Abstract: This paper presents a first experimental demonstration of a new nondestructive method for aperture measurements based on ac dipoles. In high intensity particle colliders, such as the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), aperture measurements are crucial for a safe operation while optimizing the optics in order to reduce the size of the colliding beams and hence increase the luminosity. In the LHC, this type of measurements became mandatory during beam commissioning and the current method used is based on the destructive blowup of bunches using a transverse damper. The new method presented in this paper uses the ac-dipole excitation to generate adiabatic forced oscillations of the beam in order to create losses to identify the smallest aperture in the machine without blowing up the beam emittance. A precise and tuneable control of the oscillation amplitude enables the beams to be reused for several aperture measurements, as well as for other subsequent commissioning activities. Measurements performed with the new method are presented and compared with the current LHC transverse damper method for two different beam energies and two different operational optics.

Abstract: We report observations made on a run of transcritical flows over an obstacle in a narrow channel. Downstream from the obstacle, the flows decelerate from supercritical to subcritical, typically with an undulation on the subcritical side (known in hydrodynamics as an undular hydraulic jump). In the Analogue Gravity context, this transition corresponds to a white-hole horizon. Free-surface deformations are analyzed, mainly via the two-point correlation function which shows the presence of a checkerboard pattern in the vicinity of the undulation. In nongated flows where the white-hole horizon occurs far downstream from the obstacle, this checkerboard pattern is shown to be due to low-frequency fluctuations associated with slow longitudinal movement of the undulation. Tt can thus be considered as an artifact due to a time-varying background. In gated flows, however, the undulation is typically “attached” to the obstacle, and the fluctuations associated with its movement are strongly suppressed. In this case, the observed correlation pattern is likely due to a stochastic ensemble of surface waves, scattering on a background that is essentially stationary.

Abstract: We review lattice results related to pion, kaon, D-meson, B-meson, and nucleon physics with the aim of making them easily accessible to the nuclear and particle physics communities. More specifically, we report on the determination of the light-quark masses, the form factor f(+) (0) arising in the semileptonic K -> pi transition at zero momentum transfer, as well as the decay constant ratio Alf, and its consequences for the CKM matrix elements V-us and V-ud. Furthermore, we describe the results obtained on the lattice for some of the low-energy constants of SU(2)(L) x SU(2)(R) and SU(3)(L) x SU(3)(R) Chiral Perturbation Theory. We review the determination of the B-K parameter of neutral kaon mixing as well as the additional four B parameters that arise in theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. For the heavy-quark sector, we provide results for m(c) and m(b) as well as those for the decay constants, form factors, and mixing parameters of charmed and bottom mesons and baryons. These are the heavy-quark quantities most relevant for the determination of CKM matrix elements and the global CKM unitarity-triangle fit. We review the status of lattice determinations of the strong coupling constant alpha(s). We consider nucleon matrix elements, and review the determinations of the axial, scalar and tensor bilinears, both isovector and flavor diagonal. Finally, in this review we have added a new section reviewing determinations of scale-setting quantities.