Time-like minimal submanifolds as singular limits of nonlinear wave equations

We consider the sharp interface limit ?→0⁺ of the semilinear wave equation in R¹⁺ⁿ, where takes values in R^k, k=1,2, and W is a double-well potential if k=1 and vanishes on the unit circle and is positive elsewhere if k=2. For fixed ?>0 we find some special solutions, constructed around minimal surfaces in Rⁿ. In the general case, under some additional assumptions, we show that the solutions converge to a Radon measure supported on a time-like k-codimensional minimal submanifold of the Minkowski space-time. This result holds also after the appearance of singularities, and enforces the observation made by J. Neu that this semilinear equation can be regarded as an approximation of the Born-Infeld equation.     

Measurement of the Bc+ meson lifetime using the decay mode Bc+ --> J/Psie+nue

We present a measurement of the Bc+ meson lifetime in the decay mode Bc+ --> J/Psie+nue using the Collider Detector at Fermilab II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. From a sample of about of 360 pb(-1) of pp collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV, we reconstruct J/Psie+ pairs with invariant mass in the kinematically allowed range 4< M(J/Psie) < 6 GeV/c2. A fit to the decay-length distribution of 238 signal events yields a measured Bc+ meson lifetime of 0.463(-0.065)(+0.073)(stat) +/- 0.036(syst) ps.     

Measurement of the tt production cross section in pp collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV

We present a measurement of the top quark pair production cross section in pp collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV using 318 pb(-1) of data collected with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We select tt[over ] decays into the final states enu+jets and mu nu+ jets, in which at least one b quark from the t-quark decays is identified using a secondary vertex-finding algorithm. Assuming a top quark mass of 178 GeV/c2, we measure a cross section of 8.7 +/- 0.9(stat)(-0.9)+1.1(syst) pb. We also report the first observation of tt[over ] with significance greater than 5sigma in the subsample in which both b quarks are identified, corresponding to a cross section of 10.1(-1.4)+1.6(stat)(-1.3)+2.0(syst) pb.     

Search for a neutral Higgs boson decaying to a W boson pair in pp collisions at square root of s = 1.96 TeV

We present the results of a search for standard model Higgs boson production with decay to WW*, identified through the leptonic final states e+ e- nu nu,+/-mu -/+nu nu and mu+ mu- nu nu. This search uses 360 pb -1 of data collected from pp collisions at square root of s =1.96 TeV by the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF II). We observe no signal excess and set 95% confidence level upper limits on the production cross section times branching ratio for the Higgs boson to WW* or any new scalar particle with similar decay products. These upper limits range from 5.5 to 3.2 pb for Higgs boson masses between 120 and 200 GeV/c2.     

Γ -Entropy Cost for Scalar Conservation Laws

We are concerned with a control problem related to the vanishing viscosity approximation to scalar conservation laws. We investigate the Γ -convergence of the control cost functional, as the viscosity coefficient tends to zero. A first-order Γ -limit is established, which characterizes the measure-valued solutions to the conservation laws as the zeros of the Γ -limit. A second-order Γ -limit is then investigated, providing a characterization of entropic solutions to conservation laws as the zeros of the Γ -limit.