What has NMR taught us about stripes and inhomogeneity?

The purpose of this brief invited paper is to summarize what we have (not) learned from NMR on stripes and inhomogeneity in La{2-x}Sr{x}CuO{4}. We explain that the reality is far more complicated than generally accepted.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the LT-23 Conference (invited

Embedding and enhancing eAssessment in the leading open source VLE.

Automating the assessment of large numbers of students while providing instant personalised feedback requires a multi-faceted computer-based solution. This paper describes how the long term eAssessment developments in science and technology at the Open University (OU) and mathematics at the University of Birmingham have been brought together in Moodle, highlights key features of these developments and discusses the costs and benefits of engaging with these ever more sophisticated systems

A geochemical study of the winonaites: Evidence for limited partial melting and constraints on the precursor composition

The winonaites are primitive achondrites which are associated with the IAB iron meteorites. Textural evidence implies heating to at least the Fe, Ni–FeS cotectic, but previous geochemical studies are ambiguous about the extent of silicate melting in these samples. Oxygen isotope evidence indicates that the precursor material may be related to the carbonaceous chondrites. Here we analysed a suite of winonaites for modal mineralogy and bulk major- and trace-element chemistry in order to assess the extent of thermal processing as well as constrain the precursor composition of the winonaite-IAB parent asteroid. Modal mineralogy and geochemical data are presented for eight winonaites. Textural analysis reveals that, for our sub-set of samples, all except the most primitive winonaite (Northwest Africa 1463) reached the Fe, Ni–FeS cotectic. However, only one (Tierra Blanca) shows geochemical evidence for silicate melting processes. Tierra Blanca is interpreted as a residue of small-degree silicate melting. Our sample of Winona shows geochemical evidence for extensive terrestrial weathering. All other winonaites studied here (Fortuna, Queen Alexander Range 94535, Hammadah al Hamra 193, Pontlyfni and NWA 1463) have chondritic major-element ratios and flat CI-normalised bulk rare-earth element patterns, suggesting that most of the winonaites did not reach the silicate melting temperature. The majority of winonaites were therefore heated to a narrow temperature range of between ∼1220 (the Fe, Ni–FeS cotectic temperature) and ∼1370 K (the basaltic partial melting temperature). Silicate inclusions in the IAB irons demonstrate partial melting did occur in some parts of the parent body (Ruzicka and Hutson, 2010), thereby implying heterogeneous heat distribution within this asteroid. Together, this indicates that melting was the result of internal heating by short-lived radionuclides. The brecciated nature of the winonaites suggests that the parent body was later disrupted by a catastrophic impact, which allowed the preservation of the largely unmelted winonaites. Despite major-element similarities to both ordinary and enstatite chondrites, trace-element analysis suggests the winonaite parent body had a carbonaceous chondrite-like precursor composition. The parent body of the winonaites was volatile-depleted relative to CI, but enriched compared to the other carbonaceous classes. The closest match are the CM chondrites; however, the specific precursor is not sampled in current meteorite collections

Late metal-silicate separation on the IAB parent asteroid: Constraints from combined W and Pt isotopes and thermal modelling

The short-lived $^{182}$Hf-$^{182}$W decay system is a powerful chronometer for constraining the timing of metal-silicate separation and core formation in planetesimals and planets. Neutron capture effects on W isotopes, however, significantly hamper the application of this tool. In order to correct for neutron capture effects, Pt isotopes have emerged as a reliable in-situ neutron dosimeter. This study applies this method to IAB iron meteorites, in order to constrain the timing of metal segregation on the IAB parent body. The $\epsilon^{182}$W values obtained for the IAB iron meteorites range from -3.61 $\pm$ 0.10 to -2.73 $\pm$ 0.09. Correlating $\epsilon^{\mathrm{i}}$Pt with $^{182}$W data yields a pre-neutron capture $^{182}$W of -2.90 $\pm$ 0.06. This corresponds to a metal-silicate separation age of 6.0 $\pm$ 0.8 Ma after CAI for the IAB parent body, and is interpreted to represent a body-wide melting event. Later, between 10 and 14 Ma after CAI, an impact led to a catastrophic break-up and subsequent reassembly of the parent body. Thermal models of the interior evolution that are consistent with these estimates suggest that the IAB parent body underwent metal-silicate separation as a result of internal heating by short-lived radionuclides and accreted at around 1.4 $\pm$ 0.1 Ma after CAIs with a radius of greater than 60 km.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables; open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

A Percolation‐Based Approach to Scaling Infiltration and Evapotranspiration

Optimal flow paths obtained from percolation theory provide a powerful tool that can be used to characterize properties associated with flow such as soil hydraulic conductivity, as well as other properties influenced by flow connectivity and topology. A recently proposed scaling theory for vegetation growth appeals to the tortuosity of optimal paths from percolation theory to define the spatio‐temporal scaling of the root radial extent (or, equivalently, plant height). Root radial extent measures the maximum horizontal distance between a plant shoot and the root tips. We apply here the same scaling relationship to unsteady (horizontal) flow associated with plant transpiration. The pore‐scale travel time is generated from the maximum flow rate under saturated conditions and a typical pore size. At the field‐scale, the characteristic time is interpreted as the growing season duration, and the characteristic length is derived from the measured evapotranspiration in that period. We show that the two scaling results are equivalent, and they are each in accord with observed vegetation growth limits, as well as with actual limiting transpiration values. While the conceptual approach addresses transpiration, most accessed data are for evapotranspiration. The equivalence of the two scaling approaches suggests that, if horizontal flow is the dominant pathway in plant transpiration, horizontal unsteady flow follows the same scaling relationship as root growth. Then, we propose a corresponding scaling relationship to vertical infiltration, a hypothesis which is amenable to testing using infiltration results of Sharma and co‐authors. This alternate treatment of unsteady vertical flow may be an effective alternative to the commonly applied method based on the diffusion of water over a continuum as governed by Richards’ equation

Measurement of the resonant and CP components in B¯0→J/ψπ+π− decays

The resonant structure of the reaction B¯0→J/ψπ+π− is studied using data from 3  fb−1 of integrated luminosity collected by the LHCb experiment, one third at 7 TeV center-of-mass energy and the remainder at 8 TeV. The invariant mass of the π+π− pair and three decay angular distributions are used to determine the fractions of the resonant and nonresonant components. Six interfering π+π− states, ρ(770), f0(500), f2(1270), ρ(1450), ω(782) and ρ(1700), are required to give a good description of invariant mass spectra and decay angular distributions. The positive and negative charge parity fractions of each of the resonant final states are determined. The f0(980) meson is not seen and the upper limit on its presence, compared with the observed f0(500) rate, is inconsistent with a model where these scalar mesons are formed from two quarks and two antiquarks (tetraquarks) at the eight standard deviation level. In the qq¯ model, the absolute value of the mixing angle between the f0(980) and the f0(500) scalar mesons is limited to be less than 17° at 90% confidence level.National Science Foundation (U.S.)United States. Dept. of Energ

Measurement of ψ(2S) polarisation in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV

The polarisation of prompt ψ(2S) mesons is measured by performing an angular analysis of ψ(2S) → μ[superscript +]μ[superscript −] decays using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb[superscript −1], collected by the LHCb detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The polarisation is measured in bins of transverse momentum p[subscript T] and rapidity y in the kinematic region 3.5 < p[subscript T] < 15 GeV/c and \(2.0 , and is compared to theoretical models. No significant polarisation is observed.National Science Foundation (U.S.

Search for long-lived particles decaying to jet pairs

A search is presented for long-lived particles with a mass between 25 and 50 GeV/c[superscript 2] and a lifetime between 1 and 200 ps in a sample of proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.62 fb[superscript −1], collected by the LHCb detector. The particles are assumed to be pair-produced by the decay of a standard model-like Higgs boson. The experimental signature of the long-lived particle is a displaced vertex with two associated jets. No excess above the background is observed and limits are set on the production cross-section as a function of the long-lived particle mass and lifetime.National Science Foundation (U.S.

Measurement of the inelastic pp cross-section at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV

The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions, with at least one prompt long-lived charged particle of transverse momentum p [subscript T] > 0.2GeV/c in the pseudorapidity range 2.0 < η < 4.5, is measured by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV. The cross-section in this kinematic range is determined to be σ [acc over inel] = 55.0 ± 2.4 mb with an experimental uncertainty that is dominated by systematic contributions. Extrapolation to the full phase space, using Pythia 6, yields σ [subscript inel] = 66.9 ± 2.9 ± 4.4 mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second is due to the extrapolation.National Science Foundation (U.S.