Photoproduction of jets and the virtual structure of the photon

We compute the ratio between the direct and the resolved photon components of single jet and dijet production in $ep$ collisions for the kinematical range covered by the most recent ZEUS data. We analyse the phenomenological consequences of different models for the structure of virtual photons in these observables and compare them with the available data. We also comment on the correlation between the so called $x_{\gamma}^{obs}$ and the `true' $x_{\gamma}$, that can be inferred from the data.Comment: epsfig, 5 figure

Topological vortices in generalized Born-Infeld-Higgs electrodynamics

A consistent BPS formalism to study the existence of topological axially symmetric vortices in generalized versions of the Born-Infeld-Higgs electrodynamics is implemented. Such a generalization modifies the field dynamics via introduction of three non-negative functions depending only in the Higgs field, namely, $G(|\phi|)$, $w(|\phi|)$ and $V(|\phi|)$. A set of first-order differential equations is attained when these functions satisfy a constraint related to the Ampere law. Such a constraint allows to minimize the system energy in such way that it becomes proportional to the magnetic flux. Our results provides an enhancement of topological vortex solutions in Born-Infeld-Higgs electrodynamics. Finally, we analyze a set of models such that a generalized version of Maxwell-Higgs electrodynamics is recovered in a certain limit of the theory.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, to appear in EPJ

EarthN: A new Earth System Nitrogen Model

The amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere, oceans, crust, and mantle have important ramifications for Earth's biologic and geologic history. Despite this importance, the history and cycling of nitrogen in the Earth system is poorly constrained over time. For example, various models and proxies contrastingly support atmospheric mass stasis, net outgassing, or net ingassing over time. In addition, the amount available to and processing of nitrogen by organisms is intricately linked with and provides feedbacks on oxygen and nutrient cycles. To investigate the Earth system nitrogen cycle over geologic history, we have constructed a new nitrogen cycle model: EarthN. This model is driven by mantle cooling, links biologic nitrogen cycling to phosphate and oxygen, and incorporates geologic and biologic fluxes. Model output is consistent with large (2-4x) changes in atmospheric mass over time, typically indicating atmospheric drawdown and nitrogen sequestration into the mantle and continental crust. Critical controls on nitrogen distribution include mantle cooling history, weathering, and the total Bulk Silicate Earth+atmosphere nitrogen budget. Linking the nitrogen cycle to phosphorous and oxygen levels, instead of carbon as has been previously done, provides new and more dynamic insight into the history of nitrogen on the planet.Comment: 36 pages, 12 figure

Production of vector resonances at the LHC via WZ-scattering: a unitarized EChL analysis

In the present work we study the production of vector resonances at the LHC by means of the vector boson scattering $WZ \to WZ$ and explore the sensitivities to these resonances for the expected future LHC luminosities. We are assuming that these vector resonances are generated dynamically from the self interactions of the longitudinal gauge bosons, $W_L$ and $Z_L$, and work under the framework of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian to describe in a model independent way the supposedly strong dynamics of these modes. The properties of the vector resonances, mass, width and couplings to the $W$ and $Z$ gauge bosons are derived from the inverse amplitude method approach. We implement all these features into a single model, the IAM-MC, adapted for MonteCarlo, built in a Lagrangian language in terms of the electroweak chiral Lagrangian and a chiral Lagrangian for the vector resonances, which mimics the resonant behavior of the IAM and provides unitary amplitudes. The model has been implemented in MadGraph, allowing us to perform a realistic study of the signal versus background events at the LHC. In particular, we have focused our study on the $pp\to WZjj$ type of events, discussing first on the potential of the hadronic and semileptonic channels of the final $WZ$, and next exploring in more detail the clearest signals. These are provided by the leptonic decays of the gauge bosons, leading to a final state with $\ell_1^+\ell_1^-\ell_2^+\nu jj$, $\ell=e,\mu$, having a very distinctive signature, and showing clearly the emergence of the resonances with masses in the range of 1.5-2.5 TeV, which we have explored.Comment: Revised version accepted for publication in JHEP. Enlarged analysis. References added. 44 pages, 23 figures, 3 table

Strange and charm mesons at FAIR

We study the properties of strange and charm mesons in hot and dense matter within a self-consistent coupled-channel approach for the experimental conditions of density and temperature expected for the CBM experiment at FAIR/GSI. The in-medium solution at finite temperature accounts for Pauli blocking effects, mean-field binding of all the baryons involved, and meson self-energies. We analyze the behaviour in this hot and dense environment of dynamically-generated baryonic resonances together with the evolution with density and temperature of the strange and open-charm meson spectral functions. We test the spectral functions for strange mesons using energy-weighted sum rules and finally discuss the implications of the properties of charm mesons on the D_{s0}(2317) and the predicted X(3700) scalar resonances.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, invited talk at XXXI Mazurian Lakes Conference on Physics: Nuclear Physics and the Road to FAIR, August 30-September 6, 2009, Piaski, Polan