Heavy Higgs Bosons at 14 TeV and 100 TeV

Searching for Higgs bosons beyond the Standard Model (BSM) is one of the most important missions for hadron colliders. As a landmark of BSM physics, the MSSM Higgs sector at the LHC is expected to be tested up to the scale of the decoupling limit of O(1) TeV, except for a wedge region centered around $\tan\beta \sim 3 -10$, which has been known to be difficult to probe. In this article, we present a dedicated study testing the decoupled MSSM Higgs sector, at the LHC and a next-generation $pp$-collider, proposing to search in channels with associated Higgs productions, with the neutral and charged Higgs further decaying into $tt$ and $tb$, respectively. In the case of neutral Higgs we are able to probe for the so far uncovered wedge region via $pp\to bb H/A \to bbtt$. Additionally, we cover the the high $\tan\beta$ range with $pp\to bb H/A \to bb\tau\tau$. The combination of these searches with channels dedicated to the low $\tan\beta$ region, such as $pp\to H/A \to tt$ and $pp\to tt H/A \to tttt$ potentially covers the full $\tan\beta$ range. The search for charged Higgs has a slightly smaller sensitivity for the moderate $\tan\beta$ region, but additionally probes for the higher and lower $\tan\beta$ regions with even greater sensitivity, via $pp\to tb H^\pm \to tbtb$. While the LHC will be able to probe the whole $\tan\beta$ range for Higgs masses of O(1) TeV by combining these channels, we show that a future 100 TeV $pp$-collider has a potential to push the sensitivity reach up to $\sim \mathcal O(10)$ TeV. In order to deal with the novel kinematics of top quarks produced by heavy Higgs decays, the multivariate Boosted Decision Tree (BDT) method is applied in our collider analyses. The BDT-based tagging efficiencies of both hadronic and leptonic top-jets, and their mutual fake rates as well as the faking rates by other jets ($h$, $Z$, $W$, $b$, etc.) are also presented.Comment: published versio

Construction, analysis, ligation, and self-assembly of DNA triple crossover complexes

This paper extends the study and prototyping of unusual DNA motifs, unknown in nature, but founded on principles derived from biological structures. Artificially designed DNA complexes show promise as building blocks for the construction of useful nanoscale structures, devices, and computers. The DNA triple crossover (TX) complex described here extends the set of experimentally characterized building blocks. It consists of four oligonucleotides hybridized to form three double-stranded DNA helices lying in a plane and linked by strand exchange at four immobile crossover points. The topology selected for this TX molecule allows for the presence of reporter strands along the molecular diagonal that can be used to relate the inputs and outputs of DNA-based computation. Nucleotide sequence design for the synthetic strands was assisted by the application of algorithms that minimize possible alternative base-pairing structures. Synthetic oligonucleotides were purified, stoichiometric mixtures were annealed by slow cooling, and the resulting DNA structures were analyzed by nondenaturing gel electrophoresis and heat-induced unfolding. Ferguson analysis and hydroxyl radical autofootprinting provide strong evidence for the assembly of the strands to the target TX structure. Ligation of reporter strands has been demonstrated with this motif, as well as the self-assembly of hydrogen-bonded two-dimensional crystals in two different arrangements. Future applications of TX units include the construction of larger structures from multiple TX units, and DNA-based computation. In addition to the presence of reporter strands, potential advantages of TX units over other DNA structures include space for gaps in molecular arrays, larger spatial displacements in nanodevices, and the incorporation of well-structured out-of-plane components in two-dimensional arrays

Vortex dynamics

Vortex flows of interest to aerodynamicists cover a wide range of scales from a fraction of an inch in boundary layer flows to many feet in wake flows. In many applications these flows are poorly understood and, due to their complexity, present a challenge both analytically and experimentally. Four topics representing the spectrum of experimental and analytical vortex research are presented

Interactions with Frontiers of Financial Economic — A Research Agenda for Real Estate Finance

[Excerpt] Recent years have seen the emergence of substantial scholarly research in real estate finance that uses the methodology and paradigms at the frontiers of financial economics. Agency theory, search theory, and signaling have appeared in several models of real estate finance (see, for example, Damodaran, John, and Liu, 1998; Damodaran and Liu, 1993; Williams, 1993a, 1993b, 1995, 1998). Continuous time-valuation models of financial options, real options, and fixed-income securities and term structure models have also been applied in a number of papers on the pricing of mortgage-backed securities with and without sophisticated prepayment structures (for example, see Dunn and Spatt, 1985, 1986; Grenadier, 1995, 1996; John, Liu, and Radhakrishnan, 1997; Stanton and Wallace, 1998; Williams, 1993a, 1993b, 1997). Paradigms of securitization and optimal design of securities and organizational forms have also made their appearance in recent real estate research (see, for example, DeMarzo and Duffie, 1998; DeMarzo, 1998; Shiller andWeiss, 1998; Damodaran, John, and Liu, 1997). The objective of this special issue is to showcase some of this research in real estate and explore additional paradigms in financial economics that would provide the framework for interesting and innovative real estate research

Do Property Characteristics or Cash Flow Drive Hotel Real Estate Value? The Answer Is Yes

Analysts typically use two types of methods to value hotels: comparable sales and the present value of income (sometimes calculated as discounted cash flow). This report explores whether one model is superior to the other, and whether combining both models results in more precise hotel valuations. This evaluation addresses the issue of which property characteristics and income calculations are the most effective in explaining variation in the prices of hotels, how the descending influence of hotel property characteristics and income present value components determine the prices of hotels, and whether hedonic and income-based models produce similar estimates of hotel values. The findings show that using an approach based on comparable sales or one based on incomes results in similar value estimates. Beyond that, the analysis finds that combining both models does not result in more precise hotel valuations

Adhesion, friction, and deformation of ion-beam-deposited boron nitride films

The tribological properties and mechanical strength of boron nitride films were investigated. The BN films were predominantly amorphous and nonstoichiometric and contained small amounts of oxides and carbides. It was found that the yield pressure at full plasticity, the critical load to fracture, and the shear strength of interfacial adhesive bonds (considered as adhesion) depended on the type of metallic substrate on which the BN was deposited. The harder the substrate, the greater the critical load and the adhesion. The yield pressures of the BN film were 12 GPa for the 440C stainless steel substrate, 4.1 GPa for the 304 stainless steel substrate, and 3.3 GPa for the titanium substrate

The ACS Fornax Cluster Survey. III. Globular Cluster Specific Frequencies of Early-Type Galaxies

The globular cluster (GC) specific frequency ($S_N$), defined as the number of GCs per unit galactic luminosity, represents the efficiency of GC formation (and survival) compared to field stars. Despite the naive expectation that star cluster formation should scale directly with star formation, this efficiency varies widely across galaxies. To explore this variation we measure the z-band GC specific frequency ($S_{N,z}$) for 43 early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Fornax Cluster Survey. Combined with the homogenous measurements of $S_{N,z}$ in 100 ETGs from the HST/ACS Virgo Cluster Survey from Peng et al. (2008), we investigate the dependence of $S_{N,z}$ on mass and environment over a range of galaxy properties. We find that $S_{N,z}$ behaves similarly in the two galaxy clusters, despite the clusters' order-of-magnitude difference in mass density. The $S_{N,z}$ is low in intermediate-mass ETGs ($-20<M_z<-23$), and increases with galaxy luminosity. It is elevated at low masses, on average, but with a large scatter driven by galaxies in dense environments. The densest environments with the strongest tidal forces appear to strip the GC systems of low-mass galaxies. However, in low-mass galaxies that are not in strong tidal fields, denser environments correlate with enhanced GC formation efficiencies. Normalizing by inferred halo masses, the GC mass fraction, $\eta=(3.36\pm0.2)\times10^{-5}$, is constant for ETGs with stellar masses $\mathcal{M}_\star \lesssim 3\times10^{10}M_\odot$, in agreement with previous studies. The lack of correlation between the fraction of GCs and the nuclear light implies only a weak link between the infall of GCs and the formation of nuclei.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables; accepted by Ap