The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe
The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.

title: PRECISION MEASUREMENTS FROM THE NOMAD EXPERIMENT

title: Determination of Strange Sea Quark Distributions from Fixed-target and Collider Data
abstract: We present an improved determination of the strange sea distribution in the nucleon with constraints coming from the recent charm production data in neutrino-nucleon deep-inelastic scattering by the NOMAD and CHORUS experiments and from charged current inclusive deep-inelastic scattering at HERA. We demonstrate that the results are consistent with the data from the ATLAS and the CMS experiments on the associated production of W ± -bosons with c-quarks. We also discuss issues related to the recent strange sea determination by the ATLAS experiment using LHC collider data.

title: Status of design and construction of the Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC
abstract: The ATLAS Inner Detector consists of three sub-systems, the Pixel Detector at the innermost radius, the Semi-Conductor Tracker at intermediate radii, and the Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) at the outermost radius in front of the electromagnetic calorimeter. The TRT provides a combination of continuous tracking with many projective measurements based on individual drift-tubes (or straws) and of electron identification based on radiator fibres or foils interleaved between the straws themselves. This paper describes the current status of design and construction of the various components of the TRT: the assembly of the barrel modules has recently been completed, that of the end-cap wheels is well underway, and the on-detector front-end electronics is in production. The detector modules and front-end electronics boards will be integrated together over the next year, the barrel and end-cap TRT parts will be assembled and tested with their SCT counterparts during 2005 and installation and commissioning in the ATLAS pit will take place at the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006.

title: Design and prototype tests of the RPC system for the OPERA spectrometers
abstract: The Inner Tracker system of the spectrometers of the OPERA experiment makes use of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) in a large-scale application. We present here the definition of the project and the full design of the Inner Tracker. Specific performances for the OPERA-RPC in the spectrometer are also reported. Particle detection, muon identification and trigger capability are discussed, in particular. Some results from test beam (T9 and T7 lines at the CERN PS) and measurements from laboratory test (CERN, Frascati, Padova, Gran Sasso) with prototype detectors are discussed, as well as specific solutions developed for the final set-up in OPERA. Full Monte Carlo simulations of the experimental set-up have been also developed. r 2003

title: Study of energy response and resolution of the ATLAS barrel calorimeter to hadrons of energies from 20 to 350 GeV
abstract: A fully instrumented slice of the ATLAS detector was exposed to test beams from the SPS (Super Proton Synchrotron) at CERN in 2004. In this paper, the results of the measurements of the response of the barrel calorimeter to hadrons with energies in the range 20 to 350 GeV and beam impact points and angles corresponding to pseudorapidity values in the range 0.2-0.65 are reported. The results are compared to the predictions of a simulation program using the Geant 4 toolkit.

title: Affine Defects and Gravitation
abstract: We argue that the structure general relativity (GR) as a theory of affine defects is deeper than the standard interpretation as a metric theory of gravitation. Einstein–Cartan theory (EC), with its inhomogeneous affine symmetry, should be the standard-bearer for GR-like theories. A discrete affine interpretation of EC (and gauge theory) yields topological definitions of momentum and spin (and Yang–Mills current), and their conservation laws become discrete topological identities. Considerations from quantum theory provide evidence that discrete affine defects are the physical foundation for gravitation.

title: Translational Spacetime Symmetries in Gravitational Theories
abstract: How to include spacetime translations in fibre bundle gauge theories has been a subject of controversy, because spacetime symmetries are not internal symmetries of the bundle structure group. The standard method for including affine symmetry in differential geometry is to define a Cartan connection on an affine bundle over spacetime. This is equivalent to (1) defining an affine connection on the affine bundle, (2) defining a zero section on the associated affine vector bundle and (3) using the affine connection and the zero section to define an 'associated solder form', whose lift to a tensorial form on the frame bundle becomes the solder form. The zero section reduces the affine bundle to a linear bundle and splits the affine connection into translational and homogeneous parts; however, it violates translational equivariance/gauge symmetry. This is the natural geometric framework for Einstein–Cartan theory as an affine theory of gravitation. The last section discusses some alternative approaches that claim to preserve translational gauge symmetry.

title: Low-mass vector-meson production at forward rapidity in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV
abstract: The PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider has measured low mass vector meson, $\omega$, $\rho$, and $\phi$, production through the dimuon decay channel at forward rapidity ($1.2<|y|<2.2$) in $p$$+$$p$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV. The differential cross sections for these mesons are measured as a function of both $p_T$ and rapidity. We also report the integrated differential cross sections over $1<p_T<7$ GeV/$c$ and $1.2<|y|<2.2$: $d\sigma/dy(\omega+\rho\rightarrow\mu\mu) = 80 \pm 6 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 12 \mbox{(syst)}$ nb and $d\sigma/dy(\phi\rightarrow\mu\mu) = 27 \pm 3 \mbox{(stat)} \pm 4 \mbox{(syst)}$ nb. These results are compared with midrapidity measurements and calculations.

title: Cross section for $b\bar{b}$ production via dielectrons in d$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV
abstract: We report a measurement of $e^+e^-$ pairs from semileptonic heavy-flavor decays in $d$$+$Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{NN}}}=200$ GeV. Exploring the mass and transverse-momentum dependence of the yield, the bottom decay contribution can be isolated from charm, and quantified by comparison to {\sc pythia} and {\sc mc@nlo} simulations. The resulting $b\bar{b}$-production cross section is $\sigma^{d{\rm Au}}_{b\bar{b}}=1.37{\pm}0.28({\rm stat}){\pm}0.46({\rm syst})$~mb, which is equivalent to a nucleon-nucleon cross section of $\sigma^{NN}_{bb}=3.4\pm0.8({\rm stat}){\pm}1.1({\rm syst})\ \mu$b.

title: Derivation of Einstein-Cartan theory from general relativity
abstract: General relativity cannot describe exchange of orbital angular momentum and intrinsic angular momentum (spin). In 1922 E. Cartan proposed extending general relativity by including affine torsion, which resolves this problem. In 1986 the author published a derivation of Einstein-Cartan theory from general relativity with classical spin, with no additional assumptions. This paper adds simpler explanations, more computational details of the proof of the main result, correction of a factor of 2, a summary of the evidence in support of Einstein-Cartan theory, and a discussion of comments about the derivation.