Triggering on hard probes in heavy ion collisions with CMS

We present a study of the CMS trigger system in heavy-ion collisions. Concentrating on two physics channels, dimuons from decays of quarkonia and single jets, we evaluate a possible trigger strategy for Pb+Pb running that relies on event selection solely in the High-Level Trigger (HLT). The study is based on measurements of the timing performance of the offline algorithms and event-size distributions using full simulations. Using a trigger simulation chain, we compare the physics reach for the jet and dimuon channels using online selection in the HLT to minimum bias running. The results demonstrate the crucial role the HLT will play for CMS heavy-ion physics.Comment: 4 pages, 4 fugures, contribution to QM'06 conferenc

Medium information from anisotropic flow and jet quenching in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Within a multiphase transport (AMPT) model, where the initial conditions are obtained from the recently updated HIJING 2.0 model, the recent anisotropic flow and suppression data for charged hadrons in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC center of mass energy of 2.76 TeV are explored to constrain the properties of the partonic medium formed. In contrast to RHIC, the measured centrality dependence of charged hadron multiplicity dN_ch/deta at LHC provides severe constraint to the largely uncertain gluon shadowing parameter s_g. We find final-state parton scatterings reduce considerably hadron yield at midrapidity and enforces a smaller s_g to be consistent with dN_ch/deta data at LHC. With the parton shadowing so constrained, hadron production and flow over a wide transverse momenta range are investigated in AMPT. The model calculations for the elliptic and triangular flow are found to be in excellent agreement with the RHIC data, and predictions for the flow coefficients v_n(p_T, cent) at LHC are given. The magnitude and pattern of suppression of the hadrons in AMPT are found consistent with the measurements at RHIC. However, the suppression is distinctly overpredicted in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC energy. Reduction of the QCD coupling constant alpha_s by ~30% in the higher temperature plasma formed at LHC reproduces the measured hadron suppression.Comment: Talk given by Subrata Pal at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

RooStatsCms: a tool for analyses modelling, combination and statistical studies

The RooStatsCms (RSC) software framework allows analysis modelling and combination, statistical studies together with the access to sophisticated graphics routines for results visualisation. The goal of the project is to complement the existing analyses by means of their combination and accurate statistical studies.Comment: Proceedings of the 11th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and Radiation Detectors. 4 pages and 5 figure

Toward particle-level filtering of individual collision events at the Large Hadron Collider and beyond

Low-energy strong interactions are a major source of background at hadron colliders, and methods of subtracting the associated energy flow are well established in the field. Traditional approaches treat the contamination as diffuse, and estimate background energy levels either by averaging over large data sets or by restricting to given kinematic regions inside individual collision events. On the other hand, more recent techniques take into account the discrete nature of background, most notably by exploiting the presence of substructure inside hard jets, i.e. inside collections of particles originating from scattered hard quarks and gluons. However, none of the existing methods subtract background at the level of individual particles inside events. We illustrate the use of an algorithm that will allow particle-by-particle background discrimination at the Large Hadron Collider, and we envisage this as the basis for a novel event filtering procedure upstream of the official reconstruction chains. Our hope is that this new technique will improve physics analysis when used in combination with state-of-the-art algorithms in high-luminosity hadron collider environments

First experience in operating the population of the condition databases for the CMS experiment

Reliable population of the condition databases is critical for the correct operation of the online selection as well as of the offline reconstruction and analysis of data. We will describe here the system put in place in the CMS experiment to populate the database and make condition data promptly available both online for the high-level trigger and offline for reconstruction. The system, designed for high flexibility to cope with very different data sources, uses POOL-ORA technology in order to store data in an object format that best matches the object oriented paradigm for \texttt{C++} programming language used in the CMS offline software. In order to ensure consistency among the various subdetectors, a dedicated package, PopCon (Populator of Condition Objects), is used to store data online. The data are then automatically streamed to the offline database hence immediately accessible offline worldwide. This mechanism was intensively used during 2008 in the test-runs with cosmic rays. The experience of this first months of operation will be discussed in detail.Comment: 15 pages, submitter to JOP, CHEP0

Search for a W\u27 boson decaying to a vector-like quark and a top or bottom quark in the all-jets final state at √s = 13 TeV

A search is presented for a heavy W0 boson resonance decaying to a B or T vector-like quark and a t or a b quark, respectively. The analysis is performed using protonproton collisions collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1 at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV. Both decay channels result in a signature with a t quark, a Higgs or Z boson, and a b quark, each produced with a significant Lorentz boost. The all-hadronic decays of the Higgs or Z boson and of the t quark are selected using jet substructure techniques to reduce standard model backgrounds, resulting in a distinct three-jet W\u27 boson decay signature. No significant deviation in data with respect to the standard model background prediction is observed. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the product of the W0 boson cross section and the final state branching fraction. A W\u27 boson with a mass below 3.1TeV is excluded, given the benchmark model assumption of democratic branching fractions. In addition, limits are set based on generalizations of these assumptions. These are the most sensitive limits to date for this final state

Correlations in Proton-Proton Collisions at the LHC

Results on two-particle angular correlations for charged particles emitted in proton proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 0.9, 2.36, and 7 TeV are presented, using data collected with the CMS detector over a broad range of pseudo-rapidity (h) and azimuthal angle (f). Short-range correlations in Dh, which are studied in minimum bias events, are characterized using a simple “independent cluster” parametrization in order to quantify their strength (cluster size) and their extent in h (cluster decay width). Long-range azimuthal correlations are studied differentially as a function of charged particle multiplicity and particle transverse momentum using a 980 nb^-1 data set at 7 TeV. In high multiplicity events, a pronounced structure emerges in the two-dimensional correlation function for particle pairs with intermediate pT of 1–3 GeV/c, 2.0 \u3c jDhj \u3c 4.8 and Df _0. This is the first observation of such a long-range, near-side feature in two-particle correlation functions in pp or p anti-p collisions

Commissioning and Performance of the CMS Pixel Tracker with Cosmic Ray Muons

The pixel detector of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment consists of three barrel layers and two disks for each endcap. The detector was installed in summer 2008, commissioned with charge injections, and operated in the 3.8 T magnetic field during cosmic ray data taking. This paper reports on the first running experience and presents results on the pixel tracker performance, which are found to be in line with the design specifications of this detector. The transverse impact parameter resolution measured in a sample of high momentum muons is 18 microns