180 research outputs found
Observation of a J^PC = 1-+ exotic resonance in diffractive dissociation of 190 GeV/c pi- into pi- pi- pi+
The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has studied the diffractive
dissociation of negative pions into the pi- pi- pi+ final state using a 190
GeV/c pion beam hitting a lead target. A partial wave analysis has been
performed on a sample of 420000 events taken at values of the squared
4-momentum transfer t' between 0.1 and 1 GeV^2/c^2. The well-known resonances
a1(1260), a2(1320), and pi2(1670) are clearly observed. In addition, the data
show a significant natural parity exchange production of a resonance with
spin-exotic quantum numbers J^PC = 1-+ at 1.66 GeV/c^2 decaying to rho pi. The
resonant nature of this wave is evident from the mass-dependent phase
differences to the J^PC = 2-+ and 1++ waves. From a mass-dependent fit a
resonance mass of 1660 +- 10+0-64 MeV/c^2 and a width of 269+-21+42-64 MeV/c^2
is deduced.Comment: 7 page, 3 figures; version 2 gives some more details, data unchanged;
version 3 updated authors, text shortened, data unchange
First Measurement of Chiral Dynamics in \pi^- \gamma -> \pi^- \pi^- \pi^+
The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated the \pi^- \gamma -> \pi^-
\pi^- \pi^+ reaction at center-of-momentum energy below five pion masses,
sqrt(s) < 5 m(\pi), embedded in the Primakoff reaction of 190 GeV pions
impinging on a lead target. Exchange of quasi-real photons is selected by
isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum transfers, t' <
0.001 (GeV/c)^2. Using partial-wave analysis techniques, the scattering
intensity of Coulomb production described in terms of chiral dynamics and its
dependence on the 3\pi-invariant mass m(3\pi) = sqrt(s) were extracted. The
absolute cross section was determined in seven bins of with an
overall precision of 20%. At leading order, the result is found to be in good
agreement with the prediction of chiral perturbation theory over the whole
energy range investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Deep Broadband Observations of the Distant Gamma-ray Blazar PKS 1424+240
We present deep VERITAS observations of the blazar PKS 1424+240, along with
contemporaneous Fermi Large Area Telescope, Swift X-ray Telescope and Swift UV
Optical Telescope data between 2009 February 19 and 2013 June 8. This blazar
resides at a redshift of , displaying a significantly attenuated
gamma-ray flux above 100 GeV due to photon absorption via pair-production with
the extragalactic background light. We present more than 100 hours of VERITAS
observations from three years, a multiwavelength light curve and the
contemporaneous spectral energy distributions. The source shows a higher flux
of (2.1) ph ms above 120 GeV in 2009 and
2011 as compared to the flux measured in 2013, corresponding to
(1.02) ph ms above 120 GeV. The measured
differential very high energy (VHE; GeV) spectral indices are
3.80.3, 4.30.6 and 4.50.2 in 2009, 2011 and 2013,
respectively. No significant spectral change across the observation epochs is
detected. We find no evidence for variability at gamma-ray opacities of greater
than , where it is postulated that any variability would be small and
occur on longer than year timescales if hadronic cosmic-ray interactions with
extragalactic photon fields provide a secondary VHE photon flux. The data
cannot rule out such variability due to low statistics.Comment: ApJL accepted March 17, 201
Measurement of the Longitudinal Spin Transfer to Lambda and Anti-Lambda Hyperons in Polarised Muon DIS
The longitudinal polarisation transfer from muons to lambda and anti-lambda
hyperons, D_LL, has been studied in deep inelastic scattering off an
unpolarised isoscalar target at the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The spin
transfers to lambda and anti-lambda produced in the current fragmentation
region exhibit different behaviours as a function of x and xF . The measured x
and xF dependences of D^lambda_LL are compatible with zero, while
D^anti-lambda_LL tends to increase with xF, reaching values of 0.4 - 0.5. The
resulting average values are D^lambda_LL = -0.012 +- 0.047 +- 0.024 and
D^anti-lambda_LL = 0.249 +- 0.056 +- 0.049. These results are discussed in the
frame of recent model calculations.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Measurement of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries on transversely polarised protons
The Collins and Sivers asymmetries for charged hadrons produced in deeply
inelastic scattering on transversely polarised protons have been extracted from
the data collected in 2007 with the CERN SPS muon beam tuned at 160 GeV/c. At
large values of the Bjorken x variable non-zero Collins asymmetries are
observed both for positive and negative hadrons while the Sivers asymmetry for
positive hadrons is slightly positive over almost all the measured x range.
These results nicely support the present theoretical interpretation of these
asymmetries, in terms of leading-twist quark distribution and fragmentation
functions.Comment: 9 Pages, 5 figure
The Spin-dependent Structure Function of the Proton g_1^p and a Test of the Bjorken Sum Rule
The inclusive double-spin asymmetry, A_1^p, has been measured at COMPASS in
deepinelastic polarised muon scattering off a large polarised NH3 target. The
data, collected in the year 2007, cover the range Q2 > 1 (GeV/c)^2, 0.004 < x <
0.7 and improve the statistical precision of g_1^p(x) by a factor of two in the
region x < 0.02. The new proton asymmetries are combined with those previously
published for the deuteron to extract the non-singlet spin-dependent structure
function g_1^NS(x,Q2). The isovector quark density, Delta_q_3(x,Q2), is
evaluated from a NLO QCD fit of g_1^NS. The first moment of Delta_q3 is in good
agreement with the value predicted by the Bjorken sum rule and corresponds to a
ratio of the axial and vector coupling constants g_A/g_V =
1.28+-0.07(stat)+-0.10(syst).Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Transverse spin effects in hadron-pair production from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering
First measurements of azimuthal asymmetries in hadron-pair production in
deep-inelastic scattering of muons on transversely polarised ^6LiD (deuteron)
and NH_3 (proton) targets are presented. The data were taken in the years
2002-2004 and 2007 with the COMPASS spectrometer using a muon beam of 160 GeV/c
at the CERN SPS. The asymmetries provide access to the transversity
distribution functions, without involving the Collins effect as in single
hadron production. The sizeable asymmetries measured on the NH_ target indicate
non-vanishing u-quark transversity and two-hadron interference fragmentation
functions. The small asymmetries measured on the ^6LiD target can be
interpreted as indication for a cancellation of u- and d-quark transversities.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, updated to the published versio
Quark helicity distributions from longitudinal spin asymmetries in muon-proton and muon-deuteron scattering
Double-spin asymmetries for production of charged pions and kaons in
semi-inclusive deep-inelastic muon scattering have been measured by the COMPASS
experiment at CERN. The data, obtained by scattering a 160 GeV muon beam off a
longitudinally polarised NH_3 target, cover a range of the Bjorken variable x
between 0.004 and 0.7. A leading order evaluation of the helicity distributions
for the three lightest quarks and antiquark flavours derived from these
asymmetries and from our previous deuteron data is presented. The resulting
values of the sea quark distributions are small and do not show any sizable
dependence on x in the range of the measurements. No significant difference is
observed between the strange and antistrange helicity distributions, both
compatible with zero. The integrated value of the flavour asymmetry of the
helicity distribution of the light-quark sea, \Delta u-bar - \Delta d-bar, is
found to be slightly positive, about 1.5 standard deviations away from zero.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure
The COMPASS Experiment at CERN
The COMPASS experiment makes use of the CERN SPS high-intensitymuon and
hadron beams for the investigation of the nucleon spin structure and the
spectroscopy of hadrons. One or more outgoing particles are detected in
coincidence with the incoming muon or hadron. A large polarized target inside a
superconducting solenoid is used for the measurements with the muon beam.
Outgoing particles are detected by a two-stage, large angle and large momentum
range spectrometer. The setup is built using several types of tracking
detectors, according to the expected incident rate, required space resolution
and the solid angle to be covered. Particle identification is achieved using a
RICH counter and both hadron and electromagnetic calorimeters. The setup has
been successfully operated from 2002 onwards using a muon beam. Data with a
hadron beam were also collected in 2004. This article describes the main
features and performances of the spectrometer in 2004; a short summary of the
2006 upgrade is also given.Comment: 84 papes, 74 figure
- …