Generalization of exotic quark searches

General limits on exotic heavy quarks T, B and X with masses above 300 GeV are presented for arbitrary branching fractions of T=>Wb, T=>Zt, T=>Ht, B=>Wt, B=>Zb, B=>Hb and X=>Wt. The results are based on a CMS search in final states with three isolated leptons (electron or muon) or two isolated leptons with the same electric charge. Exotic heavy quark pair production through the strong interaction is considered. In the context of vector-like quark models, T quarks with a mass mT < 480 GeV and mT < 550 GeV are excluded for weak isospin singlets and doublets, respectively, and B quarks with a mass mB < 480 GeV are excluded for singlets, all at 95% confidence level. Mass limits at 95% confidence level for T and B singlets, (T,B) doublets and (X,T) doublets are presented as a function of the corresponding heavy quark masses. For equal mass mT = mB and mX = mT vector-like quarks are excluded at 95% confidence level with masses below 550 GeV for T and B singlets, 640 GeV for a (T,B) doublet and 640 GeV for a (X,T) doublet.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, one tabl

Charming the Higgs

We show that current Higgs data permit a significantly enhanced Higgs coupling to charm pairs, comparable to the Higgs to bottom pairs coupling in the Standard Model, without resorting to additional new physics sources in Higgs production. With a mild level of the latter current data even allow for the Higgs to charm pairs to be the dominant decay channel. An immediate consequence of such a large charm coupling is a significant reduction of the Higgs signal strengths into the known final states as in particular into bottom pairs. This might reduce the visible vector-boson associated Higgs production rate to a level that could compromise the prospects of ever observing it. We however demonstrate that a significant fraction of this reduced signal can be recovered by jet-flavor-tagging targeted towards charm-flavored jets. Finally we argue that an enhanced Higgs to charm pairs coupling can be obtained in various new physics scenarios in the presence of only a mild accidental cancellation between various contributions.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Alignment validation

The four experiments, ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb are currently under construction at CERN. They will study the products of proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. All experiments are equipped with sophisticated tracking systems, unprecedented in size and complexity. Full exploitation of both the inner detector and the muon system requires an accurate alignment of all detector elements. Alignment information is deduced from dedicated hardware alignment systems and the reconstruction of charged particles. However, the system is degenerate which means the data is insufficient to constrain all alignment degrees of freedom, so the techniques are prone to converging on wrong geometries. This deficiency necessitates validation and monitoring of the alignment. An exhaustive discussion of means to validate is subject to this document, including examples and plans from all four LHC experiments, as well as other high energy experiments

A cost-efficient expansion of renewable energy sources in the European electricity system - an integrated modelling approach with a particular emphasis on diurnal and seasonal patterns

This thesis determines a cost-efficient expansion of electricity generated by renewable energy sources (RES-E) in the European power generation system. It is an integrated modelling approach with a particular emphasis on diurnal and seasonal patterns of renewable energy sources (RES). An integrated modelling approach optimizes the overall European electricity system while comprising fossil, nuclear, and renewable generation as well as storage capacities. The integrated model approach corresponds to a situation in which renewable generation is subject to electricity price signals. In sensitivity scenarios cases of the integrated model approach are compared to situations in which renewable generation is granted priority feed-in and is decoupled from electricity price signals. In addition, the role of different flexibility options, which can be provided by storage capacities and grid expansion are scrutinized. The methodology of the thesis consists of two parts. First, it develops an integrative model approach by extending an existing European electricity model only comprising conventional power generating technologies. Second, an appropriate representation of intermittent RES for electricity market models is established by the determination of corresponding typedays. The typeday modelling takes the spatial correlation of RES and the correlation between wind and solar power into account. Moreover, the typeday modelling captures average dispatch-relevant, diurnal and seasonal RES characteristics such as the level, the variance, and the gradient. The scenario analysis shows that separate developments of renewable and conventional technologies imply several inefficiencies. These increase with higher RES-E penetration. Inefficiencies such as an increased wind power curtailment, an augmented capital turnover, or a higher cumulative installed power generating capacity are revealed and quantified

Entwicklung und Validierung eines Fragebogens zur Erfassung der berufsgruppenübergreifenden Interaktionen während der Patientenübergabe zwischen Rettungsdienst und Notaufnahme

Hintergrund: Die Patientenübergabe zwischen Rettungsdienst und Notaufnahme nimmt eine Schlüsselrolle für die Patientensicherheit ein. Das Ziel war es, ein validiertes Instrument zur Messung der Qualität der Kommunikation und interprofessionellen Beziehungen während der Patienenübergabe zu entwickeln. Methoden: Auf Grundlage eines theoretischen Unterbaus wurde ein Item-Pool zur Informationsübergabe und den Human Factors bei der Patientenübergabe in der Notaufnahme erstellt und mithilfe einer Delphi-Befragung mit klinischen ExpertInnen modifiziert. Das nach erfolgtem Prätest entstandene Emergency Department -Human Factors in Handover tool (ED-HFH) wurde in einem Feldtest in der Notaufnahme eines deutschen Universitätsklinikums von Juli bis Dezember 2017 validiert. Der ED-HFH wurde von an der Übergabe beteiligten MitarbeiterInnen der Notaufnahme und des Rettungsdienstes ausgefüllt. Es erfolgten die Berechnung der deskriptiven Itemcharakteristika, die explorative Faktorenanalyse, Analysen zur internen Konsistenz und zur Interrater-Reliabilität mittels Intraklassen-Korrelation. Die Konstruktvalidität wurde durch Korrelation mit der Gesamtbewertung der Qualität der Übergabe geprüft. Ergebnisse: Der Entwurf des ED-HFH enthielt 24 Items, 90 von 102 potenziellen TeilnehmerInnen füllten 133 Fragebögen bei 38 Übergaben aus. Vier Items wurden nach Analyse der Itemcharakteristika gestrichen. Die Faktorenanalyse ergab einen Faktor, der 39 % der Itemvarianz erklärte. Es wurde ein Summenscore mit einem Bereich zwischen 14 und 70 berechnet. Der Median des Summenscores in der Stichprobe war 61,5, Cronbachs α war 0,83, die Intraklassen-Korrelation war 0,52, die Korrelation mit der Gesamtbewertung der Übergabequalität betrug ρ = 0,83 (p ≤ 0,001). Schlussfolgerung: Der ED-HFH hat seine Umsetzbarkeit, Reliabilität und Validität gezeigt. Er kann ein nützliches Instrument für die Qualitätssicherung und Mitarbeiterschulung zu sein

Search for New Physics Involving Top Quarks at ATLAS

Two searches for new phenomena involving top quarks are presented: a search for a top partner in ttbar events with large missing transverse momentum, and a search for ttbar resonances in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The measurements are based on 35 pb^-1 and 200 pb^-1 of data collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010 and 2011, respectively. No evidence for a signal is observed. The first limits from the LHC are established on the mass of a top partner, excluding a mass of 275 GeV for a neutral particle mass less than 50 GeV and a mass of 300 GeV for a neutral particle mass less than 10 GeV. Using the reconstructed ttbar mass spectrum, limits are set on the production cross-section times branching ratio to ttbar for narrow and wide resonances. For narrow Z' models, the observed 95% C.L. limits range from approximately 38 pb to 3.2 pb for masses going from m_Z' = 500 GeV to m_Z' = 1300 GeV. In Randall-Sundrum models, Kaluza-Klein gluons with masses below 650 GeV are excluded at 95% C.L.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, proceedings of the Meeting of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society, August 9-13, 2011, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, to be published electronically on the SLAC Electronic Proceedings repositor

Testamentary Freedom Vs. the Natural Right to Inherit: The Misuse of No-Contest Clauses As Disinheritance Devices

Testamentary freedom is the bedrock of inheritance law. The freedom is curbed in some respects in order to allow spouses and other groups access to an estate. However, there is no restriction on a parent\u27s ability to disinherit their children. This note is a critique of the permitted disinheritance of children in the name of testamentary freedom. According to John Locke, the right to inherit emanates from natural law and should be recognized as such. Through forced heirship, as recognized in other modern nations, the U.S. can respect the natural right of children to inherit and leave room for testamentary freedom. Forced heirship can alleviate the unjustifiable harms imposed on adult children and preserve familial relationships after the death of a parent. Until forced heirship is recognized, disinherited beneficiaries seeking access to an estate must navigate around laws governing no-contest clauses, devices that are often used to disinherit children. In California, that path is through its probable cause exception to no-contest clauses and the intentional interference with an expected inheritance tort. Until forced heirship is recognized, courts should not permit no-contest clauses to effectuate disinheritance but restrict enforcement of no-contest clauses for protecting estates from complicated ownership disputes and outsiders attempting to gain access to an estate

Flows for Flows: Training Normalizing Flows Between Arbitrary Distributions with Maximum Likelihood Estimation

Normalizing flows are constructed from a base distribution with a known density and a diffeomorphism with a tractable Jacobian. The base density of a normalizing flow can be parameterised by a different normalizing flow, thus allowing maps to be found between arbitrary distributions. We demonstrate and explore the utility of this approach and show it is particularly interesting in the case of conditional normalizing flows and for introducing optimal transport constraints on maps that are constructed using normalizing flows