3,974 research outputs found
INTEGRAL and Swift/XRT observations of the source PKS 0208-512
The active galaxy PKS 0208-512, detected at lower energies by COMPTEL, has
been claimed to be a MeV blazar from EGRET. We report on the most recent
INTEGRAL observations of the blazar PKS 0208-512, which are supplemented by
Swift ToO observations. The high energy X-ray and gamma-ray emission of PKS
0208-512 during August - December 2008 has been studied using 682 ks of
INTEGRAL guest observer time and ~ 56 ks of Swift/XRT observations. These data
were collected during the decay of a gamma-ray flare observed by Fermi/LAT. At
X-ray energies (0.2 - 10 keV) PKS 0208-512 is significantly detected by
Swift/XRT, showing a power-law spectrum with a photon index of ~ 1.64. Its
X-ray luminosity varied by roughly 30% during one month. At hard X-/soft
gamma-ray energies PKS 0208-512 shows a marginally significant (~ 3.2 sigma)
emission in the 0.5-1 MeV band when combining all INTEGRAL/SPI data.
Non-detections at energies below and above this band by INTEGRAL/SPI may
indicate intrinsic excess emission. If this possible excess is produced by the
blazar, one possible explanation could be that its jet consists of an abundant
electron-positron plasma, which may lead to the emission of an annihilation
radiation feature. Assuming this scenario, we estimate physical parameters of
the jet of PKS 0208-512.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
Use of hormonal contraceptives and occurrence of pregnancy-related pelvic pain: a prospective cohort study in Norway
BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-related pelvic pain is a common condition, and use of hormonal contraceptives before pregnancy has been proposed as a risk factor. We used data from a sub-sample of women participating in the "Norwegian Women and Cancer study" (NOWAC) to assess the association between hormonal contraceptive use and pelvic pain in pregnancy. METHODS: From a sub-group of 2078 parous women participating in the NOWAC study, information was collected from a self-instructive four-page questionnaire containing questions about lifestyle and medical conditions. We calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI), using unconditional logistic regression. RESULTS: In this study, the prevalence of pelvic pain in women was 26.5% during the first pregnancy and increased with parity. Use of hormonal contraceptives before a woman's first pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of pelvic pain in her first pregnancy (OR = 1.6; 95% confidence interval 1.2â2.2). There was no association between use of hormonal contraceptives and pelvic pain in the second or third pregnancy. Occurrence of pelvic pain in a previous pregnancy was the only factor associated with pelvic pain in subsequent pregnancies (OR = 51.1; 95% CI 32.9â79.5 in the second pregnancy and OR = 28.3; 95% CI 15.4â53.1 in the third pregnancy). CONCLUSION: Use of hormonal contraceptives was associated with an increased risk of pelvic pain in a woman's first pregnancy. The most important determinant of pelvic pain in the second or third pregnancy was the history of pelvic pain in the preceding pregnancy
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Measurement of B(B-->X_s {\gamma}), the B-->X_s {\gamma} photon energy spectrum, and the direct CP asymmetry in B-->X_{s+d} {\gamma} decays
The photon spectrum in B --> X_s {\gamma} decay, where X_s is any strange
hadronic state, is studied using a data sample of (382.8\pm 4.2) \times 10^6
e^+ e^- --> \Upsilon(4S) --> BBbar events collected by the BABAR experiment at
the PEP-II collider. The spectrum is used to measure the branching fraction B(B
--> X_s \gamma) = (3.21 \pm 0.15 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.08)\times 10^{-4} and the
first, second, and third moments = 2.267 \pm 0.019 \pm 0.032 \pm
0.003 GeV,, )^2> = 0.0484 \pm 0.0053 \pm 0.0077 \pm
0.0005 GeV^2, and )^3> = -0.0048 \pm 0.0011 \pm 0.0011
\pm 0.0004 GeV^3, for the range E_\gamma > 1.8 GeV, where E_{\gamma} is the
photon energy in the B-meson rest frame. Results are also presented for
narrower E_{\gamma} ranges. In addition, the direct CP asymmetry A_{CP}(B -->
X_{s+d} \gamma) is measured to be 0.057 \pm 0.063. The spectrum itself is also
unfolded to the B-meson rest frame; that is the frame in which theoretical
predictions for its shape are made.Comment: 37 pages, 19 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D. No
analysis or results have changed from previous version. Some changes to
improve clarity based on interactions with Phys. Rev. D referees, including
one new Figure (Fig. 13), and some minor wording/punctuation/spelling
mistakes fixe
Cross Sections for the Reactions e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi-, K+ K- pi0pi0, and K+ K- K+ K- Measured Using Initial-State Radiation Events
We study the processes e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi-gamma, K+ K- pi0pi0gamma, and K+
K- K+ K-gamma, where the photon is radiated from the initial state. About
84000, 8000, and 4200 fully reconstructed events, respectively, are selected
from 454 fb-1 of BaBar data. The invariant mass of the hadronic final state
defines the \epem center-of-mass energy, so that the K+ K- pi+pi- data can be
compared with direct measurements of the e+e- --> K+ K- pi+pi- reaction. No
direct measurements exist for the e+e- --> K+ K-pi0pi0 or e+e- --> K+ K-K+ K-
reactions, and we present an update of our previous result with doubled
statistics. Studying the structure of these events, we find contributions from
a number of intermediate states, and extract their cross sections. In
particular, we perform a more detailed study of the e+e- --> phi(1020)pipigamma
reaction, and confirm the presence of the Y(2175) resonance in the phi(1020)
f0(980) and K+K-f0(980) modes. In the charmonium region, we observe the J/psi
in all three final states and in several intermediate states, as well as the
psi(2S) in some modes, and measure the corresponding product of branching
fraction and electron width.Comment: 35 pages, 42 figure
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Precise Measurement of the e+ e- --> pi+ pi- (gamma) Cross Section with the Initial-State Radiation Method at BABAR
A precise measurement of the cross section of the process
from threshold to an energy of 3GeV is obtained
with the initial-state radiation (ISR) method using 232fb of data
collected with the BaBar detector at center-of-mass energies near
10.6GeV. The ISR luminosity is determined from a study of the leptonic process
, which is found to agree with the
next-to-leading-order QED prediction to within 1.1%. The cross section for the
process is obtained with a systematic uncertainty
of 0.5% in the dominant resonance region. The leading-order hadronic
contribution to the muon magnetic anomaly calculated using the measured
cross section from threshold to 1.8GeV is .Comment: 58 pages, 56 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.
Measurement of Branching Fractions and Rate Asymmetries in the Rare Decays B -> K(*) l+ l-
In a sample of 471 million BB events collected with the BABAR detector at the
PEP-II e+e- collider we study the rare decays B -> K(*) l+ l-, where l+ l- is
either e+e- or mu+mu-. We report results on partial branching fractions and
isospin asymmetries in seven bins of di-lepton mass-squared. We further present
CP and lepton-flavor asymmetries for di-lepton masses below and above the J/psi
resonance. We find no evidence for CP or lepton-flavor violation. The partial
branching fractions and isospin asymmetries are consistent with the Standard
Model predictions and with results from other experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev.
Search for lepton-number violating processes in B+ -> h- l+ l+ decays
We have searched for the lepton-number violating processes B+ -> h- l+ l+
with h- = K-/pi- and l+ = e+/mu+, using a sample of 471+/-3 million BBbar
events collected with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II e+e- collider at the
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We find no evidence for these decays and
place 90% confidence level upper limits on their branching fractions Br(B+ ->
pi- e+ e+) K- e+ e+) pi-
mu+ mu+) K- mu+ mu+) < 6.7 x 10^{-8}.Comment: 8 pages, 4 postscript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D. R
Branching fraction and form-factor shape measurements of exclusive charmless semileptonic B decays, and determination of |V_{ub}|
We report the results of a study of the exclusive charmless semileptonic
decays, B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu, B^+ --> pi^0 l^+ nu, B^+ --> omega l^+ nu, B^+ -->
eta l^+ nu and B^+ --> eta^' l^+ nu, (l = e or mu) undertaken with
approximately 462x10^6 B\bar{B} pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S) resonance
with the BABAR detector. The analysis uses events in which the signal B decays
are reconstructed with a loose neutrino reconstruction technique. We obtain
partial branching fractions in several bins of q^2, the square of the momentum
transferred to the lepton-neutrino pair, for B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu, B^+ --> pi^0
l^+ nu, B^+ --> omega l^+ nu and B^+ --> eta l^+ nu. From these distributions,
we extract the form-factor shapes f_+(q^2) and the total branching fractions
BF(B^0 --> pi^- l^+ nu) = (1.45 +/- 0.04_{stat} +/- 0.06_{syst})x10^-4
(combined pi^- and pi^0 decay channels assuming isospin symmetry), BF(B^+ -->
omega l^+ nu) = (1.19 +/- 0.16_{stat} +/- 0.09_{syst})x10^-4 and BF(B^+ --> eta
l^+ nu) = (0.38 +/- 0.05_{stat} +/- 0.05_{syst})x10^-4. We also measure BF(B^+
--> eta^' l^+ nu) = (0.24 +/- 0.08_{stat} +/- 0.03_{syst})x10^-4. We obtain
values for the magnitude of the CKM matrix element V_{ub} by direct comparison
with three different QCD calculations in restricted q^2 ranges of B --> pi l^+
nu decays. From a simultaneous fit to the experimental data over the full q^2
range and the FNAL/MILC lattice QCD predictions, we obtain |V_{ub}| = (3.25 +/-
0.31)x10^-3, where the error is the combined experimental and theoretical
uncertainty.Comment: 35 pages, 14 figures, submitted to PR
Observation of time-reversal violation in the B0 meson system
The individually named authors work collectively as The BABAR Collaboration. Copyright @ 2012 American Physical Society.Although CP violation in the B meson system has been well established by the B factories, there has been no direct observation of time-reversal violation. The decays of entangled neutral B mesons into definite flavor states (B0 or BÂŻÂŻÂŻ0), and J/ÏK0L or ccÂŻK0S final states (referred to as B+ or Bâ), allow comparisons between the probabilities of four pairs of T-conjugated transitions, for example, BÂŻÂŻÂŻ0âBâ and BââBÂŻÂŻÂŻ0, as a function of the time difference between the two B decays. Using 468Ă106 BBÂŻÂŻÂŻ pairs produced in ΄(4S) decays collected by the BABAR detector at SLAC, we measure T-violating parameters in the time evolution of neutral B mesons, yielding ÎS+T=â1.37±0.14(stat)±0.06(syst) and ÎSâT=1.17±0.18(stat)±0.11(syst). These nonzero results represent the first direct observation of T violation through the exchange of initial and final states in transitions that can only be connected by a T-symmetry transformation.DOE and NSF (USA), NSERC (Canada), CEA and CNRS-IN2P3 (France), BMBF and
DFG(Germany), INFN (Italy), FOM (The Netherlands),
NFR (Norway), MES (Russia), MINECO (Spain), STFC
(United Kingdom). Individuals have received support from
the Marie Curie EIF (European Union), the A. P. Sloan
Foundation (USA) and the Binational Science Foundation
(USA-Israel)
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Measurement of the Time-Dependent CP Asymmetry of Partially Reconstructed B0->D*+D*- Decays
We present a new measurement of the time-dependent CP asymmetry of B0->D*+D*-
decays using (471+-5) million BBbar pairs collected with the BaBar detector at
the PEP-II B Factory at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Using the
technique of partial reconstruction, we measure the time-dependent CP asymmetry
parameters S=-0.34+-0.12+-0.05$ and C=+0.15+-0.09+-0.04. Using the value for
the CP-odd fraction R_perp=0.158+-0.028+-0.006, previously measured by BaBar
with fully reconstructed B0->D*+D*- events, we extract the CP-even components
S+=-0.49+-0.18+-0.07+-0.04 and C+=+0.15+-0.09+-0.04. In each case, the first
uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic; the third uncertainty
on S+ is the contribution from the uncertainty on R_perp. The measured value of
the CP-even component S+ is consistent with the value of sin(2Beta) measured in
b->(ccbar)s transitions, and with the Standard Model expectation of small
penguin contributions.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Physical Review
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