ALBERT

Description: A precision measurement of jet cross sections in neutral current deep-inelastic scattering for photon virtualities $$5.5

Description: The strong coupling constant $$alpha _mathrm{s}$$ α s is determined from inclusive jet and dijet cross sections in neutral-current deep-inelastic ep scattering (DIS) measured at HERA by the H1 collaboration using next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) QCD predictions. The dependence of the NNLO predictions and of the resulting value of $$alpha _mathrm{s} (m_mathrm{Z})$$ α s ( m Z ) at the Z-boson mass $$m_Z$$ m Z are studied as a function of the choice of the renormalisation and factorisation scales. Using inclusive jet and dijet data together, the strong coupling constant is determined to be $$alpha _mathrm{s} (m_mathrm{Z}) =0.1157,(20)_mathrm{exp},(29)_mathrm{th}$$ α s ( m Z ) = 0.1157 ( 20 ) exp ( 29 ) th . Complementary, $$alpha _mathrm{s} (m_mathrm{Z})$$ α s ( m Z ) is determined together with parton distribution functions of the proton (PDFs) from jet and inclusive DIS data measured by the H1 experiment. The value $$alpha _mathrm{s} (m_mathrm{Z}) =0.1142,(28)_mathrm{tot}$$ α s ( m Z ) = 0.1142 ( 28 ) tot obtained is consistent with the determination from jet data alone. The impact of the jet data on the PDFs is studied. The running of the strong coupling is tested at different values of the renormalisation scale and the results are found to be in agreement with expectations.

Description: Impacts of spectral nudging on simulations of Arctic climate in coupled simulations have been investigated in a set of simulations with a regional climate model (RCM). The dominantly circumpolar circulation in the Arctic lead to weak constraints on the lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) for the RCM, which causes large internal variability with strong deviations from the driving model. When coupled to an ocean and sea ice model, this results in sea ice concentrations that deviate from the observed spatial distribution. Here, a method of spectral nudging is applied to the atmospheric model RCA4 in order to assess the potentials for improving results for the sea ice concentrations when coupled to the RCO ocean-sea ice model. The spectral nudging applied to reanalysis driven simulations significantly improves the generated sea ice regarding its temporal evolution, extent and inter-annual trends, compared to simulations with standard LBC nesting. The method is furthermore evaluated with driving data from two CMIP5 GCM simulations for current and future conditions. The GCM biases are similar to the RCA4 biases with ERA-Interim, however, the spectral nudging still improves the surface winds enough to show improvements in the simulated sea ice. For both GCM downscalings, the spectrally nudged version retains a larger sea ice extent in September further into the future. Depending on the sea ice formulation in the GCM, the temporal evolution of the regional sea ice model can deviate strongly.

Description: The increased rate of Tropical Indian Ocean (TIO) surface warming has gained a lot of attention in the recent years mainly due to its regional climatic impacts. The processes associated with this increased surface warming is highly complex and none of the mechanisms in the past studies could comprehend the important features associated with this warming such as the negative trends in surface net heat fluxes and the decreasing temperature trends at thermocline level. In this work we studied a previously unexplored aspect, the changes in large scale surface circulation pattern modulating the surface warming pattern over TIO. We use ocean reanalysis datasets and a suit of Ocean General Circulation Model (OGCM) experiments to address this problem. Both reanalysis and OGCM reveal strengthening large scale surface circulation pattern in the recent years. The most striking feature is the intensification of cyclonic gyre circulation around the thermocline ridge in the southwestern TIO. The surface circulation change in TIO is mainly associated with the surface wind changes and the geostrophic response to sea surface height decrease in the western/southwestern TIO. The surface wind trends closely correspond to SST warming pattern. The strengthening mean westerlies over the equatorial region are conducive to convergence in the central and divergence in the western equatorial Indian Ocean (IO) resulting central warming and western cooling. The resulting east west SST gradient further enhances the equatorial westerlies. This positive feedback mechanism supports strengthening of the observed SST trends in the equatorial Indian Ocean. The cooling induced by the enhanced upwelling in the west is compensated to a large extent by warming due to reduction in mixed layer depth, thereby keeping the surface temperature trends in the west to weak positive values. The OGCM experiments showed that the wind induced circulation changes redistribute the excess heat received in the western TIO to central and east thereby enhancing warming in the central equatorial IO. The increased surface warming in central TIO increases the latent heat loss, and keeps the net heat flux trends negative. Model sensitivity experiments reveal that the subsurface cooling at thermocline level in TIO is contributed by variability in Pacific via Indonesian Through Flow whereas the surface warming trend is mainly induced by the changes in the local forcing. The long term changes in IO Rossby waves are not induced by local atmospheric forcing but are forced by Pacific. The thermocline shoaling in the west is therefore amplified by the remote influence of Pacific via wave transmission through Indonesian archipelago.

Description: An on-line, ensemble-based data assimilation (DA) method is performed to reconstruct the climate for 1750–1850 AD, and the performance is evaluated on large and small spatial scales. We use a low-resolution version of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology MPI-ESM model and assimilate the PAGES 2K continental mean temperature reconstructions for the Northern Hemisphere (NH). The ensembles are generated sequentially for sub-periods based on the analysis of previous sub-periods. The assimilation has good skill for large-scale temperatures, but there is no agreement between the DA analysis and proxy-based reconstructions for small-scale temperature patterns within Europe or with reconstructions for the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index. To explain the lack of added value in small spatial scales, a maximum covariance analysis (MCA) of links between NH temperature and sea level pressure is performed based on a control simulation with MPI-ESM. For annual values, winter and spring the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) is the pattern that is most closely linked to the NH continental temperatures, while for summer and autumn it is a wave-like pattern. This link is reproduced in the DA for winter, spring and annual means, providing potential for constraining the NAM/NAO phase and in turn regional temperature variability. It is shown that the lack of actual small-scale skill is likely due to the fact that the link might be too weak, as the NH continental mean temperatures are not the best predictors for large-scale circulation anomalies, or that the PAGES 2K temperatures include noise. Both factors can lead to circulation anomalies in the DA analysis that are substantially different from reality, leading to unrealistic representation of small-scale temperature variability. Moreover, we show that even if the true amplitudes of the leading MCA circulation patterns were known, there is still a large amount of unexplained local temperature variance. Based on these results, we argue that assimilating temperature reconstructions with a higher spatial resolution might improve the DA performance.

Description: We analyse the impact of migration and strength of Southern Hemisphere westerly winds on the ocean carbon cycle in a systematic sensitivity study with the University of Victoria Earth System Climate Model. We find that changes in the biological pump are mainly driven by changes in ocean residence times while changes in export production are negligible. Changes in the biological and physical pumps are always of opposite sign; with the physical pump being dominant for southward shifts and the biological pump being dominant for northward shifts. Furthermore, changes in the Pacific Ocean carbon budget dictate the overall changes in global marine and atmospheric carbon. Overall, atmospheric \(\hbox {CO}_2\) increases (and \(\Delta ^{14}\hbox {C}\) decreases) for northward shifts or a strengthening in wind forcing. The opposite is true for a southward shift or a weakening in wind forcing. Combining forcings (shift and intensity change) results in a combination of their impacts with the direction of the shift being the first order forcing. The terrestrial carbon reservoir absorbs (releases) 50–70 % of the net oceanic carbon loss (increase), counterbalancing the effect on atmospheric \(\hbox {CO}_2\) .

Description: Effects of wind and fresh water on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) are investigated using a fully coupled climate model. The AMOC can change significantly when perturbed by either wind stress or freshwater flux in the North Atlantic. This study focuses on wind stress effect. Our model results show that the wind forcing is crucial in maintaining the AMOC. Reducing wind forcing over the ocean can cause immediately weakening of the vertical salinity diffusion and convection in the mid-high latitudes Atlantic, resulting in an enhancement of vertical salinity stratification that restrains the deep water formation there, triggering a slowdown of the thermohaline circulation. As the thermohaline circulation weakens, the sea ice expands southward and melts, providing the upper ocean with fresh water that weakens the thermohaline circulation further. The wind perturbation experiments suggest a positive feedback between sea-ice and thermohaline circulation strength, which can eventually result in a complete shutdown of the AMOC. This study also suggests that sea-ice variability may be also important to the natural AMOC variability on decadal and longer timescales.

Description: A Higgs field of particle physics can play the role of the inflaton in the early universe if it is non-minimally coupled to gravity. The Higgs inflation scenario predicts a small tensor to scalar ratio: \(r\simeq 0.003\) . Although this value is consistent with the upper bound \(r〈0.12\) given by the BICEP2/ Keck Array and Planck data, it is not at their maximum likelihood point: \(r\simeq 0.05\) . Inflationary observables depend not only on the inflationary models, but they also depend on the initial conditions of inflation. Changing the initial state of inflation can improve the value of r . In this work, we study the Higgs inflation model under general initial conditions and show that there is a subset of these general initial conditions which leads to enhancement of r . Then we show that this region of parameter space is consistent with a non-Gaussianity bound.

Description: When Morris and Thorne first proposed that traversable wormholes may be actual physical objects, they concentrated on the geometry by specifying the shape and redshift functions. This mathematical approach necessarily raises questions regarding the determination of the required stress-energy tensor. This paper discusses a natural way to obtain a complete wormhole solution by assuming that the wormhole (1) is supported by generalized Chaplygin gas and (2) admits conformal Killing vectors.

Description: The relationship between the large-scale circulation dynamics and regional precipitation regime in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) has so far not been well understood. In this study, we classify the circulation types using the self-organizing maps based on the daily field of 500 hPa geopotential height and link them to the precipitation climatology in the eastern and central TP. By virtue of an objective determining method, 18 circulation types are quantified. The results show that the large amount of precipitation in summer is closely related to the circulation types in which the enhanced and northward shifted subtropical high (SH) over the northwest Pacific and the obvious cyclconic circulation anomaly over the Bay of Bengal are helpful for the Indian summer monsoon and East Asian summer monsoon to take abundant low-latitude moisture to the eastern and southern TP. On the contrary, the dry winter in the central and eastern Tibet corresponds to the circulation types with divergence over the central and eastern TP and the water vapor transportations of East Asian winter monsoon and mid-latitude westerly are very weak. Some circulation types are associated with some well-known circulation patterns/monsoons influencing the TP (e.g. East Atlantic Pattern, El Niño Southern Oscillation, Indian Summer Monsoon and the mid-latitude westerly), and exhibit an overall good potential for explaining the variability of regional seasonal precipitation. Moreover, the climate shift signals in the late 1970s over the eastern Pacific/North Pacific Oceans could also be reflected by both the variability of some circulation types and their correspondingly composite precipitations. This study extends our understandings for the large-scale atmospheric dynamics and their linkages with regional precipitation and is beneficial for the climate change projection and related adaptation activities in the highest and largest plateau in the world.

Description: Based on the historical and RCP8.5 experiments from 25 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) models, the impacts of sea surface temperature (SST) warming in the tropical Indian Ocean (IO) on the projected change in summer rainfall over Central Asia (CA) are investigated. The analysis is designed to answer three questions: (1) Can CMIP5 models reproduce the observed influence of the IO sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on the CA rainfall variations and the associated dynamical processes? (2) How well do the models agree on their projected rainfall changes over CA under warmed climate? (3) How much of the uncertainty in such rainfall projections is due to different impacts of IO SSTs in these models? The historical experiments show that in most models summer rainfall over CA are positively correlated to the SSTs in the IO. Furthermore, for models with higher rainfall-SSTs correlations, the dynamical processes accountable for such impacts are much closer to what have been revealed in observational data: warmer SSTs tend to favor the development of anti-cyclonic circulation patterns at low troposphere over north and northwest of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. These anomalous circulation patterns correspond to significantly enhanced southerly flow which carries warm and moisture air mass from the IO region up to the northeast. At the same time, there is a cyclonic flow over the central and eastern part of the CA which further brings the tropical moisture into the CA and provides essential moist conditions for its rainfall generation. In the second half of twenty-first century, although all the 25 models simulate warmed SSTs, significant uncertainty exists in their projected rainfall changes over CA: half of them suggest summer rainfall increases, but the other half project rainfall decreases. However, when we select seven models out of the 25 based on their skills in capturing the dynamical processes as observed, then the model projected changes are much closer. Five out of the seven models predicted more rainfall over CA. Such a result is helpful for allowing us to attribute part of the observed upward rainfall trend in the CA region in the last several decades to the IO SST warming.

Description: In this article, we study the charmed baryon states \(\Lambda _c(2625)\) and \(\Xi _c(2815)\) with the spin-parity \({3\over 2}^-\) by subtracting the contributions from the corresponding charmed baryon states with the spin-parity \({3\over 2}^+\) using the QCD sum rules, and suggest a formula \( \mu =\sqrt{M_{\Lambda _c/\Xi _c}^2-{\mathbb {M}}_c^2}\) with the effective mass \({\mathbb {M}}_c=1.8\,\mathrm {GeV}\) to determine the energy scales of the QCD spectral densities, and make reasonable predictions for the masses and pole residues. The numerical results indicate that the \(\Lambda _c(2625)\) and \(\Xi _c(2815)\) have at least two remarkable under-structures.

Description: We study the radiative leptonic \(B_c\rightarrow \gamma \ell {\bar{\nu }}\) decays in nonrelativistic QCD effective field theory, and we explore the contribution from a fast-moving photon. As a result, interactions between the photon and the heavy quarks can be integrated out, resulting in the factorization formula for the decay amplitude. We calculate not only the relevant short-distance coefficients at leading order and next-to-leading order in \(\alpha _s\) , but also the nonrelativistic corrections at the order \(|\mathrm {v}|^2\) in our analysis. We find that the QCD corrections can significantly decrease the branching ratio, and this is of great importance in extracting the long-distance operator matrix elements of \(B_c\) . For phenomenological application, we present our results for the photon energy, lepton energy and lepton-neutrino invariant mass distribution.

Description: Cyclonic windstorms are one of the most important natural hazards for Europe, but robust climate projections of the position and the strength of the North Atlantic storm track are not yet possible, bearing significant risks to European societies and the (re)insurance industry. Previous studies addressing the problem of climate model uncertainty through statistical comparisons of simulations of the current climate with (re-)analysis data show large disagreement between different climate models, different ensemble members of the same model and observed climatologies of intense cyclones. One weakness of such evaluations lies in the difficulty to separate influences of the climate model’s basic state from the influence of fast processes on the development of the most intense storms, which could create compensating effects and therefore suggest higher reliability than there really is. This work aims to shed new light into this problem through a cost-effective “seamless” approach of hindcasting 20 historical severe storms with the two global climate models, ECHAM6 and GA4 configuration of the Met Office Unified Model, run in a numerical weather prediction mode using different lead times, and horizontal and vertical resolutions. These runs are then compared to re-analysis data. The main conclusions from this work are: (a) objectively identified cyclone tracks are represented satisfactorily by most hindcasts; (b) sensitivity to vertical resolution is low; (c) cyclone depth is systematically under-predicted for a coarse resolution of T63 by both climate models; (d) no systematic bias is found for the higher resolution of T127 out to about three days, demonstrating that climate models are in fact able to represent the complex dynamics of explosively deepening cyclones well, if given the correct initial conditions; (e) an analysis using a recently developed diagnostic tool based on the surface pressure tendency equation points to too weak diabatic processes, mainly latent heating, as the main source for the under-prediction in the coarse-resolution runs. Finally, an interesting implication of these results is that the too low number of deep cyclones in many free-running climate simulations may therefore be related to an insufficient number of storm-prone initial conditions. This question will be addressed in future work.

Description: We point out a weak side of the commonly used determination of scalar cosmological perturbations lying in the fact that their average values can be nonzero for some matter distributions. It is shown that introduction of the finite-range gravitational potential instead of the infinite-range one resolves this problem. The concrete illustrative density profile is investigated in detail in this connection.

Description: A consistent BPS formalism to study the existence of topological axially symmetric vortices in generalized versions of the Born–Infeld–Higgs electrodynamics is implemented. Such a generalization modifies the field dynamics via the introduction of three nonnegative functions depending only in the Higgs field, namely, \(G(|\phi |)\) , \(w(|\phi |) \) , and \(V(|\phi |)\) . A set of first-order differential equations is attained when these functions satisfy a constraint related to the Ampère law. Such a constraint allows one to minimize the system’s energy in such way that it becomes proportional to the magnetic flux. Our results provides an enhancement of the role of topological vortex solutions in Born–Infeld–Higgs electrodynamics. Finally, we analyze a set of models entailing the recovery of a generalized version of Maxwell–Higgs electrodynamics in a certain limit of the theory.

Description: I put forward a qualitatively new dynamical mechanism for solving the electroweak hierarchy problem that does not require new physics at the electroweak scale. I argue that the infrared fluctuations of the gravitational field may provide a partial screening of the Higgs mass, similar to the infrared screening of the electric charge in quantum electrodynamics.

Description: It is thought that the spacetime geometry around black hole candidates is described by the Kerr solution, but an observational confirmation is still missing. Today, the continuum-fitting method and the analysis of the iron K \(\alpha \) line cannot unambiguously test the Kerr paradigm because of the degeneracy among the parameters of the system, in the sense that it is impossible with current X-ray data to distinguish a Kerr black hole from a non-Kerr object with different values of the model parameters. In this paper, we study the possibility of testing the Kerr nature of black hole candidates with X-ray spectropolarimetric measurements. Within our simplified model that does not include the effect of returning radiation, we find that it is impossible to test the Kerr metric and the problem is still the strong correlation between the spin and possible deviations from the Kerr geometry. Moreover, the correlation is very similar to that of the other two techniques, which makes the combination of different measurements not very helpful. Nevertheless, our results cannot be taken as conclusive and, in order to arrive at a final answer, the effect of returning radiation should be properly taken into account.

Description: We investigate unitarity within the complex-mass scheme, a convenient universal scheme for perturbative calculations involving unstable particles in quantum field theory which guarantees exact gauge invariance. Since this scheme requires one to introduce complex masses and complex couplings, the Cutkosky cutting rules, which express perturbative unitarity in theories of stable particles, are no longer valid. We derive corresponding rules for scalar theories with unstable particles based on Veltman’s largest-time equation and prove unitarity in this framework.

Description: We compute the decays \({B\rightarrow D^*_0}\) and \({B\rightarrow D^*_2}\) with finite masses for the b and c quarks. We first discuss the spectral properties of both the B meson as a function of its momentum and the \(D^*_0\) and \(D^*_2\) at rest. We compute the theoretical formulae leading to the decay amplitudes from the three-point and two-point correlators. We then compute the amplitudes at zero recoil of \({B\rightarrow D^*_0}\) , which turns out not to be vanishing contrary to what happens in the heavy quark limit. This opens the possibility to get better agreement with experiment. To improve the continuum limit we have added a set of data with smaller lattice spacing. The \({B\rightarrow D^*_2}\) vanishes at zero recoil and we show a convincing signal but only slightly more than 1 sigma from 0. In order to reach quantitatively significant results we plan to exploit fully smaller lattice spacings as well as another lattice regularisation.

Description: We present a simulation study of the prospects for the mass measurement of TeV-scale light-flavored right-handed squarks at a 3 TeV \(e^+e^-\) collider based on CLIC technology. In the considered model, these particles decay into their standard-model counterparts and the lightest neutralino, resulting in a signature of two jets plus missing energy. The analysis is based on full GEANT4 simulations of the CLIC_ILD detector concept, including Standard Model physics backgrounds and beam-induced hadronic backgrounds from two-photon processes. The analysis serves as a generic benchmark for the reconstruction of highly energetic jets in events with substantial missing energy. Several jet finding algorithms were evaluated, with the longitudinally invariant \(k_t\) algorithm showing a high degree of robustness towards beam-induced background while preserving the features typically found in algorithms developed for \(e^+e^-\) collisions. The presented study of the reconstruction of light-flavored squarks shows that for TeV-scale squark masses, sub-percent accuracy on the mass measurement can be achieved at CLIC.

Description: We evaluate the Hadamard function and the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of the current density for a charged scalar field, induced by flat boundaries in spacetimes with an arbitrary number of toroidally compactified spatial dimensions. The field operator obeys the Robin conditions on the boundaries and quasiperiodicity conditions with general phases along compact dimensions. In addition, the presence of a constant gauge field is assumed. The latter induces Aharonov–Bohm-type effect on the VEVs. There is a region in the space of the parameters in Robin boundary conditions where the vacuum state becomes unstable. The stability condition depends on the lengths of compact dimensions and is less restrictive than that for background with trivial topology. The vacuum current density is a periodic function of the magnetic flux, enclosed by compact dimensions, with the period equal to the flux quantum. It is explicitly decomposed into the boundary-free and boundary-induced contributions. In sharp contrast to the VEVs of the field squared and the energy-momentum tensor, the current density does not contain surface divergences. Moreover, for Dirichlet condition it vanishes on the boundaries. The normal derivative of the current density on the boundaries vanish for both Dirichlet and Neumann conditions and is nonzero for general Robin conditions. When the separation between the plates is smaller than other length scales, the behavior of the current density is essentially different for non-Neumann and Neumann boundary conditions. In the former case, the total current density in the region between the plates tends to zero. For Neumann boundary condition on both plates, the current density is dominated by the interference part and is inversely proportional to the separation.

Description: A small tensor-to-scalar ratio r may lead to distinctive phenomenology of high-scale supersymmetry. Assuming the same origin of SUSY breaking between the inflation and visible sector, we show model independent features. The simplest hybrid inflation, together with a new linear term for the inflaton field which is induced by a large gravitino mass, is shown to be consistent with all experimental data for r of order \(10^{-5}\) . For superpartner masses far above the weak scale we find that the reheating temperature after inflation might be below the value required by thermal leptogenesis if the inflaton decays to its products perturbatively, but above it if the decay is non-perturbatively instead. Remarkably, the gravitino overproduction can be evaded in such high-scale supersymmetry because of the kinematically blocking effect.

Description: We show how leading radiative corrections can be implemented in the general description of \(h\rightarrow 4\ell \) decays by means of pseudo observables (PO). With the inclusion of such corrections, the PO description of \(h\rightarrow 4\ell \) decays can be matched to next-to-leading-order electroweak calculations both within and beyond the Standard Model (SM). In particular, we demonstrate that with the inclusion of such corrections the complete next-to-leading-order SM prediction for the \(h\rightarrow 2e2\mu \) dilepton mass spectrum is recovered within \(1\,\%\) accuracy. The impact of radiative corrections for non-standard PO is also briefly discussed.

Description: Extreme precipitation and flood episodes in the Himalayas are oftentimes traced to synoptic situations involving connections between equatorward advancing upper level extratropical circulations and moisture-laden tropical monsoon circulation. While previous studies have documented precipitation characteristics in the Himalayan region during severe storm cases, a comprehensive understanding of circulation dynamics of extreme precipitation mechanisms is still warranted. In this study, a detailed analysis is performed using rainfall observations and reanalysis circulation products to understand the evolution of monsoon-extratropical circulation features and their interactions based on 34 extreme precipitation events which occurred in the Western Himalayas (WEH) during the period 1979–2013. Our results provide evidence for a common large-scale circulation pattern connecting the extratropics and the South Asian monsoon region, which is favorable for extreme precipitation occurrences in the WEH region. This background upper level large-scale circulation pattern consists of a deep southward penetrating midlatitude westerly trough, a blocking high over western Eurasia and an intensifying Tibetan anticyclone. It is further seen from our analysis that the key elements of monsoon-midlatitude interactions, responsible for extreme precipitation events over the WEH region, are: (1) midlatitude Rossby wave breaking, (2) west-northwest propagation of monsoon low-pressure system from the Bay of Bengal across the Indian subcontinent, (3) eddy shedding of the Tibetan anticyclone, (4) ageostrophic motions and transverse circulation across the Himalayas, and (5) strong moist convection over the Himalayan foothills. Furthermore, high-resolution numerical simulations indicate that diabatic heating and mesoscale ageostrophic effects can additionally amplify the convective motions and precipitation in the WEH region.

Description: This paper examines the difference in the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) mean state between free and assimilative simulations of a common ocean model using a common interannual atmospheric forcing. In the assimilative simulation, the reproduction of cold cores in the Nordic Seas, which is absent in the free simulation, enhances the overflow to the North Atlantic and improves AMOC with enhanced transport of the deeper part of the southward return flow. This improvement also induces an enhanced supply of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and causes better representation of the Atlantic deep layer despite the fact that correction by the data assimilation is applied only to temperature and salinity above a depth of 1750 m. It also affects Circumpolar Deep Water in the Southern Ocean. Although the earliest influence of the improvement propagated by coastal waves reaches the Southern Ocean in 10–15 years, substantial influence associated with the arrival of the renewed NADW propagates across the Atlantic Basin in several decades. Although the result demonstrates that data assimilation is able to improve the deep ocean state even if there is no data there, it also indicates that long-term integration is required to reproduce variability in the deep ocean originating from variations in the upper ocean. This study thus provides insights on the reliability of AMOC and the ocean state in the Atlantic deep layer reproduced by data assimilation systems.

Description: A comprehensive review of physics at an \(e^+e^-\) linear collider in the energy range of \(\sqrt{s}=92\)  GeV–3 TeV is presented in view of recent and expected LHC results, experiments from low-energy as well as astroparticle physics. The report focusses in particular on Higgs-boson, top-quark and electroweak precision physics, but also discusses several models of beyond the standard model physics such as supersymmetry, little Higgs models and extra gauge bosons. The connection to cosmology has been analysed as well.

Description: The southeast region of Brazil experienced in austral summer 2014 a major drought event leading to a number of impacts in water availability for human consumption, agricultural irrigation and hydropower production. This study aims to perform a diagnostic analysis of the observed climate conditions during this event, including an inspection of the occurred precipitation anomalies in the context of previous years, and an investigation of possible relationships with sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation patterns. The sea surface temperature analysis revealed that the southwestern South Atlantic Ocean region near the coast of southeast Brazil showed strong negative association with precipitation over southeast Brazil, indicating that increased sea temperatures in this ocean region are consistent with reduced precipitation as observed in summer 2014. The circulation analysis revealed prevailing anti-cyclonic anomalies at lower levels (850 hPa) with northerly anomalies to the west of southeast Brazil, channeling moisture from the Amazon towards Paraguay, northern Argentina and southern Brazil, and drier than normal air from the South Atlantic Ocean towards the southeast region of Brazil. This circulation pattern was found to be part of a large-scale teleconnection wave train linked with the subsidence branch of the Walker circulation in the tropical east Pacific, which in turn was generated by an anomalous tropical heat source in north/northeastern Australia. A regional Hadley circulation with an ascending branch to the south of the subsidence branch of the Walker circulation in the tropical east Pacific was identified as an important component connecting the tropical and extratropical circulation. The ascending branch of this Hadley circulation in the south Pacific coincided with an identified Rossby wave source region, which contributed to establishing the extratropical component of the large-scale wave train connecting the south Pacific and the Atlantic region surrounding southeast Brazil. This connection between the Pacific and the Atlantic was confirmed with Rossby ray tracing analyses. The local circulation response was associated to downward air motion (subsidence) over Southeast Brazil, contributing to the expressive negative precipitation anomalies observed during summer 2014, and leading to a major drought event in the historical context. The analysis of atmospheric and oceanic patterns of this event helped defining a schematic framework leading to the observed drought conditions in southeast Brazil, including the involved teleconnections, blocking high pressure, radiative and humidity transport effects.

Description: We investigate the fragmentation instability of hairy black holes in the theory with a Gauss–Bonnet (GB) term in asymptotically flat spacetime. Our approach is through the non-perturbative fragmentation instability. By this approach, we investigate whether the initial black hole can be broken into two black holes by comparing the entropy of the initial black hole with the sum of those of two fragmented black holes. The relation between the black hole instability and the GB coupling with dilaton hair are presented. We describe the phase diagrams with respect to the mass of the black hole solutions and coupling constants. We find that a perturbatively stable black hole can be unstable under fragmentation.

Description: A pulse-shape discrimination method based on artificial neural networks was applied to pulses simulated for different background, signal and signal-like interactions inside a germanium detector. The simulated pulses were used to investigate variations of efficiencies as a function of used training set. It is verified that neural networks are well-suited to identify background pulses in true-coaxial high-purity germanium detectors. The systematic uncertainty on the signal recognition efficiency derived using signal-like evaluation samples from calibration measurements is estimated to be 5 %. This uncertainty is due to differences between signal and calibration samples.

Description: The existence of cut-off lows (COLs) over South Pacific and South America is often associated with adverse weather events such as intense precipitation over the central region of South America, frost episodes in southern Brazil and the development of Andes lee cyclones and intense cyclones over the southern coast of Brazil. Despite this importance, the formation and maintenance mechanisms of the COLs are not well understood. To detail the significant variability in terms of the eddy kinetic energy equation for fifty cases of COLs that formed over the southeastern Pacific Ocean is the aim of this study. Only the cases of COLs that formed over the ocean and remained there during most of their life were chosen. The main terms of the equation [ageostrophic flux convergence (AFC), baroclinic conversion (BRC) and barotropic conversion (BRT)] were calculated using the 6-hourly gridded data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/Department of Energy reanalysis. The formation mechanism of the COLs was associated with BRC and AFC. During the midlife period, the BRC term converted eddy kinetic energy to eddy potential energy and the AFC had a positive contribution until 6 h after the midlife point. In the dissipation phase, the BRC term remained positive and AFC became negative. The BRT extracted kinetic energy from the COL during the entire life cycle. The AFC term was the most important in all phases of the cut-off lifetime, and it was the responsible for extending the cut-off lifetime while the others terms were negatives.

Description: The present study examines the ability of high resolution (T382) National Centers for Environmental Prediction coupled atmosphere–ocean climate forecast system version 2 (CFS T382) in simulating the salient spatio-temporal characteristics of the boreal summertime mean climate and the intraseasonal variability. The shortcomings of the model are identified based on the observation and compared with earlier reported biases of the coarser resolution of CFS (CFS T126). It is found that the CFS T382 reasonably mimics the observed features of basic state climate during boreal summer. But some prominent biases are noted in simulating the precipitation, tropospheric temperature (TT) and sea surface temperature (SST) over the global tropics. Although CFS T382 primarily reproduces the observed distribution of the intraseasonal variability over the Indian summer monsoon region, some difficulty remains in simulating the boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation (BSISO) characteristics. The simulated eastward propagation of BSISO decays rapidly across the Maritime Continent, while the northward propagation appears to be slightly slower than observation. However, the northward propagating BSISO convection propagates smoothly from the equatorial region to the northern latitudes with observed magnitude. Moreover, the observed northwest-southeast tilted rain band is not well reproduced in CFS T382. The warm mean SST bias and inadequate simulation of high frequency modes appear to be responsible for the weak simulation of eastward propagating BSISO. Unlike CFS T126, the simulated mean SST and TT exhibit warm biases, although the mean precipitation and simulated BSISO characteristics are largely similar in both the resolutions of CFS. Further analysis of the convectively coupled equatorial waves (CCEWs) indicates that model overestimates the gravest equatorial Rossby waves and underestimates the Kelvin and mixed Rossby-gravity waves. Based on analysis of CCEWs, the study further explains the possible reasons behind the realistic simulation of northward propagating BSISO in CFS T382, even though the model shows substantial biases in simulating mean state and other BSISO modes.

Description: The TAO/TRITON array is the cornerstone of the tropical Pacific and ENSO observing system. Motivated by the recent rapid decline of the TAO/TRITON array, the potential utility of TAO/TRITON was assessed for ENSO monitoring and prediction. The analysis focused on the period when observations from Argo floats were also available. We coordinated observing system experiments (OSEs) using the global ocean data assimilation system (GODAS) from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the ensemble coupled data assimilation (ECDA) from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory for the period 2004–2011. Four OSE simulations were conducted with inclusion of different subsets of in situ profiles: all profiles (XBT, moorings, Argo), all except the moorings, all except the Argo and no profiles. For evaluation of the OSE simulations, we examined the mean bias, standard deviation difference, root-mean-square difference (RMSD) and anomaly correlation against observations and objective analyses. Without assimilation of in situ observations, both GODAS and ECDA had large mean biases and RMSD in all variables. Assimilation of all in situ data significantly reduced mean biases and RMSD in all variables except zonal current at the equator. For GODAS, the mooring data is critical in constraining temperature in the eastern and northwestern tropical Pacific, while for ECDA both the mooring and Argo data is needed in constraining temperature in the western tropical Pacific. The Argo data is critical in constraining temperature in off-equatorial regions for both GODAS and ECDA. For constraining salinity, sea surface height and surface current analysis, the influence of Argo data was more pronounced. In addition, the salinity data from the TRITON buoys played an important role in constraining salinity in the western Pacific. GODAS was more sensitive to withholding Argo data in off-equatorial regions than ECDA because it relied on local observations to correct model biases and there were few XBT profiles in those regions. The results suggest that multiple ocean data assimilation systems should be used to assess sensitivity of ocean analyses to changes in the distribution of ocean observations to get more robust results that can guide the design of future tropical Pacific observing systems.

Description: In this article, we calculate the form factors and the coupling constant of the vertex \(D_{s}^{*}D_{s}\phi \) using the three-point QCD sum rules. We consider the contributions of the vacuum condensates up to dimension 7 in the operator product expansion. And all possible off-shell cases are considered, \(\phi \) , \(D_{s}\) and \(D_{s}^{*}\) , resulting in three different form factors. Then we fit the form factors into analytical functions and extrapolate them into time-like regions, which giving the coupling constant for the process. Our analysis indicates that the coupling constant for this vertex is \(G_{D_{s}^{*}D{_{s}}\phi }=4.12\pm 0.70\,\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}\) . The results of this work are very useful in the other phenomenological analysis. As an application, we calculate the coupling constant for the decay channel \(D_{s}^{*}\rightarrow D_{s}\gamma \) and analyze the width of this decay with the assumption of the vector meson dominance of the intermediate \(\phi (1020)\) . Our final result about the decay width of this decay channel is \(\Gamma =0.59\pm 0.15\,\mathrm{keV}\) .

Description: Extensive N -body simulations are among the key means for the study of numerous astrophysical and cosmological phenomena, so various schemes are developed for possibly higher accuracy computations. We demonstrate the principal possibility for revealing the evolution of a perturbed Hamiltonian system with an accuracy independent on time. The method is based on the Laplace transform and the derivation and analytical solution of an evolution equation in the phase space for the resolvent and using computer algebra.

Description: A search for a standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair and decaying to bottom quarks is presented. Events with hadronic jets and one or two oppositely charged leptons are selected from a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 \(\,\text {fb}^\text {-1}\) collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in \(\mathrm {p}\mathrm {p}\) collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 \(\,\hbox {TeV}\) . In order to separate the signal from the larger \(\hbox {t}\overline{\hbox {t}}\)  + jets background, this analysis uses a matrix element method that assigns a probability density value to each reconstructed event under signal or background hypotheses. The ratio between the two values is used in a maximum likelihood fit to extract the signal yield. The results are presented in terms of the measured signal strength modifier, \(\mu \) , relative to the standard model prediction for a Higgs boson mass of 125 \(\,\hbox {GeV}\) . The observed (expected) exclusion limit at a 95 % confidence level is \(\mu 〈4.2\) (3.3), corresponding to a best fit value \(\hat{\mu }=1.2^{+1.6}_{-1.5}\) .

Description: In this paper we are concerned with the effects of an anisotropic pressure on the boundary conditions of the anisotropic Lane–Emden equation and the homology theorem. Some new exact solutions of this equation are derived. Then some of the theorems governing the Newtonian perfect fluid star are extended, taking the anisotropic pressure into account.

Description: An optimized digital shaping filter has been developed for the Gerda experiment which searches for neutrinoless double beta decay in \(^{76}\) Ge. The Gerda Phase I energy calibration data have been reprocessed and an average improvement of 0.3 keV in energy resolution (FWHM) corresponding to 10 % at the \(Q\) value for \(0\nu \beta \beta \) decay in \(^{76}\) Ge is obtained. This is possible thanks to the enhanced low-frequency noise rejection of this Zero Area Cusp (ZAC) signal shaping filter.

Description: A generalisation of the narrow-width approximation (NWA) is formulated which allows for a consistent treatment of interference effects between nearly mass-degenerate particles in the factorisation of a more complicated process into production and decay parts. It is demonstrated that interference effects of this kind arising in BSM models can be very large, leading to drastic modifications of predictions based on the standard NWA. The application of the generalised NWA is demonstrated both at tree level and at one-loop order for an example process where the neutral Higgs bosons h and H of the MSSM are produced in the decay of a heavy neutralino and subsequently decay into a fermion pair. The generalised NWA, based on on-shell matrix elements or their approximations leading to simple weight factors, is shown to produce UV- and IR-finite results which are numerically close to the result of the full process at tree level and at one-loop order, where an agreement of better than \(1\,\%\) is found for the considered process. The most accurate prediction for this process based on the generalised NWA, taking into account also corrections that are formally of higher orders, is briefly discussed.

Description: A new theory of gravity called Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld (EiBI) gravity was recently proposed by Bañados and Ferreira. This theory leads to some exciting new features, such as free of cosmological singularities. In this paper, we first obtain a charged EiBI black hole solution with a nonvanishing cosmological constant when the electromagnetic field is included in. Then based on it, we study the strong gravitational lensing by the asymptotic flat charged EiBI black hole. The strong deflection limit coefficients and observables are shown to closely depend on the additional coupling parameter \(\kappa \) in the EiBI gravity. It is found that, compared with the corresponding charged black hole in general relativity, the positive coupling parameter \(\kappa \) will shrink the black hole horizon and photon sphere. Moreover, the coupling parameter will decrease the angular position and relative magnitudes of the relativistic images, while increase the angular separation, which may shine new light on testing such gravity theory in near future by the astronomical instruments.

Description: Recent numerical studies in stratospheric dynamics and its variability as well as climate, have highlighted the need of more observational analyses to improve simulation of the West African monsoon (WAM). In this paper, activity and spectral characteristics of short-scale vertical waves (wavelengths 〈4 km) are analysed in equatorial coastal and tropical lower stratosphere during the WAM. A first detailed description of such waves over West Africa is derived from high-resolution vertical profiles of temperature and horizontal wind obtained during Intensive Observation Period of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) Campaign 2006. Monthly variation of wave energy density is revealed to trace the progression of the inter-tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) over West Africa. Mesoscale inertia gravity-waves structures with vertical and horizontal wavelengths of 1.5–2.5 and 400–1100 km respectively and intrinsic frequencies of 1.1–2.2 f or periods 〈2 days are observed in the tropical LS with intense activity during July and August when the WAM is installed over the tropical West Africa. Over equatorial region, gravity waves with intrinsic frequencies of 1.4–4 f or periods 〈5.2 days, vertical wavelength of 2.1 km and long horizontal wavelengths of 1300 km are intense during the WAM coastal phase. From July to October, gravity waves with intrinsic frequencies of 1.2–3.8 f or periods 〈6 days, vertical wavelength of 2.1 km and horizontal wavelengths of 1650 km are less intense during the WAM Sahelian phase of the WAM, March–June. Unlike potential energy density, kinetic energy density is observed to be a good proxy for the activity of short-scale vertical waves during the WAM because quasi-inertial waves are dominant. Long-term wave activity variation from January 2001 to December 2009, highlights strong year-to-year variation superimposed on convective activity and quasi-biennial oscillation-like variations especially above tropical stations.

Description: Satellite based top-of-atmosphere (TOA) and surface radiation budget observations are combined with mass corrected vertically integrated atmospheric energy divergence and tendency from reanalysis to infer the regional distribution of the TOA, atmospheric and surface energy budget terms over the globe. Hemispheric contrasts in the energy budget terms are used to determine the radiative and combined sensible and latent heat contributions to the cross-equatorial heat transports in the atmosphere (AHT EQ ) and ocean (OHT EQ ). The contrast in net atmospheric radiation implies an AHT EQ from the northern hemisphere (NH) to the southern hemisphere (SH) (0.75 PW), while the hemispheric difference in sensible and latent heat implies an AHT EQ in the opposite direction (0.51 PW), resulting in a net NH to SH AHT EQ (0.24 PW). At the surface, the hemispheric contrast in the radiative component (0.95 PW) dominates, implying a 0.44 PW SH to NH OHT EQ . Coupled model intercomparison project phase 5 (CMIP5) models with excessive net downward surface radiation and surface-to-atmosphere sensible and latent heat transport in the SH relative to the NH exhibit anomalous northward AHT EQ and overestimate SH tropical precipitation. The hemispheric bias in net surface radiative flux is due to too much longwave surface radiative cooling in the NH tropics in both clear and all-sky conditions and excessive shortwave surface radiation in the SH subtropics and extratropics due to an underestimation in reflection by clouds.

Description: This manuscript is devoted to the investigation of the Bianchi type I universe in the context of f ( R ,  T ) gravity. For this purpose, we explore the exact solutions of locally rotationally symmetric Bianchi type I spacetime. The modified field equations are solved by assuming an expansion scalar \(\theta \) proportional to the shear scalar \(\sigma \) , which gives \(A=B^n\) , where A ,   B are the metric coefficients and n is an arbitrary constant. In particular, three solutions have been found and physical quantities are calculated in each case.

Description: By detecting redshift drift in the spectra of the Lyman- \(\alpha \) forest of distant quasars, the Sandage–Loeb (SL) test directly measures the expansion of the universe, covering the “redshift desert” of \(2 \lesssim z \lesssim 5\) . Thus this method is definitely an important supplement to the other geometric measurements and will play a crucial role in cosmological constraints. In this paper, we quantify the ability of the SL test signal by a CODEX-like spectrograph for constraining interacting dark energy. Four typical interacting dark energy models are considered: (i) \(Q=\gamma H\rho _c\) , (ii) \(Q=\gamma H\rho _{de}\) , (iii) \(Q=\gamma H_0\rho _c\) , and (iv) \(Q=\gamma H_0\rho _{de}\) . The results show that for all the considered interacting dark energy models, relative to the current joint SN  \(+\)  BAO  \(+\)  CMB  \(+\)   \(H_0\) observations, the constraints on \(\Omega _m\) and \(H_0\) would be improved by about 60 and 30–40 %, while the constraints on w and \(\gamma \) would be slightly improved, with a 30-year observation of the SL test. We also explore the impact of the SL test on future joint geometric observations. In this analysis, we take the model with \(Q=\gamma H\rho _c\) as an example, and we simulate future SN and BAO data based on the space-based project WFIRST. We find that with the future geometric constraints, the redshift drift observations would help break the geometric degeneracies in a meaningful way, thus the measurement precisions of \(\Omega _m\) , \(H_0\) , w , and \(\gamma \) could be substantially improved using future probes.

Description: To identify the nature of the newly observed charged resonance \(Z_c(4200)^+\) , we study its hadronic decays \(Z_c(4200)^+\rightarrow J/\psi \pi ^+, Z_c(4200)^+\rightarrow \eta _c\rho ^+\) and \(Z_c(4200)^+\rightarrow D^+\bar{D}^{*0}\) as a charmonium-like tetraquark state. In the framework of the QCD sum rules, we calculate the three-point functions and extract the coupling constants and decay widths for these interaction vertices. Including all these channels, the full decay width of the \(Z_c(4200)^+\) state is consistent with the experimental value reported by the Belle Collaboration, supporting the tetraquark interpretation of this state.

Description: Mineral dust aerosols are an essential component of climate over West Africa, however, little work has been performed to investigate their contributions to potential climate change. A set of regional climate model experiments with and without mineral dust processes and land cover changes is performed to evaluate their climatic effects under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 for two global climate models. Results suggest surface warming to be in the range of 4–8 °C by the end of the century (2081–2100) over West Africa with respect to the present day (1981–2000). The presence of mineral dusts dampens the warming by 0.1–1 °C in all seasons. Accounting for changes in land cover enhances the warming over the north of Sahel and dampens it to the south in spring and summer; however, the magnitudes are smaller than those resulting from dusts. Overall dust loadings are projected to increase, with the greatest increase occurring over the Sahara and Sahel in summer. Accounting for land cover changes tends to reduce dust loadings over the southern Sahel. Future precipitation is projected to decrease by 5–40 % in the western Sahara and Sahel and increase by 10–150 % over the eastern Sahel and Guinea Coast in JJA. A dipole pattern of future precipitation changes is attributed to dust effects, with decrease in the north by 5–20 % and increase by 5–20 % in the south. Future changes in land cover result in a noisy non-significant response with a tendency for slight wetting in MAM, JJA, and SON and drying in DJF.

Description: A search for heavy long-lived multi-charged particles is performed using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Data collected in 2012 at \(\sqrt{s}=8\)  TeV from pp collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb \(^{-1}\) are examined. Particles producing anomalously high ionisation, consistent with long-lived massive particles with electric charges from \(|q|=2e\) to \(|q|=6e\) are searched for. No signal candidate events are observed, and 95 % confidence level cross-section upper limits are interpreted as lower mass limits for a Drell–Yan production model. The mass limits range between 660 and 785 GeV.

Description: We study to which extent SUSY extensions of the Standard Model can describe the excess of events of 3.0 standard deviations observed by ATLAS in the on- Z signal region, respecting constraints by CMS on similar signal channels as well as constraints from searches for jets and \(E^\mathrm{miss}_\text {T}\) . GMSB-like scenarios are typically in conflict with these constraints, and do not reproduce well the shape of the \(E^\mathrm{miss}_\text {T}\) distribution of the data. An alternative scenario with two massive neutralinos can improve fits to the total number of events as well as to the \(H_\text {T}\) and \(E^\mathrm{miss}_\text {T}\) distributions. Such a scenario can be realised within the NMSSM.

Description: Leading-twist operators have a remarkable property that their divergence vanishes in a free theory. Recently it was suggested that this property can be used for an alternative technique to calculate anomalous dimensions of leading-twist operators and allows one to gain one order in perturbation theory so that, i.e., two-loop anomalous dimensions can be calculated from one-loop Feynman diagrams, etc. In this work we study the feasibility of this program by a toy-model example of the \(\varphi ^3\) theory in six dimensions. Our conclusion is that this approach is valid, although it does not seem to present considerable technical simplifications as compared to the standard technique. It does provide one, however, with a very nontrivial check of the calculation as the structure of the contributions is very different.

Description: Recently, a family of interesting analytical brane solutions were found in f ( R ) gravity with \(f(R)=R \,+\, \alpha R^2\) in Bazeia et al. (Phys Lett B 729:127 2014 ). In these solutions, the inner brane structure can be turned on by tuning the value of the parameter \(\alpha \) . In this paper, we investigate how the parameter \(\alpha \) affects the localization and the quasilocalization of the tensorial gravitons around these solutions. It is found that, in a range of \(\alpha \) , despite the brane having an inner structure, there is no graviton resonance. However, in some other regions of the parameter space, although the brane has no internal structure, the effective potential for the graviton Kaluza–Klein (KK) modes has a singular structure, and there exist a series of graviton resonant modes. The contribution of the massive graviton KK modes to Newton’s law of gravity is discussed briefly.

Description: The production of the Standard Model Higgs boson in association with a vector boson, followed by the dominant decay to \(H \rightarrow b\bar{b}\) , is a strong prospect for confirming and measuring the coupling to b -quarks in pp collisions at \(\sqrt{s}=14\)  TeV. We present an updated study of the prospects for this analysis, focussing on the most sensitive highly Lorentz-boosted region. The evolution of the efficiency and composition of the signal and main background processes as a function of the transverse momentum of the vector boson are studied covering the region 200–1000 GeV, comparing both a conventional dijet and jet substructure selection. The lower transverse momentum region (200–400 GeV) is identified as the most sensitive region for the Standard Model search, with higher transverse momentum regions not improving the statistical sensitivity. For much of the studied region (200–600 GeV), a conventional dijet selection performs as well as the substructure approach, while for the highest transverse momentum regions ( \(〉\) 600 GeV), which are particularly interesting for Beyond the Standard Model and high luminosity measurements, the jet substructure techniques are essential.

Description: Massive QED, in contrast with its massless counterpart, possesses two conserved charges; one is a screened (vanishing) Maxwell charge which is directly associated with the massive vector mesons through the identically conserved Maxwell current, while the presence of a particle-antiparticle counting charge depends on the matter. A somewhat peculiar situation arises for couplings of Hermitian matter fields to massive vector potentials; in that case the only current is the screened Maxwell current and the coupling disappears in the massless limit. In the case of self-interacting massive vector mesons the situation becomes even more peculiar in that the usually renormalizability guaranteeing validity of the first order power-counting criterion breaks down in second order and requires the compensatory presence of additional Hermitian H -fields. Some aspect of these observation have already been noticed in the BRST gauge theoretic formulation, but here we use a new setting based on string-local vector mesons which is required by Hilbert space positivity (“off-shell unitarity”). This new formulation explains why spontaneous symmetry breaking cannot occur in the presence of higher spin \(s\ge 1\)  fields. The coupling to H -fields induces Mexican hat-like self-interactions; they are not imposed and bear no relation with spontaneous symmetry breaking; they are rather consequences of the foundational causal localization properties realized in a Hilbert space setting. In the case of self-interacting massive vector mesons their presence is required in order to maintain the first order power-counting restriction of renormalizability also in second order. The presentation of the new Hilbert space setting for vector mesons which replaces gauge theory and extends on-shell unitarity to its off-shell counterpart is the main motivation for this work. The new Hilbert space setting also shows that the second order Lie-algebra structure of self-interacting vector mesons is a consequence of the principles of QFT and promises a deeper understanding of the origin of confinement.

Description: We develop a methodology for the construction of a Hessian representation of Monte Carlo sets of parton distributions, based on the use of a subset of the Monte Carlo PDF replicas as an unbiased linear basis, and of a genetic algorithm for the determination of the optimal basis. We validate the methodology by first showing that it faithfully reproduces a native Monte Carlo PDF set (NNPDF3.0), and then, that if applied to Hessian PDF set (MMHT14) which was transformed into a Monte Carlo set, it gives back the starting PDFs with minimal information loss. We then show that, when applied to a large Monte Carlo PDF set obtained as combination of several underlying sets, the methodology leads to a Hessian representation in terms of a rather smaller set of parameters (MC-H PDFs), thereby providing an alternative implementation of the recently suggested Meta-PDF idea and a Hessian version of the recently suggested PDF compression algorithm (CMC-PDFs). The mc2hessian conversion code is made publicly available together with (through LHAPDF6 ) a Hessian representations of the NNPDF3.0 set, and the MC-H PDF set.

Description: We explore a fermionic dark matter model with a possible extension of Standard Model of particle physics into two Higgs doublet model. Higgs doublets couple to the singlet fermionic dark matter through a non-renormalisable coupling providing a new physics scale. We explore the viability of such dark matter candidate and constrain the model parameter space by collider serach, relic density of DM, direct detection measurements of DM-nucleon scattering cross-section and with the experimentally obtained results from indirect search of dark matter.

Description: In a previous study Pons et al. (Clim Res 54(3):197–207, 2010 . doi: 10.3354/cr01117g ) reported a significant decreasing trend of snowfall occurrence in the Northern Iberian Peninsula since the mid 70s. The study was based on observations of annual snowfall frequency (measured as the annual number of snowfall days NSD) from a network of 33 stations ranging from 60 to 1350 m. In the present work we analyze the skill of Regional Climate Models (RCMs) to reproduce this trend for the period 1961–2000 (using both reanalysis- and historical GCM-driven boundary conditions) and the trend and the associated uncertainty of the regional future projections obtained under the A1B scenario for the first half of the twenty-first century. In particular, we consider the regional simulation dataset from the EU-funded ENSEMBLES project, consisting of thirteen state-of-the-art RCMs run at 25 km resolution over Europe. While ERA40 severely underestimates both the mean NSD and its observed trend (−2.2 days/decade), the corresponding RCM simulations driven by the reanalysis appropriately capture the interannual variability and trends of the observed NSD (trends ranging from −3.4 to −0.7, −2.1 days/decade for the ensemble mean). The results driven by the GCM historical runs are quite variable, with trends ranging from −8.5 to 0.2 days/decade (−1.5 days/decade for the ensemble mean), and the greatest uncertainty by far being associated with the particular GCM used. Finally, the trends for the future 2011–2050 A1B runs are more consistent and significant, ranging in this case from −3.7 to −0.5 days/decade (−2.0 days/decade for the ensemble mean), indicating a future significant decreasing trend. These trends are mainly determined by the increasing temperatures, as indicated by the interannual correlation between temperature and NSD (−0.63 in the observations), which is preserved in both ERA40- and GCM-driven simulations.

Description: The interannual-decadal variability of the wintertime mixed layer depths (MLDs) over the North Pacific is investigated from an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of an ensemble of global ocean reanalyses. The first leading EOF mode represents the interannual MLD anomalies centered in the eastern part of the central mode water formation region in phase opposition with those in the eastern subtropics and the central Alaskan Gyre. This first EOF mode is highly correlated with the Pacific decadal oscillation index on both the interannual and decadal time scales. The second leading EOF mode represents the MLD variability in the subtropical mode water (STMW) formation region and has a good correlation with the wintertime West Pacific (WP) index with time lag of 3 years, suggesting the importance of the oceanic dynamical response to the change in the surface wind field associated with the meridional shifts of the Aleutian Low. The above MLD variabilities are in basic agreement with previous observational and modeling findings. Moreover the reanalysis ensemble provides uncertainty estimates. The interannual MLD anomalies in the first and second EOF modes are consistently represented by the individual reanalyses and the amplitudes of the variabilities generally exceed the ensemble spread of the reanalyses. Besides, the resulting MLD variability indices, spanning the 1948–2012 period, should be helpful for characterizing the North Pacific climate variability. In particular, a 6-year oscillation including the WP teleconnection pattern in the atmosphere and the oceanic MLD variability in the STMW formation region is first detected.

Description: An overview of the flavour problem is presented, with emphasis on the theoretical efforts to find a satisfactory description of the fermion masses and the mixing angles.

Description: In this paper, decadal variability of the Pacific-South America (PSA) mode is examined from year 1871 to 2008 based on the newly developed ocean and atmosphere reanalysis products. The PSA mode, mirroring the Pacific-North America mode in the Northern Hemisphere, emerges as the second EOF mode of 500 mb geopotential height anomalies. The mode displays substantial interannual-decadal variability with distinct timescales between 3–8 and 10–18 years, respectively. The decadal variability of the PSA mode is found to be associated with the coupled ocean–atmosphere interaction over the subtropical South and tropical Pacific. The subduction of the subtropical temperature anomalies in the South Pacific in conjunction with the tropical–subtropical atmospheric teleconnection plays important role in the decadal variability of the PSA mode.

Description: The National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Earth System Model is used to study the “spring predictability barrier” (SPB) problem for El Niño events from the perspective of initial error growth. By conducting perfect model predictability experiments, we obtain two types of initial sea temperature errors, which often exhibit obvious season-dependent evolution and cause a significant SPB when predicting the onset of El Niño events bestriding spring. One type of initial errors possesses a sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) pattern with negative anomalies in the central–eastern equatorial Pacific, plus a basin-wide dipolar subsurface temperature anomaly pattern with negative anomalies in the upper layers of the eastern equatorial Pacific and positive anomalies in the lower layers of the western equatorial Pacific. The other type consists of an SSTA component with positive anomalies over the southeastern equatorial Pacific, plus a large-scale zonal dipole pattern of the subsurface temperature anomaly with positive anomalies in the upper layers of the eastern equatorial Pacific and negative anomalies in the lower layers of the central–western equatorial Pacific. Both exhibit a La Niña-like evolving mode and cause an under-prediction for Niño-3 SSTA of El Niño events. For the former initial error type, the resultant prediction errors grow in a manner similar to the behavior of the growth phase of La Niña; while for the latter initial error type, they experience a process that is similar to El Niño decay and transition to a La Niña growth phase. Both two types of initial errors cause negative prediction errors of Niño-3 SSTA for El Niño events. The prediction errors for Niño-3 SSTA are mainly due to the contribution of initial sea temperature errors in the large-error-related regions in the upper layers of the eastern tropical Pacific and/or in the lower layers of the western tropical Pacific. These regions may represent ‘‘sensitive areas’’ for El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) predictions, thereby providing information for target observations to improve the forecasting skill of ENSO.

Description: In this study, the relationship between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and precipitation variability over the Korean Peninsula is investigated. In contrast to the previously-known positive correlation between them during an El Niño developing summer and winter, we found a considerably significant negative correlation in September between Niño3 Sea Surface Temperature and Korean precipitation during ENSO developing phase. The northerly wind is only seen during El Nino developing phase and is part of the cyclonic flow over the subtropical North Pacific. The cyclonic flow over the subtropical North Pacific is induced by the subtropical diabatic heating, which is a peculiar feature during El Niño developing phase. In addition, it is demonstrated that the negative correlation is partly attributed to the tropical cyclone (TC), particularly during La Niña phase. That is, TC tends to pass through Korean Peninsula more frequently during La Niña years, which leads to more precipitation over the Korean Peninsula.

Description: Explosive cyclones are rapidly intensifying low pressure systems generating severe wind speeds and heavy precipitation primarily in coastal and marine environments. This study presents the first analysis on how explosive cyclones respond to climate change in the extratropics of the Northern Hemisphere. An objective-feature tracking algorithm is used to identify and track cyclones from 23 CMIP5 climate models for the recent past (1981–1999) and future (2081–2099). Explosive cyclones are projected to shift northwards by about \(2.2^\circ\) latitude on average in the northern Pacific, with fewer and weaker events south of \(45^\circ \hbox {N}\) , and more frequent and stronger events north of this latitude. This shift is correlated with a poleward shift of the jet stream in the inter-model spread ( \(R=0.56\) ). In the Atlantic, the total number of explosive cyclones is projected to decrease by about 17 % when averaging across models, with the largest changes occurring along North America’s East Coast. This reduction is correlated with a decline in the lower-tropospheric Eady growth rate ( \(R=0.51\) ), and is stronger for models with smaller frequency biases ( \(R=-0.65\) ). The same region is also projected to experience a small intensification of explosive cyclones, with larger vorticity values for models that predict stronger increases in the speed of the jet stream ( \(R=0.58\) ). This strengthening of the jet stream is correlated with an enhanced sea surface temperature gradient in the North Atlantic ( \(R=-0.63\) ). The inverse relationship between model bias and projection, and the role of model resolution are discussed.

Description: We identify the dynamical drivers of systematic changes in persistent quasi-stationary states (regimes) of the Southern Hemisphere troposphere and their secular trends. We apply a purely data-driven approach, whereby a multiscale approximation to nonstationary dynamical processes is achieved through optimal sequences of locally stationary fast vector autoregressive factor processes, to examine a high resolution atmospheric reanalysis over the period encompassing 1958–2013. This approach identifies regimes and their secular trends in terms of the predictability of the flow and is Granger causal. A comprehensive set of diagnostics on both isentropic and isobaric surfaces is employed to examine teleconnections over the full hemisphere and for a set of regional domains. Composite states for the hemisphere obtained from nonstationary nonparametric cluster analysis reveal patterns consistent with a circumglobal wave 3 (polar)–wave 5 (subtropical) pattern, while regional composites reveal the Pacific South American pattern and blocking modes. The respective roles of potential vorticity sources, stationary Rossby waves and baroclinic instability on the dynamics of these circulation modes are shown to be reflected by the seasonal variations of the waveguides, where Rossby wave sources and baroclinic disturbances are largely contained within the waveguides and with little direct evidence of sustained remote tropical influences on persistent synoptic features. Warm surface temperature anomalies are strongly connected with regions of upper level divergence and anticyclonic Rossby wave sources. The persistent states identified reveal significant variability on interannual to decadal time scales with large secular trends identified in all sectors apart from a region close to South America.

Description: The production of the massive bosons \(Z^0\) and \(W^{\pm }\) could provide an excellent tool to study cold nuclear matter effects and the modifications of nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) relative to the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of a free proton in high-energy nuclear reactions at the LHC as well as in heavy-ion collisions (HIC) with much higher center-of-mass energies available in the future colliders. In this paper we calculate the rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of the vector boson and their nuclear modification factors in p + Pb collisions at \(\sqrt{s_{NN}}=63\)  TeV and in Pb + Pb collisions at \(\sqrt{s_{NN}}=39\)  TeV in the framework of perturbative QCD by utilizing three parametrization sets of nPDFs: EPS09, DSSZ, and nCTEQ. It is found that in heavy-ion collisions at such high colliding energies, both the rapidity distribution and the transverse momentum spectrum of vector bosons are considerably suppressed in wide kinematic regions with respect to p + p reactions due to large nuclear shadowing effect. We demonstrate that the massive vector boson production processes with sea quarks in the initial state may give more contributions than those with valence quarks in the initial state; therefore in future heavy-ion collisions the isospin effect is less pronounced and the charge asymmetry of the W boson will be reduced significantly as compared to that at the LHC. A large difference between results with nCTEQ and results with EPS09 and DSSZ is observed in nuclear modifications of both rapidity and \(p_T\) distributions of \(Z^0\) and W in the future HIC.

Description: We present a frequentist analysis of the parameter space of the pMSSM10, in which the following ten soft SUSY-breaking parameters are specified independently at the mean scalar top mass scale \(M_\mathrm{SUSY}\equiv \sqrt{m_{\tilde{t}_{1}} m_{\tilde{t}_{2}}}\) : the gaugino masses \(M_{1,2,3}\) , the first-and second-generation squark masses \(m_{\tilde{q}_1}= m_{\tilde{q}_2}\) , the third-generation squark mass \(m_{\tilde{q}_3}\) , a common slepton mass \(m_{\tilde{\ell }}\) and a common trilinear mixing parameter A , as well as the Higgs mixing parameter \(\mu \) , the pseudoscalar Higgs mass \(M_A\) and \(\tan \beta \) , the ratio of the two Higgs vacuum expectation values. We use the MultiNest sampling algorithm with \(\sim \) 1.2 \(\times 10^9\) points to sample the pMSSM10 parameter space. A dedicated study shows that the sensitivities to strongly interacting sparticle masses of ATLAS and CMS searches for jets, leptons \(+\) signals depend only weakly on many of the other pMSSM10 parameters. With the aid of the Atom and Scorpion codes, we also implement the LHC searches for electroweakly interacting sparticles and light stops, so as to confront the pMSSM10 parameter space with all relevant SUSY searches. In addition, our analysis includes Higgs mass and rate measurements using the HiggsSignals code, SUSY Higgs exclusion bounds, the measurements of \(\mathrm{BR}(B_s \rightarrow \mu ^+\mu ^-)\) by LHCb and CMS, other B -physics observables, electroweak precision observables, the cold dark matter density and the XENON100 and LUX searches for spin-independent dark matter scattering, assuming that the cold dark matter is mainly provided by the lightest neutralino \(\tilde{\chi }^0_{1}\) . We show that the pMSSM10 is able to provide a supersymmetric interpretation of \((g-2)_\mu \) , unlike the CMSSM, NUHM1 and NUHM2. As a result, we find (omitting Higgs rates) that the minimum \(\chi ^2 = 20.5\) with 18 degrees of freedom (d.o.f.) in the pMSSM10, corresponding to a \(\chi ^2\) probability of 30.8 %, to be compared with \(\chi ^2/\mathrm{d.o.f.} = 32.8/24 \ (31.1/23) \ (30.3/22)\) in the CMSSM (NUHM1) (NUHM2). We display the one-dimensional likelihood functions for sparticle masses, and we show that they may be significantly lighter in the pMSSM10 than in the other models, e.g., the gluino may be as light as \(\sim \) 1250 \(\,\, \mathrm {GeV}\) at the 68 % CL, and squarks, stops, electroweak gauginos and sleptons may be much lighter than in the CMSSM, NUHM1 and NUHM2. We discuss the discovery potential of future LHC runs, \(e^+e^-\) colliders and direct detection experiments.

Description: We compute the corrections to the Schwarzschild metric necessary to reproduce the Hawking temperature derived from a generalized uncertainty principle (GUP), so that the GUP deformation parameter is directly linked to the deformation of the metric. Using this modified Schwarzschild metric, we compute corrections to the standard general relativistic predictions for the light deflection and perihelion precession, both for planets in the solar system and for binary pulsars. This analysis allows us to set bounds for the GUP deformation parameter from well-known astronomical measurements.

Description: LHC searches for non-standard Higgs bosons decaying into tau lepton pairs constitute a sensitive experimental probe for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM), such as supersymmetry (SUSY). Recently, the limits obtained from these searches have been presented by the CMS collaboration in a nearly model-independent fashion – as a narrow resonance model – based on the full \(8\,\, \mathrm {TeV}\) dataset. In addition to publishing a \(95~\%~\mathrm {C.L.}\) exclusion limit, the full likelihood information for the narrow resonance model has been released. This provides valuable information that can be incorporated into global BSM fits. We present a simple algorithm that maps an arbitrary model with multiple neutral Higgs bosons onto the narrow resonance model and derives the corresponding value for the exclusion likelihood from the CMS search. This procedure has been implemented into the public computer code HiggsBounds (version 4.2.0 and higher). We validate our implementation by cross-checking against the official CMS exclusion contours in three Higgs benchmark scenarios in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), and find very good agreement. Going beyond validation, we discuss the combined constraints of the \(\tau \tau \) search and the rate measurements of the SM-like Higgs at \(125\,\, \mathrm {GeV}\) in a recently proposed MSSM benchmark scenario, where the lightest Higgs boson obtains SM-like couplings independently of the decoupling of the heavier Higgs states. Technical details for how to access the likelihood information within HiggsBounds are given in the appendix. The program is available at http://higgsbounds.hepforge.org .

Description: The mean and variability of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC), as represented in six ocean reanalysis products, are analyzed over the period 1960–2007. Particular focus is on multi-decadal trends and interannual variability at 26.5°N and 45°N. For four of the six reanalysis products, corresponding reference simulations obtained from the same models and forcing datasets but without the imposition of subsurface data constraints are included for comparison. An emphasis is placed on identifying general characteristics of the reanalysis representation of AMOC relative to their reference simulations without subsurface data constraints. The AMOC as simulated in these two sets are presented in the context of results from the Coordinated Ocean-ice Reference Experiments phase II (CORE-II) effort, wherein a common interannually varying atmospheric forcing data set was used to force a large and diverse set of global ocean-ice models. Relative to the reference simulations and CORE-II forced model simulations it is shown that (1) the reanalysis products tend to have greater AMOC mean strength and enhanced variance and (2) the reanalysis products are less consistent in their year-to-year AMOC changes. We also find that relative to the reference simulations (but not the CORE-II forced model simulations) the reanalysis products tend to have enhanced multi-decadal trends (from 1975–1995 to 1995–2007) in the mid to high latitudes of the northern hemisphere.

Description: This study applies WACCM, a stratosphere-resolving model to dissect the stratospheric responses in the northern winter extratropics to the imposed ENSO-related SST anomalies in the tropics. It is found that the anomalously warmer and weaker stratospheric polar vortex during warm ENSO is basically a balance of the opposite effects between the SST anomalies in the tropical Pacific (TPO) and that over the tropical Indian Ocean basin (TIO). Specifically, the ENSO-related SST anomalies over the TIO are to induce an anomalously colder and stronger stratospheric polar vortex during warm ENSO, which acts to partially cancel out the much stronger warmer and weaker polar vortex response to the SST anomalies over the TPO. Further analysis indicates that, while the SST forcing from the TPO contributes to the anomalously positive Pacific North America (PNA) pattern in the troposphere and the enhancement of the stationary wavenumber (WN)-1 in the stratosphere during warm ENSO, the TIO SST forcing is to induce an anomalously negative PNA and a reduction of both WN-1 and WN-2 in the stratosphere. Diagnosis of E–P flux confirms that, the anomalously upward propagation of stationary waves in the extratropics mainly lies over the western coast of North America during warm ENSO, which is mainly associated with the TPO-induced positive PNA response and is partially suppressed by the effect of the accompanying TIO SST forcing.

Description: The study evaluated for the first time the ability of meteorological models of TIGGE to forecast the main features of the West African monsoon rainfall. Seven numerical models were retained over the 2008–2012 period and compared to satellite rainfall estimates. We focused on the seasonal cycle and in particular on the onset of the rainy season and on the intra-seasonal variability that are both of high importance for agriculture, water management and health sectors. We found that the seasonal latitudinal shift of the ITCZ is rather well predicted in terms of amplitude and timing by the different models although there is a systematic northward drift in the ITCZ latitude from the lead-times 1- to 10-day. Although the onset date of rainfall varies a lot according to the different definition in the literature, we also found good performance of TIGGE forecasts in predicting the onset date of the monsoon. The analysis of intra-seasonal variability revealed that the skill of TIGGE forecasts is decreasing with the lead-time from 1- to 15-day and the performance of the ensemble mean of all models overcomes the one of any individual models. Overall criteria used in this study (intra-seasonal fluctuations, onset and seasonal cycles), the skill of UKMO and ECMWF models is better than any other model. Based on such analysis it is likely than an ensemble mean based only on these two models would be more skillful than the ensemble mean based on the seven models. TIGGE forecasts represent a promising step towards the delivery of useful climate information to end-users of key sectors such as agriculture, water management, health and public safety.

Description: The link between interannual variability of seasonal rainfall over the Cape south coast of South Africa and different synoptic types as well as selected teleconnections is explored. Synoptic circulation over the region is classified into different synoptic types by employing a clustering technique, the self-organizing map (SOM), on daily circulation data for the 33-year period from 1979 to 2011. Daily rainfall data are used to investigate interannual variability of seasonal rainfall within the context of the identified synoptic types. The anomalous frequency of occurrence of the different synoptic types for wet and for dry seasons differs significantly within the SOM space, except for austral spring. The main rainfall-producing synoptic types are to a large extent consistent for wet and dry seasons. The main rainfall-producing synoptic types have a notable larger contribution to seasonal rainfall totals during wet seasons than during dry seasons, consistent with a higher frequency of occurrence of the main rainfall-producing synoptic types during wet seasons compared to dry seasons. Dry seasons are characterized by a smaller contribution to seasonal rainfall totals by all the different synoptic types, but with the largest negative anomalies associated with low frequencies of the main rainfall-producing synoptic types. The frequencies of occurrence of specific configurations of ridging high pressure systems, cut-off lows and tropical-temperate troughs associated with rainfall are positively linked to interannual variability of seasonal rainfall. It is also shown that the distribution of synoptic types within the SOM space is linked to the Southern Annular Mode and El Niño Southern Oscillation, implying some predictability of intraseasonal variability at the seasonal time scale.

Description: In order to study the interactions between the atmospheric circulations at the middle-high and low latitudes from the global perspective, the authors proposed the mathematical definition of three-pattern circulations, i.e., horizontal, meridional and zonal circulations with which the actual atmospheric circulation is expanded. This novel decomposition method is proved to accurately describe the actual atmospheric circulation dynamics. The authors used the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data to calculate the climate characteristics of those three-pattern circulations, and found that the decomposition model agreed with the observed results. Further dynamical analysis indicates that the decomposition model is more accurate to capture the major features of global three dimensional atmospheric motions, compared to the traditional definitions of Rossby wave, Hadley circulation and Walker circulation. The decomposition model for the first time realized the decomposition of global atmospheric circulation using three orthogonal circulations within the horizontal, meridional and zonal planes, offering new opportunities to study the large-scale interactions between the middle-high latitudes and low latitudes circulations.

Description: We examined how coupled general circulation models (CGCMs) simulate changes in the jet stream differently under greenhouse warming, and how this inter-model diversity is related to the simulated Arctic climate changes by analyzing the simulation of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5. Although the jet stream in the multi-model ensemble mean shifts poleward, a considerable diversity exists among the 34 CGCMs. We found that inter-model differences in zonal wind responses, especially in terms of meridional shift of the midlatitude jet, are highly dependent on Arctic surface warming and lower stratospheric cooling. Specifically, the midlatitude jet tends to shift relatively equatorward (poleward) in the models with stronger (weaker) Arctic surface warming, whereas the jet tends to shift relatively poleward (equatorward) in the models with stronger (weaker) Arctic lower stratospheric cooling.

Description: This paper investigates the potential impact of “idealized-but-realistic” land cover degradation on the late twentieth century Sahel drought using a regional climate model (RCM) driven with lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) from three different sources, including one re-analysis data and two global climate models (GCMs). The impact of land cover degradation is quantified based on a large number of control-and-experiment pairs of simulations, where the experiment features a degraded land cover relative to the control. Two different approaches of experimental design are tested: in the 1st approach, the RCM land cover degradation experiment shares the same LBCs as the corresponding RCM control, which can be derived from either reanalysis data or a GCM; with the 2nd approach, the LBCs for the RCM control are derived from a GCM control, and the LBCs for the RCM land cover degradation experiment are derived from a corresponding GCM land cover degradation experiment. When the 1st approach is used, results from the RCM driven with the three different sources of LBCs are generally consistent with each other, indicating robustness of the model response against LBCs; when the 2nd approach is used, the RCM results show strong sensitivity to the source of LBCs and the response in the RCM is dominated by the response of the driving GCMs. The spatiotemporal pattern of the precipitation response to land cover degradation as simulated by RCM using the 1st approach closely resembles that of the observed historical changes, while results from the GCMs and the RCM using the 2nd approach bear less similarity to observations. Compared with the 1st approach, the 2nd approach has the advantage of capturing the impact on large scale circulation, but has the disadvantage of being influenced by the GCMs’ internal variability and any potential erroneous response of the driving GCMs to land degradation. The 2nd approach therefore requires a large ensemble to reduce the uncertainties derived from the driving GCMs. All RCM experiments based on the 1st approach produce a predominantly dry signal in West Africa throughout the year, with a dipole pattern found in the peak monsoon season that features a slight increase of precipitation over the Guinea Coast and strong decrease in the north; a similar spatiotemporal distribution is found for temperature changes, with warming (cooling) coinciding with precipitation decrease (increase). The model precipitation changes in West Africa are dominated by evapotranspiration changes in the north and by atmospheric moisture convergence changes in the south; in temperature changes, surface warming due to the decrease of evaporative cooling dominates over the albedo-induced radiative cooling.

Description: Clouds are an important regulator of climate due to their connection to the water balance of the atmosphere and their interaction with solar and infrared radiation. In this study, monthly total cloud cover (TCC) records from different sources have been inter-compared on annual and seasonal basis for the Mediterranean region and the period 1984–2005. Specifically, gridded databases from satellite projects (ISCCP, CLARA, PATMOS-x), from reanalysis products (ERA-Interim, MERRA), and from surface observations over land (EECRA) and ocean (ICOADS) have been examined. Then, simulations from 44 climate runs of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 corresponding to the historical scenario have been compared against the observations. Overall, we find good agreement between the mean values of TCC estimated from the three satellite products and from surface observations, while reanalysis products show much lower values across the region. Nevertheless, all datasets show similar behavior regarding the annual cycle of TCC. In addition, our results indicate an underestimation of TCC from climate model simulations as compared to the satellite products, especially during summertime, although the annual cycle is well simulated by most models. This result is quite general and apparently independent of the cloud parameterizations included in each particular model. Equally, similar results are obtained if the ISCCP simulator included in the Cloud Feedback Model Intercomparison Project Observation Simulator Package is considered, despite only few models provide the post-processed results. Finally, GCM projections of TCC over the Mediterranean are presented. These projections predict a reduction of TCC during the 21st century in the Mediterranean. Specifically, for an extreme emission scenario (RCP8.5) the projected relative rate of TCC decrease is larger than 10 % by the end of the century.

Description: Numerous reconstructions of tropical hydroclimate in the Pleistocene display substantial variability on precessional timescales. Precessionally-induced insolation variations, with a mean period of \({\sim }21{,}000\) years, affect the strength of the seasonal cycle, but not annual mean insolation. The existence of variations in annual mean climate on precessional timescales therefore hints at the existence of nonlinear mechanisms that rectify the zero annual mean forcing into a non-zero annual mean response. The aim of this study is to identify these nonlinear rectification mechanisms. The traditional view of precessionally-forced precipitation changes is that tropical precipitation increases with summer insolation. By comparing two simulations with an earth system model (CESM1.0.3) we find that this paradigm is true for continental but not for oceanic changes in precipitation. Focusing on the Atlantic intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), we find that the continental temperature and precipitation response to precessional forcing are key rectifiers of annual mean precipitation over the ocean. A boundary layer response to temperature changes over northern Africa affects the meridional position of the ITCZ over the North Atlantic in boreal spring and summer, but not in fall and winter. Over the equatorial and South Atlantic, the intensity of precipitation is strongly impacted by diabatic forcing from the continents through an adjustment of the full troposphere. Although the top of atmosphere insolation forcing is seasonally symmetric, continental precipitation changes are largest in boreal summer, thus skewing the annual mean response. These results show that it is important to take into account the seasonality of climatic forcings, even when studying annual mean climate change.

Description: Numerous global warming studies show the anticipated increase in mean precipitation with the rising levels of carbon dioxide concentration. However, apart from the changes in mean precipitation, the finer details of daily precipitation distribution, such as its intensity and frequency (so called daily rainfall extremes), need to be accounted for while determining the impacts of climate changes in future precipitation regimes. Here we examine the climate model projections from a large set of Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 models, to assess these future aspects of rainfall distribution over Asian summer monsoon (ASM) region. Our assessment unravels a north–south rainfall dipole pattern, with increased rainfall over Indian subcontinent extending into the western Pacific region (north ASM region, NASM) and decreased rainfall over equatorial oceanic convergence zone over eastern Indian Ocean region (south ASM region, SASM). This robust future pattern is well conspicuous at both seasonal and sub-seasonal time scales. Subsequent analysis, using daily rainfall events defined using percentile thresholds, demonstrates that mean rainfall changes over NASM region are mainly associated with more intense and more frequent extreme rainfall events (i.e. above 95th percentile). The inference is that there are significant future changes in rainfall probability distributions and not only a uniform shift in the mean rainfall over the NASM region. Rainfall suppression over SASM seems to be associated with changes involving multiple rainfall events and shows a larger model spread, thus making its interpretation more complex compared to NASM. Moisture budget diagnostics generally show that the low-level moisture convergence, due to stronger increase of water vapour in the atmosphere, acts positively to future rainfall changes, especially for heaviest rainfall events. However, it seems that the dynamic component of moisture convergence, associated with vertical motion, shows a strong spatial and rainfall category dependency, sometimes offsetting the effect of the water vapour increase. Additionally, we found that the moisture convergence is mainly dominated by the climatological vertical motion acting on the humidity changes and the interplay between all these processes proves to play a pivotal role for regulating the intensities of various rainfall events in the two domains.

Description: We investigate inflation within \(f(R,\phi )\) -theories, where a dynamical scalar field is coupled to gravity. A class of models which can support early-time acceleration with the emerging of an effective cosmological constant at high curvature is studied. The dynamics of the field allow for exit from inflation leading to the correct amount of inflation in agreement with cosmological data. Furthermore, the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio of the models are carefully analyzed. A generalization of the theory to incorporate dark matter in the context of mimetic gravity, and further extensions of the latter, are also discussed.

Description: The existence of both a minimum mass and a minimum density in nature, in the presence of a positive cosmological constant, is one of the most intriguing results in classical general relativity. These results follow rigorously from the Buchdahl inequalities in four-dimensional de Sitter space. In this work, we obtain the generalized Buchdahl inequalities in arbitrary space–time dimensions with \(\Lambda \ne 0\) and consider both the de Sitter and the anti-de Sitter cases. The dependence on D , the number of space–time dimensions, of the minimum and maximum masses for stable spherical objects is explicitly obtained. The analysis is then extended to the case of dark energy satisfying an arbitrary linear barotropic equation of state. The Jeans instability of barotropic dark energy is also investigated, for arbitrary D , in the framework of a simple Newtonian model with and without viscous dissipation, and we determine the dispersion relation describing the dark energy–matter condensation process, along with estimates of the corresponding Jeans mass (and radius). Finally, the quantum mechanical implications of the mass limits are investigated, and we show that the existence of a minimum mass scale naturally leads to a model in which dark energy is composed of a ‘sea’ of quantum particles, each with an effective mass proportional to \(\Lambda ^{1/4}\) .

Description: We study multi-soliton solutions of the four-dimensional SU(N) Skyrme model by combining the hedgehog ansatz for SU(N) based on the harmonic maps of \(S^{2}\) into \(CP^{N-1}\) and a geometrical trick which allows to analyze explicitly finite-volume effects without breaking the relevant symmetries of the ansatz. The geometric set-up allows to introduce a parameter which is related to the ’t Hooft coupling of a suitable large N limit, in which \(N\rightarrow \infty \) and the curvature of the background metric approaches zero, in such a way that their product is constant. The relevance of such a parameter to the physics of the system is pointed out. In particular, we discuss how the discrete symmetries of the configurations depend on it.

Description: The effects of color reconnection (CR) at \({\mathrm e}^+{\mathrm e}^-\) colliders are revisited, with focus on recently developed CR models. The new models are compared with the LEP2 measurements for \({\mathrm e}^+{\mathrm e}^- \rightarrow {\mathrm W}^+{\mathrm W}^- \rightarrow {\mathrm q}_1 \overline{\mathrm q}_2 {\mathrm q}_3 \overline{\mathrm q}_4\) and found to lie within their limits. Prospects for constraints from new high-luminosity \({\mathrm e}^+{\mathrm e}^-\) colliders are discussed. The novel arena of CR in Higgs decays is introduced, and it is illustrated by shifts in angular correlations that would be used to set limits on a potential CP -odd admixture of the 125 GeV Higgs state.

Description: The Lorentz transformation properties of the equal-time bound-state Bethe–Salpeter amplitude in the two-dimensional massless quantum electrodynamics (the so-called Schwinger model) are considered. It is shown that while boosting a bound state (a ‘meson’) this amplitude is subject to approximate Lorentz contraction. The effect is exact for large separations of constituent particles (‘quarks’), while for small distances the deviation is more significant. For this phenomenon to appear, the full function, i.e. with the inclusion of all instanton contributions, has to be considered. The amplitude in each separate topological sector does not exhibit such properties.

Description: The canonical Aharonov–Bohm effect is usually studied with time-independent potentials. In this work, we investigate the Aharonov–Bohm phase acquired by a charged particle moving in time-dependent potentials. In particular, we focus on the case of a charged particle moving in the time-varying field of a plane electromagnetic wave. We work out the Aharonov–Bohm phase using both the potential (i.e. \(\oint A_\mu \mathrm{d}x ^\mu \) ) and the field (i.e. \(\frac{1}{2}\int F_{\mu \nu } \mathrm{d}\sigma ^{\mu \nu }\) ) forms of the Aharonov–Bohm phase. We give conditions in terms of the parameters of the system (frequency of the electromagnetic wave, the size of the space–time loop, amplitude of the electromagnetic wave) under which the time-varying Aharonov–Bohm effect could be observed.

Description: The LHC data on jet fragmentation function and jet shapes in PbPb collisions at center-of-mass energy 2.76 TeV per nucleon pair are analyzed and interpreted in the frameworks of PYthia QUENched (PYQUEN) jet quenching model. A specific modification of longitudinal and radial jet profiles in most central PbPb collisions as compared with pp data is close to that obtained with PYQUEN simulations, taking into account wide-angle radiative and collisional partonic energy losses. The contribution of radiative and collisional loss to the medium-modified intra-jet structure is estimated.

Description: When averages of different experimental determinations of the same quantity are computed, each with statistical and systematic error components, then frequently the statistical and systematic components of the combined error are quoted explicitly. These are important pieces of information since statistical errors scale differently and often more favorably with the sample size than most systematical or theoretical errors. In this communication we describe a transparent procedure by which the statistical and systematic error components of the combination uncertainty can be obtained. We develop a general method and derive a general formula for the case of Gaussian errors with or without correlations. The method can easily be applied to other error distributions, as well. For the case of two measurements, we also define disparity and misalignment angles, and discuss their relation to the combination weight factors.

Description: In this work, we have studied the accretion of the \((n+2)\) -dimensional charged BTZ black hole (BH). The critical point and square speed of sound have been obtained. The mass of the BTZ BH has been calculated and we have observed that the mass of the BTZ BH is related with the square root of the energy density of the dark energy which accretes onto the BH in our accelerating FRW universe. We have assumed modified Chaplygin gas (MCG) as a candidate of dark energy which accretes onto the BH and we have found the expression of BTZ BH mass. Since in our solution of MCG, this model generates only quintessence dark energy (not phantom) and so BTZ BH mass increases during the whole evolution of the accelerating universe. Next we have assumed five kinds of parametrizations of well-known dark-energy models. These models generate both quintessence and phantom scenarios i.e., phantom crossing models. So if these dark energies accrete onto the BTZ BH, then in the quintessence stage, the BH mass increases up to a certain value (finite value) and then decreases to a certain finite value for the phantom stage during the whole evolution of the universe. We have shown these results graphically.

Description: We consider lepton-flavour violating decays of the top quark, mediated by 4-fermion operators. We compile constraints on a complete set of SU(3)  \(\times \)  U(1)-invariant operators, arising from their loop contributions to rare decays and from HERA’s single-top search. The bounds on e – \(\mu \) flavour change are more restrictive than on \(\ell \) – \(\tau \) ; nonetheless the top could decay to a jet \({+} e \bar{\mu }\) with a branching ratio of order \(10^{-3}\) . We estimate that the currently available LHC data (20 fb \(^{-1}\) at 8 TeV) could be sensitive to \(BR(t \rightarrow e \bar{\mu }\) + jet) \( {\sim } 6\times 10^{-5}\) , and we extrapolate that 100 fb \(^{-1}\) at 13 TeV could reach a sensitivity of \({\sim } 1 \times 10^{-5}\) .

Description: We carry out ADM splitting in the Lagrangian formulation and establish a procedure in which (almost) all of the unphysical components of the metric are removed by using the 4D diffeomorphism and the measure-zero 3D symmetry. The procedure introduces a constraint that corresponds to the Hamiltonian constraint of the Hamiltonian formulation, and its solution implies that the 4D dynamics admits an effective description through 3D hypersurface physics. As far as we can see, our procedure implies potential renormalizability of the ADM formulation of 4D Einstein gravity for which a complete gauge-fixing in the ADM formulation and hypersurface foliation of geometry are the key elements. If true, this implies that the alleged unrenormalizability of 4D Einstein gravity may be due to the presence of the unphysical fields. The procedure can straightforwardly be applied to quantization around a flat background; the Schwarzschild case seems more subtle. We discuss a potential limitation of the procedure when applying it to explicit time-dependent backgrounds.

Description: A well-established phenomenon in general relativity is the dragging of inertial frames by a spinning object. In particular, due to the dragging of inertial frames by a ring orbiting a central black hole, the angular velocity \(\Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}\) of the black-hole horizon in the composed black-hole–ring system is no longer related to the black-hole angular momentum \(J_{\text {H}}\) by the simple Kerr-like (vacuum) relation \(\Omega ^{\text {Kerr}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}})=J_{\text {H}}/2M^2R_{\text {H}}\) (here M and \(R_{\text {H}}\) are the mass and horizon-radius of the black hole, respectively). Will has performed a perturbative treatment of the composed black-hole–ring system in the regime of slowly rotating black holes and found the explicit relation \(\Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}}=0,J_{\text {R}},R)=2J_{\text {R}}/R^3\) for the angular velocity of a central black hole with zero angular momentum, where \(J_{\text {R}}\) and R are respectively the angular momentum of the orbiting ring and its proper circumferential radius. Analyzing a sequence of black-hole–ring configurations with adiabatically varying (decreasing) circumferential radii, we show that the expression found by Will for \(\Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}}=0,J_{\text {R}},R)\) implies a smooth transition of the central black-hole angular velocity from its asymptotic near-horizon value \(\Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}}=0,J_{\text {R}},R\rightarrow R^{+}_{\text {H}})\rightarrow 2J_{\text {R}}/R^3_{\text {H}}\) (that is, just before the assimilation of the ring by the central black hole), to its final Kerr (vacuum) value \(\Omega ^{\text {Kerr}}_{\text {H}}(J^{\text {new}}_{\text {H}})= J^{\text {new}}_{\text {H}}/2{M^{\text {new}}}^2R^{\text {new}}_{\text {H}}\) [that is, after the adiabatic assimilation of the ring by the central black hole. Here \(J^{\text {new}}_{\text {H}}=J_{\text {R}}\) , \(M^{\text {new}}\) , and \(R^{\text {new}}_{\text {H}}\) are the new parameters of the resulting Kerr (vacuum) black hole after it assimilated the orbiting ring]. We use this important observation in order to generalize the result of Will to the regime of black-hole–ring configurations in which the central black holes possess non-zero angular momenta. In particular, it is shown that the continuity argument (namely, the characteristic smooth evolution of the black-hole angular velocity during an adiabatic assimilation process of the ring into the central black hole) yields a concrete prediction for the angular-velocity/angular-momentum asymptotic functional relation \(\Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}=\Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}},J_{\text {R}},R\rightarrow R^{+}_{\text {H}})\) of generic (that is, with \(J_{\text {H}}\ne 0\) ) black-hole–ring configurations. Remarkably, we find the simple universal relation \(\Delta \Omega _{\text {H}}\equiv \Omega ^{\text {BH-ring}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}},J_{\text {R}},R\rightarrow R^{+}_{\text {H}})-\Omega ^{\text {Kerr}}_{\text {H}}(J_{\text {H}})={{J_{\text {R}}}/{4M^3}}\) for the asymptotic deviation of the black-hole angular velocity in the composed black-hole–ring system from the corresponding angular velocity of the unperturbed (vacuum) Kerr black hole with the same angular momentum.

Description: As an extension of previous works on classical tests of Kaluza–Klein (KK) gravity and as an attempt to find more stringent constraints on this theory, its effects on physical experiments and astronomical observations conducted in the Solar System are studied. We investigate the gravitational time delay at inferior conjunction caused by KK gravity, and use new Solar System ephemerides and the observation of Cassini to strengthen constraints on KK gravity by up to two orders of magnitude. These improved upper bounds mean that the fifth-dimensional space in the soliton case is a very flat extra dimension in the Solar System, even in the vicinity of the Sun.

Description: The normalized differential cross section for top quark pair ( \({\mathrm{t}}\overline{{\mathrm{t}}}\) ) production is measured in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 \(\,\text {TeV}\) at the CERN LHC using the CMS detector in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 \(\,\text {fb}^{-1}\) . The measurements are performed in the lepton \(+\) jets ( \(\mathrm {e}/\mu \) \(+\) jets) and in the dilepton ( \(\mathrm {e}^+\mathrm {e}^-\) , \(\mu ^+ \mu ^- \) , and \(\mathrm {e}^\pm \mu ^{\mp }\) ) decay channels. The \({\mathrm{t}}\overline{{\mathrm{t}}}\) cross section is measured as a function of the kinematic properties of the charged leptons, the jets associated to b quarks, the top quarks, and the \({\mathrm{t}}\overline{{\mathrm{t}}}\) system. The data are compared with several predictions from perturbative quantum chromodynamic up to approximate next-to-next-to-leading-order precision. No significant deviations are observed relative to the standard model predictions.

Description: Recently we have shown that for \(2+1\) -dimensional thin-shell wormholes a non-circular throat may lead to a physical wormhole in the sense that the energy conditions are satisfied. By the same token, herein we consider an angular dependent throat geometry embedded in a \(2+1\) -dimensional flat spacetime in polar coordinates. It is shown that, remarkably, a generic, natural example of the throat geometry is provided by a hypocycloid. That is, two flat \(2+1\) dimensions are glued together along a hypocycloid. The energy required in each hypocycloid increases with the frequency of the roller circle inside the large one.

Description: We propose a parametrization for interpreting some of the presently available data of the \(B^{\pm } \rightarrow K^{\pm } p {\bar{p}}\) decay, in particular those by the LHCb and Belle Collaborations. The model is inspired by the well-known current and transition contributions, usually assumed in this kind of decay. However, in the light of considerations as regards the dominant diagrams and final state interactions, we modify some parameters of the model, determining them by means of a best fit to the data. We show the results, which we discuss in some detail. Moreover, we give some predictions on other observables relative to the decays.

Description: Using a novel Lagrangian approach, we assess the relative roles of the atmosphere and ocean in setting interannual variability in western European wintertime temperatures. We compute sensible and latent heat fluxes along atmospheric particle trajectories backtracked in time from four western European cities, using a Lagrangian atmospheric dispersion model driven with meteorological reanalysis data. The material time rate of change in potential temperature and the surface turbulent fluxes computed along the trajectory show a high degree of correlation, revealing a dominant control of ocean–atmosphere heat and moisture exchange in setting heat flux variability for atmospheric particles en route to western Europe. We conduct six idealised simulations in which one or more aspects of the climate system is held constant at climatological values and these idealised simulations are compared with a control simulation, in which all components of the climate system vary realistically. The results from these idealised simulations suggest that knowledge of atmospheric pathways is essential for reconstructing the interannual variability in heat flux and western European wintertime temperature, and that variability in these trajectories alone is sufficient to explain at least half of the internannual flux variability. Our idealised simulations also expose an important role for sea surface temperature in setting decadal scale variability of air–sea heat fluxes along the Lagrangian pathways. These results are consistent with previous studies showing that air–sea heat flux variability is driven by the atmosphere on interannual time scales over much of the North Atlantic, whereas the SST plays a leading role on longer time scales. Of particular interest is that the atmospheric control holds for the integrated fluxes along 10-day back trajectories from western Europe on an interannual time scale, despite that many of these trajectories pass over the Gulf Stream and its North Atlantic Current extension, regions where ocean dynamics influence air–sea heat exchange even on a very short time scale.

Description: Atmospheric model uncertainties at a seasonal time scale can be addressed by introducing stochastic perturbations in the model formulation. In this paper the stochastically perturbed parameterization tendencies (SPPT) technique is activated in the atmospheric component of the EC-Earth global coupled model and the impact on seasonal forecast quality is assessed, both at a global scale and focusing on the Tropical Pacific region. Re-forecasts for winter and summer seasons using two different settings for the perturbation patterns are evaluated and compared to a reference experiment without stochastic perturbations. We find that SPPT tends to increase the systematic error of the model sea-surface temperature over most regions of the globe, whereas the impact on precipitation and sea-level pressure is less clear. In terms of ensemble spread, larger-scale perturbation patterns lead to a greater increase in spread and in the model spread-skill ratio in a system that is overconfident. Over the Tropical Pacific, improvements in the representation of key processes associated with ENSO are highlighted. The evaluation of probabilistic re-forecasts shows that SPPT improves their reliability. Finally, we discuss the limitations to this study and future prospects with EC-Earth.

Description: Teleconnections originated by anomalous heat sources over the tropical Indo-Pacific oceans are investigated in this paper comparing observational results with numerical simulations run as part of the re-forecast set for the latest ECMWF seasonal forecasting system (System 4). We show that the traditional methodology of linearly relating circulation anomalies to SST anomalies, while appropriate for signals originated in central and east Pacific, fails to adequately identify the response to anomalous heating over the west Pacific and most of the Indian Ocean, because of the relatively weak (or even negative) correlation between SST and rainfall anomalies in these regions. Instead, if teleconnections are computed from covariances with rainfall anomalies, a stronger consistency is found between observed and modelled patterns, as well as between diagnostics derived from seasonal and intra-seasonal time scales. The main mode of inter-annual variability in Indo-Pacific rainfall associated with planetary-scale teleconnections is a tri-polar structure with two positively correlated centres in the western Indian Ocean and the central Pacific, and a third centre around the maritime continents which is anti-correlated with the other two. In the extratropical response, positive rainfall anomalies over the western and central Indian Ocean (WCIO) are connected with a negative height anomaly centred over Alaska and a positive North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) signal, in a way reminiscent of the Cold-Ocean–Warm-Land pattern. This teleconnection cannot be explained by the ENSO-forced component of Indian Ocean rainfall, and is in phase with signals associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation. Results from the System-4 re-forecasts show that the ECMWF coupled model reproduces the broad features of tropical and extratropical teleconnections with a good degree of fidelity. However, the model significantly over-estimates the correlation between rainfall anomalies in the WCIO with those over the western and central Pacific. The impact of this deficiency on the extratropical flow is to weaken the relationship between the NAO and Indian Ocean rainfall on the seasonal scale, and to affect the projection of the ENSO response on the NAO. Finally, we argue that reproducing the correct relationship between SST and rainfall anomalies in different part of the Indo-Pacific basin is also crucial for the correct simulation of inter-decadal variability. Particular care should be taken in interpreting results of AGCM simulations with prescribed SST, where the absence of feedbacks between convection and SST over the warm pool region affects the simulation of rainfall anomalies.

Description: The suggestion that there exist two types of El Niño in the tropical Pacific has generated a debate in the community. Applying various linear and non-linear approaches and composite analysis technique on observed and reanalyzed climate datasets primarily for the 1950–2010 period, we revisit the variability of the tropical Pacific in the light of this debate. Our objective is to examine whether the proposed El Niño Modokis need a classification distinct from canonical El Niños. Even if the distinction is subject to short data records, we demonstrate that the El Niño Modoki events indeed display a seasonal evolution and teleconnections different from the canonical El Niños, and that the distinction is not subject to inclusion of the two extreme El Niños 1982 and 1997 as canonical El Niños. We show that the El Niño Modoki events are not an artifact associated with the orthogonality constraint associated with the EOF technique. Our cluster analysis shows that evolutions of the canonical El Niño and El Niño Modokis through various seasons differ from one another. Importantly, the dynamic and thermodynamic air–sea coupling strength is distinctly different between the El Niño Modoki and the canonical El Niño events. We find that, dynamic feedback intensity is stronger for El Niño Modoki (canonical El Niño) during boreal summer (winter); though the air–sea coupling strength, a major contributor to Bjerknes feedback, is maximum for Modokis during the developing stages, it decreases thereafter. In case of thermodynamic feedback intensity, SST-wind-evaporation feedback is dominant for El Niños while SST-SHF feedback is important during El Niño Modokis. However, we find that the thermodynamic feedback values significantly differ across the flux datasets.

Description: We have set up a light scattering spectrometer to study the depolarization of light scattering in linear alkylbenzene. The scattering spectra show that the depolarized part of light scattering is due to Rayleigh scattering. The additional depolarized Rayleigh scattering can make the effective transparency of linear alkylbenzene much better than expected. Therefore, sufficient scintillation photons can transmit through large liquid scintillator detector, such as that of the JUNO experiment. Our study is crucial to achieving an unprecedented energy resolution of 3 %/ \(\sqrt{E\mathrm {(MeV)}}\) required for the JUNO experiment to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy. The spectroscopic method can also be used to examine the depolarization of other organic solvents used in neutrino experiments.

Description: During the inflationary epoch, the geometry of the universe may be described by a quasi-de Sitter space. On the other hand, the maximally extended de Sitter metric in the comoving coordinates accords with a special FLRW model with positive spatial curvature; therefore, the focus of the present paper is on the positively curved inflationary paradigm, for which we first of all derive the power spectra of comoving curvature perturbation and primordial gravitational waves in a positively curved FLRW universe according to the slowly rolling inflationary scenario. It can be shown that the curvature spectral index in this model automatically has a small negative running parameter, compatible with observational measurements. Afterwards, by taking into account the curvature factor, it investigates the relative amplitude of the scalar and tensor perturbations, clarifying that the tensor–scalar ratio for this model, against the spatially flat one, directly depends on the wavelength of the perturbative modes.

Description: The low-background, VUV-sensitive 3-inch diameter photomultiplier tube R11410 has been developed by Hamamatsu for dark matter direct detection experiments using liquid xenon as the target material. We present the results from the joint effort between the XENON collaboration and the Hamamatsu company to produce a highly radio-pure photosensor (version R11410-21) for the XENON1T dark matter experiment. After introducing the photosensor and its components, we show the methods and results of the radioactive contamination measurements of the individual materials employed in the photomultiplier production. We then discuss the adopted strategies to reduce the radioactivity of the various PMT versions. Finally, we detail the results from screening 286 tubes with ultra-low background germanium detectors, as well as their implications for the expected electronic and nuclear recoil background of the XENON1T experiment.