13,561 research outputs found
Optimization of multivariate analysis for IACT stereoscopic systems
Multivariate methods have been recently introduced and successfully applied
for the discrimination of signal from background in the selection of genuine
very-high energy gamma-ray events with the H.E.S.S. Imaging Atmospheric
Cerenkov Telescope. The complementary performance of three independent
reconstruction methods developed for the H.E.S.S. data analysis, namely Hillas,
model and 3D-model suggests the optimization of their combination through the
application of a resulting efficient multivariate estimator. In this work the
boosted decision tree method is proposed leading to a significant increase in
the signal over background ratio compared to the standard approaches. The
improved sensitivity is also demonstrated through a comparative analysis of a
set of benchmark astrophysical sources.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in
Astroparticle Physic
Risk and Business Goal Based Security Requirement and Countermeasure Prioritization
Companies are under pressure to be in control of their assets but at the same time they must operate as efficiently as possible. This means that they aim to implement “good-enough security” but need to be able to justify their security investment plans. Currently companies achieve this by means of checklist-based security assessments, but these methods are a way to achieve consensus without being able to provide justifications of countermeasures in terms of business goals. But such justifications are needed to operate securely and effectively in networked businesses. In this paper, we first compare a Risk-Based Requirements Prioritization method (RiskREP) with some requirements engineering and risk assessment methods based on their requirements elicitation and prioritization properties. RiskREP extends misuse case-based requirements engineering methods with IT architecture-based risk assessment and countermeasure definition and prioritization. Then, we present how RiskREP prioritizes countermeasures by linking business goals to countermeasure specification. Prioritizing countermeasures based on business goals is especially important to provide the stakeholders with structured arguments for choosing a set of countermeasures to implement. We illustrate RiskREP and how it prioritizes the countermeasures it elicits by an application to an action case
Massive spheroids can form in single minor mergers
Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 12 pages, 6 figuresUnderstanding how rotationally supported discs transform into dispersion-dominated spheroids is central to our comprehension of galaxy evolution. Morphological transformation is largely merger-driven. While major mergers can efficiently create spheroids, recent work has highlighted the significant role of other processes, like minor mergers, in driving morphological change. Given their rich merger histories, spheroids typically exhibit large fractions of ‘ex situ’ stellar mass, i.e. mass that is accreted, via mergers, from external objects. This is particularly true for the most massive galaxies, whose stellar masses typically cannot be attained without a large number of mergers. Here, we explore an unusual population of extremely massive (M ∗ > 10 11M) spheroids, in the Horizon-AGN simulation, which exhibit anomalously low ex situ mass fractions, indicating that they form without recourse to significant merging. These systems form in a single minor-merger event (with typical merger mass ratios of 0.11–0.33), with a specific orbital configuration, where the satellite orbit is virtually co-planar with the disc of the massive galaxy. The merger triggers a catastrophic change in morphology, over only a few hundred Myr, coupled with strong in situ star formation. While this channel produces a minority (∼5 per cent) of such galaxies, our study demonstrates that the formation of at least some of the most massive spheroids need not involve major mergers – or any significant merging at all – contrary to what is classically believed.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
Fuzzy Surfaces of Genus Zero
A fuzzy version of the ordinary round 2-sphere has been constructed with an
invariant curvature. We here consider linear connections on arbitrary fuzzy
surfaces of genus zero. We shall find as before that they are more or less
rigidly dependent on the differential calculus used but that a large number of
the latter can be constructed which are not covariant under the action of the
rotation group. For technical reasons we have been forced to limit our
considerations to fuzzy surfaces which are small perturbations of the fuzzy
sphere.Comment: 11 pages, Late
Measurement of the Branching Fractions for D^0 → π^-e^+v_e and D^0 → + K^-e^+V_e and Determination of │V_(cd)/V_(cs)│^2
Measurements of the exclusive branching fractions B(D^0→π^-e^+ν_e) and B(D^0→K^-e^+ν_e), using data collected at the ψ(3770) with the Mark III detector at the SLAC e^+e^- storage ring SPEAR, are used to determine the ratio of the Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements │V_(cd)/V_(cs)│^2 =0.057_(-0.015)^(+0.038)±0.005
Search for the decay D^0→K^0e^+e^-
A search for the decay of the charmed meson D^0→K^0e^+e^- is presented, based on data collected at the ψ(3770) resonance with the Mark III detector at the SLAC storage ring SPEAR. No evidence for this process is found, resulting in an upper limit on the decay branching ratio of 1.7×10^(-3) at the 90% confidence level
Measurement of CP observables for the decays B^± → D^0_(CP)K^±
We present a study of the decay B^- → D^0_(CP)K^±
and its charge conjugate, where D^0_CP) is reconstructed
in CP-even, CP-odd, and non-CP flavor eigenstates, based on a sample of 232 x 10^6 Y(4S) → BB decays
collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e^+e^- storage ring. We measure the partial-rate charge
asymmetries A_(CP±) and the ratios R_(CP±) of the B → D^0K decay branching fractions as measured in CP^±
and non-CP D^0 decays: A_(CP±) 0:35 ± 0.13(stat) ± 0.04(syst), A_(CP-)= -0.06 ± 0.13(stat) ±
0.04(syst), R_(CP+) = 0.90 ± 0.12(stat) ± 0.049syst), and R_(CP-) = 0:86 ± 0.10(stat) ± 0.05(syst)
The e^+e^- → 3(π^+π^-), 2(π^+π^-π^0) and K^+K^-2(π^+π^-) cross sections at center-of-mass energies from production threshold to 4.5 GeV measured with initial-state radiation
We study the processes e^+e^- → 3(π^+π^-)γ, 2(π^+π^-π^0)γ and K^+K^-2(π^+π^-)γ, with the photon radiated from the initial state. About 20 000, 33 000 and 4000 fully reconstructed events, respectively, have been selected from 232 fb^(-1) of BABAR data. The invariant mass of the hadronic final state defines the effective e^+e^- center-of-mass energy, so that these data can be compared with the corresponding direct e^+e^- measurements. From the 3(π^+π^-), 2(π^+π^-π^0) and K^+K^-2(π^+π^-) mass spectra, the cross sections for the processes e^+e^- → 3(π^+π^-), e^+e^- → 2(π^+π^-π^0) and e^+e^- → K^+K^-2(π^+π^-) are measured for center-of-mass energies from production threshold to 4.5 GeV. The uncertainty in the cross section measurement is typically 6%–15%. We observe a structure at 1.9 GeV in both cross sections and a resonance structure with mass 1645 ± 0.008 GeV/c^2 and width 0.114 ± 0.014 GeV when the ω(782)η final state is extracted. We observe the J/ψ in all these final states and measure the corresponding branching fractions
Search for the decay B^+ → τ^+ν_τ
We search for the rare leptonic decay B^+ → τ^+ν_τ in a sample of 232 × 10^6 BB̅ pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II B-Factory. Signal events are selected by examining the properties of the B meson recoiling against the semileptonic decay B^- → D^9*0)ℓ^-ν̅_ ℓ. We find no evidence for a signal and set an upper limit on the branching fraction of B(B^+ → τ^+ν_τ)<2.8 × 10^9-4) at the 90% confidence level. We combine this result with a previous, statistically independent BABAR search for B+→τ+ντ to give an upper limit of B(B^+ → τ^+ν_τ)<2.6 × 10^(-4) at the 90% confidence level
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