High-Energy Emission from the PSR B1259-63 System near Periastron
We report the results of a CGRO 3-week observation of the binary system containing the 47 ms pulsar PSR B1259-63 orbiting around a Be star companion in a very eccentric orbit. The PSR B1259-63 binary is a unique system for the study of the interaction of a rapidly rotating pulsar with time-variable nebular surroundings. CGRO observed the PSR B1259-63 system in coincidence with its most recent periastron passage (January 3-23, 1994). Unpulsed and non-thermal hard X-ray emission was detected up to 200 keV, with a photon index $1.8 \pm 0.2$ and a flux of ~4 mCrab, corresponding to a luminosity of a few 10^{34} erg/s at the distance of 2 kpc. The hard X-ray flux and spectrum detected by CGRO agrees with the X-ray emission measured by simultaneous ASCA observations. EGRET upper limits are significant, and exclude strong inverse Compton cooling in the PSR B1259-63 system. We interpret the observed non-thermal emission as synchrotron radiation of shocked electron/positron pairs of the relativistic pulsar wind interacting with the mass outflow from the Be star. Our results clearly indicate, for the first time in a binary pulsar, that high energy emission can be shock-powered rather than caused by accretion. The lack of X-ray/gamma-ray pulsations constrains models of high-energy emission from rapidly rotating pulsars.

title: Long-Term Spectral and Timing Behavior of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094
abstract: We present the long-term X-ray light curves and detailed spectral and timing analyses of XTE J1908+094 using the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array observations covering two outbursts in 2002 and early 2003. At the onset of the first outburst, the source was found in a spectrally low/hard state lasting for ~40 days, followed by a 3 day long transition to the high/soft state. The source flux (in 2-10 keV) reached ~100 mcrab on 2002 April 6, then decayed rapidly. In power spectra, we detect strong band-limited noise and varying low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations that evolved from ~0.5 to ~5 Hz during the initial low/hard state of the source. We find that the second outburst closely resembled the spectral evolution of the first. The X-ray transient's overall outburst characteristics led us to classify XTE J1908+094 as a black hole candidate. Here we also derive precise X-ray position of the source using Chandra observations that were performed during the decay phase of the first outburst and following the second outburst.

title: On the Dramatic Spin-up/Spin-down Torque Reversals in Accreting Pulsars
abstract: Dramatic torque reversals between spin-up and spin-down have been observed in half of the persistent X-ray 
pulsars monitored by the BATSE all-sky monitor on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Theoretical models 
developed to explain early pulsar timing data can explain spin-down torques via a disk-magnetosphere interaction 
if the star nearly corotates with the inner accretion disk. To produce the observed BATSE torque reversals, however, these equilibrium models require the disk to alternate between two mass accretion rates, with ˙M5 producing accretion torques of similar magnitude but always of opposite sign. Moreover, in at least one pulsar (GX 114) undergoing secular spin-down, the neutron star spins down faster during brief (~20 day) hard X-ray flares—this is opposite the correlation expected from standard theory, assuming that BATSE pulsed flux increases with mass accretion rate. The 10 day to 10 yr intervals between torque reversals in these systems are much longer than any characteristic magnetic or viscous timescale near the inner disk boundary and are more suggestive of a global disk phenomenon. 
 
We discuss possible explanations of the observed torque behavior. Despite the preferred sense of rotation defined by the binary orbit, the BATSE observations are urprisingly consistent with an earlier suggestion for GX 1+4: the disks in these systems somehow alternate between episodes of prograde and retrograde rotation. We are unaware of any mechanism that could produce a stable retrograde disk in a binary undergoing Roche lobe overflow, but such flip-flop behavior does occur in numerical simulations of wind-fed systems. One possibility is that the disks in some of these binaries are fed by an X-ray–excited wind.

title: Large Torque Variations in Two Soft Gamma Repeaters
abstract: We have monitored the pulse frequencies of the two soft gamma repeaters SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14 through the beginning of year 2001 using primarily Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array observations. In both sources, we observe large changes in the spin-down torque up to a factor of ~4, which persist for several months. Using long-baseline phase-connected timing solutions as well as the overall frequency histories, we construct torque noise power spectra for each SGR. The power spectrum of each source is very red (power-law slope ~-3.5). The torque noise power levels are consistent with some accreting systems on timescales of ~1 yr, yet the full power spectrum is much steeper in frequency than any known accreting source. To the best of our knowledge, torque noise power spectra with a comparably steep frequency dependence have been seen only in young, glitching radio pulsars (e.g., Vela). The observed changes in spin-down rate do not correlate with burst activity; therefore, the physical mechanisms behind each phenomenon are also likely unrelated. Within the context of the magnetar model, seismic activity cannot account for both the bursts and the long-term torque changes unless the seismically active regions are decoupled from one another.

title: Characterization of the Crab Pulsar's Timing Noise
abstract: We present a power spectral analysis of the Crab pulsar’s timing noise, mainly using radio measurements from Jodrell Bank taken over the period 1982-1989, an interval bounded by sparse data sampling and a large glitch. The power spectral analysis is complicated by nonuniform data sampling and the presence of a steep red power spectrum that can distort power spectra measurement by causing severe power “leakage”. We develop a simple windowing method for computing red noise power spectra of uniformly sampled data sets and test it on Monte Carlo generated sample realizations of red power-law noise. We generalize time-domain methods of generating power-law red noise with even integer spectral indices to the case of noninteger spectral indices. The Jodrell Bank pulse phase residuals are dense and smooth enough that an interpolation onto a uniform time series is possible. A windowed power spectrum is computed revealing a periodic or nearly periodic component with a period of 568± 10 days and a 1/f 3 power-law noise component in pulse phase with a noise strength Sφ = (1.24±0.067)×10−16 cycles/sec over the analysis frequency range f = 0.003 − 0.1 cycles/day. This result deviates from past analyses which characterized the pulse phase timing residuals as either 1/f 4 power-law noise or a quasiperiodic process. The analysis was checked using the Deeter polynomial method of power spectrum estimation that was developed for the case of nonuniform sampling, but has lower spectral resolution. The timing noise is consistent with a torque noise spectrum rising with analysis frequency as f implying blue torque noise, a result not predicted by current models of pulsar timing noise. If the periodic or nearly periodic component is due to a binary companion, we find a mass function f(M) = (6.8 ± 2.4) × 10−16 M⊙ and a companion mass, Mc ≥ 3.2M⊕ assuming a Crab pulsar mass of 1.4M⊙.

title: Chandra Observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61
abstract: We present X-ray imaging, timing, and phase-resolved spectroscopy of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The spectrum is well described by a power-law plus blackbody model with Γ = 3.35(2), kTBB = 0.458(3) keV, and NH = 0.91(2) × 1022 cm-2; we find no significant evidence for spectral features (0.5-7.0 keV). Time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy shows evidence for evolution in phase in either Γ, kTBB, or some combination thereof as a function of pulse phase. We derive a precise X-ray position for the source and determine its spin period, P = 8.68866(30) s. We have detected emission beyond 4'' from the central source and extending beyond 100'', likely due to dust scattering in the interstellar medium.

title: Search for new physics with same-sign isolated dilepton events with jets and missing transverse energy.
abstract: A search for new physics is performed in events with two same-sign isolated leptons, hadronic jets, and missing transverse energy in the final state. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.98 fb(-1) produced in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This constitutes a factor of 140 increase in integrated luminosity over previously published results. The observed yields agree with the standard model predictions and thus no evidence for new physics is found. The observations are used to set upper limits on possible new physics contributions and to constrain supersymmetric models. To facilitate the interpretation of the data in a broader range of new physics scenarios, information on the event selection, detector response, and efficiencies is provided.

title: Search for dark matter and large extra dimensions in pp collisions yielding a photon and missing transverse energy.
abstract: Results are presented from a search for new physics in the final state containing a photon (γ) and missing transverse energy (E[combininb /](T)). The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb(-1) collected in pp collisions at √[s]=7 TeV by the CMS experiment. The observed event yield agrees with standard-model expectations for the γ+E[combininb /](T) events. Using models for the production of dark-matter particles (χ), we set 90% confidence level (C.L.) upper limits of 13.6-15.4 fb on χ production in the γ+E[combininb /](T) state. These provide the most sensitive upper limits for spin-dependent χ-nucleon scattering for χ masses (M(χ)) between 1 and 100 GeV. For spin-independent contributions, the present limits are extended to M(χ)<3.5 GeV. For models with 3-6 large extra dimensions, our data exclude extra-dimensional Planck scales between 1.64 and 1.73 TeV at 95% C.L.

title: Read-out of scintillating fibres using a weak cross-talk position-sensitive photomultiplier
abstract: Fast and precise readout of scintillating fibres (SciFi) has a great potential for fast tracking and triggering at high-luminosity particle physics experiments. In the framework of the RD-17 experiment at CERN (FAROS) significant milestones in the development of SciFi detectors using position-sensitive photomultipliers have been achieved. Results obtained with a weak cross-talk multi-anode photomultiplier, Philips XP1724, and a parallel readout of the anodes are reported. With 0.5 mm diameter fibres a spatial resolution of about 125 μm and a detection efficiency in excess of 95% have been obtained. The time dispersion of signals from individual photomultiplier channels has been estimated to be about 1 ns. The possibility of digitising the track position in real time by a peak-sensing circuit is studied for the first time

title: Search for new physics in events with same-sign dileptons and b-tagged jets in pp collisions at $ \sqrt {s} = 7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractA search for new physics is performed using isolated same-sign dileptons with at least two b-quark jets in the final state. Results are based on a 4.98 fb−1 sample of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV collected by the CMS detector. No excess above the standard model background is observed. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the number of events from non-standard-model sources. These limits are used to set constraints on a number of new physics models. Information on acceptance and efficiencies are also provided so that the results can be used to confront additional models in an approximate way.

title: Search for light resonances decaying into pairs of muons as a signal of new physics
abstract: A search for groups of collimated muons is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb−1. The analysis searches for production of new low-mass states decaying into pairs of muons and is designed to achieve high sensitivity to a broad range of models predicting leptonic jet signatures. With no excess observed over the background expectation, upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction times acceptance areset, ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 pb at the 95% CL depending on event topology. In addition, the results are interpreted in several benchmark models in the context of supersymmetry with a new light dark sector exploring previously inaccessible parameter space.