Precision Higgs physics at a γγ\gamma \gamma collider

The loop induced coupling of an intermediate mass Higgs boson to two photons is a sensitive and unique measure for precision tests of physics beyond the Standard Model. In this work we summarize recent results on the expected precision of the partial $\Gamma (H \to \gamma \gamma)$ width at the $\gamma \gamma$ option of a future linear collider. Heavy particles do not decouple in general and differences between the SM and MSSM predictions or 2HD-models can differ in the percentile regime. Large non-Sudakov DL corrections need to be resummed and consistency requirements demand the use of the Sterman-Weinberg jet definition in order to avoid additional DL terms from three jet final states. We find that the well understood background process $\gamma \gamma \to q \bar{q}$ allows for a ${\mathcal O}$(2%) determination of $\Gamma (H \to \gamma \gamma)$ using conservative collider parameters. Recent improvements in the expected $\gamma \gamma$ luminosity suggest that the precision for the diphoton partial Higgs width can be further improved and is dominated by the error in BR($H \to b \bar{b}$) from the $e^\pm$ mode, which is presently estimated to be in the one percent regime.Comment: 6 pages, 3 epsfigures, Latex2e plus style files. Contribution to the International Workshop on High Energy Photon Photon Colliders at DESY, June 200

A Tale of Two Levels: Analyzing the Discoverability and Impact of Item-Level Description in EAD Finding Aids

As part of a multi-faceted research project examining user engagement with various types of descriptive metadata, Utah State University Libraries Cataloging and Metadata Services unit (CMS) investigated the discoverability of local Encoded Archival Description (EAD) finding aids. The research team put two versions of the same finding aid online with one described at the file (box or folder) level and the other at the item level. Over a year later, the team pulled the analytics for each guide and assessed which descriptive level was most frequently accessed. The research team also looked at the type of search terms patrons utilized and where in the finding aid they were located. Usage data shows that personal names are the most common type of search term, search terms are most commonly found in the Collection Inventory, and that the availability of item-level description improves discovery by an average of 6,100% over file-level descriptions

Frontmatter and Contents

Frontmatter, Contents, Schedules, and Exhibitor

Land/Homeland, Story/History: the social landscapes of the Southern Levant from Alexander to Augustus

This material has been published in revised form in The Social Archaeology of the Levant from Prehistory to the Present edited by Assaf Yasur-Landau, Eric H. Cline, and Yorke Rowan https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316661468.024. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution or re-use. © Cambridge University PressThe Hellenistic era opens with Alexander the Great’s triumph over Achaemenid Persia, an event that inaugurates a millennium of western political hegemony over the Levant and paves the way for an infusion of western cultural ideas. I examine the social repercussions of this juncture of politics and culture for five self-identifying ethnoi within the region: Phoenicians (meaning Tyrians and Sidonians), Samaritans, Judeans, Idumeans, and Nabateans. I consider physical and written evidence as reflections of agency, opportunity, status, and authority, in order to reconstruct how people defined and presented themselves, and how they jockeyed for position and security in a crowded region and a volatile world. Fortunes fluctuated along with changes in imperial rule. The Ptolemies instituted a rapacious system of resource extraction, under which only the most nimble or removed kept their footing (i.e., Phoenicians, Nabateans). The Seleucids followed in the more magnanimous footsteps of the Achaemenids, offering a measure of economic and legal autonomy, an approach that placated some (e.g., Samaritans) and empowered others (e.g., Judeans). As Seleucid control weakened, groups used various means to claim status and authority. Samaritans, Judeans, and Idumeans deployed history and geography; Phoenicians and Nabateans depended on economic connections and cultural currency. Waning imperial powers in the later second century BCE left the region’s ethnoi effectively autonomous. Phoenicians and Nabateans became wealthy cosmopolitans connected to Mediterranean markets. Judeans unleashed an aggressive program of territorial acquisition, first successfully against Idumeans and Samaritans, then less so against Tyrians and Nabateans. Contemporary writers turned these events into historical narratives – divinely countenanced (1 Maccabees, Dead Sea Scrolls) vs. opportunistic circumstance (2 Maccabees, Tacitus, Josephus). These accounts offered people differing templates by which to situate themselves in place and history – templates ill-suited for co-existence. By the time Roman authorities established their imperial presence here in the mid-first century BCE, the social landscape was mined and ready to erupt.Accepted manuscrip

An XML DTD for Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg is an electronic collection of documents and literature, the majority of which exist in ASCII format. While the ASCII format has been an almost universally accessible format since the Project started in 1971, the possibilities and advantages of marking up the texts with the Extensible Markup Language (XML) are compelling. Related efforts are detailed and analyzed for viability with the Gutenberg texts. This project presents a direction for the future of this effort and a DTD suitable for the collection. The prepared DTD provides the schema against which 5 test documents are marked up with XML. A tutorial based on my experiences marking up the text and an index of the available elements are included

Automatic conversion of PDF-based, layout-oriented typesetting data to DAISY: potentials and limitations

Only two percent of new books released in Germany are professionally edited for visually impaired people. However, more and more print publications are made available to the public in digital formats through online content delivery platforms like “libreka!”. The automatic conversion of such contents into DAISY would considerably increase the number of publications available in accessible formats. Still, most data available on “libreka!” is published as non-tagged PDF. In this paper, we examine the potential for automatic conversion of “libreka!”-based content into DAISY, while also analyzing the potentials and limitations of current conversion tools