520 research outputs found
Theoretical Overview Quark Matter '04
The much wider transverse-momentum range accessible in heavy-ion collisions
at RHIC and at the LHC allows us to disentangle the dynamics of partonic
equilibration from the dynamics of delayed hadronization. This provides a novel
tool for testing the equilibration mechanisms underlying QCD thermodynamics.
Here, I argue, on the basis of simple formation-time arguments, why this is so,
and I review recent theoretical developments in this context.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 3 eps figures, invited introductory talk at Quark
Matter 2004, Oakland, January 11-17, 200
Radon backgrounds in the DEAP-1 liquid-argon-based Dark Matter detector
The DEAP-1 \SI{7}{kg} single phase liquid argon scintillation detector was
operated underground at SNOLAB in order to test the techniques and measure the
backgrounds inherent to single phase detection, in support of the
\mbox{DEAP-3600} Dark Matter detector. Backgrounds in DEAP are controlled
through material selection, construction techniques, pulse shape discrimination
and event reconstruction. This report details the analysis of background events
observed in three iterations of the DEAP-1 detector, and the measures taken to
reduce them.
The Rn decay rate in the liquid argon was measured to be between 16
and \SI{26}{\micro\becquerel\per\kilogram}. We found that the background
spectrum near the region of interest for Dark Matter detection in the DEAP-1
detector can be described considering events from three sources: radon
daughters decaying on the surface of the active volume, the expected rate of
electromagnetic events misidentified as nuclear recoils due to inefficiencies
in the pulse shape discrimination, and leakage of events from outside the
fiducial volume due to imperfect position reconstruction. These backgrounds
statistically account for all observed events, and they will be strongly
reduced in the DEAP-3600 detector due to its higher light yield and simpler
geometry
Improving Photoelectron Counting and Particle Identification in Scintillation Detectors with Bayesian Techniques
Many current and future dark matter and neutrino detectors are designed to
measure scintillation light with a large array of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs).
The energy resolution and particle identification capabilities of these
detectors depend in part on the ability to accurately identify individual
photoelectrons in PMT waveforms despite large variability in pulse amplitudes
and pulse pileup. We describe a Bayesian technique that can identify the times
of individual photoelectrons in a sampled PMT waveform without deconvolution,
even when pileup is present. To demonstrate the technique, we apply it to the
general problem of particle identification in single-phase liquid argon dark
matter detectors. Using the output of the Bayesian photoelectron counting
algorithm described in this paper, we construct several test statistics for
rejection of backgrounds for dark matter searches in argon. Compared to simpler
methods based on either observed charge or peak finding, the photoelectron
counting technique improves both energy resolution and particle identification
of low energy events in calibration data from the DEAP-1 detector and
simulation of the larger MiniCLEAN dark matter detector.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figure
Fast hadron freeze-out generator, part II: noncentral collisions
The fast Monte Carlo procedure of hadron generation developed in our previous
work is extended to describe noncentral collisions of nuclei. We consider
different possibilities to introduce appropriate asymmetry of the freeze-out
hyper-surface and flow velocity profile. For comparison with other models and
experimental data we demonstrate the results based on the standard
parametrizations of the hadron freeze-out hyper-surface and flow velocity
profile assuming either a common chemical and thermal freeze-out or the
chemically frozen evolution from chemical to thermal freeze-out. The C++
generator code is written under the ROOT framework and is available for public
use at http://uhkm.jinr.ru/Comment: 27 pages including 7 figures as EPS-files; prepared using LaTeX
package for publication in Physical Review
The STAR Time Projection Chamber: A Unique Tool for Studying High Multiplicity Events at RHIC
The STAR Time Projection Chamber (TPC) is used to record collisions at the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The TPC is the central element in a
suite of detectors that surrounds the interaction vertex. The TPC provides
complete coverage around the beam-line, and provides complete tracking for
charged particles within +- 1.8 units of pseudo-rapidity of the center-of-mass
frame. Charged particles with momenta greater than 100 MeV/c are recorded.
Multiplicities in excess of 3,000 tracks per event are routinely reconstructed
in the software. The TPC measures 4 m in diameter by 4.2 m long, making it the
largest TPC in the world.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure
Interferometry of Direct Photons in Central 280Pb+208Pb Collisions at 158A GeV
Two-particle correlations of direct photons were measured in central
208Pb+208Pb collisions at 158 AGeV. The invariant interferometric radii were
extracted for 100<K_T<300 MeV/c and compared to radii extracted from charged
pion correlations. The yield of soft direct photons, K_T<300 MeV/c, was
extracted from the correlation strength and compared to theoretical
calculations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Pion Freeze-Out Time in Pb+Pb Collisions at 158 A GeV/c Studied via pi-/pi+ and K-/K+ Ratios
The effect of the final state Coulomb interaction on particles produced in
Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A GeV/c has been investigated in the WA98 experiment
through the study of the pi-/pi+ and K-/K+ ratios measured as a function of
transverse mass. While the ratio for kaons shows no significant transverse mass
dependence, the pi-/pi+ ratio is enhanced at small transverse mass values with
an enhancement that increases with centrality. A silicon pad detector located
near the target is used to estimate the contribution of hyperon decays to the
pi-/pi+ ratio. The comparison of results with predictions of the RQMD model in
which the Coulomb interaction has been incorporated allows to place constraints
on the time of the pion freeze-out.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figure
Recent NA48/2 and NA62 results
The NA48/2 Collaboration at CERN has accumulated and analysed unprecedented
statistics of rare kaon decays in the modes: () and ()
with nearly one percent background contamination. It leads to the improved
measurement of branching fractions and detailed form factor studies. New final
results from the analysis of 381 rare decay
candidates collected by the NA48/2 and NA62 experiments at CERN are presented.
The results include a decay rate measurement and fits to Chiral Perturbation
Theory (ChPT) description.Comment: Prepared for the Proceedings of "Moriond QCD and High Energy
Interactions. March 22-29 2014." conferenc
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