Expansions of the real field by open sets: definability versus interpretability

An open set U of the real numbers R is produced such that the expansion (R,+,x,U) of the real field by U defines a Borel isomorph of (R,+,x,N) but does not define N. It follows that (R,+,x,U) defines sets in every level of the projective hierarchy but does not define all projective sets. This result is elaborated in various ways that involve geometric measure theory and working over o-minimal expansions of (R,+,x). In particular, there is a Cantor subset K of R such that for every exponentially bounded o-minimal expansion M of (R,+,x), every subset of R definable in (M,K) either has interior or is Hausdorff null.Comment: 14 page

Determining masses of supersymmetric particles

If supersymmetric particles are produced at the Large Hadron Collider it becomes very important not only to identify them, but also to determine their masses with the highest possible precision, since this may lead to an understanding of the SUSY-breaking mechanism and the physics at some higher scale. We here report on studies of how such mass measurements are obtained, and how the precision can be optimized.Comment: 11 pages, contribution to the proceedings "II. Southeastern European Workshop Challenges Beyond The Standard Model", 19-23 May 2005, Vrnjacka Banja, Serbi

Resolving ambiguities in mass determinations at future colliders

The measurements of kinematical endpoints, in cascade decays of supersymmetric particles, in principle allow for a determination of the masses of the unstable particles. However, in this procedure ambiguities often arise. We here illustrate how such ambiguities arise. They can be resolved by a precise determination of the LSP mass, provided by the Linear Collider.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the 2005 International Linear Collider Workshop, Stanford, U.S.

Digital curation and the cloud

Digital curation involves a wide range of activities, many of which could benefit from cloud deployment to a greater or lesser extent. These range from infrequent, resource-intensive tasks which benefit from the ability to rapidly provision resources to day-to-day collaborative activities which can be facilitated by networked cloud services. Associated benefits are offset by risks such as loss of data or service level, legal and governance incompatibilities and transfer bottlenecks. There is considerable variability across both risks and benefits according to the service and deployment models being adopted and the context in which activities are performed. Some risks, such as legal liabilities, are mitigated by the use of alternative, e.g., private cloud models, but this is typically at the expense of benefits such as resource elasticity and economies of scale. Infrastructure as a Service model may provide a basis on which more specialised software services may be provided. There is considerable work to be done in helping institutions understand the cloud and its associated costs, risks and benefits, and how these compare to their current working methods, in order that the most beneficial uses of cloud technologies may be identified. Specific proposals, echoing recent work coordinated by EPSRC and JISC are the development of advisory, costing and brokering services to facilitate appropriate cloud deployments, the exploration of opportunities for certifying or accrediting cloud preservation providers, and the targeted publicity of outputs from pilot studies to the full range of stakeholders within the curation lifecycle, including data creators and owners, repositories, institutional IT support professionals and senior manager