First spatial alignment of the LHCb VELO and analysis of beam absorber collision data
A first alignment of the LHCb Vertex Locator has been obtained from beam induced tracks at the LHC. A 450 GeV/c protons were collided on a beam absorber during the LHC synchronisation tests of the anti-clockwise beam in August and September 2008. The resulting particle tracks have been reconstructed by the Vertex Locator. This was the first full reconstruction of tracks induced by the LHC beam. The quality of the data obtained is discussed. A total of 2200 tracks were reconstructed from the full data sample, and a first spatial alignment was obtained. The detector is aligned to an accuracy of Slim in the sensor plane. The results confirm that all detector modules have not been displaced from their surveyed positions by more than 10 mm.

title: Measurement of the relative branching fraction of upsilon(4S) to charged and neutral B-meson pairs.
abstract: We analyze 9.7x10(6) B_B pairs recorded with the CLEO detector to determine the production ratio of charged to neutral B-meson pairs produced at the Upsilon(4S) resonance. We measure the rates for B0-->J/psiK((*)0) and B+-->J/psiK((*)+) decays and use the world-average B-meson lifetime ratio to extract the relative widths f(+-) / f(00) = gamma(Upsilon(4S)-->B+B-) / gamma(Upsilon(4S)-->B0 B-0)) = 1.04+/-0.07(stat)+/-0.04(syst). With the assumption that f(+-)+f(00) = 1, we obtain f(00) = 0.49+/-0.02(stat)+/-0.01(syst) and f(+-) = 0.51+/-0.02(stat)+/-0.01(syst). This production ratio and its uncertainty apply to all exclusive B-meson branching fractions measured at the Upsilon(4S) resonance.

title: Performance of the CLEO III LiF-TEA ring imaging Cherenkov detector in a high-energy muon beam
abstract: LiF radiators to generate Cherenkov photons which are then detected by proportional wire chambers using a mixture of CH 4 and TEA gases. The first two photon detector modules which were constructed, were taken to the Fermilab and tested in a beam dump that provided high-momentum muons. We report on results using both plane and “sawtooth”–shaped radiators. Specifically, we discuss the number of photoelectrons observed per ring and the angular resolution. The particle separation ability is shown to be sufficient for the physics of CLEO III.

title: Measurement of the Ds+ - Ds- production asymmetry in 7 TeV pp collisions
abstract: Article history: Received 4 May 2012 Received in revised form 30 May 2012  W.-D. Schlatter Heavy quark production in 7 TeV centre-of-mass energy pp collisions at the LHC is not necessarily flavour symmetric. The production asymmetry, AP, between D+s and D−s mesons is studied using the φπ± decay mode in a data sample of 1.0 fb−1 collected with the LHCb detector. The difference between π+ and π− detection efficiencies is determined using the ratios of fully reconstructed to partially reconstructed D∗± decays. The overall production asymmetry in the D±s rapidity region 2.0 to 4.5 with transverse momentum larger than 2 GeV is measured to be AP = (−0.33 ± 0.22 ± 0.10)%. This result can constrain models of heavy flavour production.

title: Measurement of B(Upsilon(5S) ---> B(*)(s) anti-B(*)(s)) Using phi Mesons

title: Precision measurements of the timelike electromagnetic form factors of pion, kaon, and proton.
abstract: Using 20.7 pb(-1) of e(+)e(-) annihilation data taken at sq.rt(r) = 3.671 GeV with the CLEO-c detector, precision measurements of the electromagnetic form factors of the charged pion, charged kaon, and proton have been made for timelike momentum transfer of |Q(2)| = 13.48 GeV(2) by the reaction e(+)e(-) --> h(+)h(-). The measurements are the first ever with identified pions and kaons of |Q(2)| > 4 GeV(2), with the results F(13.48 GeV(2)) = 0.075 +/- 0.008(stat) +/- 0.005(syst) and F(K)(13.48 GeV(2)) = 0.063 +/- 0.004(stat) +/- 0.001(syst). The result for the proton, assuming G(p)(E) = G(p)(M), is G(p)(M)(13.48 GeV(2)) = 0.014 +/- 0.002(stat) +/- 0.001(syst), which is in agreement with earlier results.

title: Search for top squark and Higgsino production using diphoton Higgs boson decays.
abstract: Results are presented of a search for a "natural" supersymmetry scenario with gauge mediated symmetry breaking. It is assumed that only the supersymmetric partners of the top quark (the top squark) and the Higgs boson (Higgsino) are accessible. Events are examined in which there are two photons forming a Higgs boson candidate, and at least two b-quark jets. In 19.7  fb-1 of proton-proton collision data at s=8  TeV, recorded in the CMS experiment, no evidence of a signal is found and lower limits at the 95% confidence level are set, excluding the top squark mass below 360 to 410 GeV, depending on the Higgsino mass.

title: PLANET HUNTERS. V. A CONFIRMED JUPITER-SIZE PLANET IN THE HABITABLE ZONE AND 42 PLANET CANDIDATES FROM THE KEPLER ARCHIVE DATA*
abstract: We report the latest Planet Hunter results, including PH2 b, a Jupiter-size (R PL = 10.12 ? 0.56 R ?) planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a solar-type star. PH2 b was elevated from candidate status when a series of false-positive tests yielded a 99.9% confidence level that transit events detected around the star KIC?12735740 had a planetary origin. Planet Hunter volunteers have also discovered 42 new planet candidates in the Kepler public archive data, of which 33 have at least 3 transits recorded. Most of these transit candidates have orbital periods longer than 100?days and 20 are potentially located in the habitable zones of their host stars. Nine candidates were detected with only two transit events and the prospective periods are longer than 400?days. The photometric models suggest that these objects have radii that range between those of Neptune and Jupiter. These detections nearly double the number of gas-giant planet candidates orbiting at habitable-zone distances. We conducted spectroscopic observations for nine of the brighter targets to improve the stellar parameters and we obtained adaptive optics imaging for four of the stars to search for blended background or foreground stars that could confuse our photometric modeling. We present an iterative analysis method to derive the stellar and planet properties and uncertainties by combining the available spectroscopic parameters, stellar evolution models, and transiting light curve parameters, weighted by the measurement errors. Planet Hunters is a citizen science project that crowd sources the assessment of NASA Kepler light curves. The discovery of these 43 planet candidates demonstrates the success of citizen scientists at identifying planet candidates, even in longer period orbits with only two or three transit events.

title: Performance of the CMS hadron calorimeter with cosmic ray muons and LHC beam data
abstract: The CMS Hadron Calorimeter in the barrel, endcap and forward regions is fully commissioned. Cosmic ray data were taken with and without magnetic field at the surface hall and after installation in the experimental hall, hundred meters underground. Various measurements were also performed during the few days of beam in the LHC in September 2008. Calibration parameters were extracted, and the energy response of the HCAL determined from test beam data has been checked.

title: Alignment of the ATLAS Inner Detector tracking system
abstract: The ATLAS Inner Detector (ID) consists of two silicon subsystems, the Pixel detector and the Semiconductor Tracker (SCT), complemented by the Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) composed of drift tubes. After the assembly of the detector, the position of the individual modules is known with much worse accuracy than their intrinsic resolution. The baseline goal of the trackbased alignment is to determine the position and orientation of the modules with such precision that the track parameters determination is not worsened by more than 20% with respect to that expected from the perfectly aligned detector. This is crucial for efficient track reconstruction and precise momentum measurement and vertex reconstruction. The alignment of the ID requires the determination of its large number of degrees of freedom (DoF) with high accuracy. Thus the demanded precision for the alignment of the silicon sensors is below 10 μm. The implementation of the track based alignment within the ATLAS software framework unifies different alignment approaches and allows the alignment of all tracking subsystems together. The results of the alignment using real data recorded during the LHC start up run in 2009 plus the recent 7 TeV data collected during 2010 run will be presented.

title: Revision of Solar Spicule Classification
abstract: Solar spicules are the fundamental magnetic structures in the chromosphere and may play a key role in channeling the chromosphere and corona. Recently, it was suggested by De Pontieu et al. that there were two types of spicules with very different dynamic properties, which were detected by the space-time plot technique in the Ca II H line (3968 angstrom) wavelength from Hinode/Solar Optical Telescope observations. A "Type I" spicule with a 3-7-minute lifetime undergoes a cycle of upward and downward motions; by contrast, a "Type II" spicule fades away within dozens of seconds without a descending phase. We are motivated by the fact that for a spicule with complicated three-dimensional motion the space-time plot, which is made through a slit on a fixed position, could not match the spicule behavior all the time and might lose its real life story. By revisiting the same data sets, we identify and trace 105 and 102 spicules in the quiet Sun (QS) and coronal hole (CH), respectively, and obtain their statistical dynamic properties. First, we have not found a single convincing example of "Type II" spicules. Second, more than 60% of the identified spicules in each region show a complete cycle, i.e., the majority are "Type I" spicules. Third, the lifetimes of the spicules in the QS and CH are 148 s and 112 s, respectively, but there is no fundamental lifetime difference between the spicules in the QS and CH reported earlier. Therefore, the suggestion of coronal heating by "Type II" spicules should be taken with caution.