Benchmarking of electro-optic monitors for femtosecond electron bunches.
The longitudinal profiles of ultrashort relativistic electron bunches at the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH have been investigated using two single-shot detection schemes: an electro-optic (EO) detector measuring the Coulomb field of the bunch and a radio-frequency structure transforming the charge distribution into a transverse streak. A comparison permits an absolute calibration of the EO technique. EO signals as short as 60 fs (rms) have been observed, which is a new record in the EO detection of single electron bunches and close to the limit given by the EO material properties.

title: Ultrabroadband terahertz source and beamline based on coherent transition radiation
abstract: Coherent transition radiation (CTR) in the THz regime is an important diagnostic tool for analyzing the temporal structure of the ultrashort electron bunches needed in ultraviolet and x-ray free-electron lasers. It is also a powerful source of such radiation, covering an exceptionally broad frequency range from about 200 GHz to 100 THz. At the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH we have installed a beam transport channel for transition radiation (TR) with the intention to guide a large fraction of the radiation to a laboratory outside the accelerator tunnel. The radiation is produced on a screen inside the ultrahigh vacuum beam pipe of the linac, coupled out through a diamond window and transported to the laboratory through an evacuated tube equipped with five focusing and four plane mirrors. The design of the beamline has been based on a thorough analysis of the generation of TR on metallic screens of limited size. The optical propagation of the radiation has been computed taking into account the effects of near-field (Fresnel) diffraction. The theoretical description of the TR source is presented in the first part of the paper, while the design principles and the technical layout of the beamline are described in the second part. First experimental results demonstrate that the CTR beamline covers the specified frequency range and preserves the narrow time structure of CTR pulses emitted by short electron bunches.

title: Luminosity determination at HERA-B
abstract: A detailed description of an original method used to measure the luminosity accumulated by the HERA-B experiment for a data sample taken during the 2002–2003 HERA running period is reported. We show that, with this method, a total luminosity measurement can be achieved with a typical precision, including overall systematic uncertainties, at a level of 5% or better. We also report evidence for the detection of δ -rays generated in the target and comment on the possible use of such delta rays to measure luminosity.

title: BUNCH COMPRESSION MONITOR
abstract: The longitudinal charge distribution in the electron bunches has a strong impact on the lasing process in a Free-Electron Laser based on the principle of Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission of radiation. For the ultraviolet and soft X ray FEL FLASH at DESY, structures in the range of ten to hundred micrometers play a crucial role. The investigation of the longitudinal charge distribution in the electron bunches on a bunch-by-bunch basis is an important issue for optimizing the bunch compression and improving the performance of the machine. This paper introduces a new tool for longitudinal diagnostics based on THz spectroscopy of coherent radiation. A novel spectrometer has been designed which permits to analyze the radiation of single electron bunches in a broad spectral range and with high resolution. Preliminary measurements with this spectrometer are presented. A strong variation of the CTR intensity in the 40 μm regime is observed when the off-crest phase in the accelerating cavities preceding the first magnetic bunch compressor is changed in small steps. This variation in the CTR intensity is found to be correlated with a similar variation in the pulse energy of the FEL light. Hence the THz spectrometer appears to be a very sensitive device for controlling the parameters of the bunch compression scheme.

title: Anisotropic low energy electron collision cross sections for methane derived from transport coefficients
abstract: Based on a comprehensive set of transport parameters of electrons in methane derived from single electron spectra in the range of field 0.01-15 Td the authors determined a set of elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections up to 3 eV. The necessity to include anisotropic elastic scattering in a Boltzmann analysis of methane is demonstrated. In addition the drift velocity in a mixture of methane with helium was used to enhance the reliability of the derived cross sections. The low energy part of the cross sections for elastic scattering is subject to a MERT analysis and is compared with total cross section data from single scattering experiments.

title: HATSouth: A Global Network of Fully Automated Identical Wide-Field Telescopes*
abstract: HATSouth is the world's first network of automated and homogeneous telescopes that is capable of year-round 24 hr monitoring of positions over an entire hemisphere of the sky. The primary scientific goal of the network is to discover and characterize a large number of transiting extrasolar planets, reaching out to long periods and down to small planetary radii. HATSouth achieves this by monitoring extended areas on the sky, deriving high precision light curves for a large number of stars, searching for the signature of planetary transits, and confirming planetary candidates with larger telescopes. HATSouth employs six telescope units spread over three prime locations with large longitude separation in the southern hemisphere (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; HESS site, Namibia; Siding Spring Observatory, Australia). Each of the HATSouth units holds four 0.18 m diameter f/2.8 focal ratio telescope tubes on a common mount producing an 8.2° × 8.2° field of view on the sky, imaged using four 4 K × 4 K CCD cameras and Sloan r filters, to give a pixel scale of 3.7'' pixel-1. The HATSouth network is capable of continuously monitoring 128 square arc degrees at celestial positions moderately close to the anti-solar direction. We present the technical details of the network, summarize operations, and present detailed weather statistics for the three sites. Robust operations have meant that on average each of the six HATSouth units has conducted observations on ~500 nights over a 2 years time period, yielding a total of more than 1 million science frames at a 4 minute integration time and observing ~10.65 hr day-1 on average. We describe the scheme of our data transfer and reduction from raw pixel images to trend-filtered light curves and transiting planet candidates. Photometric precision reaches ~6 mmag at 4 minute cadence for the brightest non-saturated stars at r ≈ 10.5. We present detailed transit recovery simulations to determine the expected yield of transiting planets from HATSouth. We highlight the advantages of networked operations, namely, a threefold increase in the expected number of detected planets, as compared to all telescopes operating from the same site.

title: Precision luminosity measurements at LHCb
abstract: Measuring cross-sections at the LHC requires the luminosity to be determined accurately at each centre-of-mass energy root s. In this paper results are reported from the luminosity calibrations carried out at the LHC interaction point 8 with the LHCb detector for root s = 2.76, 7 and 8TeV (proton-proton collisions) and for root s(NN) = 5TeV (proton-lead collisions). Both the "van der Meer scan" and "beam-gas imaging" luminosity calibration methods were employed. It is observed that the beam density profile cannot always be described by a function that is factorizable in the two transverse coordinates. The introduction of a two-dimensional description of the beams improves significantly the consistency of the results. For proton-proton interactions at root s = 8TeV a relative precision of the luminosity calibration of 1.47% is obtained using van der Meer scans and 1.43% using beam-gas imaging, resulting in a combined precision of 1.12%. Applying the calibration to the full data set determines the luminosity with a precision of 1.16%. This represents the most precise luminosity measurement achieved so far at a bunched-beam hadron collider.

title: Search for a new gauge boson in π0 decays
abstract: A search was made for a new light gauge boson X which might be produced in π 0 → γ + X decay from neutral pions generated by 450 GeV protons in the CERN SPS neutrino target. The X's would penetrate the downstream shielding and be observed in the NOMAD detector via the Primakoff effect, in the process of X → π 0 conversion in the external Coulomb field of a nucleus. With 1.45×10 18 protons on target, 20 candidate events with energy between 8 and 140 GeV were found from the analysis of neutrino data. This number is in agreement with the expectation of 18.1±2.8 background events from standard neutrino processes. A new 90 % C.L. upper limit on the branching ratio Br ( π 0 → γ + X ) −5 for X masses ranging from 0 to 120 MeV/ c 2 is obtained.

title: Limits on neutral Higgs boson production in the forward region in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV
abstract: A bstractLimits on the cross-section times branching fraction for neutral Higgs bosons, produced in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV, and decaying to two tau leptons with pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5, are presented. The result is based on a dataset, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.0 fb−1, collected with the LHCb detector. Candidates are identified by reconstructing final states with two muons, a muon and an electron, a muon and a hadron, or an electron and a hadron. A model independent upper limit at the 95% confidence level is set on a neutral Higgs boson cross-section times branching fraction. It varies from 8.6 pb for a Higgs boson mass of 90 GeV to 0.7 pb for a Higgs boson mass of 250 GeV, and is compared to the Standard Model expectation. An upper limit on tan β in the Minimal Supersymmetric Model is set in the $ m_{{{h^0}}}^{\max } $ scenario. It ranges from 34 for a CP -odd Higgs boson mass of 90 GeV to 70 for a pseudo-scalar Higgs boson mass of 140 GeV.

title: A NEARLY POLAR ORBIT FOR THE EXTRASOLAR HOT JUPITER WASP-79b
abstract: We report the measurement of a spin-orbit misalignment for WASP-79b, a recently discovered, bloated hot Jupiter from the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) survey. Data were obtained using the CYCLOPS2 optical-fiber bundle and its simultaneous calibration system feeding the UCLES spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We have used the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect to determine the sky-projected spin-orbit angle to be . This result indicates a significant misalignment between the spin axis of the host star and the orbital plane of the planet?the planet being in a nearly polar orbit. WASP-79 is consistent with other stars that have T eff > 6250?K and host hot Jupiters in spin-orbit misalignment.

title: ESC observations of SN 2005cf – I. Photometric evolution of a normal Type Ia supernova
abstract: We present early-time optical and near-infrared photometry of supernova (SN) 2005cf. The observations, spanning a period from about 12 d before to 3 months after maximum, have been obtained through the coordination of observational efforts of various nodes of the European Supernova Collaboration and including data obtained at the 2-m Himalayan Chandra Telescope. From the observed light curve we deduce that SN 2005cf is a fairly typical SN Ia with a post-maximum decline [� m15(B)true = 1.12] close to the average value and a normal luminosity of MB,max =− 19.39 ± 0.33. Models of the bolometric light curve suggest a synthesized 56 Ni mass of about 0.7 M� . The negligible host galaxy interstellar extinction and its proximity make SN 2005cf a good Type Ia SN template.