The Thin Gap Chambers database experience in test beam and preparations for ATLAS

Thin gap chambers (TGCs) are used for the muon trigger system in the forward region of the LHC experiment ATLAS. The TGCs are expected to provide a trigger signal within 25 ns of the bunch spacing. An extensive system test of the ATLAS muon spectrometer has been performed in the H8 beam line at the CERN SPS during the last few years. A relational database was used for storing the conditions of the tests as well as the configuration of the system. This database has provided the detector control system with the information needed for configuration of the front end electronics. The database is used to assist the online operation and maintenance. The same database is used to store the non event condition and configuration parameters needed later for the offline reconstruction software. A larger scale of the database has been produced to support the whole TGC system. It integrates all the production, QA tests and assembly information. A 1/12th model of the whole TGC system is currently in use for testing the performance of this database in configuring and tracking the condition of the system. A prototype of the database was first implemented during the H8 test beams. This paper describes the database structure, its interface to other systems and its operational performance.Comment: Proceedings IEEE, Nuclear Science Symposium 2005, Stockholm, Sweeden, May 200

Titan's atmosphere as observed by Cassini/VIMS solar occultations: CH4_4, CO and evidence for C2_2H6_6 absorption

We present an analysis of the VIMS solar occultations dataset, which allows us to extract vertically resolved information on the characteristics of Titan's atmosphere between 100-700 km with a characteristic vertical resolution of 10 km. After a series of data treatment procedures, 4 occultations out of 10 are retained. This sample covers different seasons and latitudes of Titan. The transmittances show clearly the evolution of the haze and detect the detached layer at 310 km in Sept. 2011 at mid-northern latitudes. Through the inversion of the transmission spectra with a line-by-line radiative transfer code we retrieve the vertical distribution of CH$_4$ and CO mixing ratio. The two methane bands at 1.4 and 1.7 {\mu}m are always in good agreement and yield an average stratospheric abundance of $1.28\pm0.08$%. This is significantly less than the value of 1.48% obtained by the GCMS/Huygens instrument. The analysis of the residual spectra after the inversion shows that there are additional absorptions which affect a great part of the VIMS wavelength range. We attribute many of these additional bands to gaseous ethane, whose near-infrared spectrum is not well modeled yet. Ethane contributes significantly to the strong absorption between 3.2-3.5 {\mu}m that was previously attributed only to C-H stretching bands from aerosols. Ethane bands may affect the surface windows too, especially at 2.7 {\mu}m. Other residual bands are generated by stretching modes of C-H, C-C and C-N bonds. In addition to the C-H stretch from aliphatic hydrocarbons at 3.4 {\mu}m, we detect a strong and narrow absorption at 3.28 {\mu}m which we tentatively attribute to the presence of PAHs in the stratosphere. C-C and C-N stretching bands are possibly present between 4.3-4.5 {\mu}m. Finally, we obtain the CO mixing ratio between 70-170 km. The average result of $46\pm16$ ppm is in good agreement with previous studies.Comment: 51 pages, 28 figure

Chiral behavior of pseudo-Goldstone boson masses and decay constants in 2+1 flavor QCD

We present preliminary results for the chiral behavior of charged pseudo-Goldstone-boson masses and decay constants. These are obtained in simulations with N_f=2+1 flavors of tree-level, O(a)-improved Wilson sea quarks. In these simulations, mesons are composed of either valence quarks discretized in the same way as the sea quarks (unitary simulations) or of overlap valence quarks (mixed-action simulations). We find that the chiral behavior of the pseudoscalar meson masses in the mixed-action calculations cannot be explained with continuum, partially-quenched chiral perturbation theory. We show that the inclusion of O(a^2) unitarity violations in the chiral expansion resolves this discrepancy and that the size of the unitarity violations required are consistent with those which we observe in the zero-momentum, scalar-isotriplet-meson propagator.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, talk by L. Lellouch at the XXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory (LATTICE 2007), 30 July - 4 August 2007, Regensburg, German

The ratio FK/Fpi in QCD

We determine the ratio FK/Fpi in QCD with Nf=2+1 flavors of sea quarks, based on a series of lattice calculations with three different lattice spacings, large volumes and a simulated pion mass reaching down to about 190 MeV. We obtain FK/Fpi=1.192 +/- 0.007(stat) +/- 0.006(syst). This result is then used to give an updated value of the CKM matrix element |Vus|. The unitarity relation for the first row of this matrix is found to be well observed.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Mixing of B mesons and Decay Constants with the Non-Perturbatively Improved Action

Several quantities relevant to phenomenological studies of the mixing of neutral B mesons are computed on the lattice. Our main results are: f_{Bd} sqrt(B_{Bd})=206(28)(7) MeV, f_{Bs} sqrt(B_{Bs})/f_{Bd}sqrt(B_{Bd})=1.16(7). We also obtain the related quantities f_{Bs}sqrt(B{Bs})=237(18)(8) MeV, f_{Bd}= 174(22)(+7-0)(-4-0) MeV, f_{Bs}= 204(15)(+7-0)(+3-0) MeV, f_{Bs}/f_{Bd}=1.17(4)(+0-1), f_{Bd}/f_{Ds}=0.74(5). After combining our results with the experimental world average (Delta m_d), we predict (Delta m_s)=15.8(2.1)(3.3) ps^{-1}. We have also computed the relevant parameters for mixing of neutral D mesons which may be useful in some extensions of the Standard Model. All the quantities were obtained from a quenched simulation with a non-perturbatively improved Clover action at beta=6.2, corresponding to a lattice spacing 1/a=2.7(1) GeV, on a sample of 200 gauge-field configurations. A discussion of the main systematic errors is also presented.Comment: 21 pages (LaTeX2e), 5 PostScript figure

Scaling study for 2 HEX smeared fermions: hadron and quark masses

The goal of this study is to investigate the scaling behaviour of our 2 HEX action. For this purpose, we compute the $N_f=3$ spectrum and compare the results to our 6 EXP action. We find a large scaling window up to $\sim 0.15\,\mathrm{fm}$ along with small scaling corrections at the 2%-level and full compatibility with our previous study. As a second important observable to be tested for scaling, we chose the non-perturbatively renormalized quenched strange quark mass. Here we find a fairly flat scaling with a broad scaling range up to $\simeq 0.15\,\mathrm{fm}$ and perfect agreement with the literature.Comment: PoS for the XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, Lattice2010, 7 pages, 4 figure

Precision computation of the kaon bag parameter

Indirect CP violation in K \rightarrow {\pi}{\pi} decays plays a central role in constraining the flavor structure of the Standard Model (SM) and in the search for new physics. For many years the leading uncertainty in the SM prediction of this phenomenon was the one associated with the nonperturbative strong interaction dynamics in this process. Here we present a fully controlled lattice QCD calculation of these effects, which are described by the neutral kaon mixing parameter B_K . We use a two step HEX smeared clover-improved Wilson action, with four lattice spacings from a\approx0.054 fm to a\approx0.093 fm and pion masses at and even below the physical value. Nonperturbative renormalization is performed in the RI-MOM scheme, where we find that operator mixing induced by chiral symmetry breaking is very small. Using fully nonperturbative continuum running, we obtain our main result B_K^{RI}(3.5GeV)=0.531(6)_{stat}(2)_{sys}. A perturbative 2-loop conversion yields B_K^{MSbar-NDR}(2GeV)=0.564(6)_{stat}(3)_{sys}(6)_{PT}, which is in good agreement with current results from fits to experimental data.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. v2: Added one reference and one figure, replaced 2 figures for better readability and updated ensembles, conclusions unchanged. Final, published versio

An ``Improved" Lattice Study of Semi-leptonic Decays of D-Mesons

We present results of a lattice computation of the matrix elements of the vector and axial-vector currents which are relevant for the semi-leptonic decays $D \rightarrow K$ and $D \rightarrow K^*$. The computations are performed in the quenched approximation to lattice QCD on a $24^3 \times 48$ lattice at $\beta=6.2$, using an $O(a)$-improved fermionic action. In the limit of zero lepton masses the semi-leptonic decays $D \rightarrow K$ and $D \rightarrow K^*$ are described by four form factors: $f^{+}_K,V,A_1$ and $A_2$, which are functions of $q^2$, where $q^{\mu}$ is the four-momentum transferred in the process. Our results for these form factors at $q^2=0$ are: f^+_K(0)=0.67 \er{7}{8} , V(0)=1.01 \err{30}{13} , A_1(0)=0.70 \err{7}{10} , A_2(0)=0.66 \err{10}{15} , which are consistent with the most recent experimental world average values. We have also determined the $q^2$ dependence of the form factors, which we find to be reasonably well described by a simple pole-dominance model. Results for other form factors, including those relevant to the decays \dpi and \drho, are also given.Comment: 41 pages, uuencoded compressed postscript file containing 14 figures, LaTeX, Edinburgh Preprint 94/546 and Southampton Preprint SHEP 93/94-3

Electromagnetic corrections to light hadron masses

At the precision reached in current lattice QCD calculations, electromagnetic effects are becoming numerically relevant. We will present preliminary results for electromagnetic corrections to light hadron masses, based on simulations in which a $\mathrm{U}(1)$ degree of freedom is superimposed on $N_f=2+1$ QCD configurations from the BMW collaboration.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, The XXVIII International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, June 14-19,2010, Villasimius, Sardinia Ital