Exotic Higgs Searches in CMS

We present some of the most recent results from the CMS Collaboration on searches for Higgs-like particles in models beyond the Standard Model. Several rare and exotic decay modes of the Higgs boson are explored. The results of the searches are relevant for establishing whether the 125 GeV particle observed in Higgs boson searches at the LHC has the properties expected for a Standard Model Higgs boson.Comment: Presentation at the DPF 2013 Meeting of the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields, Santa Cruz, California, August 13-17, 201

Searching for Supersymmetry with two same-sign leptons, multi-jets plus missing transverse energy in ATLAS at sqrt{s}= 10 TeV

A search for R-parity conserving supersymmetry using the ATLAS detector is presented. The final state under study includes two same-charge leptons, two jets, and missing transverse energy. We propose a data-driven method to estimate the number of Standard Model background events, and its discovery potential is assessed assuming an integrated luminosity of 200 pb$^{-1}$ and a center of mass energy of 10 TeV

Hunting habitat use and selection patterns of barn owl (Tyto alba) in the urban-agricultural setting of a prominent wine grape growing region of California

Large scale conversion of uncultivated land to agriculture threatens wildlife and can diminish ecosystem services provided by nature. Understanding how wildlife provision ecosystem services may incentivize wildlife conservation in agricultural landscapes. Attracting barn owls (Tyto alba) to nest on farms for pest management has been documented worldwide, but has not been thoroughly evaluated in vineyard agroecosystems. Napa Valley, California is a renowned winegrape growing region, and viticulturists encourage barn owl occupancy to help minimize plant damage from pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae) and voles (Microtus spp.). This study aimed to establish a basis for revealing the abilities of a predator to provide an ecosystem service to farmers by modelling space and time use of selected habitats. I constructed intensity of use and home range-movement maps using a Time Local Convex Hull (T-LoCoH) analysis from location data obtained from nesting owls. I found that barn owls selected uncultivated habitats when hunting, some of which were relatively rare on the landscape. Though owls did not use them in proportion to their availability, approximately one third of barn owl hunting locations occurred in vineyards. A final analysis showed that the owls’ use of vineyards increased with decreasing amount of preferred uncultivated habitat in the landscape. However, as reported by a previous study, occupancy of nest boxes in vineyards increases with uncultivated habitats nearby. Future research should model landscape composition to determine the amount of preferred habitat necessary to support occupancy as well as hunting in vineyards

Epidemic model on a network: analysis and applications to COVID-19

We analyze an epidemic model on a network consisting of susceptible-infected-recovered equations at the nodes coupled by diffusion using a graph Laplacian. We introduce an epidemic criterion and examine different vaccination/containment strategies: we prove that it is most effective to vaccinate a node of highest degree. The model is also useful to evaluate deconfinement scenarios and prevent a so-called second wave. The model has few parameters enabling fitting to the data and the essential ingredient of importation of infected; these features are particularly important for the current COVID-19 epidemic