Ordered Information Systems and Graph Granulation

The concept of an Information System, as used in Rough Set theory, is extended to the case of a partially ordered universe equipped with a set of order preserving attributes. These information systems give rise to partitions of the universe where the set of equivalence classes is partially ordered. Such ordered partitions correspond to relations on the universe which are reflexive and transitive. This correspondence allows the definition of approximation operators for an ordered information system by using the concepts of opening and closing from mathematical morphology. A special case of partial orders are graphs and hypergraphs and these provide motivation for the need to consider approximations on partial orders

A measurement of alphas(Q2)alpha_s(Q^2) from the Gross-Llewellyn Smith Sum Rule

We extract a set of values for the Gross-Llewellyn Smith sum rule at different values of 4-momentum transfer squared ($Q^{2}$), by combining revised CCFR neutrino data with data from other neutrino deep-inelastic scattering experiments for $1 < Q^2 < 15 GeV^2/c^2$. A comparison with the order $\alpha^{3}_{s}$ theoretical predictions yields a determination of $\alpha_{s}$ at the scale of the Z-boson mass of $0.114 \pm^{.009}_{.012}$. This measurement provides a new and useful test of perturbative QCD at low $Q^2$, because of the low uncertainties in the higher order calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

New Particles Working Group Report of the Snowmass 2013 Community Summer Study

This report summarizes the work of the Energy Frontier New Physics working group of the 2013 Community Summer Study (Snowmass)

Hard Interactions of Quarks and Gluons: a Primer for LHC Physics

In this review article, we develop the perturbative framework for the calculation of hard scattering processes. We undertake to provide both a reasonably rigorous development of the formalism of hard scattering of quarks and gluons as well as an intuitive understanding of the physics behind the scattering. We emphasize the importance of logarithmic corrections as well as power counting of the strong coupling constant in order to understand the behavior of hard scattering processes. We include "rules of thumb" as well as "official recommendations", and where possible seek to dispel some myths. Experiences that have been gained at the Fermilab Tevatron are recounted and, where appropriate, extrapolated to the LHC.Comment: 118 pages, 107 figures; to be published in Reports on Progress in Physic

Direct Measurement of the Top Quark Mass at D0

We determine the top quark mass m_t using t-tbar pairs produced in the D0 detector by \sqrt{s} = 1.8 TeV p-pbar collisions in a 125 pb^-1 exposure at the Fermilab Tevatron. We make a two constraint fit to m_t in t-tbar -> b W^+bbar W^- final states with one W boson decaying to q-qbar and the other to e-nu or mu-nu. Likelihood fits to the data yield m_t(l+jets) = 173.3 +- 5.6 (stat) +- 5.5 (syst) GeV/c^2. When this result is combined with an analysis of events in which both W bosons decay into leptons, we obtain m_t = 172.1 +- 5.2 (stat) +- 4.9 (syst) GeV/c^2. An alternate analysis, using three constraint fits to fixed top quark masses, gives m_t(l+jets) = 176.0 +- 7.9 (stat) +- 4.8 (syst) GeV/C^2, consistent with the above result. Studies of kinematic distributions of the top quark candidates are also presented.Comment: 43 pages, 53 figures, 33 tables. RevTeX. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Horizontal DNA transfer mechanisms of bacteria as weapons of intragenomic conflict

Horizontal DNA transfer (HDT) is a pervasive mechanism of diversification in many microbial species, but its primary evolutionary role remains controversial. Much recent research has emphasised the adaptive benefit of acquiring novel DNA, but here we argue instead that intragenomic conflict provides a coherent framework for understanding the evolutionary origins of HDT. To test this hypothesis, we developed a mathematical model of a clonally descended bacterial population undergoing HDT through transmission of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) and genetic transformation. Including the known bias of transformation toward the acquisition of shorter alleles into the model suggested it could be an effective means of counteracting the spread of MGEs. Both constitutive and transient competence for transformation were found to provide an effective defence against parasitic MGEs; transient competence could also be effective at permitting the selective spread of MGEs conferring a benefit on their host bacterium. The coordination of transient competence with cell-cell killing, observed in multiple species, was found to result in synergistic blocking of MGE transmission through releasing genomic DNA for homologous recombination while simultaneously reducing horizontal MGE spread by lowering the local cell density. To evaluate the feasibility of the functions suggested by the modelling analysis, we analysed genomic data from longitudinal sampling of individuals carrying Streptococcus pneumoniae. This revealed the frequent within-host coexistence of clonally descended cells that differed in their MGE infection status, a necessary condition for the proposed mechanism to operate. Additionally, we found multiple examples of MGEs inhibiting transformation through integrative disruption of genes encoding the competence machinery across many species, providing evidence of an ongoing "arms race." Reduced rates of transformation have also been observed in cells infected by MGEs that reduce the concentration of extracellular DNA through secretion of DNases. Simulations predicted that either mechanism of limiting transformation would benefit individual MGEs, but also that this tactic's effectiveness was limited by competition with other MGEs coinfecting the same cell. A further observed behaviour we hypothesised to reduce elimination by transformation was MGE activation when cells become competent. Our model predicted that this response was effective at counteracting transformation independently of competing MGEs. Therefore, this framework is able to explain both common properties of MGEs, and the seemingly paradoxical bacterial behaviours of transformation and cell-cell killing within clonally related populations, as the consequences of intragenomic conflict between self-replicating chromosomes and parasitic MGEs. The antagonistic nature of the different mechanisms of HDT over short timescales means their contribution to bacterial evolution is likely to be substantially greater than previously appreciated

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13