A classification problem in high energy physics has been solved on simulated data using a simple multilayer perceptron comprising binary units which was trained with the CHIR algorithm. The unstable ...training of such a network on a nonseparable set has been overcome by selecting those weight vectors with good performance while providing a flexible choice of the two types of classification errors. Specific features of the problem have been exploited in order to simplify and optimize the solution which has been compared to the popular backpropagation algorithm and found to perform on a similar level. Additional aspects of this work are the use of the CHIR algorithm on continuous input and incorporating the classic idea of a phi-machine in a multilayer perceptron.
Results from the nuclear recoil calibration of the XENON100 dark matter detector installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy are presented. Data from measurements with an ...external AmB super(241)e neutron source are compared with a detailed Monte Carlo simulation which is used to extract the energy-dependent charge-yield I sub(y) and relative scintillation efficiency Lagrangian (script capital L) sub(eff). A very good level of absolute spectral matching is achieved in both observable signal channels-scintillation S1 and ionization S2-along with agreement in the two-dimensional particle discrimination space. The results confirm the validity of the derived signal acceptance in earlier reported dark matter searches of the XENON100 experiment.
Measurements of Rb, the ratio of the bb¯ cross-section to the qq¯ cross-section in e+e− collisions, are presented. The data were collected by the OPAL experiment at LEP at centre-of-mass energies ...between 182 and 209 GeV. Lepton, lifetime and event-shape information is used to tag events containing b quarks with high efficiency. The data are compatible with the Standard Model expectation. The mean ratio of the eight measurements reported here to the Standard Model prediction is 1.055±0.031±0.037, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic.
Events with a final state consisting of two or more photons and large missing transverse energy have been observed in e+e− collisions at centre-of-mass energies in the range 192–209 GeV using the ...OPAL detector at LEP. Cross-section measurements are performed within the kinematic acceptance of the selection and compared with the expectations from the Standard Model process e+e−→νν¯γγ(γ). No evidence for new physics contributions to this final state is observed. Upper limits on σ(e+e−→XX)⋅BR2(X→Yγ) are derived for the case of stable and invisible Y. In the case of massive Y the combined limits obtained from all the data range from 10 to 60 fb, while for the special case of massless Y the range is 20 to 40 fb. The limits apply to pair production of excited neutrinos (X=ν*,Y=ν), to neutralino production (X=χ˜20,Y=χ˜10) and to supersymmetric models in which X=χ˜10 and Y=G˜ is a light gravitino.
A search for stable and long-lived massive particles of electric charge |Q/e|=1 or fractional charges of 2/3, 4/3, and 5/3 is reported using data collected by the OPAL detector at LEP, at ...centre-of-mass energies from 130 to 209 GeV. These particles are assumed to be pair-produced in e+e− collisions and not to interact strongly. No evidence for the production of these particles was observed. Model-independent upper limits on the production cross-section between 0.005 and 0.028 pb have been derived for scalar and spin-1/2 particles with charge ±1. Within the framework of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM), this implies a lower limit of 98.0 (98.5) GeV on the mass of long-lived right- (left-)handed scalar muons and scalar taus. Long-lived charged heavy leptons and charginos are excluded for masses below 102.0 GeV. For particles with fractional charge ±2/3, ±4/3 and ±5/3, the upper limit on the production cross-section varies between 0.005 and 0.020 pb. All mass and cross-section limits are derived at the 95% confidence level and are valid for particles with lifetimes longer than 10−6 s.