This thesis describes two pieces of work. The first is a study of the resolution of the LHCb vertex locator throughout Run 1. The second comprises analyses to measure the charm mixing and CP violation observables A_{Gamma} and y_{CP}.An estimate of the resolution of the LHCb vertex locator is required for use in the track fits. A method to measure the resolution with collision data has been developed and tested. The performance of the sub-detector throughout Run 1 of the LHC has been assessed. A significant degrading of the resolution has been seen. The effects of this on the track reconstruction has been examined with little change in the measured quantities being observed. The measurement of indirect CP violation in neutral D meson transitions has been measured through the observables A_{Gamma} and y_{CP}, using 1fb^{-1} of pp collisions with a centre of mass energy 7TeV, collected by the LHCb detector in 2011.A_{Gamma} describes the CP asymmetry of the lifetime of the D^0 decaying to a CP eigenstate (KK or pipi). The analysis documented here yields A_{Gamma} = (-0.17+-0.54)x10^{-3} when the measurements are combined. This is the world's best measurement and represented a factor of four improvement over the previous best result. The observable y_{CP} compares the effective lifetimes of the Cabibbo favoured decay D^0→Kpi and the transition to a CP eigenstate (KK or pipi). The unblinded result obtained in this document, averaged over both final states is y_{CP} = (5.61+-1.56)x10^{-3}. This result is commensurate with the world average central value within 1.25 standard deviations and has significance of 3.6 standard deviations relative to zero.

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Le premier chapitre contient un bref rappel sur la physique des saveurs lourdes dans le Modèle Standard, et conclut par une description succinte de l'approche statistique utilisée dans CKMfitter.<br /> Le chapitre suivant évoque la violation de CP dans le secteur des kaons : sont traitées les contraintes sur la matrice CKM provenant des mesures de εK, ε′/ε, ainsi que l'´état des lieux et les perspectives sur la recherche des modes rares K+→π+νν et<br />KL→π0νν ; ce chapitre conclut par une étude prospective pour estimer le potentiel de<br />physique des kaons dans le cadre du modèle CKM. <br />Suivent deux chapitres décrivant des analyses de physique dans l'expérience BaBar : est d'abord présentée en détail l'analyse en amplitudes du mode B0 → K+π−π0 ; suit un état des lieux plus succint sur l'analyse en amplitudes dépendantes du temps du mode<br />B0 → K0π+π−, qui a déj`a fourni des résultats préliminaires à l'été 2007. La discussion est ensuite complétée par une description qualitative sur un projet d'étude combinée des contraintes sur la matrice CKM provenant des modes B → Kππ.

In this thesis, we investigate the transformation bandwidth and the thickness sensitivity of the anisotropic-slab linearly polarizes (LP) to circularly polarized (CP) polarizer. We define a transformation bandwidth and the thickness sensitivity based on the axial ratio. New methods are proposed that can eliminate the lengthy derivation and give deeper physical insight to the problem. Under the small reflection approximation, i.e., only the forward waves are considered, our methods can be applied to the design of the anisotropic-slab LP to CP polarizer. For the single anisotropic slab, the effect is represented graphically on the polarization ratio plane. It is shown that the polarization locus for a given axial ratio leads to a circle in the polarization state diagram. When combined with the graphical description of the change in the polarization state, the transformation bandwidth and the thickness sensitivity from an initial LP wave to a desired CP wave can be obtained easily. Furthermore, we present a method using the equivalent circuits to represent the polarization effect in anisotropic media, so that some concepts of the electric circuit can be applied. This method is more convenient in dealing with the polarization change when multiple anisotropic-slabs exist. The transformation bandwidths and the thickness sensitivities for the anisotropic-slab polarizer for several lossless media are studied. The results are discussed and illustrated.

The paper focuses on the design and implementation of the base-band basic receiving functions, for a binary CP-FSK demodulator pilot study, as independent modules of a complete Reconfigurable Data-Link (RDL). A model-based approach and Software Defined Radio (SDR) paradigm are used for the design. The implementation will be executed on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based hardware.

This dissertation is an analysis, assuming the framework of Government and Binding Theory, of the syntactic derivation of comparative correlative constructions (hereafter CCs for short) in Mandarin Chinese. It attempts to evaluate the theoretical adequacy of extant treatments of CCs and propose an alternative analysis to the prevailing adjunct approach. CC constructions exist crosslinguistically. An English example is The more chocolate I eat, the happier I feel. In Chinese, a simplex CC sentence consists of two non-coordinated clauses; the lexical word yue, which indicates degree, is obligatory in both clauses, as illustrated in (1): (1) tianqi yue₁ re, dian-fei yue₂ gao. weather [ YUE₁ hot], electricity-fee [YUE₂ high] `The hotter the weather is, the higher the electricity fee is.' Unlike the English comparative phrase, which has been shown to undergo A-bar movement in earlier studies, the yue-constituent remains in situ. I argue that yue is generated in [Spec, DegP] and behaves as an indefinite in-situ degree element on a par with an in-situ wh-element (Li 1992; Tsai 1994; Cheng and Rooryck 2000; Cheng 2003a, 2003b). The yue-variable in each clause is unselectively bound (Lewis 1975, Heim 1982, Cheng and Huang 1996) by an implicit CORRELATIVITY OPERATOR and does not undergo A-bar movement. In addition to the idiosyncratic in-situ yue-phrase, another property of CCs is the syntactic interdependency between the constitutive clauses. Earlier studies (Dikken 2005, Taylor 2006, 2009, Tsao and Hsiao 2002) treat the preceding clause as an adjunct. However, an adjunct approach cannot account for the property of syntactic interdependency. As an alternative, I assume Rizzi's (1997) work on the Split CP Hypothesis, arguing that Chinese CCs implicate the information structure in the left periphery and that they are a type of Focus construction. A Chinese CC sentence like (1) is projected by a null functional head Foc⁰. The first clause is focused and base-generated in [Spec, FocP] and the second clause is the complement of the null Foc⁰. The [+focus]feature in Foc⁰ licenses the co-occurrence of yue₁ and yue₂. This alternative analysis can capture not only crosslinguistic commonalities but also the language-internal property of topic-prominence in Chinese.

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) plays a critical role in many biological structures and processes. However, Pi typically occurs at low concentrations, particularly in marine environments. In comparison, naturally occurring organophosphonates, which are characterized by a stable carbon-phosphorus (CP) bond, are frequently present at higher concentrations. Accordingly, bacteria have evolved different mechanisms for cleaving the CP bond of organophosphonates to liberate Pi for metabolic use. Two prominent enzyme pathways for catabolic cleavage of a CP bond are examined in this thesis. The first, called CP-lyase, is encoded by the phn operon that consists of 14 genes (phnCDEFGHIJKLMNOP). CP-lyase has long been of interest for its ability to degrade a wide array of organophosphonates through a homolytic CP bond cleaving reaction. A soluble protein complex consisting of PhnGHIJK was isolated from E. coli, suggesting that protein-protein interactions are important for CP bond cleavage. Intermediates of organophosphonate catabolism by E. coli CP-lyase were also detected and isolated, including -D-ribosyl-1,2-cyclic phosphate and N-acetylated aminoalkylphosphonates, 2-N-acetamidoethylphosphonate and 5’-phospho--D-ribosyl-1’-alkylphosphonates. The former compound was shown to be converted by the phosphodiesterase PhnP to -D-ribosyl-1-phosphate. It was also shown that PhnO is an aminoalkylphosphonate N-acetyl transferase and that N-acetylation by this enzyme is necessary for CP bond cleavage of 1-aminoalklyphosphonates. These results demonstrated that in addition to forming protein complexes, CP-lyase also comprises a catabolic pathway, with ribosylation of organophosphonates playing a key part in setting up the CP bond cleaving reaction. The second pathway examined in this thesis is comprised of marine bacterial enzymes PhnY and PhnZ and is specific for 2-aminoethylphosphonate. PhnY was shown to be an -ketoglutarate / Fe(II) dependent dioxygenase that hydroxylates the -carbon of 2-aminoethylphosphonate to form (R)-2-amino-1-hydroxyethylphosphonate. PhnZ was shown to be a novel Fe(II) dependent oxygenase that converts (R)-2-amino-1-hydroxyethylphosphonate to glycine and Pi. Site directed mutagenesis, kinetic analysis, reactions with substrate analogues, and X-ray crystallography examined the roles of active site residues and the di-iron active site. Additionally, a unique induced-fit mechanism was discovered which appears to synchronize substrate binding with activation of molecular oxygen. Overall these results show that PhnZ represents a new mechanism for catabolic cleavage of a CP bond. / Thesis (Ph.D, Chemistry) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-13 16:24:17.261

Thèse diffusée initialement dans le cadre d'un projet pilote des Presses de l'Université de Montréal/Centre d'édition numérique UdeM (1997-2008) avec l'autorisation de l'auteur.

A search for B decays to quasi two-body charmless final states involving a pseudoscalar η′ meson recoiling against a K∗ vector meson is described. This thesis primarily describes the analysis of two of the six possible decay channels, with the other four channels necessarily included as the subdecay modes are combined to give an overall branching fraction measurement. The method of analysis is a multivariate maximum likelihood fit for each subdecay channel. The likelihood curves for both modes are then combined, firstly with two other charged modes to yield an overall charged result, and finally the four charged modes are combined with two neutral modes to give an overall branching fraction and significance for the decay channel B → η′K∗. All results use the full Run 1 to Run 4 datasets, comprising 210.5 fb−1 of data, equivalent to 232 million BB pairs, gathered by the BABAR detector at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, California. The measured branching fractions and upper limits at 90% confidence limit (CL) are: B(B+ → η′ηππK∗+ K+π0) < 9.5 × 10−6B(B+ → η′ργK∗+ K+π0) < 22 × 10−6.The four-mode combined fit determined the branching fraction for the decay B+ → η′K∗+: B(B+ → η′K∗+) < 7.9 × 10−6. The six-mode combined fit determined the branching fraction for the decay B → η′K∗: B(B → η′K∗) = (4.1 ± 1.0 ± 0.5) × 10−6 at a significance of 5.6 standard deviations.