141 research outputs found
Distinguishing regional from within-codon rate heterogeneity in DNA sequence alignments
We present an improved phylogenetic factorial hidden Markov model (FHMM) for detecting two types of mosaic structures in DNA sequence alignments, related to (1) recombination and (2) rate heterogeneity. The focus of the present work is on improving the modelling of the latter aspect. Earlier papers have modelled different degrees of rate heterogeneity with separate hidden states of the FHMM. This approach fails to appreciate the intrinsic difference between two types of rate heterogeneity: long-range regional effects, which are potentially related to differences in the selective pressure, and the short-term periodic patterns within the codons, which merely capture the signature of the genetic code. We propose an improved model that explicitly distinguishes between these two effects, and we assess its performance on a set of simulated DNA sequence alignments
SO(10) unified models and soft leptogenesis
Motivated by the fact that, in some realistic models combining SO(10) GUTs
and flavour symmetries, it is not possible to achieve the required baryon
asymmetry through the CP asymmetry generated in the decay of right-handed
neutrinos, we take a fresh look on how deep this connection is in SO(10). The
common characteristics of these models are that they use the see-saw with
right-handed neutrinos, predict a normal hierarchy of masses for the neutrinos
observed in oscillating experiments and in the basis where the right-handed
Majorana mass is diagonal, the charged lepton mixings are tiny.
In addition these models link the up-quark Yukawa matrix to the neutrino
Yukawa matrix Y^\nu with the special feature of Y^\nu_{11}-> 0 Using this
condition, we find that the required baryon asymmetry of the Universe can be
explained by the soft leptogenesis using the soft B parameter of the second
lightest right-handed neutrino whose mass turns out to be around 10^8 GeV. It
is pointed out that a natural way to do so is to use no-scale supergravity
where the value of B ~1 GeV is set through gauge-loop corrections.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figures. Added references, new appendix of a relevant fit
and improved comment
An Extreme Solar Event of 20 January 2005: Properties of the Flare and the Origin of Energetic Particles
The extreme solar and SEP event of 20 January 2005 is analyzed from two
perspectives. Firstly, we study features of the main phase of the flare, when
the strongest emissions from microwaves up to 200 MeV gamma-rays were observed.
Secondly, we relate our results to a long-standing controversy on the origin of
SEPs arriving at Earth, i.e., acceleration in flares, or shocks ahead of CMEs.
All emissions from microwaves up to 2.22 MeV line gamma-rays during the main
flare phase originated within a compact structure located just above sunspot
umbrae. A huge radio burst with a frequency maximum at 30 GHz was observed,
indicating the presence of a large number of energetic electrons in strong
magnetic fields. Thus, protons and electrons responsible for flare emissions
during its main phase were accelerated within the magnetic field of the active
region. The leading, impulsive parts of the GLE, and highest-energy gamma-rays
identified with pi^0-decay emission, are similar and correspond in time. The
origin of the pi^0-decay gamma-rays is argued to be the same as that of lower
energy emissions. We estimate the sky-plane speed of the CME to be 2000-2600
km/s, i.e., high, but of the same order as preceding non-GLE-related CMEs from
the same active region. Hence, the flare itself rather than the CME appears to
determine the extreme nature of this event. We conclude that the acceleration,
at least, to sub-relativistic energies, of electrons and protons, responsible
for both the flare emissions and the leading spike of SEP/GLE by 07 UT, are
likely to have occurred simultaneously within the flare region. We do not rule
out a probable contribution from particles accelerated in the CME-driven shock
for the leading GLE spike, which seemed to dominate later on.Comment: 34 pages, 14 Postscript figures. Solar Physics, accepted. A typo
corrected. The original publication is available at
http://www.springerlink.co
Dimensionless cosmology
Although it is well known that any consideration of the variations of
fundamental constants should be restricted to their dimensionless combinations,
the literature on variations of the gravitational constant is entirely
dimensionful. To illustrate applications of this to cosmology, we explicitly
give a dimensionless version of the parameters of the standard cosmological
model, and describe the physics of Big Bang Neucleosynthesis and recombination
in a dimensionless manner. The issue that appears to have been missed in many
studies is that in cosmology the strength of gravity is bound up in the
cosmological equations, and the epoch at which we live is a crucial part of the
model. We argue that it is useful to consider the hypothetical situation of
communicating with another civilization (with entirely different units),
comparing only dimensionless constants, in order to decide if we live in a
Universe governed by precisely the same physical laws. In this thought
experiment, we would also have to compare epochs, which can be defined by
giving the value of any {\it one} of the evolving cosmological parameters. By
setting things up carefully in this way one can avoid inconsistent results when
considering variable constants, caused by effectively fixing more than one
parameter today. We show examples of this effect by considering microwave
background anisotropies, being careful to maintain dimensionlessness
throughout. We present Fisher matrix calculations to estimate how well the fine
structure constants for electromagnetism and gravity can be determined with
future microwave background experiments. We highlight how one can be misled by
simply adding to the usual cosmological parameter set
Gluon polarization in the nucleon from quasi-real photoproduction of high-pT hadron pairs
We present a determination of the gluon polarization Delta G/G in the
nucleon, based on the helicity asymmetry of quasi-real photoproduction events,
Q^2<1(GeV/c)^2, with a pair of large transverse-momentum hadrons in the final
state. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV
polarized muon beam scattered on a polarized 6-LiD target. The helicity
asymmetry for the selected events is = 0.002 +- 0.019(stat.) +-
0.003(syst.). From this value, we obtain in a leading-order QCD analysis Delta
G/G=0.024 +- 0.089(stat.) +- 0.057(syst.) at x_g = 0.095 and mu^2 =~ 3
(GeV}/c)^2.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
The Deuteron Spin-dependent Structure Function g1d and its First Moment
We present a measurement of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function
g1d based on the data collected by the COMPASS experiment at CERN during the
years 2002-2004. The data provide an accurate evaluation for Gamma_1^d, the
first moment of g1d(x), and for the matrix element of the singlet axial
current, a0. The results of QCD fits in the next to leading order (NLO) on all
g1 deep inelastic scattering data are also presented. They provide two
solutions with the gluon spin distribution function Delta G positive or
negative, which describe the data equally well. In both cases, at Q^2 = 3
(GeV/c)^2 the first moment of Delta G is found to be of the order of 0.2 - 0.3
in absolute value.Comment: fits redone using MRST2004 instead of MRSV1998 for G(x), correlation
matrix adde
A new measurement of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries on a transversely polarised deuteron target
New high precision measurements of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries of
charged hadrons produced in deep-inelastic scattering of muons on a
transversely polarised 6LiD target are presented. The data were taken in 2003
and 2004 with the COMPASS spectrometer using the muon beam of the CERN SPS at
160 GeV/c. Both the Collins and Sivers asymmetries turn out to be compatible
with zero, within the present statistical errors, which are more than a factor
of 2 smaller than those of the published COMPASS results from the 2002 data.
The final results from the 2002, 2003 and 2004 runs are compared with naive
expectations and with existing model calculations.Comment: 40 pages, 28 figure
Measurement of the Spin Structure of the Deuteron in the DIS Region
We present a new measurement of the longitudinal spin asymmetry A_1^d and the
spin-dependent structure function g_1^d of the deuteron in the range 1 GeV^2 <
Q^2 < 100 GeV^2 and 0.004< x <0.7. The data were obtained by the COMPASS
experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV polarised muon beam and a large polarised
6-LiD target. The results are in agreement with those from previous experiments
and improve considerably the statistical accuracy in the region 0.004 < x <
0.03.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, subm. to PLB, revised: author list, Fig. 4,
details adde
Spin asymmetry A_1^d and the spin-dependent structure function g_1^d of the deuteron at low values of x and Q^2
We present a precise measurement of the deuteron longitudinal spin asymmetry
A_1^d and of the deuteron spin-dependent structure function g_1^d at Q^2 < 1
GeV^2 and 4*10^-5 < x < 2.5*10^-2 based on the data collected by the COMPASS
experiment at CERN during the years 2002 and 2003. The statistical precision is
tenfold better than that of the previous measurement in this region. The
measured A_1^d and g_1^d are found to be consistent with zero in the whole
range of x.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure
The COMPASS Experiment at CERN
The COMPASS experiment makes use of the CERN SPS high-intensitymuon and
hadron beams for the investigation of the nucleon spin structure and the
spectroscopy of hadrons. One or more outgoing particles are detected in
coincidence with the incoming muon or hadron. A large polarized target inside a
superconducting solenoid is used for the measurements with the muon beam.
Outgoing particles are detected by a two-stage, large angle and large momentum
range spectrometer. The setup is built using several types of tracking
detectors, according to the expected incident rate, required space resolution
and the solid angle to be covered. Particle identification is achieved using a
RICH counter and both hadron and electromagnetic calorimeters. The setup has
been successfully operated from 2002 onwards using a muon beam. Data with a
hadron beam were also collected in 2004. This article describes the main
features and performances of the spectrometer in 2004; a short summary of the
2006 upgrade is also given.Comment: 84 papes, 74 figure
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