Drell-Yan Massive Lepton-Pair's Angular Distributions at Large QTQ_T

By measuring Drell-Yan massive lepton-pair's angular distributions, we can identify the polarization of the virtual photon of invariant mass $Q$ which decays immediately into the lepton-pair. In terms of a modified QCD factorization formula for Drell-Yan process, which is valid even if $Q_T\gg Q$, we calculate the massive lepton-pair's angular distributions at large $Q_T$. We find that the virtual photons produced at high $Q_T$ are more likely to be transversely polarized. We discuss the implications of this finding to the J/$\psi$ mesons' polarization measured recently at Fermilab.Comment: Latex, 10 pages including 4 figure

Otitis Media in Sperm-Associated Antigen 6 (Spag6)-Deficient Mice

Mammalian SPAG6 protein is localized to the axoneme central apparatus, and it is required for normal flagella and cilia motility. Recent studies demonstrated that the protein also regulates ciliogenesis and cilia polarity in the epithelial cells of brain ventricles and trachea. Motile cilia are also present in the epithelial cells of the middle ear and Eustachian tubes, where the ciliary system participates in the movement of serous fluid and mucus in the middle ear. Cilia defects are associated with otitis media (OM), presumably due to an inability to efficiently transport fluid, mucus and particles including microorganisms. We investigated the potential role of SPAG6 in the middle ear and Eustachian tubes by studying mice with a targeted mutation in theSpag6 gene. SPAG6 is expressed in the ciliated cells of middle ear epithelial cells. The orientation of the ciliary basal feet was random in the middle ear epithelial cells of Spag6-deficient mice, and there was an associated disrupted localization of the planar cell polarity (PCP) protein, FZD6. These features are associated with disordered cilia orientation, confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, which leads to uncoordinated cilia beating. The Spag6 mutant mice were also prone to develop OM. However, there were no significant differences in bacterial populations, epithelial goblet cell density, mucin expression and Eustachian tube angle between the mutant and wild-type mice, suggesting that OM was due to accumulation of fluid and mucus secondary to the ciliary dysfunction. Our studies demonstrate a role for Spag6 in the pathogenesis of OM in mice, possibly through its role in the regulation of cilia/basal body polarity through the PCP-dependent mechanisms in the middle ear and Eustachian tubes

The charged-hadron/pion ratio at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

The hadron/pion ratio is calculated in 200 GeV AuAu collisions at midrapidity, applying pQCD and non-universal transverse-momentum broadening. Arguments are presented for such non-universality, and the idea is implemented in a model, which explains the enhancement of the hadron/pion ratio in central AuAu collisions. The model also describes the qualitative difference between the recently-measured dAu nuclear enhancement factors for pions and charged hadrons.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

QCD Factorized Drell-Yan Cross Section at Large Transverse Momentum

We derive a new factorization formula in perturbative quantum chromodynamics for the Drell-Yan massive lepton-pair cross section as a function of the transverse momentum $Q_T$ of the pair. When $Q_T$ is much larger than the pair's invariant mass $Q$, this factorization formula systematically resums the logarithmic contributions of the type $\alpha_s^m \ln^m(Q_T^2/Q^2)$ to all orders in the strong coupling $\alpha_s$. When $Q_T\sim Q$, our formula yields the same Drell-Yan cross section as conventional fixed order QCD perturbation theory. We show that resummation is important when the collision energy $\sqrt{S}$ is large enough and $Q_T\gg Q$, and we argue that perturbative expansions are more stable and reliable in terms of the modified factorization formula.Comment: 36 pages, latex, including 16 figure

Spatial variations of N2O fluxes across the water‐air interface of mariculture ponds in a subtropical estuary in southeast China

While aquaculture ponds are potentially important sources of atmospheric N2O, the magnitude and variability of N2O concentrations and fluxes both within and across the ponds remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the small‐scale spatial variations of dissolved N2O concentrations in water and N2O fluxes across the water‐air interface from three mariculture ponds in a subtropical estuary in southeast China. Our results showed that the dissolved concentrations and diffusive fluxes of N2O in the shrimp ponds ranged between 2.3–19.2 nM and 16.4–589.7 nmol m−2 hr−1, respectively, over the culture period. Significant variations of N2O concentrations and fluxes were observed within the ponds, with higher values being observed in the aeration area that could be attributed to the high rates of nitrification in the water column, as well as sediment N2O production and diffusive flux into the overlying water. Also, N2O concentrations and fluxes varied significantly among the three ponds as a result of the difference in N‐NO3− and N‐NH4+ concentrations in the water column. The large fine‐scale spatial variations of N2O concentrations and fluxes observed in our aquaculture ponds suggested that management practices such as aeration and bait feeding could largely affect the extent that aquaculture activities have on N2O emissions and climate change through their influence on the physicochemical environment (e.g., oxygen and N‐NH4+ concentrations) of the ponds

Nuclear dependence coefficient α(A,qT)\alpha(A,q_T) for the Drell-Yan and J/ψ\psi production

Define the nuclear dependence coefficient $\alpha(A,q_T)$ in terms of ratio of transverse momentum spectrum in hadron-nucleus and in hadron-nucleon collisions: $\frac{d\sigma^{hA}}{dq_T^2}/ \frac{d\sigma^{hN}}{dq_T^2}\equiv A^{\alpha(A,q_T)}$. We argue that in small $q_T$ region, the $\alpha(A,q_T)$ for the Drell-Yan and J/$\psi$ production is given by a universal function:\ $a+b q_T^2$, where parameters a and b are completely determined by either calculable quantities or independently measurable physical observables. We demonstrate that this universal function $\alpha(A,q_T)$ is insensitive to the A for normal nuclear targets. For a color deconfined nuclear medium, the $\alpha(A,q_T)$ becomes strongly dependent on the A. We also show that our $\alpha(A,q_T)$ for the Drell-Yan process is naturally linked to perturbatively calculated $\alpha(A,q_T)$ at large $q_T$ without any free parameters, and the $\alpha(A,q_T)$ is consistent with E772 data for all $q_T$.Comment: latex, 28 pages, 10 figures, updated two figures, and add more discussion

Role of the nonperturbative input in QCD resummed Drell-Yan QTQ_T-distributions

We analyze the role of the nonperturbative input in the Collins, Soper, and Sterman (CSS)'s $b$-space QCD resummation formalism for Drell-Yan transverse momentum ($Q_T$) distributions, and investigate the predictive power of the CSS formalism. We find that the predictive power of the CSS formalism has a strong dependence on the collision energy $\sqrt{S}$ in addition to its well-known $Q^2$ dependence, and the $\sqrt{S}$ dependence improves the predictive power at collider energies. We show that a reliable extrapolation from perturbatively resummed $b$-space distributions to the nonperturbative large $b$ region is necessary to ensure the correct $Q_T$ distributions. By adding power corrections to the renormalization group equations in the CSS formalism, we derive a new extrapolation formalism. We demonstrate that at collider energies, the CSS resummation formalism plus our extrapolation has an excellent predictive power for $W$ and $Z$ production at all transverse momenta $Q_T\le Q$. We also show that the $b$-space resummed $Q_T$ distributions provide a good description of Drell-Yan data at fixed target energies.Comment: Latex, 43 pages including 15 figures; typos were correcte

Universality in nuclear dependence coefficient α(qT)\alpha(q_T)

We derive the nuclear dependence coefficient $\alpha(q_T)$ for Drell-Yan and J/$\psi$ production. We show that at small $q_T$, the $\alpha(q_T)$ is given by an universal functional form: $\alpha(q_T)=a+b q_T^2$, and the parameters $a$ and $b$ are completely determined by either perturbatively calculable or independently measurable quantities. This universal functional form $\alpha(q_T)$ is insensitive to the $A$, and is consistent with existing data.Comment: latex, 4 pages, 3 figures, slightly revise