Front-end Electronics for the ALICE Calorimeters
The ALICE calorimeters PHOS and EMCal are based on Avalanche Photo-Diode (APD) photosensors with Charge Sensitive Preamplifiers (CSP) for readout of the scintillating elements. The amplified signals are read out via 32-channel shaper/digitizer front-end electronics (FEE) with 14-bit effective dynamic range. The electronics is based on second order shapers with dual gain for each channel, getting digitized by ALTRO chips. Each APD channel is equipped with an individual 10-bit APD gain adjustment and 2 × 2 channel clusters generate a 100 ns shaped analog sums output (Fast OR) for the associated Trigger Region Units (TRU). The Fast OR signals are generated by first order shapers with a dynamic range of 12-bit given by the ADC in the TRU cards. Board controller firmware in the FPGA provides local monitoring and configuration of all parameters via the ALICE DCS system. The signal to noise ratio for MIP at 215  MeV is ∼ 7 per channel with a noise level of 30 MeV at room temperature for a dynamic range of 80 GeV for PHOS, and the fast-OR RMS noise level is about 75 MeV for a dynamic range of 250 GeV for EMCal.

title: Front-end electronics of the ALICE photon spectrometer
abstract: The photon spectrometer (PHOS) in the ALICE experiment at LHC is dedicated to measuring photons, π 0 's and η 's in a broad p T range from about 100 MeV/ c to 100 GeV/ c , providing the best possible energy and position resolution in order to narrow the π 0 and η mass peaks and thus to increase the signal to background ratio. The front-end electronics (FEE) of the PHOS is thus required to cover a large dynamic range, to have a timing resolution better than ∼ 2 ns in order to discriminate against 1–2 GeV/ c (anti-)neutrons, and to provide high p T trigger to select rare high p T events. In addition, to equalize the gains of individual detector channels, it is desired that the PHOS FEE can regulate the bias voltage of APD. In this paper, we will present the performance and status of the 32-channel low noise front-end electronics for the PHOS with a dynamic range of 14 bits. Measurements with LED pulse at laboratory and results from beam test with the first PHOS module at T10 of the CERN PS show that its performance fulfills the PHOS requirements.

title: Hierarchical trigger of the ALICE calorimeters
abstract: The trigger of the ALICE electromagnetic calorimeters is implemented in 2 hierarchically connected layers of electronics. In the lower layer, level-0 algorithms search shower energy above threshold in locally confined Trigger Region Units (TRU). The top layer is implemented as a single, global trigger unit that receives the trigger data from all TRUs as input to the level-1 algorithm. This architecture was first developed for the PHOS high p T photon trigger before it was adopted by EMCal also for the jet trigger. TRU units digitize up to 112 analogue input signals from the Front End Electronics (FEE) and concentrate their digital stream in a single FPGA. A charge and time summing algorithm is combined with a peakfinder that suppresses spurious noise and is precise to single LHC bunches. With a peak-to-peak noise level of 150 MeV the linear dynamic range above threshold spans from MIP energies at 215 up to 50 GeV. Local level-0 decisions take less than 600 ns after LHC collisions, upon which all TRUs transfer their level-0 trigger data to the upstream global trigger module which searches within the remaining level-1 latency for high p T gamma showers (PHOS) and/or for Jet cone areas (EMCaL).

title: Measurement of inelastic, single- and double-diffraction cross sections in proton–proton collisions at the LHC with ALICE
abstract: Measurements of cross sections of inelastic and diffractive processes in proton–proton collisions at LHC energies were carried out with the ALICE detector. The fractions of diffractive processes in inelastic collisions were determined from a study of gaps in charged particle pseudorapidity distributions: for single diffraction (diffractive mass MX<200 GeV/c2) $\sigma_{\mathrm{SD}}/\sigma_{\mathrm {INEL}} = 0.21 \pm 0.03, 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.08}$, and $0.20^{+0.04}_{-0.07}$, respectively at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76\mbox{, and }7~\mbox{TeV}$; for double diffraction (for a pseudorapidity gap Δη>3) σDD/σINEL=0.11±0.03,0.12±0.05, and $0.12^{+0.05}_{-0.04}$, respectively at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9, 2.76\mbox{, and }7~\mbox{TeV}$. To measure the inelastic cross section, beam properties were determined with van der Meer scans, and, using a simulation of diffraction adjusted to data, the following values were obtained: $\sigma_{\mathrm{INEL}} = 62.8^{+2.4}_{-4.0} (\mathrm{model}) \pm1.2 (\mathrm{lumi})$ mb at $\sqrt{s} = 2.76\ \mbox{TeV}$ and $73.2^{+2.0}_{-4.6} (\mathrm{model}) \pm2.6 (\mathrm{lumi})~\mbox{mb}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 7\ \mbox{TeV}$. The single- and double-diffractive cross sections were calculated combining relative rates of diffraction with inelastic cross sections. The results are compared to previous measurements at proton–antiproton and proton–proton colliders at lower energies, to measurements by other experiments at the LHC, and to theoretical models.

title: Centrality Dependence of Charged Particle Production at Large Transverse Momentum in Pb--Pb Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}} = 2.76$ TeV
abstract: The inclusive transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) distributions of primary charged particles are measured in the pseudo-rapidity range $|\eta|<0.8$ as a function of event centrality in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}=2.76$ TeV with ALICE at the LHC. The data are presented in the $p_{\rm T}$ range $0.1530$ GeV/$c$. In peripheral collisions (70--80%), the suppression is weaker with $R_{\rm{AA}} \approx 0.7$ almost independently of $p_{\rm T}$. The measured nuclear modification factors are compared to other measurements and model calculations.

title: Readout electronics of the ALICE photon spectrometer
abstract: The photon spectrometer (PHOS) in the ALICE experiment at LHC is a PbWO4 crystal based electromagnetic calorimeter, dedicated to measuring photons, π°'s and η's over a broad pT range from about 100 MeV/c to 100 GeV/c with the best possible energy and position resolution. The front-end electronics of the PHOS is thus required to cover a large dynamic range, to achieve a timing resolution better than ~ 2 ns in order to discriminate against 1-2 GeV/c (anti-)neutrons, and to provide high pT trigger to select rare high pT events. In this paper, we present the full PHOS readout system, including the avalanche photo-diode, the low noise charge sensitive preamplifier, the 32 channel front-end electronics card, the trigger region unit and the trigger OR module. Results from PHOS commissioning with beam particles and cosmic rays will also be presented to address the performance of the PHOS readout electronics.

title: THE CLUSTERING OF SDSS GALAXY GROUPS: MASS AND COLOR DEPENDENCE
abstract: We use a large sample of galaxy groups selected from the SDSS data release 4 with an adaptive halo-based group finder to probe how the clustering strength of groups depends on their masses and colors. In particular, we determine the relative biases of groups of different masses, as well as that of groups with the same mass but with different colors. In agreement with previous studies, we find that more massive groups are more strongly clustered, and the inferred mass dependence of the halo bias is in good agreement with predictions for the ΛCDM concordance cosmology. Regarding the color dependence, we find that groups with red centrals are more strongly clustered than groups of the same mass but with blue centrals. Similar results are obtained when the color of a group is defined to be the total color of its member galaxies. The color dependence is more prominent in less massive groups and becomes insignificant in groups with masses 1014 h−1 M☉. These results are consistent with those obtained by Yang et al. from an analysis of the 2dFGRS, but inconsistent with those obtained by Berlind et al., who also used an SDSS group catalog. We construct a mock galaxy redshift survey from the large Millennium N-body simulation. Applying our group finder to this mock survey, and analyzing the mock data in exactly the same way as the true data, we are able to accurately recover the intrinsic mass and color dependencies of the halo bias in the model. Interestingly, the semianalytical model reveals the same color dependence of the halo bias as we find in our group catalog. We discuss these results in light of the assembly bias of dark matter halos and the star formation histories of galaxies.

title: A fast programmable trigger for pattern recognition
abstract: We have built a fast programmable trigger processor based on a state-of-the-art Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) IC for the Palo Verde Neutrino Oscillation Experiment. The trigger processor can accommodate 160 ECL input signals, 8 NIM input signals, 16 ECL output signals and 8 NIM output signals. Our two-level trigger logic is designed asynchronously to maximize speed. We have attained trigger times of 40 ns for level 1 and 100 ns for level 2 with 132 asynchronous inputs. The trigger processor can be upgraded by replacing the FPGA with more advanced versions of the chip as they appear.

title: First results on the Spaghetti Calorimeter projective prototype
abstract: The performances of a projective lead/scintillating fibres (“spaghetti”) calorimeter made out of rectangular cross-section (32 × 32 mm 2 ) straight modules alternated with tapering modules at 2.5° are described. Beam test results on energy resolution, constant term suppression, lineshape, uniformity of response, shower position resolution, and electron-pion discrimination are presented. The readout of the fibres in the straight modules, which are sensitive to most of the electromagnetic showers and to part of the hadronic showers, is kept separate from the readout of the fibres of the wedged sections, which are sensitive only to hadronic showers. The lead-to-fibre volume ratio is kept at about 4 to 1 in order to obtain an equal-amplitude response from electrons and hadrons (usually called “compensation”). The origin of the energy resolution constant term has been better understood. This allowed the reduction of the constant term to 0.5%, down from 1.2% measured in older prototypes. The probability of faking abnormally large signals because of channelling effects is also discussed. The position resolution has been measured to range from 0.5 to 1 mm depending on the hit position of the particle. A comparison with the larger hexagonal module design is also made. The efficiency of a hardware thresholding of the wedges' signal as a level one trigger pion veto is discussed along with off-line electron/pion discrimination performances. Since the wedges start at 26 X 0 from the calorimeter front face they should show no signal for electromagnetic showers. It was found that electromagnetic showers of 50 GeV generate wedge signals of a maximum of a few tens of MeV. It was also found that the discriminating power is angle dependent, mainly because at small particle-to-fibre angles (≤ 1°) some electrons can penetrate the calorimeter through channeling, thus exciting a signal in the wedges. At slightly higher tilt angle it is possible to use a lower wedge threshold without loss in electron efficiency. With a beam-to-fibre angle of 3°, 99.6% of pions are rejected with a 98.5% electron efficiency. More recent and preliminary results on energy resolution at energies up to 100 GeV, and on radiation damage of scintillating fibres are also presented.

title: A comparative study between eruptive X-class flares associated with coronal mass ejections and confined X-class flares
abstract: We examine the two kinds of major energetic phenomena that occur in the solar atmosphere: eruptive and confined events. The former describes flares with associated coronal mass ejections (CMEs), while the latter denotes flares without associated CMEs. We find that about 90% of X-class flares are eruptive, but the remaining 10% are confined. To probe why the largest energy releases could be either eruptive or confined, we investigate four X-class events from each of the two types. Both sets of events are selected to have very similar intensities (X1.0 to X3.6) and duration (rise time under 13 minutes and decay time over 9 minutes) in soft X-ray observations, to reduce any bias due to flare size on CME occurrence. We find that the occurrence of eruption (or confinement) is sensitive to the displacement of the location of the energy release, defined as the distance between the flare site and the flux-weighted magnetic center of the source active region. The displacement is 6-17 Mm for confined events but as large as 22-37 Mm for eruptive events. This means that confined events occur closer to the magnetic center, while the eruptive events tend to occur close to the edge of active regions. We use the potential field source-surface model to infer the coronal magnetic field above the source active regions and calculate the flux ratio of low ( 7.1). These results imply that a stronger overlying arcade field may prevent energy releases in the low corona from being eruptive, resulting in flares, but without CMEs.

title: On muon production and other leakage aspects of pion absorption in a lead/scintillating-fiber calorimeter
abstract: We report on an experimental study of longitudinal leakage phenomena in hadronic shower development. Pions in the energy range of 10–150 GeV were sent into a lead/scintillating-fiber calorimeter with a thickness of 9.6 nuclear interaction lengths. The average fraction of the energy leaking out at the back of this calorimeter ranges from 0.04% at 10 GeV to 0.4% at 150 GeV. This leakage has a very small effect on the hadronic energy resolution. We measured the probability of the creation of escaping muons in the shower development process. This probability ranges from 0.2% at 10 GeV to 2.1% at 150 GeV. Assuming that these muons are produced from π- or K-decay, we find an exponentially decaying muon spectrum with a typical momentum of 2.8 GeV/ c , at 80 GeV incident energy. Also the rates at which hadrons and soft neutrons escape from the calorimeter are measured. Within the acceptance of the leakage calorimeter, neutrons are observed about 10 times as often as muons. Escaping hadrons dominate muons for shower energies above 20 GeV. The experiments were performed at CERN in the framework of the LAA project.