Search for three-jet resonances in pp collisions at √s=7TeV
Physical Review Letters 107:10 (2011)
Abstract:
A search for three-jet hadronic resonance production in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35pb-1. Events with high jet multiplicity and a large scalar sum of jet transverse momenta are analyzed using a signature-based approach. The number of expected standard model background events is found to be in good agreement with the observed events. Limits on the cross section times branching ratio are set in a model of gluino pair production with an R-parity-violating decay to three quarks, and the data rule out such particles within the mass range of 200 to 280GeV/c2. © 2011 American Physical Society.Measurement of the t-channel single top quark production cross section in pp collisions at √s=7TeV
Physical Review Letters 107:9 (2011)
Abstract:
Electroweak production of the top quark is measured for the first time in pp collisions at √s=7TeV, using a data set collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36pb-1. With an event selection optimized for t-channel production, two complementary analyses are performed. The first one exploits the special angular properties of the signal, together with background estimates from the data. The second approach uses a multivariate analysis technique to probe the compatibility with signal topology expected from electroweak top-quark production. The combined measurement of the cross section is 83.6±29.8(stat+syst)±3.3(lumi) pb, consistent with the standard model expectation. © 2011 CERN.Branching fractions for γ(3S)→π0hb and ψ(2S)→πp0hc
Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology 84:3 (2011)
Abstract:
Using e+e- collision data corresponding to 5.88×106γ(3S) [25.9×106ψ(2S)] decays and acquired by the CLEO III [CLEO-c] detectors operating at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring, we study the single-pion transitions from γ(3S)[ψ(2S)] to the respective spin-singlet states hb[c]. Utilizing only the momentum of suitably selected transition-π0 candidates, we obtain the upper limit B(γ(3S)→π0h b)<1.2×10-3 at 90% confidence level, and measure B(ψ(2S)→π0hc)=(9.0±1.5±1.3) ×10-4. Signal sensitivities are enhanced by excluding very asymmetric π0→γγ candidates. © 2011 American Physical Society.Tidal dwarf galaxies in the nearby Universe
ArXiv 1108.441 (2011)
Abstract:
We present a statistical observational study of the tidal dwarf (TD) population in the nearby Universe, by exploiting a large, homogeneous catalogue of galaxy mergers compiled from the SDSS. 95% of TD-producing mergers involve two spiral progenitors, while most remaining systems have at least one spiral progenitor. The fraction of TD-producing mergers where both parents are early-type galaxies is <2%, suggesting that TDs are unlikely to form in such mergers. The bulk of TD-producing systems inhabit a field environment and have mass ratios greater than 1:7 (the median value is 1:2.5). TDs forming at the tidal-tail tips are ~4 times more massive than those forming at the base of the tails. TDs have stellar masses that are less than 10% of the stellar masses of their parents and typically lie within 15 optical half-light radii of their parent galaxies. The TD population is typically bluer than the parents, with a median offset of ~0.3 mag in the (g-r) colour and the TD colours are not affected by the presence of AGN activity in their parents. An analysis of their star formation histories indicates that TDs contain both newly formed stars (with a median age of ~30 Myr) and old stars drawn from the parent disks, each component probably contributing roughly equally to their stellar mass. Thus, TDs are not formed purely through gas condensation in tidal tails but host a significant component of old stars from the parent disks. Finally, an analysis of the TD contribution to the local dwarf-to-massive galaxy ratio indicates that ~6% of dwarfs in nearby clusters may have a tidal origin, if TD production rates in nearby mergers are representative of those in the high-redshift Universe. Even if TD production rates at high redshift were several factors higher, it seems unlikely that the entire dwarf galaxy population today is a result of merger activity over the lifetime of the Universe.Jet trails and Mach cones: The interaction of microquasars with the ISM
(2011)