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NEXT Collaboration(Alvarez, V. et al), Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., Gil, A., et al. (2014). Description and commissioning of NEXT-MM prototype: first results from operation in a Xenon-Trimethylamine gas mixture. J. Instrum., 9, P03010–22pp.
Abstract: A technical description of NEXT-MM and its commissioning and first performance is reported. Having an active volume of similar to 35 cm drift x 28 cm diameter, it constitutes the largest Micromegas-read TPC operated in Xenon ever constructed, made by a sectorial arrangement of the 4 largest single wafers manufactured with the Microbulk technique to date. It is equipped with a suitably pixelized readout and with a sufficiently large sensitive volume (similar to 23 l) so as to contain long (similar to 20 cm) electron tracks. First results obtained at 1 bar for Xenon and Trymethylamine (Xe-(2%) TMA) mixture are presented. The TPC can accurately reconstruct extended background tracks. An encouraging full-width half-maximum of 11.6% was obtained for similar to 29 keV gammas without resorting to any data post-processing.
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Alvarez-Ruso, L., Hayato, Y., & Nieves, J. (2014). Progress and open questions in the physics of neutrino cross sections at intermediate energies. New J. Phys., 16, 075015–62pp.
Abstract: New and more precise measurements of neutrino cross sections have renewed interest in a better understanding of electroweak interactions on nucleons and nuclei. This effort is crucial to achieving the precision goals of the neutrino oscillation program, making new discoveries, like the CP violation in the leptonic sector, possible. We review the recent progress in the physics of neutrino cross sections, putting emphasis on the open questions that arise in the comparison with new experimental data. Following an overview of recent neutrino experiments and future plans, we present some details about the theoretical development in the description of (anti) neutrino-induced quasielastic (QE) scattering and the role of multi-nucleon QE-like mechanisms. We cover not only pion production in nucleons and nuclei but also other inelastic channels including strangeness production and photon emission. Coherent reaction channels on nuclear targets are also discussed. Finally, we briefly describe some of the Monte Carlo event generators, which are at the core of all neutrino oscillation and cross-section measurements.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2014). Observation of B-s(0) -> K* (+/-) K -/+ and evidence for B-s(0) -> K*(-) pi(+) decays. New J. Phys., 16, 123001–18pp.
Abstract: Measurements of the branching fractions of B-s(0) -> K*K-+/-(-/+) and B-s(0) -> K*(+/-) pi(-/+) decays are performed using a data sample corresponding to 1.0 fb(-1) of protonproton collision data collected with the LHCb detector at a centre-of- mass energy of 7 TeV, where the K*(+/-) mesons are reconstructed in the K-s(0) pi(+/-) final state. The first observation of the B-s(0) -> K*(+/-) K--/+ decay and the first evidence for the B-s(0) -> K*(-) pi(+) decay are reported with branching fractions B(B-s(0) -> K*K-+/-(-/+)) = (12.7 +/- 1.9 +/- 1.9) x 10(-6) , B(B-s(0) -> K*(-) pi(+)) = (3.3 +/- 1.1 +/- 0.5) x 10(-6) , where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. In addition, an upper limit of B(B-0 -> K*K-+/-(-/+)) < 0.4 (0.5) x 10(-6) is set at 90% (95%) confidence level.
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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Aab, A. et al), & Pastor, S. (2014). Reconstruction of inclined air showers detected with the pierre Auger Observatory. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 08(8), 019–32pp.
Abstract: We describe the method devised to reconstruct inclined cosmic-ray air showers with zenith angles greater than 60 degrees detected with the surface array of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The measured signals at the ground level are fitted to muon density distributions predicted with atmospheric cascade models to obtain the relative shower size as an overall normalization parameter. The method is evaluated using simulated showers to test its performance. The energy of the cosmic rays is calibrated using a sub-sample of events reconstructed with both the fluorescence and surface array techniques. The reconstruction method described here provides the basis of complementary analyses including an independent measurement of the energy spectrum of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using very inclined events collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory.
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Anderson, L. et al, & Mena, O. (2014). The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: baryon acoustic oscillations in the Data Releases 10 and 11 Galaxy samples. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 441(1), 24–62.
Abstract: We present a one per cent measurement of the cosmic distance scale from the detections of the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in the clustering of galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III. Our results come from the Data Release 11 (DR11) sample, containing nearly one million galaxies and covering approximately 8500 square degrees and the redshift range 0.2 < z < 0.7. We also compare these results with those from the publicly released DR9 and DR10 samples. Assuming a concordance A cold dark matter (ACDM) cosmological model, the DR11 sample covers a volume of 13 Gpc(3) and is the largest region of the Universe ever surveyed at this density. We measure the correlation function and power spectrum, including density- field reconstruction of the BAO feature. The acoustic features are detected at a significance of over 7s in both the correlation function and power spectrum. Fitting for the position of the acoustic features measures the distance relative to the sound horizon at the drag epoch, r(d), which has a value of r(d,fid) = 149.28 Mpc in our fiducial cosmology. We find D-V = (1264 +/- 25 Mpc)(r(d)/r(d,fid)) at z = 0.32 and D-V = (2056 +/- 20 Mpc)(r(d)/r(d,fid)) at z = 0.57. At 1.0 per cent, this latter measure is the most precise distance constraint ever obtained from a galaxy survey. Separating the clustering along and transverse to the line of sight yields measurements at z = 0.57 of D-A = (1421 +/- 20 Mpc)(r(d)/r(d,fid)) and H = (96.8 +/- 3.4 kms(-1) Mpc(-1))(r(d),(fid)/r(d)). Our measurements of the distance scale are in good agreement with previous BAO measurements and with the predictions from cosmic microwave background data for a spatially flat CDM model with a cosmological constant.
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