12,673 research outputs found
The ALICE electromagnetic calorimeter high level triggers
The ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) detector yields a huge sample of
data from different sub-detectors. On-line data processing is applied to select
and reduce the volume of the stored data. ALICE applies a multi-level hardware
trigger scheme where fast detectors are used to feed a three-level (L0, L1, and
L2) deep chain. The High-Level Trigger (HLT) is a fourth filtering stage
sitting logically between the L2 trigger and the data acquisition event
building. The EMCal detector comprises a large area electromagnetic calorimeter
that extends the momentum measurement of photons and neutral mesons up to
GeV/c, which improves the ALICE capability to perform jet
reconstruction with measurement of the neutral energy component of jets. An
online reconstruction and trigger chain has been developed within the HLT
framework to sharpen the EMCal hardware triggers, by combining the central
barrel tracking information with the shower reconstruction (clusters) in the
calorimeter. In the present report the status and the functionality of the
software components developed for the EMCal HLT online reconstruction and
trigger chain will be discussed, as well as preliminary results from their
commissioning performed during the 2011 LHC running period.Comment: Proceeding for the CHEP 2012 Conferenc
VISIR-VLT high resolution study of the extended emission of four obscured post-AGB candidates
The onset of the asymmetry of planetary nebulae (PNe) is expected to occur
during the late Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) and early post-AGB phases of low-
and intermediate-mass stars. Among all post-AGB objects, the most heavily
obscured ones might have escaped the selection criteria of previous studies
detecting extreme axysimmetric structures in young PNe. Since the most heavily
obscured post-AGB sources can be expected to descend from the most massive PN
progenitors, these should exhibit clear asymmetric morphologies. We have
obtained VISIR-VLT mid-IR images of four heavily obscured post-AGB objects
barely resolved in previous Spitzer IRAC observations to analyze their
morphology and physical conditions across the mid-IR. The VISIR-VLT images have
been deconvolved, flux calibrated, and used to construct RGB composite pictures
as well as color and optical depth maps that allow us to study the morphology
and physical properties of the extended emission of these sources. We have
detected extended emission from the four objects in our sample and resolved it
into several structural components that are greatly enhanced in the temperature
and optical depth maps. They reveal the presence of asymmetry in three young
PNe (IRAS 15534-5422, IRAS 17009-4154, and IRAS 18454+0001), where the
asymmetries can be associated with dusty torii and slightly bipolar outflows.
The fourth source (IRAS 18229-1127), a possible post-AGB star, is better
described as a rhomboidal detached shell. The heavily obscured sources in our
sample do not show extreme axisymmetric morphologies. This is at odds with the
expectation of highly asymmetrical morphologies in post-AGB sources descending
from massive PN progenitors. The sources presented in this paper may be
sampling critical early phases in the evolution of massive PN progenitors,
before extreme asymmetries develop.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Educational cosmic ray experiments with Geiger counters
Experiments concerning the physics of cosmic rays offer to high-school teachers and students a relatively easy approach to the field of research in high energy physics. The detection of cosmic rays does not necessarily require the use of sophisticated equipment, and various properties of the cosmic radiation can be observed and analysed even by the use of a single Geiger counter. Nevertheless, the variety of such kind of experiments and the results obtained are limited because of the inclusive nature of these measurements. A significant improvement may be obtained when two or more Geiger counters are operated in coincidence. In this paper we discuss the potential of performing educational cosmic ray experiments with Geiger counters. In order to show also the educational value of coincidence techniques, preliminary results of cosmic ray experiments carried out by the use of a simple coincidence circuit are briefly discussed
CFD software applications for transcritical free surface flow
Flows in rivers, floodplains and coastal zones are very complex due to uneven bottom topography and irregular boundaries of the flow domain. In particular, when the flow shows strong gradients in water depth and velocity it is very difficult to predict, with accuracy, flow characteristics such as water profiles in all points of the domain. Traditional approaches solve shallow-water flow equations, known as Saint-Venant equations, when one or two dimension solutions can be adequate for obtaining most of the important flow characteristics. However, complex situations can require solving Navier-Stokes equations. In these cases, a two-phase flow problem must be solved and, as water profiles are not known in advance, only a numerical approach can be used to obtain approximate solutions. In addition, flow can be subcritical, supercritical or in a mixed-flow regime. These flow characteristics and complex geometries can make the use of in-house developed software difficult. The arrival of high performance computers and commercial software packages offers new possibilities in the field of numerical hydraulics. However, commercial software packages should be tested on some specific cases; so that these can be used with confidence. In this paper we solve, several cases of free surface flow that consider subcritical, supercritical, critical, oscillatory depth profiles and hydraulic jumps using a commercial package, CFX™. Most of these cases were proposed as benchmark solutions by MacDonald et al. (1997) for non-prismatic cross section, non-uniform bed slope and transition between subcritical and supercritical flow. Hydraulic jump cases consist of experimental data of hydraulics jumps obtained by Gharangik & Chaudhry (1991) for incident flow with Froude numbers of 2.3 and 4.23. In all simulated cases flow was described using a homogeneous model for each phase of the flow. Turbulence was modeled by using the well-known k-ε model. In addition, sensitivity to turbulence level in the entrance of flow domain was done to assure independence of results with this variable. Experimental facilities were properly represented in order to assure exact correspondence between boundary conditions of the model and the actual facility. Results obtained with CFX™ show excellent agreement with analytical solutions, for subcritical, supercritical, transitional and hydraulic jump cases. Special care with grid selection and entrance boundary condition is crucial to simulate with accuracy these types of flows. In particular, when a proper structured mesh is used, quality results are highly improved. Finally, results show to be insensitive to entrance turbulence condition
Experimental and theoretical cross sections for positron scattering from the pentane isomers
10 págs.; 8 figs.; 3 tabs.Isomerism is ubiquitous in chemistry, physics, and biology. In atomic and molecular physics, in particular, isomer effects are well known in electron-impact phenomena; however, very little is known for positron collisions. Here we report on a set of experimental and theoretical cross sections for low-energy positron scattering from the three structural isomers of pentane: normal-pentane, isopentane, and neopentane. Total cross sections for positron scattering from normal-pentane and isopentane were measured at the University of Trento at incident energies between 0.1 and 50 eV. Calculations of the total cross sections, integral cross sections for elastic scattering, positronium formation, and electronic excitations plus direct ionization, as well as elastic differential cross sections were computed for all three isomers between 1 and 1000 eV using the independent atom model with screening corrected additivity rule. No definitive evidence of a significant isomer effect in positron scattering from the pentane isomers appears to be present. ©2016 AIP Publishing LLCG.G. and F.B. would like to acknowledge
the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Productividad
(Project No. FIS2012-31230) and the European Science
Foundation (COST Action Grants Nos. MP1002–Nano-IBCT
and MC1301-CELINA) for financial support. Finally, L.C.
thanks the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for his
fellowship.Peer Reviewe
On supersymmetric Minkowski vacua in IIB orientifolds
Supersymmetric Minkowski vacua in IIB orientifold compactifications based on
orbifolds with background fluxes and non-perturbative superpotentials are
investigated. Especially, microscopic requirements and difficulties to obtain
such vacua are discussed. We show that orbifold models with one and two complex
structure moduli and supersymmetric 2-form flux can be successfully stabilized
to such vacua. By taking additional gaugino condensation on fixed space-time
filling D3-branes into account also models without complex structure can be
consistently stabilized to Minkowski vacua.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures; More detailed proof for absence of complex flat
directions in susy AdS vacua given; Footnotes and reference adde
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