Wide-angle elastic scattering and color randomization

Baryon-baryon elastic scattering is considered in the independent scattering (Landshoff) mechanism. It is suggested that for scattering at moderate energies, direct and interchange quark channels contribute with equal color coefficients because the quark color is randomized by soft gluon exchange during the hadronization stage. With this assumption, it is shown that the ratio of cross sections $R_{\overline{p} p/ p p}$ at CM angle $\theta = 90^0$ decreases from a high energy value of R_{\pbar p / pp} \approx 1/2.7, down to R_{\pbar p / pp} \approx 1/28, compatible with experimental data at moderate energies. This sizable fall in the ratio seems to be characteristic of the Landshoff mechanism, in which changes at the quark level have a strong effect precisely because the hadronic process occurs via multiple quark scatterings. The effect of color randomization on the angular distribution of proton-proton elastic scattering and the cross section ratio $R_{np/pp}$ is also discussed.Comment: 18 pages, latex2e, 4 uuencoded figures, include

Development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS)

Background: Evidence supports the role of physical and social environments in active living, including perception of environment. However, measurement of perceived environments in rural settings is lacking. This study describes the development of the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS). Methods: Premised on social ecological and cognitive perspectives, 85 initial items were generated through a literature review and a mixed-methods investigation of activity-friendly environments. Items were organized by resource areas town center, indoor and outdoor physical activity areas, schools, churches, and areas around the home/neighborhood-and submitted for expert panel review. In 2009, a revised questionnaire was disseminated to adolescents, parents, public school staff, and older adults in 2 rural southeastern United States counties. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was used to explore factor structure (n = 542). Results: The final analysis yielded 33 items with 7 factors: 1) church facilities, 2) town center connectivity, 3) indoor areas, 4) around the home/neighborhood, 5) town center physical activity resources, 6) school grounds, and 7) outdoor areas. Conclusions: The RALPESS is a valid, internally consistent, and practically useful instrument to measure perceptions of rural environments in the context of physical activity across the lifespan. Confirmatory factor analysis is recommended to validate factor structure

A first measurement of the interaction cross section of the tau neutrino

The DONuT experiment collected data in 1997 and published first results in 2000 based on four observed $\nu_\tau$ charged-current (CC) interactions. The final analysis of the data collected in the experiment is presented in this paper, based on $3.6 \times 10^{17}$ protons on target using the 800 GeV Tevatron beam at Fermilab. The number of observed $\nu_\tau$ CC interactions is 9, from a total of 578 observed neutrino interactions. We calculated the energy-independent part of the tau-neutrino CC cross section ($\nu + \bar \nu$), relative to the well-known $\nu_e$ and $\nu_\mu$ cross sections. The ratio $\sigma(\nu_\tau)$/$\sigma(\nu_{e,\mu})$ was found to be $1.37\pm0.35\pm0.77$. The $\nu_\tau$ CC cross section was found to be $0.72 \pm 0.24\pm0.36 \times 10^{-38}$ cm$^{2}\rm{GeV}^{-1}$. Both results are in agreement the Standard Model.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figure

Analysis of a Large Sample of Neutrino-Induced Muons with the ArgoNeuT Detector

ArgoNeuT, or Argon Neutrino Test, is a 170 liter liquid argon time projection chamber designed to collect neutrino interactions from the NuMI beam at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. ArgoNeuT operated in the NuMI low-energy beam line directly upstream of the MINOS Near Detector from September 2009 to February 2010, during which thousands of neutrino and antineutrino events were collected. The MINOS Near Detector was used to measure muons downstream of ArgoNeuT. Though ArgoNeuT is primarily an R&D project, the data collected provide a unique opportunity to measure neutrino cross sections in the 0.1-10 GeV energy range. Fully reconstructing the muon from these interactions is imperative for these measurements. This paper focuses on the complete kinematic reconstruction of neutrino-induced through-going muons tracks. Analysis of this high statistics sample of minimum ionizing tracks demonstrates the reliability of the geometric and calorimetric reconstruction in the ArgoNeuT detector