No Arabic abstract
The D0 preshower detector consists of scintillator strips with embedded wavelength-shifting fibers, and a readout using Visible Light Photon Counters. The response to minimum ionizing particles has been tested with cosmic ray muons. We report results on the gain calibration and light-yield distributions. The spatial resolution is investigated taking into account the light sharing between strips, the effects of multiple scattering and various systematic uncertainties. The detection efficiency and noise contamination are also investigated.
A high granularity preshower detector has been fabricated and installed in the WA98 Experiment at the CERN SPS for measuring the spatial distribution of photons produced in the forward region in lead ion induced interactions. Photons are counted by detecting the preshower signal in plastic scintillator pads placed behind a 3 radiation length thick lead converter and applying a threshold on the scintillator signal to reject the minimum ionizing particles. Techniques to improve the imaging of the fibre and performance of the detector in the high multiplicity environment of lead-lead collisions are described. Using Monte-Carlo simulation methods and test beam data of pi- and e- at various energies the photon counting efficiency is estimated to be 68% for central and 73% for peripheral Pb+Pb collisions.
We report on D0 searches for leptoquarks (LQ) predicted in extended gauge theories and composite models to explain the symmetry between quarks and leptons. Data samples obtained with the D0 detector from proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV corresponding to intergrated luminosities of 1--4 inverse-fb were analyzed. No evidence for the production of such particles were observed and lower limits on leptoquark masses are set.
We report on the observation of single top quark production by the D0 collaboration using a dataset of 2.3 fb^-1 collected at the Fermilab Tevatron ppbar collider. Several multivariate techniques are combined to separate the single top signal from backgrounds. The measured single top cross section is 3.94+-0.88pb. The probability to measure a cross section at this value or higher in the absence of signal is 2.9*10^-7, corresponding to a 5.0 standard deviation significance for the presence of signal. The lower limit at the 95% C.L. on the CKM matrix element Vtb is |Vtb|>0.78. A separate measurement of the t-channel cross section gives 3.14 +0.94 -0.80 pb.
We measure the time dependence of the ratio of decay rates for D0 -> K+ pi- to the Cabibbo-favored decay D0 -> K- pi+. The charge conjugate decays are included. A signal of 3.3 x 10^4 D*+ -> pi+ D0, D0 -> K+ pi- decays is obtained with D0 proper decay times between 0.75 and 10 mean D0 lifetimes. The data were recorded with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 9.6 fb-1 for p-pbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV. Assuming CP conservation, we search for D0-D0bar mixing and measure the mixing parameters to be R_D = (3.51 +/- 0.35) x 10^{-3}, y = (4.3 +/- 4.3) x 10^{-3}, and x^2 = (0.08 +/- 0.18) x 10^{-3}. We report Bayesian probability intervals in the x^2 - y plane and find that the significance of excluding the no-mixing hypothesis is equivalent to 6.1 Gaussian standard deviations, providing the second observation of D0-D0bar mixing from a single experiment.
The OPERA experiment discovered muon neutrino into tau neutrino oscillations in appearance mode, detecting tau leptons by means of nuclear emulsion films. The apparatus was also endowed with electronic detectors with tracking capability, such as scintillator strips and resistive plate chambers. Because of its location, in the underground Gran Sasso laboratory, under 3800 m.w.e., the OPERA detector has also been used as an observatory for TeV muons produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere. In this paper the measurement of the single muon flux modulation and of its correlation with the seasonal variation of the atmospheric temperature are reported.