Measurement of the polar-angle distribution of leptons from W boson decay as a function of the W transverse momentum in proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We present a measurement of the coefficient alpha_2 of the leptonic polar-angle distribution from W boson decays, as a function of the W transverse momentum. The measurement uses an 80+/-4 pb^{-1} sample of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV collected by the CDF detector and includes data from both the W->e+nu and W->mu+nu decay channels. We fit the W boson transverse mass distribution to a set of templates from a Monte Carlo event generator and detector simulation in several ranges of the W transverse momentum. The measurement agrees with the Standard Model expectation, whereby the ratio of longitudinally to transversely polarized W bosons, in the Collins-Soper W rest frame, increases with the W transverse momentum at a rate of approximately 15% per 10 GeV/c.Comment: 47 pages, 16 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Measurement of the Ratio of b Quark Production Cross Sections in Antiproton-Proton Collisions at 630 GeV and 1800 GeV

We report a measurement of the ratio of the bottom quark production cross section in antiproton-proton collisions at 630 GeV to 1800 GeV using bottom quarks with transverse momenta greater than 10.75 GeV identified through their semileptonic decays and long lifetimes. The measured ratio sigma(630)/sigma(1800) = 0.171 +/- .024 +/- .012 is in good agreement with next-to-leading order (NLO) quantum chromodynamics (QCD)

Trapped xenon in meteorites

Xenon in meteorites can be resolved into a mixture of component X and trapped xenon with the following composition,124Xe:126Xe: 128 Xe: 130Xe: 131Xe: 132Xe: 134Xe: 136Xe = 0.0276: 0.0248: 0.501: 1.00: 5.04: 6.19: 2.31: 1.90. This trapped meteoritic xenon is distinct from xenon trapped in the average carbonaceous chondrite which is shown to represent the average composition of the total xenon in meteorites containing various mixtures of component X and trapped meteoritic xenon

Noble Gases in Lava Rock from Mount Capulin, New Mexico

Noble gases in lava rocks from Mount Capulin crater cone contain parentless 40Ar and xenon trapped from the hot magma. The isotopic composition of the xenon is consistent with a mixture of 90% atmospheric and 10% solar xenon, but no radiogenic 129Xe has been observed. These results do not support an earlier suggestion that radiogenic 129Xe, found in CO2 gas from this region of New Mexico, had been transported in hot magmas

Terrestrial-Type Xenon in Meteoritic Troilite

Recently it has been realized that the isotopic composition of Xe in different phases of chondrites is not uniform and that AVCC Xe is a mixture of the different nucleogenetic components trapped in these phases1-4. We show here a similar abundance pattern for the nonradiogenic xenon isotopes in air and in meteoritic troilite (FeS), which suggests that the isotopic composition of atmospheric Xe was not produced by unique events in the history of terrestrial material but represents a particular mix of the different nucleogenetic components of Xe that was dominant in a central Fe- and S-rich region of the protoplanetary nebula5