Calculation of the two-photon decay width of the f_0(980) scalar meson

The applicability of the quasi-static approximation for calculating the two-photon annihilation rate of the scalar f_0(980) meson envisaged as a K\bar K molecule is critically re-examined. It is shown that the validity of this approximation depends on the detailed interplay between the momentum dependence of the annihilation amplitude and the momentum transform of the bound state wave function of the annihilating pair. The approximation becomes invalid when these two scales of variation are similar. An improved method of calculation based on the inclusion of electromagnetic corrections to the kernel of the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the interacting K\bar K pair is outlined to cover this case and applied to re-evaluate the two-photon decay width for f_0(980) in a one boson exchange model for the interkaon interaction. The corrections are significant and result in a much better agreement with experiment.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Fig.3 replaced. Additional remarks with reference

Plasma Wave Properties of the Schwarzschild Magnetosphere in a Veselago Medium

We re-formulate the 3+1 GRMHD equations for the Schwarzschild black hole in a Veselago medium. Linear perturbation in rotating (non-magnetized and magnetized) plasma is introduced and their Fourier analysis is considered. We discuss wave properties with the help of wave vector, refractive index and change in refractive index in the form of graphs. It is concluded that some waves move away from the event horizon in this unusual medium. We conclude that for the rotating non-magnetized plasma, our results confirm the presence of Veselago medium while the rotating magnetized plasma does not provide any evidence for this medium.Comment: 20 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophys. Space Sc

Wave function of the Universe in the early stage of its evolution

In quantum cosmological models, constructed in the framework of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metrics, a nucleation of the Universe with its further expansion is described as a tunneling transition through an effective barrier between regions with small and large values of the scale factor $a$ at non-zero (or zero) energy. The approach for describing this tunneling consists of constructing a wave function satisfying an appropriate boundary condition. There are various ways for defining the boundary condition that lead to different estimates of the barrier penetrability and the tunneling time. In order to describe the escape from the tunneling region as accurately as possible and to construct the total wave function on the basis of its two partial solutions unambiguously, we use the tunneling boundary condition that the total wave function must represent only the outgoing wave at the point of escape from the barrier, where the following definition for the wave is introduced: the wave is represented by the wave function whose modulus changes minimally under a variation of the scale factor $a$. We construct a new method for a direct non-semiclassical calculation of the total stationary wave function of the Universe, analyze the behavior of this wave function in the tunneling region, near the escape point and in the asymptotic region, and estimate the barrier penetrability. We observe oscillations of modulus of wave function in the external region starting from the turning point which decrease with increasing of $a$ and which are not shown in semiclassical calculations. The period of such an oscillation decreases uniformly with increasing $a$ and can be used as a fully quantum dynamical characteristic of the expansion of the Universe.Comment: 19 pages, 21 files for 10 EPS figures, LaTeX svjour style. The Sec.2 (formalism of Wheeler-De Witt equation) is reduced. In Sec.3.1 definition of the outgoing wave from barrier is defined more accurately. In Sec.4.1 semiclassical calculations of wavew function and penetrability are performed and comparison with results in fully quantum approach is adde

The ecology of sex explains patterns of helping in arthropod societies

Authors thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NGD), the Clarendon Fund (NGD) and the Natural Environment Research Council (LR, NE/K009516/1; AG, NE/K009524/1) for funding.Across arthropod societies, sib-rearing (e.g. nursing or nest defence) may be provided by females, by males or by both sexes. According to Hamilton's ‘haplodiploidy hypothesis’, this diversity reflects the relatedness consequences of diploid vs. haplodiploid inheritance. However, an alternative ‘preadaptation hypothesis’ instead emphasises an interplay of ecology and the co-option of ancestral, sexually dimorphic traits for sib-rearing. The preadaptation hypothesis has recently received empirical support, but remains to be formalised. Here, we mathematically model the coevolution of sex-specific helping and sex allocation, contrasting these hypotheses. We find that ploidy per se has little effect. Rather, the ecology of sex shapes patterns of helping: sex-specific preadaptation strongly influences who helps; a freely adjustable sex ratio magnifies sex biases and promotes helping; and sib-mating, promiscuity, and reproductive autonomy also modulate the sex and abundance of helpers. An empirical survey reveals that patterns of sex-specific helping in arthropod taxa are consistent with the preadaptation hypothesis.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Stellar structure and compact objects before 1940: Towards relativistic astrophysics

Since the mid-1920s, different strands of research used stars as "physics laboratories" for investigating the nature of matter under extreme densities and pressures, impossible to realize on Earth. To trace this process this paper is following the evolution of the concept of a dense core in stars, which was important both for an understanding of stellar evolution and as a testing ground for the fast-evolving field of nuclear physics. In spite of the divide between physicists and astrophysicists, some key actors working in the cross-fertilized soil of overlapping but different scientific cultures formulated models and tentative theories that gradually evolved into more realistic and structured astrophysical objects. These investigations culminated in the first contact with general relativity in 1939, when J. Robert Oppenheimer and his students George Volkoff and Hartland Snyder systematically applied the theory to the dense core of a collapsing neutron star. This pioneering application of Einstein's theory to an astrophysical compact object can be regarded as a milestone in the path eventually leading to the emergence of relativistic astrophysics in the early 1960s.Comment: 83 pages, 4 figures, submitted to the European Physical Journal

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS

We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a significant distance from their production point into a final state containing charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version to appear in Physics Letters

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter

Measurement of the inclusive isolated prompt photon cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)= 7 TeV using 35 pb-1 of ATLAS data

A measurement of the differential cross-section for the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is presented. The measurement covers the pseudorapidity ranges |eta|<1.37 and 1.52<=|eta|<2.37 in the transverse energy range 45<=E_T<400GeV. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 35 pb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The yields of the signal photons are measured using a data-driven technique, based on the observed distribution of the hadronic energy in a narrow cone around the photon candidate and the photon selection criteria. The results are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations and found to be in good agreement over four orders of magnitude in cross-section.Comment: 7 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 4 tables, final version published in Physics Letters