Hoogsteen base pairs proximal and distal to echinomycin binding sites on DNA

Forms of the DNA double helix containing non-Watson-Crick base-pairing have been discovered recently based on x-ray diffraction analysis of quinoxaline antibiotic-oligonucleotide complexes. In an effort to find evidence for Hoogsteen base-pairing at quinoxaline-binding sites in solution, chemical "footprinting" (differential cleavage reactivity) of echinomycin bound to DNA restriction fragments was examined. We report that purines (A>G) in the first and/or fourth base-pair positions of occupied echinomycin-binding sites are hyperreactive to diethyl pyrocarbonate. The correspondence of the solid-state data and the sites of diethyl pyrocarbonate hyperreactivity suggests that diethyl pyrocarbonate may be a sensitive reagent for the detection of Hoogsteen base-pairing in solution. Moreover, a 12-base-pair segment of alternating A-T DNA, which is 6 base pairs away from the nearest strong echinomycin-binding site, is also hyperreactive to diethyl pyrocarbonate in the presence of echinomycin. This hyperreactive segment may be an altered form of right-handed DNA that is entirely Hoogsteen base-paired

Vanishing of Gravitational Particle Production in the Formation of Cosmic Strings

We consider the gravitationally induced particle production from the quantum vacuum which is defined by a free, massless and minimally coupled scalar field during the formation of a gauge cosmic string. Previous discussions of this topic estimate the power output per unit length along the string to be of the order of $10^{68}$ ergs/sec/cm in the s-channel. We find that this production may be completely suppressed. A similar result is also expected to hold for the number of produced photons.Comment: 10 pages, Plain LaTex. Minor improvements. To appear in PR

Phenomenology of the Top Mass in Realistic Extended Technicolor Models

Extended technicolor (ETC) theories typically require ETC gauge bosons lighter than of order 1 TeV, to perturbatively generate the $t$ quark mass. We point out that explicit models of $t-b$ mass splitting also typically contain additional TeV scale ETC gauge bosons transforming in the {\it adjoint} of technicolor, leading to large weak-isospin-breaking effects observable in the $\rho$ parameter. Viable ETC models may thus require a lowest ETC scale of order 10 TeV, with relatively strong and finely tuned couplings to generate $m_t$. Such models do not generate observable corrections to the $Zb{\bar b}$ vertex.Comment: LaTex, 12 pages, including 2 EPS figures in 5 file

Maximum gradient embeddings and monotone clustering

Let (X,d_X) be an n-point metric space. We show that there exists a distribution D over non-contractive embeddings into trees f:X-->T such that for every x in X, the expectation with respect to D of the maximum over y in X of the ratio d_T(f(x),f(y)) / d_X(x,y) is at most C (log n)^2, where C is a universal constant. Conversely we show that the above quadratic dependence on log n cannot be improved in general. Such embeddings, which we call maximum gradient embeddings, yield a framework for the design of approximation algorithms for a wide range of clustering problems with monotone costs, including fault-tolerant versions of k-median and facility location.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures. Final version, minor revision of the previous one. To appear in "Combinatorica

The Isgur-Wise function in a relativistic model for qQˉq\bar Q system

We use the Dirac equation with a ``(asymptotically free) Coulomb + (Lorentz scalar) linear '' potential to estimate the light quark wavefunction for $q\bar Q$ mesons in the limit $m_Q\to \infty$. We use these wavefunctions to calculate the Isgur-Wise function $\xi (v.v^\prime )$ for orbital and radial ground states in the phenomenologically interesting range $1\leq v.v^ \prime \leq 4$. We find a simple expression for the zero-recoil slope, $\xi^ \prime (1) =-1/2- \epsilon^2 /3$, where $\epsilon$ is the energy eigenvalue of the light quark, which can be identified with the $\bar\Lambda$ parameter of the Heavy Quark Effective Theory. This result implies an upper bound of $-1/2$ for the slope $\xi^\prime (1)$. Also, because for a very light quark $q (q=u, d)$ the size $\sqrt {}$ of the meson is determined mainly by the ``confining'' term in the potential $(\gamma_\circ \sigma r)$, the shape of $\xi_{u,d}(v.v^\prime )$ is seen to be mostly sensitive to the dimensionless ratio $\bar \Lambda_{u,d}^2/\sigma$. We present results for the ranges of parameters $150 MeV <\bar \Lambda_{u,d} <600 MeV$ $(\bar\Lambda_s \approx \bar\Lambda_{u,d}+100 MeV)$, $0.14 {GeV}^2 \leq \sigma \leq 0.25 {GeV}^2$ and light quark masses $m_u, m_d \approx 0, m_s=175 MeV$ and compare to existing experimental data and other theoretical estimates. Fits to the data give: ${\bar\Lambda_{u,d}}^2/\sigma =4.8\pm 1.7$, $-\xi^\prime_{u,d}(1)=2.4\pm 0.7$ and $\vert V_{cb} \vert \sqrt {\frac {\tau_B}{1.48 ps}}=0.050\pm 0.008$ [ARGUS '93]; ${\bar\Lambda_{u,d}}^2/\sigma = 3.4\pm 1.8$, $-\xi^\prime_{u,d}(1)=1.8\pm 0.7$ and $\vert V_{cb} \vert \sqrt { \frac {\tau_B}{1.48 ps}}=0.043\pm 0.008$ [CLEO '93]; ${\bar\Lambda_{u,d}}^2/Comment: 22 pages, Latex, 4 figures (not included) available by fax or via email upon reques

First results from the VIRIAL survey: the stellar content of UVJUVJ-selected quiescent galaxies at 1.5<z<21.5 < z < 2 from KMOS

We investigate the stellar populations of 25 massive, galaxies ($\log[M_\ast/M_\odot] \geq 10.9$) at $1.5 < z < 2$ using data obtained with the K-band Multi-Object Spectrograph (KMOS) on the ESO VLT. Targets were selected to be quiescent based on their broadband colors and redshifts using data from the 3D-HST grism survey. The mean redshift of our sample is $\bar{z} = 1.75$, where KMOS YJ-band data probe age- and metallicity-sensitive absorption features in the rest-frame optical, including the $G$ band, Fe I, and high-order Balmer lines. Fitting simple stellar population models to a stack of our KMOS spectra, we derive a mean age of $1.03^{+0.13}_{-0.08}$ Gyr. We confirm previous results suggesting a correlation between color and age for quiescent galaxies, finding mean ages of $1.22^{+0.56}_{-0.19}$ Gyr and $0.85^{+0.08}_{-0.05}$ Gyr for the reddest and bluest galaxies in our sample. Combining our KMOS measurements with those obtained from previous studies at $0.2 < z < 2$ we find evidence for a $2-3$ Gyr spread in the formation epoch of massive galaxies. At $z < 1$ the measured stellar ages are consistent with passive evolution, while at $1 < z \lesssim2$ they appear to saturate at $\sim$1 Gyr, which likely reflects changing demographics of the (mean) progenitor population. By comparing to star-formation histories inferred for "normal" star-forming galaxies, we show that the timescales required to form massive galaxies at $z \gtrsim 1.5$ are consistent with the enhanced $\alpha$-element abundances found in massive local early-type galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Limitations to Frechet's Metric Embedding Method

Frechet's classical isometric embedding argument has evolved to become a major tool in the study of metric spaces. An important example of a Frechet embedding is Bourgain's embedding. The authors have recently shown that for every e>0 any n-point metric space contains a subset of size at least n^(1-e) which embeds into l_2 with distortion O(\log(2/e) /e). The embedding we used is non-Frechet, and the purpose of this note is to show that this is not coincidental. Specifically, for every e>0, we construct arbitrarily large n-point metric spaces, such that the distortion of any Frechet embedding into l_p on subsets of size at least n^{1/2 + e} is \Omega((\log n)^{1/p}).Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Quenched QCD at finite density

Simulations of quenched $QCD$ at relatively small but {\it nonzero} chemical potential $\mu$ on $32 \times 16^3$ lattices indicate that the nucleon screening mass decreases linearly as $\mu$ increases predicting a critical chemical potential of one third the nucleon mass, $m_N/3$, by extrapolation. The meson spectrum does not change as $\mu$ increases over the same range, from zero to $m_\pi/2$. Past studies of quenched lattice QCD have suggested that there is phase transition at $\mu = m_\pi/2$. We provide alternative explanations for these results, and find a number of technical reasons why standard lattice simulation techniques suffer from greatly enhanced fluctuations and finite size effects for $\mu$ ranging from $m_\pi/2$ to $m_N/3$. We find evidence for such problems in our simulations, and suggest that they can be surmounted by improved measurement techniques.Comment: 23 pages, Revte

What shapes a galaxy? - Unraveling the role of mass, environment and star formation in forming galactic structure

We investigate the dependence of galaxy structure on a variety of galactic and environmental parameters for ~500,000 galaxies at z<0.2, taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey data release 7 (SDSS-DR7). We utilise bulge-to-total stellar mass ratio, (B/T)_*, as the primary indicator of galactic structure, which circumvents issues of morphological dependence on waveband. We rank galaxy and environmental parameters in terms of how predictive they are of galaxy structure, using an artificial neural network approach. We find that distance from the star forming main sequence (Delta_SFR), followed by stellar mass (M_*), are the most closely connected parameters to (B/T)_*, and are significantly more predictive of galaxy structure than global star formation rate (SFR), or any environmental metric considered (for both central and satellite galaxies). Additionally, we make a detailed comparison to the Illustris hydrodynamical simulation and the LGalaxies semi-analytic model. In both simulations, we find a significant lack of bulge-dominated galaxies at a fixed stellar mass, compared to the SDSS. This result highlights a potentially serious problem in contemporary models of galaxy evolution.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. 31 pages, 15 figure

Scalars from Top-condensation Models at Hadron Colliders

We study the production and decay of neutral scalars and pseudo-scalars at hadron colliders, in theories where the top-quark mass is the result of a $t\bar t$ condensate. We show that the dominant decay channel for masses below the $t\bar t$ threshold is the flavor changing mode $tc$. This is a consequence of the non-universal nature of the underlying interactions in all top-condensation models and provides a model-independent signature of these scenarios. We show that an upgraded Tevatron is sensitive to a sizeable region of the interesting parameter space and that the LHC will highly constrain these models through this flavor violating channel.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Minor changes in figures for readibility. final version to appear in PR