399 research outputs found
Gaugino production in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV
Motivated by hints for a light Standard Model-like Higgs boson and a shift in
experimental attention towards electroweak supersymmetry particle production at
the CERN LHC, we update in this paper our precision predictions at
next-to-leading order of perturbative QCD matched to resummation at the
next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy for direct gaugino pair production in
proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. Tables of total
cross sections are presented together with the corresponding scale and parton
density uncertainties for benchmark points adopted recently by the experimental
collaborations, and figures are presented for up-to-date model lines attached
to them. Since the experimental analyses are currently obtained with parton
showers matched to multi-parton matrix elements, we also analyze the precision
of this procedure by comparing invariant-mass and transverse-momentum
distributions obtained in this way to those obtained with threshold and
transverse-momentum resummation.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, 9 tables; version to appear in JHE
Bigger, Better, Faster, More at the LHC
Multijet plus missing energy searches provide universal coverage for theories
that have new colored particles that decay into a dark matter candidate and
jets. These signals appear at the LHC further out on the missing energy tail
than two-to-two scattering indicates. The simplicity of the searches at the LHC
contrasts sharply with the Tevatron where more elaborate searches are necessary
to separate signal from background. The searches presented in this article
effectively distinguish signal from background for any theory where the LSP is
a daughter or granddaughter of the pair-produced colored parent particle
without ever having to consider missing energies less than 400 GeV.Comment: 26 pages, 8 Figures. Minor textual changes, typos fixed and
references adde
The Cosmological Baryon Density from the Deuterium Abundance at a redshift z = 3.57
We present a measurement of the deuterium to hydrogen ratio in a quasar
absorption system at redshift z = 3.57 towards QSO 1937-1009. We use a two
component fit, with redshifts determined from unsaturated metal lines, to fit
the hydrogen and deuterium features simultaneously. We find a low value of D/H
= 2.3 \pm 0.6 \times 10^{-5}, which does not agree with other measurements of
high D/H (Songaila et al. 1994, Carswell et al. 1994). The absorption system is
very metal poor, with metallicities less than 1/100 solar. Standard models of
chemical evolution show the astration of deuterium is limited to a few percent
from primordial for systems this metal-poor, so we believe our value represents
the primordial one. Using predictions of standard big-bang nucleosynthesis and
measurements of the cosmic microwave background, our measurement gives the
density of baryons in units of the critical density, , where H_0 = 100 h km s^{-1] Mpc^{-1}.Comment: 10 pages, 2 Figures, also available at http://nately.ucsd.edu/ ;
submitted to Natur
Double hadron leptoproduction in the nuclear medium
First measurement of double-hadron production in deep-inelastic scattering
has been measured with the HERMES spectrometer at HERA using a 27.6 GeV
positron beam with deuterium, nitrogen, krypton and xenon targets. The
influence of the nuclear medium on the ratio of double-hadron to single-hadron
yields has been investigated. Nuclear effects are clearly observed but with
substantially smaller magnitude and reduced -dependence compared to
previously measured single-hadron multiplicity ratios. The data are in fair
agreement with models based on partonic or pre-hadronic energy loss, while they
seem to rule out a pure absorptive treatment of the final state interactions.
Thus, the double-hadron ratio provides an additional tool for studying
modifications of hadronization in nuclear matter
Quark helicity distributions in the nucleon for up, down, and strange quarks from semi--inclusive deep--inelastic scattering
Polarized deep--inelastic scattering data on longitudinally polarized
hydrogen and deuterium targets have been used to determine double spin
asymmetries of cross sections. Inclusive and semi--inclusive asymmetries for
the production of positive and negative pions from hydrogen were obtained in a
re--analysis of previously published data. Inclusive and semi--inclusive
asymmetries for the production of negative and positive pions and kaons were
measured on a polarized deuterium target. The separate helicity densities for
the up and down quarks and the anti--up, anti--down, and strange sea quarks
were computed from these asymmetries in a ``leading order'' QCD analysis. The
polarization of the up--quark is positive and that of the down--quark is
negative. All extracted sea quark polarizations are consistent with zero, and
the light quark sea helicity densities are flavor symmetric within the
experimental uncertainties. First and second moments of the extracted quark
helicity densities in the measured range are consistent with fits of inclusive
data
Evidence for a narrow |S|=1 baryon state at a mass of 1528 MeV in quasi-real photoproduction
Evidence for a narrow baryon state is found in quasi-real photoproduction on
a deuterium target through the decay channel p K^0_S --> p pi^+ pi^-. A peak is
observed in the p K^0_S invariant mass spectrum at 1528 +/- 2.6 (stat) +/-2.1
(syst) MeV. Depending on the background model,the naive statistical
significance of the peak is 4--6 standard deviations and its width may be
somewhat larger than the experimental resolution of sigma=4.3 -- 6.2 MeV. This
state may be interpreted as the predicted S=+1 exotic Theta^{+}(uuddbar(s))
pentaquark baryon. No signal for an hypothetical Theta^{++} baryon was observed
in the pK^+ invariant mass distribution. The absence of such a signal indicates
that an isotensor Theta is excluded and an isovector Theta is unlikely.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Are we failing to protect threatened mangroves in the Sundarbans world heritage ecosystem?
The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world, is under threat from historical and future human exploitation and sea level rise. Limited scientific knowledge on the spatial ecology of the mangroves in this world heritage ecosystem has been a major impediment to conservation efforts. Here, for the first time, we report on habitat suitability analyses and spatial density maps for the four most prominent mangrove species - Heritiera fomes, Excoecaria agallocha, Ceriops decandra and Xylocarpus mekongensis. Globally endangered H. fomes abundances declined as salinity increased. Responses to nutrients, elevation, and stem density varied between species. H. fomes and X. mekongensis preferred upstream habitats. E. agallocha and C. decandra preferred down-stream and mid-stream habitats. Historical harvesting had negative influences on H. fomes, C. decandra and X. mekongensis abundances. The established protected area network does not support the most suitable habitats of these threatened species. We therefore recommend a reconfiguration of the network to include these suitable habitats and ensure their immediate protection. These novel habitat insights and spatial predictions can form the basis for future forest studies and spatial conservation planning, and have implications for more effective conservation of the Sundarbans mangroves and the many other species that rely on them
The Cosmological Constant
This is a review of the physics and cosmology of the cosmological constant.
Focusing on recent developments, I present a pedagogical overview of cosmology
in the presence of a cosmological constant, observational constraints on its
magnitude, and the physics of a small (and potentially nonzero) vacuum energy.Comment: 50 pages. Submitted to Living Reviews in Relativity
(http://www.livingreviews.org/), December 199
Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector
Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente
Expression of zebrafish pax6b in pancreas is regulated by two enhancers containing highly conserved cis-elements bound by PDX1, PBX and PREP factors
BACKGROUND: PAX6 is a transcription factor playing a crucial role in the development of the eye and in the differentiation of the pancreatic endocrine cells as well as of enteroendocrine cells. Studies on the mouse Pax6 gene have shown that sequences upstream from the P0 promoter are required for expression in the lens and the pancreas; but there remain discrepancies regarding the precise location of the pancreatic regulatory elements. RESULTS: Due to genome duplication in the evolution of ray-finned fishes, zebrafish has two pax6 genes, pax6a and pax6b. While both zebrafish pax6 genes are expressed in the developing eye and nervous system, only pax6b is expressed in the endocrine cells of the pancreas. To investigate the cause of this differential expression, we used a combination of in silico, in vivo and in vitro approaches. We show that the pax6b P0 promoter targets expression to endocrine pancreatic cells and also to enteroendocrine cells, retinal neurons and the telencephalon of transgenic zebrafish. Deletion analyses indicate that strong pancreatic expression of the pax6b gene relies on the combined action of two conserved regulatory enhancers, called regions A and C. By means of gel shift assays, we detected binding of the homeoproteins PDX1, PBX and PREP to several cis-elements of these regions. In constrast, regions A and C of the zebrafish pax6a gene are not active in the pancreas, this difference being attributable to sequence divergences within two cis-elements binding the pancreatic homeoprotein PDX1. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate a conserved role of enhancers A and C in the pancreatic expression of pax6b and emphasize the importance of the homeoproteins PBX and PREP cooperating with PDX1, in activating pax6b expression in endocrine pancreatic cells. This study also provides a striking example of how adaptative evolution of gene regulatory sequences upon gene duplication progressively leads to subfunctionalization of the paralogous gene pair
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