Detection of K+ mesons in segmented electromagnetic calorimeters

The combination of the CrystalBall and TAPS electromagnetic calorimeters were installed in the MAMI A2 hall in 2003. Here they are able to detect the reaction products from photo-induced reactions in combination with the Glasgow photon tagger. In the last two years the MAMI facility was upgraded from 885 MeV to 1.5 GeV, the A2 photon tagger underwent a similar upgrade crossing the threshold for strangeness photoproduction. For the CrystalBall this created a new challenge, to identify K+ mesons above the large background from other charged hadrons, in a situation where the detector setup does not benefit from a magnetic field to help separate particle species. These proceedings outline a novel technique which uses the decay products of the K+ as a strangeness tag

Mechanical probing of liquid foam aging

We present experimental results on the Stokes experiment performed in a 3D dry liquid foam. The system is used as a rheometric tool : from the force exerted on a 1cm glass bead, plunged at controlled velocity in the foam in a quasi static regime, local foam properties are probed around the sphere. With this original and simple technique, we show the possibility of measuring the foam shear modulus, the gravity drainage rate and the evolution of the bubble size during coarsening

Viscous instabilities in flowing foams: A Cellular Potts Model approach

The Cellular Potts Model (CPM) succesfully simulates drainage and shear in foams. Here we use the CPM to investigate instabilities due to the flow of a single large bubble in a dry, monodisperse two-dimensional flowing foam. As in experiments in a Hele-Shaw cell, above a threshold velocity the large bubble moves faster than the mean flow. Our simulations reproduce analytical and experimental predictions for the velocity threshold and the relative velocity of the large bubble, demonstrating the utility of the CPM in foam rheology studies.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with revised version accepted for publication in JSTA

Kaon Photoproduction and the Λ\Lambda Decay Parameter α−\alpha_-

The weak decay parameter $\alpha_-$ of the $\Lambda$ is an important quantity for the extraction of polarization observables in various experiments. Moreover, in combination with $\alpha_+$ from $\bar\Lambda$ decay it provides a measure for matter-antimatter asymmetry. The weak decay parameter also affects the decay parameters of the $\Xi$ and $\Omega$ baryons and, in general, any quantity in which the polarization of the $\Lambda$ is relevant. The recently reported value by the BESIII collaboration of $0.750(9)(4)$ is significantly larger than the previous PDG value of $0.642(13)$ that had been accepted and used for over 40 years. In this work we make an independent estimate of $\alpha_-$, using an extensive set of polarization data measured in kaon photoproduction in the baryon resonance region and constraints set by spin algebra. The obtained value is 0.721(6)(5). The result is corroborated by multiple statistical tests as well as a modern phenomenological model, showing that our new value yields the best description of the data in question. Our analysis supports the new BESIII finding that $\alpha_-$ is significantly larger than the previous PDG value. Any experimental quantity relying on the value of $\alpha_-$ should therefore be re-considered.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure

A new measurement of the neutron detection efficiency for the NaI Crystal Ball detector

We report on a measurement of the neutron detection efficiency in NaI crystals in the Crystal Ball detector obtained from a study of single p0 photoproduction on deuterium using the tagged photon beam at the Mainz Microtron. The results were obtained up to a neutron energy of 400 MeV. They are compared to previous measurements made more than 15 years ago at the pion beam at the BNL AGS

Coarsening in the q-State Potts Model and the Ising Model with Globally Conserved Magnetization

We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of the $q$-state Potts model following a quench from the high temperature disordered phase to zero temperature. The time dependent two-point correlation functions of the order parameter field satisfy dynamic scaling with a length scale $L(t)\sim t^{1/2}$. In particular, the autocorrelation function decays as $L(t)^{-\lambda(q)}$. We illustrate these properties by solving exactly the kinetic Potts model in $d=1$. We then analyze a Langevin equation of an appropriate field theory to compute these correlation functions for general $q$ and $d$. We establish a correspondence between the two-point correlations of the $q$-state Potts model and those of a kinetic Ising model evolving with a fixed magnetization $(2/q-1)$. The dynamics of this Ising model is solved exactly in the large q limit, and in the limit of a large number of components $n$ for the order parameter. For general $q$ and in any dimension, we introduce a Gaussian closure approximation and calculate within this approximation the scaling functions and the exponent $\lambda (q)$. These are in good agreement with the direct numerical simulations of the Potts model as well as the kinetic Ising model with fixed magnetization. We also discuss the existing and possible experimental realizations of these models.Comment: TeX, Vanilla.sty is needed. [Admin note: author contacted regarding missing figure1 but is unable to supply, see journal version (Nov99)

T and F asymmetries in π0 photoproduction on the proton

The γp→π0p reaction was studied at laboratory photon energies from 425 to 1445 MeV with a transversely polarized target and a longitudinally polarized beam. The beam-target asymmetry F was measured for the first time and new high precision data for the target asymmetry T were obtained. The experiment was performed at the photon tagging facility of the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) using the Crystal Ball and TAPS photon spectrometers. The polarized cross sections were expanded in terms of associated Legendre functions and compared to recent predictions from several partial-wave analyses. The impact of the new data on our understanding of the underlying partial-wave amplitudes and baryon resonance contributions is discussed

Measurements of 12C(→γ,pp) photon asymmetries for Eγ= 200–450 MeV

The 12C (→γ ,pp) reaction has been studied in the photon energy range 200-450 MeV at the Mainz microtron MAMI-C, where linearly polarised photons were energy-tagged using the Glasgow-Mainz Tagged Photon Spectrometer and protons were detected in the Crystal Ball detector. The photon asymmetry Σ has been measured over a wider Eγ range than previous measurements. The strongest asymmetries were found at low missing energies where direct emission of nucleon pairs is expected. Cuts on the difference in azimuthal angles of the two ejected protons increased the magnitude of the observed asymmetries. At low missing energies the Σ data exhibit a strong angular dependence, similar to deuteron photodisintegration

Anisotropic Coarsening: Grain Shapes and Nonuniversal Persistence

We solve a coarsening system with small but arbitrary anisotropic surface tension and interface mobility. The resulting size-dependent growth shapes are significantly different from equilibrium microcrystallites, and have a distribution of grain sizes different from isotropic theories. As an application of our results, we show that the persistence decay exponent depends on anisotropy and hence is nonuniversal.Comment: 4 pages (revtex), 2 eps figure

Measurement of the transverse target and beam-target asymmetries in η\eta meson photoproduction at MAMI

We present new data for the transverse target asymmetry T and the very first data for the beam-target asymmetry F in the $\vec \gamma \vec p\to\eta p$ reaction up to a center-of-mass energy of W=1.9 GeV. The data were obtained with the Crystal-Ball/TAPS detector setup at the Glasgow tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron MAMI. All existing model predictions fail to reproduce the new data indicating a significant impact on our understanding of the underlying dynamics of $\eta$ meson photoproduction. The peculiar nodal structure observed in existing T data close to threshold is not confirmed.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in PR