A muon-track reconstruction exploiting stochastic losses for large-scale Cherenkov detectors

IceCube is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope operating at the South Pole. The main goal of IceCube is the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the identification of their sources. High-energy muon neutrinos are observed via the secondary muons produced in charge current interactions with nuclei in the ice. Currently, the best performing muon track directional reconstruction is based on a maximum likelihood method using the arrival time distribution of Cherenkov photons registered by the experiment\u27s photomultipliers. A known systematic shortcoming of the prevailing method is to assume a continuous energy loss along the muon track. However at energies >1 TeV the light yield from muons is dominated by stochastic showers. This paper discusses a generalized ansatz where the expected arrival time distribution is parametrized by a stochastic muon energy loss pattern. This more realistic parametrization of the loss profile leads to an improvement of the muon angular resolution of up to 20% for through-going tracks and up to a factor 2 for starting tracks over existing algorithms. Additionally, the procedure to estimate the directional reconstruction uncertainty has been improved to be more robust against numerical errors

Sportpsychologie in den Niederlanden

Over the past 25 years the field of sport psychology has developed very successfully in the Netherlands. Until about 1985, sport psychology played a rather marginal role. Since then, however, a remarkable improvement can be observed. Currently, a considerable amount of attention is payed to the structural integration of sport psychology into research and education programs of several universities. Attitudes toward sport psychology and mental training on the whole are very positive. Further, the media and the sports world treat sport psychology with an attitude that is more benevolent than ever. An accreditation system was introduced approximately 3 years ago, which will ensure a baseline level of quality in sportpsychology programs. The establishment of a training program for applied sport psychologists in 2007 is a direct consequence of this accreditation system and stresses the progressive professionalization of the field of sport psychology in the Netherlands. © Hogrefe Verlag