Guendelman, E. I., Olmo, G. J., Rubiera-Garcia, D., & Vasihoun, M. (2013). Nonsingular electrovacuum solutions with dynamically generated cosmological constant. Phys. Lett. B, 726(4-5), 870–875.
Abstract: We consider static spherically symmetric configurations in a Palatini extension of General Relativity including R-2 and Ricci-squared terms, which is known to replace the central singularity by a wormhole in the electrovacuum case. We modify the matter sector of the theory by adding to the usual Maxwell term a nonlinear electromagnetic extension which is known to implement a confinement mechanism in flat space. One feature of the resulting theory is that the nonlinear electric field leads to a dynamically generated cosmological constant. We show that with this matter source the solutions of the model are asymptotically de Sitter and possess a wormhole topology. We discuss in some detail the conditions that guarantee the absence of singularities and of traversable wormholes.
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Capozziello, S., Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., & Olmo, G. J. (2013). Galactic rotation curves in hybrid metric-Palatini gravity. Astropart Phys., 50-52, 65–75.
Abstract: Generally, the dynamics of test particles around galaxies, as well as the corresponding mass deficit, is explained by postulating the existence of a hypothetical dark matter. In fact, the behavior of the rotation curves shows the existence of a constant velocity region, near the baryonic matter distribution, followed by a quick decay at large distances. In this work, we consider the possibility that the behavior of the rotational velocities of test particles gravitating around galaxies can be explained within the framework of the recently proposed hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory. The latter is constructed by modifying the metric Einstein-Hilbert action with an f(R) term in the Palatini formalism. It was shown that the theory unifies local constraints and the late-time cosmic acceleration, even if the scalar field is very light. In the intermediate galactic scale, we show explicitly that in the hybrid metric-Palatini model the tangential velocity can be explicitly obtained as a function of the scalar field of the equivalent scalar-tensor description. The model predictions are compared model with a small sample of rotation curves of low surface brightness galaxies, respectively, and a good agreement between the theoretical rotation Curves and the observational data is found. The possibility of constraining the form of the scalar field and the parameters of the model by using the stellar velocity dispersions is also analyzed. Furthermore, the Doppler velocity shifts are also obtained in terms of the scalar field. All the physical and geometrical quantities and the numerical parameters in the hybrid metric-Palatini model can be expressed in terms of observable/measurable parameters, such as the tangential velocity, the baryonic mass of the galaxy, the Doppler frequency shifts, and the stellar dispersion velocity, respectively. Therefore, the obtained results open the possibility of testing the hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational models at the galactic or extra-galactic scale by using direct astronomical and astrophysical observations.
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Stuhl, L., Krasznahorkay, A., Csatlos, M., Algora, A., Gulyas, J., Kalinka, G., et al. (2014). A neutron spectrometer for studying giant resonances with (p,n) reactions in inverse kinematics. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 736, 1–9.
Abstract: A neutron spectrometer, the European Low-Energy Neutron Spectrometer (ELENS), has been constructed to study exotic nuclei in inverse-kinematics experiments. The spectrometer, which consists of plastic scintillator bars, can be operated in the neutron energy range of 100 keV-10 MeV. The neutron energy is determined using the time-of-flight technique, while the position of the neutron detection is deduced from the time-difference information from photomultipliers attached to both ends of each bar. A novel wrapping method has been developed for the plastic scintillators. The array has a larger than 25% detection efficiency for neutrons of approximately 500 keV in kinetic energy and an angular resolution of less than 1 degrees. Details of the design, construction and experimental tests of the spectrometer will be presented.
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Pich, A. (2014). Precision tau physics. Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys., 75, 41–85.
Abstract: Precise measurements of the lepton properties provide stringent tests of the Standard Model and accurate determinations of its parameters. We overview the present status of tau physics, highlighting the most recent developments, and discuss the prospects for future improvements. The leptonic decays of the tau lepton probe the structure of the weak currents and the universality of their couplings to the W boson. The universality of the leptonic Z couplings has also been tested through Z -> l(+)l(-) decays. The hadronic tau decay modes constitute an ideal tool for studying low-energy effects of the strong interaction in very clean conditions. Accurate determinations of the QCD coupling and the Cabibbo mixing V-us have been obtained with tau data. The large mass of the tau opens the possibility to study many kinematically-allowed exclusive decay modes and extract relevant dynamical information. Violations of flavour and CP conservation laws can also be searched for with tau decays. Related subjects such as μdecays, the electron and muon anomalous magnetic moments, neutrino mixing and B-meson decays into tau leptons are briefly covered. Being one the fermions most strongly coupled to the scalar sector, the tau lepton is playing now a very important role at the LHC as a tool to test the Higgs properties and search for new physics at higher scales.
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Bernardoni, F., Blossier, B., Bulava, J., Della Morte, M., Fritzsch, P., Garron, N., et al. (2014). The b-quark mass from non-perturbative N-f=2 Heavy Quark Effective Theory at O(1/m(h)). Phys. Lett. B, 730, 171–177.
Abstract: We report our final estimate of the b-quark mass from N-f = 2 lattice QCD simulations using Heavy Quark Effective Theory non-perturbatively matched to QCD at O(1/m(h)). Treating systematic and statistical errors in a conservative manner, we obtain (m) over bar ((MS) over bar)(b) (2 GeV) = 4.88(15) GeV after an extrapolation to the physical point.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Tarrio, D. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2014). Measurement of the angular distribution of fission fragments using a PPAC assembly at CERN n_TOF. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 743, 79–85.
Abstract: A fission reaction chamber based on Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters (PPACs) was built for measuring angular distributions of fragments emitted in neutron-induced fission of actinides at the neutron beam available at the Neutron Time-Of-Flight (n_TOF) facility at CERN. The detectors and the samples were tilted 45 degrees with respect to the neutron beam direction to cover all the possible values of the emission angle of the fission fragments. The main features of this setup are discussed and results on the fission fragment angular distribution are provided for the Th-232(n,f) reaction around the fission threshold. The results are compared with the available data in the literature, demonstrating the good capabilities of this setup.
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Goasduff, A., Valiente-Dobon, J. J., Lunardi, S., Haas, F., Gadea, A., de Angelis, G., et al. (2014). Counting rate measurements for lifetime experiments using the RDDS method with the new generation gamma-ray array AGATA. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 758, 1–3.
Abstract: The differential Recoil Distance Doppler Shift (RDDS) method after multinucleon transfer (MNT) reactions to measure lifetimes of excited states in neutron-rich nuclei requires the use of a thick energy degrader for the recoiling ejectiles that are then detected in a spectrometer. This type of measurements greatly benefits from the use of the new generation segmented gamma-ray detectors, such as the AGATA demonstrator which offers unprecedented energy and angular resolutions. In order to make an optimized choice of the material and the thickness of the degrader for lifetime measurements using the RODS method after MNT, an experiment has been performed with the AGATA demonstrator. Counting rate measurements for different degraders are presented.
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Bernardoni, F., Blossier, B., Bulava, J., Della Morte, M., Fritzsch, P., Garron, N., et al. (2014). Decay constants of B-mesons from non-perturbative HQET with two light dynamical quarks. Phys. Lett. B, 735, 349–356.
Abstract: We present a computation of B-meson decay constants from lattice QCD simulations within the framework of Heavy Quark Effective Theory for the b-quark. The next-to-leading order corrections in the HQET expansion are included non-perturbatively. Based on N-f = 2 gauge field ensembles, covering three lattice spacings a approximate to (0.08-0.05) fm and pion masses down to 190 MeV, a variational method for extracting hadronic matrix elements is used to keep systematic errors under control. In addition we perform a careful autocorrelation analysis in the extrapolation to the continuum and to the physical pion mass limits. Our final results read f(B) = 186(13) MeV, f(Bs) = 224(14) MeV and f(Bs)/f(B) = 1.203(65). A comparison with other results in the literature does not reveal a dependence on the number of dynamical quarks, and effects from truncating HQET appear to be negligible.
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Mengoni, D., Duenas, J. A., Assie, M., Boiano, C., John, P. R., Aliaga, R. J., et al. (2014). Digital pulse-shape analysis with a TRACE early silicon prototype. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 764, 241–246.
Abstract: A highly segmented silicon-pad detector prototype has been tested to explore the performance of the digital pulse shape analysis in the discrimination of the particles reaching the silicon detector. For the first time a 200 tun thin silicon detector, grown using an ordinary floating zone technique, has been shown to exhibit a level discrimination thanks to the fine segmentation. Light-charged particles down to few MeV have been separated, including their punch-through. A coaxial HPGe detector in time coincidence has further confirmed the quality of the particle discrimination.
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Scandale, W. et al, & Lari, L. (2014). Deflection of high energy protons by multiple volume reflections in a modified multi-strip silicon deflector. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. B, 338, 108–111.
Abstract: The effect of multiple volume reflections in one crystal was observed in each of several bent silicon strips for 400 GeV/c protons. This considerably increased the particle deflections. Some particles were also deflected due to channeling in one of the subsequent strips. As a result, the incident beam was strongly spread because of opposite directions of the deflections. A modified multi-strip deflector produced by periodic grooves on the surface of a thick silicon plate was used for these measurements. This technique provides perfect mutual alignment between crystal strips. Such multi-strip deflector may be effective for collider beam halo collimation and a study is planned at the CERN SPS circulating beam.
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