474 research outputs found
Near and Mid-IR Photometry of the Pleiades, and a New List of Substellar Candidate Members
We make use of new near and mid-IR photometry of the Pleiades cluster in
order to help identify proposed cluster members. We also use the new photometry
with previously published photometry to define the single-star main sequence
locus at the age of the Pleiades in a variety of color-magnitude planes.
The new near and mid-IR photometry extend effectively two magnitudes deeper
than the 2MASS All-Sky Point Source catalog, and hence allow us to select a new
set of candidate very low mass and sub-stellar mass members of the Pleiades in
the central square degree of the cluster. We identify 42 new candidate members
fainter than Ks =14 (corresponding to 0.1 Mo). These candidate members should
eventually allow a better estimate of the cluster mass function to be made down
to of order 0.04 solar masses.
We also use new IRAC data, in particular the images obtained at 8 um, in
order to comment briefly on interstellar dust in and near the Pleiades. We
confirm, as expected, that -- with one exception -- a sample of low mass stars
recently identified as having 24 um excesses due to debris disks do not have
significant excesses at IRAC wavelengths. However, evidence is also presented
that several of the Pleiades high mass stars are found to be impacting with
local condensations of the molecular cloud that is passing through the Pleiades
at the current epoch.Comment: Accepted to ApJS; data tables and embedded-figure version available
at http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/stauffer/pleiades07
Post-depositional fracturing and subsidence of pumice flow deposits: Lascar Volcano, Chile
Unconsolidated pyroclastic flow deposits of the
1993 eruption of Lascar Volcano, Chile, have, with time,
become increasingly dissected by a network of deeply
penetrating fractures. The fracture network comprises
orthogonal sets of decimeter-wide linear voids that form a
pseudo-polygonal grid visible on the deposit surface. In this
work, we combine shallow surface geophysical imaging
tools with remote sensing observations and direct field
measurements of the deposit to investigate these fractures
and their underlying causal mechanisms. Based on ground
penetrating radar images, the fractures are observed to have
propagated to depths of up to 10 m. In addition, orbiting radar interferometry shows that deposit subsidence of up to
1 cm/year occurred between 1993 and 1996 with continued
subsidence occurring at a slower rate thereafter. In situ
measurements show that 1 m below the surface, the 1993
deposits remain 5°C to 15°C hotter, 18 years after
emplacement, than adjacent deposits. Based on the observed
subsidence as well as estimated cooling rates, the fractures are
inferred to be the combined result of deaeration, thermal
contraction, and sedimentary compaction in the months to
years following deposition. Significant environmental factors,
including regional earthquakes in 1995 and 2007, accelerated
settling at punctuated moments in time. The spatially variable
fracture pattern relates to surface slope and lithofacies
variations as well as substrate lithology. Similar fractures
have been reported in other ignimbrites but are generally
exposed only in cross section and are often attributed to
formation by external forces. Here we suggest that such
interpretations should be invoked with caution, and deformation
including post-emplacement subsidence and fracturing of
loosely packed ash-rich deposits in the months to years postemplacement
is a process inherent in the settling of pyroclastic
material
Measurement of the CKM angle Îł from a combination of B±âDh± analyses
A combination of three LHCb measurements of the CKM angle Îł is presented. The decays B±âD K± and
B±âDϱ are used, where D denotes an admixture of D0 and D0 mesons, decaying into K+Kâ, Ï+Ïâ, K±Ïâ, K±ÏâϱÏâ, K0SÏ+Ïâ, or K0S K+Kâ ïŹnal states. All measurements use a dataset corresponding to 1.0 fbâ1 of integrated luminosity. Combining results from B±âD K± decays alone a best-ïŹt value of
Îł =72.0⊠is found, and conïŹdence intervals are set
Îł â [56.4,86.7]⊠at 68% CL,
Îł â [42.6,99.6]⊠at 95% CL.
The best-ïŹt value of Îł found from a combination of results from B±âDϱ decays alone, is Îł =18.9âŠ,
and the conïŹdence intervals
Îł â [7.4,99.2]⊠âȘ [167.9,176.4]⊠at 68% CL
are set, without constraint at 95% CL. The combination of results from B± â D K± and B± â Dϱ
decays gives a best-ïŹt value of Îł =72.6⊠and the conïŹdence intervals
Îł â [55.4,82.3]⊠at 68% CL,
Îł â [40.2,92.7]⊠at 95% CL
are set. All values are expressed modulo 180âŠ, and are obtained taking into account the effect of D0âD0
mixing
Study of DJ meson decays to D+Ïâ, D0Ï+ and Dâ+Ïâ final states in pp collisions
A study of D+Ïâ, D0Ï+ and Dâ+Ïâ final states is performed using pp collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1, collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the LHCb detector. The D1(2420)0 resonance is observed in the Dâ+Ïâ final state and the Dâ2(2460) resonance is observed in the D+Ïâ, D0Ï+ and Dâ+Ïâ final states. For both resonances, their properties and spin-parity assignments are obtained. In addition, two natural parity and two unnatural parity resonances are observed in the mass region between 2500 and 2800 MeV. Further structures in the region around 3000 MeV are observed in all the Dâ+Ïâ, D+Ïâ and D0Ï+ final states
Observation of the decay
The decay is observed for the first
time, using proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3fb. A signal yield of
decays is reported with a significance of 6.2 standard deviations.
The ratio of the branching fraction of \B_c \rightarrow J/\psi K^+ K^- \pi^+
decays to that of decays is measured to be
, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the
second is systematic.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure
Study of B0(s)âK0Sh+hâČâ decays with first observation of B0sâK0SK±Ïâ and B0sâK0SÏ+Ïâ
A search for charmless three-body decays of B 0 and B0s mesons with a K0S meson in the final state is performed using the pp collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1, collected at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV recorded by the LHCb experiment. Branching fractions of the B0(s)âK0Sh+hâČâ decay modes (h (âČ) = Ï, K), relative to the well measured B0âK0SÏ+Ïâ decay, are obtained. First observation of the decay modes B0sâK0SK±Ïâ and B0sâK0SÏ+Ïâ and confirmation of the decay B0âK0SK±Ïâ are reported. The following relative branching fraction measurements or limits are obtained B(B0âK0SK±Ïâ)B(B0âK0SÏ+Ïâ)=0.128±0.017(stat.)±0.009(syst.), B(B0âK0SK+Kâ)B(B0âK0SÏ+Ïâ)=0.385±0.031(stat.)±0.023(syst.), B(B0sâK0SÏ+Ïâ)B(B0âK0SÏ+Ïâ)=0.29±0.06(stat.)±0.03(syst.)±0.02(fs/fd), B(B0sâK0SK±Ïâ)B(B0âK0SÏ+Ïâ)=1.48±0.12(stat.)±0.08(syst.)±0.12(fs/fd)B(B0sâK0SK+Kâ)B(B0âK0SÏ+Ïâ)â[0.004;0.068]at90%CL
Searches for B0(s)âJ/ÏppË and B+âJ/ÏppËÏ+ decays
The results of searches for B0(s)âJ/Ï ppÂŻ and B + â J/Ï p pÂŻ Ï+ decays are reported. The analysis is based on a data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1 of pp collisions, collected with the LHCb detector. An excess with 2.8 Ï significance is seen for the decay B0sâJ/Ï ppÂŻ and an upper limit on the branching fraction is set at the 90 % confidence level: B(B0sâJ/Ï ppÂŻ) < 4.8 Ă 10â6, which is the first such limit. No significant signals are seen for B0 â J/Ï ppÂŻ and B+ â J/Ï ppÂŻ Ï + decays, for which the corresponding limits are set: B(B0âJ/Ï ppÂŻ) < 5.2 Ă 10â7, which significantly improves the existing limit; and B(B+âJ/Ï ppÂŻÏ+) < 5.0 Ă 10â7, which is the first limit on this branching fraction
Measurement of B meson production cross-sections in proton-proton collisions at âs= 7 TeV
The production cross-sections of B mesons are measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV using data collected with the LHCb detector corresponding to a integrated luminosity of 0.36fbâ1. The B+, B0 and B0s mesons are reconstructed in the exclusive decays B+âJ/ÏK+, B0âJ/ÏKâ0 and B0sâJ/ÏÏ, with J/ÏâÎŒ+ÎŒâ, Kâ0âK+Ïâ and ÏâK+Kâ. The differential cross-sections are measured as functions of B meson transverse momentum pT and rapidity y, in the range 0 < pT<40GeV/c2 and 2.0<y<4.5. The integrated cross-sections in the same pT and y ranges, including charge-conjugate states, are measured to be
Ï(ppâB++X)=38.9±0.3(stat.)±2.5(syst.)±1.3(norm.)ÎŒb,
Ï(ppâB0+X)=38.1±0.6(stat.)±3.7(syst.)±4.7(norm.)ÎŒb,
Ï(ppâB0s+X)=10.5±0.2(stat.)±0.8(syst.)±1.0(norm.)ÎŒb,
where the third uncertainty arises from the pre-existing branching fraction measurements
Model-independent search for CP violation in D0âKâK+ÏâÏ+ and D0âÏâÏ+Ï+Ïâ decays
A search for CP violation in the phase-space structures of D0 and View the MathML source decays to the final states KâK+ÏâÏ+ and ÏâÏ+Ï+Ïâ is presented. The search is carried out with a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fbâ1 collected in 2011 by the LHCb experiment in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. For the KâK+ÏâÏ+ final state, the four-body phase space is divided into 32 bins, each bin with approximately 1800 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 9.1%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 6.5% observed. The phase space of the ÏâÏ+Ï+Ïâ final state is partitioned into 128 bins, each bin with approximately 2500 decays. The p-value under the hypothesis of no CP violation is 41%, and in no bin is a CP asymmetry greater than 5.5% observed. All results are consistent with the hypothesis of no CP violation at the current sensitivity
Observation of the decay B+câBÂșsÏ+
The result of a search for the decay B+câBÂșsÏ+ is presented, using the BÂșsâDs-Ï+ and BÂșsâJ/ÏÏ channels. The analysis is based on a data sample of pp collisions collected with the LHCb detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1ââfb-1 taken at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, and 2ââfb-1 taken at 8 TeV. The decay B+câBÂșsÏ+ is observed with significance in excess of 5 standard deviations independently in both decay channels. The measured product of the ratio of cross sections and branching fraction is [Ï(Bc+)/Ï(BÂșs)]ĂB(Bc+âBÂșsÏ+)=[2.37±0.31â(stat)±0.11â(syst)-0.13+0.17(ÏBc+)]Ă10-3, in the pseudorapidity range 2<η(B)<5, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is due to the uncertainty on the Bc+ lifetime. This is the first observation of a B meson decaying to another B meson via the weak interaction
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