How To Find Charm in Nuclear Collisions at RHIC and LHC

Measurements of dilepton production from charm decay and Drell-Yan processes respectively probe the gluon and sea quark distributions in hadronic collisions. In nucleus-nucleus collisions, these hard scattering processes constitute a `background' to thermal contributions from the hot matter produced by the collision. To determine the magnitude and behavior of this background, we calculate the hard scattering contribution to dilepton production in nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC at next to leading order in perturbative QCD. Invariant mass, rapidity and transverse momentum distributions are presented. We compare these results to optimistic hydrodynamic estimates of the thermal dilepton production. We find that charm production from hard scattering is by far the dominant contribution. Experiments therefore can measure the gluon distribution in the nuclear target and projectile and, consequently, can provide new information on gluon shadowing. We then illustrate how experimental cuts on the rapidity gap between the leptons can aid in reducing the charm background, thereby enhancing thermal information.Comment: 32 pages, latex, 19 figure

New insights into the structure and evolution of the Isle of Wight monocline

High quality seismic reflection data acquired during hydrocarbon exploration activities provide evidence for the subsurface structure and evolution of one of England's most well known structures at outcrop: the Isle of Wight Monocline. It is generally seen as a major northerly verging monoclinal structure linked to the Purbeck Monocline to the west. The Isle of Wight Monocline is the result of the interplay between two inverted east–west trending, southerly dipping and overlapping down-to-the-south major syndepositional normal faults that were active during Triassic and Jurassic times: the Needles and Sandown faults. The area between the two faults tips forms an easterly-dipping relay ramp, down which sequences of all ages thicken. Both of these major normal faults were inverted during Cenozoic (Miocene: Alpine) compressional events, folding the overlying post-rift sequences of early Cretaceous to early Cenozoic (Palaeogene) age. Interpretation of the seismic reflection data suggest that previously unknown high angle, down-to-the-north reverse faults cut the northern limbs of both anticlines forming the composite monocline and are likely to come to crop in the steeply-dipping Chalk and/or the drift-covered Cenozoic sequences. Their identification marked a period of discussions and testing of the model by detailed field mapping. The existence and location of such faulting was proved through an iterative process with the result that a reverse fault zone is now mapped along the northern limb of the northern Sandown Anticline section of the Monocline. The main reverse faults on the Brighstone and Sandown anticlines result in up to circa 550 m of displacement at top Chalk level. It is thought that a series of smaller footwall short-cut faults affect the Cenozoic strata to the north of the main reverse fault, producing up-faulted sections of flatter-lying Cenozoic strata. Reverse displacements and the severity of folding on the inverted faults decreases on each fault segment in a complementary fashion in the area of the relay ramp as one fault takes up the movement at the expense of the other. The swing in strike of the Chalk in the area of shallowly dipping strata between Calbourne and Garstons is a result of deformation of the post-rift sequences across the relay ramp established between the overlapping fault tips of the Needles and Sandown faults and the interaction of the folds developed at the tips of the reverse faults

Do lecturers delivering Higher Education in Further Education desire to conduct research?

This article considers the views and perceptions of lecturers delivering Higher Education Business Programmes (HEBPs) in Further Education Colleges (FECs) on whether they desire to undertake research, thus enabling them to both become, and be viewed as specialists in their subjects. The methodology employed was from an interpretivist perspective, with a view to understand how lecturers interpret research, and whether they see it as part of their role. Twenty-six in-depth interviews were conducted throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region in the United Kingdom (UK). Some of the key findings were that although some lecturers would like to undertake research to specialise in their subject area, they felt that they did not have neither the time, or support of their individual institution