From limit cycles to strange attractors

We define a quantitative notion of shear for limit cycles of flows. We prove that strange attractors and SRB measures emerge when systems exhibiting limit cycles with sufficient shear are subjected to periodic pulsatile drives. The strange attractors possess a number of precisely-defined dynamical properties that together imply chaos that is both sustained in time and physically observable.Comment: 27 page

Fractal Properties of Robust Strange Nonchaotic Attractors in Maps of Two or More Dimensions

We consider the existence of robust strange nonchaotic attractors (SNA's) in a simple class of quasiperiodically forced systems. Rigorous results are presented demonstrating that the resulting attractors are strange in the sense that their box-counting dimension is N+1 while their information dimension is N. We also show how these properties are manifested in numerical experiments.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figure

Measurement of the mass difference between top quark and antiquark in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

Peer reviewe

Comprehensive analysis of epigenetic clocks reveals associations between disproportionate biological ageing and hippocampal volume

The concept of age acceleration, the difference between biological age and chronological age, is of growing interest, particularly with respect to age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Whilst studies have reported associations with AD risk and related phenotypes, there remains a lack of consensus on these associations. Here we aimed to comprehensively investigate the relationship between five recognised measures of age acceleration, based on DNA methylation patterns (DNAm age), and cross-sectional and longitudinal cognition and AD-related neuroimaging phenotypes (volumetric MRI and Amyloid-β PET) in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Significant associations were observed between age acceleration using the Hannum epigenetic clock and cross-sectional hippocampal volume in AIBL and replicated in ADNI. In AIBL, several other findings were observed cross-sectionally, including a significant association between hippocampal volume and the Hannum and Phenoage epigenetic clocks. Further, significant associations were also observed between hippocampal volume and the Zhang and Phenoage epigenetic clocks within Amyloid-β positive individuals. However, these were not validated within the ADNI cohort. No associations between age acceleration and other Alzheimer’s disease-related phenotypes, including measures of cognition or brain Amyloid-β burden, were observed, and there was no association with longitudinal change in any phenotype. This study presents a link between age acceleration, as determined using DNA methylation, and hippocampal volume that was statistically significant across two highly characterised cohorts. The results presented in this study contribute to a growing literature that supports the role of epigenetic modifications in ageing and AD-related phenotypes

Measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark production cross section and of the |Vtb| CKM matrix element in pp collisions at SQR = 8 TeV

Measurements are presented of the t -channel single-top-quark production cross section in proton-proton collisions at s√ = 8 TeV. The results are based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb −1 recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC. The cross section is measured inclusively, as well as separately for top (t) and antitop (t¯) , in final states with a muon or an electron. The measured inclusive t -channel cross section is σ t -ch. = 83 . 6 ± 2 . 3 (stat.) ± 7 . 4 (syst.) pb. The single t and t¯ cross sections are measured to be σ t -ch. ( t ) = 53 . 8 ± 1 . 5 (stat.) ± 4 . 4 (syst.) pb and σ t -ch. (t¯) = 27 . 6 ± 1 . 3 (stat.) ± 3 . 7 (syst.) pb, respectively. The measured ratio of cross sections is R t -ch. = σ t -ch. (t) /σ t -ch. (t¯) = 1 . 95 ± 0 . 10 (stat.) ± 0 . 19 (syst.), in agreement with the standard model prediction. The modulus of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element V tb is extracted and, in combination with a previous CMS result at s√ = 7 TeV, a value | V tb | = 0 . 998 ± 0 . 038 (exp.) ± 0 . 016 (theo.) is obtained

Search for R-parity violating decays of a top squark in proton–proton collisions at √s=8 TeV

The results of a search for a supersymmetric partner of the top quark (top squark), pair-produced in proton–proton collisions at View the MathML sources=8 TeV, are presented. The search, which focuses on R-parity violating, chargino-mediated decays of the top squark, is performed in final states with low missing transverse momentum, two oppositely charged electrons or muons, and at least five jets. The analysis uses a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb−1 collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2012. The data are found to be in agreement with the standard model expectation, and upper limits are placed on the top squark pair production cross section at 95% confidence level. Assuming a 100% branching fraction for the top squark decay chain, View the MathML sourcet˜→tχ˜1±,χ˜1±→ℓ±+jj, top squark masses less than 890 (1000) GeV for the electron (muon) channel are excluded for the first time in models with a single nonzero R-parity violating coupling View the MathML sourceλijk′(i,j,k≤2)(i,j,k≤2), where i,j,ki,j,k correspond to the three generations

Measurement of the production cross section for a W boson and two b jets in pp collisions at root s=7 TeV

The production cross section for a W boson and two b jets is measured using proton&#8211;proton collisions at s=7 TeV in a data sample collected with the CMS experiment at the LHC corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb &#8722;1 . The W+bb¯ events are selected in the W&#8594;&#956;&#957; decay mode by requiring a muon with transverse momentum pT>25 GeV and pseudorapidity |&#951;|25 GeV and |&#951;|<2.4 . The measured W+bb¯ production cross section in the fiducial region, calculated at the level of final-state particles, is &#963;(pp&#8594;W+bb¯)×B(W&#8594;&#956;&#957;)=0.53±0.05(stat.)±0.09(syst.)±0.06(theo.)±0.01(lum.) pb , in agreement with the standard model prediction. In addition, kinematic distributions of the W+bb¯ system are in agreement with the predictions of a simulation using MadGraph and pythia