STAR Barrel Electromagnetic Calorimeter Absolute Calibration Using "Minimum Ionizing Particles" from Collisions at RHIC

The procedure for the STAR Barrel Electromagnetic Calorimeter (BEMC) absolute calibrations, using penetrating charged particle hits (MIP-hits) from physics events at RHIC, is presented. Its systematic and statistical errors are evaluated. It is shown that, using this technique, the equalization and transfer of the absolute scale from the test beam can be done to a percent level accuracy in a reasonable amount of time for the entire STAR BEMC. MIP-hits would also be an effective tool for continuously monitoring the variations of the BEMC tower's gains, virtually without interference to STAR's main physics program. The method does not rely on simulations for anything other than geometric and some other small corrections, and also for estimations of the systematic errors. It directly transfers measured test beam responses to operations at RHIC.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, Accepted to NIM-

Development of a Momentum Determined Electron Beam in the 1 -45 GeV Range

A beam line for electrons with energies in the range of 1 to 45 GeV, low contamination of hadrons and muons and high intensity up to 10^6 per accelerator spill at 27 GeV was setup at U70 accelerator in Protvino, Russia. A beam tagging system based on drift chambers with 160 micron resolution was able to measure relative electron beam momentum precisely. The resolution sigma_p p was 0.13% at 45 GeV where multiple scattering is negligible. This test beam setup provided the possibility to study properties of lead tungstate crystals (PbWO_4) for the BTeV experiment at Fermilab.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures; work done by the BTeV Electromagnetic Calorimeter grou

Comparison of Radiation Damage in Lead Tungstate Crystals under Pion and Gamma Irradiation

Studies of the radiation hardness of lead tungstate crystals produced by the Bogoroditsk Techno-Chemical Plant in Russia and the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics in China have been carried out at IHEP, Protvino. The crystals were irradiated by a 40-GeV pion beam. After full recovery, the same crystals were irradiated using a $^{137}Cs$ $\gamma$-ray source. The dose rate profiles along the crystal length were observed to be quite similar. We compare the effects of the two types of radiation on the crystals light output.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, Latex 2e, 28.04.04 - minor grammatical change

Correlation of Beam Electron and LED Signal Losses under Irradiation and Long-term Recovery of Lead Tungstate Crystals

Radiation damage in lead tungstate crystals reduces their transparency. The calibration that relates the amount of light detected in such crystals to incident energy of photons or electrons is of paramount importance to maintaining the energy resolution the detection system. We report on tests of lead tungstate crystals, read out by photomultiplier tubes, exposed to irradiation by monoenergetic electron or pion beams. The beam electrons themselves were used to measure the scintillation light output, and a blue light emitting diode (LED) was used to track variations of crystals transparency. We report on the correlation of the LED measurement with radiation damage by the beams and also show that it can accurately monitor the crystals recovery from such damage.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX2

LED Monitoring System for the BTeV Lead Tungstate Crystal Calorimeter Prototype

We report on the performance of a monitoring system for a prototype calorimeter for the BTeV experiment that uses Lead Tungstate crystals coupled with photomultiplier tubes. The tests were carried out at the 70 GeV accelerator complex at Protvino, Russia.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, LaTeX2e, revised versio

Design and performance of LED calibration system prototype for the lead tungstate crystal calorimeter

A highly stable monitoring system based on blue and red light emitting diodes coupled to a distribution network comprised of optical fibers has been developed for an electromagnetic calorimeter that uses lead tungstate crystals readout with photomultiplier tubes. We report of the system prototype design and on the results of laboratory tests. Stability better than 0.1% (r.m.s.) has been achieved during one week of prototype operation.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, LaTeX2

Study of Radiation Damage in Lead Tungstate Crystals Using Intense High Energy Beams

We report on the effects of radiation on the light output of lead tungstate crystals. The crystals were irradiated by pure, intense high energy electron and hadron beams as well as by a mixture of hadrons, neutrons and gammas. The crystals were manufactured in Bogoroditsk, Apatity (both Russia), and Shanghai (China). These studies were carried out at the 70-GeV proton accelerator in Protvino

Demonstration of the temporal matter-wave Talbot effect for trapped matter waves

We demonstrate the temporal Talbot effect for trapped matter waves using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We investigate the phase evolution of an array of essentially non-interacting matter waves and observe matter-wave collapse and revival in the form of a Talbot interference pattern. By using long expansion times, we image momentum space with sub-recoil resolution, allowing us to observe fractional Talbot fringes up to 10th order.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Kaon Production and Kaon to Pion Ratio in Au+Au Collisions at \snn=130 GeV

Mid-rapidity transverse mass spectra and multiplicity densities of charged and neutral kaons are reported for Au+Au collisions at \snn=130 GeV at RHIC. The spectra are exponential in transverse mass, with an inverse slope of about 280 MeV in central collisions. The multiplicity densities for these particles scale with the negative hadron pseudo-rapidity density. The charged kaon to pion ratios are $K^+/\pi^- = 0.161 \pm 0.002 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.024 {\rm (syst)}$ and $K^-/\pi^- = 0.146 \pm 0.002 {\rm (stat)} \pm 0.022 {\rm (syst)}$ for the most central collisions. The $K^+/\pi^-$ ratio is lower than the same ratio observed at the SPS while the $K^-/\pi^-$ is higher than the SPS result. Both ratios are enhanced by about 50% relative to p+p and $\bar{\rm p}$+p collision data at similar energies.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

All-optical switching and strong coupling using tunable whispering-gallery-mode microresonators

We review our recent work on tunable, ultrahigh quality factor whispering-gallery-mode bottle microresonators and highlight their applications in nonlinear optics and in quantum optics experiments. Our resonators combine ultra-high quality factors of up to Q = 3.6 \times 10^8, a small mode volume, and near-lossless fiber coupling, with a simple and customizable mode structure enabling full tunability. We study, theoretically and experimentally, nonlinear all-optical switching via the Kerr effect when the resonator is operated in an add-drop configuration. This allows us to optically route a single-wavelength cw optical signal between two fiber ports with high efficiency. Finally, we report on progress towards strong coupling of single rubidium atoms to an ultra-high Q mode of an actively stabilized bottle microresonator.Comment: 20 pages, 24 figures. Accepted for publication in Applied Physics B. Changes according to referee suggestions: minor corrections to some figures and captions, clarification of some points in the text, added references, added new paragraph with results on atom-resonator interactio