Search results for "Experiments"
showing 10 items of 435 documents
Neutrinoless double-beta decay and physics beyond the standard model
2012
Neutrinoless double beta decay is the most powerful tool to probe not only for Majorana neutrino masses but for lepton number violating physics in general. We discuss relations between lepton number violation, double beta decay and neutrino mass, review a general Lorentz invariant parametrization of the double beta decay rate, highlight a number of different new physics models showing how different mechanisms can trigger double beta decay, and finally discuss possibilities to discriminate and test these models and mechanisms in complementary experiments.
Measurement of the response of Silicon Photomultipliers from single photon detection to saturation
2019
Abstract The development of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) is very dynamic and a large variety of types exists. Important SiPM characteristics include the size and number of pixels, the gain, the photon detection efficiency (PDE), the recovery time, and correlated noise. SiPMs are particularly suitable for single-photon detection and low-intensity exposures. For photon numbers (PDE corrected) reaching the number of pixels, however, the sensors saturate. In this work, we present comprehensive response measurements for state-of-the-art SiPMs using an experimental setup based on a tunable picosecond laser. Several models are applied to the measured response curves, taking particularly correla…
Search for the Rare Decay B→πl+l−
2007
We have performed a search for the flavor-changing neutral-current decays B → π ℓ + ℓ − , where ℓ + ℓ − is either e + e − or μ + μ − , using a sample of 230 × 10 6 Υ ( 4 S ) → B ¯¯¯ B decays collected with the BABAR detector. We observe no evidence of a signal and measure the upper limit on the isospin-averaged branching fraction to be B ( B → π ℓ + ℓ − ) < 9.1 × 10 − 8 at 90% confidence level. We also search for the lepton-flavor-violating decays B → π e ± μ ∓ and measure an upper limit on the isospin-averaged branching fraction of B ( B → π e ± μ ∓ ) < 9.2 × 10 − 8 at 90% confidence level.
Search for Second-Class Currents inτ−→ωπ−ντ
2009
We report an analysis of tau- decaying into omega.pi-.nu_tau with omega -> pi+pi-pi0 using a data sample containing nearly 320 million tau pairs collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B-Factory. We find no evidence for second-class currents and we set an upper limit of 0.69% at 90% confidence level for the fraction of second-class currents in this decay mode.
Search for Dimuon Decays of a Light Scalar Boson in Radiative Transitions Υ→γA0
2009
We search for evidence of a light scalar boson in the radiative decays of the {Upsilon}(2S) and {Upsilon}(3S) resonances: {Upsilon}(2S, 3S) {yields} {gamma}A{sup 0}, A{sup 0} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}. Such a particle appears in extensions of the Standaard Model, where a light CP-odd Higgs boson naturally couples strongly to b-quarks. We find no evidence for such processes in the mass range 0.212 {<=} m{sub A{sup 0}} {<=} 9.3 GeV in the samples of 99 x 10{sup 6} {Upsilon}(2S) and 122 x 10{sup 6} {Upsilon}(3S) decays collected by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B-factory and set stringent upper limits on the effective coupling of the b quark to the A{sup 0}. We also limit the dimuon b…
Temporal and spatial persistence of combustion fronts in paper
2003
The spatial and temporal persistence, or first-return distributions are measured for slow-combustion fronts in paper. The stationary temporal and (perhaps less convincingly) spatial persistence exponents agree with the predictions based on the front dynamics, which asymptotically belongs to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class. The stationary short-range and the transient behavior of the fronts are non-Markovian, and the observed persistence properties thus do not agree with the predictions based on Markovian theory. This deviation is a consequence of additional time and length scales, related to the crossovers to the asymptotic coarse-grained behavior. Peer reviewed
Entanglement correlations, Bell inequalities, and the concurrence
2005
Probabilities of measurement outcomes of two-particle entangled states give a physically transparent interpretation of the concurrence and of the I-concurrence as entanglement measures. The (I)-concurrence can thus be measured experimentally. The tight connection between these measures and Bell inequalities is highlighted.
Dynamics of Non Classically Reproducible Entanglement
2008
We investigate when the quantum correlations of a bipartite system, under the influence of environments with memory, are not reproducible with certainty by a classical local hidden variable model. To this purpose, we compare the dynamics of a Bell inequality with that of entanglement, as measured by concurrence. We find time regions when Bell inequality is not violated even in correspondence to high values of concurrence (up to $\approx 0.8$). We also suggest that these results may be observed by adopting a modification of a recent experimental optical setup. These findings indicate that even highly entangled systems cannot be exploited with certainty in contexts where the non classical rep…
A pedagogical approach to the Boltzmann factor through experiments and simulations
2009
The Boltzmann factor is the basis of a huge amount of thermodynamic and statistical physics, both classical and quantum. It governs the behaviour of all systems in nature that are exchanging energy with their environment. To understand why the expression has this specific form involves a deep mathematical analysis, whose flow of logic is hard to see and is not at the level of high school or college students' preparation. We here present some experiments and simulations aimed at directly deriving its mathematical expression and illustrating the fundamental concepts on which it is grounded. Experiments use easily available apparatuses, and simulations are developed in the Net-Logo environment…
Two experiments to approach the Boltzmann factor: chemical reaction and viscous flow
2012
In this paper we discuss a pedagogical approach aimed at pointing out the role played by the Boltzmann factor in describing phenomena usually perceived as regulated by different mechanisms of functioning. Experimental results regarding some aspects of a chemical reaction and of the viscous flow of some liquids are analysed and described in terms of macroscopic variables whose temperature dependence is proportional to the Boltzmann factor. A description of a workshop implementing the approach in the framework of an undergraduate course for engineering education and some preliminary results about its pedagogical relevance are then reported.