282 research outputs found
Search for weakly interacting sub-eV particles with the OSQAR laser-based experiment: results and perspectives
Recent theoretical and experimental studies highlight the possibility of new
fundamental particle physics beyond the Standard Model that can be probed by
sub-eV energy experiments. The OSQAR photon regeneration experiment looks for
"Light Shining through a Wall" (LSW) from the quantum oscillation of optical
photons into "Weakly Interacting Sub-eV Particles" (WISPs), like axion or
axion-like particles (ALPs), in a 9 T transverse magnetic field over the
unprecedented length of m. No excess of events has been
detected over the background. The di-photon couplings of possible new light
scalar and pseudo-scalar particles can be constrained in the massless limit to
be less than GeV. These results are very close to the
most stringent laboratory constraints obtained for the coupling of ALPs to two
photons. Plans for further improving the sensitivity of the OSQAR experiment
are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
Rendering an Account: An Open-State Archive in Postgraduate Supervision
The paper begins with a brief account of the transformation of research degree studies under the pressures of global capitalism and neo-liberal governmentality. A parallel transformation is occurring in the conduct of research through the use of information and communication technologies. Yet the potential of ICTs to shape practices of surveillance or to produce new student-supervisor relations and enhance the processes of developing the dissertation has received almost no critical attention. As doctoral supervisor and student, we then describe the features and uses of a web-based open state archive of the student's work-in-progress, developed by the student and accessible to his supervisor. Our intention was to encourage more open conversations between data and theorising, student and supervisor, and ultimately between the student and professional community. However, we recognise that relations of accountability, as these have developed within a contemporary "audit revolution" (Power, 1994, 1997) in universities, create particular "lines of visibility" (Munro, 1996). Thus while the open-state archive may help to redefine in less managerial terms notions of quality, transparency, flexibility and accountability, it might also make possible greater supervisory surveillance. How should we think about the panoptical potential of this archive? We argue that the diverse kinds of interactional patterns and pedagogical intervention it encourages help to create shifting subjectivities. Moreover, the archive itself is multiple, in bringing together an array of diverse materials that can be read in various ways, by following multiple paths. It therefore constitutes a collage, which we identify as a mode of cognition and of accounting distinct from but related to argument and narrative. As a more "open" text (Iser, 1978) it has an indeterminacy which may render it less open to abuse for the technologies of managerial accountability
Latest Results of the OSQAR Photon Regeneration Experiment for Axion-Like Particle Search
The OSQAR photon regeneration experiment searches for pseudoscalar and scalar
axion-like particles by the method of "Light Shining Through a Wall", based on
the assumption that these weakly interacting sub-eV particles couple to two
photons to give rise to quantum oscillations with optical photons in strong
magnetic field. No excess of events has been observed, which constrains the
di-photon coupling strength of both pseudoscalar and scalar particles down to
GeV in the massless limit. This result is the most
stringent constraint on the di-photon coupling strength ever achieved in
laboratory experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. appears in Proceedings of the 10th PATRAS
Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs (2014
Measurement of the charged-pion polarisability
The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering,
, at centre-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion
masses. The process is embedded in the reaction
, which is initiated by
190\,GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasi-real photons
is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum
transfers, \,(GeV/). From a sample of 63\,000 events the
pion electric polarisability is determined to be $\alpha_\pi\ =\ (\,2.0\ \pm\
0.6_{\mbox{\scriptsize stat}}\ \pm\ 0.7_{\mbox{\scriptsize syst}}\,) \times
10^{-4}\,\mbox{fm}^3\alpha_\pi=-\beta_\pi$, which
relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarisabilities. It is the most
precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong
interaction, that has been addressed since long by various methods with
conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated
measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral
perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for
which the cross-section behavior is unambigiously known, was performed for an
independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.Comment: Published version: 9 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Spin alignment and violation of the OZI rule in exclusive and production in pp collisions
Exclusive production of the isoscalar vector mesons and is
measured with a 190 GeV proton beam impinging on a liquid hydrogen target.
Cross section ratios are determined in three intervals of the Feynman variable
of the fast proton. A significant violation of the OZI rule is found,
confirming earlier findings. Its kinematic dependence on and on the
invariant mass of the system formed by fast proton
and vector meson is discussed in terms of diffractive
production of resonances in competition with central
production. The measurement of the spin density matrix element 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 and on are
found. Most of the observations can be traced back to the existence of several
excited baryon states contributing to production which are absent in
the case of the meson. Removing the low-mass resonant
region, the OZI rule is found to be violated by a factor of eight,
independently of .Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures and 5 table
Collins and Sivers asymmetries in muonproduction of pions and kaons off transversely polarised proton
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.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures and 1 tabl
Search for exclusive photoproduction of Z(3900) at COMPASS
A search for the exclusive production of the hadron by
virtual photons has been performed in the channel . The data cover the range from 7 GeV to 19 GeV 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 of has been established at the confidence
level of 90%.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Exclusive rho^0 muoproduction on transversely polarised protons and deuterons
The transverse target spin azimuthal asymmetry A_UT in hard exclusive
production of rho^0 mesons was measured at COMPASS by scattering 160 GeV/c
muons off transversely polarised protons and deuterons. The measured asymmetry
is sensitive to the nucleon helicity-flip generalised parton distributions E^q,
which are related to the orbital angular momentum of quarks in the nucleon. The
Q^2, x_B and p_t^2 dependence of A_UT is presented in a wide kinematic range.
Results for deuterons are obtained for the first time. The measured asymmetry
is small in the whole kinematic range for both protons and deuterons, which is
consistent with the theoretical interpretation that contributions from GPDs E^u
and E^d approximately cancel.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures and 4 tables, updated author lis
Experimental investigation of transverse spin asymmetries in muon-p SIDIS processes: Collins asymmetries
The COMPASS Collaboration at CERN has measured the transverse spin azimuthal
asymmetry of charged hadrons produced in semi-inclusive deep inelastic
scattering using a 160 GeV positive muon beam and a transversely polarised NH_3
target. The Collins asymmetry of the proton was extracted in the Bjorken x
range 0.003<x<0.7. These new measurements confirm with higher accuracy previous
measurements from the COMPASS and HERMES collaborations, which exhibit a
definite effect in the valence quark region. The asymmetries for negative and
positive hadrons are similar in magnitude and opposite in sign. They are
compatible with model calculations in which the u-quark transversity is
opposite in sign and somewhat larger than the d-quark transversity distribution
function. The asymmetry is extracted as a function of Bjorken , the relative
hadron energy and the hadron transverse momentum p_T^h. The high statistics
and quality of the data also allow for more detailed investigations of the
dependence on the kinematic variables. These studies confirm the leading-twist
nature of the Collins asymmetry.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
The Spin Structure Function of the Proton and a Test of the Bjorken Sum Rule
New results for the double spin asymmetry and the proton
longitudinal spin structure function are presented. They were
obtained by the COMPASS collaboration using polarised 200 GeV muons scattered
off a longitudinally polarised NH target. The data were collected in 2011
and complement those recorded in 2007 at 160\,GeV, in particular at lower
values of . They improve the statistical precision of by
about a factor of two in the region . A next-to-leading order
QCD fit to the world data is performed. It leads to a new determination
of the quark spin contribution to the nucleon spin, ranging
from 0.26 to 0.36, and to a re-evaluation of the first moment of .
The uncertainty of is mostly due to the large uncertainty in
the present determinations of the gluon helicity distribution. A new evaluation
of the Bjorken sum rule based on the COMPASS results for the non-singlet
structure function yields as ratio of the axial and
vector coupling constants , which validates the sum rule to an accuracy of about
9\%.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures and table
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