instance — in spacetime is stable, then stability of the field over the rest of spacetime is guaranteed for any positive energy source configuration. The Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) model is stable in this manner, and previous studies of spherically symmetric solutions suggest that certain classes of the single field Galileon (of which the DGP model is a subclass) may have this property as well. We find, however, that when general solutions are considered this is not the case. In fact, when considering generic solutions there are no choices of free parameters in the Galileon theory that will lead to absolute stability except the DGP choice. Our analysis indicates that the DGP model is an exceptional choice among the large class of possible single field Galileon theories. This implies that if general solutions (non-spherically symmetric) exist they may be unstable. Given astrophysical motivation for the Galileon, further investigation into these unstable solutions may prove fruitful.

title: Dissipation in the effective field theory for hydrodynamics: First order effects
abstract: We introduce dissipative effects in the effective field theory of hydrodynamics. We do this in a model-independent fashion by coupling the long-distance degrees of freedom explicitly kept in the effective field theory to a generic sector that "lives in the fluid", which corresponds physically to the microscopic constituents of the fluid. At linear order in perturbations, the symmetries, the derivative expansion, and the assumption that this microscopic sector is thermalized, allow us to characterize the leading dissipative effects at low frequencies via three parameters only, which correspond to bulk viscosity, shear viscosity, and--in the presence of a conserved charge--heat conduction. Using our methods we re-derive the Kubo relations for these transport coefficients.

title: Dark energy model with spinor matter and its quintom scenario
abstract: A class of dynamical dark energy models, dubbed spinor quintom, can be constructed by a spinor field psi with a nontraditional potential. We find that, if choosing suitable potential, this model is able to allow the equation-of-state to cross the cosmological constant boundary without introducing any ghost fields. In a further investigation, we show that this model is able to mimic a perfect fluid of Chaplygin gas with p = -c/rho during the evolution, and also realizes the quintom scenario with its equation-of-state across -1.

title: Accelerator structure work for NLC
abstract: The NLC design achieves high luminosity with multiple bunches in each RF pulse. Acceleration of a train of bunches without emittance growth requires control of long range dipole wakefields. SLAC is pursuing a structure design which suppresses the effect of wakefields by varying the physical dimensions of successive cells of the disk-loaded traveling wave structure in a manner which spreads the frequencies of the higher mode while retaining the synchronism between the electrons and the accelerating mode. The wakefields of structures incorporating higher mode detuning have been measured at the Accelerator Test Facility at Argonne. Mechanical design and brazing techniques which avoid getting brazing alloy into the interior of the accelerator are being studied. A test facility for high-power testing of these structures is complete and high power testing has begun.

title: EFFECTIVE COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT IN BRANE COSMOLOGY
abstract: We consider a brane-world of co-dimension one without reflection symmetry. Through it, we give a possible explanation of the great discrepancy between the vacuum energy and the observed cosmological constant without contradiction to the knowledge we have about our Universe. We also show the gravity observed will be standard four-dimensional gravity as long as the discrepancy of the bulk cosmological constant at different sides of the brane is small enough.

title: CHANDRA HIGH-ENERGY GRATING OBSERVATIONS OF THE Fe Kα LINE CORE IN TYPE II SEYFERT GALAXIES: A COMPARISON WITH TYPE I NUCLEI
abstract: We present a study of the core of the Fe K{alpha} emission line at {approx}6.4 keV in a sample of type II Seyfert galaxies observed by the Chandra high-energy grating. The sample consists of 29 observations of 10 unique sources. We present measurements of the Fe K{alpha} line parameters with the highest spectral resolution currently available. In particular, we derive the most robust intrinsic line widths for some of the sources in the sample to date. We obtained a weighted mean full width at half-maximum (FWHM) of 2000 {+-} 160 km s{sup -1} for 8 out of 10 sources (the remaining sources had insufficient signal to noise). From a comparison with the optical emission-line widths obtained from spectropolarimetric observations, we found that the location of Fe K{alpha} line-emitting material is a factor of {approx}0.7-11 times the size of the optical broad-line region. Furthermore, compared to 13 type I active galactic nuclei (AGNs) for which the best Fe K{alpha} line FWHM constraints were obtained, we found no difference in the FWHM distribution or the mean FWHM, and this conclusion is independent of the central black hole mass. This result suggests that the bulk of the Fe K{alpha} line emission may originatemore » from a universal region at the same radius with respect to the gravitational radius, {approx}3 x 10{sup 4} r{sub g} on average. By examining the correlation between the Fe K{alpha} luminosity and the [O IV] line luminosity, we found a marginal difference in the Fe K{alpha} line flux between type I and type II AGNs, but the spread in the ratio of L{sub Fe} to L{sub [OIV]} is about two orders of magnitude. Our results confirm the theoretical expectation that the Fe K{alpha} emission-line luminosity cannot trivially be used as a proxy of the intrinsic AGN luminosity, unless a detailed comparison of the data with proper models is applied.« less

title: Performance of tau-lepton reconstruction and identification in CMS
abstract: The performance of tau-lepton reconstruction and identification algorithms is studied using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The tau leptons that decay into one or three charged hadrons, zero or more short-lived neutral hadrons, and a neutrino are identified using final-state particles reconstructed in the CMS tracker and electromagnetic calorimeter. The reconstruction efficiency of the algorithms is measured using tau leptons produced in Z-boson decays. The tau-lepton misidentification rates for jets and electrons are determined.