The 2001 April Burst Activation of SGR 1900+14: Pulse Properties and Torque
We report on observations of SGR 1900+14 made with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and BeppoSAX during the 2001 April burst activation of the source. Using these data, we measure the spin-down torque on the star and confirm earlier findings that the torque and burst activity are not directly correlated. We compare the X-ray pulse profile to the gamma-ray profile during the April 18 intermediate flare and show that (1) their shapes are similar and (1) the gamma-ray profile aligns closely in phase with the X-ray pulsations. The good phase alignment of the gamma-ray and X-ray profiles suggests that there was no rapid spin-down following this flare of the magnitude inferred for the August 27 giant flare. We discuss how these observations further constrain magnetic field reconfiguration models for the large flares of SGRs.

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Studies of jet mass in dijet and W/Z + jet events
abstract: A bstract
 Invariant mass spectra for jets reconstructed using the anti-kT and CambridgeAachen algorithms are studied for different jet “grooming” techniques in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 fb−1, recorded with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. Leading-order QCD predictions for inclusive dijet and W/Z+jet production combined with parton-shower Monte Carlo models are found to agree overall with the data, and the agreement improves with the implementation of jet grooming methods used to distinguish merged jets of large transverse momentum from softer QCD gluon radiation.

title: Measurement of the weak mixing angle with the Drell-Yan process in proton-proton collisions at the LHC
abstract: A multivariate likelihood method to measure electroweak couplings with the Drell–Yan process at the LHC is presented. The process is described by the dilepton rapidity, invariant mass, and decay angle distributions. The decay angle ambiguity due to the unknown assignment of the scattered constituent quark and antiquark to the two protons in a collision is resolved statistically using correlations between the observables. The method is applied to a sample of dimuon events from proton-proton collisions at √s=7  TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.1  fb-1. From the dominant uu , dd →γ*/Z→μ-μ+ process, the effective weak mixing angle parameter is measured to be sin⁡2θeff=0.2287±0.0020 (stat.)±0.0025 (syst.). This result is consistent with measurements from other processes, as expected within the standard model.

title: Leading order determination of the gluon polarisation from DIS events with high-$p_T$ hadron pairs
abstract: We present a determination of the gluon polarisation Delta g/g in the nucleon, based on the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry of DIS events with Q(2) > 1 (GeV/c)(2) including a pair of large transverse-momentum hadrons in the final state. The data were obtained by the COMPASS experiment at CERN using a 160 GeV/c polarised muon beam scattering off a polarised (LiD)-Li-6 target. The gluon polarisation is evaluated by a Neural Network approach for three intervals of the gluon momentum fraction x(g) covering the range 0.04 < x(g) < 0.27. The values obtained at leading order in QCD do not show any significant dependence on x(g). Their average is Delta g/g = 0.125 +/- 0.060 (stat.) +/- 0.063 (syst.) at average x(g) = 0.09 and a scale of mu(2) = 3 (GeV/c)(2).

title: Detection of single photons with ThickGEM-based counters
abstract: The photon detectors based on MPGD (MicroPattern Gaseous Detector) represent the new generation of gaseous photon detectors. We report about an R&D programme dedicated to study both the principles and the engineering aspects of photon detectors based on Thick GEMs (THGEM) electron multipliers coupled to a CsI photoconverting coating. The goal is the development of a gaseous detector of single UV photons, able to stably operate at high gain and high rate, to provide good time resolution and insensitive to magnetic field to be used in the Cherenkov imaging counter RICH-1 of the COMPASS experiment at CERN SPS.

title: Search for heavy quarks decaying into a top quark and a W or Z boson using lepton + jets events in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractResults are presented from a search for the pair-production of heavy quarks, $ \mathrm{Q}\overline{\mathrm{Q}} $, that decay exclusively into a top quark and a W or Z boson. The search is performed using a sample of proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb−1, collected by the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment. The signal region is defined using a sample of events containing one electron or muon, missing transverse momentum, and at least four jets with large transverse momenta, where one jet is likely to originate from the decay of a bottom quark. No significant excess of events is observed with respect to the standard model expectations. Assuming a strong pair-production mechanism, quark masses below 675 (625) GeV decaying into tW (tZ) are excluded at the 95 % confidence level.