Improved superconducting properties of MgB2

We present electrical transport, magnetization, and specific heat measurements on bulk MgB2 samples (T_{c} = 38.5 K) synthesized under 200 MPa pressure using a process based on hot isostatic pressing with cooling under pressure. The samples are fully dense and display excellent superconducting properties, including a narrow superconducting transition width (\Delta T_{c} = 0.75 K), a high upper critical field H_{c2} (H_{c2}(0) ~ 155 kOe), and a critical current density J_{c} that is the largest yet measured for bulk samples of MgB2 (J_{c}(0) ~ 1.4 MA/cm^{2}). Specific heat measurements yielded a jump \Delta C at T_{c} of 92 mJ/mol K. These superconducting properties are comparable to those obtained with techniques that are not so well suited to industrial scale fabrication.Comment: 7 text pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physica

Pulse Dynamics in a Chain of Granules With Friction

We study the dynamics of a pulse in a chain of granules with friction. We present theories for chains of cylindrical granules (Hertz potential with exponent $n=2$) and of granules with other geometries ($n>2$). Our results are supported via numerical simulations for cylindrical and for spherical granules ($n=5/2$).Comment: Submitted to PR

Study of the process e+e- to pi+pi-pi+pi-pi0 with CMD-2 detector

The process e+e- to pi+ pi- pi+ pi- pi0 has been studied in the center of mass energy range 1280 -- 1380 MeV using 3.0 1/pb of data collected with the CMD-2 detector in Novosibirsk. Analysis shows that the cross section of the five pion production is dominated by the contributions of the eta pi+pi- and omega pi+pi- intermediate states.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure. Submitted to Phys. Lett.

High-statistics measurement of the pion form factor in the rho-meson energy range with the CMD-2 detector

We present a measurement of the pion form factor based on e+e- annihilation data from the CMD-2 detector in the energy range 0.6<sqrt(s)<1.0 GeV with a systematic uncertainty of 0.8%. A data sample is five times larger than that used in our previous measurement.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. Added comparison with KLOE measurement, minor updates. Accepted by PL

Observation of the conversion decay ϕ→π0e+e−\phi\to\pi^0e^+e^- at CMD-2

Using 15.1^{-1} of data collected by CMD-2 in the $\phi$-meson energy range, the branching ratio of the conversion decay $\phi\to\pi^0e^+e^-$ has been measured for the first time: B(\phi\to\pi^0e^+e^-) = (1.22 \pm 0.34 \pm 0.21) \cdot 10 ^{-5}.Comment: 13 pages, 6 PostScript figures, uses refmerge.sty. To be published in Phys. Lett.

Cross section of the reaction e+e−→π+π−π+π−e^+ e^- \to \pi^+\pi^-\pi^+\pi^- below 1 GeV at CMD-2

Using 3.07 ${pb}^{-1}$ of data collected in the energy range 0.60-0.97 GeV by CMD-2, about 150 events of the process \epm \to \pch have been selected. The energy dependence of the cross section agrees with the assumption of the $a_1(1260) \pi$ intermediate state which is dominant above 1 GeV. For the first time \fourpi events are observed at the $\rho$ meson energy. Under the assumption that all these events come from the $\rho$ meson decay, the value of the cross section at the $\rho$ meson peak corresponds to the following decay width: \Gamma(\rho^0 \to \fourpi) = (2.8 \pm 1.4 \pm 0.5) {keV} or to the branching ratio B(\rho^0 \to \fourpi) = (1.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 0.3) \cdot 10 ^{-5}.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Study of the Process e+ e- --> omega pi0 --> pi0 pi0 gamma in c.m. Energy Range 920--1380 MeV at CMD-2

The cross section of the process e+ e- --> omega pi0 --> pi0 pi0 gamma has been measured in the c.m. energy range 920-1380 MeV with the CMD-2 detector. Its energy dependence is well described by the interference of the rho(770) and rho'(1450) mesons decaying to omega pi0. Upper limits for the cross sections of the direct processes e+ e- --> pi0 pi0 gamma, eta pi0 gamma have been set.Comment: Accepted for publication in PL

First observation of the ϕ→π+π−γ\phi\to\pi^+\pi^-\gamma decay

Radiative decays of the $\phi$ meson have been studied using a data sample of about 20 million $\phi$ decays collected by the CMD-2 detector at VEPP-2M collider in Novosibirsk. From selected $e^+e^-\to\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\gamma$ events the $\phi\to\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\gamma$ decay has been observed for the first time. \par Under the assumption that the intermediate $f_{0}(980)\gamma$ state dominates in the $\phi \to \pi^+\pi^-\gamma$ decay, the corresponding branching ratio is $Br(\phi\to f_{0}(980)\gamma)=(1.93\pm 0.46\pm 0.50)\times10^{-4}$. \par Selected $e^+e^-\to\mu^+\mu^-\gamma$ events were used to obtain $Br(\phi\to\mu^+\mu^-\gamma) =(1.43\pm 0.45\pm 0.14)\times10^{-5}$ for $E_{\gamma}>20$ MeV. \par Using the same data sample, upper limits at 90% CL have been obtained for the C-violating decay of the $\phi$: $Br(\phi\to\rho\gamma) < 1.2\times10^{-5}$; and for the P- and CP-violating decay of the $\eta$: \par $Br(\eta\to\pi^+\pi^-) < 3.3\times10^{-4}$.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, Submitted to Phys. Lett.