Test of colour reconnection models using three-jet events in hadronic Z decays
Hadronic Z decays into three jets are used to test QCD models of colour reconnection (CR). A sensitive quantity is the rate of gluon jets with a gap in the particle rapidity distribution and zero jet charge. Gluon jets are identified by either energy-ordering or by tagging two b-jets. The rates predicted by two string-based tunable CR models, one implemented in JETSET (the GAL model), the other in ARIADNE, are too high and disfavoured by the data, whereas the rates from the corresponding non-CR standard versions of these generators are too low. The data can be described by the GAL model assuming a small value for the R0 parameter in the range 0.01-0.02.

title: Search for neutral Higgs bosons decaying into four taus at LEP2
abstract: A search for the production and non-standard decay of a Higgs boson, h, into four taus through intermediate pseudoscalars, a, is conducted on 683 pb−1 of data collected by the ALEPH experiment at centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. No excess of events above background is observed, and exclusion limits are placed on the combined production cross section times branching ratio, $ {\xi^2} = \frac{{\sigma \left( {{\text{e}^{+} }{\text{e}^{-} } \to {\text{Zh}}} \right)}}{{{\sigma_{\text{SM}}}\left( {{\text{e}^{+} }{\text{e}^{-} } \to {\text{Zh}}} \right)}} \times B\left( {h \to {\text{aa}}} \right) \times B{\left( {{\text{a}} \to {\tau^{+} }{\tau^{-} }} \right)^2} $. For mh < 107 GeV/c2 and 4 < ma < 10 GeV/c2, ξ2 > 1 is excluded at the 95% confidence level.

title: Search for pentaquark states in Z decays
abstract: Exotic hadrons made of five quarks (pentaquarks) are searched for in hadronic Z decays collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP. No significant signal is observed. At 95% C.L., upper limits are set on the production rates N of such particles and their charge-conjugate state per Z decay: N Theta(1535)+ . BR(Theta(1535)^+ -> pK0s xi^- pi^-) Xi^-pi^+ D*-p) D^-p) < 31 x 10^-4.

title: Inclusive semileptonic branching ratios of b hadrons produced in Z decays
abstract: A measurement of the inclusive semileptonic branching ratios of b hadrons produced in Z decay is presented, using four million hadronic events collected by the ALEPH detector from 1991 to 1995. Electrons and muons are selected opposite to b-tagged hemispheres. Two different methods are explored to distinguish the contributions from direct $\bl$ and cascade $\bcl$ dec ays to the total lepton yield. One is based on the lepton transverse momentum spectrum, the other makes use of the correlation between the charge of the lepton and charge estimators built from tracks in the opposite hemisphere of the event. The latter method reduces the dependence on the modelling of semileptonic b decays. The results obtained by averaging the two techniques are BR(b->l) = 0.1070 +- 0.0010 +- 0.0023 +- 0.0026 BR(b->c->l) = 0.0818 +- 0.0015 +- 0.0022 + 0.0022

title: Single photon and multiphoton production in $e^{+} e^{-}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ up to 209-GeV
abstract: Events containing only energetic photons are analysed in a sample of \(628 \mathrm{pb}^{-1}\) of data recorded from \(\rm e^+e^-\) collisions at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 209 GeV by the ALEPH detector at LEP. The \(e^+ e^-\to \nu\bar{\nu}\gamma(\gamma)\) and \(e^+ e^-\to \gamma\gamma(\gamma)\) cross sections are measured and found to be in agreement with the standard model predictions. The number of light neutrino generations is determined to be \(N_\nu = 2.86 \pm ). Upper limits are derived on the cross sections for photon production in the context of several supersymmetric models. Limits are also set on the parameters of models with extra spatial dimensions, with contact interactions and with excited electrons.

title: Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons at LEP
abstract: The four LEP collaborations, ALEPH, DELPHI, L3 and OPAL, have searched for the neutral Higgs bosons which are predicted by the Minimal Supersymmetric standard model (MSSM). The data of the four collaborations are statistically combined and examined for their consistency with the background hypothesis and with a possible Higgs boson signal. The combined LEP data show no significant excess of events which would indicate the production of Higgs bosons. The search results are used to set upper bounds on the cross-sections of various Higgs-like event topologies. The results are interpreted within the MSSM in a number of “benchmark” models, including CP-conserving and CP-violating scenarios. These interpretations lead in all cases to large exclusions in the MSSM parameter space. Absolute limits are set on the parameter cosβ and, in some scenarios, on the masses of neutral Higgs bosons.

title: Low mass dimuon production in proton-nucleus and indium-indium collisions
abstract: The NA60 experiment studied low-mass dimuon production in proton-nucleus and indium-indium collisions at the CERN SPS. While the p-A data can be well described by a superposition of light neutral meson decays, an excess is observed in the heavy-ion data, increasing with collision centrality, with respect to these expected sources. Thanks to the high statistics and good quality of our measurement, we can subtract the muon pairs due to h, h0, w and f decays from the signal dimuon mass distribution. The resulting spectra are compatible with a r spectral function broadening from peripheral to central collisions, with no change in the pole mass.

title: First beam operation of the CMS calorimeter trigger synchronization boards
abstract: The CMS experiment uses information from its electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters and muon detectors to decide whether to readout the whole detector. For such a task to be successful, all trigger primitives pushed through the trigger decision tree must be flawlessly aligned in time for operation at 40 MHz. Both calorimeters in CMS use the Synchronization Link Board for this purpose. In this article we report on the results of tests of this board using realistic beam conditions, which demonstrate the soundness of the adopted architecture and synchronization principle.

title: Searching for degenerate Higgs bosons
abstract: Using the likelihood ratio test statistic, we present a method which can be employed to test the hypothesis of a single Higgs boson using the matrix of measured signal strengths. This method can be applied in the presence of incomplete data and takes into account uncertainties on the measurements.  the hypothesis of a single Higgs boson is defined from the expected distribution of the test statistic, generated using pseudo-experiments. The applicability of the likelihood-based test is demonstrated using numerical examples with uncertainties and missing matrix elements.

title: The NA60 vertex telescope for particle tracking in heavy-ion and proton–nucleus collisions
abstract: NA60 is a fixed target experiment at the CERN SPS designed to study the production of open charm and prompt dimuons in proton–nucleus and heavy-ion collisions. To access the kinematics of the charged particles produced in the collisions already at the vertex level, a vertex telescope made from radiation-tolerant silicon pixel detectors has been placed inside a 2.5 T magnetic field close to the target. In 2003 the vertex spectrometer, made from 12 tracking planes with 96 ALICE1LHCb pixel chips, was successfully operated in a run with a 158 GeV/nucleon indium ion beam incident on indium targets. During the five weeks of data taking, the detector was exposed to high and inhomogeneously distributed radiation levels. For the 2004 proton run, the telescope was upgraded with ATLAS pixel detector modules to cope with the higher interaction rates in this run. This paper describes the setup of the pixel telescope and summarises results concerning detector performance and radiation damage.

title: First results on angular distributions of thermal dileptons in nuclear collisions.
abstract: The NA60 experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron has studied dimuon production in 158A GeV In-In collisions. The strong excess of pairs above the known sources found in the complete mass region 0.2<M<2.6 GeV has previously been interpreted as thermal radiation. We now present first results on the associated angular distributions. Using the Collins-Soper reference frame, the structure function parameters lambda, mu, and nu are measured to be zero, and the projected distributions in polar and azimuth angles are found to be uniform. The absence of any polarization is consistent with the interpretation of the excess dimuons as thermal radiation from a randomized system.