Level-0 trigger algorithms for the ALICE PHOS detector
The PHOS level-0 trigger provides a minimum bias trigger for p–p collisions and information for a level-1 trigger at both p–p and Pb–Pb collisions. There are two level-0 trigger generating algorithms under consideration: the Direct Comparison algorithm and the Weighted Sum algorithm. In order to study trigger algorithms via simulation, a simplified equivalent model is extracted from the trigger electronics to derive the waveform function of the Analog-or signal as input to the trigger algorithms. Simulations shown that the Weighted Sum algorithm can achieve higher trigger efficiency and provide more precise single channel energy information than the direct compare algorithm. An energy resolution of 9.75 MeV can be achieved with the Weighted Sum algorithm at a sampling rate of 40 Msps (mega samples per second) at 1 GeV. The timing performance at a sampling rate of 40 Msps with the Weighted Sum algorithm is better than that at a sampling rate of 20 Msps with both algorithms. The level-0 trigger can be delivered to ALICE CTP within 800 ns with a timing uncertainty of 2 LHC bunch crossing cycles.

title: Measurement of the cross section for electromagnetic dissociation with neutron emission in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s(NN)] = 2.76 TeV.
abstract: The first measurement of neutron emission in electromagnetic dissociation of ^{208}Pb nuclei at the LHC is presented. The measurement is performed using the neutron zero degree calorimeters of the ALICE experiment, which detect neutral particles close to beam rapidity. The measured cross sections of single and mutual electromagnetic dissociation of Pb nuclei at sqrt[s(NN)]=2.76 TeV with neutron emission are σ(singleEMD)=187.4 ± 0.2(stat)(-11.2)(+13.2) (syst) b and σ(mutualEMD) = 5.7 ± 0.1(stat) ± 0.4(syst) b, respectively. The experimental results are compared to the predictions from a relativistic electromagnetic dissociation model.

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: Commissioning of the ALICE-PHOS trigger
abstract: The Photon Spectrometer (PHOS) of the ALICE experiment at LHC is a high-resolution electromagnetic calorimeter dedicated to the precise measurement of direct photon and neutral meson yields in p+p and Pb+Pb collisions at mid-rapidity in a pT range up to 100 GeV/c. A multi-level trigger system selects events of interest and reduces the overall data flow. PHOS generates two triggers: i) the Level 0 (L0) trigger for high luminosity p+p runs acting mainly as a spectrometer trigger and for selecting high pT photons in Pb+Pb and in p+p collisions; ii) the Level1 (L1) trigger corresponds to a more sophisticated shower analysis which refines the pT selection. The algorithms perform a pulse-shape analysis of the oversampled Avalanche Photo Diode (APD) signal followed by a sliding-window cluster finder. Both triggers are implemented in the firmware which, since SRAM-based FPGAs are used, can be changed on-line between runs. The trigger system was commissioned by cosmic rays and particles from interactions. The status of the trigger system and first results will be presented.

title: Alignment of the ALICE inner tracking system with cosmic-ray tracks
abstract: ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 mu m in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10(5) charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.

title: Underlying Event measurements in pp collisions at $ \sqrt {s} = 0.9 $ and 7 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC
abstract: A bstractWe present measurements of Underlying Event observables in pp collisions at $ \sqrt {s} = 0.9 $ and 7TeV. The analysis is performed as a function of the highest charged-particle transverse momentum pT,LT in the event. Different regions are defined with respect to the azimuthal direction of the leading (highest transverse momentum) track: Toward, Transverse and Away. The Toward and Away regions collect the fragmentation products of the hardest partonic interaction. The Transverse region is expected to be most sensitive to the Underlying Event activity. The study is performed with charged particles above three different pT thresholds: 0.15, 0.5 and 1.0 GeV/c. In the Transverse region we observe an increase in the multiplicity of a factor 2–3 between the lower and higher collision energies, depending on the track pT threshold considered. Data are compared to Pythia 6.4, Pythia 8.1 and Phojet. On average, all models considered underestimate the multiplicity and summed pT in the Transverse region by about 10–30%.

title: NON-ABELIAN VORTEX-STRING DYNAMICS FROM NONLINEAR REALIZATION
abstract: The dynamics of the non-Abelian vortex-string, which describes its low energy oscillations into the target D = 3+1 space–time as well as its orientations in the internal space, is derived by the approach of nonlinear realization. The resulting action correlating these two sectors is found to have an invariant synthesis form of the Nambu–Goto-CPN-1 model actions. Higher order corrections to the vortex actions are presented up to the order of quartic derivatives. General p-brane dynamics in terms of the internal symmetry breaking is also discussed.

title: Scaling of the Higgs Self-coupling and bounds on the Extra Dimension
abstract: In this paper we study the one-loop evolution equation of the Higgs quartic coupling $\lambda$ in the minimal Universal Extra Dimension model, and find that there are certain bounds on the extra dimension due to the singularity and vacuum stability conditions of the Higgs sector. In the range $250GeV \sim {R^{- 1}} \sim 80TeV$ of the compactification radius, we notice that for a given initial value $\lambda ({M_Z})$, there is an upper limit on ${R^{- 1}}$ for a Higgs mass of $183GeV \sim {m_H}({M_Z}) \sim 187GeV$; where any other compactification scales beyond that have been ruled out for theories where the evolution of $\lambda$ does not develop a Landau pole and become divergent in the whole range (that is, from the electroweak scale to the unification scale). Likewise, in the range of the Higgs mass $152GeV \sim {m_H}({M_Z}) \sim 157GeV$, for an initial value $\lambda ({M_Z})$, we are led to a lower limit on ${R^{- 1}}$; any other compactification scales below that will be ruled out for theories where the evolution of $\lambda$ does not become negative and destabilize the vacuum between the electroweak scale and the unification scale. For a Higgs mass in the range $157GeV < {m_H}({M_Z}) < 183GeV$, the evolution of $\lambda$ is finite and the theory is valid in the whole range (from the electroweak scale to the unification scale) for $250GeV \sim {R^{- 1}}

title: Thermodynamics of de Sitter universes
abstract: It is shown that the first law of thermodynamics can be applied to the de Sitter universe to relate its vacuum energy, pressure, entropy of horizon, chemical potential, etc., when the cosmological constant changes due to the fluctuation of the vacuum or other reasons. The second law should be reformulated in the form that the spontaneous decay of the vacuum never makes the entropy of the de Sitter universe decrease. The third law of thermodynamics, applying to the de Sitter universe, implies that the cosmological constant cannot reach zero by finite physical processes. The relation to the holographic principle is also briefly discussed.

title: Scaling of Yukawa Couplings and Quark Flavor Mixings in the UED Model
abstract: The evolution properties of Yukawa couplings and quark mixings are performed for the one-loop renormalization group equations in the Universal Extra Dimension (UED) model. It is found that the UED model has a substantial effect on the scaling of the fermion masses, including both quark and lepton sectors, whilst the radiative effects on the unitarity triangle is not a sensitive test in this model. Also, for this model, the renormalization invariants $R_{13}$ and $R_{23}$ describe the correlation between the mixing angles and mass ratios to a good approximation, with a variation of the order of $\lambda^4$ and $\lambda^5$ under energy scaling respectively.

title: Stability of BTZ black strings
abstract: We study the dynamical stability of the Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black string against fermionic and gravitational perturbations. The BTZ black string is not always stable against these perturbations. There exist threshold values for m{sup 2} related to the compactification of the extra dimension for fermionic perturbation, the scalar part of the gravitational perturbation, and the tensor perturbation, respectively. Above the threshold values, perturbations are stable; while below these thresholds, perturbations can be unstable. We find that this nontrivial stability behavior qualitatively agrees with that predicted by a thermodynamical argument, showing that the BTZ black string phase is not the privileged stable phase.