On Viable Service Systems: Developing a Modeling Framework for Analysis of Viability in Service Systems

This paper explores the contribution of systems modeling to the design and analysis of viability in service systems. We apply a modeling framework called SEAM (Systemic Enterprise Architecture Method) to gain an understanding of how a service system maintains its identity and remains viable in its environment. SEAM embodies theoretical insights from systems science and organizational cybernetics, in particular the viable system model of Stafford Beer. We illustrate the applicability of the framework by modeling the design of viability in a service system

Steel foam for structures: A review of applications, manufacturing and material properties

The objective of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review for the structural application, manufacturing, material properties, and modeling of a new material: steel foam. Foamed steel includes air voids in the material microstructure and as a result introduces density as a new design variable in steel material selection. By controlling density the engineering properties of steel components may be altered significantly: improvement in the weight-to-stiffness ratio is particularly pronounced, as is the available energy dissipation and thermal resistivity. Full-scale applications of steel foams in civil structures have not yet been demonstrated. Therefore, existing applications demonstrating either proof-of-concept for steel foam, or full-scale use of aluminum foams in situations with clear civil/structural analogs are highlighted. Adoption of steel foam relies on the manufacturing method, particularly its cost, and the resulting properties of the steel foam. Therefore, published methods for producing steel foam are summarized, along with measurements of steel foam structural (modulus, yield stress, etc.) and non-structural (thermal conductivity, acoustic absorption, etc.) properties. Finally, existing models for predicting foamed steel material properties are summarized to highlight the central role of material density. Taken in total the existing research demonstrates the viability of steel foams for use in civil/structural applications, while also pointing to areas where further research work is required. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Search for pair production of boosted Higgs bosons via vector-boson fusion in the bb¯bb¯ final state using pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is performed in the Lorentz-boosted regime, where a Higgs boson candidate is reconstructed as a single large-radius jet, using 140 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data at √s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Only Higgs boson decays into bottom quark pairs are considered. The search is particularly sensitive to the quartic coupling between two vector bosons and two Higgs bosons relative to its Standard Model prediction, K2V . This study constrains K2V to 0.55 < K2V < 1.49 at the 95% confidence level. The value K2V = 0 is excluded with a significance of 3.8 standard deviations with other Higgs boson couplings fixed to their Standard Model values. A search for new heavy spin-0 resonances that would mediate Higgs boson pair production via vector-boson fusion is carried out in the mass range of 1–5 TeV for the first time under several model and decay-width assumptions. No significant deviation from the Standard Model hypothesis is observed and exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level are derived

Search for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production in final states with leptons, taus, and photons in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production, targeting the bbZZ, 4V (V = W or Z), V V τ τ , 4τ , γγV V and γγτ τ decay channels. Events are categorised based on the multiplicity of light charged leptons (electrons or muons), hadronically decaying tau leptons, and photons. The search is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1. No evidence of the signal is found and the observed (expected) upper limit on the cross-section for non-resonant Higgs boson pair production is determined to be 17 (11) times the Standard Model predicted cross-section at 95% confidence level under the background-only hypothesis. The observed (expected) constraints on the HHH coupling modifier, κλ, are determined to be −6.2 < κλ < 11.6 (−4.5 < κλ < 9.6) at 95% confidence level, assuming the Standard Model for the expected limits and that new physics would only affect κλ

Search for heavy Majorana neutrinos in e±e± and e±μ± final states via WW scattering in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for heavy Majorana neutrinos in scattering of same-sign W boson pairs in proton–proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV at the LHC is reported. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1, collected with the ATLAS detector during 2015–2018. The search is performed in final states including a same-sign ee or eμ pair and at least two jets with large invariant mass and a large rapidity difference. No significant excess of events with respect to the Standard Model background predictions is observed. The results are interpreted in a benchmark scenario of the Phenomenological Type-I Seesaw model. New constraints are set on the values of the |VeN|2 and |VeN V*μN| parameters for heavy Majorana neutrino masses between 50 GeV and 20 TeV, where VℓN is the matrix element describing the mixing of the heavy Majorana neutrino mass eigenstate with the Standard Model neutrino of flavour ℓ = e, μ. The sensitivity to the Weinberg operator is investigated and constraints on the effective ee and eμ Majorana neutrino masses are reported. The statistical combination of the ee and eμ channels with the previously published μμ channel is performed

Search for dark mesons decaying to top and bottom quarks in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for dark mesons originating from strongly-coupled, SU(2) dark favor symmetry conserving models and decaying gaugephobically to pure Standard Model final states containing top and bottom quarks is presented. The search targets fully hadronic final states and final states with exactly one electron or muon and multiple jets. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions collected at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the Standard Model background expectation is observed and the results are used to set the first direct constraints on this type of model. The two-dimensional signal space of dark pion masses mπD and dark rho-meson masses mρD is scanned. For mπD /mρD = 0.45, dark pions with masses mπD < 940 GeV are excluded at the 95% CL, while for mπD /mρD = 0.25 masses mπD < 740 GeV are excluded

Combination of searches for Higgs boson decays into a photon and a massless dark photon using pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A combination of searches for Higgs boson decays into a visible photon and a massless dark photon (H → γγd) is presented using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level upper limit on the Standard Model Higgs boson decay branching ratio is determined to be B(H → γγd) < 1.3% (1.5)%. The search is also sensitive to higher-mass Higgs bosons decaying into the same final state. The observed (expected) 95% confidence level limit on the cross-section times branching ratio ranges from 16 fb (20 fb) for mH = 400 GeV to 1.0 fb (1.5 fb) for mH = 3 TeV. Results are also interpreted in the context of a minimal simplified model