Specific heat study of the Na(0.3)CoO(2).1.3H(2)O superconductor: influence of the complex chemistry

We report results of specific heat measurements on polycrystalline samples of the layered superconductor, Na(0.3)CoO(2).1.3H(2)O. The electronic contribution to the specific heat, gamma, is found to be 12.2 mJ/mol-K2. The feature at the superconducting transition is rather sharp, becoming broad and strongly suppressed in an applied magnetic field. The data indicate a residual normal state electronic specific heat at low temperatures, implying that there is a sizable population of normal state electrons in the samples even below Tc. Inhomogeneity in the Na content, to which the superconducting state is exquisitely sensitive, appears to be the most likely explanation for these results. These results further indicate that special sample handling is required for an accurate characterization of the superconducting state in this material.Comment: publication information adde

How accurately can we measure the W cross section?

We study the QCD sources of systematic uncertainties in the experimental extraction of the W cross section at hadron colliders. The uncertainties appear in the evaluation of the detector acceptances used to convert the number of observed events into a total production cross section. We consider the effect of NLO corrections, as well as of the inclusion of parton showers, and evaluate the impact of spin correlations and of PDF and scale uncertainties.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

A two-armed bandit based scheme for accelerated decentralized learning

The two-armed bandit problem is a classical optimization problem where a decision maker sequentially pulls one of two arms attached to a gambling machine, with each pull resulting in a random reward. The reward distributions are unknown, and thus, one must balance between exploiting existing knowledge about the arms, and obtaining new information. Bandit problems are particularly fascinating because a large class of real world problems, including routing, QoS control, game playing, and resource allocation, can be solved in a decentralized manner when modeled as a system of interacting gambling machines. Although computationally intractable in many cases, Bayesian methods provide a standard for optimal decision making. This paper proposes a novel scheme for decentralized decision making based on the Goore Game in which each decision maker is inherently Bayesian in nature, yet avoids computational intractability by relying simply on updating the hyper parameters of sibling conjugate priors, and on random sampling from these posteriors. We further report theoretical results on the variance of the random rewards experienced by each individual decision maker. Based on these theoretical results, each decision maker is able to accelerate its own learning by taking advantage of the increasingly more reliable feedback that is obtained as exploration gradually turns into exploitation in bandit problem based learning. Extensive experiments demonstrate that the accelerated learning allows us to combine the benefits of conservative learning, which is high accuracy, with the benefits of hurried learning, which is fast convergence. In this manner, our scheme outperforms recently proposed Goore Game solution schemes, where one has to trade off accuracy with speed. We thus believe that our methodology opens avenues for improved performance in a number of applications of bandit based decentralized decision making

A REAL TIME MONITORING MODEL OF THE CALCIUM CARBONATE FOULING INDUCTION PERIOD BASED ON THE CONDUCTANCE TITRATION

A new method has been developed to monitor the calcium carbonate fouling induction period (CCFIP) in real time. Based on the conductance titration, this paper investigated the forming process of CCFIP by a staticdynamic combined simulation experiment unit. With the help of titration analysis (that is titrimetry), an accurate definition of CCFIP and the corresponding real time monitoring model were built up. The investigation results show that the proposed model applies not only to measure the CCFIP in real time, but also applies to an investigation of the influence of various factors on the CCFIP

Probing Left-handed Slepton Flavor Mixing at Future Lepton Colliders

It has been argued in the literature that the search for the slepton oscillation phenomenon can be a powerful probe of intergenerational mixing between sleptons, once sleptons are found at future colliders. In this article we estimate possible reach of future lepton colliders in probing left-handed slepton flavor mixing, especially mixing between the first and third generations, on which constraints imposed by other processes like $\tau \to e \gamma$ are very weak. $e^+e^-$ collider is suitable for this purpose, since it can produce, if kinematically allowed, sleptons of the first generation via t-channel, in addition to s-channel. Utilizing e^+e^- \to \tau e + 4jets + \E signal at $e^+e^-$ linear collider with integrated luminosity L=50 fb^{-1}(500 fb^{-1}) it may be possible to reach mixing angle $\sin 2\theta_{\tilde{\nu}} \gtrsim 0.06 (0.04)$ and mass difference $\Delta m_{\tilde{\nu}} \gtrsim 0.07 (0.04)$ GeV for sneutrinos in the first and third generations at the statistical significance of 5 \sigma.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures. A new section added. Conclusion unchanged. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Quantum algebra in the mixed light pseudoscalar meson states

In this paper, we investigate the entanglement degrees of pseudoscalar meson states via quantum algebra Y(su(3)). By making use of transition effect of generators J of Y(su(3)), we construct various transition operators in terms of J of Y(su(3)), and act them on eta-pion-eta mixing meson state. The entanglement degrees of both the initial state and final state are calculated with the help of entropy theory. The diagrams of entanglement degrees are presented. Our result shows that a state with desired entanglement degree can be achieved by acting proper chosen transition operator on an initial state. This sheds new light on the connect among quantum information, particle physics and Yangian algebra.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

The Composition of Cosmic Rays at the Knee

The observation of a small change in spectral slope, or 'knee' in the fluxes of cosmic rays near energies 10^15 eV has caused much speculation since its discovery over 40 years ago. The origin of this feature remains unknown. A small workshop to review some modern experimental measurements of this region was held at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, USA in June 2000. This paper summarizes the results presented at this workshop and the discussion of their interpretation in the context of hadronic models of atmospheric airshowers.Comment: 36 pages, 10 figure