541 research outputs found
Theoretical analysis of neutron scattering results for quasi-two dimensional ferromagnets
A theoretical study has been carried out to analyse the available results
from the inelastic neutron scattering experiment performed on a quasi-two
dimensional spin-1/2 ferromagnetic material . Our formalism is based
on a conventional semi-classical like treatment involving a model of an ideal
gas of vortices/anti-vortices corresponding to an anisotropic XY Heisenberg
ferromagnet on a square lattice. The results for dynamical structure functions
for our model corresponding to spin-1/2, show occurrence of negative values in
a large range of energy transfer even encompassing the experimental range, when
convoluted with a realistic spectral window function. This result indicates
failure of the conventional theoretical framework to be applicable to the
experimental situation corresponding to low spin systems. A full quantum
formalism seems essential for treating such systems.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 1 Table Submitted for publicatio
Active Amplification of the Terrestrial Albedo to Mitigate Climate Change: An Exploratory Study
This study explores the potential to enhance the reflectance of solar
insolation by the human settlement and grassland components of the Earth's
terrestrial surface as a climate change mitigation measure. Preliminary
estimates derived using a static radiative transfer model indicate that such
efforts could amplify the planetary albedo enough to offset the current global
annual average level of radiative forcing caused by anthropogenic greenhouse
gases by as much as 30 percent or 0.76 W/m2. Terrestrial albedo amplification
may thus extend, by about 25 years, the time available to advance the
development and use of low-emission energy conversion technologies which
ultimately remain essential to mitigate long-term climate change. However,
additional study is needed to confirm the estimates reported here and to assess
the economic and environmental impacts of active land-surface albedo
amplification as a climate change mitigation measure.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures. In press with Mitigation and Adaptation
Strategies for Global Change, Springer, N
Centrality Dependence of Charged Particle Multiplicity at Mid-Rapidity in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV
We present a measurement of the pseudorapidity density of primary charged
particles near mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV as a
function of the number of participating nucleons. These results are compared to
models in an attempt to discriminate between competing scenarios of particle
production in heavy ion collisions.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, revtex (submitted to Phys. Rev. Letters
A shooting algorithm for problems with singular arcs
In this article we propose a shooting algorithm for a class of optimal
control problems for which all control variables appear linearly. The shooting
system has, in the general case, more equations than unknowns and the
Gauss-Newton method is used to compute a zero of the shooting function. This
shooting algorithm is locally quadratically convergent if the derivative of the
shooting function is one-to-one at the solution. The main result of this paper
is to show that the latter holds whenever a sufficient condition for weak
optimality is satisfied. We note that this condition is very close to a second
order necessary condition. For the case when the shooting system can be reduced
to one having the same number of unknowns and equations (square system) we
prove that the mentioned sufficient condition guarantees the stability of the
optimal solution under small perturbations and the invertibility of the
Jacobian matrix of the shooting function associated to the perturbed problem.
We present numerical tests that validate our method.Comment: No. RR-7763 (2011); Journal of Optimization, Theory and Applications,
published as 'Online first', January 201
First Measurement of Z/gamma* Production in Compton Scattering of Quasi-real Photons
We report the first observation of Z/gamma* production in Compton scattering
of quasi-real photons. This is a subprocess of the reaction e+e- to
e+e-Z/gamma*, where one of the final state electrons is undetected.
Approximately 55 pb-1 of data collected in the year 1997 at an e+e-
centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP have been
analysed. The Z/gamma* from Compton scattering has been detected in the
hadronic decay channel. Within well defined kinematic bounds, we measure the
product of cross-section and Z/gamma* branching ratio to hadrons to be
(0.9+-0.3+-0.1) pb for events with a hadronic mass larger than 60 GeV,
dominated by (e)eZ production. In the hadronic mass region between 5 GeV and 60
GeV, dominated by (e)egamma* production, this product is found to be
(4.1+-1.6+-0.6) pb. Our results agree with the predictions of two Monte Carlo
event generators, grc4f and PYTHIA.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figures included, submitted to Physics Letters
Search for Higgs Bosons in e+e- Collisions at 183 GeV
The data collected by the OPAL experiment at sqrts=183 GeV were used to
search for Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Standard Model and various
extensions, such as general models with two Higgs field doublets and the
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). The data correspond to an
integrated luminosity of approximately 54pb-1. None of the searches for neutral
and charged Higgs bosons have revealed an excess of events beyond the expected
background. This negative outcome, in combination with similar results from
searches at lower energies, leads to new limits for the Higgs boson masses and
other model parameters. In particular, the 95% confidence level lower limit for
the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson is 88.3 GeV. Charged Higgs bosons
can be excluded for masses up to 59.5 GeV. In the MSSM, mh > 70.5 GeV and mA >
72.0 GeV are obtained for tan{beta}>1, no and maximal scalar top mixing and
soft SUSY-breaking masses of 1 TeV. The range 0.8 < tanb < 1.9 is excluded for
minimal scalar top mixing and m{top} < 175 GeV. More general scans of the MSSM
parameter space are also considered.Comment: 49 pages. LaTeX, including 33 eps figures, submitted to European
Physical Journal
A Measurement of the Product Branching Ratio f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) in Z0 Decays
The product branching ratio, f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X), where
Lambda_b denotes any weakly-decaying b-baryon, has been measured using the OPAL
detector at LEP. Lambda_b are selected by the presence of energetic Lambda
particles in bottom events tagged by the presence of displaced secondary
vertices. A fit to the momenta of the Lambda particles separates signal from B
meson and fragmentation backgrounds. The measured product branching ratio is
f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (2.67+-0.38(stat)+0.67-0.60(sys))%
Combined with a previous OPAL measurement, one obtains
f(b->Lambda_b).BR(Lambda_b->Lambda X) = (3.50+-0.32(stat)+-0.35(sys))%.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 3 eps figs included, submitted to the European
Physical Journal
Measurement of the Michel Parameters in Leptonic Tau Decays
The Michel parameters of the leptonic tau decays are measured using the OPAL
detector at LEP. The Michel parameters are extracted from the energy spectra of
the charged decay leptons and from their energy-energy correlations. A new
method involving a global likelihood fit of Monte Carlo generated events with
complete detector simulation and background treatment has been applied to the
data recorded at center-of-mass energies close to sqrt(s) = M(Z) corresponding
to an integrated luminosity of 155 pb-1 during the years 1990 to 1995. If e-mu
universality is assumed and inferring the tau polarization from neutral current
data, the measured Michel parameters are extracted. Limits on non-standard
coupling constants and on the masses of new gauge bosons are obtained. The
results are in agreement with the V-A prediction of the Standard Model.Comment: 32 pages, LaTeX, 9 eps figures included, submitted to the European
Physical Journal
Single Spin Asymmetry in Polarized Proton-Proton Elastic Scattering at GeV
We report a high precision measurement of the transverse single spin
asymmetry at the center of mass energy GeV in elastic
proton-proton scattering by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The was measured
in the four-momentum transfer squared range \GeVcSq, the region of a significant interference between the
electromagnetic and hadronic scattering amplitudes. The measured values of
and its -dependence are consistent with a vanishing hadronic spin-flip
amplitude, thus providing strong constraints on the ratio of the single
spin-flip to the non-flip amplitudes. Since the hadronic amplitude is dominated
by the Pomeron amplitude at this , we conclude that this measurement
addresses the question about the presence of a hadronic spin flip due to the
Pomeron exchange in polarized proton-proton elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV
We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and
the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in
polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was
measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be
in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation.
The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T <
11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The
mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be
around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC
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