98 research outputs found
Search for Axionlike and Scalar Particles with the NA64 Experiment
We carried out a model-independent search for light scalar (s) and
pseudoscalar axionlike (a) particles that couple to two photons by using the
high-energy CERN SPS H4 electron beam. The new particles, if they exist, could
be produced through the Primakoff effect in interactions of hard bremsstrahlung
photons generated by 100 GeV electrons in the NA64 active dump with virtual
photons provided by the nuclei of the dump. The a(s) would penetrate the
downstream HCAL module, serving as shielding, and would be observed either
through their decay in the rest of the HCAL detector or
as events with large missing energy if the a(s) decays downstream of the HCAL.
This method allows for the probing the a(s) parameter space, including those
from generic axion models, inaccessible to previous experiments. No evidence of
such processes has been found from the analysis of the data corresponding to
electrons on target allowing to set new limits on the
-coupling strength for a(s) masses below 55 MeV.Comment: This publication is dedicated to the memory of our colleague Danila
Tlisov. 7 pages, 5 figures, revised version accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev. Let
The Holocene history of the NE Black Sea and surrounding areas: An integrated record of marine and terrestrial palaeoenvironmental change
Here we present an almost complete and integrated Holocene record of marine and terrestrial palaeoenvironmental change from the NE shelf of the Black Sea. A dinoflagellate cyst record used to reconstruct Holocene sea-surface conditions highlights that the NE shelf was a brackish water environment, with a minimum salinity of 7 psu in the early-Holocene before changing at a gradual rate to a more saline environment with maximum salinities of ~18 psu being reached around 3 cal. ka. A warming phase was detected from 6 cal. ka BP, with warmest conditions between 3 and 2.5 cal. ka BP. A pollen record is used to examine the major climate and land-use changes in the eastern Black Sea region. Biome reconstructions show that the temperate deciduous forest dominates throughout the record, although with an overall decline. From early-Holocene to the first hiatus around ~9 cal. ka BP, Pinus pollen dominates, while taxa representing a mixed oak-hornbeam-beech forest are less abundant, indicating relatively cool and dry conditions. Between ~7.9 and ~6.1 cal. ka BP, a thermophilous deciduous forest established, suggesting an overall warming trend and humid conditions. From 4 cal. ka BP, Pinus dominates the pollen record, accompanied by an increase of herbs, implying an opening of the landscape, which would coincide with the beginning of the Meghalayan Age. The integrated record of the marine and terrestrial climate indicators supports the notion that this change in landscape may have been triggered by a combination of warmer and drier conditions and human activities in this region
Graphene plasmonics
Two rich and vibrant fields of investigation, graphene physics and
plasmonics, strongly overlap. Not only does graphene possess intrinsic plasmons
that are tunable and adjustable, but a combination of graphene with noble-metal
nanostructures promises a variety of exciting applications for conventional
plasmonics. The versatility of graphene means that graphene-based plasmonics
may enable the manufacture of novel optical devices working in different
frequency ranges, from terahertz to the visible, with extremely high speed, low
driving voltage, low power consumption and compact sizes. Here we review the
field emerging at the intersection of graphene physics and plasmonics.Comment: Review article; 12 pages, 6 figures, 99 references (final version
available only at publisher's web site
Improved exclusion limit for light dark matter from e+e- annihilation in NA64
The current most stringent constraints for the existence of sub-GeV dark matter coupling to Standard Model via a massive vector boson A′ were set by the NA64 experiment for the mass region mA′≲250 MeV, by analyzing data from the interaction of 2.84×1011 100-GeV electrons with an active thick target and searching for missing-energy events. In this work, by including A′ production via secondary positron annihilation with atomic electrons, we extend these limits in the 200-300 MeV region by almost an order of magnitude, touching for the first time the dark matter relic density constrained parameter combinations. Our new results demonstrate the power of the resonant annihilation process in missing energy dark-matter searches, paving the road to future dedicated e+ beam efforts
Search for Axionlike and Scalar Particles with the NA64 Experiment
We carried out a model-independent search for light scalar (s) and pseudoscalar axionlike (a) particles that couple to two photons by using the high-energy CERN SPS H4 electron beam. The new particles, if they exist, could be produced through the Primakoff effect in interactions of hard bremsstrahlung photons generated by 100 GeV electrons in the NA64 active dump with virtual photons provided by the nuclei of the dump. The a(s) would penetrate the downstream HCAL module, serving as a shield, and would be observed either through their a(s)→γγ decay in the rest of the HCAL detector, or as events with a large missing energy if the a(s) decays downstream of the HCAL. This method allows for the probing of the a(s) parameter space, including those from generic axion models, inaccessible to previous experiments. No evidence of such processes has been found from the analysis of the data corresponding to 2.84×10^{11} electrons on target, allowing us to set new limits on the a(s)γγ-coupling strength for a(s) masses below 55 MeV
Search for pseudoscalar bosons decaying into e+e- pairs in the NA64 experiment at the CERN SPS
We report the results of a search for a light pseudoscalar particle a that couples to electrons and decays to e+e- performed using the high-energy CERN SPS H4 electron beam. If such light pseudoscalar exists, it could explain the ATOMKI anomaly (an excess of e+e- pairs in the nuclear transitions of Be8 and He4 nuclei at the invariant mass ≃17 MeV observed by the experiment at the 5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator at ATOMKI, Hungary). We used the NA64 data collected in the "visible mode"configuration with a total statistics corresponding to 8.4×1010 electrons on target (EOT) in 2017 and 2018. In order to increase sensitivity to small coupling parameter ϵ we also used the data collected in 2016-2018 in the "invisible mode"configuration of NA64 with a total statistics corresponding to 2.84×1011 EOT. The background and efficiency estimates for these two configurations were retained from our previous analyses searching for light vector bosons and axionlike particles (ALP) (the latter were assumed to couple predominantly to γ). In this work we recalculate the signal yields, which are different due to different cross section and lifetime of a pseudoscalar particle a, and perform a new statistical analysis. As a result, the region of the two dimensional parameter space ma-ϵ in the mass range from 1 to 17.1 MeV is excluded. At the mass of the central value of the ATOMKI anomaly (the first result obtained on the beryllium nucleus, 16.7 MeV) the values of ϵ in the range 2.1×10-4<ϵ<3.2×10-4 are excluded
On Propagation of Excitation Waves in Moving Media: The FitzHugh-Nagumo Model
BACKGROUND: Existence of flows and convection is an essential and integral feature of many excitable media with wave propagation modes, such as blood coagulation or bioreactors. METHODS/RESULTS: Here, propagation of two-dimensional waves is studied in parabolic channel flow of excitable medium of the FitzHugh-Nagumo type. Even if the stream velocity is hundreds of times higher that the wave velocity in motionless medium (), steady propagation of an excitation wave is eventually established. At high stream velocities, the wave does not span the channel from wall to wall, forming isolated excited regions, which we called "restrictons". They are especially easy to observe when the model parameters are close to critical ones, at which waves disappear in still medium. In the subcritical region of parameters, a sufficiently fast stream can result in the survival of excitation moving, as a rule, in the form of "restrictons". For downstream excitation waves, the axial portion of the channel is the most important one in determining their behavior. For upstream waves, the most important region of the channel is the near-wall boundary layers. The roles of transversal diffusion, and of approximate similarity with respect to stream velocity are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: These findings clarify mechanisms of wave propagation and survival in flow
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
Modeling the heart
Quantitative prediction over multiple space and time scales using computer models of the electrical activity in the mammalian heart, based on membrane and intracellular ion transport and binding dynamics, digital histology, and three-dimensional cardiac anatomy and architecture
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