119898563
Inclusive eta production at large transverse momenta
We have measured the ratio of inclusive production of eta to ..pi../sup 0/ at transverse momenta above 1.5 GeV/c. Results are presented for various meson and proton beams with momenta of 100, 200, and 300 GeV/c incident upon a hydrogen target. The eta/..pi../sup 0/ production ratio is found to be independent of incident beam momentum and of the transverse and longitudinal momenta of production. The ratio for pion- and proton-induced reactions is 0.44 +- 0.05; for kaons, it is 0.74 +- 0.12.
118172758
Triggering at Isabelle; the first 200 nanoseconds
At full luminosity of ISABELLE and with an anticipated pp total cross section of 60 mb, there will be, on the average, one interaction every 70 ns. At the other end of the spectrum, it will probably take about 10 ms to store a complete event onto magnetic tape. In between these two extremes comes a triggering scheme which must select the one event out of 14,285,714 that is of interest to the experimenter. In a typical experiment, a certain small number of signals will come into an electronics trailer on cables that are as short as possible and have propagation velocities as high as possible. With these signals a fast decision will be made as to whether the rest of the information coming in on the slower, longer cables should be further processed or not. The typical length of time for this decision is 200 ns. Some of the problems arising during that first 200 ns are considered, and some examples of attempts to solve those problems are given.
115852024
Measurement of the quantum efficiency of TMAE and TEA from threshold to 120 nm
Several existing and planned high energy physics experiments incorporate detectors which use either TMAE (tetrakis-dimethylaminoethylene) or TEA (triethylamine) as their photosensitive agent. Understanding the operation of these devices requires knowledge of the absolute photoionization quantum efficiencies and absorption lengths of TMAE and TEA. In an experiment performed at the National Synchrotron Light source at Brookhaven National Laboratory, we have measured these parameters from 120 nm to 280 nm. The quantum efficiencies were normalized to the known photoionization yields of benzene and cis-2-butene. The results of these measurements and details of the experiment are presented in this paper.
39179314
Commissioning the beam diagnostics for the PEP-II B Factory
PEP-II is a 2.2-km-circumference collider with a 2.1-A, 3.1-GeV positron ring (the Low-Energy Ring) 1 m above a 1-A, 9-GeV electron ring (the High-Energy Ring); both rings are designed for a maximum current of 3 A. The authors describe the beam diagnostics and present measurements from HER commissioning. The beam profile is measured using near-UV synchrotron light extracted by grazing-incidence mirrors that must withstand up to 200 W/cm. Normally 1,658 of the 3,492 buckets will be filled, and the charge must be equal within 2%. To measure the charge in each bucket, the sum signal from a set of 4 pickup buttons is digitized and averaged over 256 samples per bucket in every 60-Hz interval. The sum is them normalized to the ring current, measured by a DC current transformer. The 300 beam-position monitors per ring are multiplexed to share 171 processor modules, which use DPSs for recording positions over 1,024 turns and for calibration. For both diagnostics and machine protection, 100 photomultipliers with fused-silica Cherenkov radiators measure beam losses and can trigger a beam abort in case of high loss. For the ring tunes, signals from a set of 4 pickup buttons are combined into horizontal, vertical, and summore » signals. Two signals are selected and downconverted into the range of a 10-MHz, 2-channel, programmable, DSP-based spectrum analyzer, connected over ethernet to the control room.« less
16316489
Constraints on Galaxy Formation from Stars in the Far Outer Disk of M31
Numerical simulations of galaxy formation within the cold dark matter (CDM) hierarchical clustering framework are unable to produce large disk galaxies without invoking some form of feedback to suppress gas cooling and collapse until a redshift of unity or below. An important observational consequence of delaying the epoch of disk formation until relatively recent times is that the stellar populations in the extended disk should be of predominantly young-to-intermediate age. We use a deep Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 archival pointing to investigate the mean age and metallicity of the stellar population in a disk-dominated field at 30 kpc along the major axis of M31. Our analysis of the color-magnitude diagram reveals the dominant population to have a significant mean age (greater than or similar to8 Gyr) and a moderately high mean metallicity ([Fe/H] similar to -0.7); tentative evidence is also presented for a trace population of ancient (greater than or equal to 10 Gyr) metal-poor stars. These characteristics are unexpected in CDM models, and we discuss the possible implications of this result as well as alternative interpretations.
119626222
GeV telescopes: results and prospects for Fermi
We present a review of the current status and future prospects of the field of high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics in the 30 MeV to 30 GeV regime. Scientific studies in this energy range are carried out by satellite-based gamma-ray instruments. We have now entered a new era in space-based gamma-ray astrophysics with the operation of AGILE and the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope. We summarize here highlights from earlier experiments such as the EGRET on board the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and describe some of the first results from AGILE and Fermi.
62900586
The GLAST large area telescope instrument
Abstract The LAT instrument on the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) project is a gamma-ray pair-conversion telescope designed to improve upon the sensitivity of the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory EGRET instrument by at least a factor of 30. The LAT design is based upon a silicon-strip tracker/converter, a CsI calorimeter, and a plastic-scintillator anticoincidence shield. The project is approaching its critical design review and is scheduled for launch in 2006. This talk gives an overview of the LAT science objectives, the LAT design, and the status of the engineering effort and instrument production plans.
14005977
The silicon tracker readout electronics of the gamma-ray large area space telescope
A unique electronics system has been built and tested for reading signals from the silicon-strip detectors of the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope mission. The system amplifies and processes signals from 884 736 36-cm strips using only 160 W of power, and it achieves close to 100% detection efficiency with noise occupancy sufficiently low to allow it to self trigger. The design of the readout system is described, and results are presented from ground-based testing of the completed detector system.