‘‘There’s so much more to it than what I initially thought’’: Stepping into researchers’ shoes with a class activity in a first year psychology survey course

In psychology, it is widely agreed that research methods, although central to the discipline, are particularly challenging to learn and teach, particularly at introductory level. This pilot study explored the potential of embedding a student-conducted research activity in a one-semester undergraduate Introduction to Psychology survey course, with the aims of (a) engaging students with the topic of research methods; (b) developing students’ comprehension and application of research methods concepts; and (c) building students’ ability to link research with theory. The research activity explored shoe ownership, examining gender differences and relationships with age, and linking to theories of gender difference and of consumer identity. The process of carrying out the research and reflecting on it created a contextualized, active learning environment in which students themselves raised many issues that research methods lectures seek to cover. Students also wrote richer assignments than standard first year mid-term essay

Determination of the QCD color factor ratio CA/CF from the scale dependence of multiplicity in three jet events

I examine the determination of the QCD color factor ratio CA/CF from the scale evolution of particle multiplicity in e+e- three jet events. I fit an analytic expression for the multiplicity in three jet events to event samples generated with QCD multihadronic event generators. I demonstrate that a one parameter fit of CA/CF yields the expected result CA/CF=2.25 in the limit of asymptotically large energies if energy conservation is included in the calculation. In contrast, a two parameter fit of CA/CF and a constant offset to the gluon jet multiplicity, proposed in a recent study, does not yield CA/CF=2.25 in this limit. I apply the one parameter fit method to recently published data of the DELPHI experiment at LEP and determine the effective value of CA/CF from this technique, at the finite energy of the Z0 boson, to be 1.74+-0.03+-0.10, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.Comment: 20 pages including 6 figures Version 2 corrects typographical error in equation (2

A Phenomenological Analysis of Non-resonant Charm Meson Decays

We analyse the consequences of the usual assumption of a constant function to fit non-resonant decays from experimental Dalitz plot describing charmed meson decays. We first show, using the $D^+\to \bar{K}^0\pi^+\pi^0$ decay channel as an example, how an inadequate extraction of the non-resonant contribution could yield incorrect measurements for the resonant channels. We analyse how the correct study of this decay will provide a test for the validity of factorization in D meson decays. Finally, we show how form factors could be extracted from non-resonant decays. We particularly discuss about the form factor that can be measured from the $D^+_s\to \pi^-\pi^+\pi^+$ decay. We emphasize on its relevance for the study of the decay $\tau \to \nu_{\tau} 3\pi$ and the extraction of the $a_1$ meson width.Comment: 14 pages, Latex including 6 eps figure

TAU-PAIR PRODUCTION VIA PHOTON-PHOTON COLLISIONS AT LEP

We point out that the cross-section for the process $e^+ e^- \to e^+ e^- \tau^+ \tau^-$ at LEP is large enough to allow for a study of the anomalous electromagnetic couplings of the $\tau$ lepton. We show that the present bounds on the magnetic dipole moment can be improved and that competitive bounds can be obtained for the electric dipole moment using the data taken from 1992 to 1994. Finally, we briefly discuss the improvements that can be obtained at LEP II.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 2 figure

The lepton flavor violating decays Z→liljZ\to l_i l_j in the simplest little Higgs model

In the simplest little Higgs model the new flavor-changing interactions between heavy neutrinos and the Standard Model leptons can generate contributions to some lepton flavor violating decays of $Z$-boson at one-loop level, such as $Z \to \tau^{\pm}\mu^{\mp}$, $Z\to \tau^{\pm}e^{\mp}$, and $Z \to \mu^{\pm}e^{\mp}$. We examine the decay modes, and find that the branching ratios can reach $10^{-7}$ for the three decays, which should be accessible at the Giga$Z$ option of the ILC.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Inclusive B-Meson Production in e^+ e^- and p p-bar Collisions

We provide nonperturbative fragmentation functions for B mesons, both at leading and next-to-leading order in the MS-bar factorization scheme with five massless quark flavors. They are determined by fitting the fractional energy distribution of B mesons inclusively produced in e^+ e^- annihilation at CERN LEP1. Theoretical predictions for the inclusive production of B mesons with high transverse momenta in p p-bar scattering obtained with these fragmentation functions nicely agree, both in shape and normalization, with data recently taken at the Fermilab Tevatron.Comment: 20 pages (Latex), 6 figures (Postscript

The dihadron fragmentation function and its evolution

Dihadron fragmentation functions and their evolution are studied in the process of $e^+e^-$ annihilation. Under the collinear factorization approximation and facilitated by the cut-vertex technique, the two hadron inclusive cross section at leading order (LO) is shown to factorize into a short distance parton cross section and a long distance dihadron fragmentation function. We provide the definition of such a dihadron fragmentation function in terms of parton matrix elements and derive its DGLAP evolution equation at leading log. The evolution equation for the non-singlet quark fragmentation function is solved numerically with a simple ansatz for the initial condition and results are presented for cases of physical interest.Comment: 27 pages, 2 column, Revtex4, 21 figure

A Monte-Carlo generator for statistical hadronization in high energy e+e- collisions

We present a Monte-Carlo implementation of the Statistical Hadronization Model in e+e- collisions. The physical scheme is based on the statistical hadronization of massive clusters produced by the event generator Herwig within the microcanonical ensemble. We present a preliminary comparison of several observables with measurements in e+e- collisions at the Z peak. Although a fine tuning of the model parameters is not carried out, a general good agreement between its predictions and data is found.Comment: 19 pages, 28 figures, 6 tables. v2: added sections on comparison between the Statistical Hadronization Model and the Cluster Model and on the interplay between Herwig cluster splitting algorithm and Statistical Hadronization Model predictions. Fixed typos and references added. Version accepted for publication in EPJ