Dijet photoproduction of massless charm jets at next-to-leading order of QCD

We compute the charm dijet photoproduction cross section at next-to-leading order of QCD in the zero-mass variable flavour number scheme, i.e. with active charm quarks in the proton and photon. The results are compared to recent measurements from the ZEUS experiment at HERA. The predictions for various distributions agree well with the data, in particular for large momentum fractions of the the partons in the photon, where direct photon processes dominate. At low momentum fractions, the predictions are quite sensitive to the charm content in the photon. The experimental data are shown to favour parameterizations with a substantial charm quark density such as the one proposed by Cornet et al.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure

Factorization Breaking in Dijet Photoproduction with a Leading Neutron

The production of dijets with a leading neutron in ep-interactions at HERA is calculated in leading order and next-to-leading order of perturbative QCD using a pion-exchange model. Differential cross sections for deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) and photoproduction are presented as a function of several kinematic variables. By comparing the theoretical predictions for DIS dijets to recent H1 data, the pion flux factor together with the parton distribution functions of the pion is determined. The dijet cross sections in photoproduction show factorization breaking if compared to the H1 photoproduction data. The suppression factor is S = 0.48 (0.64) for resolved (global) suppression.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

Phalangeal fractures of the hand:An analysis of gender and age-related incidence and aetiology

The incidence and aetiology of 6,857 phalangeal fractures of the hand have been reviewed in a series of 235,427 patients, looking for an age-specific vulnerability to fracture. We found sports to be the main cause of fracture in the 10-29 years age groups and accidental falls to be the leading cause in those aged 70 years or older. We made a new observation that the highest incidence occurs in the male 40-69 age group and machinery was the dominant cause of fracture in this group. Recognition of the frequency of industrial trauma is needed, and public expenditure should be invested in its prevention and treatment.</p

Jet photoproduction and the structure of the photon

Various jet observables in photoproduction are studied and compared to data from HERA. The feasibility of using a dijet sample for constraining the parton distributions in the photon is then studied. For the current data the experimental and theoretical uncertainties are comparable to the variation due to changing the photon parton distribution set.Comment: 20 pages including 11 figures. Latex using revtex and psfig macros. Several references added. Submitted to Phys. Rev.

On the mechanisms of heavy-quarkonium hadroproduction

We discuss the various mechanisms potentially at work in hadroproduction of heavy quarkonia in the light of computations of higher-order QCD corrections both in the Colour-Singlet (CS) and Colour-Octet (CO) channels and the inclusion of the contribution arising from the s-channel cut in the CS channel. We also discuss new observables meant to better discriminate between these different mechanisms.Comment: Invited review talk at 3rd International Conference On Hard And Electromagnetic Probes Of High-Energy Nuclear Collisions (HP2008), 8-14 June 2008, Illa da Toxa, Galicia, Spain. 11 pages, 21 figures, LaTeX, uses svjour.cls and svepj.clo (included

Coloron Phenomenology

A flavor-universal extension of the strong interactions was recently proposed in response to the apparent excess of high-$E_T$ jets in the inclusive jet spectrum measured at the Tevatron. This paper studies the color octet of massive gauge bosons (`colorons') that is present in the low-energy spectrum of the model's Higgs phase. Constraints from searches for new particles decaying to dijets and from measurements of the weak-interaction $\rho$ parameter imply that the colorons must have masses greater than 870-1000 GeV. The implications of recent Tevatron data and the prospective input from future experiments are also discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 4 embedded Postscript figures, LaTeX, full postscript version also available at http://smyrd.bu.edu/htfigs/htfigs.html rectified confusing phrase at end of sub-section on 'dijets

Massive Lepton Pairs as a Prompt Photon Surrogate

We discuss the transverse momentum distribution for the production of massive lepton-pairs in hadron reactions at fixed target and collider energies within the context of next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamics. For values of the transverse momentum $Q_T$ greater than the pair mass $Q$, $Q_T > Q$, we show that the differential cross section is dominated by subprocesses initiated by incident gluons. Massive lepton-pair differential cross sections are an advantageous source of constraints on the gluon density, free from the experimental and theoretical complications of photon isolation that beset studies of prompt photon production. We compare calculations with data and provide predictions for the differential cross section as a function of $Q_T$ in proton-antiproton reactions at center-of-mass energies of 1.8 TeV, and in proton-nucleon reactions at fixed target and LHC energies.Comment: 36 pages, RevTeX, including 16 ps files of figures; minor changes in wording; one reference added. Version to appear in Phys Rev

Strong Coupling Constant from the Photon Structure Function

We extract the value of the strong coupling constant alpha_s from a single-parameter pointlike fit to the photon structure function F_2^gamma at large x and Q^2 and from a first five-parameter full (pointlike and hadronic) fit to the complete F_2^gamma data set taken at PETRA, TRISTAN, and LEP. In next-to-leading order and the MSbar renormalization and factorization schemes, we obtain alpha_s(m_Z)=0.1183 +/- 0.0050(exp.)^+0.0029_-0.0028(theor.) [pointlike] and alpha_s(m_Z)=0.1198 +/- 0.0028(exp.)^+0.0034_-0.0046(theor.) [pointlike and hadronic]. We demonstrate that the data taken at LEP have reduced the experimental error by about a factor of two, so that a competitive determination of alpha_s from F_2^gamma is now possible.Comment: 11 pages, 2 tables, 2 figures. Version accepted for publication by Phys. Rev. Let