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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Escobar, C., et al. (2010). Readiness of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter for LHC collisions. Eur. Phys. J. C, 70(3), 723–753.
Abstract: The ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter has been operating continuously since August 2006. At this time, only part of the calorimeter was readout, but since the beginning of 2008, all calorimeter cells have been connected to the ATLAS readout system in preparation for LHC collisions. This paper gives an overview of the liquid argon calorimeter performance measured in situ with random triggers, calibration data, cosmic muons, and LHC beam splash events. Results on the detector operation, timing performance, electronics noise, and gain stability are presented. High energy deposits from radiative cosmic muons and beam splash events allow to check the intrinsic constant term of the energy resolution. The uniformity of the electromagnetic barrel calorimeter response along eta (averaged over phi) is measured at the percent level using minimum ionizing cosmic muons. Finally, studies of electromagnetic showers from radiative muons have been used to cross-check the Monte Carlo simulation. The performance results obtained using the ATLAS readout, data acquisition, and reconstruction software indicate that the liquid argon calorimeter is well-prepared for collisions at the dawn of the LHC era.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Campabadal Segura, F., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., et al. (2010). Drift Time Measurement in the ATLAS Liquid Argon Electromagnetic Calorimeter using Cosmic Muons. Eur. Phys. J. C, 70(3), 755–785.
Abstract: The ionization signals in the liquid argon of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter are studied in detail using cosmic muons. In particular, the drift time of the ionization electrons is measured and used to assess the intrinsic uniformity of the calorimeter gaps and estimate its impact on the constant term of the energy resolution. The drift times of electrons in the cells of the second layer of the calorimeter are uniform at the level of 1.3% in the barrel and 2.8% in the endcaps. This leads to an estimated contribution to the constant term of (0.29(-0.04)(+0.05))% in the barrel and (0.54(-0.04)(+0.06))% in the endcaps. The same data are used to measure the drift velocity of ionization electrons in liquid argon, which is found to be 4.61 +/- 0.07 mm/mu s at 88.5 K and 1 kV/mm.
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CDF Collaboration(Aaltonen, T. et al), & Cabrera, S. (2010). Search for Technicolor Particles Produced in Association with a W Boson at CDF. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104(11), 111802–7pp.
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Oliver, J. F., & Rafecas, M. (2010). Improving the singles rate method for modeling accidental coincidences in high-resolution PET. Phys. Med. Biol., 55(22), 6951–6971.
Abstract: Random coincidences ('randoms') are one of the main sources of image degradation in PET imaging. In order to correct for this effect, an accurate method to estimate the contribution of random events is necessary. This aspect becomes especially relevant for high-resolution PET scanners where the highest image quality is sought and accurate quantitative analysis is undertaken. One common approach to estimate randoms is the so-called singles rate method (SR) widely used because of its good statistical properties. SR is based on the measurement of the singles rate in each detector element. However, recent studies suggest that SR systematically overestimates the correct random rate. This overestimation can be particularly marked for low energy thresholds, below 250 keV used in some applications and could entail a significant image degradation. In this work, we investigate the performance of SR as a function of the activity, geometry of the source and energy acceptance window used. We also investigate the performance of an alternative method, which we call 'singles trues' (ST) that improves SR by properly modeling the presence of true coincidences in the sample. Nevertheless, in any real data acquisition the knowledge of which singles are members of a true coincidence is lost. Therefore, we propose an iterative method, STi, that provides an estimation based on ST but which only requires the knowledge of measurable quantities: prompts and singles. Due to inter-crystal scatter, for wide energy windows ST only partially corrects SR overestimations. While SR deviations are in the range 86-300% (depending on the source geometry), the ST deviations are systematically smaller and contained in the range 4-60%. STi fails to reproduce the ST results, although for not too high activities the deviation with respect to ST is only a few percent. For conventional energy windows, i.e. those without inter-crystal scatter, the ST method corrects the SR overestimations, and deviations from the true random rate are of the order of 1% or less. In addition, in the case of conventional energy window STi results reproduce ST results and therefore the former can be used to obtain the true random rate.
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BABAR Collaboration(del Amo Sanchez, P. et al), Lopez-March, N., Martinez-Vidal, F., Milanes, D. A., & Oyanguren, A. (2010). Search for B+ meson decay to a(1)(+)(1260)K*(0)(892). Phys. Rev. D, 82(9), 091101–8pp.
Abstract: We present a search for the decay B+ -> a(1)(+)(1260)K*(0)(892). The data, collected with the BABAR detector at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, represent 465 X 10(6)B (B) over bar pairs produced in e(+)e(-) annihilation at the energy of the gamma(4S). We find no significant signal and set an upper limit at 90% confidence level on the product of branching fractions B(B+ -> a(1)(+) (1260)K*(0)(892)) X B(a(1)(+)(1260) -> pi(+) pi(-) pi(+)) of 1.8 X 10(-6).
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CDF Collaboration(Aaltonen, T. et al), & Cabrera, S. (2010). Measurement of the WW plus WZ Production Cross Section Using the lepton plus jets Final State at CDF II. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104(10), 101801–8pp.
Abstract: We report two complementary measurements of the WW + WZ cross section in the final state consisting of an electron or muon, missing transverse energy, and jets, performed using p (p) over bar collision data at root s = 1.96 TeV collected by the CDF II detector. The first method uses the dijet invariant mass distribution while the second more sensitive method uses matrix-element calculations. The result from the second method has a signal significance of 5.4 sigma and is the first observation of WW + WZ production using this signature. Combining the results gives sigma(WW+WZ) = 16.0 +/- 3.3 pb, in agreement with the standard model prediction.
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Borja, E. F., Diaz-Polo, J., Garay, I., & Livine, E. R. (2010). Dynamics for a 2-vertex quantum gravity model. Class. Quantum Gravity, 27(23), 235010–34pp.
Abstract: We use the recently introduced U(N) framework for loop quantum gravity to study the dynamics of spin network states on the simplest class of graphs: two vertices linked with an arbitrary number N of edges. Such graphs represent two regions, in and out, separated by a boundary surface. We study the algebraic structure of the Hilbert space of spin networks from the U(N) perspective. In particular, we describe the algebra of operators acting on that space and discuss their relation to the standard holonomy operator of loop quantum gravity. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to make the restriction to the isotropic/homogeneous sector of the model by imposing the invariance under a global U(N) symmetry. We then propose a U(N)-invariant Hamiltonian operator and study the induced dynamics. Finally, we explore the analogies between this model and loop quantum cosmology and sketch some possible generalizations of it.
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CDF Collaboration(Aaltonen, T. et al), & Cabrera, S. (2010). Measurement of the Lambda(0)(b) Lifetime in Lambda(0)(b) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-) Decays in p(p)over-bar Collisions at root s=1.96 TeV. Phys. Rev. Lett., 104(10), 102002–8pp.
Abstract: We report a measurement of the lifetime of the Lambda(0)(b) baryon in decays to the Lambda(+)(c)pi(-) final state in a sample corresponding to 1.1 fb(-1) collected in p (p) over bar collisions at root s = 1.96 TeV by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider. Using a sample of about 3000 fully reconstructed Lambda(0)(b) events we measure tau(Lambda(0)(b) ) = 1.401 +/- 0.046(stat) +/- 0.035(syst) ps (corresponding to c tau(Lambda(0)(b)) = 420.1 +/- 13.7(stat) +/- 10.6(syst) μm, where c is the speed of light). The ratio of this result and the world average B-0 lifetime yields tau(Lambda(0)(b))/tau(B-0) = 0.918 +/- 0.038 (stat) and (syst), in good agreement with recent theoretical predictions.
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Tolos, L., Molina, R., Oset, E., & Ramos, A. (2010). (K)over-bar* mesons in dense matter. Phys. Rev. C, 82(4), 045210–12pp.
Abstract: We study the properties of (K) over bar* mesons in nuclear matter using a unitary approach in coupled channels within the framework of the local hidden gauge formalism and incorporating the (K) over bar pi decay channel in matter. The in-medium (K) over bar *N interaction accounts for Pauli blocking effects and incorporates the (K) over bar* self-energy in a self-consistent manner. We also obtain the (K) over bar* (off-shell) spectral function and analyze its behavior at finite density and momentum. At a normal nuclear matter density, the (K) over bar* meson feels a moderately attractive potential, while the (K) over bar* width becomes five times larger than in free space. We estimate the transparency ratio of the gamma A -> K+K*(-) A` reaction, which we propose as a feasible scenario at the present facilities to detect changes in the properties of the (K) over bar* meson in nuclear medium.
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Bizzeti, P. G. et al, & Gadea, A. (2010). Transition probabilities in the X(5) candidate Ba-122. Phys. Rev. C, 82(5), 054311–10pp.
Abstract: To investigate the possible X(5) character of Ba-122, suggested by the ground-state band energy pattern, the lifetimes of the lowest yrast states of Ba-122 have been measured, via the recoil distance Doppler-shift method. The relevant levels have been populated by using the Cd-108(O-16,2n)Ba-122 and the Sn-112(C-13, 3n)Ba-122 reactions. The B(E2) values deduced in the present work are compared to the predictions of the X(5) model and to calculations performed in the framework of the IBA-1 and IBA-2 models.
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