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The perspectives for photonuclear experiments at the new Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) facility are discussed in view of the need to accumulate novel and more precise ...nuclear data. The parameters of the ELI-NP gamma beam system are presented. The emerging experimental program, which will be realized at ELI-NP, is presented. Examples of day-one experiments with the nuclear resonance fluorescence technique, photonuclear reaction measurements, photofission experiments and studies of nuclear collective excitation modes and competition between various decay channels are discussed. The advantages which ELI-NP provides for all these experiments compared to the existing facilities are discussed.
Context. One of the possible approaches to detecting optical counterparts of GRBs requires monitoring large parts of the sky. This idea has gained some instrumental support in recent years, such as ...with the “Pi of the Sky” project. The broad sky coverage of the “Pi of the Sky” apparatus results from using cameras with wide-angle lenses (20° × 20° field of view). Optics of this kind introduce significant deformations of the point spread function (PSF), increasing with the distance from the frame centre. A deformed PSF results in additional uncertainties in data analysis. Aims. Our aim was to create a model describing highly deformed PSF in optical astronomy, allowing uncertainties caused by image deformations to be reduced. Methods. Detailed laboratory measurements of PSF, pixel sensitivity, and pixel response functions were performed. These data were used to create an effective high quality polynomial model of the PSF. Finally, tuning the model and tests in applications to the real sky data were performed. Results. We have developed a PSF model that accurately describes even very deformed stars in our wide-field experiment. The model is suitable for use in any other experiment with similar image deformation, with a simple tuning of its parameters. Applying this model to astrometric procedures results in a significant improvement over standard methods, while basic photometry precision performed with the model is comparable to the results of an optimised aperture algorithm. Additionally, the model was used to search for a weak signal – namely a possible gamma ray burst optical precursor – showing very promising results. Conclusions. Precise modelling of the PSF function significantly improves the astrometric precision and enhances the discovery potential of a wide-field system with lens optics.
An apparatus to search for optical flashes in the sky is described. It has been optimized for optical counterparts of gamma ray bursts (GRB). It consists of 2×16 cameras covering all the sky. The sky ...is monitored continuously and the data are analyzed on-line. The apparatus has self-triggering capability and can react to external triggers with negative delay. The prototype with two cameras has been installed at Las Campanas (Chile) and is operational from July 2004. The paper presents the general idea of the experiment and describes the apparatus in detail. The performance of the prototype is briefly reviewed and perspectives for the future are outlined.
The suppression of the individual Υ(nS) states in PbPb collisions with respect to their yields in pp data has been measured. The PbPb and pp data sets used in the analysis correspond to integrated ...luminosities of 150 μb(-1) and 230 nb(-1), respectively, collected in 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC, at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 2.76 TeV. The Υ(nS) yields are measured from the dimuon invariant mass spectra. The suppression of the Υ(nS) yields in PbPb relative to the yields in pp, scaled by the number of nucleon-nucleon collisions, R(AA), is measured as a function of the collision centrality. Integrated over centrality, the R(AA) values are 0.56±0.08(stat)±0.07(syst), 0.12±0.04(stat)±0.02(syst), and lower than 0.10 (at 95% confidence level), for the Υ(1S), Υ(2S), and Υ(3S) states, respectively. The results demonstrate the sequential suppression of the Υ(nS) states in PbPb collisions at LHC energies.
(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted; see image) This paper presents a search for the pair production of top squarks in events with a single isolated electron or muon, ...jets, large missing transverse momentum, and large transverse mass. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 19.5 fb^sup -1^ of pp collisions collected in 2012 by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of ... No significant excess in data is observed above the expectation from standard model processes. The results are interpreted in the context of supersymmetric models with pair production of top squarks that decay either to a top quark and a neutralino or to a bottom quark and a chargino. For small mass values of the lightest supersymmetric particle, top-squark mass values up to around 650 GeV are excluded.