205 research outputs found
Morphosedimentary and phytogeography reconstruction of the middle section of the river Jarama (Madrid, Spain) during the second half of the Holocene.
[Abstract] Two sites located on the alluvial plain of the Jarama River, near Madrid, Spain, have been studied using geological, palynological and xylological techniques. Uniquely for this region, numerous wood subfossils of Alnus and Ulmus have been found together with an strobile of Pinus halepensis. This has allowed the stablishment of a coherent radiocarbon chronology, which demonstrates that these sedimentary environments began to develop during the mid Holocene. The dated sediments, which also contains appreciable amounts of pollen, have been deposited upon older palaeosols which has in turn developed directly on the geological substrate. Palynological analyses of these levels have provided valuable insights into the floristic composition of the communities associated with the different biotopes present in the area. As a result of these multiproxy analyses an interpretation of Holocene landscape history and vegetation dynamics is presente
Patterns and drivers of tree Mortality in Iberian Forests: climatic effects are modified by competition
Tree mortality is a key process underlying forest dynamics and community assembly. Understanding how tree mortality is driven by simultaneous drivers is needed to evaluate potential effects of climate change on forest composition. Using repeat-measure information fromc.400,000 trees from the Spanish Forest Inventory, we quantified the relative importance of tree size, competition, climate and edaphic conditions on tree mortality of 11 species, and explored the combined effect of climate and competition. Tree mortality was affected by all of these multiple drivers, especially tree size and asymmetric competition, and strong interactions between climate and competition were found. All species showed L-shaped mortality patterns (i.e. showed decreasing mortality with tree size), but pines were more sensitive to asymmetric competition than broadleaved species. Among climatic variables, the negative effect of temperature on tree mortality was much larger than the effect of precipitation. Moreover, the effect of climate (mean annual temperature and annual precipitation) on tree mortality was aggravated at high competition levels for all species, but especially for broadleaved species. The significant interaction between climate and competition on tree mortality indicated that global change in Mediterranean regions, causing hotter and drier conditions and denser stands, could lead to profound effects on forest structure and composition. Therefore, to evaluate the potential effects of climatic change on tree mortality, forest structure must be considered, since two systems of similar composition but different structure could radically differ in their response to climatic conditions
Simultaneous measurement of the ratio B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq) and the top quark pair production cross section with the D0 detector at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV
We present the first simultaneous measurement of the ratio of branching
fractions, R=B(t->Wb)/B(t->Wq), with q being a d, s, or b quark, and the top
quark pair production cross section sigma_ttbar in the lepton plus jets channel
using 0.9 fb-1 of ppbar collision data at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV collected with the
D0 detector. We extract R and sigma_ttbar by analyzing samples of events with
0, 1 and >= 2 identified b jets. We measure R = 0.97 +0.09-0.08 (stat+syst) and
sigma_ttbar = 8.18 +0.90-0.84 (stat+syst)} +/-0.50 (lumi) pb, in agreement with
the standard model prediction.Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.Letter
Search for dark photons from supersymmetric hidden valleys
We search for a new light gauge boson, a dark photon, with the D0 experiment.
In the model we consider, supersymmetric partners are pair produced and cascade
to lightest neutralinos that can decay into the hidden sector state plus either
a photon or a dark photon. The dark photon decays through its mixing with a
photon into fermion pairs. We therefore investigate a previously unexplored
final state that contains a photon, two spatially close leptons, and large
missing transverse energy. We do not observe any evidence for dark photons and
set a limit on their production.Comment: submitted to PR
Measurement of Semileptonic Branching Fractions of B Mesons to Narrow D** States
Using the data accumulated in 2002-2004 with the DO detector in
proton-antiproton collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider with
centre-of-mass energy 1.96 TeV, the branching fractions of the decays B ->
\bar{D}_1^0(2420) \mu^+ \nu_\mu X and B -> \bar{D}_2^{*0}(2460) \mu^+ \nu_\mu X
and their ratio have been measured: BR(\bar{b}->B) \cdot BR(B-> \bar{D}_1^0
\mu^+ \nu_\mu X) \cdot BR(\bar{D}_1^0 -> D*- pi+) =
(0.087+-0.007(stat)+-0.014(syst))%; BR(\bar{b}->B)\cdot BR(B->D_2^{*0} \mu^+
\nu_\mu X) \cdot BR(\bar{D}_2^{*0} -> D*- \pi^+) =
(0.035+-0.007(stat)+-0.008(syst))%; and (BR(B -> \bar{D}_2^{*0} \mu^+ \nu_\mu
X)BR(D2*0->D*- pi+)) / (BR(B -> \bar{D}_1^{0} \mu^+ \nu_\mu X)\cdot
BR(\bar{D}_1^{0}->D*- \pi^+)) = 0.39+-0.09(stat)+-0.12(syst), where the charge
conjugated states are always implied.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Search for charged Higgs bosons decaying to top and bottom quarks in ppbar collisions
We describe a search for production of a charged Higgs boson, q \bar{q'} ->
H^+, reconstructed in the t\bar{b} final state in the mass range 180 <= M_{H^+}
<= 300 GeV. The search was undertaken at the Fermilab Tevatron collider with a
center-of-mass energy sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV and uses 0.9 fb^{-1} of data collected
with the D0 detector. We find no evidence for charged Higgs boson production
and set upper limits on the production cross section in the Types I, II and III
two-Higgs-doublet models (2HDMs). An excluded region in the (M_{H^+},tan\beta)
plane for Type I 2HDM is presented.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letter
Measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry and extraction of sin^2Theta^{eff}_W in ppbar -> Z/\gamma^{*}+X -> e+e+X events produced at \sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV
We present a measurement of the forward-backward charge asymmetry ()
in events at a center-of-mass energy
of 1.96 TeV using 1.1 fb of data collected with the D0 detector at the
Fermilab Tevatron collider. is measured as a function of the invariant
mass of the electron-positron pair, and found to be consistent with the
standard model prediction. We use the measurement to extract the
effective weak mixing angle .Comment: 7 Pages, 1 Figure, 3 Tables, Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
Search for anomalous \boldmath{Wtb} couplings in single top quark production
In 0.9 fb of collisions, D0 has observed an excess of
events with an isolated lepton, missing transve rse momentum, and two to four
jets. This excess is consistent with single top quark production. We examine
these data to study the Lorentz structure of the coupling. The standard
model predicts a left-handed vector coupling at the vertex. The most
general lowest dimension, CP-conserving Lagrangian admits right-handed vector
and left- or right-h anded tensor couplings as well. We find that the data
prefer the left-handed vector coupling and set upper limits on the anomalous
couplings. These are the first direct constraints on a general
interaction and the first direct limits on left- and right-handed tensor
couplings.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Search for Large Extra Spatial Dimensions in Dimuon Production with the D0 Detector
We present the results of a search for the effects of large extra spatial
dimensions in collisions at 1.96 TeV in events
containing a pair of energetic muons. The data correspond to 246 \ipb of
integrated luminosity collected by the \D0 experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron
Collider. Good agreement with the expected background was found, yielding no
evidence for large extra dimensions. We set 95% C.L. lower limits on the
fundamental Planck scale between 0.85 TeV and 1.27 TeV within several
formalisms. These are the most stringent limits achieved in the dimuon channel
to date.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. Minor
changes in v2 to match the published versio
Measurement of the Lifetime Using Semileptonic Decays
We report a measurement of the lifetime in the semileptonic decay
channel (and its charge conjugate), using
approximately 0.4 fb of data collected with the D0 detector during 2002
-- 2004. We have reconstructed 5176 signal events, where the
is identified via the decay , followed by . Using these events, we have measured the lifetime to be
. This is the most precise measurement of the lifetime to date.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 7 pages, 2 figure
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