Charged pion form factor between Q^2=0.60 and 2.45 GeV^2. II. Determination of, and results for, the pion form factor

The charged pion form factor, Fpi(Q^2), is an important quantity which can be used to advance our knowledge of hadronic structure. However, the extraction of Fpi from data requires a model of the 1H(e,e'pi+)n reaction, and thus is inherently model dependent. Therefore, a detailed description of the extraction of the charged pion form factor from electroproduction data obtained recently at Jefferson Lab is presented, with particular focus given to the dominant uncertainties in this procedure. Results for Fpi are presented for Q^2=0.60-2.45 GeV^2. Above Q^2=1.5 GeV^2, the Fpi values are systematically below the monopole parameterization that describes the low Q^2 data used to determine the pion charge radius. The pion form factor can be calculated in a wide variety of theoretical approaches, and the experimental results are compared to a number of calculations. This comparison is helpful in understanding the role of soft versus hard contributions to hadronic structure in the intermediate Q^2 regime.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure

The SAMPLE Experiment and Weak Nucleon Structure

One of the key elements to understanding the structure of the nucleon is the role of its quark-antiquark sea in its ground state properties such as charge, mass, magnetism and spin. In the last decade, parity-violating electron scattering has emerged as an important tool in this area, because of its ability to isolate the contribution of strange quark-antiquark pairs to the nucleon's charge and magnetism. The SAMPLE experiment at the MIT-Bates Laboratory, which has been focused on s-sbar contributions to the proton's magnetic moment, was the first of such experiments and its program has recently been completed. In this paper we give an overview of some of the experimental aspects of parity-violating electron scattering, briefly review the theoretical predictions for strange quark form factors, summarize the SAMPLE measurements, and place them in context with the program of experiments being carried out at other electron scattering facilities such as Jefferson Laboratory and the Mainz Microtron.Comment: 61 pages, review articl

State of the climate in 2013

In 2013, the vast majority of the monitored climate variables reported here maintained trends established in recent decades. ENSO was in a neutral state during the entire year, remaining mostly on the cool side of neutral with modest impacts on regional weather patterns around the world. This follows several years dominated by the effects of either La Niña or El Niño events. According to several independent analyses, 2013 was again among the 10 warmest years on record at the global scale, both at the Earths surface and through the troposphere. Some regions in the Southern Hemisphere had record or near-record high temperatures for the year. Australia observed its hottest year on record, while Argentina and New Zealand reported their second and third hottest years, respectively. In Antarctica, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station reported its highest annual temperature since records began in 1957. At the opposite pole, the Arctic observed its seventh warmest year since records began in the early 20th century. At 20-m depth, record high temperatures were measured at some permafrost stations on the North Slope of Alaska and in the Brooks Range. In the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, anomalous meridional atmospheric circulation occurred throughout much of the year, leading to marked regional extremes of both temperature and precipitation. Cold temperature anomalies during winter across Eurasia were followed by warm spring temperature anomalies, which were linked to a new record low Eurasian snow cover extent in May. Minimum sea ice extent in the Arctic was the sixth lowest since satellite observations began in 1979. Including 2013, all seven lowest extents on record have occurred in the past seven years. Antarctica, on the other hand, had above-average sea ice extent throughout 2013, with 116 days of new daily high extent records, including a new daily maximum sea ice area of 19.57 million km2 reached on 1 October. ENSO-neutral conditions in the eastern central Pacific Ocean and a negative Pacific decadal oscillation pattern in the North Pacific had the largest impacts on the global sea surface temperature in 2013. The North Pacific reached a historic high temperature in 2013 and on balance the globally-averaged sea surface temperature was among the 10 highest on record. Overall, the salt content in nearsurface ocean waters increased while in intermediate waters it decreased. Global mean sea level continued to rise during 2013, on pace with a trend of 3.2 mm yr-1 over the past two decades. A portion of this trend (0.5 mm yr-1) has been attributed to natural variability associated with the Pacific decadal oscillation as well as to ongoing contributions from the melting of glaciers and ice sheets and ocean warming. Global tropical cyclone frequency during 2013 was slightly above average with a total of 94 storms, although the North Atlantic Basin had its quietest hurricane season since 1994. In the Western North Pacific Basin, Super Typhoon Haiyan, the deadliest tropical cyclone of 2013, had 1-minute sustained winds estimated to be 170 kt (87.5 m s-1) on 7 November, the highest wind speed ever assigned to a tropical cyclone. High storm surge was also associated with Haiyan as it made landfall over the central Philippines, an area where sea level is currently at historic highs, increasing by 200 mm since 1970. In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide all continued to increase in 2013. As in previous years, each of these major greenhouse gases once again reached historic high concentrations. In the Arctic, carbon dioxide and methane increased at the same rate as the global increase. These increases are likely due to export from lower latitudes rather than a consequence of increases in Arctic sources, such as thawing permafrost. At Mauna Loa, Hawaii, for the first time since measurements began in 1958, the daily average mixing ratio of carbon dioxide exceeded 400 ppm on 9 May. The state of these variables, along with dozens of others, and the 2013 climate conditions of regions around the world are discussed in further detail in this 24th edition of the State of the Climate series. © 2014, American Meteorological Society. All rights reserved

Diving behaviour of Elseya albagula from a naturally flowing and hydrologically altered habitat

This study investigated the diving behaviour and performance of the bimodally respiring turtle Elseya albagula within the Burnett River, central Qld, Australia. Diving parameters were recorded using pressure-sensitive time-depth recorders for turtles residing within a free flowing versus regulated reach. Maximum submergence time recorded for El. albagula (greater than 3 hours) is among the longest recorded for a voluntarily diving vertebrate, and is attributed to the turtle's ability to respire aquatically. Median dive times logged for El. albagula within the regulated reach (6.7 min) were threefold longer than values recorded for turtles residing within a naturally flowing creek (1.9 min), with discrepancies in dive duration possibly due to the variable hydrologic flows recorded below the weir. No correlation was observed between dive duration and subsequent surfacing intervals, suggesting that dives remained aerobic throughout the study. Despite considerable differences in the magnitude and daily variation of water flow between the two locations, similar diel activity and surfacing trends were recorded for El. albagula. Turtles undertook deep resting dives (> 1.5 m) during the day before moving into shallower habitats (< 1.0m) for the night, while the crepuscular hours were characterized by elevated surfacing frequencies attributed to periods of increased activity possibly associated with foraging