0000000000909845
AUTHOR
P Billoir
B* production in Z decays
The decay B*→Bγ has been observed with the DELPHI detector at LEP, where the B* meson is produced in Z boson decays. The combination of inclusively reconstructed B mesons with well-measured converted photons yields a measurement of the flavour-averaged B*-B mass difference of 45.5±0.3 (stat.) ±0.8 (syst.) MeV/c2. 95% confidence level upper limits at 6 MeV/c2 are placed on both the isospin (i.e. B+-B0) and the Bs-Bud splitting of the mass difference. The production ratio of B* to B mesons in Z decays is measured to be 0.72±0.03 (stat.) ±0.06 (syst.). Limits on the production cross-section of other hypothetical excited B hadron states decaying radiatively are established. The differential B* …
Investigation of the splitting of quark and gluon jets
The splitting processes in identified quark and gluon jets are investigated using longitudinal and transverse observables. The jets are selected from symmetric three-jet events measured in Z decays L with the {\sc Delphi} detector in 1991-1994. Gluon jets are identified using heavy quark anti-tagging. Scaling violations in identified gluon jets are observed for the first time. The scale energy dependence of the gluon fragmentation function is found to be about two times larger than for the corresponding quark jets, consistent with the QCD expectation $C_A/C_F$. The primary splitting of gluons and quarks into subjets agrees with fragmentation models and, for specific regions of the jet resol…
Measurements of the Lineshape of the $Z^{0}$ and Determination of Electroweak Parameters from its Hadronic and Leptonic Decays
Abstract: During the LEP running periods in 1990 and 1991 DELPHI has accumulated approximately 450000 Z0 decays into hadrons and charged leptons. The increased event statistics coupled with improved analysis techniques and improved knowledge of the LEP beam energies permit significantly better measurements of the mass and width of the Z0 resonance. Model independent fits to the cross sections and leptonic forward-backward asymmetries yield the following Z0 parameters: the mass and total width M(Z) = 91.187 +/- 0.009 GeV, GAMMA(Z) = 2.486 +/- 0.012 GeV, the hadronic and leptonic partial widths GAMMA(had) = 1.725 +/- 0.012GeV, GAMMA(l) = 83.01 +/- 0.52 MeV, the invisible width GAMMA(inv) = 51…
The Pierre Auger Observatory scaler mode for the study of solar activity modulation of galactic cosmic rays
Since data-taking began in January 2004, the Pierre Auger Observatory has been recording the count rates of low energy secondary cosmic ray particles for the self-calibration of the ground detectors of its surface detector array. After correcting for atmospheric effects, modulations of galactic cosmic rays due to solar activity and transient events are observed. Temporal variations related with the activity of the heliosphere can be determined with high accuracy due to the high total count rates. In this study, the available data are presented together with an analysis focused on the observation of Forbush decreases, where a strong correlation with neutron monitor data is found.
Measurement of the Proton-Air Cross Section at root s=57 TeV with the Pierre Auger Observatory
We report a measurement of the proton-air cross section for particle production at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon of 57 TeV. This is derived from the distribution of the depths of shower maxima observed with the Pierre Auger Observatory: systematic uncertainties are studied in detail. Analyzing the tail of the distribution of the shower maxima, a proton-air cross section of [505±22(stat)-36+28(syst)]mb is found. © 2012 American Physical Society.
DETERMINATION OF ALPHA(S) FOR B-QUARKS AT THE Z(0) RESONANCE
The strong coupling constant for b quarks has been determined, and its flavour independence, as predicted by QCD, investigated. The analysis involved events with lepton candidates selected from approximately 356 000 hadronic decays of the Z0, collected by the DELPHI detector at LEP in 1990 and 199 1. A method based on a direct comparison of the three-jet fraction in a b enriched sample, selected by requiring leptons with large momenta and transverse momenta, to that of the entire hadronic sample, illustrated the significant effect of the b quark mass on the multi-jet cross section, and verified the flavour independence of the strong coupling constant to an accuracy of +/- 6%. A second proce…
Measurement of inclusive pi(0) production in hadronic Z(0) decays
An analysis is presented of inclusive \pi^0 production in Z^0 decays measured with the DELPHI detector. At low energies, \pi^0 decays are reconstructed by \linebreak using pairs of converted photons and combinations of converted photons and photons reconstructed in the barrel electromagnetic calorimeter (HPC). At high energies (up to x_p = 2 \cdot p_{\pi}/\sqrt{s} = 0.75) the excellent granularity of the HPC is exploited to search for two-photon substructures in single showers. The inclusive differential cross section is measured as a function of energy for {q\overline q} and {b \bar b} events. The number of \pi^0's per hadronic Z^0 event is N(\pi^0)/ Z_{had}^0 = 9.2 \pm 0.2 \mbox{(stat)} \…
DETERMINATION OF ALPHA-S FROM THE SCALING VIOLATION IN THE FRAGMENTATION FUNCTIONS IN E+E- ANNIHILATION
A determination of the hadronic fragmentation functions of the Z0 boson is presented from a study of the inclusive hadron production with the DELPHI detector at LEP. These fragmentation functions were compared with the ones at lower energies, thus covering data in a large kinematic range: 196 less-than-or-equal-to Q2 less-than-or-equal-to 8312 GeV2 and x (= p(h)/E(beam)) > 0.08. A large scaling violation was observed, which was used to extract the strong coupling constant in second order QCD: alpha(s)(M(Z)) = 0.118 +/- 0.005. The corresponding QCD scale for five quark flavours is: LAMBDA(MS)(5)BAR = 230 +/- 60 MeV.
Erratum: The lateral trigger probability function for the ultra-high energy cosmic ray showers detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory (Astroparticle Physics (2011) 35 (266-276))
The Fig. 7, originally consisting of 4 panels, was truncated in the printed version (the last panel was missing). The complete version is printed again
Measurement of Event Shape and Inclusive Distributions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 130 and 136 GeV
Inclusive charged particle and event shape distributions are measured using 321 hadronic events collected with the DELPHI experiment at LEP at effective centre of mass energies of 130 to 136 GeV. These distributions are presented and compared to data at lower energies, in particular to the precise Z data. Fragmentation models describe the observed changes of the distributions well. The energy dependence of the means of the event shape variables can also be described using second order QCD plus power terms. A method independent of fragmentation model corrections is used to determine $\alpha_s$ from the energy dependence of the mean thrust and heavy jet mass. It is measured to be: % %\alpha_s…
New methods of evaluation of the flavor composition in e+ e- annihilation by double hemisphere tagging at LEP / SLC energies
Two new methods are proposed to extract the flavour contents of the events produced at LEP/SLC, together with the classification matrix of a tagging by hemispheres. By utilising the tagging obtained in both hemispheres, the efficiencies, backgrounds and flavour compositions are directly obtained by fitting the data. A minimal dependence on modelling and a consistent treatment of systematic errors are achieved by applying these methods. The choice of the tagging algorithm is irrelevant in the methods, provided that similar efficiencies are reached. As an example, a multivariate analysis technique combining the tracking information given by a microvertex detector has been applied to extract t…
Anisotropy and chemical composition of ultra-high energy cosmic rays using arrival directions measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Collaboration has reported evidence for anisotropy in the distribution of arrival directions of the cosmic rays with energies $E>E_{th}=5.5\times 10^{19}$ eV. These show a correlation with the distribution of nearby extragalactic objects, including an apparent excess around the direction of Centaurus A. If the particles responsible for these excesses at $E>E_{th}$ are heavy nuclei with charge $Z$, the proton component of the sources should lead to excesses in the same regions at energies $E/Z$. We here report the lack of anisotropies in these directions at energies above $E_{th}/Z$ (for illustrative values of $Z=6,\ 13,\ 26$). If the anisotropies above $E_{th}$ are du…
Search for correlations between the arrival directions of IceCube neutrino events and ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays detected by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array
This paper presents the results of different searches for correlations between very high-energy neutrino candidates detected by IceCube and the highest-energy cosmic rays measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the Telescope Array. We first consider samples of cascade neutrino events and of high-energy neutrino-induced muon tracks, which provided evidence for a neutrino flux of astrophysical origin, and study their cross-correlation with the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray (UHECR) samples as a function of angular separation. We also study their possible directional correlations using a likelihood method stacking the neutrino arrival directions and adopting different assumptions on the size…
Results of a self-triggered prototype system for radio-detection of extensive air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory
We describe the experimental setup and the results of RAuger, a small radio-antenna array, consisting of three fully autonomous and self-triggered radio-detection stations, installed close to the center of the Surface Detector (SD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina. The setup has been designed for the detection of the electric field strength of air showers initiated by ultra-high energy cosmic rays, without using an auxiliary trigger from another detection system. Installed in December 2006, RAuger was terminated in May 2010 after 65 registered coincidences with the SD. The sky map in local angular coordinates (i.e., zenith and azimuth angles) of these events reveals a strong azi…