ASTRO-H Soft X-Ray Telescope (SXT)

ASTRO-H is an astrophysics satellite dedicated for X-ray spectroscopic study non-dispersively and to carry out survey complementally, which will be borne out of US-Japanese collaborative effort. Among the onboard instruments there are four conically approximated Wolter-I X-ray mirrors, among which two of them are soft X-ray mirrors\ of which the energy range is from a few hundred eV to 15 keY, currently being fabricated in the X-ray Optics Lab at Goddard Space Flight Center. The focal point instruments will be a calorimeter (SXS) and a CCD camera (SXI), respectively. The reflectors of the mirror are made of heat-formed aluminum substrate of the thickness gauged of 152 micron, 229 micron, and 305 micron of the alloy 5052 H-19, followed by epoxy replication on gold-sputtered smooth Pyrex cylindrical mandrels to acquire the X-ray reflective surface. The epoxy layer is 10 micron nominal and surface gold layer of 0.2 micron. Improvements on angular response over the Astro-El/Suzaku mirrors come from error reduction on the figure, the roundness, and the grazing angle/radius mismatching of the reflecting surface, and tighter specs and mechanical strength on supporting structure to reduce the reflector positioning and the assembly errors. In this paper, we report the results of calibration of the engineering model of SXT (EM), and project the quality of the flight mirrors

Collins and Sivers asymmetries in muonproduction of pions and kaons off transversely polarised protons

Measurements of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged pions and charged and neutral kaons produced in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering of high energy muons off transversely polarised protons are presented. The results were obtained using all the available COMPASS proton data, which were taken in the years 2007 and 2010. The Collins asymmetries exhibit in the valence region a non-zero signal for pions and there are hints of non-zero signal also for kaons. The Sivers asymmetries are found to be positive for positive pions and kaons and compatible with zero otherwise. © 2015

Foil X-Ray Mirrors for Astronomical Observations: Still an Evolving Technology

Foil X-ray mirrors, introduced by the Goddard X-ray Group in the late 1970s, were envisioned as an interim and complementary approach toward increased sensitivity for small inexpensive astronomical instruments. The extreme light weight nature of these mirrors dovetailed beautifully with Japan's small payload missions, leading to several collaborative, earth orbiting observatories, designed primarily for spectroscopy, of which SUZAKU is still in earth orbit. ASTRO-H is the latest joint instrument with Japan, presently in the implementation phase. At Goddard, some 30 years after we introduced them, we are involved with four separate flight instruments utilizing foil X-ray mirrors, a good indication that this technology is here to stay. Nevertheless, an improved spatial resolution will be the most welcomed development by all. The task of preparing upwards of 1000 reflectors, then assembling them into a single mirror with arcmin resolution remains a formidable one. Many, performance limiting approximations become necessary when converting commercial aluminum sheets into 8 quadrant segments, each with approximately 200 nested conical, approximately 4Angstrom surface reflectors, which are then assembled into a single mirror. In this paper we will describe the mirror we are presently involved with, slated for the Goddard high resolution imaging X-ray spectrometer (SXS) onboard ASTRO-H. Improved spatial resolution will be an important enhancement to the science objectives from this instrument. We are accordingly pursuing and will briefly describe in this paper several design and reflector assembly modifications, aimed toward that goal

Search for exclusive photoproduction of Z(c)(+/-) (3900) at COMPASS

A search for the exclusive production of the Z(c)(+/-)(3900) hadron by virtual photons has been performed in the channel Z(c)(+/-)(3900). J/Psi pi(+/-). The data cover the range from 7GeV to 19GeV in the centre-of- mass energy of the photon-nucleon system. The full set of the COMPASS data set collected with a muon beam between 2002 and 2011 has been used. An upper limit for the ratio BR(Z(c)(+/-)(3900)-> J/Psi pi(+/-)) x sigma(gamma N) -> Z(c)(+/-)(3900) N/sigma gamma N -> J/Psi N 3.7 x10(-3) has been established at the confidence level of90%. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.CERN managemen

Piezoelectric, dielectric and pyroelectric properties of 0-3 ceramic-polymer composites

The circular samples of composites were made from PZT ceramic grains dispersed in polymers (epoxy or rubber). Pressure dependencies of the hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficient dh and permittivity ε were measured in the range up to 60 MPa. The hydrostatic strain coefficient dh, the hydrostatic voltage coefficient gh and figure of merit dh·gh were determined using the static method. The pressure dependence of the hydrostatic coefficients was measured for several successive cycles. Experimental dependence of the charge on pressure and temperature was fitted by multi parameter function. The pressure and temperature dependencies of the hydrostatic dh and pyroelectric p3 coefficients were determined. It was found that the hydrostatic strain coefficient dh and hydrostatic voltage coefficient gh decreased and pyroelectric coefficient p3 increased with pressure at constant temperature.DFG [1102]; ICTP programme for Training and Research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL); German Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung; Czech Republic MEYS Grants [ME492, LA242]; SAIL (CSR), Govt. of India; CERN-RFBR Grants [08-02-91009, 12-02-91500]; Portuguese FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [CERN/FP/109323/2009, CERN/FP/116376/2010, CERN/FP/123600/2011]; MEXT; JSPS [18002006, 20540299, 18540281]; Daiko Foundation; Yamada Foundation; DFG cluster of excellence 'Origin and Structure of the Universe'; EU FP7 (HadronPhysics3) [283286]; Israel Science Foundation; Polish NCN Grant [DEC-2011/01/M/ST2/02350

Odd and even partial waves of eta pi(-) and eta 'pi(-) in pi(-) p -> eta(('))pi(-)p at 191 GeV/c

Exclusive production of eta pi(-) and eta'pi(-) in has been studied with a 191 GeV/c pi(-) beam impinging on a hydrogen target at COMPASS (CERN). Partial-wave analyses reveal different odd/even angular momentum (L) characteristics in the inspected invariant mass range up to 3 GeV/c(2). A striking similarity between the two systems is observed for the L = 2, 4, 6 intensities (scaled by kinematical factors) and the relative phases. The known resonances a(2)(1320) and a(4)(2040) are in line with this similarity. In contrast, a strong enhancement of eta'pi(-) over eta pi(-) is found for the L = 1, 3, 5 waves, which carry non-qq quantum numbers. The L = 1 intensity peaks at 1.7 GeV/c(2) in in and at 1.4 GeV/c(2) in eta pi(-), the corresponding phase motions with respect to L = 2 are different. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.DFG [1102]; German Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung; Czech Republic MEYS [ME492, LA242]; SAIL (CSR), Govt. of India; CERN-RFBR [08-02-91009, 12-02-91500]; Portuguese FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [CERN/FP/109323/2009, CERN/FP/116376/2010, CERN/FP/123600/2011]; MEXT; JSPS [18002006, 20540299, 18540281]; Daiko Foundation; Yamada Foundation; DFG; EU [283286]; Israel Science Foundation; Polish NCN [DEC-2011/01/M/ST2/02350

Spin alignment and violation of the OZI rule in exclusive omega and phi production in pp collisions

Exclusive production of the isoscalar vector mesons omega and phi is measured with a 190 GeV/c proton beam impinging on a liquid hydrogen target. Cross section ratios are determined in three intervals of the Feynman variable x(F) of the fast proton. A significant violation of the OZI rule is found, confirming earlier findings. Its kinematic dependence on xF and on the invariant mass M-pV of the system formed by fast proton p(fast) and vector meson V is discussed in terms of diffractive production of p(fast) V resonances in competition with central production. The measurement of the spin density matrix element rho(00) of the vector mesons in different selected reference frames provides another handle to distinguish the contributions of these two major reaction types. Again, dependences of the alignment on x(F) and on M-pV are found. Most of the observations can be traced back to the existence of several excited baryon states contributing to omega production which are absent in the case of the phi meson. Removing the low-mass M-pV resonant region, the OZI rule is found to be violated by a factor of eight, independently of x(F). (C) 2014 CERN for the benefit of the COMPASS Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).DFG [1102]; ICTP programme for Training and Research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL); German Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung; Czech Republic MEYS Grants [ME492, LA242]; SAIL (CSR), Govt. of India; CERN-RFBR Grants [08-02-91009, 12-02-91500]; Portuguese FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [CERN/FP/109323/2009, CERN/FP/116376/2010, CERN/FP/123600/2011]; MEXT; JSPS [18002006, 20540299, 18540281]; Daiko Foundation; Yamada Foundation; DFG cluster of excellence 'Origin and Structure of the Universe'; EU FP7 (HadronPhysics3) [283286]; Israel Science Foundation; Polish NCN Grant [DEC-2011/01/M/ST2/02350

Domatic Number of a Graph and its Variants (Extended Abstract)

This chapter presents some numerical invariants of graphs that are related to the concept of domination—namely, the domatic number and its variants.. The word domatic was coined from the words dominating and chromatic in the same way as the word smog was composed from the words smoke and fog. This concept is a certain analogy of the chromatic number, but instead of independent sets, dominating sets are used in its definition. A subset D of the vertex set V(G) of an undirected graphs G is called dominating if for each x V(G) − D there exists a vertex yD adjacent to x. A domatic partition of G is a partition of V(G), all of whose classes are dominating sets in G. The maximum number of classes of a domatic partition of G is called the “domatic number” of G and denoted by d(G). R. Laskar and S. T. Hedetniemi have introduced the connected domatic number d, (G) of a graph G. It is the maximum number of classes of a partition of V(G) into dominating sets that induce connected subgraphs of G.DFG [1102]; German Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung; Czech Republic MEYS [ME492, LA242]; SAIL (CSR), Govt. of India; CERN-RFBR [08-02-91009, 12-02-91500]; Portuguese FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia [CERN/FP/109323/2009, CERN/FP/116376/2010, CERN/FP/123600/2011]; MEXT; JSPS [18002006, 20540299, 18540281]; Daiko Foundation; Yamada Foundation; DFG; EU [283286]; Israel Science Foundation; Polish NCN [DEC-2011/01/M/ST2/02350