Revision of the solid geology shown on the 'Assynt District' special geological map : a report on the 2002 fieldwork

The report provides an overview of the main findings from the first field season in the Assynt District of the Moine Thrust Project. Detailed mapping in the eastern part of the Assynt halfwindow has resulted in a new interpretation of the geometry and behaviour of the Ben More Thrust. This reinterpretation of the thrust satisfactorily resolves the conflicts between the various previous models. The remapping confirmed that the Ben More Thrust can be traced, as shown on the published 1923 Assynt District geological map, along the western flank of Na Tuadhan to Bealach a’ Mhadhaidh. The Ben More Thrust is then traced to [NC 30026 24416] where it is displaced across a steep reverse fault to [NC 30514 23953]. It then continues NNW as a readily traceable feature placing gneisses of the Lewisian Gneiss Complex over quartzite along Leathaid Riabhach [NC 298 252]. Here the Ben More Thrust progressively steepens into a sub-vertical structure that has gneiss to the NE and quartzite to the SW. The thrust follows a prominent gully along Leathaid Riabhach to A’ Chailleach. From here the Ben More Thrust more or less follows the top of a monoclinally folded quartzite that forms the summit of Beinn Uidhe and is exposed in the valley floor NW of A’ Chailleach. It retains thrust geometry with hangingwall gneisses and footwall quartzites and becomes a steep feature that approximately follows ‘Glen Beag’ (the un-named glen south of the Stack of Glencoul). The Ben More Thrust meets, but does not displace the Glencoul Thrust at the head of Loch Glencoul. Therefore it is proposed that there is a branch line here where the two thrusts meet so that all the rocks NE of Loch Glencoul and east of Loch Beag are part of the Ben More Thrust Sheet. Figure 2.7 in the report provides a clear pictorial description of the geometry of the Ben More Thrust in the northern part of the Assynt half-window. A significant new ductile structure has been identified within the Ben More Thrust Sheet, termed the Coire a’ Mhadhaidh Detachment, that mostly follows the Lewisian gneisses/quartzite contact. It has been traced from the northern limits of the Loch Ailsh intrusion across Ben More Assynt, along the eastern slopes of Na Tuadhan, across Cailleach an t-Sniomha to the west of Gorm Loch Mòr and immediately west of the Stack of Glencoul into Glen Coul (Figure 2.1 in the report). The sense of shearing in the detachment is almost always top-to-west. Similar smaller shears have also been recognised within the Lewisian gneisses in the thrust sheet. However, no ductile shearing was noted at the gneiss/quartzite contact below the Ben More Thrust. Several of the complex imbricate structures mapped by previous workers were revisited. The imbricates in the Loch an Eircill–Loch nan Caorach area appear to be simpler than shown on the published Assynt District map. An alternative solution is provided for the southern termination of the Glencoul Thrust south of Inchnadamph although it is noted that more detailed work needs to be done, notably south of Conival. Brief descriptions are given of Moine rocks above the Moine Thrust in the north-eastern part of the Assynt District map. There appears to be a lateral facies change with semipelitic schists dominant in upper Glen Cassley and psammites becoming dominant to the north. Fabrics associated with several deformation phases have largely obliterated sedimentary structures although transposed bedding traces can be seen between a spaced foliation that controls the flaggy character of the psammites. Widely spaced traverses across the major Lewisian outcrop areas, within the Assynt half-window as well as in the western foreland to the thrust belt, largely confirmed the work of the primary surveyors. Thus all of the Lewisian comprises orthogneisses, mostly hornblende-gneisses but with more felsic pyroxene-bearing gneisses in the north, that all contain ultramafic and mafic pods and layers. The traces of the various Scourie dykes are correctly shown on the published Assynt District map. The Canisp Shear Zone has been traced eastwards, south of Canisp, eventually disappears under Cambrian quartzites. A second parallel shear has also been delineated north of Loch Assynt. The polyphase nature of ductile deformation in the Lewisian gneisses elucidated by previous workers is confirmed. However, the deformation state of the gneisses is extremely variable on all scales, with intense deformation confined to specific (shear) zones that vary in thickness from several centimetres up to hundreds of metres. Descriptions of the numerous minor intrusions and the Quaternary deposits studied during the fieldwork are given in separate reports

On the Potts model partition function in an external field

We study the partition function of Potts model in an external (magnetic) field, and its connections with the zero-field Potts model partition function. Using a deletion-contraction formulation for the partition function Z for this model, we show that it can be expanded in terms of the zero-field partition function. We also show that Z can be written as a sum over the spanning trees, and the spanning forests, of a graph G. Our results extend to Z the well-known spanning tree expansion for the zero-field partition function that arises though its connections with the Tutte polynomial

The Value of Information for Populations in Varying Environments

The notion of information pervades informal descriptions of biological systems, but formal treatments face the problem of defining a quantitative measure of information rooted in a concept of fitness, which is itself an elusive notion. Here, we present a model of population dynamics where this problem is amenable to a mathematical analysis. In the limit where any information about future environmental variations is common to the members of the population, our model is equivalent to known models of financial investment. In this case, the population can be interpreted as a portfolio of financial assets and previous analyses have shown that a key quantity of Shannon's communication theory, the mutual information, sets a fundamental limit on the value of information. We show that this bound can be violated when accounting for features that are irrelevant in finance but inherent to biological systems, such as the stochasticity present at the individual level. This leads us to generalize the measures of uncertainty and information usually encountered in information theory

An ALMA Survey of the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey UKIDSS/UDS Field: The Far-infrared/Radio Correlation for High-redshift Dusty Star-forming Galaxies

We study the radio properties of 706 submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) selected at 870 μm with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array from the SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey map of the Ultra Deep Survey field. We detect 273 SMGs at >4σ in deep Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array 1.4 GHz observations, of which a subset of 45 SMGs are additionally detected in 610 MHz Giant Metre-Wave Radio Telescope imaging. We quantify the far-infrared/radio correlation (FIRRC) through parameter q IR, defined as the logarithmic ratio of the far-infrared and radio luminosity, and include the radio-undetected SMGs through a stacking analysis. We determine a median q IR = 2.20 ± 0.03 for the full sample, independent of redshift, which places these z ~ 2.5 dusty star-forming galaxies 0.44 ± 0.04 dex below the local correlation for both normal star-forming galaxies and local ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs). Both the lack of redshift evolution and the offset from the local correlation are likely the result of the different physical conditions in high-redshift starburst galaxies, compared to local star-forming sources. We explain the offset through a combination of strong magnetic fields (B gsim 0.2 mG), high interstellar medium (ISM) densities and additional radio emission generated by secondary cosmic rays. While local ULIRGs are likely to have similar magnetic field strengths, we find that their compactness, in combination with a higher ISM density compared to SMGs, naturally explains why local and high-redshift dusty star-forming galaxies follow a different FIRRC. Overall, our findings paint SMGs as a homogeneous population of galaxies, as illustrated by their tight and nonevolving far-infrared/radio correlation

Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV. The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b, leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W' boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV

A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV

Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80 GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

The Polygenic and Monogenic Basis of Blood Traits and Diseases

Blood cells play essential roles in human health, underpinning physiological processes such as immunity, oxygen transport, and clotting, which when perturbed cause a significant global health burden. Here we integrate data from UK Biobank and a large-scale international collaborative effort, including data for 563,085 European ancestry participants, and discover 5,106 new genetic variants independently associated with 29 blood cell phenotypes covering a range of variation impacting hematopoiesis. We holistically characterize the genetic architecture of hematopoiesis, assess the relevance of the omnigenic model to blood cell phenotypes, delineate relevant hematopoietic cell states influenced by regulatory genetic variants and gene networks, identify novel splice-altering variants mediating the associations, and assess the polygenic prediction potential for blood traits and clinical disorders at the interface of complex and Mendelian genetics. These results show the power of large-scale blood cell trait GWAS to interrogate clinically meaningful variants across a wide allelic spectrum of human variation. Analysis of blood cell traits in the UK Biobank and other cohorts illuminates the full genetic architecture of hematopoietic phenotypes, with evidence supporting the omnigenic model for complex traits and linking polygenic burden with monogenic blood diseases