121410129
The Tevatron collider run 2 Prospects for discoveries in particle physics
The chances of discovering the Standard Model Higgs boson in Run 2 at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider are discussed. The reach of a search for MSSM Higgs boson and for other Susy particles is also mentioned. The large integrated luminosity potentially offered by the upgraded Tevatron in the years before the start of LHC will make an exciting physics program possible in the next several years. Let aside the luminosity, we can rely now on two much more powerful detectors than in run 1. This is a very real point of strength of the run 2 Tevatron program. The progress of the Tevatron from spring this year has been slow but steady. From this, there is no reason for being pessimistic, but admittedly no particular reason for being optimistic as well. CDF will be able to produce physics quality data early in 2002. After that, data will flow for years and years. We expect to be able to publish the first papers based on the new data in fall 2002.
115206662
Top quark mass measurement in non-tagged lepton + jets events at CDF
53067347
New-generation large-area muon scintillation counters with wavelength shifter fiber readout for CDF II
New scintillation counters have been designed and constructed for upgrading the CDF detector at Fermilab Tevatron. A novel light collection technique using wavelength shifting fibers, together with a high-quality polystyrene-based scintillator UPS 923A, has resulted in compact counters with good and stable light collection efficiency over their lengths extending up to 320 cm. The design, construction, and performance of the counters are presented. Properties of the fibers and the scintillator, such as light output, light attenuation, decay time, and long-term stability, are investigated. It is found that the polystyrene-based scintillator, unlike the polyvinyltoluene-based one, has properties more adequate for long-term experiments.
459141
The 'Miniskirt' counter array at CDF-II
Muon detection is fundamental to many of the most interesting analyses at CDF II. For more efˇcient muon registration in Run II it was decided to increase geometrical coverage. The so-called ®miniskirt counters are part of this upgrade. The original design parameters of the ®miniskirt and mixed ®miniskirt scintillation counters for the CDF Muon System are presented. The modiˇcations, testing and installation of these counters within the CDF Upgrade Project are described in detail. The timing characteristics of mixed ®miniskirt counters are also investigated using cosmic muons. The measurements show that the time resolution does not exceed 2.2 ns.
119276928
Measurement of central exclusive $\pi^+ \pi^-$ production in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ and 1.96 TeV at CDF
We measure exclusive π+π- production in proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energies s=0.9 and 1.96 TeV in the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We select events with two oppositely charged particles, assumed to be pions, with pseudorapidity |η|<1.3 and with no other particles detected in |η|<5.9. We require the π+π- system to have rapidity |y|<1.0. The production mechanism of these events is expected to be dominated by double pomeron exchange, which constrains the quantum numbers of the central state. The data are potentially valuable for isoscalar meson spectroscopy and for understanding the pomeron in a region of transition between nonperturbative and perturbative quantum chromodynamics. The data extend up to dipion mass M(π+π-)=5000  MeV/c2 and show resonance structures attributed to f0 and f2(1270) mesons. From the π+π- and K+K- spectra, we place upper limits on exclusive χc0(3415) production.
43798294
A Silicon Vertex Detector for CDF
The major reason for building a vertex detector for CDF is the tagging of decay vertices of particles with lifetime in the 10-13/10-12 sec. range. This is a complementary approach to heavy flavour physics with respect to missing Et and large Pt leptons. The method can be best applied to tag hadronic decays of heavy flavours, which have the largest branching ratios, but have eluded any specific tagging until now. It also works, although with somewhat reduced efficiency, in events with a semileptonic decay. All in all it promises to be a powerful tool in the search of rather elusive processes like Higgs, top, or fourth generation quark production [1]. The additional information provided by the vertex detector will also improve significantly the resolution of the CDF central tracking system [2].
18575274
Lorentzian varifolds and applications to closed relativistic strings
We develop a suitable generalization of Almgren's theory of varifolds in a lorentzian setting, focusing on area, first variation, rectifiability, compactness and closure issues. Motivated by the asymptotic behaviour of the scaled hyperbolic Ginzburg-Landau equations, and by the presence of singularities in lorentzian minimal surfaces, we introduce, within the varifold class, various notions of generalized minimal timelike submanifolds of arbitrary codimension in flat Minkowski spacetime, which are global in character and admit conserved quantities, such as relativistic energy and momentum. In particular, we show that stationary lorentzian 2-varifolds properly include the class of classical relativistic and subrelativistic strings. We also discuss several examples.
55580299
Constraining spacetime torsion with LAGEOS
We compute the corrections to the orbital Lense-Thirring effect (or frame-dragging) in the presence of spacetime torsion. We analyze the motion of a test body in the gravitational field of a rotating axisymmetric massive body, using the parametrized framework of Mao, Tegmark, Guth and Cabi. In the cases of autoparallel and extremal trajectories, we derive the specific approximate expression of the corresponding system of ordinary differential equations, which are then solved with methods of Celestial Mechanics. We calculate the secular variations of the longitudes of the node and of the pericenter. We also show how the LAser GEOdynamics Satellites (LAGEOS) can be used to constrain torsion parameters. We report the experimental constraints obtained using both the nodes and perigee measurements of the orbital Lense-Thirring effect. This makes LAGEOS and Gravity Probe B complementary frame-dragging and torsion experiments, since they constrain three different combinations of torsion parameters.
115175004
Compactness and convexity results for closed relativistic strings
We study various properties of closed relativistic strings. In particular, we characterize their closure under uniform convergence, extending a previous result by Y. Brenier on graph-like unbounded strings, and we discuss some related examples. Then we study the collapsing profile of convex planar strings which start with zero initial velocity, and we obtain a result analogous to the well-known theorem of Gage and Hamilton for the curvature flow of plane curves. We conclude the paper with the discussion of an example of weak Lipschitz evolution starting from the square in the plane, which exhibits some unexpected features.
119261939
Constraining spacetime torsion with the Moon and Mercury
We report a search for new gravitational physics phenomena based on Riemann-Cartan theory of general relativity including spacetime torsion. Starting from the parametrized torsion framework of Mao, Tegmark, Guth, and Cabi, we analyze the motion of test bodies in the presence of torsion, and, in particular, we compute the corrections to the perihelion advance and to the orbital geodetic precession of a satellite. We consider the motion of a test body in a spherically symmetric field, and the motion of a satellite in the gravitational field of the Sun and the Earth. We describe the torsion field by means of three parameters, and we make use of the autoparallel trajectories, which in general differ from geodesics when torsion is present. We derive the specific approximate expression of the corresponding system of ordinary differential equations, which are then solved with methods of celestial mechanics. We calculate the secular variations of the longitudes of the node and of the pericenter of the satellite. The computed secular variations show how the corrections to the perihelion advance and to the orbital de Sitter effect depend on the torsion parameters. All computations are performed under the assumptions of weak field and slow motion. To testmore » our predictions, we use the measurements of the Moon's geodetic precession from lunar laser ranging data, and the measurements of Mercury's perihelion advance from planetary radar ranging data. These measurements are then used to constrain suitable linear combinations of the torsion parameters.« less