Information and treatment of unknown correlations in the combination of measurements using the BLUE method

We discuss the effect of large positive correlations in the combinations of several measurements of a single physical quantity using the Best Linear Unbiased Estimate (BLUE) method. We suggest a new approach for comparing the relative weights of the different measurements in their contributions to the combined knowledge about the unknown parameter, using the well-established concept of Fisher information. We argue, in particular, that one We discuss the effect of large positive correlations in the combinations of several measurements of a single physical quantity using the Best Linear Unbiased Estimate (BLUE) method. We suggest a new approach for comparing the relative weights of the different measurements in their contributions to the combined knowledge about the unknown parameter, using the well-established concept of Fisher information. We argue, in particular, that one contribution to information comes from the collective interplay of the measurements through their correlations and that this contribution cannot be attributed to any of the individual measurements alone. We show that negative coefficients in the BLUE weighted average invariably indicate the presence of a regime of high correlations, where the effect of further increasing some of these correlations is that of reducing the error on the combined estimate. In these regimes, we stress that assuming fully correlated systematic uncertainties is not a truly conservative choice, and that the correlations provided as input to BLUE combinations need to be assessed with extreme care instead. In situations where the precise evaluation of these correlations is impractical, or even impossible, we provide tools to help experimental physicists perform more conservative combinations

Top mass at the LHC

With about 10 millions top-pair events per year at low luminosity, the LHC will be a top factory. Among all precision measurements that will be performed in the top quark sector, the determination of its mass is probably the most important and will help in constraining the Standard Model. A brief review of the direct and indirect measurements of the top quark mass will be given, with indications about the potential of ATLAS and CMS in different luminosity scenario

Strain Diversity of Pseudomonas fluorescens Group with Potential Blue Pigment Phenotype Isolated from Dairy Products

The blue discoloration in Mozzarella cheese comes from bacterial spoilage due to contamination with Pseudomonas. Fourteen Pseudomonas fluorescens strains from international collections and 55 new isolates of dominant bacterial populations from spoiled fresh cheese samples were examined to assess genotypic and phenotypic strain diversity. Isolates were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and tested for the production of the blue pigment at various temperatures on Mascarpone agar and in Mozzarella preserving fluid (the salty water in which the cheese is conserved, which becomes enriched by cheese minerals and peptides during storage). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis analysis after treatment with the endonuclease SpeI separated the isolates into 42 genotypes at a similarity level of 80%. Based on the pulsotype clustering, 12 representative strains producing the blue discoloration were chosen for the multilocus sequence typing targeting the gyrB, glnS, ileS, nuoD, recA, rpoB, and rpoD genes. Four new sequence typing profiles were discovered, and the concatenated sequences of the investigated loci grouped the tested strains into the so-called ''blue branch'' of the P. fluorescens phylogenetic tree, confirming the linkage between pigment production and a specific genomic cluster. Growth temperature affected pigment production; the blue discoloration appeared at 4 and 14°C but not at 30°C. Similarly, the carbon source influenced the phenomenon; the blue phenotype was generated in the presence of glucose but not in the presence of galactose, sodium succinate, sodium citrate, or sodium lactate

Simulation of TALL-3D experimental facility with a multiscale and multiphysics computational platform

This work details the development of a computational platform in joint collaboration between the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (enea) and the University of Bologna (unibo). The platform is based on the open-source SALOME software that integrates the CATHARE system code for nuclear safety, FEMUS and OpenFOAM CFD codes in a unique framework, with efficient methods for data exchange. The computational platform has been used to simulate complex multiscale and multiphysics systems, such as the tall-3d facility, with a defective boundary condition approach on overlapping domains. The tall-3d experimental facility has been realized with the purpose of providing reference results to be used for both standalone and coupled System Thermal-Hydraulic (STH) and Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) code validation. The transient phenomenon of unprotected loss of lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) flow that has been experimentally simulated at tall-3d is here studied. The system code is used to simulate the tall-3d apparatus while the CFD code is used to get a better insight into the fluid streaming occurring in the main tank component and improve the system code predictions. A flow transition from forced to natural convection is used to validate the codes and the platform ability to reproduce the experimental data

FEMuS-Platform: a numerical platform for multiscale and multiphysics code coupling

Nowadays, many open-source numerical codes are available to solve physical problems in structural mechanics, fluid flow, heat transfer, and neutron diffusion. However, even if these codes are often highly specialized in the numerical simulation of a particular type of physics, none of them allows simulating complex systems involving all the physical problems mentioned above. In this work we present a numerical framework, based on the SALOME platform, developed to perform multiscale and multiphysics simulations involving all the mentioned physical problems. In particular, the developed numerical platform includes the multigrid finite element in-house code FEMuS for heat transfer, fluid flow, turbulence and fluid-structure modeling; the open-source finite volume CFD software OpenFOAM; the multiscale neutronic code DONJON-DRAGON; and a system-scale code used for thermal-hydraulic simulations. Efficient data exchange among these codes is performed within computer memory by using the MED libraries, provided by the SALOME platform

Four tops on the real projective plane at LHC

We explore the four top signal ttbar ttbar at the 7 TeV Large Hadron Collider as a probe of physics beyond the standard model. Enhancement of the corresponding cross-section with respect to the Standard Model value can probe the electroweak symmetry breaking sector or test extra dimensional models with heavy Kaluza-Klein gluons and quarks. We perform a detailed analysis including background and detector simulation in the specific case of a universal extra-dimensional model with two extra dimensions compactified using the geometry of the real projective plane. For masses around 600 GeV, a discovery is possible for an effective cross section above 210 fb (36 fb) for 1/fb (10/fb) of integrated luminosity. This implies a branching ratio in tops of the (1,1) heavy photon above 13% (5%). Furthermore, the 4-top signal from the (2,0) and (0,2) tiers can be discovered with an integrated luminosity of 3.5/fb. The results of our simulation can be easily adapted to other models since the background processes are identical. Concerning the signal, typical production mechanisms for the ttbar ttbar signal are similar even if cross-section values may vary considerably depending on the model and the spectrum of the new particles.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, minor modifications and few references adde

The INFN-grid testbed

The Italian INFN-Grid Project is committed to set-up, run and manage an unprecedented nation-wide Grid infrastructure. The implementation and use of this INFN-Grid Testbed is presented and discussed. Particular care and attention are devoted to those activities, relevant for the management of the Testbed, carried out by the INFN within international Grid Projects