Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Solar System

Recent years have seen increasing efforts to directly measure some aspects of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic interaction in several astronomical scenarios in the solar system. After briefly overviewing the concept of gravitomagnetism from a theoretical point of view, we review the performed or proposed attempts to detect the Lense-Thirring effect affecting the orbital motions of natural and artificial bodies in the gravitational fields of the Sun, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. In particular, we will focus on the evaluation of the impact of several sources of systematic uncertainties of dynamical origin to realistically elucidate the present and future perspectives in directly measuring such an elusive relativistic effect.Comment: LaTex, 51 pages, 14 figures, 22 tables. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Science (ApSS). Some uncited references in the text now correctly quoted. One reference added. A footnote adde

Study of the doubly charmed tetraquark T+cc

Quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong force, describes interactions of coloured quarks and gluons and the formation of hadronic matter. Conventional hadronic matter consists of baryons and mesons made of three quarks and quark-antiquark pairs, respectively. Particles with an alternative quark content are known as exotic states. Here a study is reported of an exotic narrow state in the D0D0π+ mass spectrum just below the D*+D0 mass threshold produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The state is consistent with the ground isoscalar T+cc tetraquark with a quark content of ccu⎯⎯⎯d⎯⎯⎯ and spin-parity quantum numbers JP = 1+. Study of the DD mass spectra disfavours interpretation of the resonance as the isovector state. The decay structure via intermediate off-shell D*+ mesons is consistent with the observed D0π+ mass distribution. To analyse the mass of the resonance and its coupling to the D*D system, a dedicated model is developed under the assumption of an isoscalar axial-vector T+cc state decaying to the D*D channel. Using this model, resonance parameters including the pole position, scattering length, effective range and compositeness are determined to reveal important information about the nature of the T+cc state. In addition, an unexpected dependence of the production rate on track multiplicity is observed

Bayesian Methods for Neural Networks: Theory and Applications

this document. Before these are discussed however, perhaps we should have a tutorial on Bayesian probability theory and its application to model comparison problems. 2 Probability theory and Occam's razo

A Paidic Aesthetic: An Analysis of Games in the Ludic Pedagogy of Philippe Gaulier

This article analyses how Philippe Gaulier's use of play in performer training produces a particular type of ludic performance: a paidic aesthetic. Based on Roger Caillois' play theory, specifically the dialectical relation between the paidic (pleasurable play) and ludus (rule-bound, complex play), the analysis identifies how play forms (games) are intrinsic to Gaulier's pedagogy and the type of performance this produces. The author argues for an autotelic function of play forms, how these produce a ludic dialectic between paidia and ludus in order to demonstrate the function of games in Gaulier's performer training. Focusing on the production of pleasure infused play and the function of failure in training for clown, the aim of this article is to demonstrate how play theory can tease out the different components of ways of playing in order to develop understanding of the complexity and potential of ludic approaches to performer training