Nuclear effects on the transverse momentum spectra of charged particles in pPb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Measurement of Direct Photons in Au plus Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

We report the measurement of direct photons at midrapidity in Au + Au collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. The direct photon signal was extracted for the transverse momentum range of 4 GeV/c < pT < 22 GeV/c, using a statistical method to subtract decay photons from the inclusive photon sample. The direct photon nuclear modification factor R-AA was calculated as a function of p(T) for different Au + Au collision centralities using the measured p + p direct photon spectrum and compared to theoretical predictions. R-AA was found to be consistent with unity for all centralities over the entire measured pT range. Theoretical models that account for modifications of initial direct photon production due to modified parton distribution functions in Au and the different isospin composition of the nuclei predict a modest change of R-AA from unity. They are consistent with the data. Models with compensating effects of the quark-gluon plasma on high-energy photons, such as suppression of jet-fragmentation photons and induced-photon bremsstrahlung from partons traversing the medium, are also consistent with this measurement.

Drell-Yan as a probe of small x partons at the LHC

The predictions of Drell-Yan production of low-mass lepton pairs, at high rapidity at the LHC, are known to depend sensitively on the choice of factorization and renormalization scales. We show how this sensitivity can be greatly reduced by fixing the factorization scale of the LO contribution based on the known NLO matrix element, so that observations of this process at the LHC can make direct measurements of parton distribution functions in the low x domain; x less than or similar to 10(-4).

Measurement of the forward-backward asymmetry of Z boson decays in electron-positron pairs with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at root out s = 7TeV at the LHC

In this thesis the measurement of the effective weak mixing angle wma in proton-proton collisions is described. The results are extracted from the forward-backward asymmetry (AFB) in electron-positron final states at the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The AFB is defined upon the distribution of the polar angle between the incoming quark and outgoing lepton. The signal process used in this study is the reaction pp to zgamma + X to ee + X taking a total integrated luminosity of 4.8\,fb^(-1) of data into account. The data was recorded at a proton-proton center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s)=7TeV. The weak mixing angle is a central parameter of the electroweak theory of the Standard Model (SM) and relates the neutral current interactions of electromagnetism and weak force. The higher order corrections on wma are related to other SM parameters like the mass of the Higgs boson.rnrnBecause of the symmetric initial state constellation of colliding protons, there is no favoured forward or backward direction in the experimental setup. The reference axis used in the definition of the polar angle is therefore chosen with respect to the longitudinal boost of the electron-positron final state. This leads to events with low absolute rapidity have a higher chance of being assigned to the opposite direction of the reference axis. This effect called dilution is reduced when events at higher rapidities are used. It can be studied including electrons and positrons in the forward regions of the ATLAS calorimeters. Electrons and positrons are further referred to as electrons. To include the electrons from the forward region, the energy calibration for the forward calorimeters had to be redone. This calibration is performed by inter-calibrating the forward electron energy scale using pairs of a central and a forward electron and the previously derived central electron energy calibration. The uncertainty is shown to be dominated by the systematic variations.rnrnThe extraction of wma is performed using chi^2 tests, comparing the measured distribution of AFB in data to a set of template distributions with varied values of wma. The templates are built in a forward folding technique using modified generator level samples and the official fully simulated signal sample with full detector simulation and particle reconstruction and identification. The analysis is performed in two different channels: pairs of central electrons or one central and one forward electron. The results of the two channels are in good agreement and are the first measurements of wma at the Z resonance using electron final states at proton-proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7TeV. The precision of the measurement is already systematically limited mostly by the uncertainties resulting from the knowledge of the parton distribution functions (PDF) and the systematic uncertainties of the energy calibration.rnrnThe extracted results of wma are combined and yield a value of wma_comb = 0.2288 +- 0.0004 (stat.) +- 0.0009 (syst.) = 0.2288 +- 0.0010 (tot.). The measurements are compared to the results of previous measurements at the Z boson resonance. The deviation with respect to the combined result provided by the LEP and SLC experiments is up to 2.7 standard deviations.

High-mass Drell-Yan cross-section and search for new phenomena in multi-electron/positron final states with the ATLAS detector

The Standard Model of particle physics is a very successful theory which describes nearly all known processes of particle physics very precisely. Nevertheless, there are several observations which cannot be explained within the existing theory. In this thesis, two analyses with high energy electrons and positrons using data of the ATLAS detector are presented. One, probing the Standard Model of particle physics and another searching for phenomena beyond the Standard Model.rnThe production of an electron-positron pair via the Drell-Yan process leads to a very clean signature in the detector with low background contributions. This allows for a very precise measurement of the cross-section and can be used as a precision test of perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) where this process has been calculated at next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). The invariant mass spectrum mee is sensitive to parton distribution functions (PFDs), in particular to the poorly known distribution of antiquarks at large momentum fraction (Bjoerken x). The measurementrnof the high-mass Drell-Yan cross-section in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV is performed on a dataset collected with the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb-1. The differential cross-section of pp -> Z/gamma + X -> e+e- + X is measured as a function of the invariant mass in the range 116 GeV < mee < 1500 GeV. The background is estimated using a data driven method and Monte Carlo simulations. The final cross-section is corrected for detector effects and different levels of final state radiation corrections. A comparison isrnmade to various event generators and to predictions of pQCD calculations at NNLO. A good agreement within the uncertainties between measured cross-sections and Standard Model predictions is observed.rnExamples of observed phenomena which can not be explained by the Standard Model are the amount of dark matter in the universe and neutrino oscillations. To explain these phenomena several extensions of the Standard Model are proposed, some of them leading to new processes with a high multiplicity of electrons and/or positrons in the final state. A model independent search in multi-object final states, with objects defined as electrons and positrons, is performed to search for these phenomenas. Therndataset collected at a center-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb-1 is used. The events are separated in different categories using the object multiplicity. The data-driven background method, already used for the cross-section measurement was developed further for up to five objects to get an estimation of the number of events including fake contributions. Within the uncertainties the comparison between data and Standard Model predictions shows no significant deviations.

Measurement of the inclusive jet cross section in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=2.76 TeV and comparison to the inclusive jet cross section at sqrt(s)=7 TeV using the ATLAS detector

The inclusive jet cross-section has been measured in proton-proton collisions at root s = 2.76 TeV in a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.20 pb(-1) collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider in 2011. Jets are identified using the anti-k(t) algorithm with two radius parameters of 0.4 and 0.6. The inclusive jet double-differential cross-section is presented as a function of the jet transverse momentum p(T) and jet rapidity y, covering a range of 20 <= p(T) < 430 GeV and vertical bar y vertical bar < 4.4. The ratio of the cross-section to the inclusive jet cross-section measurement at root s = 7 TeV, published by the ATLAS Collaboration, is calculated as a function of both transverse momentum and the dimensionless quantity x(T) = 2p(T)/root s, in bins of jet rapidity. The systematic uncertainties on the ratios are significantly reduced due to the cancellation of correlated uncertainties in the two measurements. Results are compared to the prediction from next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations corrected for non-perturbative effects, and next-to-leading order Monte Carlo simulation. Furthermore, the ATLAS jet cross-section measurements at root s = 2.76 TeV and root s = 7 TeV are analysed within a framework of next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations to determine parton distribution functions of the proton, taking into account the correlations between the measurements.

Measurement of dijet cross sections in pp collisions at 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy using the ATLAS detector

Double-differential dijet cross-sections measured in pp collisions at the LHC with a 7TeV centre-of-mass energy are presented as functions of dijet mass and half the rapidity separation of the two highest-pT jets. These measurements are obtained using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−1, recorded by the ATLAS detector in 2011. The data are corrected for detector effects so that cross-sections are presented at the particle level. Cross-sections are measured up to 5TeV dijet mass using jets reconstructed with the anti-kt algorithm for values of the jet radius parameter of 0.4 and 0.6. The cross-sections are compared with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations by NLOJet++ corrected to account for non-perturbative effects. Comparisons with POWHEG predictions, using a next-to-leading-order matrix element calculation interfaced to a partonshower Monte Carlo simulation, are also shown. Electroweak effects are accounted for in both cases. The quantitative comparison of data and theoretical predictions obtained using various parameterizations of the parton distribution functions is performed using a frequentist method. In general, good agreement with data is observed for the NLOJet++ theoretical predictions when using the CT10, NNPDF2.1 and MSTW 2008 PDF sets. Disagreement is observed when using the ABM11 and HERAPDF1.5 PDF sets for some ranges of dijet mass and half the rapidity separation. An example setting a lower limit on the compositeness scale for a model of contact interactions is presented, showing that the unfolded results can be used to constrain contributions to dijet production beyond that predicted by the Standard Model.

Study of charm hadronisation in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ALICE experiment

In high-energy hadron collisions, the production at parton level of heavy-flavour quarks (charm and bottom) is described by perturbative Quantum Chromo-dynamics (pQCD) calculations, given the hard scale set by the quark masses. However, in hadron-hadron collisions, the predictions of the heavy-flavour hadrons eventually produced entail the knowledge of the parton distribution functions, as well as an accurate description of the hadronisation process. The latter is taken into account via the fragmentation functions measured at e$^+$e$^-$ colliders or in ep collisions, but several observations in LHC Run 1 and Run 2 data challenged this picture. In this dissertation, I studied the charm hadronisation in proton-proton collision at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC, making use of a large statistic data sample collected during LHC Run 2. The production of heavy-flavour in this collision system will be discussed, also describing various hadronisation models implemented in commonly used event generators, which try to reproduce experimental data, taking into account the unexpected results at LHC regarding the enhanced production of charmed baryons. The role of multiple parton interaction (MPI) will also be presented and how it affects the total charm production as a function of multiplicity. The ALICE apparatus will be described before moving to the experimental results, which are related to the measurement of relative production rates of the charm hadrons $\Sigma_c^{0,++}$ and $\Lambda_c^+$, which allow us to study the hadronisation mechanisms of charm quarks and to give constraints to different hadronisation models. Furthermore, the analysis of D mesons ($D^{0}$, $D^{+}$ and $D^{*+}$) as a function of charged-particle multiplicity and spherocity will be shown, investigating the role of multi-parton interactions. This research is relevant per se and for the mission of the ALICE experiment at the LHC, which is devoted to the study of Quark-Gluon Plasma.

Growth of Long Range Forward-Backward Multiplicity Correlations with Centrality in Au plus Au Collisions at root s(NN)=200 GeV

Forward-backward multiplicity correlation strengths have been measured with the STAR detector for Au + Au and p + p collisions at root s(NN) = 200 GeV. Strong short- and long-range correlations (LRC) are seen in central Au + Au collisions. The magnitude of these correlations decrease with decreasing centrality until only short-range correlations are observed in peripheral Au + Au collisions. Both the dual parton model (DPM) and the color glass condensate (CGC) predict the existence of the long-range correlations. In the DPM, the fluctuation in the number of elementary (parton) inelastic collisions produces the LRC. In the CGC, longitudinal color flux tubes generate the LRC. The data are in qualitative agreement with the predictions of the DPM and indicate the presence of multiple parton interactions.

Testing the bivariate distribution of daily equity returns using copulas: an application to the Spanish stock market

In this paper we deal with the identification of dependencies between time series of equity returns. Marginal distribution functions are assumed to be known, and a bivariate chi-square test of fit is applied in a fully parametric copula approach. Several families of copulas are fitted and compared with Spanish stock market data. The results show that the t-copula generally outperforms other dependence structures, and highlight the difficulty in adjusting a significant number of bivariate data series

Testing the bivariate distribution of daily equity returns using copulas: an application to the Spanish stock market

In this paper we deal with the identification of dependencies between time series of equity returns. Marginal distribution functions are assumed to be known, and a bivariate chi-square test of fit is applied in a fully parametric copula approach. Several families of copulas are fitted and compared with Spanish stock market data. The results show that the t-copula generally outperforms other dependence structures, and highlight the difficulty in adjusting a significant number of bivariate data series

Some New Classes of Orthogonal Polynomials and Special Functions

In dieser Dissertation präsentieren wir zunächst eine Verallgemeinerung der üblichen Sturm-Liouville-Probleme mit symmetrischen Lösungen und erklären eine umfassendere Klasse. Dann führen wir einige neue Klassen orthogonaler Polynome und spezieller Funktionen ein, welche sich aus dieser symmetrischen Verallgemeinerung ableiten lassen. Als eine spezielle Konsequenz dieser Verallgemeinerung führen wir ein Polynomsystem mit vier freien Parametern ein und zeigen, dass in diesem System fast alle klassischen symmetrischen orthogonalen Polynome wie die Legendrepolynome, die Chebyshevpolynome erster und zweiter Art, die Gegenbauerpolynome, die verallgemeinerten Gegenbauerpolynome, die Hermitepolynome, die verallgemeinerten Hermitepolynome und zwei weitere neue endliche Systeme orthogonaler Polynome enthalten sind. All diese Polynome können direkt durch das neu eingeführte System ausgedrückt werden. Ferner bestimmen wir alle Standardeigenschaften des neuen Systems, insbesondere eine explizite Darstellung, eine Differentialgleichung zweiter Ordnung, eine generische Orthogonalitätsbeziehung sowie eine generische Dreitermrekursion. Außerdem benutzen wir diese Erweiterung, um die assoziierten Legendrefunktionen, welche viele Anwendungen in Physik und Ingenieurwissenschaften haben, zu verallgemeinern, und wir zeigen, dass diese Verallgemeinerung Orthogonalitätseigenschaft und -intervall erhält. In einem weiteren Kapitel der Dissertation studieren wir detailliert die Standardeigenschaften endlicher orthogonaler Polynomsysteme, welche sich aus der üblichen Sturm-Liouville-Theorie ergeben und wir zeigen, dass sie orthogonal bezüglich der Fisherschen F-Verteilung, der inversen Gammaverteilung und der verallgemeinerten t-Verteilung sind. Im nächsten Abschnitt der Dissertation betrachten wir eine vierparametrige Verallgemeinerung der Studentschen t-Verteilung. Wir zeigen, dass diese Verteilung gegen die Normalverteilung konvergiert, wenn die Anzahl der Stichprobe gegen Unendlich strebt. Eine ähnliche Verallgemeinerung der Fisherschen F-Verteilung konvergiert gegen die chi-Quadrat-Verteilung. Ferner führen wir im letzten Abschnitt der Dissertation einige neue Folgen spezieller Funktionen ein, welche Anwendungen bei der Lösung in Kugelkoordinaten der klassischen Potentialgleichung, der Wärmeleitungsgleichung und der Wellengleichung haben. Schließlich erklären wir zwei neue Klassen rationaler orthogonaler hypergeometrischer Funktionen, und wir zeigen unter Benutzung der Fouriertransformation und der Parsevalschen Gleichung, dass es sich um endliche Orthogonalsysteme mit Gewichtsfunktionen vom Gammatyp handelt.

Power flow for primary distribution networks considering uncertainty in demand and user connection

This paper presents a method for calculating the power flow in distribution networks considering uncertainties in the distribution system. Active and reactive power are used as uncertain variables and probabilistically modeled through probability distribution functions. Uncertainty about the connection of the users with the different feeders is also considered. A Monte Carlo simulation is used to generate the possible load scenarios of the users. The results of the power flow considering uncertainty are the mean values and standard deviations of the variables of interest (voltages in all nodes, active and reactive power flows, etc.), giving the user valuable information about how the network will behave under uncertainty rather than the traditional fixed values at one point in time. The method is tested using real data from a primary feeder system, and results are presented considering uncertainty in demand and also in the connection. To demonstrate the usefulness of the approach, the results are then used in a probabilistic risk analysis to identify potential problems of undervoltage in distribution systems. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Target mass corrections revisited

We propose a new implementation of target mass corrections to nucleon structure functions which, unlike existing treatments, has the correct kinematic threshold behavior at finite Q(2) in the x -> 1 limit. We illustrate the differences between the new approach and existing prescriptions by considering specific examples for the F-2 and F-L structure functions, and discuss the broader implications of our results, which call into question the notion of universal parton distribution at finite Q(2).

The Poisson-exponential lifetime distribution

In this paper we proposed a new two-parameters lifetime distribution with increasing failure rate. The new distribution arises on a latent complementary risk problem base. The properties of the proposed distribution are discussed, including a formal proof of its probability density function and explicit algebraic formulae for its reliability and failure rate functions, quantiles and moments, including the mean and variance. A simple EM-type algorithm for iteratively computing maximum likelihood estimates is presented. The Fisher information matrix is derived analytically in order to obtaining the asymptotic covariance matrix. The methodology is illustrated on a real data set. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.