Search for a heavy gauge boson decaying to a charged lepton and a neutrino in 1 fb^(−1) of pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The ATLAS detector at the LHC is used to search for high-mass states, such as heavy charged gauge bosons (W'), decaying to a charged lepton (electron or muon) and a neutrino. Results are presented based on the analysis of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.04 fb^(−1). No excess above Standard Model expectations is observed. A W' with Sequential Standard Model couplings is excluded at the 95% confidence level for masses up to 2.15 Te

Non-commutative holonomies in 2+1 LQG and Kauffman's brackets

We investigate the canonical quantization of 2+1 gravity with {\Lambda} > 0 in the canonical framework of LQG. A natural regularization of the constraints of 2+1 gravity can be defined in terms of the holonomies of A\pm = A \PM \surd{\Lambda}e, where the SU(2) connection A and the triad field e are the conjugated variables of the theory. As a first step towards the quantization of these constraints we study the canonical quantization of the holonomy of the connection A_{\lambda} = A + {\lambda}e acting on spin network links of the kinematical Hilbert space of LQG. We provide an explicit construction of the quantum holonomy operator, exhibiting a close relationship between the action of the quantum holonomy at a crossing and Kauffman's q-deformed crossing identity. The crucial difference is that the result is completely described in terms of standard SU(2) spin network states.Comment: 4 pages; Proceedings of Loops'11, Madrid, to appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

A practical guide and software for analysing pairwise comparison experiments

Most popular strategies to capture subjective judgments from humans involve the construction of a unidimensional relative measurement scale, representing order preferences or judgments about a set of objects or conditions. This information is generally captured by means of direct scoring, either in the form of a Likert or cardinal scale, or by comparative judgments in pairs or sets. In this sense, the use of pairwise comparisons is becoming increasingly popular because of the simplicity of this experimental procedure. However, this strategy requires non-trivial data analysis to aggregate the comparison ranks into a quality scale and analyse the results, in order to take full advantage of the collected data. This paper explains the process of translating pairwise comparison data into a measurement scale, discusses the benefits and limitations of such scaling methods and introduces a publicly available software in Matlab. We improve on existing scaling methods by introducing outlier analysis, providing methods for computing confidence intervals and statistical testing and introducing a prior, which reduces estimation error when the number of observers is low. Most of our examples focus on image quality assessment.Comment: Code available at https://github.com/mantiuk/pwcm

Measurement of the Υ (1S) production cross-section in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV in ATLAS

A measurement of the cross-section for Υ (1S)→μ^+μ^− production in proton–proton collisions at centre of mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The cross-section is measured as a function of the Υ (1S) transverse momentum in two bins of rapidity, |y^(Υ(1S))| 4 GeV and pseudorapidity |η^μ| < 2.5 in order to reduce theoretical uncertainties on the acceptance, which depend on the poorly known polarisation. The results are based on an integrated luminosity of 1.13 pb^(−1), collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The cross-section measurement is compared to theoretical predictions: it agrees to within a factor of two with a prediction based on the NRQCD model including colour-singlet and colour-octet matrix elements as implemented in Pythia while it disagrees by up to a factor of ten with the next-to-leading order prediction based on the colour-singlet model

Search for pair production of first or second generation leptoquarks in proton-proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV using the ATLAS detector at the LHC

This paper describes searches for the pair production of first or second generation scalar leptoquarks using 35  pb^(-1) of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS detector at √s=7  TeV. Leptoquarks are searched in events with two oppositely-charged muons or electrons and at least two jets, and in events with one muon or electron, missing transverse momentum and at least two jets. After event selection, the observed yields are consistent with the predicted backgrounds. Leptoquark production is excluded at the 95% CL for masses M_(LQ)<376 (319) GeV and M_(LQ)<422 (362) GeV for first and second generation scalar leptoquarks, respectively, when assuming the branching fraction of a leptoquark to a charged lepton is equal to 1.0 (0.5)

Limits on the production of the standard model Higgs boson in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for the Standard Model Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) running at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is reported, based on a total integrated luminosity of up to 40 pb^(−1) collected by the ATLAS detector in 2010. Several Higgs boson decay channels: H→γγ, H→ZZ^((∗))→ℓℓℓℓ, H→ZZ→ℓℓνν, H→ZZ→ℓℓqq, H→WW^((∗))→ℓνℓν and H→WW→ℓνqq (ℓ is e, μ) are combined in a mass range from 110 GeV to 600 GeV. The highest sensitivity is achieved in the mass range between 160 GeV and 170 GeV, where the expected 95% CL exclusion sensitivity is at Higgs boson production cross sections 2.3 times the Standard Model prediction. Upper limits on the cross section for its production are determined. Models with a fourth generation of heavy leptons and quarks with Standard Model-like couplings to the Higgs boson are also investigated and are excluded at 95% CL for a Higgs boson mass in the range from 140 GeV to 185 GeV

Ex Ante Impact Assessment of Policies Affecting Land Use, Part B: Application of the Analytical Framework

The use of science-based tools for impact assessment has increasingly gained focus in addressing the complexity of interactions between environment, society, and economy. For integrated assessment of policies affecting land use, an analytical framework was developed. The aim of our work was to apply the analytical framework for specific scenario cases and in combination with quantitative and qualitative application methods. The analytical framework was tested for two cases involving the ex ante impact assessment of: (1) a European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) financial reform scenario employing a modeling approach and combined with a comprehensive indicator analysis and valuation; and (2) a regional bioenergy policy scenario, employing a fully participatory approach. The results showed that European land use in general is less sensitive to changes in the Common Agricultural Policy, but in the context of regions there can be significant impacts on the functions of land use. In general, the implementation of the analytical framework for impact assessment proved to be doable with both methods, i.e., with the quantitative modeling and with the qualitative participatory approach. A key advantage of using the system of linked quantitative models is that it makes possible the simultaneous consideration of all relevant sectors of the economy without abstaining from a great level of detail for sectors of particular interest. Other advantages lie in the incontestable character of the results. Based on neutral, existing data with a fixed set of settings and regions, an absolute comparability and reproducibility throughout Europe can be maintained. Analyzing the pros and cons of both approaches showed that they could be used complementarily rather than be seen as competing alternatives

Explosive Events and the Evolution of the Photospheric Magnetic Field

Transition region explosive events have long been suggested as direct signatures of magnetic reconnection in the solar atmosphere. In seeking further observational evidence to support this interpretation, we study the relation between explosive events and the evolution of the solar magnetic field as seen in line-of-sight photospheric magnetograms. We find that about 38% of events show changes of the magnetic structure in the photosphere at the location of an explosive event over a time period of 1 h. We also discuss potential ambiguities in the analysis of high sensitivity magnetograms