2,071 research outputs found
Demonstration and Comparison of Operation of Photomultiplier Tubes at Liquid Argon Temperature
Liquified noble gases are widely used as a target in direct Dark Matter
searches. Signals from scintillation in the liquid, following energy deposition
from the recoil nuclei scattered by Dark Matter particles (e.g. WIMPs), should
be recorded down to very low energies by photosensors suitably designed to
operate at cryogenic temperatures. Liquid Argon based detectors for Dark Matter
searches currently implement photo multiplier tubes for signal read-out. In the
last few years PMTs with photocathodes operating down to liquid Argon
temperatures (87 K) have been specially developed with increasing Quantum
Efficiency characteristics. The most recent of these, Hamamatsu Photonics Mod.
R11065 with peak QE up to about 35%, has been extensively tested within the R&D
program of the WArP Collaboration. During these testes the Hamamatsu PMTs
showed superb performance and allowed obtaining a light yield around 7
phel/keVee in a Liquid Argon detector with a photocathodic coverage in the 12%
range, sufficient for detection of events down to few keVee of energy
deposition. This shows that this new type of PMT is suited for experimental
applications, in particular for new direct Dark Matter searches with LAr-based
experiments
Production of H and H with the (K,) reaction
The production of neutron rich -hypernuclei via the
(,) reaction has been studied using data collected with the
FINUDA spectrometer at the DANE -factory (LNF). The analysis of the
inclusive momentum spectra is presented and an upper limit for the
production of H and H from Li and Li, is
assessed for the first time.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in PL
A study of the proton spectra following the capture of in Li and C with FINUDA
Momenta spectra of protons emitted following the capture of in Li
and C have been measured with 1% resolution. The C spectrum is
smooth whereas for Li a well defined peak appears at about 500 MeV/. The
first observation of a structure in this region was identified as a strange
tribaryon or, possibly, a -nuclear state. The peak is correlated with a
coming from decay in flight, selected by setting momenta
larger than 275 MeV/. The could be produced, together with a 500
MeV/ proton, by the capture of a in a deuteron-cluster substructure of
the Li nucleus. The capture rate for such a reaction is (1.62\pm
0.23_{stat} ^{+0.71}_{-0.44}(sys))%/K^-_{stop}, in agreement with the existing
observations on He targets and with the hypothesis that the Li nucleus
can be interpreted as a cluster.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in NP
Gamma-Ray Localization of Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes
Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flashes (TGFs) are very short bursts of high energy
photons and electrons originating in Earth's atmosphere. We present here a
localization study of TGFs carried out at gamma-ray energies above 20 MeV based
on an innovative event selection method. We use the AGILE satellite Silicon
Tracker data that for the first time have been correlated with TGFs detected by
the AGILE Mini-Calorimeter. We detect 8 TGFs with gamma-ray photons of energies
above 20 MeV localized by the AGILE gamma-ray imager with an accuracy of 5-10
degrees at 50 MeV. Remarkably, all TGF-associated gamma rays are compatible
with a terrestrial production site closer to the sub-satellite point than 400
km. Considering that our gamma rays reach the AGILE satellite at 540 km
altitude with limited scattering or attenuation, our measurements provide the
first precise direct localization of TGFs from space.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, available at
http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v105/i12/e12850
Correlated pairs from the reaction
Correlated pairs emitted after the absorption of negative kaons
at rest in light nuclei and are
studied. -hyperons and deuterons are found to be preferentially
emitted in opposite directions. The invariant mass spectrum of
shows a bump whose mass is 32516 MeV/c. The bump mass (binding
energy), width and yield are reported. The appearance of a bump is discussed in
the realm of the [] clustering process in nuclei. The experiment was
performed with the FINUDA spectrometer at DANE (LNF).Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
Extradural Motor Cortex Stimulation might improve episodic and working memory in patients with Parkinson\u2019s disease
Electric Extradural Motor Cortex Stimulation (EMCS) is a neurosurgical procedure suggested for treatment of patients with advanced Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD). We report two PD patients treated by EMCS, who experienced worsening of motor symptoms and cognition 5 years after surgery, when EMCS batteries became discharged. One month after EMCS restoration, they experienced a subjective improvement of motor symptoms and cognition. Neuropsychological assessments were carried out before replacement of batteries (off-EMCS condition) and 6 months afterward (on-EMCS condition). As compared to off-EMCS condition, in on-EMCS condition both patients showed an improvement on tasks of verbal episodic memory and backward spatial short-term/working memory task, and a decline on tasks of selective visual attention and forward spatial short-term memory. These findings suggest that in PD patients EMCS may induce slight beneficial effects on motor symptoms and cognitive processes involved in verbal episodic memory and in active manipulation of information stored in working memory
Performance Of A Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Exposed To The WANF Neutrino Beam
We present the results of the first exposure of a Liquid Argon TPC to a
multi-GeV neutrino beam. The data have been collected with a 50 liters
ICARUS-like chamber located between the CHORUS and NOMAD experiments at the
CERN West Area Neutrino Facility (WANF). We discuss both the instrumental
performance of the detector and its capability to identify and reconstruct low
multiplicity neutrino interactions.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Submitted for publication to Physical Review
Detection of Gamma-Ray Emission from the Vela Pulsar Wind Nebula with AGILE
Pulsars are known to power winds of relativistic particles that can produce
bright nebulae by interacting with the surrounding medium. These pulsar wind
nebulae (PWNe) are observed in the radio, optical, x-rays and, in some cases,
also at TeV energies, but the lack of information in the gamma-ray band
prevents from drawing a comprehensive multiwavelength picture of their
phenomenology and emission mechanisms. Using data from the AGILE satellite, we
detected the Vela pulsar wind nebula in the energy range from 100 MeV to 3 GeV.
This result constrains the particle population responsible for the GeV
emission, probing multivavelength PWN models, and establishes a class of
gamma-ray emitters that could account for a fraction of the unidentified
Galactic gamma-ray sources.Comment: Accepted by Science; first published online on December 31, 2009 in
Science Express. Science article and Supporting Online Material are available
at http://www.sciencemag.or
Direct Evidence for Hadronic Cosmic-Ray Acceleration in the Supernova Renmant IC 443
The Supernova Remnant (SNR) IC 443 is an intermediate-age remnant well known
for its radio, optical, X-ray and gamma-ray energy emissions. In this Letter we
study the gamma-ray emission above 100 MeV from IC 443 as obtained by the AGILE
satellite. A distinct pattern of diffuse emission in the energy range 100 MeV-3
GeV is detected across the SNR with its prominent maximum (source "A")
localized in the Northeastern shell with a flux F = (47 \pm 10) 10^{-8} photons
cm^{-2} s^{-1} above 100 MeV. This location is the site of the strongest shock
interaction between the SNR blast wave and the dense circumstellar medium.
Source "A" is not coincident with the TeV source located 0.4 degree away and
associated with a dense molecular cloud complex in the SNR central region. From
our observations, and from the lack of detectable diffuse TeV emission from its
Northeastern rim, we demonstrate that electrons cannot be the main emitters of
gamma-rays in the range 0.1-10 GeV at the site of the strongest SNR shock. The
intensity, spectral characteristics, and location of the most prominent
gamma-ray emission together with the absence of co-spatial detectable TeV
emission are consistent only with a hadronic model of cosmic-ray acceleration
in the SNR. A high-density molecular cloud (cloud "E") provides a remarkable
"target" for nucleonic interactions of accelerated hadrons: our results show
enhanced gamma-ray production near the molecular cloud/shocked shell
interaction site. IC 443 provides the first unambiguous evidence of cosmic-ray
acceleration by SNRs.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; accepted by ApJLetters on Jan 21, 201
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