Abstract: A method is given to compute the stress-energy tensor for a massless minimally coupled scalar field in a spacetime where a black hole forms from the collapse of a spherically symmetric null shell in four dimensions. Part of the method involves matching the modes for the in vacuum state to a complete set of modes in Schwarzschild spacetime. The other part involves subtracting from the unrenormalized expression for the stress-energy tensor when the field is in the in vacuum state, the corresponding expression when the field is in the Unruh state and adding to this the renormalized stress-energy tensor for the field in the Unruh state. The method is shown to work in the two-dimensional case where the results are known.

Abstract: The spectrum of the negative-parity spin-1/2 Lambda baryons is studied using lattice QCD and hadronic effective theory in a unitarized coupled-channel framework. A direct comparison between the two approaches is possible by considering the hadronic effective theory in a finite volume and with hadron masses and mesonic decay constants that correspond to the situation studied on the lattice. Comparing the energy level spectrum and SU(3) flavor decompositions of the individual states, it is found that the lowest two states extracted from lattice QCD can be associated with one of the two Lambda(1405)-poles and the Lambda(1670) resonance. The quark mass dependences of these two lattice QCD levels are in good agreement with their effective theory counterparts. However, as current lattice QCD studies still rely on three-quark operators to generate the physical states, clear signals corresponding to the meson-baryon scattering states, that appear in the finite volume effective theory calculation, are not yet seen.

Abstract: The aim of this work is to analyse the scattered radiation produced by the mobile accelerator Mobetron 1000. To do so, detailed Monte Carlo simulations using two different codes, Penelope2008 and Geant4, were performed. Measurements were also done. To quantify the attenuation due to the internal structures, present in the accelerator head, on the scattered radiation produced, some of the main structural shielding in the Mobetron 1000 has been incorporated into the geometry simulation. Results are compared with measurements. Some discrepancies between the calculated and measured dose values were found. These differences can be traced back to the importance of the radiation component due to low energy scattered electrons. This encouraged us to perform additional calculations to separate the role played by this component. Ambient dose equivalent, H*(10), outside of the operating room (OR) has been evaluated using Geant4. H*(10) has been measured inside and outside the OR, being its values compatible with those reported in the literature once the low energy electron component is removed. With respect to the role played by neutrons, estimations of neutron H*(10) using Geant4 together with H*(10) measurements has been performed for the case of the 12 MeV electron beam. The values obtained agree with the experimental values existing in the literature, being much smaller than those registered in conventional accelerators. This study is a useful tool for the clinical user to investigate the radiation protection issues arising with the use of these accelerators in ORs without structural shielding. These results will also enable to better fix the maximum number of treatments that could be performed while insuring adequate radiological protection of workers and public in the hospital.

Abstract: We study the sensitivity to physics beyond the standard model of precise top-quark pair production measurements at future lepton colliders. A global effective-field-theory approach is employed, including all ten dimension-six operators of the Warsaw basis which involve a top-quark and give rise to tree-level amplitudes that interfere with standard-model e+e-tt ones in the limit of vanishing b-quark mass. Four-fermion and CP-violating contributions are taken into account. Circular-collider-, ILC- and CLIC-like benchmark run scenarios are examined. We compare the constraining power of various observables to a set of statistically optimal ones which maximally exploit the information contained in the fully differential bW+ distribution. The enhanced sensitivity gained on the linear contributions of dimension-six operators leads to bounds that are insensitive to quadratic ones. Even with statistically optimal observables, two centre-of-mass energies are required for constraining simultaneously two- and four-fermion operators. The impact of the centre-of-mass energy lever arm is discussed, that of beam polarization as well. A realistic estimate of the precision that can be achieved in ILC- and CLIC-like operating scenarios yields individual limits on the electroweak couplings of the top quark that are one to three orders of magnitude better than constraints set with Tevatron and LHC run I data, and three to two hundred times better than the most optimistic projections made for the high-luminosity phase of the LHC. Clean global constraints can moreover be obtained at lepton colliders, robustly covering the multidimensional effective-field-theory space with minimal model dependence.

Abstract: We study the extent to which the decay of cold dark matter axions can be probed with forthcoming radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). In particular, we focus on signals arising from dwarf spheroidal galaxies, where astrophysical uncertainties are reduced and the expected magnetic field strengths are such that signals arising from axion decay may dominate over axion-photon conversion in a magnetic field. We show that with similar to 100 hr of observing time, SKA could improve current sensitivity by 2-3 orders of magnitude-potentially obtaining sufficient sensitivity to begin probing the decay of cold dark matter axions.