3,986 research outputs found
Sea surface temperature changes in the southern California borderlands during the last glacial-interglacial cycle
A variety of evidence suggests that average sea surface temperatures (SSTs) during the last glacial maximum in the California Borderlands region were significantly colder than during the Holocene. Planktonic foraminiferal δ18O evidence and average SST estimates derived by the modern analog technique indicate that temperatures were 6°-10°C cooler during the last glacial relative to the present. The glacial plankton assemblage is dominated by the planktonic foraminifer Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral coiling) and the coccolith Coccolithus pelagicus, both of which are currently restricted to subpolar regions of the North Pacific. The glacial-interglacial average SST change determined in this study is considerably larger than the 2°C change estimated by Climate: Long-Range Investigation, Mapping, and Prediction (CLIMAP) [1981]. We propose that a strengthened California Current flow was associated with the advance of subpolar surface waters into the Borderlands region during the last glacial
Tools and methods in participatory modeling: Selecting the right tool for the job
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Various tools and methods are used in participatory modelling, at different stages of the process and for different purposes. The diversity of tools and methods can create challenges for stakeholders and modelers when selecting the ones most appropriate for their projects. We offer a systematic overview, assessment, and categorization of methods to assist modelers and stakeholders with their choices and decisions. Most available literature provides little justification or information on the reasons for the use of particular methods or tools in a given study. In most of the cases, it seems that the prior experience and skills of the modelers had a dominant effect on the selection of the methods used. While we have not found any real evidence of this approach being wrong, we do think that putting more thought into the method selection process and choosing the most appropriate method for the project can produce better results. Based on expert opinion and a survey of modelers engaged in participatory processes, we offer practical guidelines to improve decisions about method selection at different stages of the participatory modeling process
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Measurement of B(B-->X_s {\gamma}), the B-->X_s {\gamma} photon energy spectrum, and the direct CP asymmetry in B-->X_{s+d} {\gamma} decays
The photon spectrum in B --> X_s {\gamma} decay, where X_s is any strange
hadronic state, is studied using a data sample of (382.8\pm 4.2) \times 10^6
e^+ e^- --> \Upsilon(4S) --> BBbar events collected by the BABAR experiment at
the PEP-II collider. The spectrum is used to measure the branching fraction B(B
--> X_s \gamma) = (3.21 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.08)\times 10^{-4} and the
first, second, and third moments = 2.267 \pm 0.019 \pm 0.032 \pm
0.003 GeV,, )^2> = 0.0484 \pm 0.0053 \pm 0.0077 \pm
0.0005 GeV^2, and )^3> = -0.0048 \pm 0.0011 \pm 0.0011
\pm 0.0004 GeV^3, for the range E_\gamma > 1.8 GeV, where E_{\gamma} is the
photon energy in the B-meson rest frame. Results are also presented for
narrower E_{\gamma} ranges. In addition, the direct CP asymmetry A_{CP}(B -->
X_{s+d} \gamma) is measured to be 0.057 \pm 0.063. The spectrum itself is also
unfolded to the B-meson rest frame; that is the frame in which theoretical
predictions for its shape are made.Comment: 37 pages, 19 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D. No
analysis or results have changed from previous version. Some changes to
improve clarity based on interactions with Phys. Rev. D referees, including
one new Figure (Fig. 13), and some minor wording/punctuation/spelling
mistakes fixe
Measurement of CP Asymmetries and Branching Fractions in Charmless Two-Body B-Meson Decays to Pions and Kaons
We present improved measurements of CP-violation parameters in the decays
, , and , and of
the branching fractions for and . The
results are obtained with the full data set collected at the
resonance by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy factory
at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, corresponding to
million pairs. We find the CP-violation parameter values and
branching fractions where in each case, the first uncertainties are statistical
and the second are systematic. We observe CP violation with a significance of
6.7 standard deviations for and 6.1 standard deviations for
, including systematic uncertainties. Constraints on the
Unitarity Triangle angle are determined from the isospin relations
among the rates and asymmetries. Considering only the solution
preferred by the Standard Model, we find to be in the range
at the 68% confidence level.Comment: 18 pages, 11 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Cross Sections for the Reactions e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi-, K+ K- pi0pi0, and K+ K- K+ K- Measured Using Initial-State Radiation Events
We study the processes e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi-gamma, K+ K- pi0pi0gamma, and K+
K- K+ K-gamma, where the photon is radiated from the initial state. About
84000, 8000, and 4200 fully reconstructed events, respectively, are selected
from 454 fb-1 of BaBar data. The invariant mass of the hadronic final state
defines the \epem center-of-mass energy, so that the K+ K- pi+pi- data can be
compared with direct measurements of the e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi- reaction. No
direct measurements exist for the e+e- --> K+ K-pi0pi0 or e+e- --> K+ K-K+ K-
reactions, and we present an update of our previous result with doubled
statistics. Studying the structure of these events, we find contributions from
a number of intermediate states, and extract their cross sections. In
particular, we perform a more detailed study of the e+e- --> phi(1020)pipigamma
reaction, and confirm the presence of the Y(2175) resonance in the phi(1020)
f0(980) and K+K-f0(980) modes. In the charmonium region, we observe the J/psi
in all three final states and in several intermediate states, as well as the
psi(2S) in some modes, and measure the corresponding product of branching
fraction and electron width.Comment: 35 pages, 42 figure
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Precise Measurement of the e+ e- --> pi+ pi- (gamma) Cross Section with the Initial-State Radiation Method at BABAR
A precise measurement of the cross section of the process
from threshold to an energy of 3GeV is obtained
with the initial-state radiation (ISR) method using 232fb of data
collected with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass energies near
10.6GeV. The ISR luminosity is determined from a study of the leptonic process
, which is found to agree with the
next-to-leading-order QED prediction to within 1.1%. The cross section for the
process is obtained with a systematic uncertainty
of 0.5% in the dominant resonance region. The leading-order hadronic
contribution to the muon magnetic anomaly calculated using the measured
cross section from threshold to 1.8GeV is .Comment: 58 pages, 56 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of ISR-FSR interference in the processes e+ e- --> mu+ mu- gamma and e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma
Charge asymmetry in processes e+ e- --> mu+ mu- gamma and e+ e- --> pi+ pi-
gamma is measured using 232 fb-1 of data collected with the BABAR detector at
center-of-mass energies near 10.58 GeV. An observable is introduced and shown
to be very robust against detector asymmetries while keeping a large
sensitivity to the physical charge asymmetry that results from the interference
between initial and final state radiation. The asymmetry is determined as
afunction of the invariant mass of the final-state tracks from production
threshold to a few GeV/c2. It is compared to the expectation from QED for e+ e-
--> mu+ mu- gamma and from theoretical models for e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma. A
clear interference pattern is observed in e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma, particularly
in the vicinity of the f_2(1270) resonance. The inferred rate of lowest order
FSR production is consistent with the QED expectation for e+ e- --> mu+ mu-
gamma, and is negligibly small for e+ e- --> pi+ pi- gamma.Comment: 32 pages,29 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Branching fraction and form-factor shape measurements of exclusive charmless semileptonic B decays, and determination of |V_{ub}|
We report the results of a study of the exclusive charmless semileptonic
decays, B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu, B^+ --> pi^0 l^+ nu, B^+ --> omega l^+ nu, B^+ -->
eta l^+ nu and B^+ --> eta^' l^+ nu, (l = e or mu) undertaken with
approximately 462x10^6 B\bar{B} pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance
with the BABAR detector. The analysis uses events in which the signal B decays
are reconstructed with a loose neutrino reconstruction technique. We obtain
partial branching fractions in several bins of q^2, the square of the momentum
transferred to the lepton-neutrino pair, for B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu, B^+ --> pi^0
l^+ nu, B^+ --> omega l^+ nu and B^+ --> eta l^+ nu. From these distributions,
we extract the form-factor shapes f_+(q^2) and the total branching fractions
BF(B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu) = (1.45 +/- 0.04_{stat} +/- 0.06_{syst})x10^-4
(combined pi^- and pi^0 decay channels assuming isospin symmetry), BF(B^+ -->
omega l^+ nu) = (1.19 +/- 0.16_{stat} +/- 0.09_{syst})x10^-4 and BF(B^+ --> eta
l^+ nu) = (0.38 +/- 0.05_{stat} +/- 0.05_{syst})x10^-4. We also measure BF(B^+
--> eta^' l^+ nu) = (0.24 +/- 0.08_{stat} +/- 0.03_{syst})x10^-4. We obtain
values for the magnitude of the CKM matrix element V_{ub} by direct comparison
with three different QCD calculations in restricted q^2 ranges of B --> pi l^+
nu decays. From a simultaneous fit to the experimental data over the full q^2
range and the FNAL/MILC lattice QCD predictions, we obtain |V_{ub}| = (3.25 +/-
0.31)x10^-3, where the error is the combined experimental and theoretical
uncertainty.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures, submitted to PR
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