The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 5-year data provide stringent limits on deviations from the minimal, six-parameter Λ cold dark matter model. We report these limits and use them to constrain the physics of cosmic inflation via Gaussianity, adiabaticity, the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations, gravitational waves, and spatial curvature. We also constrain models of dark energy via its equation of state, parity-violating interaction, and neutrino properties, such as mass and the number of species. We detect no convincing deviations from the minimal model. The six parameters and the corresponding 68% uncertainties, derived from the WMAP data combined with the distance measurements from the Type Ia supernovae (SN) and the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) in the distribution of galaxies, are: Ω b h 2 = 0.02267+0.00058 –0.00059, Ω c h 2 = 0.1131 ± 0.0034, ΩΛ = 0.726 ± 0.015, ns = 0.960 ± 0.013, τ = 0.084 ± 0.016, and at k = 0.002 Mpc-1. From these, we derive σ8 = 0.812 ± 0.026, H 0 = 70.5 ± 1.3 km s-1 Mpc–1, Ω b = 0.0456 ± 0.0015, Ω c = 0.228 ± 0.013, Ω m h 2 = 0.1358+0.0037 –0.0036, z reion = 10.9 ± 1.4, and t 0 = 13.72 ± 0.12 Gyr. With the WMAP data combined with BAO and SN, we find the limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r 1 is disfavored even when gravitational waves are included, which constrains the models of inflation that can produce significant gravitational waves, such as chaotic or power-law inflation models, or a blue spectrum, such as hybrid inflation models. We obtain tight, simultaneous limits on the (constant) equation of state of dark energy and the spatial curvature of the universe: –0.14 < 1 + w < 0.12(95%CL) and –0.0179 < Ω k < 0.0081(95%CL). We provide a set of WMAP distance priors, to test a variety of dark energy models with spatial curvature. We test a time-dependent w with a present value constrained as –0.33 < 1 + w 0 < 0.21 (95% CL). Temperature and dark matter fluctuations are found to obey the adiabatic relation to within 8.9% and 2.1% for the axion-type and curvaton-type dark matter, respectively. The power spectra of TB and EB correlations constrain a parity-violating interaction, which rotates the polarization angle and converts E to B. The polarization angle could not be rotated more than –59 < Δα < 24 (95% CL) between the decoupling and the present epoch. We find the limit on the total mass of massive neutrinos of ∑m ν < 0.67 eV(95%CL), which is free from the uncertainty in the normalization of the large-scale structure data. The number of relativistic degrees of freedom (dof), expressed in units of the effective number of neutrino species, is constrained as N eff = 4.4 ± 1.5 (68%), consistent with the standard value of 3.04. Finally, quantitative limits on physically-motivated primordial non-Gaussianity parameters are –9 < f local NL < 111 (95% CL) and –151 < f equil NL < 253 (95% CL) for the local and equilateral models, respectively.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0067-0049/180/2/330/pdf

Five-year wilkinson microwave anisotropy probe observations: cosmological interpretation

ENDF/B-VII.1 Nuclear Data for Science and Technology: Cross Sections, Covariances, Fission Product Yields and Decay Data

Ranging from the physics of elementary particles to the structure of viruses, the subject matter of this book stresses the importance of optical activity and chirality in modern science and will be of interest to a wide range of scientists. Using classical and quantum methods with a strong emphasis on symmetry principles, the volume develops the theory of varied optical activity and related phenomena from the perspective of molecular scattering of polarized light. First Edition Hb (1983): 0-521-24602-4

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Molecular Light Scattering and Optical Activity

Bell's theorem represents a significant advance in understanding the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. The theorem shows that essentially all local theories of natural phenomena that are formulated within the framework of realism may be tested using a single experimental arrangement. Moreover, the predictions by those theories must significantly differ from those by quantum mechanics. Experimental results evidently refute the theorem's predictions for these theories and favour those of quantum mechanics. The conclusions are philosophically startling: either one must totally abandon the realistic philosophy of most working scientists, or dramatically revise out concept of space-time.

/pdf/bell-s-theorem-experimental-tests-and-implications-2rscsyog8n.pdf

Bell's theorem. Experimental tests and implications

Advances in atomic physics, such as cooling and trapping of atoms and molecules and developments in frequency metrology, have added orders of magnitude to the precision of atom-based clocks and sensors. Applications extend beyond atomic physics and this article reviews using these new techniques to address important challenges in physics and to look for variations in the fundamental constants, search for interactions beyond the standard model of particle physics, and test the principles of general relativity.

Search for New Physics with Atoms and Molecules

Experimental Test of Parity Conservation in Beta Decay

https://link.aps.org/pdf/10.1103/PhysRev.105.1413

The Angular Correlation of Scattered Annihilation Radiation

The increase in positronium formation due to a static electric field has been measured in various gases including He, Ne, A, ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$, and several more complex molecular gases by a study of the energy spectrum of the annihilation $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ radiation. For the rare gases the increase has a sigmoid dependence on the ratio of electric field to pressure. The fraction of the positrons that form positronium increases by a maximum factor of 1.5, 1.4, and 2.1 for He, Ne, and A, respectively. A similar increase was observed for ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{D}}_{2}$, and ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$. No effect of the electric field was found in the polyatomic gases C${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$, C${\mathrm{H}}_{4}$, ${\mathrm{C}}_{2}$${\mathrm{H}}_{6}$, and C${\mathrm{Cl}}_{2}$${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$, but a small anomalous decrease in positronium formation was seen in S${\mathrm{F}}_{6}$. Some data are given using a microwave field at 2460 Mc/sec. The detailed theory of the increase given in the following paper provides a basis for obtaining from the observed data values of the elastic scattering cross section of positrons by the rare gas atoms, which are $0.023\ensuremath{\pi}{{a}_{0}}^{2}$, $0.12\ensuremath{\pi}{{a}_{0}}^{2}$, and $1.2\ensuremath{\pi}{{a}_{0}}^{2}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}25%$ for He, Ne, and A, respectively. Quantitative interpretation for the polyatomic gases is more difficult. At the high electric fields for which positronium formation has its maximum value, the fraction of positrons forming positronium is between 50% and 80% for the rare gases and for ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$ and ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$; the mode of decay of the remaining positrons is not understood.

Effect of an electric field on positronium formation in gases: experimental

Internal bremsstrahlung spectra from S35 and Pm147 have been investigated with the NaI scintillation spectrometer. Both the absolute cross section of production and the energy distribution agree with theoretical predictions. The theoretical internal bremsstrahlung spectrum of RaE was calculated by using both the observed forbidden beta spectrum and an allowed beta distribution. No significant differences in shape were found in these two cases except in the absolute cross section of production. 

The ionization accompanying beta decay was studied in the case of RaE and also in Pm147 by measuring the characteristic x-rays in an NaI scintillation counter as well as in a proportional counter spectrometer. Both K and L radiations were observed, and their absolute cross sections were compared with the theoretical calculations of Migdal, Feinberg, and Levinger. Because of the approximate nature of the theoretical calculations, the agreement between the theoretical and experimental results is considered satisfactory.

/pdf/internal-bremsstrahlung-and-ionization-accompanying-beta-mevqnx8qpk.pdf

C. S. Wu

Papers

Experimental Test of Parity Conservation in Beta Decay

Experimental Test of Parity Conservation in Beta Decay

The Angular Correlation of Scattered Annihilation Radiation

Effect of an electric field on positronium formation in gases: experimental

Internal Bremsstrahlung and Ionization Accompanying Beta Decay