Results on mixing in the D0 system from BaBar

With 12.3 fb-1 collected by the BaBar experiment in 2001, the mixing parameter y = Delta(Gamma)/(2 Gamma) is determined from the ratio of the D0 lifetimes measured in the D0 --> K- pi+ and in the D0 --> K- K+ decay modes. The preliminary result y = (-1.0 +- 2.2(stat.) +- 1.7(syst.))% is obtained. Also presented is the status of measuring the mixing parameters y and x^2 = [Delta(M)/Gamma]^2 from a simultaneous fit to the time evolution of the decay time distributions of Cabibbo-favored right-sign (D0 --> K- pi+) and doubly Cabibbo-suppressed wrong-sign (D0 --> K+ pi-) decays. The wrong-sign decay rate, R_WS = (# WS decays)/(# RS decays) = (0.38 +- 0.04(stat.) +- 0.02(syst.))% is obtained from the fit to 23 fb-1 of BaBar data taken in 2000.Comment: 9 pages, 3 postscript figures, contribution to the proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Heavy Flavour Physics, September 2001, Pasadena, US

Shakespeare in History, History through Shakespeare: Caliban by the Yellow Sands

Percy MacKaye’s community masque, Caliban by the Yellow Sands, was performed in front of thousands of spectators between May 24th and June 5th, 1916 at New York Lewisohn Stadium, as part of American celebrations of the three-hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. The play is a fascinating example of a Shakespearean appropriation intended for a particular historical moment and specific socio-political purposes. Not only does it comment on America’s contemporary situation, but also intervenes in it, proposing solutions to current problems, most notably the huge increase of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. This paper investigates two interconnected methods which Caliban by the Yellow Sands employs to respond to the historical moment: the play’s representations of history and its uses of Shakespeare and the Shakespearean canon. It argues that, while the main thrust of the masque is an attempt to harness Shakespeare’s cultural authority in the service of promoting American cohesion based on the alleged supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon cultural heritage, the text reveals significant ambiguities and contradictions that this operation produces. Shakespeare’s art is shown as a force that can both liberate and subjugate, and Shakespeare as a curiously insubstantial and malleable figure, whose work only fully comes into being with each interpretation and is available for different kinds of appropriation. Despite glorifying the Bard, the masque simultaneously empties him of inherent meaning and transfers his power to those who interpret him

University Scholar Series: Monika Kress

Meteorites and the Origin of Habitable Worlds On November 30, 2011, Dr. Monika Kress spoke in the University Scholar Series hosted by Provost Gerry Selter at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Monika Kress is an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at SJSU and also a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute\u27s Virtual Planetary Laboratory. In this seminar, she presents the theory of solar system formation, focusing on meteorites. Dr. Kress also describes a first-hand account of how meteorites are recovered from the most fertile meteorite-hunting ground on Earth: Antarcticahttps://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/uss/1010/thumbnail.jp

Gymnasia in Eastern Sicily of the Hellenistic and Roman Period

Schriftquellen und Inschriften legen nahe, dass in Sizilien die Institution des Gymnasions vom 3. Jh. v. Chr. an florierte, im Reich Hierons II. wie auch in der spätrepublikanischen römischen Provinz. Dieser Beitrag untersucht kritisch, ob sich dieser Boom im archäologischen Befund und in der Entstehung einer eindeutig erkennbaren Bautypologie widerspiegelt. Am Beispiel von fünf ostsizilischen Städten in Hierons Reich (Syrakus, Morgantina, Megara Hyblaea, Neaiton, Akrai) wird untersucht, ob Gymnasia sicher identifiziert werden können, welchen Grundriss sowie welche Ausstattung und Funktion sie hatten, und ob es Änderungen zwischen dem 3. Jh. und späteren Epochen gab. Es wird gezeigt, dass bislang keine dieser Städte ein sicher identifiziertes und vollständig bekanntes Gymnasium aufweist

Modernity and the Jewish Stigma. Julian Tuwim, Alfred Döblin and Kurt Tucholsky: Biographies and Work

The paper deals with biographical, ideological and artistic links between Julian Tuwim, Alfred Döblin and Kurt Tucholsky. On the one hand, the basis of comparison are biographical similarities, the Jewish origin of those three writers, their family dramas, the experience of politically opressive school, the trauma of revolution or war, and the exile to name just a few. On the other hand, the article demonstrates the ways the modernity has influenced the attitudes and texts of Döblin, Tucholsky and Tuwim. While talking about modernity, the author focuses on such phenomena as secularisation and urbanisation processes, mass political movements, and new cultural challenges.Tuwim, Döblin and Tucholsky were born into assimilated Jewish families. Their perspective on the stereotypical Jews (the orthodox Jews as well as Jewish bankers or manufacturers) is marked with antipathy, or even contempt. The writers’ ambivalence towards the diapora and towards their own origin illustrate “Jewish self-hatred”; however, all three authors change their opinion on Jewry in the face of the growing anti-Semitic and Nazi danger, and especially the Holocaust. Döblin is proud of being Jewish after his visit to Poland in 1924, Tucholsky warns German Jews against the consequences of their passivitivy, and Tuwim publishes in 1944 his agitating manifesto We, Polish Jews. Last but not least, the three authors go into exile because of their Jewish ancestry and sociocultural activities. Therefore, it is no coincidence thatone cannot help having associations with Heinrich Heine: his biography can be interpreted as a prefiguration of a Jewish artist’s biography.Furthermore, Tuwim, Döblin and Tucholsky are notably sensitive to social questions, and their sensitivity to such issues results to some extent from their difficult childhood and youth. Especially significant seem in that respect family conflicts and the moving from city to city, since such experiences increase the feeling of loneliness and the vulnerability to depression. Nevertheless, Döblin, Tucholsky and Tuwim come with impetus into the cultural life of Germany and Poland and work in the areas of literature, cabaret (satire) as well as journalism. They share sympathy for the political left and fears of the orthodox communism. They are simultaneously advocates and ardent critics of great cities. They pay attention to new phenomena (the popularity of cars, the role of the press, the new morality) and react to them. Their aim is creating a culture which appeals to the masses and educates them in a non-intrusive way. However, the awareness of their own intellectual superiority imposes distance towards lower social groups. The distance stems, firstly, from the universal ambivalence artists feel towards the masses, and secondly, from the ideological moderation characteristic of petit bourgoisie and of the political centre. In general, Döblin, Tucholsky and Tuwim are idealists who hope for a humanitarian world which is impossible in the era of extrem political violence leading to the Holocaust.Zadanie „Stworzenie anglojęzycznych wersji wydawanych publikacji” finansowane w ramach umowy nr 948/P-DUN/2016 ze środków Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę

Upgrade of the Inner Tracking System of ALICE

The upgrade of the Inner Tracking System (ITS) of ALICE is planned for the second long shutdown of the LHC in 2019-2020. The ALICE physics program after the shutdown requires the ITS to have improved tracking capabilities and improved impact parameter resolution at very low transverse momentum, as well as a substantial increase in the readout rate. To fulfill these requirements the current ITS will be replaced by seven layers of Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors. The new detector will be moved as close as 23 mm to the interaction point and will have a significantly reduced material budget. Several prototypes of the sensor have been developed to test different aspects of the sensor design including prototypes with analog and digital readout, as well as small and final-size sensors. These prototypes have been thoroughly characterized both in laboratory tests and at test beam facilities including studies on the radiation hardness of the sensors. This contribution gives an overview of the current status of the research and development with a focus on the pixel sensors and the characterization of the latest prototypes.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, proceedings of VERTEX 2015, 1-5 June 2015, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US

Some misunderstandings concerning Hans Kelsen’s concepts of democracy and the rule of law

The project was financed by National Science Centre Poland (decision no. DEC-2012/05/B/HS5/01111)