The oxygen isotope evolution of parent body aqueous solutions as recorded by multiple carbonate generations in the Lonewolf Nunataks 94101 CM2 carbonaceous chondrite

The CM2 carbonaceous chondrite LON 94101 contains aragonite and two generations of calcite that provide snapshots of the chemical and isotopic evolution of aqueous solutions during parent body alteration. Aragonite was the first carbonate to crystallize. It is rare, heterogeneously distributed within the meteorite matrix, and its mean oxygen isotope values are δ18O 39.9±0.6‰, Δ17O -0.3±1.0‰ (1σ). Calcite precipitated very soon afterwards, and following a fall in solution Mg/Ca ratios, to produce small equant grains with a mean oxygen isotope value of δ18O 37.5±0.7‰, Δ17O 1.4±1.1‰ (1σ). These grains were partially or completely replaced by serpentine and tochilinite prior to precipitation of the second generation of calcite, which occluded an open fracture to form a millimeter-sized vein, and replaced anhydrous silicates within chondrules and the matrix. The vein calcite has a mean composition of δ18O 18.4±0.3‰, Δ17O -0.5±0.5‰ (1σ). Petrographic and isotopic results therefore reveal two discrete episodes of mineralization that produced Ca-carbonates with contrasting δ18O, but whose Δ17O values are indistinguishable within error. The aragonite and equant calcite crystallized over a relatively brief period early in the aqueous alteration history of the parent body, and from static fluids that were evolving chemically in response to mineral dissolution and precipitation. The second calcite generation crystallized from solutions of a lower Δ17O, and a lower δ18O and/or higher temperature, which entered LON 9410 via a fracture network. As two generations of calcite whose petrographic characteristics and oxygen isotopic compositions are similar to those in LON 94101 occur in at least one other CM2, multiphase carbonate mineralization could be the typical outcome of the sequence of chemical reactions during parent body aqueous alteration. It is equally possible however that the second generation of calcite in formed in response to an event such as impact fracturing and concomitant fluid mobilisation that affected a large region of the common parent body of several CM2 meteorites. These findings show that integrated petrographic, chemical and isotopic studies can provide new insights into the mechanisms of parent body alteration including the spatial and temporal dynamics of the aqueous system

Fluid evolution in CM carbonaceous chondrites tracked through the oxygen isotopic compositions of carbonates

The oxygen isotopic compositions of calcite grains in four CM carbonaceous chondrites have been determined by NanoSIMS, and results reveal that aqueous solutions evolved in a similar manner between parent body regions with different intensities of aqueous alteration. Two types of calcite were identified in Murchison, Mighei, Cold Bokkeveld and LaPaz Icefield 031166 by differences in their petrographic properties and oxygen isotope values. Type 1 calcite occurs as small equant grains that formed by filling of pore spaces in meteorite matrices during the earliest stages of alteration. On average, the type 1 grains have a δ18O of ∼32–36‰ (VSMOW), and Δ17O of between ∼2‰ and −1‰. Most grains of type 2 calcite precipitated after type 1. They contain micropores and inclusions, and have replaced ferromagnesian silicate minerals. Type 2 calcite has an average δ18O of ∼21–24‰ (VSMOW) and a Δ17O of between ∼−1‰ and −3‰. Such consistent isotopic differences between the two calcite types show that they formed in discrete episodes and from solutions whose δ18O and δ17O values had changed by reaction with parent body silicates, as predicted by the closed-system model for aqueous alteration. Temperatures are likely to have increased over the timespan of calcite precipitation, possibly owing to exothermic serpentinisation. The most highly altered CM chondrites commonly contain dolomite in addition to calcite. Dolomite grains in two previously studied CM chondrites have a narrow range in δ18O (∼25–29‰ VSMOW), with Δ17O ∼−1‰ to −3‰. These grains are likely to have precipitated between types 1 and 2 calcite, and in response to a transient heating event and/or a brief increase in fluid magnesium/calcium ratios. In spite of this evidence for localised excursions in temperature and/or solution chemistry, the carbonate oxygen isotope record shows that fluid evolution was comparable between many parent body regions. The CM carbonaceous chondrites studied here therefore sample either several parent bodies with a very similar initial composition and evolution or, more probably, a single C-type asteroid

Color Transparency versus Quantum Coherence in Electroproduction of Vector Mesons off Nuclei

So far no theoretical tool for the comprehensive description of exclusive electroproduction of vector mesons off nuclei at medium energies has been developed. We suggest a light-cone QCD formalism which is valid at any energy and incorporates formation effects (color transparency), the coherence length and the gluon shadowing. At medium energies color transparency (CT) and the onset of coherence length (CL) effects are not easily separated. Indeed, although nuclear transparency measured by the HERMES experiment rises with Q^2, it agrees with predictions of the vector dominance model (VDM) without any CT effects. Our new results and observations are: (i) the good agreement with the VDM found earlier is accidental and related to the specific correlation between Q^2 and CL for HERMES kinematics; (ii) CT effects are much larger than have been estimated earlier within the two channel approximation. They are even stronger at low than at high energies and can be easily identified by HERMES or at JLab; (iii) gluon shadowing which is important at high energies is calculated and included; (iv) our parameter-free calculations explain well available data for variation of nuclear transparency with virtuality and energy of the photon; (v) predictions for electroproduction of \rho and \phi are provided for future measurements at HERMES and JLab.Comment: Latex 57 pages and 17 figure

Developing atom probe tomography of phyllosilicates in preparation for extra-terrestrial sample return

Hydrous phyllosilicate minerals, including the serpentine subgroup, are likely to be major constituents of material that will be bought back to Earth by missions to Mars and to primitive asteroids Ryugu and Bennu. Small quantities (< 60 g) of micrometre sized, internally heterogeneous material will be available for study, requiring minimally destructive techniques. Many conventional methods are unsuitable for phyllosilicates as they are typically finely crystalline and electron beam sensitive resulting in amorphisation and dehydration. New tools will be required for nanoscale characterisation of these precious extra‐terrestrial samples. Here we test the effectiveness of atom probe tomography (APT) for this purpose. Using lizardite from the Ronda peridotite, Spain, as a terrestrial analogue, we outline an effective analytical protocol to extract nanoscale chemical and structural measurements of phyllosilicates. The potential of APT is demonstrated by the unexpected finding that the Ronda lizardite contains SiO‐rich nanophases, consistent with opaline silica that formed as a by‐product of the serpentinisation of olivine. Our new APT approach unlocks previously unobservable nanominerals and nanostructures within phyllosilicates owing to resolution limitations of more established imaging techniques. APT will provide unique insights into the processes and products of water/rock interaction on Earth, Mars and primitive asteroids

The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays. It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter