Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
D. Apai, M. R. Meyer, P. Hinz et al. · 2007 · arXiv
We present results from two high-contrast imaging surveys that exploit a novel technique, L-band angular differential imaging. Our first survey targeted 21 young stars in the Beta Pic and Tuc-Hor moving groups with VLT/NACO reaching typical sensitivities of 20 AU. The statistical analysis of the null result demonstrates that the giant planet population is truncated at 30 AU or less (90% confidence level). Our second, on-going MMT/Clio survey utilizes the unique sensitivity achieved in the L-band for old planets to probe all M-dwarf stars within 6 pc. The proximity of these targe
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Peter Erwin, Linda S. Sparke · 2002 · arXiv
We present results from an imaging survey of an unbiased sample of thirty-eight early-type (S0--Sa), low-inclination, optically barred galaxies in the field. Our goal was to find and characterize central stellar and gaseous structures: secondary bars, inner disks, and nuclear rings. Bars inside bars are surprisingly common: at least one quarter of the sample galaxies (possibly as many as 40%) are double-barred, with no preference for Hubble type or the strength of the primary bar. A typical secondary bar is ~12% of the size of its primary bar and 240--750 pc in radius. We see no significant ef
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessAgricultural and Biological Sciences
Anna Seigal, Portia Mira, Bernd Sturmfels et al. · 2016 · arXiv
Nosocomial outbreaks of bacteria are well-documented. Based on these incidents, and the heavy usage of antibiotics in hospitals, it has been assumed that antibiotic resistance evolves in hospital environments. To test this assumption, we studied resistance phenotypes of bacteria collected from patient isolates at a community hospital over a 2.5-year period. A graphical model analysis shows no association between resistance and patient information other than time of arrival. This allows us to focus on time course data. We introduce a Hospital Transmission Model, based on negative binomial delay
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science
Varun Kotte · 2026 · arXiv
Prompt-only, single-step LLM query rewriting, where a rewrite is generated from the query alone without retrieval feedback, is commonly used in production RAG pipelines, but its effect on dense retrieval is poorly understood. We present a systematic empirical study across three BEIR benchmarks, two dense retrievers, and multiple training configurations, and find strongly domain-dependent behavior: rewriting degrades nDCG@10 by 9.0 percent on FiQA, improves it by 5.1 percent on TREC-COVID, and has no significant effect on SciFact. We identify a consistent mechanism: degradations co-occur with r
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
Benjamin Poole, Bartosz Barzdajn, Daniele Dini et al. · 2019 · arXiv
The thermal effects of plastic and frictional heat generation and elevated temperature were examined along with the role of adhesion in the context of galling wear, using a representative crystal plasticity, normally loaded, sliding surface model. Galling frequency behaviour was predicted for 316L steel. Deformation of the surfaces was dominated by the surface geometry, with no significant effect due to variations in frictional models. Plastic and frictional heating were found to have a minimal effect on the deformation of the surface, with the rapid conduction of heat preventing any highly lo
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessMedicine
Mogensen DG, Aanaes K, Andersen IB et al. · 2025 · The Laryngoscope
Objectives Olfactory training is a recommended treatment in patients with olfactory dysfunction after COVID-19. However, the effectiveness of olfactory training in COVID-19-induced olfactory dysfunction has been studied; only a few studies…
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science
Bin Zhu, Xuewen Liu · 2021 · arXiv
Flavor-specific scalar bosons exist in various Standard Model extensions and couple to a single generation of fermions via a global flavor symmetry breaking mechanism. Given this strategy, we propose a MeV flavor-specific scalar model in dimension-$5$ operator series, which explains the muon g-2 anomaly and proton radius puzzle by coupling with the muon and down-quark at the same time. The framework is consistent with the null result of high-intensity searches. Specifically, the supernova constraints for muon couplings become weakened by including the contribution of down-quark interaction. Th
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance
Markus Dertwinkel-Kalt, Max R. P. Grossmann · 2025 · arXiv
When environmental regulations are unpopular, policymakers often attribute resistance to information frictions and poor communication. We test this idea in the context of a major climate policy: Germany's Heating Law of 2023, which mandates the phase-out of fossil fuel heating. Through a survey experiment with property owners, we examine whether providing comprehensive information about the regulation's costs, requirements, and timeline affects adoption decisions and policy support. Despite successfully increasing factual knowledge, information provision has no significant effect on intended t
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban et al. · 2022 · arXiv
Ultra-low-mass axions are a viable dark matter candidate and may form a coherently oscillating classical field. Nuclear spins in experiments on Earth might couple to this oscillating axion dark-matter field, when propagating on Earth's trajectory through our Galaxy. This spin coupling resembles an oscillating pseudo-magnetic field which modulates the spin precession of nuclear spins. Here we report on the null result of a demonstration experiment searching for a frequency modulation of the free spin-precession signal of \magHg in a \SI{1}{\micro\tesla} magnetic field. Our search covers the axi
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Andrey A. Kistanov, Yongqing Cai, Kun Zhou et al. · 2016 · arXiv
We investigate the electronic structure and chemical activity of rippled phosphorene induced by large compressive strains via first-principles calculation. It is found that phosphorene is extraordinarily bendable, enabling the accommodation of ripples with large curvatures. Such highly rippled phosphorene shows a strong anisotropy in electronic properties. For ripples along the armchair direction, the band gap changes from 0.84 to 0.51 eV for the compressive strain up to -20% and further compression shows no significant effect, for ripples along the zigzag direction, semiconductor to metal tra
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Diego F. Torres, Stephen Reucroft, Olaf Reimer et al. · 2003 · arXiv
With the aim of testing recent claims for a particularly strong correlation between ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), observed with the AGASA and the Yakutsk experiments, and a sample of BL Lacertae (BL Lacs), we here conduct a blind statistical assessment. We search for associations between the same set of BL Lac objects and the arrival directions of 33 relevant UHECRs observed with the Haverah Park and the Volcano Ranch experiments. Within the accuracy of angle determination, there are no positional coincidences. The probability that this null result arises as a statistical fluctuation
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
Michael Blomqvist, Edvard Mortsell, Serena Nobili · 2008 · arXiv
We discuss the possibility to identify anisotropic and/or inhomogeneous cosmological models using type Ia supernova data. A search for correlations in current type Ia peak magnitudes over a large range of angular scales yields a null result. However, the same analysis limited to supernovae at low redshift, shows a feeble anticorrelation at the two sigma level at angular scales of about 40 degrees. Upcoming data from, e.g., the SNLS (Supernova Legacy Survey) and the SDSS-II (SDSS: Sloan Digital Sky Survey) supernova searches will improve our limits on the size of - or possibly detect - possible
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Vikrant Yadav, Rajpal, Pardeep et al. · 2024 · arXiv
In this letter, we report the observational constraints on a Bianchi type I anisotropic extension of $w$CDM model with spatial curvature from observational data including Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), Cosmic chronometers (CC), Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), Pantheon+ (PP) compilation of SNe Ia and SH0ES Cepheid host distance anchors. The anisotropy is found to be of the order $10^{-13}$, which interplay with spatial curvature to reduce $H_0$ tension by $\sim 1σ$ as found in the analyses with BAO+CC+BBN+PP combination of data, while no significant effect of anisotropy is observed with BA
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
Xiao-ke xu, Jie Zhang, Ping Li et al. · 2011 · arXiv
Traditionally, there is no evidence suggesting that there are strong ties between the rich-club property and the function of complex networks. In this study, we find that whether a very small portion of rich nodes connected to each other or not can strongly affect the frequency of occurrence of basic building blocks (motif) within networks, and therefore the function, of a heterogeneous network. Conversely whether a homogeneous network has a rich-club property or not generally has no significant effect on its structure and function. These findings open the possibility to optimize and control t
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science
C. Abel, N. J. Ayres, G. Ban et al. · 2017 · arXiv
We report on a search for ultra-low-mass axion-like dark matter by analysing the ratio of the spin-precession frequencies of stored ultracold neutrons and $^{199}$Hg atoms for an axion-induced oscillating electric dipole moment of the neutron and an axion-wind spin-precession effect. No signal consistent with dark matter is observed for the axion mass range $10^{-24}~\textrm{eV} \le m_a \le 10^{-17}~\textrm{eV}$. Our null result sets the first laboratory constraints on the coupling of axion dark matter to gluons, which improve on astrophysical limits by up to 3 orders of magnitude, and also im
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEngineering
Rancy Chepchirchir, Jill Sunday, Raymond Confidence et al. · 2025 · arXiv
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the utilization of lower-quality Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology raises questions about the applicability of machine learning methods for clinical tasks. This study aims to provide a robust deep learning-based brain tumor segmentation (BraTS) method tailored for the SSA population using a threefold approach. Firstly, the impact of domain shift from the SSA training data on model efficacy was examined, revealing no significant effect. Secondly, a comparative analysis of 3D and 2D full-resolution models using the nnU-Net framework indicates similar perfor
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
Jeremy Darling, Paul Goldsmith, Di Li et al. · 2003 · arXiv
We report the results of a search for 6.7 GHz methanol (CH3OH) maser emission in OH megamaser galaxies at 0.11<z<0.27. No detections were made in the 25 objects observed down to rms noise levels of roughly 0.6 mJy in 150 kHz channels. The OH megamaser sample includes OH emission of all observed types: narrow and broad, physically compact and extended, variable and quiescent, and from simple single lines to multi-component complexes to lines with high velocity wings. Our null result indicates, for the widest possible range of OH megamaser environments, that methanol masing does not scale with O
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessEconomics, Econometrics and Finance
Misha Perepelitsa · 2022 · arXiv
In this paper we give an elementary analysis of economics of Bitcoin that combines the transaction demand by the consumers and the supply of hashrate by miners. We argue that the decreasing block reward will have no significant effect on the exchange rate (price) of Bitcoin and thus the network will be transitioning to a regime where transaction fees will play a bigger part of miners' revenue. We consider a simple model where consumers demand bitcoins for transactions, but not for hoarding bitcoins, and we analyze market equilibrium where the demand is matched with the hashrate supplied by min
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Tanech Klangburam, Chakrit Pongkitivanichkul · 2025 · arXiv
We investigate the effects of the ALP-mediated dark matter (DM) model on neutron star properties using the Quantum Hadrodynamics model (QHD). Using the relativistic mean-field approximation with the QHD-ALP-DM framework, we compute the equation of state (EoS) of neutron stars. Based on our previous study, we find that typical ALP parameter values have no significant effect on the EoS. We then explore various parametrizations of this model by varying the DM Fermi momentum, $q_f$, and DM mass, $m_χ$. Our results show that increasing $q_f$ or $m_χ$ shifts the energy density to higher values while
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessPhysics
Stephen C. Thompson, Richard J. Meyer, Douglas C. Markley · 2013 · arXiv
Underwater acoustic transducers often include a stack of thickness polarized piezoelectric material pieces of alternating polarity interspersed with electrodes, bonded together and electrically connected in parallel. The stack is normally much shorter than a quarter wavelength at the fundamental resonance frequency, so that the mechanical behavior of the transducer is not affected by the segmentation. When the transducer bandwidth is less than a half octave, as has conventionally been the case, stack segmentation has no significant effect on the mechanical behavior of the device. However, when
View details →Negative / Null Result ReportOpen accessComputer Science
Bruce W. Lee, JaeHyuk Lim · 2024 · arXiv
We argue that language-only models don't learn the physical manifestation of language. We present an empirical investigation of visual-auditory properties of language through a series of tasks, termed H-Test. These tasks highlight a fundamental gap between human linguistic understanding and the sensory-deprived linguistic understanding of LLMs. In support of our hypothesis, 1. deliberate reasoning (Chain-of-Thought), 2. few-shot examples, or 3. stronger LLM from the same model family (LLaMA 2 13B -> LLaMA 2 70B) has no significant effect on H-Test performance. We bring in the philosophical cas
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J. J. Halliwell · 2019 · arXiv
In the tests for macrorealism proposed by Leggett and Garg, the temporal correlation functions of a dichotomic variable Q must be measured in a non-invasive way to rule out alternative classical explanations of Leggett-Garg inequality violations. Ideal negative measurements, in which a null result is argued to be a non-invasive determination of the system's state, are often used. From a quantum-mechanical perspective, such a measurement collapses the wave function and will therefore typically be found to be invasive under any experimental check. Here, a simple modified ideal negative measureme
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Rodrigo de Abreu, Vasco Guerra · 2005 · arXiv
In a previous work we have shown that the null result of the Michelson-Morley experiment in vacuum is deeply connected with the notion of time. The same is true for the the postulate of constancy of the two-way speed of light in vacuum in all frames independently of the state of motion of the emitting body. The argumentation formerly given is very general and has to be true not only within Special Relativity and its `equivalence' of all inertial frames, but as well as in Lorentz-Poincaré scenario of a preferred reference frame. This paper is the second of a trilogy intending to revisit the fou
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X. S. Wu, P. W. Adams, Y. Yang et al. · 2005 · arXiv
We present a detailed study of the effects of interface spin-orbit coupling (ISOC) on the critical field behavior of non-centrosymmetric (NCS), ultra-thin superconducting Be/Au bilayers. Parallel field measurements were made in bilayers with Be thicknesses in the range of 2 - 10 nm and Au coverages of 0.5 nm. Though the Au had no significant effect on the superconducting gap, it produced profound changes in the spin states of the system. In particular, the parallel critical field exceeded the Clogston limit by an order of magnitude in the thinnest films studied. In addition, the parallel criti
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Chen Du, Yong-Feng Huang, Zhi-Bin Zhang et al. · 2023 · arXiv
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are bright radio transients with millisecond durations which typically occur at extragalactic distances. The association of FRB 20200428 with the Galactic magnetar SGR J1935+2154 strongly indicates that they could originate from neutron stars, which naturally leads to the expectation that periodicity connected with the spinning of magnetars should exist in the activities of repeating FRBs. However, previous studies have failed to find any signatures supporting such a conjecture. Here we perform a thorough search for short timescale periodicity in the four most active r
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Isobel Falconer · 2016 · arXiv
In 1877 James Clerk Maxwell and his student Donald MacAlister refined Henry Cavendish's 1773 null experiment demonstrating the absence of electricity inside a charged conductor. This null result was a mathematical prediction of the inverse square law of electrostatics, and both Cavendish and Maxwell took the experiment as verifying the law. However, Maxwell had already expressed absolute conviction in the law, based on results of Michael Faraday's. So, what was the value to him of repeating Cavendish's experiment? After assessing whether the law was as secure as he claimed, this paper explores
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Ulrich Kolb, Isabelle Baraffe · 1999 · arXiv
Using improved, up-to-date stellar input physics tested against observations of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs we calculate the secular evolution of low-mass donor cataclysmic variables (CVs), including those which form with a brown dwarf donor. Our models confirm the mismatch between the calculated minimum period (Pmin ~ 70 min) and the observed short-period cut-off (~ 80 min) in the CV period histogram. We find that tidal and rotational corrections applied to the one-dimensional stellar structure equations have no significant effect on the period minimum. Theoretical period distributions sy
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L. R. Abramo, R. P. Woodard · 1998 · arXiv
We consider quantum mechanical corrections to a homogeneous, isotropic and spatially flat geometry whose scale factor expands classically as a general power of the co-moving time. The effects of both gravitons and the scalar inflaton are computed at one loop using the manifestly causal formalism of Schwinger with the Feynman rules recently developed by Iliopoulos {\it et al.} We find no significant effect, in marked contrast with the result obtained by Mukhanov {\it et al.} for chaotic inflation based on a quadratic potential. By applying the canonical technique of Mukhanov {\it et al.} to the
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K. S. Babu, Sandip Pakvasa · 2002 · arXiv
We show that lepton number violating muon decays, μ^+ -> e^+ + ν_e-bar + ν_i-bar (i=e, μor τ), can consistently explain the neutrino anomaly reported by the LSND experiment. Two effective operators in the Standard Model are identified which lead to just such decays and no other processes. The scale of new physics Λmust be relatively low, Λ< 500 GeV. Extensions of the Standard Model which realize these effective operators are presented. Since new physics affects only the decay of the muon, and not of π^+-, our scenario predicts a null result for ν_μ-bar - ν_e-bar oscillation searches at the Fer
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David T. F Weldrake, Penny D Sackett, Kenneth C Freeman et al. · 2004 · arXiv
We present the results of a comprehensive wide field search for transiting ``Hot Jupiter'' planets (1d<P<16d) in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Motivated by the core null result of Gilliland and coworkers, this work further addresses the question of giant planet frequency in 47 Tuc by observing, from the ground, a 52'x52' field centered on the cluster for 30.4 nights. Hence this work is most sensitive to the uncrowded outer regions of the cluster and concentrates on 21,920 main sequence stars (~solar in mass). This work comprises the largest ground-based transit search of a globular cluster
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