428 research outputs found
Étude expérimentale et théorique de la production de nuclides légers rapides dans les interactions proton-noyau à haute énergie
Nous donnons la description d'une expérience réalisée au CERN et concernant la production de 1H, 2H, 3H, 3He, 4He lors des interactions proton-noyau (12C, 27Al, 197Au) à des angles variés (30°, 45°, 75°, 105°). Nous présentons également une théorie thermodynamique permettant d'interpréter les résultats expérimentaux obtenus
First Measurement of the rho Spectral Function in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions
We report on a precision measurement of low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV
indium-indium collisions at the CERN SPS. A significant excess of pairs is
observed above the yield expected from neutral meson decays. The unprecedented
sample size of 360 000 dimuons and the good mass resolution of about 2% allow
us to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the
resulting mass spectrum is consistent with a dominant contribution from
pi+pi-->rho-->mu+mu- annihilation. The associated space-time averaged rho
spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass.
This may rule out theoretical models linking hadron masse
Latest results from NA60
The NA60 experiment has measured the production of muon pairs and of charged
particles in In+In collisions at a beam energy of 158 AGeV. For invariant
dimuon masses below the phi the space-time averaged rho spectral function was
isolated by a novel procedure. It shows a strong broadening but essentially no
shift in mass. The production of J/psi was measured as a function of the
collision centrality. As in previous experiments studying Pb+Pb collisions an
anomalous supression is observed, setting in at approximately 90 participant
nucleons. Using the charged particles the reaction plane was reconstructed. The
elliptic flow of charged particles increases with pt showing a saturation for
pt > 2GeV/c. For the first time azimuthal distributions for J/psi are shown.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, talk given at the conference "Strangeness in
Quark Matter 2006 (SQM2006)", March 2006, Los Angeles, USA, accepted for
publication in Journal of Physics
Meson Production in In-In Collisions and the Puzzle
The NA60 experiment measured dimuon production in In-In collisions at 158
AGeV. This paper presents a high statistics measurement of with
the specific objective to provide insight on the puzzle, i.e. the
difference in the inverse slopes and absolute yields measured by NA49 and
NA50 in the kaon and lepton channel, respectively. Transverse momentum
distributions were studied as a function of centrality. The slope parameter
shows a rapid increase with centrality, followed by a saturation. Variations of
with the fit range of the order of 15 MeV were observed, possibly as a
consequence of radial flow. The meson yield normalized to the number of
participants increases with centrality and is consistently higher than the
yield measured by the NA49 experiment at any centrality.Comment: 4 Pages, 2 Figures. Proceedings of the 20 International
Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus Nucleus Collision
Evidence for radial flow of thermal dileptons in high-energy nuclear collisions
The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass dimuon production in
158 AGeV In-In collisions. An excess of pairs above the known meson decays has
been reported before. We now present precision results on the associated
transverse momentum spectra. The slope parameter Teff extracted from the
spectra rises with dimuon mass up to the rho, followed by a sudden decline
above. While the initial rise is consistent with the expectations for radial
flow of a hadronic decay source, the decline signals a transition to an
emission source with much smaller flow. This may well represent the first
direct evidence for thermal radiation of partonic origin in nuclear collisions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Thermal dileptons at SPS energies
Clear signs of excess dileptons above the known sources were found at the SPS
since long. However, a real clarification of these observations was only
recently achieved by NA60, measuring dimuons with unprecedented precision in
158A GeV, In-In collisions. The excess mass spectrum in the region M<1 GeV is
consistent with a dominant contribution from pi+pi- -> rho -> mu+mu-
annihilation. The associated rho spectral function shows a strong broadening,
but essentially no shift in mass. In the region M>1 GeV, the excess is found to
be prompt, not due to enhanced charm production. The inverse slope parameter
Teff associated with the transverse momentum spectra rises with mass up to the
rho, followed by a sudden decline above. While the initial rise, coupled to a
hierarchy in hadron freeze-out, points to radial flow of a hadronic decay
source, the decline above signals a transition to a low-flow source, presumably
of partonic origin. The mass spectra show at low transverse momenta the steep
rise towards low masses characteristic for Planck-like radiation. The
polarization of the excess referred to the Collins Soper frame is found to be
isotropic. All observations are consistent with the interpretation of the
excess as thermal radiation.Comment: Prepared for 20th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic
Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions: Quark Matter 2008 (QM2008), Jaipur, India, 4-10
Feb. 200
Analysis of the chloroplast protein kinase Stt7 during state transitions
State transitions allow for the balancing of the light excitation energy between photosystem I and photosystem II and for optimal photosynthetic activity when photosynthetic organisms are subjected to changing light conditions. This process is regulated by the redox state of the plastoquinone pool through the Stt7/STN7 protein kinase required for phosphorylation of the light-harvesting complex LHCII and for the reversible displacement of the mobile LHCII between the photosystems. We show that Stt7 is associated with photosynthetic complexes including LHCII, photosystem I, and the cytochrome b6f complex. Our data reveal that Stt7 acts in catalytic amounts. We also provide evidence that Stt7 contains a transmembrane region that separates its catalytic kinase domain on the stromal side from its N-terminal end in the thylakoid lumen with two conserved Cys that are critical for its activity and state transitions. On the basis of these data, we propose that the activity of Stt7 is regulated through its transmembrane domain and that a disulfide bond between the two lumen Cys is essential for its activity. The high-light-induced reduction of this bond may occur through a transthylakoid thiol-reducing pathway driven by the ferredoxin-thioredoxin system which is also required for cytochrome b6f assembly and heme biogenesi
Study of the electromagnetic transition form-factors in \eta -> \mu^+\mu^-\gamma and \omega -> \mu^+\mu^-\pi^0 decays with NA60
The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass muon pairs in 158A
GeV In-In collisions. The mass and pT spectra associated with peripheral
collisions can quantitatively be described by the known neutral meson decays.
The high data quality has allowed to remeasure the electromagnetic transition
form factors of the Dalitz decays \eta -> \mu^+\mu^-\gamma and \omega ->
\mu^+\mu^-\pi^0. Using the usual pole approximation F =
(1-M_{\mu\mu}^{2}/\Lambda^{2})^{-1} for the form factors, we find \Lambda^{-2}
(in GeV^{-2}) to be 1.95+-0.17(stat.)+-0.05(syst.) for the \eta and
2.24+-0.06(stat.)+-0.02(syst.) for the \omega. While the values agree with
previous results from the Lepton-G experiment, the errors are greatly improved,
confirming now on the level of 10\sigma the strong enhancement of the \omega
form factor beyond the expectation from vector meson dominance. An improved
value of the branching ratio BR(\omega -> \mu^+\mu^-\pi^0) =
[1.73+-0.25(stat.)+-0.14(syst.)]*10^{-4} has been obtained as a byproduct.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett.
NA60 results on thermal dimuons
The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has measured muon pairs with
unprecedented precision in 158A GeV In-In collisions. A strong excess of pairs
above the known sources is observed in the whole mass region 0.2<M<2.6 GeV. The
mass spectrum for M<1 GeV is consistent with a dominant contribution from
pi+pi- -> rho -> mu+mu- annihilation. The associated rho spectral function
shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. For M>1 GeV, the
excess is found to be prompt, not due to enhanced charm production, with
pronounced differences to Drell-Yan pairs. The slope parameter Teff associated
with the transverse momentum spectra rises with mass up to the rho, followed by
a sudden decline above. The rise for M<1 GeV is consistent with radial flow of
a hadronic emission source. The seeming absence of significant flow for M>1 GeV
and its relation to parton-hadron duality is discussed in detail, suggesting a
dominantly partonic emission source in this region. A comparison of the data to
the present status of theoretical modeling is also contained. The accumulated
empirical evidence, including also a Planck-like shape of the mass spectra at
low pT and the lack of polarization, is consistent with a global interpretation
of the excess dimuons as thermal radiation. We conclude with first results on
omega in-medium effects.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J.
A new measurement of J/psi suppression in Pb-Pb collisions at 158 GeV per nucleon
We present a new measurement of J/psi production in Pb-Pb collisions at 158
GeV/nucleon, from the data sample collected in year 2000 by the NA50
Collaboration, under improved experimental conditions with respect to previous
years. With the target system placed in vacuum, the setup was better adapted to
study, in particular, the most peripheral nuclear collisions with unprecedented
accuracy. The analysis of this data sample shows that the (J/psi)/Drell-Yan
cross-sections ratio measured in the most peripheral Pb-Pb interactions is in
good agreement with the nuclear absorption pattern extrapolated from the
studies of proton-nucleus collisions. Furthermore, this new measurement
confirms our previous observation that the (J/psi)/Drell-Yan cross-sections
ratio departs from the normal nuclear absorption pattern for semi-central Pb-Pb
collisions and that this ratio persistently decreases up to the most central
collisions.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures. Submitted to Eur. Phys. J.
- …