A massive, but light, Abelian U(1) gauge boson is a well-motivated possible signature of physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. In this Letter, the search for the signal of such a ...U(1) gauge boson in electron-positron pair production at the spectrometer setup of the A1 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron is described. Exclusion limits in the mass range of 40 MeV/c^{2} to 300 MeV/c^{2}, with a sensitivity in the squared mixing parameter of as little as ε^{2}=8×10^{-7} are presented. A large fraction of the parameter space has been excluded where the discrepancy of the measured anomalous magnetic moment of the muon with theory might be explained by an additional U(1) gauge boson.
We perform a systematic study of the α-particle excitation from its ground state 0_{1}^{+} to the 0_{2}^{+} resonance. The so-called monopole transition form factor is investigated via an electron ...scattering experiment in a broad Q^{2} range (from 0.5 to 5.0 fm^{-2}). The precision of the new data dramatically supersedes that of older sets of data, each covering only a portion of the Q^{2} range. The new data allow the determination of two coefficients in a low-momentum expansion, leading to a new puzzle. By confronting experiment to state-of-the-art theoretical calculations, we observe that modern nuclear forces, including those derived within chiral effective field theory that are well tested on a variety of observables, fail to reproduce the excitation of the α particle.
New precise results of a measurement of the elastic electron-proton scattering cross section performed at the Mainz Microtron MAMI are presented. About 1400 cross sections were measured with negative ...four-momentum transfers squared up to Q² = 1 (GeV/c)² with statistical errors below 0.2%. The electric and magnetic form factors of the proton were extracted by fits of a large variety of form factor models directly to the cross sections. The form factors show some features at the scale of the pion cloud. The charge and magnetic radii are determined to be <r²E>½ = 0.879(5)stat(4)syst(2)model(4)group fm and <r²M>½ = 0.777(13)stat(9)syst(5)model(2)group fm.
The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signalling pathway is a key mediator of fibroblast activation that drives the aberrant synthesis of extracellular matrix in fibrotic diseases. Here we ...demonstrate a novel link between transforming growth factor-β and the canonical Wnt pathway. TGF-β stimulates canonical Wnt signalling in a p38-dependent manner by decreasing the expression of the Wnt antagonist Dickkopf-1. Tissue samples from human fibrotic diseases show enhanced expression of Wnt proteins and decreased expression of Dickkopf-1. Activation of the canonical Wnt pathway stimulates fibroblasts in vitro and induces fibrosis in vivo. Transgenic overexpression of Dickkopf-1 ameliorates skin fibrosis induced by constitutively active TGF-β receptor type I signalling and also prevents fibrosis in other TGF-β-dependent animal models. These findings demonstrate that canonical Wnt signalling is necessary for TGF-β-mediated fibrosis and highlight a key role for the interaction of both pathways in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases.
We report on a comprehensive reinterpretation of the existing cross-section data for elastic electron-proton scattering obtained by the initial-state radiation technique, resulting in a significantly ...improved accuracy of the extracted proton charge radius. By refining the external energy corrections we have achieved an outstanding description of the radiative tail, essential for a detailed investigation of the proton finite-size effects on the measured cross sections. This development, together with a novel framework for determining the radius, based on a regression analysis of the cross sections employing a polynomial model for the form factor, led us to a new value for the charge radius, which is
(
0.878
±
0
.
011
stat
.
±
0
.
031
sys
.
±
0
.
002
mod
.
)
fm
A new exclusion limit for the electromagnetic production of a light U(1) gauge boson γ' decaying to e + e- was determined by the A1 Collaboration at the Mainz Microtron. Such light gauge bosons ...appear in several extensions of the standard model and are also discussed as candidates for the interaction of dark matter with standard model matter. In electron scattering from a heavy nucleus, the existing limits for a narrow state coupling to e + e- were reduced by nearly an order of magnitude in the range of the lepton pair mass of 210 MeV/c2}<me +}e-<300 MeV/c2. This experiment demonstrates the potential of high current and high resolution fixed target experiments for the search for physics beyond the standard model.
We report new precise H(e,e(')p)pi(0) measurements at the Delta(1232) resonance at Q(2)=0.127 (GeV/c)(2) obtained at the MIT-Bates out-of-plane scattering facility which are particularly sensitive to ...the transverse electric amplitude (E2) of the gamma(*)N-->Delta transition. The new data have been analyzed together with those of earlier measurements to yield precise quadrupole to dipole amplitude ratios: Re(E(3/2)(1+)/M(3/2)(1+))=(-2.3+/-0.3(stat+syst)+/-0.6(model))% and Re(S(3/2)(1+)/M(3/2)(1+))=(-6.1+/-0.2(stat+syst)+/-0.5(model))% for M(3/2)(1+)=(41.4+/-0.3(stat+syst)+/-0.4(model))(10(-3)/m(pi(+))). The derived amplitudes give credence to the conjecture of deformation in hadrons favoring, at low Q2, the dominance of mesonic effects.
.
We report on new measurements of the electric Generalized Polarizability (GP) of the proton
α
E
in a kinematic region where a puzzling dependence on momentum transfer has been observed, and we have ...found that
α
E
=
(
5
.
3
±
0
.
6
s
t
a
t
±
1
.
3
s
y
s
)
10
-
4
fm
3
at
Q
2
=
0
.
20
(GeV/
c
)
2
. The new measurements, when considered along with the rest of the world data, suggest that
α
E
can be described by either a local plateau or by an enhancement in the region
Q
2
=
0
.
20
(GeV/
c
)
2
to 0.33 (GeV/
c
)
2
. The experiment also provides the first measurement of the Coulomb quadrupole amplitude in the
N
→
Δ
transition through the exploration of the
p
(
e
,
e
p
)
γ
reaction. The new measurement gives
C
M
R
=
(
-
4
.
4
±
0
.
8
s
t
a
t
±
0
.
6
s
y
s
)
%
at
Q
2
=
0
.
20
(GeV/
c
)
2
and is consistent with the results from the pion electroproduction world data. It has been obtained using a completely different extraction method, and therefore represents a strong validation test of the world data model uncertainties.
PDF
