Ionospheric disturbances over East Asia during intense December magnetic storms of 2006 and 2015: similarities and differences

Using data from ionosondes, located in East Asia, and total electron content maps, we have made a comparative analysis of ionospheric disturbances associated with the intense geomagnetic storms of December 14–16, 2006 and December 19–22, 2015. These storms had almost equal peak intensities (Dstmin=–162 and –155 nT), but different durations of the main phases (2.5 and 19 hr). At the beginning of both the storms, the region under study was located in the vicinity of the midnight meridian. Ionospheric responses to magnetic storms differed in: i) an increase in the F2-layer critical frequency at subauroral latitudes, caused by an increase in auroral precipitation, during the initial phase of the former storm and the absence of this effect in the latter; (ii) a sharp drop in the critical frequency in the evening hours of the main phase of the latter storm, caused by a shift of the main ionospheric trough to lower latitudes, and the absence of this effect during the former storm; (iii) generation of a short-term positive disturbance observed at subauroral latitudes only in the early recovery phase of the former storm after the negative ionospheric disturbance. During both the storms at middle latitudes there were positive disturbances and wave-like fluctuations of the critical frequency which increased in the vicinity of the dawn meridian. The main causes of the differences between the ionospheric storms are shown to be the differences between the initial conditions of the magnetosphere–ionosphere system and durations of the main phases of magnetic storms

Measurement of RudsR_{\text{uds}} and RR between 3.12 and 3.72 GeV at the KEDR detector

Using the KEDR detector at the VEPP-4M $e^+e^-$ collider, we have measured the values of $R_{\text{uds}}$ and $R$ at seven points of the center-of-mass energy between 3.12 and 3.72 GeV. The total achieved accuracy is about or better than $3.3\%$ at most of energy points with a systematic uncertainty of about $2.1\%$. At the moment it is the most accurate measurement of $R(s)$ in this energy range

New precise determination of the \tau lepton mass at KEDR detector

The status of the experiment on the precise $\tau$ lepton mass measurement running at the VEPP-4M collider with the KEDR detector is reported. The mass value is evaluated from the $\tau^+\tau^-$ cross section behaviour around the production threshold. The preliminary result based on 6.7 pb$^{-1}$ of data is $m_{\tau}=1776.80^{+0.25}_{-0.23} \pm 0.15$ MeV. Using 0.8 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected at the $\psi'$ peak the preliminary result is also obtained: $\Gamma_{ee}B_{\tau\tau}(\psi') = 7.2 \pm 2.1$ eV.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures; The 9th International Workshop on Tau-Lepton Physics, Tau0

Measurement of \Gamma_{ee}(J/\psi)*Br(J/\psi->e^+e^-) and \Gamma_{ee}(J/\psi)*Br(J/\psi->\mu^+\mu^-)

The products of the electron width of the J/\psi meson and the branching fraction of its decays to the lepton pairs were measured using data from the KEDR experiment at the VEPP-4M electron-positron collider. The results are \Gamma_{ee}(J/\psi)*Br(J/\psi->e^+e^-)=(0.3323\pm0.0064\pm0.0048) keV, \Gamma_{ee}(J/\psi)*Br(J/\psi->\mu^+\mu^-)=(0.3318\pm0.0052\pm0.0063) keV. Their combinations \Gamma_{ee}\times(\Gamma_{ee}+\Gamma_{\mu\mu})/\Gamma=(0.6641\pm0.0082\pm0.0100) keV, \Gamma_{ee}/\Gamma_{\mu\mu}=1.002\pm0.021\pm0.013 can be used to improve theaccuracy of the leptonic and full widths and test leptonic universality. Assuming e\mu universality and using the world average value of the lepton branching fraction, we also determine the leptonic \Gamma_{ll}=5.59\pm0.12 keV and total \Gamma=94.1\pm2.7 keV widths of the J/\psi meson.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Search for narrow resonances in e+ e- annihilation between 1.85 and 3.1 GeV with the KEDR Detector

We report results of a search for narrow resonances in e+ e- annihilation at center-of-mass energies between 1.85 and 3.1 GeV performed with the KEDR detector at the VEPP-4M e+ e- collider. The upper limit on the leptonic width of a narrow resonance Gamma(R -> ee) Br(R -> hadr) < 120 eV has been obtained (at 90 % C.L.)

Measurement of main parameters of the \psi(2S) resonance

A high-precision determination of the main parameters of the \psi(2S) resonance has been performed with the KEDR detector at the VEPP-4M e^{+}e^{-} collider in three scans of the \psi(2S) -- \psi(3770) energy range. Fitting the energy dependence of the multihadron cross section in the vicinity of the \psi(2S) we obtained the mass value M = 3686.114 +- 0.007 +- 0.011 ^{+0.002}_{-0.012} MeV and the product of the electron partial width by the branching fraction into hadrons \Gamma_{ee}*B_{h} = 2.233 +- 0.015 +- 0.037 +- 0.020 keV. The third error quoted is an estimate of the model dependence of the result due to assumptions on the interference effects in the cross section of the single-photon e^{+}e^{-} annihilation to hadrons explicitly considered in this work. Implicitly, the same assumptions were employed to obtain the charmonium leptonic width and the absolute branching fractions in many experiments. Using the result presented and the world average values of the electron and hadron branching fractions, one obtains the electron partial width and the total width of the \psi(2S): \Gamma_{ee} =2.282 +- 0.015 +- 0.038 +- 0.021 keV, \Gamma = 296 +- 2 +- 8 +- 3 keV. These results are consistent with and more than two times more precise than any of the previous experiments