Evolution of Deirdriu in the Ulster Cycle

This thesis examines the relationship between the character 'Deirdriu', depicted within Longes mac n- Uislenn, and the woman later referred to as Derdri, Deirdri, Deirdre or Derdrinne. It explores the initial construction and gradual evolution of this character, in relation to the manuscript tradition of Longes mac n-Uislenn and its descendants within the Ulster Cycle. It is proposed that the characterisation of Deirdriu constitutes a form of commentary upon the flawed nature of Conchobor mac Nessa’s kingship of Ulster, but that she is not a figure of sovereignty in the sense in which it has been understood by previous critics of the tradition. The thesis reassesses the contents, structure, and manuscript tradition of the textual witnesses to Longes mac n-Uislenn and Oidheadh Chloinne hUisneach, its later development, and assesses the validity of regarding both tales as primarily concerned with the portrayal of Deirdriu. It is argued that several distinct strands of material relating to the relationships between Deirdriu, the sons of Uisliu, Conchobor mac Nessa and Fergus mac Róich may be identified, ranging from the Early Medieval to the Early Modern period, and that these strands have exercised varying levels of influence upon subsequent revisions of these relationships, up to and including the period of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Irish Renaissance. The conclusions of this thesis proceed from close textual analysis of the primary source material, supplemented, where appropriate, by narratological theory. Chapter 1 introduces the issues to be considered, and reviews the relevant literature to date. Chapter 2 outlines the methodological approaches adopted throughout the following textual analysis. Chapter 3 defines the episodic structure of Longes mac n-Uislenn, and analyses its contents. Chapter 4 presents a detailed consideration of the Glenmasan Manuscript, the earliest extant witness to Derdriu’s evolution within the Early Modern period. Chapter 5 argues that the characterisation of Deirdriu within the Ulster Cycle constitutes a form of commentary upon the flawed nature of Conchobor mac Nessa’s kingship of Ulster – within the earlier tradition – and upon the compromised honour of Fergus mac Róich within the later

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements