High pressure X-ray preionized TEMA-CO2 laser

The construction of a high-pressure (up to 20 atm) transversely excited CO2 laser using transverse X-ray preionization is described. High pressure operation was found to be greatly improved in comparison to UV-preionized systems. Homogeneous discharges have been achieved in the pressure range 5–20 atm, yielding a specific laser output in the order of 35 J/l

Intracavity weak nonlinear phase shifts with single photon driving

We investigate a doubly resonant optical cavity containing a Kerr nonlinear medium that couples two modes by a cross phase modulation. One of these modes is driven by a single photon pulsed field, and the other mode is driven by a coherent state. We find an intrinsic phase noise mechanism for the cross phase shift on the coherent beam which can be attributed to the random emission times of single photons from the cavity. An application to a weak nonlinearity phase gate is discussed

High Transverse Momentum Results from the STAR Collaboration

The STAR collaboration presents new measurements of high p_T hadron production in Au+Au and p+p collisions at RHIC. We extend the previously reported suppression of inclusive hadron and large azimuthal anisotropies to much higher transverse momentum, decisively establishing the existence of strong medium effects on hadron production well into the perturbative regime. Near-angle two-particle correlations show directly that hadrons at pT > 4 GeV/c result from the fragmentation of jets. Additional evidence for the onset of perturbative QCD in this region comes from the flavor dependence of the inclusive yields and elliptic flow. Finally, comparison of back-to-back hadron pairs at high pT in p+p and in Au+Au collisions at various centralities reveals a striking suppression of high pT back-to-back pairs in the most central Au+Au collisions. All of these phenomena suggest a picture in which partons or their hadronic fragments are strongly absorbed in the bulk matter, with the observed hadrons resulting from jets produced on the periphery of the collision zone and directed outwards.Comment: Plenary talk at QM2002 in Nantes/France, to be published in the conference proceedings (Nuc.Phys.), 10 page

Silicon Pad Detectors for the PHOBOS Experiment at RHIC

The PHOBOS experiment is well positioned to obtain crucial information about relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC, combining a multiplicity counter with a multi-particle spectrometer. The multiplicity arrays will measure the charged particle multiplicity over the full solid angle. The spectrometer will be able to identify particles at mid-rapidity. The experiment is constructed almost exclusively of silicon pad detectors. Detectors of nine different types are configured in the multiplicity and vertex detector (22,000 channels) and two multi-particle spectrometers (120,000 channels). The overall layout of the experiment, testing of the silicon sensors and the performance of the detectors during the engineering run at RHIC in 1999 are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, Late

Effects of genuine dimension-six Higgs operators

We systematically discuss the consequences of genuine dimension-six Higgs operators. These operators are not subject to stringent constraints from electroweak precision data. However, they can modify the couplings of the Higgs boson to electroweak gauge bosons and, in particular, the Higgs self-interactions. We study the sensitivity to which those couplings can be probed at future \ee linear colliders in the sub-TeV and in the multi-TeV range. We find that for $\sqrt s=500$ GeV with a luminosity of 1 ab$^{-1}$ the anomalous $WWH$ and $ZZH$ couplings may be probed to about the 0.01 level, and the anomalous $HHH$ coupling to about the 0.1 level.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures; typos corrected and references adde

Hurricane risk analysis: A review on the physically-based approach

This paper reviews recent studies that take a physically-based approach to better assess and manage hurricane risk. Such a methodology includes three components: modeling the storm climatology (which defines TC risk in terms of the upper tail of the storm statistics); modeling landfalling hazards; and characterizing damage and losses

Crystal structure of Cu-Sn-In alloys around the {\eta} phase field studied by neutron diffraction

The study of the Cu-Sn-In ternary system has become of great importance in recent years, due to new environmental regulations forcing to eliminate the use of Pb in bonding technologies for electronic devices. A key relevant issue concerns the intermetallic phases which grow in the bonding zone and are determining in their quality and performance. In this work, we focus in the {\eta}-phase (Cu2In or Cu6Sn5) that exists in both end binaries and as a ternary phase. We present a neutron diffraction study of the constitution and crystallography of a series of alloys around the 60 at.% Cu composition, and with In contents ranging from 0 to 25 at.%, quenched from 300\degreeC. The alloys were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, probe microanalysis and high-resolution neutron diffraction. The Rietveld refinement of neutron diffraction data allowed to improve the currently available model for site occupancies in the hexagonal {\eta}-phase in the binary Cu-Sn as well as in ternary alloys. For the first time, structural data is reported in the ternary Cu-Sn-In {\eta}-phase as a function of composition, information that is of fundamental technological importance as well as valuable input data for ongoing modelisations of the ternary phase diagram.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Two charged strangeonium-like structures observable in the Y(2175)→ϕ(1020)π+π−Y(2175) \to \phi(1020)\pi^{+} \pi^{-} process

Via the Initial Single Pion Emission (ISPE) mechanism, we study the $\phi(1020)\pi^{+}$ invariant mass spectrum distribution of $Y(2175) \to \phi(1020)\pi^{+} \pi^{-}$. Our calculation indicates there exist a sharp peak structure ($Z_{s1}^+$) close to the $K\bar{K}^\ast$ threshold and a broad structure ($Z_{s2}^+$) near the $K^\ast\bar{K}^\ast$ threshold. In addition, we also investigate the $\phi(1680) \to \phi(1020)\pi^{+} \pi^{-}$ process due to the ISPE mechanism, where a sharp peak around the $K\bar{K}^\ast$ threshold appears in the $\phi(1020)\pi^{+}$ invariant mass spectrum distribution. We suggest to carry out the search for these charged strangeonium-like structures in future experiment, especially Belle II, Super-B and BESIII.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.