Search for annual modulation in low-energy CDMS-II data
We report limits on annual modulation of the low-energy event rate from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Such a modulation could be produced by interactions from Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with masses ~10 GeV/c^2. We find no evidence for annual modulation in the event rate of veto-anticoincident single-detector interactions consistent with nuclear recoils, and constrain the magnitude of any modulation to 98% confidence. For events consistent with electron recoils, no significant modulation is observed for either single- or multiple-detector interactions in the 3.0-7.4 keVee range.

title: Limit on the flux of cosmic-ray magnetic monopoles from operation of an eight-loop superconducting detector.
abstract: An eight-loop superconducting magnetic monopole detector has been in continuous operation for 547 days, starting 4 March 1987. Its sensing area is 1.1 m{sup 2} for double-coincident events. The data, which contain no candidate events, set an upper limit of 7.2{times}10{sup {minus}13} cm{sup  s{sup {minus}1} sr{sup {minus}1} (90% confidence level) on the flux of monopoles of any mass and at any velocity passing through the Earth's surface.

title: Limits on the Superconducting Order Parameter in NdFeAsO1-xFy from Scanning SQUID Microscopy
abstract: Identifying the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in the recently-discovered ferrooxypnictide family of superconductors, RFeAsO{sub 1-x}F{sub y}, where R is a rare earth, is a high priority. Many of the proposed order parameters have internal {pi} phase shifts, like the d-wave order found in the cuprates, which would result in direction-dependent phase shifts in tunneling. In dense polycrystalline samples, these phase shifts in turn would result in spontaneous orbital currents and magnetization in the superconducting state. We perform scanning SQUID microscopy on a dense polycrystalline sample of NdFeAsO{sub 0.94}F{sub 0.06} with T{sub c} = 48K and find no such spontaneous currents, ruling out many of the proposed order parameters.

title: Dark Matter Search Results from the CDMS II Experiment
abstract: News from the Dark Side? Dark matter is thought to represent 85% of all matter in the universe and to have been responsible for the formation of structure in the early universe, but its nature is still a mystery. Ahmed et al. (p. 1619, published online 11 February; see the Perspective by Lang) describe the results from the completed Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment, which searched for dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP). Two candidate signals were observed, whereas only one background event was expected. The probability of having two or more events from the background would have been 23%. The results of this analysis cannot be interpreted with confidence as evidence for WIMP interactions, but, at the same time, neither event can be ruled out as representing signal. Details of possible, but unlikely, detection events produced by dark matter are reported. Astrophysical observations indicate that dark matter constitutes most of the mass in our universe, but its nature remains unknown. Over the past decade, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment has provided world-leading sensitivity for the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter. The final exposure of our low-temperature germanium particle detectors at the Soudan Underground Laboratory yielded two candidate events, with an expected background of 0.9 ± 0.2 events. This is not statistically significant evidence for a WIMP signal. The combined CDMS II data place the strongest constraints on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent scattering cross section for a wide range of WIMP masses and exclude new parameter space in inelastic dark matter models.

title: Position dependence in the CDMS II ZIP detectors
abstract: The Ge and Si detectors developed by the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) II experiment rely on the simultaneous detection of athermal phonons and ionization produced by interactions in the crystal. The athermal phonons provide both the total energy deposited in an interaction and the information about the position of the interaction. We describe extracting this information from the pulse shapes in the four phonon sensors. We present the result of measurements made on a Si detector from the first CDMS II production batch. We also investigate ways of using the event position information to extract further information about the phonon signal.

title: Exclusion Limits on the WIMP Nucleon Cross-Section from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
abstract: The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs low-temperature Ge and Si detectors to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) via their elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against interactions of background particles. For recoil energies above 10 keV, events due to background photons are rejected with >99.9% efficiency, and surface events are rejected with >95% efficiency. The estimate of the background due to neutrons is based primarily on the observation of multiple-scatter events that should all be neutrons. Data selection is determined primarily by examining calibration data and vetoed events. Resulting efficiencies should be accurate to ∼10%. Results of CDMS data from 1998 and 1999 with a relaxed fiducial-volume cut (resulting in 15.8 kg days exposure on Ge) are consistent with an earlier analysis with a more restrictive fiducial-volume cut. Twenty-three WIMP candidate events are observed, but these events are consistent with a background from neutrons in all ways tested. Resulting limits on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross section exclude unexplored parameter space for WIMPs with masses between 10–70 GeV/c2. These limits border, but do not exclude, parameter space allowed by supersymmetry models and accelerator constraints. Results are compatible with some regions reported as allowed at 3σ by the annual-modulation measurement of the DAMA Collaboration. However, under the assumptions of standard WIMP interactions and a standard halo, the results are incompatible with the DAMA most likely value at >99.9% confidence level (C.L.), and are incompatible with the model-independent annual-modulation signal of DAMA at 99.99% C.L. in the asymptotic limit.

title: An ultraviolet–optical flare from the tidal disruption of a helium-rich stellar core
abstract: The flare of radiation from the tidal disruption and accretion of a star can be used as a marker for supermassive black holes that otherwise lie dormant and undetected in the centres of distant galaxies. Previous candidate flares have had declining light curves in good agreement with expectations, but with poor constraints on the time of disruption and the type of star disrupted, because the rising emission was not observed. Recently, two ‘relativistic’ candidate tidal disruption events were discovered, each of whose extreme X-ray luminosity and synchrotron radio emission were interpreted as the onset of emission from a relativistic jet. Here we report a luminous ultraviolet–optical flare from the nuclear region of an inactive galaxy at a redshift of 0.1696. The observed continuum is cooler than expected for a simple accreting debris disk, but the well-sampled rise and decay of the light curve follow the predicted mass accretion rate and can be modelled to determine the time of disruption to an accuracy of two days. The black hole has a mass of about two million solar masses, modulo a factor dependent on the mass and radius of the star disrupted. On the basis of the spectroscopic signature of ionized helium from the unbound debris, we determine that the disrupted star was a helium-rich stellar core.

title: Discovery of two new faint cataclysmic variables
abstract: We report on the discovery of two new faint cataclysmic variables. The objects were selected as candidates from two different imaging surveys aimed at the discovery of such faint systems. One survey used color and variability while the other used color and Ha emission as selection criteria. We present our spectra of the two new variables and discuss their properties. A discussion of the implication of these discoveries on the space density of faint cataclysmic variables is presented.

title: SPECTRAL IDENTIFICATION OF AN ANCIENT SUPERNOVA USING LIGHT ECHOES IN THE LMC
abstract: We report the successful identification of the type of the supernova responsible for the supernova remnant SNR 0509-675 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using Gemini spectra of surrounding light echoes. The ability to classify outbursts associated with centuries-old remnants provides a new window into several aspects of supernova research and is likely to be successful in providing new constraints on additional LMC supernovae as well as their historical counterparts in the Milky Way Galaxy (MWG). The combined spectrum of echo light from SNR 0509-675 shows broad emission and absorption lines consistent with a supernova (SN) spectrum. We create a spectral library consisting of 26 SNe Ia and 6 SN Ib/c that are time-integrated, dust-scattered by LMC dust, and reddened by the LMC and MWG. We fit these SN templates to the observed light echo spectrum using χ minimization as well as correlation techniques, and we find that overluminous 91T-like SNe Ia with ∆m15 < 0.9 match the observed spectrum best.

title: Analysis of the (p, π+) reaction at a momentum transfer below 600 MeV/c☆
abstract: The nuclear production of positive pions in proton-induced reactions on light nuclei is calculated in a Two-Nucleon-Model including π and ϱ single rescattering terms. As a main feature of this model the strong sensitivity of the predictions on the initial and final state interactions observed in the One-Nucleon-Model is considerably reduced. The results reproduce satisfactorily the characteristic trends in the experimental data.

title: Central and noncentral components of the effective sd-shell interaction
abstract: The contributions of central as well as noncentral two-body interactions to the matrix elements of various effective interactions for the $\mathrm{sd}$ shell are studied in an SU(3) two-particle basis. The results show that their central parts agree rather well and exhibit an approximate SU(3) symmetry. However, large differences are found between the noncentral parts of microscopic and phenomenological interactions, respectively. The influence of noncentral components of the matrix elements of Glaudemans et al. on experimental data is investigated for the case of $^{28}\mathrm{Si}$, with the result that the $\mathrm{LS}$ component is very important to reproduce the correct ground state binding energy. Some effects introduced by higher order two-body interactions and many-body interactions are discussed.