COOLING SYSTEM FOR THE MERIT HIGH‐POWER TARGET EXPERIMENT
MERIT is a proof‐of‐principle experiment of a target station suitable as source for future muon colliders or neutrino factories. When installed at the CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) PS (Proton Synchrotron) complex fast‐extracted high‐intensity proton beams intercepted a free mercury jet inside a normal‐conducting, pulsed 15‐T capture solenoid magnet cooled with liquid nitrogen. Up to 25 MJ of Joule heat was dissipated in the magnet during a pulse. The fully automated, remotely controlled cryogenic system of novel design permitted the transfer of nitrogen by the sole means of differential pressures inside the vessels. This fast cycling system permitted several hundred tests in less than three weeks during the 2007 data taking campaign.

title: Results and perspectives of the solar axion search with the CAST experiment
abstract: The status of the solar axion search with the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) will be presented. Recent results obtained by the use of $^3$He as a buffer gas has allowed us to extend our sensitivity to higher axion masses than our previous measurements with $^4$He. With about 1 h of data taking at each of 252 different pressure settings we have scanned the axion mass range 0.39 eV$ \le m_{a} \le $ 0.64 eV. From the absence of an excess of x rays when the magnet was pointing to the Sun we set a typical upper limit on the axion-photon coupling of g$_{a\gamma} \le 2.3\times 10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L., the exact value depending on the pressure setting. CAST published results represent the best experimental limit on the photon couplings to axions and other similar exotic particles dubbed WISPs (Weakly Interacting Slim Particles) in the considered mass range and for the first time the limit enters the region favored by QCD axion models. Preliminary sensitivities for axion masses up to 1.16 eV will also be shown reaching mean upper limits on the axion-photon coupling of g$_{a\gamma} \le 3.5\times 10^{-10}$ GeV$^{-1}$ at 95% C.L. Expected sensibilities for the extension of the CAST program up to 2014 will be presented. Moreover long term options for a new helioscope experiment will be evoked.

title: CAST search for sub-eV mass solar axions with 3He buffer gas
abstract: S. Aune, K. Barth, A. Belov, S. Borghi, ∗ H. Bräuninger, G. Cantatore, J. M. Carmona, S. A. Cetin, J. I. Collar, T. Dafni, M. Davenport, C. Eleftheriadis, N. Elias, C. Ezer, G. Fanourakis, E. Ferrer-Ribas, P. Friedrich, J. Galán, J. A. Garćıa, A. Gardikiotis, E. N. Gazis, T. Geralis, I. Giomataris, S. Gninenko, H. Gómez, E. Gruber, T. Guthörl, R. Hartmann, † F. Haug, M. D. Hasinoff, D. H. H. Hoffmann, F. J. Iguaz, ‡ I. G. Irastorza,  Jakovčić, M. Karuza, K. Königsmann, R. Kotthaus, M. Krčmar, M. Kuster, 16, § B. Lakić, ¶ J. M. Laurent, A. Liolios, A. Ljubičić, V. Lozza, G. Lutz, † G. Luzón,  T. Niinikoski, †† A. Nordt, 16, ‡‡ T. Papaevangelou, M. J. Pivovaroff, G. Raffelt, T. Rashba, H. Riege, A. Rodŕıguez, M. Rosu, J. Ruz, 2 I. Savvidis, P. S. Silva, S. K. Solanki, L. Stewart, A. Tomás, M. Tsagri, ‡‡ K. van Bibber, §§ T. Vafeiadis, 9, 12 J. Villar, J. K. Vogel, 20, ¶¶ S. C. Yildiz, and K. Zioutas 12

title: Probing the eV-Mass range for solar axions with CAST
abstract: The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is searching for solar axions which could be produced in the core of the Sun via the so-called Primakoff effect. Not only would these hypothetical particles solve the strong CP problem, but they are also one of the favored candidates for dark matter. In order to look for axions originating from the Sun, CAST uses a decommissioned LHC prototype magnet. In its 10 m long magnetic field region of 9 Tesla, axions could be reconverted into X-ray photons. Different X-ray detectors are installed on both ends of the magnet, which is mounted on a structure built to follow the Sun during sunrise and sunset for a total of about 3 hours per day. The analysis of the data acquired during the first phase of the experiment with vacuum in the magnetic field region yielded the most restrictive experimental upper limit on the axion-to-photon coupling constant for axion masses up to about 0.02 eV. In order to extend the sensitivity of the experiment to a wider mass range, the CAST experiment continues its search for axions with helium in the magnet bores. In this way it is possible to restore coherence of conversion for larger masses. Changing the pressure of the helium gas enables the experiment to scan different axion masses in the range of up to about 1.2 eV. Especially at high pressures, a precise knowledge of the gas density distribution is crucial to obtain accurate results. In the first part of this second phase of CAST, 4He was used and the axion mass region was extended up to 0.39 eV, a part of phase space favored by axion models. In CAST's ongoing 3He phase the studied mass range is now being extended further. In this contribution the final results of CAST's 4He phase will be presented and the current status of the 3He run will be given. This includes latest results as well as prospects of future axion experiments.

title: Latest results and prospects of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope
abstract: The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) experiment searches for axions from the Sun converted into few keV photons via the inverse Primakoff effect in the high magnetic field of a superconducting Large Hadron Collider (LHC) decommissioned test magnet. After results obtained with vacuum in the magnet pipes (phase I of the experiment) as well as with 4He the collaboration is now immersed in the data taking with 3He, to be finished in 2011. The status of the experiment will be presented, including a preliminary exclusion plot of the first 3He data. CAST is currently sensitive to realistic QCD axion models at the sub-eV scale, and with axion-photon couplings down to the ~ 2 × 10−10 GeV−1, compatible with solar life limits. Future plans include revisiting vaccuum and 4He configurations with improved sensitivity, as well as possible additional search for non-standard signals from chamaleons, paraphotons or other WISPs. For the longer term, we study the feasibility of an altogether improved version of the axion helioscope concept, with a jump in sensitivity of about one order of magnitude in gaγ beyond CAST.

title: Precision measurements in the top quark sector with the CMS experiment at the LHC
abstract: A review of the measurements of the t production cross section (inclusive and differential) performed by the CMS experiment at the LHC is given. The results are used to constrain the magnitude of most of the relevant systematics affecting precision measurements in the top quark sector. In addition from the determination of the top quark pair production cross section it is possible to determine the strong coupling constant as ?S(mZ) = 0.1178+0.0046?0.0040 in agreement with the current world average. After the combination of several channels and techniques explored to measure the top quark mass in data, a precise determination of this quantity is made at CMS: mt = 173.4?0.4stat ? 0.9syst GeV. The measurement of the difference ?mt = mt ? m is also presented.

title: Beyond the Standard Model searches with the top quark at the Large Hadron Collider
abstract: Top quark events resulting from proton-proton collisions at high energies in the new Large Hadron Collider will be collected by the ATLAS and CMS experiments and have the potential to probe New Physics beyond the Standard Model. The study of the production and decay of the Top quarks might reveal high-mass resonances, extra-dimensions, new flavor dynamics, and evidence for a 4 th generation, among other possibilities. Specific experimental techniques for event reconstruction and for the control of the background are required to increase the reach for New Physics. An overview of some of these techniques is given along with the expected sensitivity of the ATLAS and CMS experiments for some scenarios.

title: Commissioning and performance of the CMS pixel tracker with cosmic ray muons
abstract: The pixel detector of the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment consists of three barrel layers and two disks for each endcap. The detector was installed in summer 2008, commissioned with charge injections, and operated in the 3.8 T magnetic field during cosmic ray data taking. This paper reports on the first running experience and presents results on the pixel tracker performance, which are found to be in line with the design specifications of this detector. The transverse impact parameter resolution measured in a sample of high momentum muons is 18 microns.

title: Landau Gauge Fixing on GPUs and String Tension
abstract: CFC,DepartamentodeFisica,FaculdadedeCienciaseTecnologia,UniversidadedeCoimbra,3004-516Coimbra,PortugalWe explore the performance of CUDA in performing Landau gaugeﬁxing in Lattice QCD, using the steepest descent method with Fourieracceleration. The code performance was tested in a Tesla C2070, Fermiarchitecture. Wealsopresentastudyofthestringtensionatﬁnitetemper-atureintheconﬁnedphase. ThestringtensionisextractedfromthecoloraveragedfreeenergyandfromthecolorsingletusingLandaugaugeﬁxing.PACSnumbers: 11.15.Ha;12.38.Gc

title: The CMS Electromagnetic Calorimeter Data Acquisition System at the 2006 Test Beam.
abstract: The electromagnetic calorimeter of the CMS experiment at CERN is an homogeneous calorimeter made of about 80000 Lead Tungstate crystals, that will start to operate at the LHC at the end of 2007. From June to November 2006, ten barrel Supermodules (1700 crystals each) were exposed to beam at CERN SPS, both in standalone and in association with portions of the Hadron Calorimeter. We present the description of the system used to configure and readout the calorimeter during the campaign. The full set of final readout electronics boards was employed, together with the pre-series version of the data acquisition software. During the campaign, the hardware and software concepts for the final system were validated. The system allowed the intercalibration of the ten Supermodules and allowed to perform several important studies of the detector performances, such as energy resolution, response linearity and radiation-hardness.