Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bb pair in events with one charged lepton and large missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set

We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson in sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV p-pbar collision data collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb-1. In events consistent with the decay of the Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair and the W boson to an electron or muon and a neutrino, we set 95% credibility level upper limits on the WH production cross section times the H->bb branching ratio as a function of Higgs boson mass. At a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV/c2 we observe (expect) a limit of 4.9 (2.8) times the standard model value.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett (v2 contains clarifications suggested by PRL

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bbˉb\bar{b} pair in events with no charged leptons and large missing transverse energy using the full CDF data set

We report on a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson in the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 1.96$ TeV recorded by the CDF II detector at the Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45 fb$^{-1}$. We consider events having no identified charged lepton, a transverse energy imbalance, and two or three jets, of which at least one is consistent with originating from the decay of a $b$ quark. We place 95% credibility level upper limits on the production cross section times standard model branching fraction for several mass hypotheses between 90 and $150 \mathrm{GeV}/c^2$. For a Higgs boson mass of $125 \mathrm{GeV}/c^2$, the observed (expected) limit is 6.7 (3.6) times the standard model prediction.Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying to a bb pair in events with two oppositely-charged leptons using the full CDF data set

We present a search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a Z boson in data collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9.45/fb. In events consistent with the decay of the Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair and the Z boson to electron or muon pairs, we set 95% credibility level upper limits on the ZH production cross section times the H -> bb branching ratio as a function of Higgs boson mass. At a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV/c^2 we observe (expect) a limit of 7.1 (3.9) times the standard model value.Comment: To be submitted to Phys. Rev. Let

Measurement of the difference of CP-violating asymmetries in D0 -> K+K- and D0 ->pi+pi- decays at CDF

We report a measurement of the difference (Delta Acp) between time-integrated CP--violating asymmetries in D0-> K+ K- and D0-> pi+pi- decays reconstructed in the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab, corresponding to 9.7 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. The strong decay D*+->D0 pi+ is used to identify the charm meson at production as D0 or anti-D0. We measure Delta Acp = [-0.62 +- 0.21 (stat) +- 0.10 (syst)] %, which differs from zero by 2.7 Gaussian standard deviations.This result supports similar evidence for CP violation in charm-quark decays obtained in proton-proton collisions.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 111801 (2012

Air contamination measurements for the evaluation of internal dose to workers in nuclear medicine departments

Radionuclides handled in nuclear medicine departments are often characterized by high volatility and short half-life. It is generally difficult to monitor directly the intake of these short-lived radionuclides in hospital staff: this makes measuring air contamination of utmost interest. The aim of the present work is to provide a method for the evaluation of internal doses to workers in nuclear medicine, by means of an air activity sampling detector, to ensure that the limits prescribed by the relevant legislation are respected. A continuous air sampling system measures isotope concentration with a Nal(TI) detector. Energy efficiency of the system was assessed with GEANT4 and with known activities of 18F. Air is sampled in a number of areas of the nuclear medicine department of the IRSTIRCCS hospital (Meldola- Italy). To evaluate committed doses to hospital staff involved (doctors, technicians, nurses) different exposure situations (rooms, times, radionuclides etc) were considered. After estimating the intake, the committed effective dose has been evaluated, for the different radionuclides, using the dose coefficients mandated by the Italian legislation. Error propagation for the estimated intake and personal dose has been evaluated, starting from measurement statistics

The use of industrial Computed Tomography in the study of archaeological finds

The successful use of Computed Tomography (CT) as an efficient and powerful non-destructive tool for the study of archaeological artifacts has been reported by several authors [1-4]. The 3D reconstruction of the ob-jects enables the archeologists to carry out archeological analysis. Information about manufacturing and as-sembly techniques as well as information useful for dating artifacts or choosing appropriate maintenance and restoration procedures can be obtained with this technique [5]. Most of the studies of archeological artifacts reported in literature are carried out by using medical CT [6-8], whereas investigations performed with in-dustrial CT systems are rather limited. Our work illustrates the results obtained with a high resolution CT system for industrial applications developed in our laboratories. The CT system is equipped with a 450 kV X-ray tube and an area detector of 40 x 30 cm2 consisting of a scintillator screen, a mirror and a CCD cam-era. The advantage of our system compared to medical CT is the higher penetration capability that allows in-vestigating high density objects. The system provides isotropic spatial resolution and fast data acquisition thanks to the cone-beam geometry. In this study we have focused on the demonstration of the capability of extracting and analyzing an item from a cluster. To this aim we have investigated a ceramic vase with diame-ter of 20 cm filled with ancient coins

X-ray 3D Computed Tomography of large objects: investigation of an ancient globe created by Vincenzo Coronelli

X-ray cone-beam Computed Tomography is a powerful tool for the non-destructive investigation of the inner structure of works of art. With regards to Cultural Heritage conservation, different kind of objects have to be inspected in order to acquire significant information such as the manufacturing technique or the presence of defects and damages. The knowledge of these features is very useful for determining adequate maintenance and restoration procedures. The use of medical CT scanners gives good results only when the investigated objects have size and density similar to those of the human body, however this requirement is not always fulfilled in Cultural Heritage diagnostics. For this reason a system for Digital Radiography and Computed Tomography of large objects, especially works of art, has been recently developed by researchers of the Physics Department of the University of Bologna. The design of the system is very different from any commercial available CT machine. The system consists of a 200 kVp X-ray source, a detector and a motorized mechanical structure for moving the detector and the object in order to collect the required number of radiographic projections. The detector is made up of a 450x450 mm2 structured CsI(Tl) scintillating screen, optically coupled to a CCD camera (Apogee Alta U32), by means of a lens and a 45o degree mirror. In this paper we will present the results of the tomographic investigation recently performed on a celestial globe, measuring 113 cm in diameter, created by the famous cosmographer, cartographer and encyclopedist Vincenzo Coronelli

A transportable computed tomography system for in situ investigation of art objects

A transportable Computed Tomography system for in situ investigations of different kinds of art objects has been developed by our research group at the Physics Department of the University of Bologna. This system has been recently used to perform CT investigations on several works of art under restoration at Opificio delle Pietre Dure in Florence. We will present the results concerning two paintings on wood of very different size: the famous \u201cMadonna del Cardellino\u201d by Raffaello and the \u201cPortrait of Lionello d\u2019Este\u201d by Pisanello