Crystals for high-energy calorimetry in extreme environments

Crystals are used as a homogeneous calorimetric medium in many high-energy physics experiments. For some experiments, performance has to be ensured in very difficult operating conditions, like a high radiation environment, very large particle fluxes, high collision rates, placing constraints on response and readout time. An overview is presented of recent achievements in the field, with particular attention given to the performance of Lead Tungstate (PWO) crystals exposed to high particle fluxes.Comment: To be published in Proc. of the Meeting of the Division of Particles and Fields of the American Physical Society, DPF2004 (Riverside, USA, August 26th to 31st, 2004

DsJ+(2632)D_{sJ}^+(2632): An Excellent Candidate of Tetraquarks

We analyze various possible interpretations of the narrow state $D_{sJ}(2632)$ which lies 100 MeV above threshold. This interesting state decays mainly into $D_s \eta$ instead of $D^0 K^+$. If this relative branching ratio is further confirmed by other experimental groups, we point out that the identification of $D_{sJ}(2632)$ either as a $c\bar s$ state or more generally as a ${\bf {\bar 3}}$ state in the $SU(3)_F$ representation is probably problematic. Instead, such an anomalous decay pattern strongly indicates $D_{sJ}(2632)$ is a four quark state in the $SU(3)_F$ ${\bf 15}$ representation with the quark content ${1\over 2\sqrt{2}} (ds\bar{d}+sd\bar{d}+su\bar{u}+us\bar{u}-2ss\bar{s})\bar{c}$. We discuss its partners in the same multiplet, and the similar four-quark states composed of a bottom quark $B_{sJ}^0(5832)$. Experimental searches of other members especially those exotic ones are strongly called for

Gravitational-Wave Implications for the Parity Symmetry of Gravity at GeV Scale

Gravitational waves generated by the coalescence of compact binary open a new window to test the fundamental properties of gravity in the strong-field and dynamical regime. In this work, we focus on the parity symmetry of gravity which, if broken, can leave imprints on the waveform of gravitational wave. We construct generalized waveforms with amplitude and velocity birefringence due to parity violation in the effect field theory formalism, then analyze the open data of the ten binary black-hole merger events and the two binary neutron-star merger events detected by LIGO and Virgo collaboration. We do not find any signatures of violation of gravitational parity conservation, thereby setting the lower bound of the parity-violating energy scale to be $0.07$ GeV. This presents the first observational evidence of the parity conservation of gravity at high energy scale, about 17 orders of magnitude tighter than the constraints from the Solar system tests and binary pulsar observation. The third-generation gravitational-wave detector is capable of probing the parity-violating energy scale at $\mathcal{O}(10^2)$ GeV

Experimental probing of the anisotropy of the empty p states near the Fermi level in MgB2

We have studied the Boron K-edge in the superconductor MgB2 by electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and experimentally resolved the empty p states at the Fermi level that have previously been observed within an energy window of 0.8eV by soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy. Using angular resolved EELS, we find that these states at the immediate edge onset have pxy character in agreement with predictions from first-principle electronic structure calculations.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure