Subthreshold photoproduction of charm

Charm photoproduction rates off nuclei below the nucleon threshold are estimated using the phenomenologically known structure functions both for x>1 and x<1. The rates rapidly fall below the threshold from values of the order 10 pb for Pb close to the threshold (at 7.5 GeV) down to values of the order 1 pb at 6 GeV.Comment: 11 p[ages, 7 figure

Cumulative structure function in terms of nucleonic wave function of the nucleus

The structure function of the nucleus in the cumulative region $x>1$ is studied in terms of nucleon degrees of freedom. At high $Q^2$ the resulting expressions are presented as a sum of contributions from few-nucleon correlations. Two-nucleon correlations are studied in some detail. Spin variables are averaged out. In the region $1<x<2$ the structure functions are calculated for the relativistic interaction proposed by F.Gross {\it et al}. They are found to fall with $x$ faster than the exponential. For Carbon at $x=1.05$, where the method is not rigorously applicable, they turn out to be rougly twice larger than the experimental data.Comment: text and 2 figures in LaTex, 7 figures in P

Not all surveillance data are created equal—A multi‐method dynamic occupancy approach to determine rabies elimination from wildlife

1. A necessary component of elimination programmes for wildlife disease is effective surveillance. The ability to distinguish between disease freedom and non‐detection can mean the difference between a successful elimination campaign and new epizootics. Understanding the contribution of different surveillance methods helps to optimize and better allocate effort and develop more effective surveillance programmes. 2. We evaluated the probability of rabies virus elimination (disease freedom) in an enzootic area with active management using dynamic occupancy modelling of 10 years of raccoon rabies virus (RABV) surveillance data (2006–2015) collected from three states in the eastern United States. We estimated detection probability of RABV cases for each surveillance method (e.g. strange acting reports, roadkill, surveillance‐trapped animals, nuisance animals and public health samples) used by the USDA National Rabies Management Program. 3. Strange acting, found dead and public health animals were the most likely to detect RABV when it was present, and generally detectability was higher in fall– winter compared to spring–summer. Found dead animals in fall–winter had the highest detection at 0.33 (95% CI: 0.20, 0.48). Nuisance animals had the lowest detection probabilities (~0.02). 4. Areas with oral rabies vaccination (ORV) management had reduced occurrence probability compared to enzootic areas without ORV management. RABV occurrence was positively associated with deciduous and mixed forests and medium to high developed areas, which are also areas with higher raccoon (Procyon lotor) densities. By combining occupancy and detection estimates we can create a probability of elimination surface that can be updated seasonally to provide guidance on areas managed for wildlife disease. 5. Synthesis and applications. Wildlife disease surveillance is often comprised of a combination of targeted and convenience‐based methods. Using a multi‐method analytical approach allows us to compare the relative strengths of these methods, providing guidance on resource allocation for surveillance actions. Applying this multi‐method approach in conjunction with dynamic occupancy analyses better informs management decisions by understanding ecological drivers of disease occurrence

Fast computation by block permanents of cumulative distribution functions of order statistics from several populations

The joint cumulative distribution function for order statistics arising from several different populations is given in terms of the distribution function of the populations. The computational cost of the formula in the case of two populations is still exponential in the worst case, but it is a dramatic improvement compared to the general formula by Bapat and Beg. In the case when only the joint distribution function of a subset of the order statistics of fixed size is needed, the complexity is polynomial, for the case of two populations.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the Proton Asymmetry Parameter C in Neutron Beta Decay

The proton asymmetry parameter C in neutron decay describes the correlation between neutron spin and proton momentum. In this Letter, the first measurement of this quantity is presented. The result C=-0.2377(26) agrees with the Standard Model expectation. The coefficient C provides an additional parameter for new and improved Standard Model tests. From a differential analysis of the same data (assuming the Standard Model), we obtain lambda=-1.275(16) as ratio of axial-vector and vector coupling constant.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Background due to stored electrons following nuclear decays in the KATRIN spectrometers and its impact on the neutrino mass sensitivity

The KATRIN experiment is designed to measure the absolute neutrino mass scale with a sensitivity of 200 meV at 90% C.L. by high resolution tritium beta-spectroscopy. A low background level of 10 mHz at the beta-decay endpoint is required in order to achieve the design sensitivity. In this paper we discuss a novel background source arising from magnetically trapped keV electrons in electrostatic retarding spectrometers. The main sources of these electrons are alpha-decays of the radon isotopes (219,220)Rn as well as beta-decays of tritium in the volume of the spectrometers. We characterize the expected background signal by extensive MC simulations and investigate the impact on the KATRIN neutrino mass sensitivity. From these results we refine design parameters for the spectrometer vacuum system and propose active background reduction methods to meet the stringent design limits for the overall background rate

Studies of parton thermalization at RHIC

We consider the evolution of a parton system which is formed in the central region just after a relativistic heavy ion collision. The parton consist of mostly gluons, minijets, which are produced by elastic scattering between constituent partons of the colliding nuclei. We assume the system can be described by a semi-classical Boltzmann transport equation, which we solve by means of the test particle Monte-Carlo method including retardation. The partons proliferate via secondary radiative $gg \to ggg$ processes until the thermalization is reached for some assumptions. The extended system is thermalized at about $t=1.6$ fm/$c$ with $T = 570$ MeV and stays in equilibrium for about 2 fm/$c$ with breaking temperature $T = 360$ MeV in the rapidity central region.Comment: 14 page

Towards a rhizomatic understanding of the desistance journey

Although the ‘desistance as a (zigzag) journey’ metaphor has proved useful in terms of translating theory into practice, this article makes the case that it is insufficient for conveying the truly complex, social, unpredictable and ‘messy’ process of desistance from crime. The article uses what we know about the process of desistance to discuss the utility of Deleuze and Guattari’s (2013) rhizomatic theory in recasting the desistance journey metaphor. In doing so it is suggested that the desistance journey should be understood in terms of its endless and multiplicitous nature, a symbol of metamorphosis, and it argues that our focus should be on understanding the ‘desister as nomad’. This, the article concludes, holds important ramifications for the way in which we understand and implement desistance-focused practice in the criminal justice system

Commissioning of the vacuum system of the KATRIN Main Spectrometer

The KATRIN experiment will probe the neutrino mass by measuring the beta-electron energy spectrum near the endpoint of tritium beta-decay. An integral energy analysis will be performed by an electro-static spectrometer (Main Spectrometer), an ultra-high vacuum vessel with a length of 23.2 m, a volume of 1240 m^3, and a complex inner electrode system with about 120000 individual parts. The strong magnetic field that guides the beta-electrons is provided by super-conducting solenoids at both ends of the spectrometer. Its influence on turbo-molecular pumps and vacuum gauges had to be considered. A system consisting of 6 turbo-molecular pumps and 3 km of non-evaporable getter strips has been deployed and was tested during the commissioning of the spectrometer. In this paper the configuration, the commissioning with bake-out at 300{\deg}C, and the performance of this system are presented in detail. The vacuum system has to maintain a pressure in the 10^{-11} mbar range. It is demonstrated that the performance of the system is already close to these stringent functional requirements for the KATRIN experiment, which will start at the end of 2016.Comment: submitted for publication in JINST, 39 pages, 15 figure

Interaction of a TeV Scale Black Hole with the Quark-Gluon Plasma at LHC

If the fundamental Planck scale is near a TeV, then parton collisions with high enough center-of-mass energy should produce black holes. The production rate for such black holes has been extensively studied for the case of a proton-proton collision at \sqrt s = 14 TeV and for a lead-lead collision at \sqrt s = 5.5 TeV at LHC. As the parton energy density is much higher at lead-lead collisions than in pp collisions at LHC, one natural question is whether the produced black holes will be able to absorb the partons formed in the lead-lead collisions and eventually `eat' the quark-gluon plasma formed at LHC. In this paper, we make a quantitative analysis of this possibility and find that since the energy density of partons formed in lead-lead collisions at LHC is about 500 GeV/fm^3, the rate of absorption for one of these black holes is much smaller than the rate of evaporation. Hence, we argue that black holes formed in such collisions will decay very quickly, and will not absorb very many nearby partons. More precisely, we show that for the black hole mass to increase via parton absorption at the LHC the typical energy density of quarks and gluons should be of the order of 10^{10} GeV/fm^3. As LHC will not be able to produce such a high energy density partonic system, the black hole will not be able to absorb a sufficient number of nearby partons before it decays. The typical life time of the black hole formed at LHC is found to be a small fraction of a fm/c.Comment: 7 pages latex (double column), 3 eps figure