636 research outputs found
Assembling and disassembling california: A zircon and monazite geochronologic framework for proterozoic crustal evolution in southern California
The Mojave province in southern California preserves a comparatively complete record of assembly, postorogenic sedimentation, and rifting along the southwestern North American continental margin. The oldest exposed rocks are metasedimentary gneisses and amphibolite, enclosing intrusive suites that range from tonalite and quartz mon-zodiorite to granite with minor trondhjemite. Discrete magmatic episodes occurred at approximately 1790-1730 and 1690-1640 Ma. Evidence from detrital and premagmatic zircons indicates that recycling of 1900-1790 Ma Paleopro-terozoic crust formed the unique isotopic character of the Mojave province. Peak metamorphic conditions in the Mojave province reached middle amphibolite to granulite facies; metamorphism occurred locally from 1795 to 1640 Ma, with widespread evidence for metamorphism at 1711-1689 and 1670-1650 Ma. Structures record early, tight to isoclinal folding and penetrative west-vergent shear during the final metamorphic event in the west Mojave province. Proterozoic basement rocks are overlain by siliciclastic-carbonate sequences of Mesoproterozoic, Neoproterozoic, and Cambrian age, recording environmental change over the course of the transition from stable Mojave crust to the rifted Cordilleran margin. Neoproterozoic quartzites have diverse zircon populations inconsistent with a southwest North American source, which we infer were derived from the western conjugate rift pair within Rodinia, before establishment of the miogeocline. Neoproterozoic-Cambrian miogeoclinal clastic rocks record an end to rifting and establishment of the Cordilleran miogeocline in southern California by latest Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian time
Detection of Supernova Neutrinos by Neutrino-Proton Elastic Scattering
We propose that neutrino-proton elastic scattering, ,
can be used for the detection of supernova neutrinos in scintillator detectors.
Though the proton recoil kinetic energy spectrum is soft, with , and the scintillation light output from slow, heavily ionizing
protons is quenched, the yield above a realistic threshold is nearly as large
as that from . In addition, the measured proton
spectrum is related to the incident neutrino spectrum, which solves a
long-standing problem of how to separately measure the total energy and
temperature of , , , and .
The ability to detect this signal would give detectors like KamLAND and
Borexino a crucial and unique role in the quest to detect supernova neutrinos.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, revtex
Measurement of the B-Meson Inclusive Semileptonic Branching Fraction and Electron-Energy Moments
We report a new measurement of the B-meson semileptonic decay momentum
spectrum that has been made with a sample of 9.4/fb of electron-positron
annihilation data collected with the CLEO II detector at the Y(4S) resonance.
Electrons from primary semileptonic decays and secondary charm decays were
separated by using charge and angular correlations in Y(4S) events with a
high-momentum lepton and an additional electron. We determined the semileptonic
branching fraction to be (10.91 +- 0.09 +- 0.24)% from the normalization of the
electron-energy spectrum. We also measured the moments of the electron energy
spectrum with minimum energies from 0.6 GeV to 1.5 GeV.Comment: 36 pages postscript, als available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/, Submitted to PRD (back-to-back with
preceding preprint hep-ex/0403052
Lifetime Differences, direct CP Violation and Partial Widths in D0 Meson Decays to K+K- and pi+pi-
We describe several measurements using the decays D0->K+K- and pi+pi-. We
find the ratio of partial widths, Gamma(D0->K+K-)/Gamma(D0->pi+pi-), to be
2.96+/-0.16+/-0.15, where the first error is statistical and the second is
systematic. We observe no evidence for direct CP violation, obtaining A_CP(KK)
= (0.0+/-2.2+/-0.8)% and A_CP(pipi = (1.9+/-3.2+/-0.8)%. In the limit of no CP
violation we measure the mixing parameter y_CP = -0.012+/-0.025+/-0.014 by
measuring the lifetime difference between D0->K+ K- or pi+pi- and the CP
neutral state, D0->K-pi+. We see no evidence for mixing.Comment: 14 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS, submitted to PRD, Rapid Communicatio
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
- âŚ