We report the first observation of an anisotropy in the arrival direction of cosmic rays with energies in the multi-TeV region in the Southern sky using data from the IceCube detector. Between 2007 ...June and 2008 March, the partially deployed IceCube detector was operated in a configuration with 1320 digital optical sensors distributed over 22 strings at depths between 1450 and 2450 m inside the Antarctic ice. IceCube is a neutrino detector, but the data are dominated by a large background of cosmic-ray muons. Therefore, the background data are suitable for high-statistics studies of cosmic rays in the southern sky. The data include 4.3 billion muons produced by downward-going cosmic-ray interactions in the atmosphere; these events were reconstructed with a median angular resolution of 3° and a median energy of ~20 TeV. Their arrival direction distribution exhibits an anisotropy in right ascension with a first-harmonic amplitude of (6.4 ± 0.2 stat. ± 0.8 syst.) × 10-4.
Between 2009 May and 2010 May, the IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole recorded 32 billion muons generated in air showers produced by cosmic rays with a median energy of 20 TeV. With a data ...set of this size, it is possible to probe the southern sky for per-mil anisotropy on all angular scales in the arrival direction distribution of cosmic rays. Applying a power spectrum analysis to the relative intensity map of the cosmic ray flux in the southern hemisphere, we show that the arrival direction distribution is not isotropic, but shows significant structure on several angular scales. In addition to previously reported large-scale structure in the form of a strong dipole and quadrupole, the data show small-scale structure on scales between 15? and 30?. The skymap exhibits several localized regions of significant excess and deficit in cosmic ray intensity. The relative intensity of the smaller-scale structures is about a factor of five weaker than that of the dipole and quadrupole structure. The most significant structure, an excess localized at (right ascension Delta *a = 1224 and declination Delta *d = --474), extends over at least 20? in right ascension and has a post-trials significance of 5.3 Delta *s. The origin of this anisotropy is still unknown.
We present a new determination of the parity of the neutral pion via the double Dalitz decay pi0-->e+e-e+e-. Our sample, which consists of 30,511 candidate decays, was collected from KL-->pi0pi0pi0 ...decays in flight at the KTeV-E799 experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. We confirm the negative pi0 parity and place a limit on scalar contributions to the pi0-->e+e-e+e- decay amplitude of less than 3.3% assuming CPT conservation. The pi0gamma*gamma* form factor is well described by a momentum-dependent model with a slope parameter fit to the final state phase-space distribution. Additionally, we have measured the branching ratio of this mode to be B(pi0-->e+e-e+e-)=(3.26+/-0.18)x10(-5).
The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory is sensitive to gamma rays and charged cosmic rays at TeV energies. The detector is still under construction, but data acquisition with the ...partially deployed detector started in 2013. An analysis of the cosmic-ray arrival direction distribution based on 4.9 x 10 super(10) events recorded between 2013 June and 2014 February shows anisotropy at the 10 super(-4) level on angular scales of about 10degrees. The HAWC cosmic-ray sky map exhibits three regions of significantly enhanced cosmic-ray flux; two of these regions were first reported by the Milagro experiment. A third region coincides with an excess recently reported by the ARGO-YBJ experiment. An angular power spectrum analysis of the sky shows that all terms up to l = 15 contribute significantly to the excesses.
We present the results of searches for high-energy muon neutrinos from 41 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the northern sky with the IceCube detector in its 22 string configuration active in 2007/2008. The ...searches cover both the prompt and a possible precursor emission as well as a model-independent, wide time window of -1 hr to + 3 hr around each GRB. In contrast to previous searches with a large GRB population, we do not utilize a standard Waxman-Bahcall GRB flux for the prompt emission but calculate individual neutrino spectra for all 41 GRBs from the burst parameters measured by satellites. For all of the three time windows, the best estimate for the number of signal events is zero. Therefore, we place 90% CL upper limits on the fluence from the prompt phase of 3.7 x 10(-3) erg cm(-2) (72 TeV-6.5 PeV) and on the fluence from the precursor phase of 2.3 x 10(-3) erg cm(-2) (2.2-55 TeV), where the quoted energy ranges contain 90% of the expected signal events in the detector. The 90% CL upper limit for the wide time window is 2.7 x 10(-3) erg cm(-2) (3 TeV-2.8 PeV) assuming an E-2 flux.
The Milky Way is expected to be embedded in a halo of dark matter particles, with the highest density in the central region, and decreasing density with the halo-centric radius. Dark matter might be ...indirectly detectable at Earth through a flux of stable particles generated in dark matter annihilations and peaked in the direction of the Galactic Center. We present a search for an excess flux of muon (anti-) neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the Galactic Center using the cubic-kilometer-sized IceCube neutrino detector at the South Pole. There, the Galactic Center is always seen above the horizon. Thus, new and dedicated veto techniques against atmospheric muons are required to make the southern hemisphere accessible for IceCube. We used 319.7 live-days of data from IceCube operating in its 79-string configuration during 2010 and 2011. No neutrino excess was found and the final result is compatible with the background. We present upper limits on the self-annihilation cross-section, , for WIMP masses ranging from 30 GeV up to 10 TeV, assuming cuspy (NFW) and flat-cored (Burkert) dark matter halo profiles, reaching down to cm s , and cm s for the channel, respectively.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We present a measurement of B(π0→e+e-γ)/B(π0→γγ), the Dalitz branching ratio, using data taken in 1999 by the E832 KTeV experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. We use neutral pions from ...fully reconstructed KL decays in flight; the measurement is based on ~60 thousand KL→π0π0π0→γγγγe+e-γ decays. We normalize to KL→π0π0π0→6γ decays. We find B(π0→e+e-γ)/B(π0→γγ) (me+e->15 MeV/c2)=3.920±0.016(stat)±0.036(syst)×10-3. Using the Mikaelian and Smith prediction for the e+e- mass spectrum, we correct the result to the full e+e- mass range. The corrected result is B(π0→e+e-γ)/B(π0→γγ)=1.1559±0.0047(stat)±0.0106(syst)%. This result is consistent with previous measurements, and the uncertainty is a factor of 3 smaller than any previous measurement.
We present a measurement of B(π0→e+e−γ)/B(π0→γγ), the Dalitz branching ratio, using data taken in 1999 by the E832 KTeV experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. We use neutral pions from ...fully reconstructed KL decays in flight; the measurement is based on ∼60 thousand KL→π0π0π0→γγγγe+e−γ decays. We normalize to KL→π0π0π0→6γ decays. We find B(π0→e+e−γ)/B(π0→γγ) (me+e−>15 MeV/c2)=3.920±0.016(stat)±0.036(syst)×10−3. Using the Mikaelian and Smith prediction for the e+e− mass spectrum, we correct the result to the full e+e− mass range. The corrected result is B(π0→e+e−γ)/B(π0→γγ)=1.1559±0.0047(stat)±0.0106(syst)%. This result is consistent with previous measurements, and the uncertainty is a factor of 3 smaller than any previous measurement.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the reasons why athletes do not return to play (RTP) following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction from a large single-centre database.
...Methods
The institutional ACL registry was screened for patients that had undergone a primary ACLR and had RTP status reported at 24-month follow-up. The reasons that patients were unable to RTP at 24 months were evaluated. The ACL-Return to Sport Index (ACL-RSI) was evaluated at baseline and 24-month follow-up to evaluate psychological ability to RTP.
Results
At 2 years, 1140 patients returned to play, and 222 had not returned to play. The most common reasons athletes were unable to return was fear of reinjury (27.5%), lack of confidence in performance on return (19.4%) and external life factors (16.6%), i.e. work commitments and family reasons. Other reasons for athletes not returning to play were residual knee pain (10%) and subsequent injury (5%). The ACL-RSI score was significantly lower at diagnosis (40.3 vs. 49.3;
p
= 0.003) and 2 years (41.8 vs. 78.7;
p
< 0.0001) in athletes who did not return to play vs. those that did RTP.
Conclusion
The majority of patients that report they have not returned to play do so due to external life and psychological factors associated with their injury, including fear of reinjury and lack of confidence in performance. A small minority of patients were unable to return due to residual knee symptoms or reinjury. Pre-operative psychological assessment and intervention may identify those less likely to RTP and provide an opportunity for targeted interventions to further improve RTP outcomes.
Level of evidence
III.