A solid state vertex detector for study of the photoproduction of heavy flavours

Imperial Users onl

X-ray time lags in AGN: inverse-Compton scattering and spherical corona model

We develop a physically motivated, spherical corona model to investigate the frequency-dependent time lags in AGN. The model includes the effects of Compton up-scattering between the disc UV photons and coronal electrons, and the subsequent X-ray reverberation from the disc. The time lags are associated with the time required for multiple scatterings to boost UV photons up to soft and hard X-ray energies, and the light crossing time the photons take to reach the observer. This model can reproduce not only low-frequency hard and high-frequency soft lags, but also the clear bumps and wiggles in reverberation profiles which should explain the wavy-residuals currently observed in some AGN. Our model supports an anti-correlation between the optical depth and coronal temperatures. In case of an optically thin corona, time delays due to propagating fluctuations may be required to reproduce observed time lags. We fit the model to the lag-frequency data of 1H0707-495, Ark 564, NGC 4051 and IRAS 13224-3809 estimated using the minimal bias technique so that the observed lags here are highest-possible quality. We find their corona size is ~7-15 r_g having the constrained optical depth ~2-10. The coronal temperature is ~150-300 keV. Finally, we note that the reverberation wiggles may be signatures of repeating scatters inside the corona that control the distribution of X-ray sources.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Gamma at Transition in the Proposed PS2 Machine

The PS2 synchrotron is a normally conducting machine which is proposed as a replacement for the ageing PS to help meet the demand for brighter and more intense beams. In order to reprise the role of the PS, the new machine must be capable of a variety of beam manipulations. These impose constraints on the possible value of gamma at transition that can be considered

Non-invasive single-bunch matching and emittance monitor

On-line monitoring of beam quality for high brightness beams is only possible using non-invasive instruments. For matching measurements, very few such instruments are available. One candidate is a quadrupole pick-up. Therefore, a new type of quadrupole pick-up has been developed for the 26 GeV Proton Synchrotron (PS) at CERN, and a measurement system consisting of two such pick-ups is now installed in this accelerator. Using the information from these pick-ups, it is possible to determine both injection matching and emittance in the horizontal and vertical planes, for each bunch separately. This paper presents the measurement method and some of the results from the first year of use, as well as comparisons with other measurement methods.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures; added figure, minor textual additions; To be resubmitted to Phys. Rev. ST-A