No Arabic abstract
The $5g-4f$ transitions in pionic nitrogen and muonic oxygen were measured simultaneously by using a gaseous nitrogen-oxygen mixture at 1.4,bar. Due to the precise knowledge of the muon mass the muonic line provides the energy calibration for the pionic transition. A value of (139.57077,$pm$,0.00018),MeV/c$^{2}$ ($pm$,1.3ppm) is derived for the mass of the negatively charged pion, which is 4.2ppm larger than the present world average.
We present a new evaluation of the negatively charged pion mass based on the simultaneous spec-troscopy of pionic nitrogen and muonic oxygen transitions using a gaseous target composed by a N 2 /O 2 mixture at 1.4 bar. We present the experimental setup and the methods for deriving the pion mass value from the spatial separation from the 5g -- 4 f $pi$N transition line and the 5g -- 4 f $mu$O transition line used as reference. Moreover, we discuss the importance to use dilute targets in order to minimize the influence of additional spectral lines from the presence of remaining electrons during the radiative emission. The occurrence of possible satellite lines is investigated via hypothesis testing methods using the Bayes factor.
We describe a new technique to measure the EDM of $^{129}$Xe with $^3$He comagnetometry. Both species are polarized using spin-exchange optical pumping, transferred to a measurement cell, and transported into a magnetically shielded room, where SQUID magnetometers detect free precession in applied electric and magnetic fields. The result of a one week run combined with a detailed study of systematic effects is $d_A(^{129}mathrm{Xe}) = (0.26 pm 2.33_mathrm{stat} pm 0.72_mathrm{syst})times10^{-27}~e,mathrm{cm}$. This corresponds to an upper limit of $|d_A(^{129}mathrm{Xe})| < 4.81times 10^{-27} ~e,mathrm{cm}~(95%~mathrm{CL})$, a factor of 1.4 more sensitive than the previous limit.
Single-shot absorption measurements have been performed using the multi-keV X-rays generated by a laser wakefield accelerator. A 200 TW laser was used to drive a laser wakefield accelerator in a mode which produced broadband electron beams with a maximum energy above 1 GeV and a broad divergence of $approx15$ miliradians FWHM. Betatron oscillations of these electrons generated $1.2pm0.2times10^6$ photons/eV in the 5 keV region, with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 300:1. This was sufficient to allow high-resolution XANES measurements at the K-edge of a titanium sample in a single shot. We demonstrate that this source is capable of single-shot, simultaneous measurements of both the electron and ion distributions in matter heated to eV temperatures by comparison with DFT simulations. The unique combination of a high-flux, large bandwidth, few femtosecond duration X-ray pulse synchronised to a high-power laser will enable key advances in the study of ultra-fast energetic processes such as electron-ion equilibration.
The COMPASS collaboration at CERN has investigated pion Compton scattering, $pi^-gammarightarrow pi^-gamma$, at centre-of-mass energy below 3.5 pion masses. The process is embedded in the reaction $pi^-mathrm{Ni}rightarrowpi^-gamma;mathrm{Ni}$, which is initiated by 190,GeV pions impinging on a nickel target. The exchange of quasi-real photons is selected by isolating the sharp Coulomb peak observed at smallest momentum transfers, $Q^2<0.0015$,(GeV/$c$)$^2$. From a sample of 63,000 events the pion electric polarisability is determined to be $alpha_pi = (,2.0 pm 0.6_{mbox{scriptsize stat}} pm 0.7_{mbox{scriptsize syst}},) times 10^{-4},mbox{fm}^3$ under the assumption $alpha_pi=-beta_pi$, which relates the electric and magnetic dipole polarisabilities. It is the most precise measurement of this fundamental low-energy parameter of strong interaction, that has been addressed since long by various methods with conflicting outcomes. While this result is in tension with previous dedicated measurements, it is found in agreement with the expectation from chiral perturbation theory. An additional measurement replacing pions by muons, for which the cross-section behavior is unambigiously known, was performed for an independent estimate of the systematic uncertainty.
About 300 experiments have tried to determine the value of the Newtonian gravitational constant, G, so far, but large discrepancies in the results have made it impossible to know its value precisely. The weakness of the gravitational interaction and the impossibility of shielding the effects of gravity make it very difficult to measure G while keeping systematic effects under control. Most previous experiments performed were based on the torsion pendulum or torsion balance scheme as in the experiment by Cavendish in 1798, and in all cases macroscopic masses were used. Here we report the precise determination of G using laser-cooled atoms and quantum interferometry. We obtain the value G=6.67191(99) x 10^(-11) m^3 kg^(-1) s^(-2) with a relative uncertainty of 150 parts per million (the combined standard uncertainty is given in parentheses). Our value differs by 1.5 combined standard deviations from the current recommended value of the Committee on Data for Science and Technology. A conceptually different experiment such as ours helps to identify the systematic errors that have proved elusive in previous experiments, thus improving the confidence in the value of G. There is no definitive relationship between G and the other fundamental constants, and there is no theoretical prediction for its value, against which to test experimental results. Improving the precision with which we know G has not only a pure metrological interest, but is also important because of the key role that G has in theories of gravitation, cosmology, particle physics and astrophysics and in geophysical models.