Use of catchment attributes to identify the scale and values of distributed parameters in surface and sub-surface conceptual hydrology models

Improved prediction for problems in catchment hydrology requires an ability to spatially disaggregate and connect surface and sub-surface components. This paper considers two hydrological models for use in such disaggregation and coupling: a lumped conceptual rainfall-runoff model (IHACRES) and a physics based conceptual groundwater discharge model. Smaller gauged catchments in the vicinity can be used to regionalise and parameterise the coupled model using catchment attributes prior to running the model in a larger catchment with fewer gauges. Regionalisation in gauged catchments at appropriate scales would capture the uncertainty of the relationships between catchment attributes and model parameter values, including the upper and lower boundary of parameter values. In an ungauged and disaggregated catchment, its landscape attributes would be inserted into the regional relationships to provide the parameter bounds for constraining the proposed coupled model. The aim of this catchment disaggregation is to be able to improve on previous catchment or sub-catchment recharge-discharge models, so that modelling can be carried out at the management scale

Improved sensitivity of H.E.S.S.-II through the fifth telescope focus system

The Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) works by imaging the very short flash of Cherenkov radiation generated by the cascade of relativistic charged particles produced when a TeV gamma ray strikes the atmosphere. This energetic air shower is initiated at an altitude of 10-30 km depending on the energy and the arrival direction of the primary gamma ray. Whether the best image of the shower is obtained by focusing the telescope at infinity and measuring the Cherenkov photon angles or focusing on the central region of the shower is a not obvious question. This is particularly true for large size IACT for which the depth of the field is much smaller. We address this issue in particular with the fifth telescope (CT5) of the High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.); a 28 m dish large size telescope recently entered in operation and sensitive to an energy threshold of tens of GeVs. CT5 is equipped with a focus system, its working principle and the expected effect of focusing depth on the telescope sensitivity at low energies (50-200 GeV) is discussed.Comment: In Proceedings of the 33rd International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2013), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil

Limits on τ lepton-flavor violating decays into three charged leptons

A search for the neutrinoless, lepton-flavor violating decay of the τ lepton into three charged leptons has been performed using an integrated luminosity of 468  fb^(-1) collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II collider. In all six decay modes considered, the numbers of events found in data are compatible with the background expectations. Upper limits on the branching fractions are set in the range (1.8–3.3)×10^(-8) at 90% confidence level

Measurement of the γγ^*→η_c transition form factor

We study the reaction e^+e^-→e^+e^-η_c, η_c→K_SK^±π^∓ and obtain η_c mass and width values 2982.2±0.4±1.6  MeV/c^2 and 31.7±1.2±0.8  MeV, respectively. We find Γ(η_c→γγ)B(ηc→KK π)=0.374±0.009±0.031  keV, and measure the γγ^*→η_c transition form factor in the momentum transfer range from 2 to 50  GeV^2. The analysis is based on 469  fb^(-1) of integrated luminosity collected at PEP-II with the BABAR detector at e^+e^- center-of-mass energies near 10.6 GeV

Observation of magnetic fragmentation in spin ice

Fractionalised excitations that emerge from a many body system have revealed rich physics and concepts, from composite fermions in two-dimensional electron systems, revealed through the fractional quantum Hall effect, to spinons in antiferromagnetic chains and, more recently, fractionalisation of Dirac electrons in graphene and magnetic monopoles in spin ice. Even more surprising is the fragmentation of the degrees of freedom themselves, leading to coexisting and a priori independent ground states. This puzzling phenomenon was recently put forward in the context of spin ice, in which the magnetic moment field can fragment, resulting in a dual ground state consisting of a fluctuating spin liquid, a so-called Coulomb phase, on top of a magnetic monopole crystal. Here we show, by means of neutron scattering measurements, that such fragmentation occurs in the spin ice candidate Nd$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$. We observe the spectacular coexistence of an antiferromagnetic order induced by the monopole crystallisation and a fluctuating state with ferromagnetic correlations. Experimentally, this fragmentation manifests itself via the superposition of magnetic Bragg peaks, characteristic of the ordered phase, and a pinch point pattern, characteristic of the Coulomb phase. These results highlight the relevance of the fragmentation concept to describe the physics of systems that are simultaneously ordered and fluctuating.Comment: accepted in Nature Physic

Structural and Magnetic Investigations of Single-Crystals of the Neodymium Zirconate Pyrochlore, Nd2Zr2O7

We report structural and magnetic properties studies of large high quality single-crystals of the frustrated magnet, Nd$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$. Powder x-ray diffraction analysis confirms that Nd$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$ adopts the pyrochlore structure. Room-temperature x-ray diffraction and time-of-flight neutron scattering experiments show that the crystals are stoichiometric in composition with no measurable site disorder. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility shows no magnetic ordering at temperatures down to 0.5 K. Fits to the magnetic susceptibility data using a Curie-Weiss law reveal a ferromagnetic coupling between the Nd moments. Magnetization versus field measurements show a local Ising anisotropy along the axes of the Nd$^{3+}$ ions in the ground state. Specific heat versus temperature measurements in zero applied magnetic field indicate the presence of a thermal anomaly below $T\sim7$ K, but no evidence of magnetic ordering is observed down to 0.5 K. The experimental temperature dependence of the single-crystal bulk dc susceptibility and isothermal magnetization are analyzed using crystal field theory and the crystal field parameters and exchange coupling constants determined.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Memory, space and time: Researching children's lives

This article discusses the research approach in 'Pathways through Childhood', a small qualitative study drawing on memories of childhood. The research explores how wider social arrangements and social change influence children's everyday lives.The article discusses the way that the concepts of social memory, space and time have been drawn on to access and analyse children's experiences, arguing that attention to the temporal and spatial complexity of childhood reveals less visible yet formative influences and connections. Children's everyday engagements involve connections between past and present time, between children, families, communities and nations, and between different places. Children carve out space and time for themselves from these complex relations. © The Author(s) 2010

Measurement of the semileptonic branching fraction of the B_s meson

We report a measurement of the inclusive semileptonic branching fraction of the B_s meson using data collected with the BABAR detector in the center-of-mass energy region above the Υ(4S) resonance. We use the inclusive yield of ϕ mesons and the ϕ yield in association with a high-momentum lepton to perform a simultaneous measurement of the semileptonic branching fraction and the production rate of B_s mesons relative to all B mesons as a function of center-of-mass energy. The inclusive semileptonic branching fraction of the B_s meson is determined to be B(B_s→ℓνX)=9.5_(-2.0)^(+2.5)(stat)_(-1.9)^(+1.1)(syst)%, where ℓ indicates the average of e and μ