Wide Area Network Access to CMS Data Using the Lustre Filesystem

In this paper, we explore the use of the Lustre cluster filesystem over the wide area network to access Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) data stored on physical devices located hundreds of kilometres away. We describe the experimental testbed and report on the I/O performance of applications writing and reading data on the distributed Lustre filesystem established across the WAN. We compare the I/O performance of a CMS application to the performance obtained with IOzone, a standard benchmark tool. We then examine the I/O performance of the CMS application running multiple processes on a single server. And compare the Lustre results to results obtained on data stored on local filesystems. Our measurements reveal that the IOzone benchmark tool, accessing data sequentially, can saturate the Gbps network link that connects our Lustre client in Miami Florida to the Lustre storage located in Gainesville, Florida. We also find that the I/O rates of the CMS application is significantly less than what can be obtained with IOzone for sequential access to data

AMI observations of Lynds Dark Nebulae: further evidence for anomalous cm-wave emission

Observations at 14.2 to 17.9 GHz made with the AMI Small Array towards fourteen Lynds Dark Nebulae with a resolution of 2' are reported. These sources are selected from the SCUBA observations of Visser et al. (2001) as small angular diameter clouds well matched to the synthesized beam of the AMI Small Array. Comparison of the AMI observations with radio observations at lower frequencies with matched uv-plane coverage is made, in order to search for any anomalous excess emission which can be attributed to spinning dust. Possible emission from spinning dust is identified as a source within a 2' radius of the Scuba position of the Lynds dark nebula, exhibiting an excess with respect to lower frequency radio emission. We find five sources which show a possible spinning dust component in their spectra. These sources have rising spectral indices in the frequency range 14.2--17.9 GHz. Of these five one has already been reported, L1111, we report one new definite detection, L675, and three new probable detections (L944, L1103 and L1246). The relative certainty of these detections is assessed on the basis of three criteria: the extent of the emission, the coincidence of the emission with the Scuba position and the likelihood of alternative explanations for the excess. Extended microwave emission makes the likelihood of the anomalous emission arising as a consequence of a radio counterpart to a protostar or a proto-planetary disk unlikely. We use a 2' radius in order to be consistent with the IRAS identifications of dark nebulae (Parker 1988), and our third criterion is used in the case of L1103 where a high flux density at 850 microns relative to the FIR data suggests a more complicated emission spectrum.Comment: submitted MNRA

Asteroseismology and Interferometry

Asteroseismology provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Recent developments, including the first systematic studies of solar-like pulsators, have boosted the impact of this field of research within Astrophysics and have led to a significant increase in the size of the research community. In the present paper we start by reviewing the basic observational and theoretical properties of classical and solar-like pulsators and present results from some of the most recent and outstanding studies of these stars. We centre our review on those classes of pulsators for which interferometric studies are expected to provide a significant input. We discuss current limitations to asteroseismic studies, including difficulties in mode identification and in the accurate determination of global parameters of pulsating stars, and, after a brief review of those aspects of interferometry that are most relevant in this context, anticipate how interferometric observations may contribute to overcome these limitations. Moreover, we present results of recent pilot studies of pulsating stars involving both asteroseismic and interferometric constraints and look into the future, summarizing ongoing efforts concerning the development of future instruments and satellite missions which are expected to have an impact in this field of research.Comment: Version as published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, Volume 14, Issue 3-4, pp. 217-36

A reference time scale for Site U1385 (Shackleton Site) on the SW Iberian Margin

Variations in sediment color contain very strong precession signals at Site U1385, and the amplitude modulation of these cycles provides a powerful tool for developing an orbitally-tuned age model. We tuned the U1385 record by correlating peaks in L* to the local summer insolation maxima at 37°N. The benthic δ18O record of Site U1385, when placed on the tuned age model, generally agrees with other time scales within their respective chronologic uncertainties. The age model is transferred to down-core data to produce a continuous time series of log(Ca/Ti) that reflect relative changes of biogenic carbonate and detrital sediment. Biogenic carbonate increases during interglacial and interstadial climate states and decreases during glacial and stadial periods. Much of the variance in the log(Ca/Ti) is explained by a linear combination of orbital frequencies (precession, tilt and eccentricity), whereas the residual signal reflects suborbital climate variability. The strong correlation between suborbital log(Ca/Ti) variability and Greenland temperature over the last glacial cycle at Site U1385 suggests that this signal can be used as a proxy for millennial-scale climate variability over the past 1.5 Ma. Millennial climate variability, as expressed by log(Ca/Ti) at Site U1385, was a persistent feature of glacial climates over the past 1.5 Ma, including glacial periods of the early Pleistocene (‘41-kyr world’) when boundary conditions differed significantly from those of the late Pleistocene (‘100-kyr world’). Suborbital variability was suppressed during interglacial stages and enhanced during glacial periods, especially when benthic δ18O surpassed ~ 3.3–3.5‰. Each glacial inception was marked by appearance of strong millennial variability and each deglaciation was preceded by a terminal stadial event. Suborbital variability may be a symptomatic feature of glacial climate or, alternatively, may play a more active role in the inception and/or termination of glacial cycles

Measurement of D-s(+) product ion and nuclear modification factor in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV

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phi-Meson production at forward rapidity in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV and in pp collisions at root s=2.76 TeV

The first study of phi-meson production in p-Pb collisions at forward and backward rapidity, at a nucleonnucleon centre-of-mass energy root s(NN)= 5.02 TeV, has been performed with the ALICE apparatus at the LHC. The phi-mesons have been identified in the dimuon decay channel in the transverse momentum (p(T)) range 1 <p(T) <7GeV/c, both in the p-going (2.03 <y <3.53) and the Pb-going (-4.46 <y <-2.96) directions - where ystands for the rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass - the integrated luminosity amounting to 5.01 +/- 0.19nb(-1) and 5.81 +/- 0.20nb(-1), respectively, for the two data samples. Differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity are presented. The forward-backward ratio for f-meson production is measured for 2.96Peer reviewe

Measurement of transverse energy at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

We report the transverse energy (ET) measured with ALICE at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV as a function of centrality. The transverse energy was measured using identified single-particle tracks. The measurement was cross checked using the electromagnetic calorimeters and the transverse momentum distributions of identified particles previously reported by ALICE. The results are compared to theoretical models as well as to results from other experiments. The mean ET per unit pseudorapidity (eta), , in 0%-5% central collisions is 1737 +/- 6(stat.) +/- 97(sys.) GeV. We find a similar centrality dependence of the shape of as a function of the number of participating nucleons to that seen at lower energies. The growth in at the LHC energies exceeds extrapolations of low-energy data. We observe a nearly linear scaling of with the number of quark participants. With the canonical assumption of a 1 fm/c formation time, we estimate that the energy density in 0%-5% central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV is 12.3 +/- 1.0 GeV/fm(3) and that the energy density at the most central 80 fm(2) of the collision is at least 21.5 +/- 1.7 GeV/fm(3). This is roughly 2.3 times that observed in 0%-5% central Au-Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV.Peer reviewe

K0S and Λ production in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−−√=2.76 TeV

The ALICE measurement of K0S and Λ production at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN−−−√=2.76  TeV is presented. The transverse momentum (pT) spectra are shown for several collision centrality intervals and in the pT range from 0.4  GeV/c (0.6  GeV/c for Λ) to 12  GeV/c. The pT dependence of the Λ/K0S ratios exhibits maxima in the vicinity of 3  GeV/c, and the positions of the maxima shift towards higher pT with increasing collision centrality. The magnitude of these maxima increases by almost a factor of three between most peripheral and most central Pb-Pb collisions. This baryon excess at intermediate pT is not observed in pp interactions at s√=0.9  TeV and at s√=7  TeV. Qualitatively, the baryon enhancement in heavy-ion collisions is expected from radial flow. However, the measured pT spectra above 2  GeV/c progressively decouple from hydrodynamical-model calculations. For higher values of pT, models that incorporate the influence of the medium on the fragmentation and hadronization processes describe qualitatively the pT dependence of the Λ/K0S ratio

Azimuthally Differential Pion Femtoscopy in Pb-Pb Collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV

We present the first azimuthally differential measurements of the pion source size relative to the second harmonic event plane in Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon-nucleon pair of root(NN)-N-s = 2.76 TeV. The measurements have been performed in the centrality range 0%-50% and for pion pair transverse momenta 0.2 <k(T) <0.7 GeV/c. We find that the R-side and R-out radii, which characterize the pion source size in the directions perpendicular and parallel to the pion transverse momentum, oscillate out of phase, similar to what was observed at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The final-state source eccentricity, estimated via R-side oscillations, is found to be significantly smaller than the initial-state source eccentricity, but remains positive-indicating that even after a stronger expansion in the in-plane direction, the pion source at the freeze-out is still elongated in the out-of-plane direction. The 3 + 1D hydrodynamic calculations are in qualitative agreement with observed centrality and transverse momentum R-side oscillations, but systematically underestimate the oscillation magnitude.Peer reviewe

Correlated Event-by-Event Fluctuations of Flow Harmonics in Pb-Pb Collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV

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