947 research outputs found
Bayesian Inference in Processing Experimental Data: Principles and Basic Applications
This report introduces general ideas and some basic methods of the Bayesian
probability theory applied to physics measurements. Our aim is to make the
reader familiar, through examples rather than rigorous formalism, with concepts
such as: model comparison (including the automatic Ockham's Razor filter
provided by the Bayesian approach); parametric inference; quantification of the
uncertainty about the value of physical quantities, also taking into account
systematic effects; role of marginalization; posterior characterization;
predictive distributions; hierarchical modelling and hyperparameters; Gaussian
approximation of the posterior and recovery of conventional methods, especially
maximum likelihood and chi-square fits under well defined conditions; conjugate
priors, transformation invariance and maximum entropy motivated priors; Monte
Carlo estimates of expectation, including a short introduction to Markov Chain
Monte Carlo methods.Comment: 40 pages, 2 figures, invited paper for Reports on Progress in Physic
The history of mass assembly of faint red galaxies in 28 galaxy clusters since z=1.3
We measure the relative evolution of the number of bright and faint (as faint
as 0.05 L*) red galaxies in a sample of 28 clusters, of which 16 are at 0.50<=
z<=1.27, all observed through a pair of filters bracketing the 4000 Angstrom
break rest-frame. The abundance of red galaxies, relative to bright ones, is
constant over all the studied redshift range, 0<z<1.3, and rules out a
differential evolution between bright and faint red galaxies as large as
claimed in some past works. Faint red galaxies are largely assembled and in
place at z=1.3 and their deficit does not depend on cluster mass, parametrized
by velocity dispersion or X-ray luminosity. Our analysis, with respect to
previous one, samples a wider redshift range, minimizes systematics and put a
more attention to statistical issues, keeping at the same time a large number
of clusters.Comment: MNRAS, 386, 1045. Half a single sentence (in sec 4.4) change
Effects of age and gender on neural correlates of emotion imagery
Mental imagery is part of people's own internal processing and plays an important role in everyday life, cognition and pathology. The neural network supporting mental imagery is bottom-up modulated by the imagery content. Here, we examined the complex associations of gender and age with the neural mechanisms underlying emotion imagery. We assessed the brain circuits involved in emotion mental imagery (vs. action imagery), controlled by a letter detection task on the same stimuli, chosen to ensure attention to the stimuli and to discourage imagery, in 91 men and women aged 14â65 years using fMRI. In women, compared with men, emotion imagery significantly increased activation within the right putamen, which is involved in emotional processing. Increasing age, significantly decreased mental imagery-related activation in the left insula and cingulate cortex, areas involved in awareness of ones' internal states, and it significantly decreased emotion verbs-related activation in the left putamen, which is part of the limbic system. This finding suggests a top-down mechanism by which gender and age, in interaction with bottom-up effect of type of stimulus, or directly, can modulate the brain mechanisms underlying mental imagery
Neural Network Parametrization of Deep-Inelastic Structure Functions
We construct a parametrization of deep-inelastic structure functions which
retains information on experimental errors and correlations, and which does not
introduce any theoretical bias while interpolating between existing data
points. We generate a Monte Carlo sample of pseudo-data configurations and we
train an ensemble of neural networks on them. This effectively provides us with
a probability measure in the space of structure functions, within the whole
kinematic region where data are available. This measure can then be used to
determine the value of the structure function, its error, point-to-point
correlations and generally the value and uncertainty of any function of the
structure function itself. We apply this technique to the determination of the
structure function F_2 of the proton and deuteron, and a precision
determination of the isotriplet combination F_2[p-d]. We discuss in detail
these results, check their stability and accuracy, and make them available in
various formats for applications.Comment: Latex, 43 pages, 22 figures. (v2) Final version, published in JHEP;
Sect.5.2 and Fig.9 improved, a few typos corrected and other minor
improvements. (v3) Some inconsequential typos in Tab.1 and Tab 5 corrected.
Neural parametrization available at http://sophia.ecm.ub.es/f2neura
Evolution of Group Galaxies from the First Red-Sequence Cluster Survey
We study the evolution of the red galaxy fraction (f_red) in 905 galaxy
groups with 0.15 < z < 0.52. The galaxy groups are identified by the
`probability Friends-of-Friends' algorithm from the first Red-Sequence Cluster
Survey (RCS1) photometric-redshift sample. There is a high degree of uniformity
in the properties of the red-sequence of the group galaxies, indicating that
the luminous red-sequence galaxies in the groups are already in place by z~0.5
and that they have a formation epoch of z>2. In general, groups at lower
redshifts exhibit larger f_red than those at higher redshifts, showing a group
Butcher-Oemler effect. We investigate the evolution of f_red by examining its
dependence on four parameters, which can be classified as one intrinsic and
three environmental: galaxy stellar mass (M_*), total group stellar
mass(M_{*,grp}, a proxy for group halo mass), normalized group-centric radius
(r_grp), and local galaxy density (Sigma_5). We find that M_* is the dominant
parameter such that there is a strong correlation between f_red and galaxy
stellar mass. Furthermore, the dependence of f_red on the environmental
parameters is also a strong function of M_*. Massive galaxies (M_* > 10^11
M_sun) show little dependence of f_red on r_grp, M_{*,grp}, and Sigma_5 over
the redshift range. The dependence of f_red on these parameters is primarily
seen for galaxies with lower masses, especially for M_* < 10^{10.6} M_{sun}. We
observe an apparent `group down-sizing' effect, in that galaxies in lower-mass
halos, after controlling for galaxy stellar mass, have lower f_red. We find a
dependence of \fred on both \rgrp and \SigmaF after the other parameters are
controlled. At a fixed \rgrp, there is a significant dependence of f_red on
Sigma_5, while r_grp gradients of f_red are seen for galaxies in similar
Sigma_5 regions. This indicates .....Comment: ApJ accepte
Design and Test of a Forward Neutron Calorimeter for the ZEUS Experiment
A lead scintillator sandwich sampling calorimeter has been installed in the
HERA tunnel 105.6 m from the central ZEUS detector in the proton beam
direction. It is designed to measure the energy and scattering angle of
neutrons produced in charge exchange ep collisions. Before installation the
calorimeter was tested and calibrated in the H6 beam at CERN where 120 GeV
electrons, muons, pions and protons were made incident on the calorimeter. In
addition, the spectrum of fast neutrons from charge exchange proton-lucite
collisions was measured. The design and construction of the calorimeter is
described, and the results of the CERN test reported. Special attention is paid
to the measurement of shower position, shower width, and the separation of
electromagnetic showers from hadronic showers. The overall energy scale as
determined from the energy spectrum of charge exchange neutrons is compared to
that obtained from direct beam hadrons.Comment: 45 pages, 22 Encapsulated Postscript figures, submitted to Nuclear
Instruments and Method
Measurement of the Electric and Magnetic Polarizabilities of the Proton
The Compton scattering cross section on the proton has been measured at
laboratory angles of 90 and 135 using tagged photons in the
energy range 70--100 MeV and simultaneously using untagged photons in the range
100--148~MeV. With the aid of dispersion relations, these cross sections were
used to extract the electric and magnetic polarizabilities, and
respectively, of the proton. We find
in agreement with a model-independent dispersion sum rule, and
where the errors shown are statistical, systematic, and model-dependent,
respectively. A comparison with previous experiments is given and global values
for the polarizabilities are extracted.Comment: 35 pages, 11 PostScript figures, uses RevTex 3.
Charged-Particle Multiplicity in Proton-Proton Collisions
This article summarizes and critically reviews measurements of
charged-particle multiplicity distributions and pseudorapidity densities in
p+p(pbar) collisions between sqrt(s) = 23.6 GeV and sqrt(s) = 1.8 TeV. Related
theoretical concepts are briefly introduced. Moments of multiplicity
distributions are presented as a function of sqrt(s). Feynman scaling, KNO
scaling, as well as the description of multiplicity distributions with a single
negative binomial distribution and with combinations of two or more negative
binomial distributions are discussed. Moreover, similarities between the energy
dependence of charged-particle multiplicities in p+p(pbar) and e+e- collisions
are studied. Finally, various predictions for pseudorapidity densities, average
multiplicities in full phase space, and multiplicity distributions of charged
particles in p+p(pbar) collisions at the LHC energies of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, 10
TeV, and 14 TeV are summarized and compared.Comment: Invited review for Journal of Physics G -- version 2: version after
referee's comment
Present and Future CP Measurements
We review theoretical and experimental results on CP violation summarizing
the discussions in the working group on CP violation at the UK phenomenology
workshop 2000 in Durham.Comment: 104 pages, Latex, to appear in Journal of Physics
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