Feasibility of ortho-positronium lifetime studies with the J-PET detector in context of mirror matter models

We discuss the possibility to perform the experimental searches of invisible decays in the ortho-positronium system with the J-PET detectorComment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Encounters with di-baryons - from the ABC effect to a new resonance?

The ABC effect, an intriguing low-mass enhancement in the $\pi\pi$ invariant mass spectrum, is known from inclusive measurements of two-pion production in nuclear fusion reactions to the few-body systems d, $^{3}$He and $^{4}$He. It was first observed 1960 by Abashian, Booth and Crowe in the inclusive pd $\to$ $^{3}$He X reaction. Its explanation has been a puzzle since then. In an effort to solve this long-standing problem by exclusive and kinematically complete high-statistics experiments, we have measured the fusion reactions to d, $^{3}$He and $^{4}$He with WASA-at-COSY. These measurements cover the full energy region, where the ABC effect has been observed previously in inclusive reactions. In a recent kinematically complete measurement of the $pn \to d\pi ^{0}\pi ^{0}$ reaction we have shown that the ABC effect in this basic double-pionic fusion reaction is correlated with a narrow structure in the total cross section with quantum numbers I(J$^{P}$) = 0(3$^{+}$), a mass of 2.37 GeV and a width of about 70 MeV. The mass is about 90 MeV below 2 times the mass of $\Delta$, the mass of a $\Delta\Delta$ system, and the width is three times narrower than expected from a conventional t-channel $\Delta\Delta$ process. In the double-pionic fusion reaction to the helium isotope $dd \to ^{4}$He$\pi ^{0}\pi ^{0}$ again the ABC effect is observed to be correlated with the appearance of a resonance-like structure in the total cross section at the same excess energy. From a previous exclusive experiment at CELSIUS-WASA it is known that the double-pionic fusion to $^{3}$He also exhibits a pronunced ABC effect. New data from COSY on the $pd \to ^{3}$He$\pi ^{0}\pi ^{0}$ reaction scanning the full ABC region are presented as well as the status of measurements in other reaction channels, where the new resonance might contribute

First measurement of the K−n →Λπ−non-resonant transition amplitude below threshold

We present the analysis of K−absorption processes on He4 leading to Λπ−final states, measured with the KLOE spectrometer at the DAΦNE e+e−collider and extract, for the first time, the modulus of the non-resonant K−n →Λπ−direct production amplitude about 33 MeV below the K‾N threshold. This analysis also allows to disentangle the K−nuclear absorption at-rest from the in-flight capture, for K−momenta of about 120 MeV. The data are interpreted with the help of a phenomenological model, and the modulus of the non-resonant K−n →Λπ−amplitude for K−absorption at-rest is found to be |AK−n→Λπ−|=(0.334±0.018stat−0.058+0.034syst)fm

Rosiglitazone Rescues Memory Impairment in Alzheimer's Transgenic Mice: Mechanisms Involving a Reduced Amyloid and Tau Pathology

Clinical studies suggest that agonists at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) may exert beneficial effects in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the mechanism for the potential therapeutic interest of this class of drugs has not yet been elucidated. Here, in mice overexpressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein, we found that chronic treatment with rosiglitazone, a high-affinity agonist at PPARγ, facilitated β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) clearance. Rosiglitazone not only reduced Aβ burden in the brain but, importantly, almost completely removed the abundant amyloid plaques observed in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex of 13-month-old transgenic mice. In the hippocampus, neuropil threads containing phosphorylated tau, probably corresponding to dystrophic neurites, were also decreased by the drug. Rosiglitazone switched on the activated microglial phenotype, promoting its phagocytic ability, reducing the expression of proinflammatory markers and inducing factors for alternative differentiation. The decreased amyloid pathology may account for the reduction of p-tau-containing neuropil threads and for the rescue of impaired recognition and spatial memory in the transgenic mice. This study provides further insights into the mechanisms for the beneficial effect of rosiglitazone in AD patients

On the K - Absorptions in Light Nuclei by AMADEUS

The aim of the AMADEUS collaboration is to provide experimental information on the low-energy strong interaction of antikaons with nucleons, exploiting the absorptions of low momentum K - mesons (pK∼ 127 MeV/c) produced at the DA Φ NE collider, in the materials composing the KLOE detector setup, used as an active target. The K - single and multi-nucleon absorptions in light nuclei (4He and 12C) are investigated by reconstructing hyperon–pion, hyperon–nucleon/nucleus pairs, emitted in the final state of the reactions. In this paper the results obtained from the study of Λ π-, Λ p and Λ t correlated production are presented

An Enduring Rapidly Moving Storm as a Guide to Saturn's Equatorial Jet's Complex Structure

Saturn has an intense and broad eastward equatorial jet with a complex three-dimensional structure mixed with time variability. The equatorial region experiences strong seasonal insolation variations enhanced by ring shadowing and three of the six known giant planetary-scale storms have developed in it. These factors make Saturn's equator a natural laboratory to test models of jets in giant planets. Here we report on a bright equatorial atmospheric feature imaged in 2015 that moved steadily at a high speed of 450 ms-1 not measured since 1980-81 with other equatorial clouds moving within an ample range of velocities. Radiative transfer models show that these motions occur at three altitude levels within the upper haze and clouds. We find that the peak of the jet (latitudes 10\degree N to 10\degree S) suffers intense vertical shears reaching +2.5 ms-1 km-1, two orders of magnitude higher than meridional shears, and temporal variability above 1 bar altitude level

Search for dark Higgsstrahlung in e+ e- -> mu+ mu- and missing energy events with the KLOE experiment

We searched for evidence of a Higgsstrahlung process in a secluded sector, leading to a final state with a dark photon U and a dark Higgs boson h', with the KLOE detector at DAFNE. We investigated the case of h' lighter than U, with U decaying into a muon pair and h' producing a missing energy signature. We found no evidence of the process and set upper limits to its parameters in the range 2m_mu<m_U<1000 MeV, m_h'<m_U.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physics Letters

Limit on the production of a new vector boson in e+e−→Uγ\mathrm{e^+ e^-}\rightarrow {\rm U}\gamma, U→π+π−\rightarrow \pi^+\pi^- with the KLOE experiment

The recent interest in a light gauge boson in the framework of an extra U(1) symmetry motivates searches in the mass range below 1 GeV. We present a search for such a particle, the dark photon, in ${\rm e^+ e^-}\rightarrow {\rm U}\gamma$, U$\rightarrow \pi^+\pi^-$ based on 28 million $\mathrm{e^+ e^-} \rightarrow \pi^+ \pi^-\gamma$ events collected at DA$\Phi$NE by the KLOE experiment. The $\pi^+ \pi^-$ production by initial-state radiation compensates for a loss of sensitivity of previous KLOE ${\rm U} \rightarrow \mathrm{e^+ e^-}$, $\mu^+\mu^-$ searches due to the small branching ratios in the $\rho-\omega$ resonance region. We found no evidence for a signal and set a limit at 90\% CL on the mixing strength between the photon and the dark photon, $\varepsilon^2$, in the U mass range between $527$ and $987$~MeV. Above 700 MeV this new limit is more stringent than previous ones.Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, submitted to Phys. Lett.

Measurement of the ϕ→π0e+e−\phi \to \pi^0 e^+e^- transition form factor with the KLOE detector

A measurement of the vector to pseudoscalar conversion decay $\phi \to \pi^0 e^+e^-$ with the KLOE experiment is presented. A sample of $\sim 9500$ signal events was selected from a data set of 1.7 fb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} \sim m_{\phi}$ collected at the DA$\Phi$NE $e^+e^-$ collider. These events were used to obtain the first measurement of the transition form factor $| F_{\phi \pi^0}(q^2) |$ and a new measurement of the branching ratio of the decay: $\rm{BR}\,(\phi \to \pi^0 e^+e^-) = (\,1.35 \pm 0.05^{\,\,+0.05}_{\,\,-0.10}\,) \times 10 ^{-5}$. The result improves significantly on previous measurements and is in agreement with theoretical predictions.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures; matches published versio