1,115 research outputs found
Charge-Focusing Readout of Time Projection Chambers
Time projection chambers (TPCs) have found a wide range of applications in
particle physics, nuclear physics, and homeland security. For TPCs with
high-resolution readout, the readout electronics often dominate the price of
the final detector. We have developed a novel method which could be used to
build large-scale detectors while limiting the necessary readout area. By
focusing the drift charge with static electric fields, we would allow a small
area of electronics to be sensitive to particle detection for a much larger
detector volume. The resulting cost reduction could be important in areas of
research which demand large-scale detectors, including dark matter searches and
detection of special nuclear material. We present simulations made using the
software package Garfield of a focusing structure to be used with a prototype
TPC with pixel readout. This design should enable significant focusing while
retaining directional sensitivity to incoming particles. We also present first
experimental results and compare them with simulation.Comment: 5 pages, 17 figures, Presented at IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium 201
A review of the discovery reach of directional Dark Matter detection
Cosmological observations indicate that most of the matter in the Universe is Dark Matter. Dark Matter in the form of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) can be detected directly, via its elastic scattering off target nuclei. Most current direct detection experiments only measure the energy of the recoiling nuclei. However, directional detection experiments are sensitive to the direction of the nuclear recoil as well. Due to the Sun’s motion with respect to the Galactic rest frame, the directional recoil rate has a dipole feature, peaking around the direction of the Solar motion. This provides a powerful tool for demonstrating the Galactic origin of nuclear recoils and hence unambiguously detecting Dark Matter. Furthermore, the directional recoil distribution depends on the WIMP mass, scattering cross section and local velocity distribution. Therefore, with a large number of recoil events it will be possible to study the physics of Dark Matter in terms of particle and astrophysical properties. We review the potential of directional detectors for detecting and characterizing WIMPs
Probing the Local Velocity Distribution of WIMP Dark Matter with Directional Detectors
We explore the ability of directional nuclear-recoil detectors to constrain
the local velocity distribution of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)
dark matter by performing Bayesian parameter estimation on simulated
recoil-event data sets. We discuss in detail how directional information, when
combined with measurements of the recoil-energy spectrum, helps break
degeneracies in the velocity-distribution parameters. We also consider the
possibility that velocity structures such as cold tidal streams or a dark disk
may also be present in addition to the Galactic halo. Assuming a
carbon-tetrafluoride detector with a 30-kg-yr exposure, a 50-GeV WIMP mass, and
a WIMP-nucleon spin-dependent cross-section of 0.001 pb, we show that the
properties of a cold tidal stream may be well constrained. However, measurement
of the parameters of a dark-disk component with a low lag speed of ~50 km/s may
be challenging unless energy thresholds are improved.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figure
Status of Muon Collider Research and Development and Future Plans
The status of the research on muon colliders is discussed and plans are
outlined for future theoretical and experimental studies. Besides continued
work on the parameters of a 3-4 and 0.5 TeV center-of-mass (CoM) energy
collider, many studies are now concentrating on a machine near 0.1 TeV (CoM)
that could be a factory for the s-channel production of Higgs particles. We
discuss the research on the various components in such muon colliders, starting
from the proton accelerator needed to generate pions from a heavy-Z target and
proceeding through the phase rotation and decay ()
channel, muon cooling, acceleration, storage in a collider ring and the
collider detector. We also present theoretical and experimental R & D plans for
the next several years that should lead to a better understanding of the design
and feasibility issues for all of the components. This report is an update of
the progress on the R & D since the Feasibility Study of Muon Colliders
presented at the Snowmass'96 Workshop [R. B. Palmer, A. Sessler and A.
Tollestrup, Proceedings of the 1996 DPF/DPB Summer Study on High-Energy Physics
(Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA, 1997)].Comment: 95 pages, 75 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Special Topics,
Accelerators and Beam
Observation of B0bar --> D(*)0 p pbar
The B meson decay modes B --> D p pbar and B --> D* p pbar have been studied
using 29.4 fb^{-1} of data collected with the Belle detector at KEKB. The B0bar
--> D0 p pbar and B0bar --> D*0 p pbar decays have been observed for the first
time with branching fractions Br(B0bar --> D0 p pbar) =(1.18\pm 0.15\pm 0.16)
10^{-4} and Br(B0bar --> D*0 p pbar) =(1.20^{+0.33}_{-0.29}\pm 0.21) 10^{-4}.
No signal has been found for the B+ --> D+ p pbar and B+ --> D*+ p pbar decay
modes, and the corresponding upper limits at 90% C.L. are presented.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submited to Phys. Rev. Let
Observation of Double cc bar Production in e+ e- Annihilation at sqrt{s} ~ 10.6 GeV
We report the observation of prompt J/psi via double ccbar production from
the e+e- continuum. In this process one ccbar pair fragments into a J/psi meson
while the remaining pair either produces a bound charmonium state or fragments
into open charm. Both cases have been observed: the first by studying the mass
spectrum of the system recoiling against the J/psi, and the second by
reconstructing the J/psi together with a charmed meson. We find cross-sections
of \sigma(e+ e- -> J/psi eta_c (gamma)) * BR (eta_c -> >=4 charged) = 0.033
(+0.007 -0.006)(stat) \pm 0.009(syst)pb and \sigma(e+ e- -> J/psi D*+ X) = 0.53
(+0.19 -0.15)(stat) \pm 0.14(syst) pb, and infer \sigma(e+ e- -> J/psi c cbar)
/ \sigma(e+ e- -> J/psi X) = 0.59 (+0.15 -0.13)(stat) \pm 0.12(syst). These
results are obtained from a 46.2/fb data sample collected near the Upsilon(4S)
resonance, with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy e+ e-
collider.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to be submitted to Physical Review Letter
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