Analog Science Fiction and Fact - 2014-05
Page 21
Another signal of dark matter annihilation that has received increasing attention is the spectrum of positrons present in cosmic rays. The PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) experiment is a collaboration of institutions from Russia, Italy, Germany, and Sweden, attached to a Russian satellite in a polar elliptical orbit and designed to measure the antiproton and positron components of cosmic rays. The ongoing experiment has produced a surprising result: There was a steep rise in the positron-to-electron ratio with increasing energy, up to 90 GeV, but there was no corresponding rise in the antiproton-to-proton ratio. In April 2013, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS–II), a permanent magnet precision tracking device mounted on the International Space Station, has confirmed this result and produced a high-quality spectrum of the cosmic ray positrons from 0.5 GeV up to about 300 GeV. There are two competing explanations for the observed positron excess: WIMP annihilation products or positron production in pulsars. More modeling and more data on whether the positrons come from particular directions (e.g., pulsars) will be needed to determine which of these explanations is more consistent with the observed positron excess.
Thus, there is a collection of observations pointing in the direction of dark matter annihilation, but the question is: can they be put together in a consistent picture? To do this, one must provide a description of the WIMP particle: its mass, its interactions involving the four known forces (strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational), its annihilation products, and possibly its interactions involving new unknown forces. This is tricky, because one must not only explain the existing observations (the cosmic ray positron rise with energy), but also explain the non-observations (the lack of any increase in antiprotons with energy or any WIMP candidates at the LHC). One problem seems to be that PAMELA and the Alpha spectrometer observe too many positrons to accommodate many such models.
The HWX group has proposed a model that seems to fit all the criteria. It hypothesizes that dark matter and antimatter particles having a mass of around 10 GeV are affected by a new fifth force that is ignored by baryons and leptons. This new force has a mediating particle (the equivalent of the gluon for the strong force and the photon for the electromagnetic force) that has a mass of around 1 GeV. The dark matter annihilations produce pairs of these intermediate particles, which in turn decay to mesons and leptons. This two-step scenario explains the lack of an antiproton enhancement in cosmic rays and, with a suitable choice of interaction strengths, can fit the gamma ray spectrum from the galactic center, the presumed synchrotron radiation from the WMAP and Planck data, and the scattering that could produce the seasonal variations observed by the Grand Sasso experiments.
This, of course, is not the end of the story. The new LUX results place the Grand Sasso seasonal variations in some doubt. The cosmic ray positron rise could be coming from pulsars. Some other astrophysical phenomena could be producing the gamma rays and the synchrotron radiation haze coming from the galactic center. Several new dark matter searches are currently being mounted, and the ongoing experiments are being improved and are gathering more data. Watch this column in times to come for further results.
SF Novels by John Cramer: my two hard SF novels, Twistor and Einstein's Bridge, are newly released as eBooks and are available at: http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/?s=Cra mer&submit=Search.
Alternate View Columns Online: Electronic reprints of over 160 "The Alternate View" columns by John G. Cramer, previously published in Analog, are available online at: http://www.npl.washington.edu/av.
References:
•Grand Sasso Seasonal Variations:
"New results from DAMA/LIBRA", R. Bernabei, P. Belli, F. Cappella et al., Eur. Phys. J. C67, 39-49 (2010); arXiv:1002.1028 [astroph.GA].
"Results from 730 kg days of the CRESST-II Dark Matter Search", G. Angloher, M. Bauer, I. Bavykina, A. Bento, C. Bucci, C. Ciemniak, G. Deuter, F. von Feilitzsch et al.; arX-iv:1109.0702 [astro-ph.CO].
•Alpha Spectrometer positrons:
"First Result from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer on the International Space Station: Precision Measurement of the Positron Fraction in Primary Cosmic Rays of 0.5—350 GeV", M. Aguilar, et al., The AMS Collaboration, Physical Review Letters 110, 141102 (2013).
•Theoretical Model:
"Dark Forces and Light Dark Matter", Dan Hooper, Neal Weiner, and Wei Xue, Phys. Rev. D86, 056009 (2012); arXiv: 1206.2929 [hepph].
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IN TIMES TO COME
148 words
Advances in training and technology help sports to evolve, but they can also help people looking for an unfair advantage over their competition. Our lead story for June, Jay Werkheiser's "Field of Gravity," is one such tale, looking at a possible future of American football.
The fact article is the next installment of Edward M. Lerner's continuing series on classic science fiction tropes, this one about a once-popular subject now largely considered pseudo-science: psi powers. Look for "Alternate Abilities" next month.
Then a journalist on an alien planet finds a hot lead on a story, but the details don't quite add up, and trying to fill in the missing pieces may pose more than just an occupational hazard in J.T. Sharrah's "Homecoming."
Of course, we'll also have other short fiction, like Jennifer R. Povey's "A Star to Steer By," Bud Sparhawk's "Forgiveness," and more.
See you next issue!
All contents subject to change
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THE REFERENCE LIBRARY
Don Sakers | 2356 words
It's no secret that written science fiction, especially in print, has for many years been in what economists call "a contractionary phase." There are many theories about the cause, but in today's publishing market, the fact is that the many flavors of fantasy dominate, while SF (and particularly SF with a heavy science component) is definitely a minority taste.
This isn't terribly new; since its inception, the SF field has gone through periods of expansion and contraction, starting with the mid-1920s expansion that resulted in the birth of the commercial SF field as we know it. The relative proportion of "hard" and "soft" SF has fluctuated as well, not always in synchrony with the larger boom-and-bust cycle.
Previous contractions in the field have been accompanied by a sort of retrenchment, in which writers and publishers concentrate more of their efforts on the genres and styles of the past. (I deliberately say "accompanied by" because the direction of causality—if any—is uncertain.) During the slowdown of the mid-1960s, for example, there was a resurgence of Frederik Pohl type cautionary tales; the doldrums of the early 1970s brought a surge of Burroughs-type science fantasy and E. E. "Doc" Smith style space opera; and the slowdown of the late 1990s came with an upswing in both hard SF and British imports.
In the last few months, I've seen increasing evidence of a looking-to-the-past phase in science-based SF. I'll present some examples below; certainly the "retro SF" subgenre that I identified last issue is part of this phase.
So just what's going on here? Do publishers respond to contracting sales numbers with a kind of "back to basics" mentality, going with what's sold well in the past? Do writers and editors react to a bust with nostalgia for the kinds of SF they enjoyed when they were younger? Do readers husband their dollars, preferring to buy that which is more familiar and comforting?
Or is this whole phenomenon a statistical illusion? Perhaps a certain amount of nostalgic SF is steadily published each year, and it's only the reduction of other SF that makes these books seem to stand out, the way submerged rocks stand out when the tide recedes?
Perhaps a doubt-ridden field turns its attention upon itself, looking to its own roots to find new inspiration or new ways forward, as if the collective unconscious says, "Hey, remember all this cool stuff we used to do? Why don't we do that anymore?"
Then again, maybe the move to electronic media is responsible for this apparent retrenchment. Maybe the epicenter of "soft" SF is moving online and into e-book-only sp
heres, while us old "hard" SF fogies stay behind in print? (But I don't feel like a print-bound old fogey, and I'll bet you don't either.)
It's also possible that there's no retrenchment or back to basics movement—that we're all getting older, and the ever-present market for nostalgia is expanding; that "retro SF" is the new popular flavor of the month.
I suspect the answer is "a little of each," plus factors I haven't identified.
Assuming this nostalgic phase is a real phenomenon, what does it mean for the field?
I'd like to say that previous nostalgic phases have been followed by an expansion of the field, that this is a sign things will soon be getting better, that science-based SF is on the brink of a new resurgence, and that we're headed for happy times with a Clarke in every pot and two Asimovs on every Kindle.
I'd like to say that... but I can't. Yes, this current nostalgia will be followed by an expansion of the field—but only in the sense that every bust is eventually followed by a boom. And if history is a guide, the eventual boom in science-based SF won't have anything to do with today's retro visions.
In the late 1960s, SF boomed because of Star Trek, not social science fiction. In the late 1970s, it was Star Wars, not science fantasy and space opera, that brought more readers to the field. No expansion at all followed the "hard SF renaissance" of the early 2000s. The next big expansion of the field will almost certainly spring from something other than modern nostalgia and retro SF.
At least, that's how I see things.
Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera For a New Age
edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt
Every Day, 360 pages, $29.95 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-0-9881257-5-9
Genres: Anthology, Retro SF, Space Opera
Raygun Chronicles contains stories (and one poem) "influenced by and written in the style of old classics by contemporary authors," which certainly makes the anthology's retro nature obvious enough. Nine of the 24 stories are original to this book; the other 15 are reprints from the 2006–2013 magazine Raygun Revival, which was edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and Johne Cook and which had a similar mission.
Don't worry about the claim that these stories are "in the style of" the classics—the writers (wisely) didn't attempt to echo the purple prose of earlier ages. Instead, they've done a fine job of evoking the spirit of those earlier tales, and the technology is drawn from today's science rather than that of the 1920s and 30s. The casts of characters are more diverse, women appear in positions of agency and authority, and the modern reader doesn't have to take a deep breath and ignore the casual racism of the period (although one story does tread uncomfortably close to Arabic stereotype). All of these things are improvements.
These 24 stories are a varied selection, running the gamut from melodrama to humor, adventure to parody, and tender to ruthless. There's alien invasion, stories of colonization, time travel tales, and super-science yarns.
Among the standout stories is Sarah A. Hoyt's "Around the Bend," which mixes adventure and espionage with a revolutionary new spacedrive. Robin Wayne Bailey's "King of the Galaxy Knights" has a heroic protagonist the equal of "Doc" Smith's Kim Kinnison. The late A. C. Crispin's "Twilight World" is a first encounter story, expanded from the first novel in her Starbridge series. And Mike Resnick's two tales of the redoubtable Catastrophe Baker will leave you laughing.
Beyond the Sun
edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt Fairwood, 300 pages, $17.99 (trade paperback)
Kindle, Nook: $5.99 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-0-933846-38-5
Genres: Anthology, Retro SF, Trips in Space
If you want to return to the roots of science fiction, then you're talking about space travel. No other theme goes back further; in fact, we're able to define some of the travel tales of the ancient world as SF because they deal with voyages to other worlds.
Space travel is a great springboard for all kinds of SF stories. It's the way we view the wonders of the Universe, settle other planets, meet alien races, fight interstellar wars. Space travel is so much more than a way to get from A to B: it's journeys of internal and external discovery, the challenges of shipboard life, explorations of new frontiers... and more.
Beyond the Sun contains 18 stories on the theme of travel beyond the Solar System. One—Robert Silverberg's "The Dybbuk of Mazel Tov IV"—is a classic from 1974, and two others were published in the mid-2000s... but the rest are originals.
Besides Silverberg, there are some other familiar names here, Nancy Kress, Cat Rambo, Mike Resnick, Jamie Todd Rubin, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and Brad R. Torgenson among them.
Kress's story "Migration" is a powerful tale of animal protection and the nature of freedom on an exotic colony world. "Chasing Satellites" by Anthony R. Cardno is a different kind of colonial independence story. A unique spin on the urge to travel is at the heart of Jason Sanford's "Rumspringa."
Taken together, the stories in this collection are a multifaceted look at all the things that make space travel and other worlds such fundamental themes in this literature that we all love.
Treecat Wars
David Weber and Jane Lindskold
Baen, 376 pages, $18.99 (hardcover)
Kindle: $8.59, iBooks, Nook: $9.99 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-1-4516-3933-9
Series: Star Kingdom 3
Genres: Adventure SF, Animal Companions, Young Adult SF
If you want to talk science fiction nostalgia, sooner or later you'll find yourself talking about what we now call young adult SF. Many of today's editors, writers, and readers first found written SF between the covers of young adult books, many of them by Andre Norton.
Norton, I believe, would approve of David Weber & Jane Lindskold's Star Kingdom series.
It may have started as a way to get a share of the lucrative YA market with stories of a teenage ancestor of Weber's mega-hero Honor Harrington... but somewhere in the execution, Stephanie Harrington and her friends took on a life of their own and the series has blossomed into a modern saga with the feel of those great old Andre Norton tales.
In this third volume, Stephanie and her friend Karl Zivonik—along with Stephanie's telepathic treecat, Lionheart—are sent to far-off Manticore for an accelerated forestry training program. It's a great opportunity and adventure for the two, but it's a particularly bad time for Stephanie to be leaving her home planet of Sphinx.
Following the devastating forest fires of the previous book (Fire Season), the treecats of Lionheart's clan are left homeless with winter coming on. Surrounding clans are in no mood to take on the refugees, and a group of off-planet biologists come to study the treecats are acting like they have ulterior motives. Since Stephanie is Sphinx's leading advocate for the treecats, her absence is keenly felt.
Her friends Anders Whitaker and Jessica Pheriss cope as best they can, trying to find a solution for the refugees... but they have their own problems, in terms of a friendship that's developing in a decidedly romantic direction—a bad idea, since Stephanie and Anders are supposed to be a couple already.
Like the best worlds of science fiction, part of the fun of this book is spending some more time with these characters we've come to know so well. We want to know what comes next for Stephanie, Karl, Anders, Jessica... and particularly for the delightful treecats.
The Hunter
Giancarlo Genta Springer, 130 pages, $19.99 (trade paperback)
Kindle: $9.99 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-3-319-02059-4
Series: Springer Science and Fiction
Genre: Hard SF
The New Martians
Nick Kanas Springer, 123 pages, $19.99 (trade paperback)
Kindle: $9.99 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-3-319-00974-2
Series: Springer Science and Fiction
Genre: Hard SF
Alien Encounter
Dirk Schulze-Makuch Springer, 236 pages, $19.99 (trade paperback)
Kindle: $9.99 (e-book)
ISBN: 978-3-319-01960-4
Series: Springer Science and Fiction
Genre: Hard SF
John W. Campbell would have loved these—and so, I suspect, would Hugo Gernsback.
The Springer Science and Fiction series is a new venture designed to bring real-world science and science fiction together. The authors are practicing scientists (and, one presumes, SF readers). Giancarlo Genta is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engi neering at Politecnico di Torino in Italy and member of the International Academy of Astronautics. Nick Kanas is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco and author of Space Psychology and Psychiatry. Dirk Schulze-Makuch is a professor at Washington State University focusing on evolutionary adaptation strategies of organisms in extreme environments.