342 research outputs found
Automation of cellular therapy product manufacturing: results of a split validation comparing CD34 selection of peripheral blood stem cell apheresis product with a semi-manual vs. an automatic procedure
Latest results and prospects of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope
Çetin, Serkant Ali (Dogus Author) -- Ezer, C. (Dogus Author) -- Yıldız, Süleyman Cenk (Dogus Author)The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) experiment searches for axions from the Sun converted into few keV photons via the inverse Primakoff effect in the high magnetic field of a superconducting Large Hadron Collider (LHC) decommissioned test magnet. After results obtained with vacuum in the magnet pipes (phase I of the experiment) as well as with 4He the collaboration is now immersed in the data taking with 3He, to be finished in 2011. The status of the experiment will be presented, including a preliminary exclusion plot of the first 3He data. CAST is currently sensitive to realistic QCD axion models at the sub-eV scale, and with axion-photon couplings down to the ∼ 2 × 10-10 GeV -1, compatible with solar life limits. Future plans include revisiting vaccuum and 4He configurations with improved sensitivity, as well as possible additional search for non-standard signals from chamaleons, paraphotons or other WISPs. For the longer term, we study the feasibility of an altogether improved version of the axion helioscope concept, with a jump in sensitivity of about one order of magnitude in gaγ beyond CAST
CAST: Recent results & future outlook
Çetin, Serkant Ali (Dogus Author) -- Ezer, Cemile (Dogus Author) -- Yıldız, Süleyman Cenk (Dogus Author) -- Conference full title: 6th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, PATRAS 2010; Zurich; Switzerland; 5 July 2010 through 9 July 2010.The CAST (CERN Axion Solar Telescope) experiment is searching for solar axions by their conversion into photons inside the magnet pipes of an LHC dipole. The analysis of data taken so far has shown no signal above the background, thus implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling of ga < 0.85 × 10-10GeV -1 at 95% CL for ma < 0.02 eV/c2. Ongoing measurements, with the magnet bores filled with a buffer gas (3He), are improving the sensitivity of the experiment for higher axion masses towards 1 eV/c2. Recent results, new ideas for Axion-Like Particle (WISPs) searches with CAST in the near future and the prospects of a new generation Helioscope are presented here
The SWIFT Gamma-Ray Burst X-Ray Telescope
The Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer is designed to make prompt multi-wavelength observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts and GRB afterglows. The X-ray Telescope enables Swift to determine GRB positions with a few arcseconds accuracy within 100 seconds of the burst onset. The XRT utilizes a mirror set built for JET-X and an XMM-Newton/ EPIC MOS CCD detector to provide a sensitive broad-band (0.2-10 keV) X-ray imager with an effective area of more than 120 sq cm at 1.5 keV, a field of view of 23.6 x 23.6 arcminutes, and an angular resolution of 18 arcseconds (HPD). The detection sensitivity is 2x10(exp 14) erg/sq cm/s in 10(exp 4) seconds. The instrument provides automated source detection and position reporting within 5 seconds of target acquisition. It can also measure the redshifts of GRBs with Iron line emission or other spectral features. The XRT operates in an auto-exposure mode, adjusting the CCD readout mode automatically to optimize the science return as the source intensity fades. The XRT measures spectra and lightcurves of the GRB afterglow beginning about a minute after the burst and follows each burst for days or weeks. We provide an overview of the X-ray Telescope scientific background from which the systems engineering requirements were derived, with specific emphasis on the design and qualification aspects from conception through to launch. We describe the impact on cleanliness and vacuum requirements for the instrument low energy response and to maintain the high sensitivity to the fading signal of the Gamma-ray Bursts
Final performances of the X-ray Mirrors of the JET-X telescope
The Joint European Telesscope (JET-X) is one of the core scientific
instruments of the SPECTRUM-X-Gamma mission. JET-X was designed to study X-ray
emissions in the band 0.3-10 KeV. Its angular resolution is better than 20
arcsec; the values of the effective areas are 161 cm2 at 1.5 KeV and 69 cm2 at
8 Kev (for one telescope). The value of the HEW circle in function of the
off-axis angle is presented; it is found to be below 20 arcsec at 1.5 Kev and
around 23 arcsec at 8 KeV up to an off-axis angle of 12 arcmin.Comment: 2 pages, 1 ps figure. To be published in the Proceedings of the IAU
Symposium 188 THE HOT UNIVERSE, held in Kyoto (August 26-30, 1997) in
occasion of the XXIII IAU General Assembl
CAST constraints on the axion-electron coupling
In non-hadronic axion models, which have a tree-level axion-electron
interaction, the Sun produces a strong axion flux by bremsstrahlung, Compton
scattering, and axio-recombination, the "BCA processes." Based on a new
calculation of this flux, including for the first time axio-recombination, we
derive limits on the axion-electron Yukawa coupling g_ae and axion-photon
interaction strength g_ag using the CAST phase-I data (vacuum phase). For m_a <
10 meV/c2 we find g_ag x g_ae< 8.1 x 10^-23 GeV^-1 at 95% CL. We stress that a
next-generation axion helioscope such as the proposed IAXO could push this
sensitivity into a range beyond stellar energy-loss limits and test the
hypothesis that white-dwarf cooling is dominated by axion emission
CAST solar axion search with 3^He buffer gas: Closing the hot dark matter gap
The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) has finished its search for solar
axions with 3^He buffer gas, covering the search range 0.64 eV < m_a <1.17 eV.
This closes the gap to the cosmological hot dark matter limit and actually
overlaps with it. From the absence of excess X-rays when the magnet was
pointing to the Sun we set a typical upper limit on the axion-photon coupling
of g_ag < 3.3 x 10^{-10} GeV^{-1} at 95% CL, with the exact value depending on
the pressure setting. Future direct solar axion searches will focus on
increasing the sensitivity to smaller values of g_a, for example by the
currently discussed next generation helioscope IAXO.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Last version uploade
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