Erosional features as indicators of thrust fault activity (Nankai Trough, Japan)

A submarine channel system and basal ramps of a Quaternary mass-transport deposit (MTD) are shown to represent thrust fault activity in the Nankai accretionary wedge. Variations in channel bed slope, height and width of submarine channels and gullies indicate uplift and sediment bypass seaward from a margin-dominating out-of-sequence thrust, the megasplay fault (MSF), at < 1.67-1.46 Ma. Between ~ 1.05 and 0.85 Ma, a younger mass-transport deposit (MTD 6) was detached at different depths. Demonstrating the significant deformation observed in the study area, the direction of transport of MTD 6 differs 30o-45o from the strike of scarps and ramps at its base, which are parallel to the structural contours of thrust anticlines underneath. This character contrasts to the geometries frequently documented in frontally-emergent submarine landslides. In parallel, oblique basal ramps form significant boundaries between zones of MTD 6 with distinct acoustic and, suggestively, petrophysical properties. As a result of this study, we postulate that developed channel systems can erode the upper continental slope and lead to bypass of substantial volumes of sediment to distal parts of accretionary wedges. This process bears the potential of generating periods of more intense thrust-wedge deformation, at least locally, than those predicted by mathematical and physical models based on present-day taper geometries. On a regional scale, the observations in this paper are important as they indicate a more diffuse distribution of deformation in the Nankai accretionary wedge than previously assumed for the MSF region

Surface analysis of tiles and samples exposed to the first JET campaigns with the ITER-Like Wall

This paper reports on the first post-mortem analyses of tiles removed from JET after the first campaigns with the ITER-like Wall (ILW) during 2011-2 [1]. Tiles from the divertor have been analysed by the Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) techniques Rutherford Backscattering Spectroscopy (RBS) and Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and by Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) to determine the amount of beryllium deposition and deuterium retention in the tiles exposed to the scrape-off layer. Films 10-20 microns thick were present at the top of Tile 1, but only very thin films (<1 micron) were found in the shadowed areas and on other divertor tiles. The total amount of Be found in the divertor following the ILW campaign was a factor of ~9 less that the material deposited in the 2007-9 carbon campaign, after allowing for the longer operations in 2007-9.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Physica Scripta. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from i

The Large Magellanic Cloud and the Distance Scale

The Magellanic Clouds, especially the Large Magellanic Cloud, are places where multiple distance indicators can be compared with each other in a straight-forward manner at considerable precision. We here review the distances derived from Cepheids, Red Variables, RR Lyraes, Red Clump Stars and Eclipsing Binaries, and show that the results from these distance indicators generally agree to within their errors, and the distance modulus to the Large Magellanic Cloud appears to be defined to 3% with a mean value of 18.48 mag, corresponding to 49.7 Kpc. The utility of the Magellanic Clouds in constructing and testing the distance scale will remain as we move into the era of Gaia.Comment: 23 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science. From a presentation at the conference The Fundamental Cosmic Distance Scale: State of the Art and the Gaia Perspective, Naples, May 201

Abelian Hidden Sectors at a GeV

We discuss mechanisms for naturally generating GeV-scale hidden sectors in the context of weak-scale supersymmetry. Such low mass scales can arise when hidden sectors are more weakly coupled to supersymmetry breaking than the visible sector, as happens when supersymmetry breaking is communicated to the visible sector by gauge interactions under which the hidden sector is uncharged, or if the hidden sector is sequestered from gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. We study these mechanisms in detail in the context of gauge and gaugino mediation, and present specific models of Abelian GeV-scale hidden sectors. In particular, we discuss kinetic mixing of a U(1)_x gauge force with hypercharge, singlets or bi-fundamentals which couple to both sectors, and additional loop effects. Finally, we investigate the possible relevance of such sectors for dark matter phenomenology, as well as for low- and high-energy collider searches.Comment: 43 pages, no figures; v2: to match JHEP versio

Differential cross sections, charge production asymmetry, and spin-density matrix elements for D*(2010) produced in 500 GeV/c pi^- nucleon interactions

We report differential cross sections for the production of D*(2010) produced in 500 GeV/c pi^- nucleon interactions from experiment E791 at Fermilab, as functions of Feynman-x (x_F) and transverse momentum squared (p_T^2). We also report the D* +/- charge asymmetry and spin-density matrix elements as functions of these variables. Investigation of the spin-density matrix elements shows no evidence of polarization. The average values of the spin alignment are \eta= 0.01 +- 0.02 and -0.01 +- 0.02 for leading and non-leading particles, respectively.Comment: LaTeX2e (elsart.cls). 13 pages, 6 figures (eps files). Submitted to Physics Letters

Complementarity of the CERN Large Hadron Collider and the e+e−e^+e^- International Linear Collider

The next-generation high-energy facilities, the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the prospective $e^+e^-$ International Linear Collider (ILC), are expected to unravel new structures of matter and forces from the electroweak scale to the TeV scale. In this report we review the complementary role of LHC and ILC in drawing a comprehensive and high-precision picture of the mechanism breaking the electroweak symmetries and generating mass, and the unification of forces in the frame of supersymmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, to be published in "Supersymmetry on the Eve of the LHC", a special volume of European Physical Journal C, Particles and Fields (EPJC) in memory of Julius Wes

Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Asymmetries in the production of lambda zero, cascade minus, and omega minus hyperons in 500 GeV/c pi minus-Nucleon Interactions

Using data from Fermilab fixed-target experiment E791, we have measured particle-antiparticle production asymmetries for lambda zero, cascade minus, and omega minus hyperons in pi minus-nucleon interactions at 500 GeV/c. The asymmetries are measured as functions of Feynman-x (x_F) and pt^2 over the ranges of -0.12 GE x_F LE 0.12 and 0 GE pt^2 LE 4 (GeV/c)^2. We find substantial asymmetries, even at x_F = 0. We also observe leading-particle- type asymmetries which qualitatively agree with theoretical predictions.Comment: 15 pages, including 5 figures and 2 tables. To be submitted to Phys. Lett.