Casimir force on a piston

We consider a massless scalar field obeying Dirichlet boundary conditions on the walls of a two-dimensional L x b rectangular box, divided by a movable partition (piston) into two compartments of dimensions a x b and (L-a) x b. We compute the Casimir force on the piston in the limit L -> infinity. Regardless of the value of a/b, the piston is attracted to the nearest end of the box. Asymptotic expressions for the Casimir force on the piston are derived for a << b and a >> b.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. Final version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Some Effects of Physiographic and Biotic Factors on the Distribution of Anadromous Arctic Char (Salvelinus Alpinus) in Ungava Bay, Canada

Interviews with Inuit hunters and measurements of topographic maps were used to characterize 70 rivers discharging into Ungava Bay in northern Quebec in terms of their ability to sustain runs of anadromous arctic char. Field crews visited 29 of these to verify conclusions and add detail. Anadromous arctic char streams tend to differ from non-char streams in size, gradient and distance to overwintering lakes, but there are no clear distinctions. Shallow boulder-strewn areas with maze-like braided channels were the most common cause of lack of char or problems with fish passage. Inuit hunters reported that low flows in autumn, and associated mortalities among migrating fish, have become increasingly common in recent years. We attribute this, at least in part, to changes in climate and the effect of abundant caribou on vegetation. Both destablize flow regimes and increase the prevalence and severity of problems for fish migrating upstream. There is considerable opportunity for stream management to ease fish passage and increase production of anadromous arctic char. This is fortunate because the rapidly growing Inuit population is increasing the demand for subsistence harvests, expansion of the sports fishery and initiation of commercial fishing.Key words: anadromous arctic char streams, Ungava Bay, hunters, stream management&nbsp;L'Omble-chevalier arctique anadrome constitue un composant important du r&eacute;gime alimentaire des Inuits. Des enqu&ecirc;tes effectu&eacute;s aupr&egrave;s des p&ecirc;cheurs inuits et l'&eacute;tude de cartes topographiques ont permis de caract&eacute;riser 70 rivi&egrave;res dans la Baie d'Ungava et de les classer en termes de possibilit&eacute;s de migration de l'omble-chevalier arctique anadrome. Des &eacute;quipes ont visit&eacute; 29 de ces rivi&egrave;res afin de v&eacute;rifier les conclusions &eacute;mises et d'y ajouter quelques d&eacute;tails. Les rivi&egrave;res &agrave; omble-chevalier arctique anadrome se distinguent des autres rivi&egrave;res par leur taille, leur pente et leur distance des lacs hivernaux, mais il est difficile de les s&eacute;parer nettement. Les zones peu profondes &agrave; galets et blocs diss&eacute;min&eacute;s et &agrave; nombreux m&eacute;andres expliquent l'absence d'omble-chevalier arctique anadrome ou son incapacit&eacute; &agrave; migrer dans de telles eaux. D'apr&egrave;s les p&ecirc;cheurs inuits, les basses eaux d'autome, et les mortalit&eacute;s des poissons migrateurs qu'elles causent, sont de plus en plus nombreuses depuis quelques ann&eacute;es. Ces basses eaux peuvent &ecirc;tre partiellement attribu&eacute;s &agrave; des changements de climat et &agrave; l'effet de nombreux caribous sur la v&eacute;g&eacute;tation environnante. Ces deux facteurs d&eacute;stabilisent le r&eacute;gime des eaux et accroissent la fr&eacute;quence et la gravit&eacute; des conditions d'&eacute;tiage. Les circonstances actuelles favorisent &agrave; un am&eacute;nagement rationnel des cours d'eaux serait destin&eacute; &agrave; faciliter la migration des poissons et augmenter la production des ombles arctiques anadromes. Cette situation est d'autant plus favorable qu'il y a une augmentation de la population des Inuits, donc un besoin accru de nourriture de subsistance. De plus, des pressions sont exerc&eacute;es dans la r&eacute;gion pour initier une p&ecirc;che commerciale et d&eacute;velopper la p&ecirc;che sportive.&nbsp;Mots cl&eacute;s&nbsp;: rivi&egrave;res &agrave; omble arctique anadrome, la Baie d'Ungava, chasseurs, am&eacute;nagement des cours d'ea

CsI(Tl) for WIMP dark matter searches

We report a study of CsI(Tl) scintillator to assess its applicability in experiments to search for dark matter particles. Measurements of the mean scintillation pulse shapes due to nuclear and electron recoils have been performed. We find that, as with NaI(Tl), pulse shape analysis can be used to discriminate between electron and nuclear recoils down to 4 keV. However, the discrimination factor is typically (10-15)% better than in NaI(Tl) above 4 keV. The quenching factor for caesium and iodine recoils was measured and found to increase from 11% to ~17% with decreasing recoil energy from 60 to 12 keV. Based on these results, the potential sensitivity of CsI(Tl) to dark matter particles in the form of neutralinos was calculated. We find an improvement over NaI(Tl) for the spin independent WIMP-nucleon interactions up to a factor of 5 assuming comparable electron background levels in the two scintillators.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Nucl. Instrum. and Meth. in Phys. Res.

On the alpha activity of natural tungsten isotopes

The indication for the alpha decay of 180-W with a half-life T1/2=1.1+0.8-0.4(stat)+-0.3(syst)x10^18 yr has been observed for the first time with the help of the super-low background 116-CdWO_4 crystal scintillators. In conservative approach the lower limit on half-life of 180-W has been established as T1/2>0.7x10^18 yr at 90% C.L. Besides, new T1/2 bounds were set for alpha decay of 182-W, 183-W, 184-W and 186-W at the level of 10^20 yr.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Growth, competition and cooperation in spatial population genetics

We study an individual based model describing competition in space between two different alleles. Although the model is similar in spirit to classic models of spatial population genetics such as the stepping stone model, here however space is continuous and the total density of competing individuals fluctuates due to demographic stochasticity. By means of analytics and numerical simulations, we study the behavior of fixation probabilities, fixation times, and heterozygosity, in a neutral setting and in cases where the two species can compete or cooperate. By concluding with examples in which individuals are transported by fluid flows, we argue that this model is a natural choice to describe competition in marine environments.Comment: 29 pages, 14 figures; revised version including a section with results in the presence of fluid flow

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

Measurement of the correlation between flow harmonics of different order in lead-lead collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Correlations between the elliptic or triangular flow coefficients vm (m=2 or 3) and other flow harmonics vn (n=2 to 5) are measured using √sNN=2.76 TeV Pb+Pb collision data collected in 2010 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7 μb−1. The vm−vn correlations are measured in midrapidity as a function of centrality, and, for events within the same centrality interval, as a function of event ellipticity or triangularity defined in a forward rapidity region. For events within the same centrality interval, v3 is found to be anticorrelated with v2 and this anticorrelation is consistent with similar anticorrelations between the corresponding eccentricities, ε2 and ε3. However, it is observed that v4 increases strongly with v2, and v5 increases strongly with both v2 and v3. The trend and strength of the vm−vn correlations for n=4 and 5 are found to disagree with εm−εn correlations predicted by initial-geometry models. Instead, these correlations are found to be consistent with the combined effects of a linear contribution to vn and a nonlinear term that is a function of v22 or of v2v3, as predicted by hydrodynamic models. A simple two-component fit is used to separate these two contributions. The extracted linear and nonlinear contributions to v4 and v5 are found to be consistent with previously measured event-plane correlations

Search for W′→tb→qqbb decays in pp collisions at √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for a massive W′ gauge boson decaying to a top quark and a bottom quark is performed with the ATLAS detector in pp collisions at the LHC. The dataset was taken at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV and corresponds to 20.3 fb−1 of integrated luminosity. This analysis is done in the hadronic decay mode of the top quark, where novel jet substructure techniques are used to identify jets from high-momentum top quarks. This allows for a search for high-mass W′ bosons in the range 1.5–3.0 TeV. b-tagging is used to identify jets originating from b-quarks. The data are consistent with Standard Model background-only expectations, and upper limits at 95 % confidence level are set on the W′→tb cross section times branching ratio ranging from 0.16pb to 0.33pb for left-handed W′ bosons, and ranging from 0.10pb to 0.21pb for W′ bosons with purely right-handed couplings. Upper limits at 95 % confidence level are set on the W′-boson coupling to tb as a function of the W′ mass using an effective field theory approach, which is independent of details of particular models predicting a W′boson

Measurement of the cross section for isolated-photon plus jet production in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The dynamics of isolated-photon production in association with a jet in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV are studied with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a dataset with an integrated luminosity of 3.2 fb−1. Photons are required to have transverse energies above 125 GeV. Jets are identified using the anti- algorithm with radius parameter and required to have transverse momenta above 100 GeV. Measurements of isolated-photon plus jet cross sections are presented as functions of the leading-photon transverse energy, the leading-jet transverse momentum, the azimuthal angular separation between the photon and the jet, the photon–jet invariant mass and the scattering angle in the photon–jet centre-of-mass system. Tree-level plus parton-shower predictions from Sherpa and Pythia as well as next-to-leading-order QCD predictions from Jetphox and Sherpa are compared to the measurements

Search for vectorlike B quarks in events with one isolated lepton, missing transverse momentum, and jets at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search has been performed for pair production of heavy vectorlike down-type (B) quarks. The analysis explores the lepton-plus-jets final state, characterized by events with one isolated charged lepton (electron or muon), significant missing transverse momentum, and multiple jets. One or more jets are required to be tagged as arising from b quarks, and at least one pair of jets must be tagged as arising from the hadronic decay of an electroweak boson. The analysis uses the full data sample of pp collisions recorded in 2012 by the ATLAS detector at the LHC, operating at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb −1 . No significant excess of events is observed above the expected background. Limits are set on vectorlike B production, as a function of the B branching ratios, assuming the allowable decay modes are B → Wt/Zb/Hb. In the chiral limit with a branching ratio of 100% for the decay B → Wt, the observed (expected) 95% C.L. lower limit on the vectorlike B mass is 810 GeV (760 GeV). In the case where the vectorlike B quark has branching ratio values corresponding to those of an SU(2) singlet state, the observed (expected) 95% C.L. lower limit on the vectorlike B mass is 640 GeV (505 GeV). The same analysis, when used to investigate pair production of a colored, charge 5/3 exotic fermion T 5/3 , with subsequent decay T 5/3 → Wt, sets an observed (expected) 95% C.L. lower limit on the T 5/3 mass of 840 GeV (780 GeV)