Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks

37 pages, 15 figures, revised version, accepted by JINSTALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 micron in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10^5 charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.Peer reviewe

Transverse momentum spectra of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at s=900\sqrt{s} = 900 GeV with ALICE at the LHC

The inclusive charged particle transverse momentum distribution is measured in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 900$ GeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region $(|\eta|<0.8)$ over the transverse momentum range $0.15<p_{\rm T}<10$ GeV/$c$. The correlation between transverse momentum and particle multiplicity is also studied. Results are presented for inelastic (INEL) and non-single-diffractive (NSD) events. The average transverse momentum for $|\eta|<0.8$ is $\left<p_{\rm T}\right>_{\rm INEL}=0.483\pm0.001$ (stat.) $\pm0.007$ (syst.) GeV/$c$ and \left_{\rm NSD}=0.489\pm0.001 (stat.) $\pm0.007$ (syst.) GeV/$c$, respectively. The data exhibit a slightly larger $\left<p_{\rm T}\right>$ than measurements in wider pseudorapidity intervals. The results are compared to simulations with the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/390

The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries. Its overall dimensions are 161626 m3 with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008

Polyunsaturated docosahexaenoic vs docosapentaenoic acid-differences in lipid matrix properties from the loss of one double bond.

Insufficient supply to the developing brain of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n3, DHA), or its omega-3 fatty acid precursors, results in replacement of DHA with docosapentaenoic acid (22:5n6, DPA), an omega-6 fatty acid that is lacking a double bond near the chain's methyl end. We investigated membranes of 1-stearoyl(d(35))-2-docosahexaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1-stearoyl(d(35))-2-docosapentaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine by solid-state NMR, X-ray diffraction, and molecular dynamics simulations to determine if the loss of this double bond alters membrane physical properties. The low order parameters of polyunsaturated chains and the NMR relaxation data indicate that both DHA and DPA undergo rapid conformational transitions with correlation times of the order of nanoseconds at carbon atom C(2) and of picoseconds near the terminal methyl group. However, there are important differences between DHA- and DPA-containing lipids: the DHA chain with one additional double bond is more flexible at the methyl end and isomerizes with shorter correlation times. Furthermore, the stearic acid paired with the DHA in mixed-chain lipids has lower order, in particular in the middle of the chain near carbons C(10)(-)(12), indicating differences in the packing of hydrocarbon chains. Such differences are also reflected in the electron density profiles of the bilayers and in the simulation results. The DHA chain has a higher density near the lipid-water interface, whereas the density of the stearic acid chain is higher in the bilayer center. The loss of a single double bond from DHA to DPA results in a more even distribution of chain densities along the bilayer normal. We propose that the function of integral membrane proteins such as rhodopsin is sensitive to such a redistribution.</p

Additive manufacturing of Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb alloy using gas atomized and mechanically alloyed plasma spheroidized powders

In this paper, laser powder-bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) with a high-temperature inductive platform preheating was used to fabricate intermetallic TiAl-alloy samples. The gas atomized (GA) and mechanically alloyed plasma spheroidized (MAPS) powders of the Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb (at. %) alloy were used as the feedstock material. The effects of L-PBF process parameters-platform preheating temperature-on the relative density, microstructure, phase composition, andmechanicalproperties ofprintedmaterialwere evaluated. Crack-free intermetallic samples with a high relative density of 99.9% were fabricated using 900 °C preheating temperature. Scanning electron microscopy and X-Ray diffraction analyses revealed a very fine microstructure consisting of lamellar α2/γ colonies, equiaxed γ grains, and retained β phase. Compressive tests showed superior properties of AM material as compared to the conventional TiAl-alloy. However, increased oxygen content was detected inMAPS powder compared to GA powder (~1.1 wt. % and ~0.1 wt. %, respectively), which resulted in lower compressive strength and strain, but higher microhardness compared to the samples produced from GA powder.(OLD) MSE-

Characterization of the Liquid-Ordered State by Proton MAS NMR

We investigated if magic angle spinning (MAS) (1)H NMR can be used as a tool for detection of liquid-ordered domains (rafts) in membranes. In experiments with the lipids SOPC, DOPC, DPPC, and cholesterol we demonstrated that (1)H MAS NMR spectra of liquid-ordered domains (l(o)) are distinctly different from liquid-disordered (l(d)) and solid-ordered (s(o)) membrane regions. At a MAS frequency of 10 kHz the methylene proton resonance of hydrocarbon chains in the l(d) phase has a linewidth of ∼50 Hz. The corresponding linewidth is ∼1 kHz for the l(o) phase and several kHz for the s(o) phase. According to results of (1)H NMR dipolar echo spectroscopy, the broadening of MAS resonances in the l(o) phase results from an increase in effective strength of intramolecular proton dipolar interactions between adjacent methylene groups, most likely because of a lower probability of gauche/trans isomerization in l(o). In spectra recorded as a function of temperature, the onset of l(o) domain (raft) formation is seen as a sudden onset of line broadening. Formation of small domains yielded homogenously broadened resonance lines, whereas large l(o) domains (diameter >0.3 μm) in an l(d) environment resulted in superposition of the narrow resonances of the l(d) phase and the much broader resonances of l(o.) (1)H MAS NMR may be applied to detection of rafts in cell membranes