The Certification of ATLAS Thin Gap Chambers Produced in Israel and China

Thin gap chambers (TGCs) are used for the muon trigger system in the forward region of the LHC experiment ATLAS. A TGC consists of a plane of closely spaced wires maintained at positive high voltage, sandwiched between resistive grounded cathode planes with an anode wire to cathode plane gap distance smaller than the wire-to-wire spacing. The TGCs are expected to provide a trigger signal within 25 ns of the bunch spacing of the LHC accelerator, with an efficiency exceeding 95%, while exposed to an effective photon and neutron background ranging from 30 to 500 Hz/cm2. About 2,500 out of the 3,600 ATLAS TGCs are being produced at the Weizmann institute in Israel, and in Shandong University in China. Once installed in the ATLAS detector the TGCs will be inaccessible. A vigorous production quality control program is therefore implemented at the production sites. Furthermore, after chamber completion, a thorough program of quality assurance is implemented to ensure the efficient performance of the chambers during more than ten years of operation in the LHC high rate environment. This program consists of a detailed mapping of the detectors response using cosmic rays, as well as checking the chambers behavior using a high rate radiation source. An aging test performed on five chambers in a serial gas connection is presented. Finally the results of the chambers certification tests performed at CERN before the installation in ATLAS are described.Comment: Presented at 2004 IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium 2004, Rome, Oct 200

Constraints on the electron-hole pair creation energy and Fano factor below 150 eV from Compton scattering in a Skipper-CCD

Fully-depleted thick silicon Skipper-charge-coupled devices (Skipper-CCDs) are an important technology to probe neutrino and light-dark-matter interactions due to their sub-electron read-out noise. However, the successful search for rare neutrino or dark-matter events requires the signal and all backgrounds to be fully characterized. In particular, a measurement of the electron-hole pair creation energy below 150 eV and the Fano factor are necessary for characterizing the dark matter and neutrino signals. Moreover, photons from background radiation may Compton scatter in the silicon bulk, producing events that can mimic a dark matter or neutrino signal. We present a measurement of the Compton spectrum using a Skipper-CCD and a $^{241}$Am source. With these data, we estimate the electron-hole pair-creation energy to be $\left(3.71 \pm 0.08\right)$ eV at 130 K in the energy range between 99.3 eV and 150 eV. By measuring the widths of the steps at 99.3 eV and 150 eV in the Compton spectrum, we introduce a novel technique to measure the Fano factor, setting an upper limit of 0.31 at 90% C.L. These results prove the potential of Skipper-CCDs to characterize the Compton spectrum and to measure precisely the Fano factor and electron-hole pair creation energy below 150 eV

Testing cross-lagged relationships between work-related rumination and well-being at work in a three-wave longitudinal study across 1 and 2 years

The aim of this three‐wave longitudinal study conducted among 664 Finnish employees was to examine the cross‐lagged relationships between various work‐related ruminative thoughts (affective rumination, problem‐solving pondering, lack of detachment from work) during off‐job time and employee well‐being (exhaustion, vigour). We tested normal, reversed, and reciprocal temporal relationships across 1 and 2 years using structural equation modelling. The analyses lent most support to the reversed temporal relationships, showing first that high exhaustion predicted low problem‐solving pondering 2 years later and second, that high vigour predicted low affective rumination both 1 and 2 years later. In addition, a normal temporal relationship was supported in one model, indicating that high affective rumination predicted high exhaustion 1 year later. Thus, our study suggests that affective ruminative thoughts, in particular, play a negative role in cross‐lagged relationships. On the basis of our results, occupational health interventions intended to reduce both affective work‐related rumination and exhaustion and to increase vigour at work are desirable.peerReviewe

An Algebraic Approach for Decoding Spread Codes

In this paper we study spread codes: a family of constant-dimension codes for random linear network coding. In other words, the codewords are full-rank matrices of size (k x n) with entries in a finite field F_q. Spread codes are a family of optimal codes with maximal minimum distance. We give a minimum-distance decoding algorithm which requires O((n-k)k^3) operations over an extension field F_{q^k}. Our algorithm is more efficient than the previous ones in the literature, when the dimension k of the codewords is small with respect to n. The decoding algorithm takes advantage of the algebraic structure of the code, and it uses original results on minors of a matrix and on the factorization of polynomials over finite fields

Performative Work: Bridging Performativity and Institutional Theory in the Responsible Investment Field

Callon’s performativity thesis has illuminated how economic theories and calculative devices shape markets, but has been challenged for its neglect of the organizational, institutional and political context. Our seven-year qualitative study of a large financial data company found that the company’s initial attempt to change the responsible investment field through a performative approach failed because of the constraints posed by field practices and organizational norms on the design of the calculative device. However, the company was subsequently able to put in place another form of performativity by attending to the normative and regulative associations of the device. We theorize this route to performativity by proposing the concept of performative work, which designates the necessary institutional work to enable translation and the subsequent adoption of the device. We conclude by considering the implications of performative work for the performativity and the institutional work literatures

Measurement of the charm structure function F_{2,c)^{γ} of the photon at LEP

The production of charm quarks is studied in deep-inelastic electron–photon scattering using data recorded by the OPAL detector at LEP at nominal e⁺e⁻ centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. The charm quarks have been identified by full reconstruction of charged D* mesons using their decays into D⁰π with the D⁰ observed in two decay modes with charged particle final states, Kπ and Kπππ. The cross-section σ^{D*} for production of charged D* in the reaction e⁺e⁻→e⁺e⁻D*Χ is measured in a restricted kinematical region using two bins in Bjorken x, 0.00140.1 the perturbative QCD calculation at next-to-leading order agrees perfectly with the measured cross-section. For x<0.1 the measured cross-section is 43.8±14.3±6.3±2.8 pb with a next-to-leading order prediction of 17.0⁺²·⁹_₂.₃ pb

Measurement of the hadronic photon structure function F_{2}^{γ} at LEP2

The hadronic structure function of the photon F_{2}^{γ} (x, Q²) is measured as a function of Bjorken x and of the photon virtuality Q² using deep-inelastic scattering data taken by the OPAL detector at LEP at e⁺e⁻ centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. Previous OPAL measurements of the x dependence of F_{2}^{γ} are extended to an average Q² of 〈Q²〉=780 GeV² using data in the kinematic range 0.15<x<0.98. The Q² evolution of F_{2}^{γ} is studied for 12.1<〈Q²〉<780 GeV² using three ranges of x. As predicted by QCD, the data show positive scaling violations in F_{2}^{γ} with F_{2}^{γ} (Q²)/α = (0.08±0.02⁺⁰·⁰⁵_₀.₀₃) + (0.13±0.01⁺⁰·⁰¹_₀.₀₁) lnQ², where Q² is in GeV², for the central x region 0.10–0.60. Several parameterisations of F_{2}^{γ} are in qualitative agreement with the measurements whereas the quark-parton model prediction fails to describe the data

The Cosmic Ray Hodoscopes for Testing Thin Gap Chambers at the Technion and Tel Aviv University

Thin gap chambers (TGCs) are built for the muon trigger chambers in the endcap region of the LHC experiment ATLAS. More than 2500 ATLAS TGCs are being produced at the Weizmann institute in Israel, and in Shandong University in China. Detailed testing of these chambers is performed at the Technion and at the Tel-Aviv University. Two cosmic ray hodoscopes for testing the operation of these detectors were built in Israel. In these hodoscopes the response of the chambers to energetic cosmic ray muons is recorded and analyzed. The hodoscopes measure the exact time and space location of the cosmic ray hit and read out the chambers which are being tested to verify that they produce a corresponding signal within the required time interval. The cosmic ray hodoscopes built at the Technion and at the Tel Aviv University for the test of ATLAS TGCs are described. The mechanical structure, readout electronics, data acquisition and operating scheme are presented. Typical TGC test results are presented and discussed