e-ISSN: Pending

Browse the failure-mode index

21,253 real negative results, null findings, and replication failures. Search the index →

WASTE indexes published research — it does not host or republish full papers. Each entry is a metadata record compiled from open scholarly databases; the abstract is shown in full only where the paper is openly licensed, otherwise a short excerpt under fair use. Classifications are automated and approximate.

Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Null-result test for effect on weight from large electrostatic charge

G. Hathaway, L. L. Williams · 2021 · arXiv

We report test results searching for an effect of electrostatic charge on weight. For conducting test objects of mass of order 1 kilogram, we found no effect on weight, for potentials ranging from 10 V to 200 kV, corresponding to charge states ranging from $10^{-9}$ to over $10^{-5}$ coulombs, and for both polarities, to within a measurement precision of 2 grams. While such a result may not be unexpected, this is the first unipolar, high-voltage, meter-scale, static test for electro-gravitic effects reported in the literature. Our investigation was motivated by the search for possible coupling

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Phase Closure Nulling: results from the 2009 campaign

Gilles Duvert, Fabien Malbet, Alain Chelli et al. · 2010 · arXiv

We present here a new observational technique, Phase Closure Nulling (PCN), which has the potential to obtain very high contrast detection and spectroscopy of faint companions to bright stars. PCN consists in measuring closure phases of fully resolved objects with a baseline triplet where one of the baselines crosses a null of the object visibility function. For scenes dominated by the presence of a stellar disk, the correlated flux of the star around nulls is essentially canceled out, and in these regions the signature of fainter, unresolved, scene object(s) dominates the imaginary part of th

View details →
Negative / Null Result Report

Substituent Effects on the HOMO-LUMO Absorption and Emission of Pt(II)-Biphenyl Complexes containing 1,10-Phenanthroline Derivatives

Arvin Cruz, null null, null null et al. · 2017 · John Heinrichs Scholarly & Creative Activities Day

Eight platinum(II) biphenyl complexes containing 1,10-phenanthroline derivatives were synthesized and their physical and photophysical properties were examined. X-ray crystal structures were obtained for five of the complexes with two…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Magnetic fields of Be stars: preliminary results from a hybrid analysis of the MiMeS sample

G. A. Wade, V. Petit, J. Grunhut et al. · 2014 · arXiv

In the context of the MiMeS survey of magnetism in massive stars, 85 classical Be stars were observed in circular polarization with the aim of detecting magnetic fields at their surfaces. No direct evidence of such fields is found, in contrast to the significant rate of detection (5-10\%) in non-Be B-type stars. In this paper we describe the sample properties, the methodology and the data quality. We describe a novel method, previously applied to Herbig Ae/Be stars, that allows us to infer upper limits on organized (dipolar) magnetic fields present in the photospheres of our targets. We review

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Stochastic motion in an expanding noncommutative fluid

M. A. Anacleto, C. H. G. Bessa, F. A. Brito et al. · 2020 · arXiv

A model for an expanding noncommutative acoustic fluid analogous to a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker geometry is derived. For this purpose, a noncommutative Abelian Higgs model is considered in a (3+1)-dimensional spacetime. In this scenario, we analyze the motion of test particles in this fluid. The study considers a scalar test particle coupled to a quantized fluctuating massless scalar field. For all cases studied, we find corrections due to the noncommutativity in the mean squared velocity of the particles. The nonzero velocity dispersion for particles that are free to move on geodesics disagr

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Searching for magnetic fields in pulsating A-type stars: the discovery of a strong field in the probable delta Sct star HD340577 and a null result for the gamma Dor star HR8799

S. Hubrig, S. P. Jarvinen, J. D. Alvarado-Gomez et al. · 2023 · arXiv

Numerous delta Sct and gamma Dor pulsators are identified in the region of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram that is occupied by chemically peculiar magnetic Ap stars. The connection between delta Sct and gamma Dor pulsations and the magnetic field in Ap stars is however not clear: theory suggests for magnetic Ap stars some critical field strengths for pulsation mode suppression by computing the magnetic damping effect for selected p and g modes. To test these theoretical considerations, we obtained PEPSI spectropolarimetric snapshots of the typical Ap star HD340577, for which delta Sct-like pul

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportMedicine

Effect of sleep quality on physical performance in the elderly.

Roy, Jahagirdar, Kumar et al. · 2026 · Journal of bodywork and movement therapies

Deteriorating physical performance with ageing increases the risk of falls, loss of independence, institutionalisation and mortality amongst elderly. Apart from multisystem body decline, poor quality sleep, being a common complaint amongst…

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Transit Detection of Radial Velocity Planets

Stephen R. Kane, Kaspar von Braun · 2008 · arXiv

The orbital parameters of extra-solar planets have a significant impact on the probability that the planet will transit the host star. This was recently demonstrated by the transit detection of HD 17156b whose favourable eccentricity and argument of periastron dramatically increased its transit likelihood. We present a study which provides a quantitative analysis of how these two orbital parameters effect the geometric transit probability as a function of period. Further, we apply these results to known radial velocity planets and show that there are unexpectedly high transit probabilities for

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Next generation long baseline experiments on the path to leptonic CP violation

P. Migliozzi, F. Terranova · 2003 · arXiv

In this paper we quantify the trade-off between setups optimized to be ancillary to Phase II Superbeams or Neutrino Factories and experiments tuned for maximal sensitivity to the subdominant terms of the neutrino transition probability at the atmospheric scale (``maximum discovery potential''). In particular, the theta(13) sensitivity is computed for both Phase I superbeams (JHF-SK and NuMI Off-Axis) and next generation long baseline experiments (ICARUS, OPERA and MINOS). It is shown that Phase I experiments cannot reach a sensitivity able to ground (or discourage in a definitive manner) the b

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Constraining Orbital Parameters Through Planetary Transit Monitoring

Stephen R. Kane, Kaspar von Braun · 2008 · arXiv

The orbital parameters of extra-solar planets have a significant impact on the probability that the planet will transit the host star. This was recently demonstrated by the transit detection of HD 17156b whose favourable eccentricity and argument of periastron dramatically increased its transit likelihood. We present a study which provides a quantitative analysis of how these two orbital parameters affect the geometric transit probability as a function of period. Further, we apply these results to known radial velocity planets and show that there are unexpectedly high transit probabilities for

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Gamma-Ray Burst Polarization: Limits from RHESSI Measurements

C. Wigger, W. Hajdas, K. Arzner et al. · 2004 · arXiv

Using the RHESSI satellite as a Compton polarimeter, a recent study claimed that the prompt emission of GRB021206 was almost fully linearly polarized. This was challenged by a subsequent reanalysis. We present an novel approach, applying our method to the same data. We identify Compton scattering candidates by carefully filtering events in energy, time, and scattering geometry. Our polarization search is based on time dependent scattering rates in perpendicular directions, thus optimally excluding systematic errors. We perform simulations to obtain the instrument's polarimetric sensitivity, an

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

A Search for Pulsars in Quiescent Soft X-Ray Transients. I

M. Burgay, L. Burderi, A. Possenti et al. · 2003 · arXiv

We have carried out a deep search at 1.4 GHz for radio pulsed emission from six soft X-ray transient sources observed during their X-ray quiescent phase. The commonly accepted model for the formation of the millisecond radio pulsars predicts the presence of a rapidly rotating, weakly magnetized neutron star in the core of these systems. The sudden drop in accretion rate associated with the end of an X-ray outburst causes the Alfvèn surface to move outside the light cylinder, allowing the pulsar emission process to operate. No pulsed signal was detected from the sources in our sample. We discus

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Spin-Dependent WIMPs in DAMA?

Piero Ullio, Marc Kamionkowski, Petr Vogel · 2000 · arXiv

We investigate whether the annual modulation observed in the DAMA experiment can be due to a weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) with an axial-vector (spin-dependent; SD) coupling to nuclei. We evaluate the SD WIMP-proton cross section under the assumption that such scattering accounts for the DAMA modulation, and we do the same for a SD WIMP-neutron cross section. We show that SD WIMP-proton scattering is ruled out in a model-independent fashion by null searches for energetic neutrinos from WIMP annihilation in the Sun, and that SD WIMP-neutron scattering is ruled out for WIMP masses >

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Galactic and extragalactic probe of dark matter with LISA's binary black holes

Sohan Ghodla · 2024 · arXiv

The upcoming LISA mission will be able to detect gravitational waves from galactic and extragalactic compact binaries. Here, we report on LISA's capability to probe dark matter around these binaries if the latter constitute black holes. By analyzing the variation in the chirp mass of the binary, we show that depending on the black hole masses, LISA should be able to probe their surrounding dark matter to a luminosity distance of $\approx 1$ Gpc if such binaries are observed within the inner $\approx 10$ pc of their galactic center for particle-like dark matter or near the galactic solitonic co

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance

Do Whitepaper Claims Predict Market Behavior? Evidence from Cryptocurrency Factor Analysis

Murad Farzulla · 2026 · arXiv

This study investigates whether cryptocurrency whitepaper narratives align with empirically observed market factor structure. We construct a pipeline combining zero-shot NLP classification of 38 whitepapers across 10 semantic categories with CP tensor decomposition of hourly market data (49 assets, 17,543 timestamps). Using Procrustes rotation and Tucker's congruence coefficient (phi), we find weak alignment between claims and market statistics (phi = 0.246, p = 0.339) and between claims and latent factors (phi = 0.058, p = 0.751). A methodological validation comparison (statistics versus fact

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Confronting mass-varying neutrinos with MiniBooNE

V. Barger, D. Marfatia, K. Whisnant · 2005 · arXiv

We study the proposal that mass-varying neutrinos could provide an explanation for the LSND signal for \barν_mu to \barν_e oscillations. We first point out that all positive oscillation signals occur in matter and that three active mass-varying neutrinos are insufficient to describe all existing neutrino data including LSND. We then examine the possibility that a model with four mass-varying neutrinos (three active and one sterile) can explain the LSND effect and remain consistent with all other neutrino data. We find that such models with a 3+1 mass structure in the neutrino sector may explai

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

The search for roAp stars: null results and new candidates from Stroemgren-Crawford photometry

E. Paunzen, G. Handler, K. Honkova et al. · 2018 · arXiv

The rapidly oscillating Ap (roAp) stars exhibit pulsational photometric and/or radial velocity variations on time scales of several minutes, which are essential to test current pulsation models as well as our assumptions of atmospheric structure characteristics. In addition, their chemical peculiarity makes them very interesting for probing stellar formation and evolution in the presence of a global magnetic field. To date, a limited number of only 61 roAp stars are known to show photometric variability. On the other hand, a literature survey yields 619 unique stars that have unsuccessfully be

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Exploring the Universe with Neutrinos: Recent Results from IceCube

Donglian Xu · 2017 · arXiv

In 2013, the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the geographic South Pole detected evidence for a diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux above ~60 TeV. To this day, IceCube has operated with full detector configuration for more than 6 years. The observed astrophysical neutrino flux has been confirmed with > 6$σ$ significance with both events starting within the detector (all flavor) and events traversing through the Earth ($ν_μ$ charged-current). Somewhat equal flavor ratio of astrophysical neutrinos is expected at Earth assuming standard thorough oscillation. A search for tau neutrinos has

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Searching for Stars in Compact High-Velocity Clouds. II

U. Hopp, R. E. -Schulte-Ladbeck, J. Kerp · 2006 · arXiv

We address the hypothesis that High Velocity Clouds correspond to the "missing" dwarf galaxies of the Local Group predicted by cosmological simulations. To this end, we present optical and near-infrared photometry of five additional High Velocity Clouds, one of which produces Lyman series absorption on the sight line towards the Quasar Ton S210, with sufficient resolution and sensitivity to enable the detection of an associated stellar content. We do not detect significant stellar populations intrinsic to any of the five clouds. In combination with the results from our paper I, which had yield

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Regimes of Coherent Intermittency in the Next Quantum Jump of a Multilevel System

Massimo Porrati, Nicholas Penthorn, John Rooney et al. · 2018 · arXiv

In an externally driven multilevel quantum system observation that the NEXT jump has not yet happened affects its future development. In previous work [Phys. Rev. A36, 929 (1987)] it was shown that this class of measurement makes it possible to observe remarkably long dark intervals -- or intermittency -- in the atomic fluorescence of an atom with 3 or more levels. Those calculations were carried out when the driven oscillations or Rabi flopping between the ground state and a strongly fluorescing state were fast compared to its lifetime. In systems with solid state Qubits the accessible parame

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Testing MOND/TEVES with LISA Pathfinder

Christian Trenkel, Steve Kemble, Neil Bevis et al. · 2010 · arXiv

We suggest that LISA Pathfinder could be used to subject TEVES, and in particular the non-relativistic MOND phenomenology it incorporates, to a direct, controlled experimental test, in just a few years' time. The basic concept is to fly LISA Pathfinder through the region around the Sun-Earth saddle point, following its nominal mission, in order to look for anomalous gravity gradients. We examine various strategies to reach the saddle point, and conclude that the preferred strategy, resulting in relatively short transfer times of order one year, probably involves a lunar fly-by. We present robu

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

New Signature of low mass $Z^\prime$ in $J/ψ$ decays

Chao-Qiang Geng, Chia-Wei Liu, Jiabao Zhang · 2023 · arXiv

We explore a new approach to search for a low-mass $Z^{\prime}$ particle through $J/ψ$ decays by identifying its existence through parity-violating phenomena in the isospin-violating final states of $Λ\overlineΣ^{0}$ and the corresponding charge conjugated states of $\overlineΛΣ^{0}$. Our investigation centers on a generation-independent and leptophobic $Z^{\prime}$ with its mass below 10 GeV. Given the present experimental conditions at the Beijing Spectrometer III~(BESIII) and the anticipated opportunities at the Super Tau Charm Factory~(STCF), we conduct Monte-Carlo simulations to predict p

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

CMSSM, naturalness and the "fine-tuning price" of the Very Large Hadron Collider

Andrew Fowlie · 2014 · arXiv

The absence of supersymmetry or other new physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has lead many to question naturalness arguments. With Bayesian statistics, we argue that natural models are most probable and that naturalness is not merely an aesthetic principle. We calculate a probabilistic measure of naturalness, the Bayesian evidence, for the Standard Model (SM) with and without quadratic divergences, confirming that the SM with quadratic divergences is improbable. We calculate the Bayesian evidence for the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM) with naturalness priors

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Reheating during Hierarchical Clustering in the Universe Dominated by the Cold Dark Matter

M. Fukugita, M. Kawasaki · 1993 · arXiv

We investigate reheating of the universe by early formation of stars and quasars in the hierarchical clustering scheme of cold dark matter scenario, with perturbation fluctuations normalized by the COBE data. It is found that ionizing uv flux from OB stars with the abundance given by the standard initial mass function is strong enough to ionize the universe from $z\approx 30$ to the present epoch, if 1--2\% of the collapsed baryons go into stars. This lessens significantly the CMB anisotropies at a small angular scale. Reionization also increases the Jeans mass to $M_{\rm luminous}\approx 10^9

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

Can we detect Hot or Cold spots in the CMB with Minkowski Functionals?

Eugene A. Lim, Dennis Simon · 2011 · arXiv

In this paper, we investigate the utility of Minkowski Functionals as a probe of cold/hot disk-like structures in the CMB. In order to construct an accurate estimator, we resolve a long-standing issue with the use of Minkowski Functionals as probes of the CMB sky -- namely that of systematic differences ("residuals") when numerical and analytical MF are compared. We show that such residuals are in fact by-products of binning, and not caused by pixelation or masking as originally thought. We then derive a map-independent estimator that encodes the effects of binning, applicable to beyond our pr

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

Representation Without Control: Testing the Realization Effect in Language Models

Ciarán Walsh, Emilio Barkett · 2026 · arXiv

Large language models are increasingly used as behavioral simulators, but it remains unclear when their outputs reflect human-like cognitive mechanisms rather than prompt-sensitive surface patterns. We study this question through the realization effect, a well-characterized finding in behavioral economics in which risk-taking differs systematically after paper versus realized gains and losses. We evaluate LLM behavior at three levels: prompt-only behavioral sensitivity, linear readout of internal representations, and causal control via activation steering. Prompt-only results show systematic c

View details →
Failed Experiment ReportOpen accessPhysics

Experimental Evaluation of the Claimed Coulomb Rotation (Electrostatic Torque)

D. Bojiloff, M. Tajmar · 2015 · arXiv

In the year 2002 publications of A.V.M. Khachatourian and A.O. Wistrom were released, in which the existence of an electrostatic torque has been claimed. This moment of force should act in a three sphere configuration, where one sphere is held at a constant electric potential. This claim was based on an observed rotation and was supported by a mathematical solution derived by Wistrom and Khachatourian. The theoretical work of Wistrom and Khachatourian as well as the interpretation of the observed rotation were criticized by several scientists who offered alternative explanations for the rotati

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics

A VLT/FORS2 Multi-Slit Search for Lyman-alpha Emitting Galaxies at z~6.5

Kim-Vy H. Tran, Simon J. Lilly, David Crampton et al. · 2004 · arXiv

We present results from a deep spectroscopic search in the 9150A atmospheric window for z~6.5 Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies using the VLT/FORS2. Our multi-slit+narrow-band filter survey covers a total spatial area of 17.6 sq. arcmin in four different fields and reaches fluxes down to 5x10^(-18) erg/s/cm^2 (7 sigma detection). Our detection limit is significantly fainter than narrow-band searches at this redshift and fainter also than the unlensed brightness of Hu et al.'s HCM6A at z=6.56, and thus provides better overlap with surveys at much lower redshifts. Eighty secure emission line galaxie

View details →
Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science

STEP and fundamental physics

James Overduin, Francis Everitt, Paul Worden et al. · 2014 · arXiv

The Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle (STEP) will advance experimental limits on violations of Einstein's Equivalence Principle from their present sensitivity of 2 parts in $10^{13}$ to 1 part in $10^{18}$ through multiple comparison of the motions of four pairs of test masses of different compositions in a drag-free earth-orbiting satellite. We describe the experiment, its current status, and its potential implications for fundamental physics. Equivalence is at the heart of general relativity, our governing theory of gravity, and violations are expected in most attempts to unify thi

View details →
Negative / Null Result Report

Explaining Student Loan Default Rates Across U.S. Universities

Austin Blea, Sam Schreyer, null null et al. · 2020 · John Heinrichs Scholarly & Creative Activities Day

The question being asked in this research paper is what explains student loan default rates across the three types of United States universities. The three types of universities are non-profit, for-profit, and public. This paper uses…

View details →