Origin of Nepheline-normative High-K Ankaramites and the Evolution of Eastern Srednogorie Arc in SE Europe

Eastern Srednogorie is part of the Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Srednogorie magmatic belt in SE Europe, the main arc related to the Late Cretaceous subduction and closure of the Tethys Ocean between Africa and Europe. Extrusive and shallow intrusive magmatism in the Eastern Srednogorie is abundant and extremely diverse in composition, covering a wide range from ultramafic volcanic rocks to granites; this provides a unique opportunity to study processes of primitive melt formation and magma evolution in an arc environment. In contrast to other parts of the belt, relatively mafic lavas predominate here. Three magmatic regions are distinguished within Eastern Srednogorie from south to north: Strandzha, Yambol-Burgas and East Balkan. Systematic differences exist between these regions, notably the increased alkalinity of samples from the Yambol-Burgas region in the central part. All rocks display a clear subduction-like signature in their trace-element patterns, particularly the enrichment in large ion lithophile elements and light rare earth elements relative to high field strength elements. A distinct primitive nepheline-normative ankaramite magma type is recognized among the mafic volcanic rocks from the Yambol-Burgas region and melt inclusions entrapped in olivine and clinopyroxene from a cumulitic rock. Lower crustal clinopyroxene and amphibole cumulates carried to the surface as xenoliths in a mafic dike represent a possible source for the ankaramite. Modeling of the melting process suggests that low degrees of batch melting of a clinopyroxene-rich, amphibole-bearing source similar to the cumulate xenoliths at 1 GPa, temperatures of 1240-1300°C, oxidized conditions and a water content of 0·2 wt % reproduce accurately most of the observed major- and trace-element characteristics of the studied ankaramites. The elevated Rb, K2O, Th, Ba content and higher Pb isotope ratios of the predicted liquids compared with the ankaramites are explained by mixing of the ankaramite magma with lherzolite partial melts derived from the subduction-modified mantle wedge. Underplating of such mantle-derived magmas at the crust-mantle boundary in an extensional environment as a response to slab roll-back provides also the necessary heat to melt lower crustal cumulates. Fractional crystallization of mainly clinopyroxene plus olivine and Fe-Ti oxides in a deep (equivalent to 8 kbar pressure) magma chamber produced most of the observed range of shoshonitic basalts and basaltic andesites in Eastern Srednogorie. The more evolved intermediate varieties were probably formed by mixing and crystallization at lower temperatures in lower pressure magma chambers. Whole-rock Sr and Pb isotope compositions indicate variable degrees of admixing of basement rocks to generate the intermediate to acid Late Cretaceous magmas, but assimilation was minimal for magmas with less than 53 wt % SiO2. The proposed model for the evolution of the magmatism in Eastern Srednogorie involves initial formation of the calc-alkaline and high-K arc magmatism in the Strandzha and East Balkan regions, followed by roll-back induced intra-arc rifting and the formation of high-K, shoshonitic and ultra-high-K magmatism, including primitive ankaramites in the Yambol-Burgas regio

Adakite-like and Normal Arc Magmas: Distinct Fractionation Paths in the East Serbian Segment of the Balkan-Carpathian Arc

New age and whole-rock 87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd isotopic data are used to assess petrogenetic and regional geodynamic processes associated with Late Cretaceous subvolcanic intrusions within the sparsely studied Timok Magmatic Complex (TMC) and Ridanj-Krepoljin Zone (RKZ) of eastern Serbia. The TMC and RKZ form part of the Apuseni-Banat-Timok-Srednogorie (ABTS) magmatic belt, a Cu-Au mineralized calc-alkaline magmatic arc related to closure of the Tethys Ocean that extends through Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria in SE Europe. Zircon ages based on U-Pb laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry supplemented by existing isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry data respectively range from 89 to 79 Ma and from 76 to 71 Ma for the TMC and RKZ. This age pattern corresponds to cross-arc younging away from the European continent. Adakite-like trace element signatures (Y ≤18 ppm) are linked with samples that extend across the arc. These overlap in space and time with samples that conform to a normal arc differentiation trend. We performed energy-constrained assimilation-fractional crystallization (EC-AFC) modeling of Sr-La-Nd-Yb concentrations and Sr and Nd isotopic data. Results suggest that the two distinct fractionation trends may be explained in terms of a common mantle-derived parental magma but distinct fractionation and assimilation paths in the lower and upper crust. Petrogenesis of the adakite-like magmas is consistent with extensive high-pressure amphibole fractionation in the lower crust followed by ascent and plagioclase-dominant fractionation and assimilation in the upper crust. In contrast, normal arc signatures appear to have evolved exclusively via an upper-crustal differentiation process. Overall, our interpretation supports mantle wedge melting related to weak extension during progressive rollback of a subducting sla

Colour reconnection in e+e- -> W+W- at sqrt(s) = 189 - 209 GeV

The effects of the final state interaction phenomenon known as colour reconnection are investigated at centre-of-mass energies in the range sqrt(s) ~ 189-209 GeV using the OPAL detector at LEP. Colour reconnection is expected to affect observables based on charged particles in hadronic decays of W+W-. Measurements of inclusive charged particle multiplicities, and of their angular distribution with respect to the four jet axes of the events, are used to test models of colour reconnection. The data are found to exclude extreme scenarios of the Sjostrand-Khoze Type I (SK-I) model and are compatible with other models, both with and without colour reconnection effects. In the context of the SK-I model, the best agreement with data is obtained for a reconnection probability of 37%. Assuming no colour reconnection, the charged particle multiplicity in hadronically decaying W bosons is measured to be (nqqch) = 19.38+-0.05(stat.)+-0.08 (syst.).Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures, Submitted to Euro. Phys. J.

Prototype ATLAS IBL Modules using the FE-I4A Front-End Readout Chip

The ATLAS Collaboration will upgrade its semiconductor pixel tracking detector with a new Insertable B-layer (IBL) between the existing pixel detector and the vacuum pipe of the Large Hadron Collider. The extreme operating conditions at this location have necessitated the development of new radiation hard pixel sensor technologies and a new front-end readout chip, called the FE-I4. Planar pixel sensors and 3D pixel sensors have been investigated to equip this new pixel layer, and prototype modules using the FE-I4A have been fabricated and characterized using 120 GeV pions at the CERN SPS and 4 GeV positrons at DESY, before and after module irradiation. Beam test results are presented, including charge collection efficiency, tracking efficiency and charge sharing.Comment: 45 pages, 30 figures, submitted to JINS

Determination of alpha_s using Jet Rates at LEP with the OPAL detector

Hadronic events produced in e+e- collisions by the LEP collider and recorded by the OPAL detector were used to form distributions based on the number of reconstructed jets. The data were collected between 1995 and 2000 and correspond to energies of 91 GeV, 130-136 GeV and 161-209 GeV. The jet rates were determined using four different jet-finding algorithms (Cone, JADE, Durham and Cambridge). The differential two-jet rate and the average jet rate with the Durham and Cambridge algorithms were used to measure alpha(s) in the LEP energy range by fitting an expression in which order alpah_2s calculations were matched to a NLLA prediction and fitted to the data. Combining the measurements at different centre-of-mass energies, the value of alpha_s (Mz) was determined to be alpha(s)(Mz)=0.1177+-0.0006(stat.)+-0.0012$(expt.)+-0.0010(had.)+-0.0032(theo.) \.Comment: 40 pages, 17 figures, Submitted to Euro. Phys. J.

Measurement of the production of a W boson in association with a charm quark in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The production of a W boson in association with a single charm quark is studied using 4.6 fb−1 of pp collision data at s√ = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. In events in which a W boson decays to an electron or muon, the charm quark is tagged either by its semileptonic decay to a muon or by the presence of a charmed meson. The integrated and differential cross sections as a function of the pseudorapidity of the lepton from the W-boson decay are measured. Results are compared to the predictions of next-to-leading-order QCD calculations obtained from various parton distribution function parameterisations. The ratio of the strange-to-down sea-quark distributions is determined to be 0.96+0.26−0.30 at Q 2 = 1.9 GeV2, which supports the hypothesis of an SU(3)-symmetric composition of the light-quark sea. Additionally, the cross-section ratio σ(W + +c¯¯)/σ(W − + c) is compared to the predictions obtained using parton distribution function parameterisations with different assumptions about the s−s¯¯¯ quark asymmetry

Measurement of Semileptonic Branching Fractions of B Mesons to Narrow D** States

Using the data accumulated in 2002-2004 with the DO detector in proton-antiproton collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider with centre-of-mass energy 1.96 TeV, the branching fractions of the decays B -> \bar{D}_1^0(2420) \mu^+ \nu_\mu X and B -> \bar{D}_2^{*0}(2460) \mu^+ \nu_\mu X and their ratio have been measured: BR(\bar{b}->B) \cdot BR(B-> \bar{D}_1^0 \mu^+ \nu_\mu X) \cdot BR(\bar{D}_1^0 -> D*- pi+) = (0.087+-0.007(stat)+-0.014(syst))%; BR(\bar{b}->B)\cdot BR(B->D_2^{*0} \mu^+ \nu_\mu X) \cdot BR(\bar{D}_2^{*0} -> D*- \pi^+) = (0.035+-0.007(stat)+-0.008(syst))%; and (BR(B -> \bar{D}_2^{*0} \mu^+ \nu_\mu X)BR(D2*0->D*- pi+)) / (BR(B -> \bar{D}_1^{0} \mu^+ \nu_\mu X)\cdot BR(\bar{D}_1^{0}->D*- \pi^+)) = 0.39+-0.09(stat)+-0.12(syst), where the charge conjugated states are always implied.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Inclusive search for same-sign dilepton signatures in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

An inclusive search is presented for new physics in events with two isolated leptons (e or mu) having the same electric charge. The data are selected from events collected from p p collisions at root s = 7 TeV by the ATLAS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb(-1). The spectra in dilepton invariant mass, missing transverse momentum and jet multiplicity are presented and compared to Standard Model predictions. In this event sample, no evidence is found for contributions beyond those of the Standard Model. Limits are set on the cross-section in a fiducial region for new sources of same-sign high-mass dilepton events in the ee, e mu and mu mu channels. Four models predicting same-sign dilepton signals are constrained: two descriptions of Majorana neutrinos, a cascade topology similar to supersymmetry or universal extra dimensions, and fourth generation d-type quarks. Assuming a new physics scale of 1 TeV, Majorana neutrinos produced by an effective operator V with masses below 460 GeV are excluded at 95% confidence level. A lower limit of 290 GeV is set at 95% confidence level on the mass of fourth generation d-type quarks

Measurement of the top quark-pair production cross section with ATLAS in pp collisions at \sqrt{s}=7\TeV

A measurement of the production cross-section for top quark pairs(\ttbar) in $pp$ collisions at \sqrt{s}=7 \TeV is presented using data recorded with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in two different topologies: single lepton (electron $e$ or muon $\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least four jets, and dilepton ($ee$, $\mu\mu$ or $e\mu$) with large missing transverse energy and at least two jets. In a data sample of 2.9 pb-1, 37 candidate events are observed in the single-lepton topology and 9 events in the dilepton topology. The corresponding expected backgrounds from non-\ttbar Standard Model processes are estimated using data-driven methods and determined to be $12.2 \pm 3.9$ events and $2.5 \pm 0.6$ events, respectively. The kinematic properties of the selected events are consistent with SM \ttbar production. The inclusive top quark pair production cross-section is measured to be \sigmattbar=145 \pm 31 ^{+42}_{-27} pb where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. The measurement agrees with perturbative QCD calculations.Comment: 30 pages plus author list (50 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, CERN-PH number and final journal adde

Measurement of the lifetime of the B_c meson in the semileptonic decay channel

Using approximately 1.3 fb-1 of data collected by the D0 detector between 2002 and 2006, we measure the lifetime of the B_c meson in the B_c -> J/psi mu nu X final state. A simultaneous unbinned likelihood fit to the J/\psi+mu invariant mass and lifetime distributions yields a signal of 881 +/- 80 (stat) candidates and a lifetime measurement of \tau(B_c) = 0.448 +0.038 -0.036 (stat) +/- 0.032 (syst) ps.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let