Gravitational Potential Energy in Iberia: A Driver of Active Deformation in High‐Topography Regions

In this study, we present a new estimation of the gravitational potential energy (GPE) in Iberia and use numerical modeling to evaluate its relative contribution to the present‐day stress field and deformation. We also present an improved (larger time span and denser coverage) compilation of Global Navigation Satellite System velocities, which we use to compute the strain rate field of Iberia. We take advantage of recent neotectonic modeling developed for Iberia and northwest Africa to study the isolated dynamic contribution of GPE‐related stresses. We present two models—one including only the stress generated by GPE and another reproducing the net stress field—and compare their predictions with the most up‐to‐date compilations of stress indicators, hypocenter clusters, and geodetic strain rates. The main effect of GPE is to induce second‐order spatial variations in the stress field. GPE appears to play an important role in high‐topography regions, where it explains deviatoric stress patterns mainly associated with extensional regimes. In north Iberia, especially in the Pyrenees and Cantabria, GPE causes an extensional regime over the highest peaks. In the Iberian Chain and eastern Betics, GPE is in agreement with the observed extensional deformation. Normal focal mechanisms of shallow earthquake clusters appear to be related with GPE maxima and GPE‐induced extensional regimes. Wavelength analysis suggests that both GPE and the long‐wavelength topography of intraplate Iberia record the plate boundary forces that acted in Iberia during the Alpine orogeny at Eocene to lower Miocene times

Phe–Phe Di-Peptide Nanostructure Self-Assembling Modulated by Luminescent Additives

In this work, supramolecular L-L-diphenylalanine (Phe-Phe) nanostructures were self-assembled in solvents of distinct polarity and in the presence of luminescent additives of distinct conjugation length that physically adhere to the nanostructures to provide growth environments of distinct properties. When the additive is poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene], an electron donor polymer, and solvent is tetrahydrofuran (THF), Phe-Phe vesicle-like structures are obtained, whereas in water and in the presence of a similar additive in structure, poly[5-methoxy-2-(3-sulfopropoxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene], nano-tubes are formed. In contrast, when 9-vinyl-carbazole, an electron acceptor additive is used, nano-tubes are formed even when THF is the solvent. The same structures are obtained when the additive is the macromolecule poly(vinyl carbazole). The morphologies of these self-assembled structures were observed by scanning electron microscopy, and their photophysical behavior was determined by steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. These data analyzed altogether inform about the formation mechanisms of such structures and about the influence that distinct interactions exert on self-assembling and charge-transfer processes through formation of complexes between the luminescent additives and the Phe-Phe nano- and microstructures41606619CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQFUNDAÇÃO DE AMPARO À PESQUISA DO ESTADO DE GOIÁS - FAPEG407619/2013-5sem informaçã

Measurement of charged pion, kaon, and proton production in proton-proton collisions at root s=13 TeV

Transverse momentum spectra of charged pions, kaons, and protons are measured in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The particles, identified via their energy loss in the silicon tracker, are measured in the transverse momentum range of pT ∼ 0.1-1.7 GeV/c and rapidities /y/ < 1. The pT spectra and integrated yields are compared to previous results at smaller √s and to predictions of Monte Carlo event generators. The average pT increases with particle mass and charged particle multiplicity of the event. Comparisons with previous CMS results at √s = 0.9, 2.76, and 7 TeV show that the average pT and the ratios of hadron yields feature very similar dependences on the particle multiplicity in the event, independently of the center-of-mass energy of the pp collision

Coherent J/Psi photoproduction in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV with the CMS experiment

Submitted to Phys. Lett. B - see paper for full list of authorsInternational audienceThe cross section for coherent J/psi photoproduction accompanied by at least one neutron on one side of the interaction point and no neutron activity on the other side, X[n]0[n], is measured with the CMS experiment in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 159 inverse microbarns, collected during the 2011 PbPb run. The J/psi mesons are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel, while neutrons are detected using zero degree calorimeters. The measured cross section is d sigma[coh,X[n]0[n]]/d y(J/psi) = 0.36 +/- 0.04\ (stat) +/- 0.04 (syst) mb in the rapidity interval 1.8<abs(y)<2.3. Using a model for the relative rate of coherent photoproduction processes, this X[z,n,z] measurement gives a total coherent photoproduction cross section of d sigma[coh]/d y(J/psi) = 1.82 +/- 0.22 (stat) +/- 0.20 (syst) +/- 0.19 (theo) mb. The data strongly disfavour the impulse approximation model prediction, indicating that nuclear effects are needed to describe coherent J/psi photoproduction in gamma + Pb interactions. The data are found to be consistent with the leading twist approximation, which includes nuclear gluon shadowing

Search for a light charged Higgs boson decaying to c-sbar in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV

see paper for full list of authorsInternational audienceA search for a light charged Higgs boson, originating from the decay of a top quark and subsequently decaying into a charm quark and a strange antiquark, is presented. The data used in the analysis correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 inverse-femtobarns recorded in proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The search is performed in the process t tbar to W+/- b H-/+ bbar, where the W boson decays to a lepton (electron or muon) and a neutrino. The decays lead to a final state comprising an isolated lepton, at least four jets and large missing transverse energy. No significant deviation is observed in the data with respect to the standard model predictions, and model-independent upper limits are set on the branching fraction BF( t to H+ b ), ranging from 1.2 to 6.5% for a charged Higgs boson with mass between 90 and 160 GeV, under the assumption that BF( H+ to c sbar ) = 100%

Measurement of the ratio B(t›Wb)/B(t›Wq) in pp collisions at s=8 TeV

The ratio of the top-quark branching fractions R=B(t›Wb)/B(t›Wq), where the denominator includes the sum over all down-type quarks (q=b,s,d), is measured in the tt¯ dilepton final state with proton–proton collision data at s=8 TeV from an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb-1, collected with the CMS detector. In order to quantify the purity of the signal sample, the cross section is measured by fitting the observed jet multiplicity, thereby constraining the signal and background contributions. By counting the number of b jets per event, an unconstrained value of R=1.014±0.003(stat.)±0.032(syst.) is measured, in a good agreement with current precision measurements in electroweak and flavour sectors. A lower limit R&gt;0.955 at the 95% confidence level is obtained after requiring R?1, and a lower limit on the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix element |Vtb|&gt;0.975 is set at 95% confidence level. The result is combined with a previous CMS measurement of the t-channel single-top-quark cross section to determine the top-quark total decay width, ?t=1.36±0.02(stat.)-0.11 +0.14(syst.) GeV. © 2014 The Author