Virtual effects of light gauginos and higgsinos: a precision electroweak analysis of split supersymmetry

We compute corrections to precision electroweak observables in supersymmetry in the limit that scalar superpartners are very massive and decoupled. This leaves charginos and neutralinos and a Standard Model-like Higgs boson as the only states with unknown mass substantially affecting the analysis. We give complete formulas for the chargino and neutralino contributions, derive simple analytic results for the pure gaugino and higgsino cases, and study the general case. We find that in all circumstances, the precision electroweak fit improves when the charginos and neutralinos are near the current direct limits. Larger higgsino and gaugino masses worsen the fit as the theory predictions asymptotically approach those of the Standard Model. Since the Standard Model is considered by most to be an adequate fit to the precision electroweak data, an important corollary to our analysis is that all regions of parameter space allowed by direct collider constraints are also allowed by precision electroweak constraints in split supersymmetry.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, v2: typos fixed and note adde

Precision Calculations for Future Colliders

I discuss the motivations for, and the status of, precision calculations for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the planned International Linear Collider (ILC).Comment: latex, uses ws-ijmpe.cls, 19 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, based on a talk given at the symposium "50 Years of High Energy Physics at UB", to appear in International Journal of Modern Physics

Lepton flavor conserving Z -> l^+ l^-$ decays in the general two Higgs doublet model

We calculate the new physics effects to the branching ratios of the lepton flavor conserving decays Z -> l^+ l^- in the framework of the general two Higgs Doublet model. We predict the upper limits for the couplings |\bar{\xi}^{D}_{N,\mu\tau}| and |\bar{\xi}^{D}_{N,\tau\tau}| as 3\times 10^2 GeV and 1\times 10^2 GeV, respectively.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Biogeochemical and historical drivers of microbial community composition and structure in sediments from Mercer Subglacial Lake, West Antarctica

Ice streams that flow into Ross Ice Shelf are underlain by water-saturated sediments, a dynamic hydrological system, and subglacial lakes that intermittently discharge water downstream across grounding zones of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). A 2.06 m composite sediment profile was recently recovered from Mercer Subglacial Lake, a 15 m deep water cavity beneath a 1087 m thick portion of the Mercer Ice Stream. We examined microbial abundances, used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess community structures, and characterized extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) associated with distinct lithologic units in the sediments. Bacterial and archaeal communities in the surficial sediments are more abundant and diverse, with significantly different compositions from those found deeper in the sediment column. The most abundant taxa are related to chemolithoautotrophs capable of oxidizing reduced nitrogen, sulfur, and iron compounds with oxygen, nitrate, or iron. Concentrations of dissolved methane and total organic carbon together with water content in the sediments are the strongest predictors of taxon and community composition. δ¹³C values for EPS (−25 to −30‰) are consistent with the primary source of carbon for biosynthesis originating from legacy marine organic matter. Comparison of communities to those in lake sediments under an adjacent ice stream (Whillans Subglacial Lake) and near its grounding zone provide seminal evidence for a subglacial metacommunity that is biogeochemically and evolutionarily linked through ice sheet dynamics and the transport of microbes, water, and sediments beneath WAIS

B Physics at the Z0 Resonance

B physics results from e+ e- annihilation at the Z0 resonance are reviewed. A vast program is summarised, including the study of B+, B0d, B0s and b baryon lifetimes, the time dependence of B0d and B0s oscillations, the width difference in the B0s system, and the measurements of the magnitudes of the CKM matrix elements Vcb and Vub.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, presented at the UK Phenomenology Workshop on Heavy Flavour and CP Violation, 17-22 September 200

Leadership development in public service mutuals: a practical guide

This is the final version.This toolkit is designed for senior managers and leaders of organisations who are considering becoming, or who have recently emerged as Public Service Mutuals. Informed by the authors’ recent funded research on building capacity in mutuals, it will help you create engaging and impactful leadership development activities in your evolving organisation

Spring Thaw Ionic Pulses Boost Nutrient Availability and Microbial Growth in Entombed Antarctic Dry Valley Cryoconite Holes

The seasonal melting of ice entombed cryoconite holes on McMurdo Dry Valley glaciers provides oases for life in the harsh environmental conditions of the polar desert where surface air temperatures only occasionally exceed 0°C during the Austral summer. Here we follow temporal changes in cryoconite hole biogeochemistry on Canada Glacier from fully frozen conditions through the initial stages of spring thaw toward fully melted holes. The cryoconite holes had a mean isolation age from the glacial drainage system of 3.4 years, with an increasing mass of aqueous nutrients (dissolved organic carbon, total nitrogen, total phosphorus) with longer isolation age. During the initial melt there was a mean nine times enrichment in dissolved chloride relative to mean concentrations of the initial frozen holes indicative of an ionic pulse, with similar mean nine times enrichments in nitrite, ammonium, and dissolved organic matter. Nitrate was enriched twelve times and dissolved organic nitrogen six times, suggesting net nitrification, while lower enrichments for dissolved organic phosphorus and phosphate were consistent with net microbial phosphorus uptake. Rates of bacterial production were significantly elevated during the ionic pulse, likely due to the increased nutrient availability. There was no concomitant increase in photosynthesis rates, with a net depletion of dissolved inorganic carbon suggesting inorganic carbon limitation. Potential nitrogen fixation was detected in fully melted holes where it could be an important source of nitrogen to support microbial growth, but not during the ionic pulse where nitrogen availability was higher. This study demonstrates that ionic pulses significantly alter the timing and magnitude of microbial activity within entombed cryoconite holes, and adds credence to hypotheses that ionic enrichments during freeze-thaw can elevate rates of microbial growth and activity in other icy habitats, such as ice veins and subglacial regelation zones

Lepton flavor violation two-body decays of quarkoniums

In this paper we firstly study various model-independent bounds on lepton flavor violation (LFV) in processes of $J/\Psi$, $\Psi'$ and $\Upsilon$ two-body decays, then calculate their branch ratios % By using the constraints from other ways, we obtain %the indirect bounds of ${\rm Br} (J/\Psi,\Psi',\Upsilon \to ll')$ in models of the leptoquark, $R$ violating MSSM and topcolor assisted technicolor(TC2) models.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Biogeochemical and historical drivers of microbial community composition and structure in sediments from Mercer Subglacial Lake, West Antarctica

Ice streams that flow into Ross Ice Shelf are underlain by water-saturated sediments, a dynamic hydrological system, and subglacial lakes that intermittently discharge water downstream across grounding zones of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). A 2.06 m composite sediment profile was recently recovered from Mercer Subglacial Lake, a 15 m deep water cavity beneath a 1087 m thick portion of the Mercer Ice Stream. We examined microbial abundances, used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess community structures, and characterized extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) associated with distinct lithologic units in the sediments. Bacterial and archaeal communities in the surficial sediments are more abundant and diverse, with significantly different compositions from those found deeper in the sediment column. The most abundant taxa are related to chemolithoautotrophs capable of oxidizing reduced nitrogen, sulfur, and iron compounds with oxygen, nitrate, or iron. Concentrations of dissolved methane and total organic carbon together with water content in the sediments are the strongest predictors of taxon and community composition. δ¹³C values for EPS (−25 to −30‰) are consistent with the primary source of carbon for biosynthesis originating from legacy marine organic matter. Comparison of communities to those in lake sediments under an adjacent ice stream (Whillans Subglacial Lake) and near its grounding zone provide seminal evidence for a subglacial metacommunity that is biogeochemically and evolutionarily linked through ice sheet dynamics and the transport of microbes, water, and sediments beneath WAIS

Invisible Z-Boson Decays at e+e- Colliders

The measurement of the invisible Z-boson decay width at e+e- colliders can be done "indirectly", by subtracting the Z-boson visible partial widths from the Z-boson total width, or "directly", from the process e+e- -> \gamma \nu \bar{\nu}. Both procedures are sensitive to different types of new physics and provide information about the couplings of the neutrinos to the Z-boson. At present, measurements at LEP and CHARM II are capable of constraining the left-handed Z\nu\nu-coupling, 0.45 <~ g_L <~ 0.5, while the right-handed one is only mildly bounded, |g_R| <= 0.2. We show that measurements at a future e+e- linear collider at different center-of-mass energies, \sqrt{s} = MZ and \sqrt{s}s ~ 170 GeV, would translate into a markedly more precise measurement of the Z\nu\nu-couplings. A statistically significant deviation from Standard Model predictions will point toward different new physics mechanisms, depending on whether the discrepancy appears in the direct or the indirect measurement of the invisible Z-width. We discuss some scenarios which illustrate the ability of different invisible Z-boson decay measurements to constrain new physics beyond the Standard Model