New Measurements of Orbital Period Change in Cygnus X-3

A nonlinear nature of the binary ephemeris of Cygnus X-3 indicates either a change in the orbital period or an apsidal motion of the orbit. We have made extended observations of Cygnus X-3 with the Pointed Proportional Counters (PPCs) of the Indian X-ray Astronomy Experiment (IXAE) during 1999 July 3-13 and October 11-14. Using the data from these observations and the archival data from ROSAT, ASCA, BeppoSAX and RXTE, we have extended the data base for this source. Adding these new arrival time measurements to the published results, we make a comparison between the various possibilities, (a) orbital decay due to mass loss from the system, (b) mass transfer between the stars, and (c) apsidal motion of the orbit due to gravitational interaction between the two components. Orbital decay due to mass loss from the companion star seems to be the most probable scenario.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Design and Development of Site Specific Grape Vineyard Fertilizer Applicator Prototype

402-407The current fertiliser application methods for grape vines are labour intensive and lead to overuse of fertiliser. Frequent rain and vineyard orchard wash over often pollute water sources. Therefore, the right amount and placement of fertiliser can not only improve crop growth but also reduce the risk of chemicals to human health and the environment. To overcome the above problems a site specific fertiliser applicator for grape vineyard with mechanical sensing system was developed. The sensing system was designed to apply fertiliser to the root zone of the plant canopy. An experimental unit was developed to optimise design and operation parameters for fertiliser production per plant. The urea's physical and engineering qualities were determined for metering mechanism design. The average value of bulk density, angle of repose, urea grain diameter, grain weight in single flute measured were 0.759 ± 0.011 gcm−3, 26.22 ± 1.18°, 3.38 ± 0.23 mm, 1.46 ± 0.04 g, respectively. The coefficient of static friction with plywood, galvanised iron and mild steel with painted surface were observed 0.3177 ± 0.0092, 0.2868 ± 0.0077, and 0.3177 ± 0.0092, respectively. For fertiliser given per plant, the effect of exposure length was p < 0.001. The sensor device opens the delivery tube for fertiliser in 0.9–0.95s

Observations with the High Altitude GAmma-Ray (HAGAR) telescope array in the Indian Himalayas

The High Altitude GAmma-Ray (HAGAR) array is a wavefront sampling array of 7 telescopes, set-up at Hanle, at 4270 m amsl, in the Ladakh region of the Himalayas (Northern India). It constitutes the first phase of the HImalayan Gamma-Ray Observatory (HIGRO) project. HAGAR is the first array of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes established at a so high altitude, and was designed to reach a relatively low threshold (currently around 200 GeV) with quite a low mirror area (31 m2). Regular source observations are running since September 2008. Estimation of the sensitivity of the experiment is undergoing using several hours of data from the direction of Crab nebula, the standard candle source of TeV gamma-ray astronomy, and from dark regions. Data were acquired using the On-source/Off-source tracking mode, and by comparing these sky regions the strength of the gamma-ray signal could be estimated. Gamma-ray events arrive close to telescope axis direction while the cosmic-ray background events arrive from the whole field of view. We discuss our analysis procedures for the estimate of arrival direction, estimate of gamma ray flux from Crab nebula, and the sensitivity of the HAGAR system, in this paper

Mid-Rapidity Direct-Photon Production in p+p Collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

A measurement of direct photons in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV is presented. A photon excess above background from pi^0 --> gamma+gamma, eta --> gamma+gamma, and other decays is observed in the transverse momentum range 5.5 < p_T < 7 GeV/c. The result is compared to a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculation. Within errors, good agreement is found between the QCD calculation and the measured result.Comment: 330 authors, 7 pages text, RevTeX, 2 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Physical Review D. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Scaling properties of proton and anti-proton production in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au + Au collisions

We report on the yield of protons and anti-protons, as a function of centrality and transverse momentum, in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. In central collisions at intermediate transverse momenta (1.5 < p_T < 4.5 GeV/c) a significant fraction of all produced particles are protons and anti-protons. They show a centrality-scaling behavior different from that of pions. The p-bar/pion and p/pion ratios are enhanced compared to peripheral Au+Au, p+p, and electron+positron collisions. This enhancement is limited to p_T < 5 GeV/c as deduced from the ratio of charged hadrons to pi^0 measured in the range 1.5 < p_T < 9 GeV/c.Comment: 325 authors, 6 pages text, 4 figures, RevTeX 4. Minor changes to text and figures to meet PRL length restrictions; no changes to figures; resubmitted to PRL. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Deuteron and antideuteron production in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV

The production of deuterons and antideuterons in the transverse momentum range 1.1 < p_T < 4.3 GeV/c at mid-rapidity in Au + Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV has been studied by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. A coalescence analysis comparing the deuteron and antideuteron spectra with those of protons and antiprotons, has been performed. The coalescence probability is equal for both deuterons and antideuterons and increases as a function of p_T, which is consistent with an expanding collision zone. Comparing (anti)proton yields p_bar/p = 0.73 +/- 0.01, with (anti)deuteron yields: d_bar/d = 0.47 +/- 0.03, we estimate that n_bar/n = 0.64 +/- 0.04.Comment: 326 authors, 6 pages text, 5 figures, 1 Table. Submitted to PRL. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Suppressed pi^0 Production at Large Transverse Momentum in Central Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

Transverse momentum spectra of neutral pions in the range 1 < p_T < 10 GeV/c have been measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV. The pi^0 multiplicity in central reactions is significantly below the yields measured at the same sqrt(s_NN) in peripheral Au+Au and p+p reactions scaled by the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions. For the most central bin, the suppression factor is ~2.5 at p_T = 2 GeV/c and increases to ~4-5 at p_T ~= 4 GeV/c. At larger p_T, the suppression remains constant within errors. The deficit is already apparent in semi-peripheral reactions and increases smoothly with centrality.Comment: 326 authors, 6 pages text, RevTeX, 3 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to PRL. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

A Detailed Study of High-pT Neutral Pion Suppression and Azimuthal Anisotropy in Au+Au Collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

Measurements of neutral pion production at midrapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions as a function of transverse momentum, p_T, collision centrality, and angle with respect to reaction plane are presented. The data represent the final pi^0 results from the PHENIX experiment for the first RHIC Au+Au run at design center-of-mass-energy. They include additional data obtained using the PHENIX Level-2 trigger with more than a factor of three increase in statistics over previously published results for p_T > 6 GeV/c. We evaluate the suppression in the yield of high-p_T pi^0's relative to point-like scaling expectations using the nuclear modification factor R_AA. We present the p_T dependence of R_AA for nine bins in collision centrality. We separately integrate R_AA over larger p_T bins to show more precisely the centrality dependence of the high-p_T suppression. We then evaluate the dependence of the high-p_T suppression on the emission angle \Delta\phi of the pions with respect to event reaction plane for 7 bins in collision centrality. We show that the yields of high-p_T pi^0's vary strongly with \Delta\phi, consistent with prior measurements. We show that this variation persists in the most peripheral bin accessible in this analysis. For the peripheral bins we observe no suppression for neutral pions produced aligned with the reaction plane while the yield of pi^0's produced perpendicular to the reaction plane is suppressed by more than a factor of 2. We analyze the combined centrality and \Delta\phi dependence of the pi^0 suppression in different p_T bins using different possible descriptions of parton energy loss dependence on jet path-length averages to determine whether a single geometric picture can explain the observed suppression pattern.Comment: 330 authors, pages text, RevTeX4, figures, tables. Submitted to Physical Review C. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Evidence for a long-range component in the pion emission source in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

Emission source functions are extracted from correlation functions constructed from charged pions produced at mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. The source parameters extracted from these functions at low k_T, give first indications of a long tail for the pion emission source. The source extension cannot be explained solely by simple kinematic considerations. The possible role of a halo of secondary pions from resonance emissions is explored.Comment: 334 authors, 6 pages, 3 figures, no tables. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Measurement of Single Muons at Forward Rapidity in p+p Collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV and Implications for Charm Production

Muon production at forward rapidity (1.5 < |\eta| < 1.8) has been measured by the PHENIX experiment over the transverse momentum range 1 < p_T \le 3 GeV/c in sqrt(s) = 200 GeV p+p collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. After statistically subtracting contributions from light hadron decays an excess remains which is attributed to the semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy flavor, i.e. charm quarks or, at high p_T, bottom quarks. The resulting muon spectrum from heavy flavor decays is compared to PYTHIA and a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. PYTHIA is used to determine the charm quark spectrum that would produce the observed muon excess. The corresponding differential cross section for charm quark production at forward rapidity is determined to be d\sigma_(c c^bar)/dy|_(y=1.6)=0.243 +/- 0.013 (stat.) +/- 0.105 (data syst.) ^(+0.049)_(-0.087) (PYTHIA syst.) mb.Comment: 329 authors, pages text, 18 figures, tables. Submitted to Physical Review D. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm