83 research outputs found
LOTIS, Super-LOTIS, SDSS and Tautenburg Observations of GRB 010921
We present multi-instrument optical observations of the High Energy Transient
Explorer (HETE-2)/Interplanetary Network (IPN) error box of GRB 010921. This
event was the first gamma ray burst (GRB) localized by HETE-2 which has
resulted in the detection of an optical afterglow. In this paper we report the
earliest known observations of the GRB010921 field, taken with the 0.11-m
Livermore Optical Transient Imaging System (LOTIS) telescope, and the earliest
known detection of the GRB010921 optical afterglow, using the 0.5-m Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Photometric Telescope (SDSS PT). Observations with the LOTIS
telescope began during a routine sky patrol 52 minutes after the burst.
Observations were made with the SDSS PT, the 0.6-m Super-LOTIS telescope, and
the 1.34-m Tautenburg Schmidt telescope at 21.3, 21.8, and 37.5 hours after the
GRB, respectively. In addition, the host galaxy was observed with the USNOFS
1.0-m telescope 56 days after the burst. We find that at later times (t > 1 day
after the burst), the optical afterglow exhibited a power-law decline with a
slope of . However, our earliest observations show that
this power-law decline can not have extended to early times (t < 0.035 day).Comment: AASTeX v5.x LaTeX 2e, 6 pages with 2 postscript figures, will be
submitted to ApJ Letter
Precise Measurement of the Pi+ -> Pi0 e+ nu Branching Ratio
Using a large acceptance calorimeter and a stopped pion beam we have made a
precise measurement of the rare Pi+ -> Pi0 e+ Nu,(pi_beta) decay branching
ratio. We have evaluated the branching ratio by normalizing the number of
observed pi_beta decays to the number of observed Pi+ -> e+ Nu, (pi_{e2})
decays. We find the value of Gamma(Pi+ -> Pi0 e+ Nu)/Gamma(total) = [1.036 +/-
0.004(stat.) +/- 0.004(syst.) +/- 0.003(pi_{e2})] x 10^{-8}$, where the first
uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic, and the third is the pi_{e2}
branching ratio uncertainty. Our result agrees well with the Standard Model
prediction.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, revtex4; changed content; updated
analysi
Bulk Damage Effects in Irradiated Silicon Detectors due to Clustered Divacancies
High resistivity silicon particle detectors will be used extensively in experiments at the future CERN Large Hadron Collider where the enormous particle fluences give rise to significant atomic displacement damage. A model has been developed to estimate the evolution of defect concentrations during irradiation and their electrical behaviour according to Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) semiconductor statistics. The observed increases in leakage current and doping concentration changes can be described well after gamma irradiation but less well after fast neutron irradiation. A possible non-SRH mechanism is considered, based on the hypothesis of charge transfer between clustered divacancy defects in neutron damaged silicon detectors. This leads to a large enhancement over the SRH prediction for V2 acceptor state occupancy and carrier generation rate which may resolve the discrepancy
Search for the lepton-family-number nonconserving decay \mu -> e + \gamma
The MEGA experiment, which searched for the muon- and electron-number
violating decay \mu -> e + \gamma, is described. The spectrometer system, the
calibrations, the data taking procedures, the data analysis, and the
sensitivity of the experiment are discussed. The most stringent upper limit on
the branching ratio of \mu -> e + \gamma) < 1.2 x 10^{-11} was obtained
Pion irradiation studies of CVD diamond detectors
We report here the results of a test to ascertain the radiation hardness properties of CVD diamond detectors to 300 MeV/c pions. In this test, CVD diamond detectors were exposed to 8 \times 10^{13} pions per cm^2 using the high intensity pion beam at the Paul Scherrer Institut. For comparison, silicon photodiodes were exposed to similar fluences at the same time. The measurements and the dosimetry during the irradiations are described herein. As expected, the silicon devices degraded. The diamond devices showed no degradation in collected charge and no increase in leakage current
Precise Measurement of the Pion Axial Form Factor in the Pi+ -> e+ nu gamma Decay
We have studied radiative pion decays Pi+ -> e+ nu gamma in three broad
kinematic regions using the PIBETA detector and a stopped pion beam. Based on
Dalitz distributions of 42,209 events we have evaluated absolute Pi -> e nu
gamma branching ratios in the three regions. Minimum chi^2 fits to the integral
and differential (E(e+),E(gamma)) distributions result in the axial-to-vector
weak form factor ratio of gamma = F_A/F_V = 0.443(15),or F_A = 0.0115(4) with
F_V = 0.0259. However, deviations from Standard Model predictions in the
high-E(gamma)/low-E(e+) kinematic region indicate the need for further
theoretical and experimental work.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, revtex
Development of CVD diamond radiation detectors
Diamond is a nearly ideal material for detecting ionizing radiation. Its outstanding radiation hardness, fast charge collection and low leakage current allow a diamond detector to be used in high ra diation, high temperature and in aggressive chemical media. We have constructed charged particle detectors using high quality CVD diamond. Characterization of the diamond samples and various detect ors are presented in terms of collection distance, , the average distance electron-hole pairs move apart under the influence of an electric field, where is the sum of carrier mo bilities, is the applied electric field, and is the mobility weighted carrier lifetime. Over the last two years the collection distance increased from 75 m to over 200 m. With this high quality CVD diamond a series of micro-strip and pixel particle detectors have been constructed. These devices were tested to determine their position resolution and signal to n oise performance. Diamond detectors were exposed to large fluences of pions, protons and neutrons to establish their radiation hardness properties. The results of these tests and their correlati on with the characterization studies are presented
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