Abstract: Correlations of same-sign charged pions are analysed using proton-lead collision data collected by the LHCb experiment at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.06 nb(-1). Bose-Einstein correlations are observed in the form of an enhancement of pair production for same-sign charged pions with a small four-momentum difference. The dependence of the correlation radius and the intercept parameter on the reconstructed charged-particle multiplicity is investigated. The measured correlation radii scale linearly with the cube root of the reconstructed charged-particle multiplicity, being compatible with predictions of hydrodynamic models on the collision system evolution.

Abstract: The Pierre Auger Observatory in Malargue, Argentina, is designed to study the properties of ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 10(18) eV. It is a hybrid facility that employs a Fluorescence Detector to perform nearly calorimetric measurements of Extensive Air Shower energies. To obtain reliable calorimetric information from the FD, the atmospheric conditions at the observatory need to be continuously monitored during data acquisition. In particular, light attenuation due to aerosols is an important atmospheric correction. The aerosol concentration is highly variable, so that the aerosol attenuation needs to be evaluated hourly. We use light from the Central Laser Facility, located near the center of the observatory site, having an optical signature comparable to that of the highest energy showers detected by the FD. This paper presents two procedures developed to retrieve the aerosol attenuation of fluorescence light from CLF laser shots. Cross checks between the two methods demonstrate that results from both analyses are compatible, and that the uncertainties are well understood. The measurements of the aerosol attenuation provided by the two procedures are currently used at the Pierre Auger Observatory to reconstruct air shower data.

Abstract: NEXT-100 experiment aims at searching the neutrinoless double-beta decay of the Xe-136 isotope using a TPC filled with a 100 kg of high-pressure gaseous xenon, with 90% isotopic enrichment. The experiment will take place at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain. NEXT-100 uses electroluminescence (EL) technology for energy measurement with a resolution better than 1% FWHM. The gaseous xenon in the TPC additionally allows the tracks of the two beta particles to be recorded, which are expected to have a length of up to 30 cm at 10 bar pressure. The ability to record the topological signature of the beta beta 0 nu events provides a powerful background rejection factor for the beta beta experiment. In this paper, we present a novel 3D imaging concept using SiPMs coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) for the EL read out and its first implementation in NEXT-DEMO, a large-scale prototype of the NEXT-100 experiment. The design and the first characterization measurements of the NEXT-DEMO SiPM tracking system are presented. The SiPM response uniformity over the tracking plane drawn from its gain map is shown to be better than 4%. An automated active control system for the stabilization of the SiPMs gain was developed, based on the voltage supply compensation of the gain drifts. The gain is shown to be stabilized within 0.2% relative variation around its nominal value, provided by Hamamatsu, in a temperature range of 10 degrees C. The noise level from the electronics and the SiPM dark noise is shown to lay typically below the level of 10 photoelectrons (pe) in the ADC. Hence, a detection threshold at 10 pe is set for the acquisition of the tracking signals. The ADC full dynamic range (4096 channels) is shown to be adequate for signal levels of up to 200 pe/mu s, which enables recording most of the tracking signals.

Abstract: NEXT-DEMO is a high-pressure xenon gas TPC which acts as a technological test-bed and demonstrator for the NEXT-100 neutrinoless double beta decay experiment. In its current configuration the apparatus fully implements the NEXT-100 design concept. This is an asymmetric TPC, with an energy plane made of photomultipliers and a tracking plane made of silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) coated with TPB. The detector in this new configuration has been used to reconstruct the characteristic signature of electrons in dense gas, demonstrating the ability to identify the MIP and “blob” regions. Moreover, the SiPM tracking plane allows for the definition of a large fiducial region in which an excellent energy resolution of 1.82% FWHM at 511 keV has been measured (a value which extrapolates to 0.83% at the xenon Q(beta beta)).

Abstract: The kinematic dependences of the relative production rates, f(Lambda b)(0)/f(d), of Lambda(0)(b) baryons and B-0 mesons are measured using Lambda(0)(b) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-) and (B) over bar (0) -> D+pi(-) decays. The measurements use proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb(-1) at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, recorded in the forward region with the LHCb experiment. The relative production rates are observed to depend on the transverse momentum, pT, and pseudorapidity, eta, of the beauty hadron, in the studied kinematic region 1.5 < pT < 40 GeV/c and 2 < eta < 5. Using a previous LHCb measurement of f(Lambda b)(0)/f(d) in semileptonic decays, the branching fraction B (Lambda(0)(b) -> Lambda(+)(c)pi(-)) = (4.30 +/- 0.03(-0.11)(+0.12)+/- 0.26 +/- 0.21) x 10(-3) is obtained, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is from the previous LHCb measurement of f(Lambda b)(0)/f(d) and the fourth is due to the (B) over bar (0) -> D+pi(-) branching fraction. This is the most precise measurement of a Lambda(0)(b) branching fraction to date.