First steps in the oxidation of a /110/ nickel surface

Initial steps in oxidation of nickel surface studied using low energy back-reflection electron diffractio

Ammonia adsorption and decomposition on a tungsten /211/ surface

Ammonia adsorption and decomposition on tungsten 211 surface studied by mass spectrometry, electron diffraction, and changes in work functio

Hadronic production of bottom-squark pairs with electroweak contributions

We present the complete computation of the tree-level and the next-to-leading order electroweak contributions to bottom-squark pair production at the LHC. The computation is performed within the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model. We discuss the numerical impact of these contributions in several supersymmetric scenarios.Comment: 33 pages, v2: preprint numbers correcte

Particle-in-cell simulations of rf breakdown

Breakdown voltages of a capacitively coupled radio frequency argon discharge at 27 MHz are studied. We use a one-dimensional electrostatic PIC code to investigate the effect of changing the secondary emission properties of the electrodes on the breakdown voltage, particularly at low pd values. Simulation results are compared with the available experimental results and a satisfactory agreement is found.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France

Hadronic production of squark-squark pairs: The electroweak contributions

We compute the electroweak (EW) contributions to squark--squark pair production processes at the LHC within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Both tree-level EW contributions, of O(alpha_s alpha + alpha^2), and next-to-leading order (NLO) EW corrections, of O(alpha_s^2 alpha), are calculated. Depending on the flavor and chirality of the produced quarks, many interferences between EW-mediated and QCD-mediated diagrams give non-zero contributions at tree-level and NLO. We discuss the computational techniques and present an extensive numerical analysis for inclusive squark--squark production as well as for subsets and single processes. While the tree-level EW contributions to the integrated cross sections can reach the 20% level, the NLO EW corrections typically lower the LO prediction by a few percent.Comment: 36 pages, 18 figure

Mixture models for analysis of melting temperature data

BackgroundIn addition to their use in detecting undesired real-time PCR products, melting temperatures are useful for detecting variations in the desired target sequences. Methodological improvements in recent years allow the generation of high-resolution melting-temperature (Tm) data. However, there is currently no convention on how to statistically analyze such high-resolution Tm data.ResultsMixture model analysis was applied to Tm data. Models were selected based on Akaike's information criterion. Mixture model analysis correctly identified categories in Tm data obtained for known plasmid targets. Using simulated data, we investigated the number of observations required for model construction. The precision of the reported mixing proportions from data fitted to a preconstructed model was also evaluated.ConclusionMixture model analysis of Tm data allows the minimum number of different sequences in a set of amplicons and their relative frequencies to be determined. This approach allows Tm data to be analyzed, classified, and compared in an unbiased manner.</p

NLL soft and Coulomb resummation for squark and gluino production at the LHC

We present predictions of the total cross sections for pair production of squarks and gluinos at the LHC, including the stop-antistop production process. Our calculation supplements full fixed-order NLO predictions with resummation of threshold logarithms and Coulomb singularities at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy, including bound-state effects. The numerical effect of higher-order Coulomb terms can be as big or larger than that of soft-gluon corrections. For a selection of benchmark points accessible with data from the 2010-2012 LHC runs, resummation leads to an enhancement of the total inclusive squark and gluino production cross section in the 15-30 % range. For individual production processes of gluinos, the corrections can be much larger. The theoretical uncertainty in the prediction of the hard-scattering cross sections is typically reduced to the 10 % level.Comment: 45 pages, 16 Figures, LaTex. v2: published version. Grids with numerical results for the NLL cross sections for squark and gluino production at the 7/8 TeV LHC are included in the submission and are also available at http://omnibus.uni-freiburg.de/~cs1010/susy.htm

Photon Radiation with MadDipole

We present the automation of a subtraction method for photon radiation using the dipole formalism within the MadGraph framework. The subtraction terms are implemented both in dimensional regularization and mass regularization for massless and massive cases and non-collinear-safe observables are accounted for.Comment: 23 pages, 2 figures, minor additions, references added, version published in JHE

Which sampling design to monitor saturated hydraulic conductivity?

Soil in a changing world is subject to both anthropogenic and environmental stresses. Soil monitoring is essential to assess the magnitude of changes in soil variables and how they affect ecosystem processes and human livelihoods. However, we cannot always be sure which sampling design is best for a given monitoring task. We employed a rotational stratified simple random sampling (rotStRS) for the estimation of temporal changes in the spatial mean of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) at three sites in central Panama in 2009, 2010 and 2011. To assess this design's efficiency we compared the resulting estimates of the spatial mean and variance for 2009 with those gained from stratified simple random sampling (StRS), which was effectively the data obtained on the first sampling time, and with an equivalent unexecuted simple random sampling (SRS). The poor performance of geometrical stratification and the weak predictive relationship between measurements of successive years yielded no advantage of sampling designs more complex than SRS. The failure of stratification may be attributed to the small large-scale variability of Ks. Revisiting previously sampled locations was not beneficial because of the large small-scale variability in combination with destructive sampling, resulting in poor consistency between revisited samples. We conclude that for our Ks monitoring scheme, repeated SRS is equally effective as rotStRS. Some problems of small-scale variability might be overcome by collecting several samples at close range to reduce the effect of small-scale variation. Finally, we give recommendations on the key factors to consider when deciding whether to use stratification and rotation in a soil monitoring scheme

Evolving temperature field in a fossil subduction channel during the transition from subduction to collision (Tauern Window, Eastern Alps)

We investigate the evolution of the three-dimensional thermal structure of a palaeo-subduction channel exposed in the Penninic units of the central Tauern Window (Eastern Alps). Structural and petrological observations reveal a sheath fold with an amplitude of some 20 km that formed under high-Pconditions (similar to 2 GPa). The fold is a composite structure that isoclinally folded the thrust of an ophiolitic nappe derived from Alpine Tethys Ocean onto a unit of the distal European continental margin, also affected by the high-Pconditions. This structural assemblage is preserved between two younger domes at either end of the Tauern Window. The domes deform isograds of theT-dominated Barrovian metamorphism that itself overprints the high-Pmetamorphism partly preserved in the sheath fold. Using Raman spectroscopy on carbonaceous material (RSCM), we are able to distinguish peak-temperature domains related to the original subduction metamorphism from domains associated with the later temperature-dominated (Barrovian) metamorphism. The distribution of RSCM temperatures in the Barrovian domain indicates a lateral and vertical decrease of peak temperature with increasing distance from the centres of the thermal domes. This represents a downward increase of palaeo-temperature, in line with previous studies. However, we observe the opposite palaeo-temperature trend in the lower limb of the sheath fold, namely an upward increase. We interpret this inverted palaeo-temperature domain as the relic of a subduction-related temperature field. Towards the central part of the sheath fold's upper limb, RSCM temperatures increase to a maximum of similar to 520 degrees C. Further upsection in the hangingwall of the sheath fold, palaeo-peak temperatures decrease to where they are indistinguishable from the peak temperatures of the overprinting Barrovian metamorphism. Peak-temperature contours of the subduction-related metamorphism are oriented roughly parallel to the folded nappe contacts and lithological layering. The contours close towards the northern, western and eastern parts of the fold, resulting in an eye-shaped, concentric pattern in cross-section. The temperature contour geometry therefore mimics the fold geometry itself, indicating that these contours were also folded in a sheath-like manner. We propose that this sheath-like pattern is the result of a two-stage process that reflects a change of the mode of nappe formation in the subduction zone from thrusting to fold nappe formation. First, thrusting of a hot oceanic nappe onto a colder continental nappe created an inverted peak-thermal gradient. Second, sheath folding of this composite nappe structure together with the previously established peak-temperature pattern during exhumation. This pattern was preserved because temperatures decreased during retrograde exhumation metamorphism and remained less than the subduction-related peak temperatures during the later Barrovian overprint. The fold ascended with diapir-like kinematics in the subduction channel