1,358 research outputs found
Initial Plant Growth in Sand Mine Spoil Amended with Organic Materials
Sand dunes in the Great Lakes Basin are ecologically and economically important. One economic value of sand dunes is sand mining. However, sand mining activities reduce soil quality which represents an impediment to reclamation efforts. Soil quality improvements followed by revegetation may be necessary for successful reclamation. This study evaluates the germination and initial growth of two legume species, wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) and Illinois bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis), and two warm-season grass species, Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), in the presence of three soil amendments (coco peat, municipal sewage sludge, and sphagnum peat moss) added to spoil from a local sand mine. Species were grown in pots and propagated under greenhouse conditions. Our results indicate that lupine and Illinois bundleflower exhibited the greatest germination and growth and are recommended as potential candidates for the reclamation of sand mines. Indian grass and little bluestem exhibited low rates of germination and growth. Among spoil amendments, we recommend coco peat based on germination and root, shoot, and total biomass results. Peat moss also exhibited increased rates of germination and growth. We did not observe any germination success for seeds sown in sewage sludge amended spoil. The lack of germination in the sewage sludge amendment may be due to a combination of unfavorable abiotic and biotic soil conditions such as electrical conductivity, pH, or soil microbial activity. Our results are helpful in determining which species and amendment combinations are useful candidates for revegetating former sand mines or similar habitats
Suppressed Decays of D_s^+ Mesons to Two Pseudoscalar Mesons
Using data collected near the Ds*+ Ds- peak production energy Ecm = 4170 MeV
by the CLEO-c detector, we study the decays of Ds+ mesons to two pseudoscalar
mesons. We report on searches for the singly-Cabibbo-suppressed Ds+ decay modes
K+ eta, K+ eta', pi+ K0S, K+ pi0, and the isospin-forbidden decay mode Ds+ to
pi+ pi0. We normalize with respect to the Cabibbo-favored Ds+ modes pi+ eta,
pi+ eta', and K+ K0S, and obtain ratios of branching fractions: Ds+ to K+ eta /
Ds+ to pi+ eta = (8.9 +- 1.5 +- 0.4)%, Ds+ to K+ eta' / Ds+ to pi+ eta' = (4.2
+- 1.3 +- 0.3)%, Ds+ to pi+ K0S / Ds+ to K+ K0S = (8.2 +- 0.9 +- 0.2)%, Ds+ to
K+ pi0 / Ds+ to K+ K0S = (5.0 +- 1.2 +- 0.6)%, and Ds+ to pi+ pi0 / Ds+ to K+
K0S < 4.1% at 90% CL, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic,
respectively.Comment: 9 pages postscript,also available through
http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/2007/, Submitted to PR
Higher-order multipole amplitudes in charmonium radiative transitions
Using 24 million decays in CLEO-c, we have searched
for higher multipole admixtures in electric-dipole-dominated radiative
transitions in charmonia. We find good agreement between our data and
theoretical predictions for magnetic quadrupole (M2) amplitudes in the
transitions and ,
in striking contrast to some previous measurements. Let and
denote the normalized M2 amplitudes in the respective aforementioned decays,
where the superscript refers to the angular momentum of the . By
performing unbinned maximum likelihood fits to full five-parameter angular
distributions, we determine the ratios and , where
the theoretical predictions are independent of the charmed quark magnetic
moment and are and .Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures, acceptance updat
Dalitz Plot Analysis of Ds to K+K-pi+
We perform a Dalitz plot analysis of the decay Ds to K+K-pi+ with the CLEO-c
data set of 586/pb of e+e- collisions accumulated at sqrt(s) = 4.17 GeV. This
corresponds to about 0.57 million D_s+D_s(*)- pairs from which we select 14400
candidates with a background of roughly 15%. In contrast to previous
measurements we find good agreement with our data only by including an
additional f_0(1370)pi+ contribution. We measure the magnitude, phase, and fit
fraction of K*(892) K+, phi(1020)pi+, K0*(1430)K+, f_0(980)pi+, f_0(1710)pi+,
and f_0(1370)pi+ contributions and limit the possible contributions of other KK
and Kpi resonances that could appear in this decay.Comment: 21 Pages,available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/,
submitted to PR
Search for D0 to p e- and D0 to pbar e+
Using data recorded by CLEO-c detector at CESR, we search for simultaneous
baryon and lepton number violating decays of the D^0 meson, specifically, D^0
--> p-bar e^+, D^0-bar --> p-bar e^+, D^0 --> p e^- and D^0-bar --> p e^-. We
set the following branching fraction upper limits: D^0 --> p-bar e^+ (D^0-bar
--> p-bar e^+) p e^- (D^0-bar --> p e^-) < 1.2 *
10^{-5}, both at 90% confidence level.Comment: 10 pages, available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/,
submitted to PRD. Comments: changed abstract, added reference for section 1,
vertical axis in Fig.5 changed (starts from 1.5 rather than 2.0), fixed typo
Charmonium decays to gamma pi0, gamma eta, and gamma eta'
Using data acquired with the CLEO-c detector at the CESR e+e- collider, we
measure branching fractions for J/psi, psi(2S), and psi(3770) decays to gamma
pi0, gamma eta, and gamma eta'. Defining R_n = B[ psi(nS)-->gamma eta ]/B[
psi(nS)-->gamma eta' ], we obtain R_1 = (21.1 +- 0.9)% and, unexpectedly, an
order of magnitude smaller limit, R_2 < 1.8% at 90% C.L. We also use
J/psi-->gamma eta' events to determine branching fractions of improved
precision for the five most copious eta' decay modes.Comment: 14 pages, available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/,
published in Physical Review
Precision Measurement of the Mass of the h_c(1P1) State of Charmonium
A precision measurement of the mass of the h_c(1P1) state of charmonium has
been made using a sample of 24.5 million psi(2S) events produced in e+e-
annihilation at CESR. The reaction used was psi(2S) -> pi0 h_c, pi0 -> gamma
gamma, h_c -> gamma eta_c, and the reaction products were detected in the
CLEO-c detector.
Data have been analyzed both for the inclusive reaction and for the exclusive
reactions in which eta_c decays are reconstructed in fifteen hadronic decay
channels. Consistent results are obtained in the two analyses. The averaged
results of the present measurements are M(h_c)=3525.28+-0.19 (stat)+-0.12(syst)
MeV, and B(psi(2S) -> pi0 h_c)xB(h_c -> gamma eta_c)= (4.19+-0.32+-0.45)x10^-4.
Using the 3PJ centroid mass, Delta M_hf(1P)= - M(h_c) =
+0.02+-0.19+-0.13 MeV.Comment: 9 pages, available through http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/,
submitted to PR
Precision Measurement of B(D+ -> mu+ nu) and the Pseudoscalar Decay Constant fD+
We measure the branching ratio of the purely leptonic decay of the D+ meson
with unprecedented precision as B(D+ -> mu+ nu) = (3.82 +/- 0.32 +/-
0.09)x10^(-4), using 818/pb of data taken on the psi(3770) resonance with the
CLEO-c detector at the CESR collider. We use this determination to derive a
value for the pseudoscalar decay constant fD+, combining with measurements of
the D+ lifetime and assuming |Vcd| = |Vus|. We find fD+ = (205.8 +/- 8.5 +/-
2.5) MeV. The decay rate asymmetry [B(D+ -> mu+ nu)-B(D- -> mu- nu)]/[B(D+ ->
mu+ nu)+B(D- -> mu- nu)] = 0.08 +/- 0.08, consistent with no CP violation. We
also set 90% confidence level upper limits on B(D+ -> tau+ nu) < 1.2x10^(-3)
and B(D+ -> e+ nu) < 8.8x10^(-6).Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures and 6 tables, v2 replaced some figure vertical
axis scales, v3 corrections from PRD revie
Measurement of the Absolute Branching Fraction of D_s^+ --> tau^+ nu_tau Decay
Using a sample of tagged D_s decays collected near the D^*_s D_s peak
production energy in e+e- collisions with the CLEO-c detector, we study the
leptonic decay D^+_s to tau^+ nu_tau via the decay channel tau^+ to e^+ nu_e
bar{nu}_tau. We measure B(D^+_s to tau^+ nu_tau) = (6.17 +- 0.71 +- 0.34) %,
where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. Combining this
result with our measurements of D^+_s to mu^+ nu_mu and D^+_s to tau^+ nu_tau
(via tau^+ to pi^+ bar{nu}_tau), we determine f_{D_s} = (274 +- 10 +- 5) MeV.Comment: 9 pages, postscript also available through
http://www.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLNS/2007/, revise
J/psi and psi(2S) Radiative Transitions to eta_c
Using 24.5 million psi(2S) decays collected with the CLEO-c detector at CESR
we present the most precise measurements of magnetic dipole transitions in the
charmonium system. We measure B(psi(2S)->gamma eta_c) =
(4.32+/-0.16+/-0.60)x10^-3, B(J/psi->gamma eta_c)/B(psi(2S)->gamma eta_c) =
4.59+/-0.23+/-0.64, and B(J/psi->gamma eta_c) = (1.98+/-0.09+/-0.30)%. We
observe a distortion in the eta_c line shape due to the photon-energy
dependence of the magnetic dipole transition rate. We find that measurements of
the eta_c mass are sensitive to the line shape, suggesting an explanation for
the discrepancy between measurements of the eta_c mass in radiative transitions
and other production mechanisms.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
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