Precision Crystal Calorimetry in High Energy Physics

Crystal Calorimetry is widely used in high energy physics because of its precision. Recent development in crystal technology identified two key issues to reach and maintain crystal precision: light response uniformity and calibration in situ. Crystal radiation damage is understood. While the damage in alkali halides is found to be caused by the oxygen/hydroxyl contamination, it is the structure defects, such as oxygen vacancies, cause damage in oxides.Comment: 8 pages with 13 eps Figures, RevTe

A study of the optical and radiation damage properties of lead tungstate crystals

A study has been made of the optical and radiation damage properties of undoped and niobium doped lead tungstate crystals. Data were obtained on the optical absorbance, the intensity and decay time of the scintillation light output, and the radioluminescence and photoluminescence emission spectra. Radiation damage was studied in several undoped and niobium doped samples using ^(60)Co gamma ray irradiation. The change in optical absorption and observed scintillation light output was measured as a function of dose up to total cumulative doses on the order of 800 krad. The radiation induced phosphorescence and thermoluminescence was also measured, as well as recovery from damage by optical bleaching and thermal annealing. An investigation was also made to determine trace element impurities in several samples

A study of the optical and radiation damage properties of lead tungstate crystals

Lead tungstate (PbWO{sub 4}) is a new scintillating material which is of great interest for use in high energy electromagnetic calorimeters. It has a very high density, short radiation length and small Moliere radius and has a scintillation light output which peaks between 450--550 nm with a decay time in the range from 5--15 ns. It is presently being considered for use in two large, high resolution electromagnetic calorimeters, one for the CMS experiment and the other for the ALICE experiment, at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. In order to meet the stringent demands of these two experiments, the crystals are required to be of high purity, produced uniform light output, and, in the case of CMS, be resistant to radiation damage up to several megarads. Here, a study has been made of the optical and radiation damage properties of undoped and niobium doped lead tungstate crystals. Data were obtained on the optical absorbance, the intensity and decay time of the scintillation light output, and the radioluminescence and photoluminescence emission spectra. Radiation damage was studied in several undoped and niobium doped samples using {sup 60}Co gamma ray irradiation. The change in optical absorption and observed scintillation light output was measured as a function of dose up to total cumulative doses on the order of 800 krad. The radiation induced phosphorescence and thermoluminescence was also measured, as well as recovery from damage by optical bleaching and thermal annealing. An investigation was also made to determine trace element impurities in several samples

The Leighton Chajnantor Telescope: Project update and mechanical structural analysis in preparations for new deployment in Chajnantor, Chile

The LCT project aims to refurbish the CSO telescope, move it from Maunakea to Chajnantor, in Chile, and operate it scientifically for 10 years. The relocation of the telescope involves a variety of changes in the working conditions, which demands in-depth mechanical analysis. To conduct the required studies, an FEM model of the entire telescope has been developed, together with CFD tools. This paper introduces the LCT project, presents the full-FEM model, its validation, and the first steps towards these analyses. Preliminary results of the simulations of the telescope, considering the working conditions at the Plateau, are also shown

TERT Promotes Epithelial Proliferation through Transcriptional Control of a Myc- and Wnt-Related Developmental Program

Telomerase serves a critical role in stem cell function and tissue homeostasis. This role depends on its ability to synthesize telomere repeats in a manner dependent on the reverse transcriptase (RT) function of its protein component telomerase RT (TERT), as well as on a novel pathway whose mechanism is poorly understood. Here, we use a TERT mutant lacking RT function (TERTci) to study the mechanism of TERT action in mammalian skin, an ideal tissue for studying progenitor cell biology. We show that TERTci retains the full activities of wild-type TERT in enhancing keratinocyte proliferation in skin and in activating resting hair follicle stem cells, which triggers initiation of a new hair follicle growth phase and promotes hair synthesis. To understand the nature of this RT-independent function for TERT, we studied the genome-wide transcriptional response to acute changes in TERT levels in mouse skin. We find that TERT facilitates activation of progenitor cells in the skin and hair follicle by triggering a rapid change in gene expression that significantly overlaps the program controlling natural hair follicle cycling in wild-type mice. Statistical comparisons to other microarray gene sets using pattern-matching algorithms revealed that the TERT transcriptional response strongly resembles those mediated by Myc and Wnt, two proteins intimately associated with stem cell function and cancer. These data show that TERT controls tissue progenitor cells via transcriptional regulation of a developmental program converging on the Myc and Wnt pathways

A study of the optical and radiation damage properties of lead tungstate crystals

A study has been made of the optical and radiation damage properties of undoped and niobium doped lead tungstate crystals. Data were obtained on the optical absorbance, the intensity and decay time of the scintillation light output, and the radioluminescence and photoluminescence emission spectra. Radiation damage was studied in several undoped and niobium doped samples using ^(60)Co gamma ray irradiation. The change in optical absorption and observed scintillation light output was measured as a function of dose up to total cumulative doses on the order of 800 krad. The radiation induced phosphorescence and thermoluminescence was also measured, as well as recovery from damage by optical bleaching and thermal annealing. An investigation was also made to determine trace element impurities in several samples

A study of the optical and radiation damage properties of lead tungstate crystals

A study has been made of the optical and radiation damage properties of undoped and niobium doped lead tungstate crystals. Data were obtained on the optical absorbance, the intensity and decay time of the scintillation light output, and the radioluminescence and photoluminescence emission spectra. Radiation damage was studied in several undoped and niobium doped samples using ^(60)Co gamma ray irradiation. The change in optical absorption and observed scintillation light output was measured as a function of dose up to total cumulative doses on the order of 800 krad. The radiation induced phosphorescence and thermoluminescence was also measured, as well as recovery from damage by optical bleaching and thermal annealing. An investigation was also made to determine trace element impurities in several samples

Strong interface-induced spin-orbit coupling in graphene on WS2

Interfacial interactions allow the electronic properties of graphene to be modified, as recently demonstrated by the appearance of satellite Dirac cones in the band structure of graphene on hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) substrates. Ongoing research strives to explore interfacial interactions in a broader class of materials in order to engineer targeted electronic properties. Here we show that at an interface with a tungsten disulfide (WS2) substrate, the strength of the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in graphene is very strongly enhanced. The induced SOI leads to a pronounced low-temperature weak anti-localization (WAL) effect, from which we determine the spin-relaxation time. We find that spin-relaxation time in graphene is two-to-three orders of magnitude smaller on WS2 than on SiO2 or hBN, and that it is comparable to the intervalley scattering time. To interpret our findings we have performed first-principle electronic structure calculations, which both confirm that carriers in graphene-on-WS2 experience a strong SOI and allow us to extract a spin-dependent low-energy effective Hamiltonian. Our analysis further shows that the use of WS2 substrates opens a possible new route to access topological states of matter in graphene-based systems.Comment: Originally submitted version in compliance with editorial guidelines. Final version with expanded discussion of the relation between theory and experiments to be published in Nature Communication

Production of phi mesons at mid-rapidity in sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We present the first results of meson production in the K^+K^- decay channel from Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as measured at mid-rapidity by the PHENIX detector at RHIC. Precision resonance centroid and width values are extracted as a function of collision centrality. No significant variation from the PDG accepted values is observed. The transverse mass spectra are fitted with a linear exponential function for which the derived inverse slope parameter is seen to be constant as a function of centrality. These data are also fitted by a hydrodynamic model with the result that the freeze-out temperature and the expansion velocity values are consistent with the values previously derived from fitting single hadron inclusive data. As a function of transverse momentum the collisions scaled peripheral.to.central yield ratio RCP for the is comparable to that of pions rather than that of protons. This result lends support to theoretical models which distinguish between baryons and mesons instead of particle mass for explaining the anomalous proton yield.Comment: 326 authors, 24 pages text, 23 figures, 6 tables, RevTeX 4. To be submitted to Physical Review C as a regular article. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm