Design and performance of a modular low-radioactivity readout system for cryogenic detectors in the CDMS experiment
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment employs ultra-cold solid-state detectors to search for rare events resulting from WIMP-nucleus scattering. An innovative detector packaging and readout system has been developed to meet the unusual combination of requirements for: low temperature, low radioactivity, low energy threshold, and large channel count. Features include use of materials with low radioactivity such as multi-layer KAPTON laminates for circuit boards; immunity to microphonic noise via a vacuum coaxial wiring design, manufacturability, and modularity. The detector readout design had to accommodate various electronic components which have to be operated in close proximity to the detector as well maintaining separate individual temperatures (ranging from 600 mK to 150 K) in order to achieve optimal noise performance. The paper will describe the general electrical, thermal, and mechanical designs of the CDMS readout system, as well as presenting the theoretical and measured performance of the detector readout channels.

title: Limit on the flux of cosmic-ray magnetic monopoles from operation of an eight-loop superconducting detector.
abstract: An eight-loop superconducting magnetic monopole detector has been in continuous operation for 547 days, starting 4 March 1987. Its sensing area is 1.1 m{sup 2} for double-coincident events. The data, which contain no candidate events, set an upper limit of 7.2{times}10{sup {minus}13} cm{sup  s{sup {minus}1} sr{sup {minus}1} (90% confidence level) on the flux of monopoles of any mass and at any velocity passing through the Earth's surface.

title: Search for inelastic dark matter with the CDMS II experiment
abstract: Results are presented from a reanalysis of the entire five-tower data set acquired with the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, with an exposure of 969 kg-days. The analysis window was extended to a recoil energy of 150 keV, and an improved surface-event background-rejection cut was defined to increase the sensitivity of the experiment to the inelastic dark matter (iDM) model. Three dark matter candidates were found between 25 keV and 150 keV. The probability to observe three or more background events in this energy range is 11%. Because of the occurrence of these events, the constraints on the iDM parameter space are slightly less stringent than those from our previous analysis, which used an energy window of 10-100 keV.

title: Report on Stanford Superconductive Monopole Detectors
abstract: Since January, 1983 we have been operating a three loop superconducting detector with a signal to noise ratio of 100 for the direct detection of Dirac magnetic  Its sensing area averaged over solid angle is nearly 500 cm2 for double coincidence events. To date, the data contain no candidate events and set an upper flux limit of 2 × 10−11 cm−2 s−1 sr−1 at 90% C.L., 70 times lower than that suggested by the single candidate event2 seen on the prototype single loop detector. If supermassive magnetic monopoles exist they are rare and the need for cost-efficient larger area superconductive detectors is evident if we are to push forward a definitive search in the cosmic rays. Superconducting loop detectors can be constructed with 1 to 10 m2 planar areas coupled to a single SQUID while achieving a signal to noise ratio of 10 for the detection of a Dirac magnetic charge. A 100 m2 sensing area array of such detectors, which would reach the Parker flux bound in one year of operation, can be built at a cost comparable to that of typical high energy experiments. It remains quite possible that a monopole particle flux significantly higher than the Parker bound exists within our galaxy. In this paper the most recent results from low noise operation of the three loop detector are presented. Also discussed are our plans to build a larger fixed loop detector with a sensing area of 1.5 m2. It is designed as a prototype for a future yet larger 100 m2 array.

title: Combined limits on WIMPs from the CDMS and EDELWEISS experiments
abstract: The CDMS and EDELWEISS collaborations have combined the results of their direct searches for dark matter using cryogenic germanium detectors. The total data set represents 614  kg·days equivalent exposure. A straightforward method of combination was chosen for its simplicity before data were exchanged between experiments. The results are interpreted in terms of limits on spin-independent weakly interacting, massive particle (WIMP)-nucleon cross section. For a WIMP mass of 90  GeV/c^2, where this analysis is most sensitive, a cross section of 3.3×10^(-44)  cm^2 is excluded at 90% C.L. At higher WIMP masses, the combination improves the individual limits, by a factor 1.6 above 700  GeV/c^2. Alternative methods of combining the data provide stronger constraints for some ranges of WIMP masses and weaker constraints for others.

title: Low-threshold analysis of CDMS shallow-site data
abstract: Data taken during the final shallow-site run of the first tower of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) detectors have been reanalyzed with improved sensitivity to small energy depositions. Four {approx}224 g germanium and two {approx}105 g silicon detectors were operated at the Stanford Underground Facility (SUF) between December 2001 and June 2002, yielding 118 live days of raw exposure. Three of the germanium and both silicon detectors were analyzed with a new low-threshold technique, making it possible to lower the germanium and silicon analysis thresholds down to the actual trigger thresholds of {approx}1 and  Limits on the spin-independent cross section for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) to elastically scatter from nuclei based on these data exclude interesting parameter space for WIMPs with masses below 9 GeV/c{sup 2}. Under standard halo assumptions, these data partially exclude parameter space favored by interpretations of the DAMA/LIBRA and CoGeNT experiments data as WIMP signals, and exclude new parameter space for WIMP masses between 3 and 4 GeV/c{sup 2}.

title: OPTICAL CROSS-CORRELATION FILTERS: AN ECONOMICAL APPROACH FOR IDENTIFYING SNe Ia AND ESTIMATING THEIR REDSHIFTS
abstract: Large photometric surveys of transient phenomena, such as Panoramic Survey Telescope & Rapid Response System and Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, will locate thousands to millions of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) candidates per year, a rate prohibitive for acquiring spectroscopy to determine each candidate's type and redshift. In response, we have developed an economical approach to identifying SNe Ia and their redshifts using an uncommon type of optical filter which has multiple, discontinuous passbands on a single substrate. Observation of a supernova through a specially designed pair of these "cross-correlation filters" measures the approximate amplitude and phase of the cross-correlation between the spectrum and a SN Ia template, a quantity typically used to determine the redshift and type of a high-redshift SN Ia. Simulating the use of these filters, we obtain a sample of SNe Ia which is ~98% pure with individual redshifts measured to σ z = 0.01 precision. The advantages of this approach over standard broadband photometric methods are that it is insensitive to reddening, independent of the color data used for subsequent distance determinations which reduce selection or interpretation bias, and because it makes use of the spectral features its reliability is greater. A great advantage over long-slit spectroscopy comes from increased throughput, enhanced multiplexing, and reduced setup time resulting in a net gain in speed of up to ~30 times. This approach is also insensitive to host galaxy contamination. Prototype filters were built and successfully used on Magellan with LDSS-3 to characterize three SuperNova Legacy Survey candidates. We discuss how these filters can provide critical information for the upcoming photometric supernova surveys.

title: From unphysical gluon and ghost propagators to physical glueball propagators (in the Gribov-Zwanziger picture): a not so trivial task?
abstract: During recent years, a good agreement was found between the analytical derivation and the numerical simulation of the Landau gauge gluon and ghost propagators. We mention the Schwinger-Dyson and Gribov-Zwanziger formalism for the analytical work. Although the agreement between several approaches is nice, these propagators do not correspond to the relevant physical degrees of freedom. In the case of pure gauge theories, one should start to study the glueball correlators. We shall try to explain why it looks like a hard challenge to go from the unphysical to the physical propagators in the case of the Gribov-Zwanziger theory (but similar conclusions might hold for other approaches giving similar propagators).

title: Central and noncentral components of the effective sd-shell interaction
abstract: The contributions of central as well as noncentral two-body interactions to the matrix elements of various effective interactions for the $\mathrm{sd}$ shell are studied in an SU(3) two-particle basis. The results show that their central parts agree rather well and exhibit an approximate SU(3) symmetry. However, large differences are found between the noncentral parts of microscopic and phenomenological interactions, respectively. The influence of noncentral components of the matrix elements of Glaudemans et al. on experimental data is investigated for the case of $^{28}\mathrm{Si}$, with the result that the $\mathrm{LS}$ component is very important to reproduce the correct ground state binding energy. Some effects introduced by higher order two-body interactions and many-body interactions are discussed.

title: Two- and three-point functions in two-dimensional Landau-gauge Yang-Mills theory: continuum results
abstract: A bstractWe investigate the Dyson-Schwinger equations for the gluon and ghost propagators and the ghost-gluon vertex of Landau-gauge gluodynamics in two dimensions. While this simplifies some aspects of the calculations as compared to three and four dimensions, new complications arise due to a mixing of different momentum regimes. As a result, the solutions for the propagators are more sensitive to changes in the three-point functions and the ansätze used for them at the leading order in a vertex expansion. Here, we therefore go beyond this common truncation by including the ghost-gluon vertex self-consistently for the first time, while using a model for the three-gluon vertex which reproduces the known infrared asymptotics and the zeros at intermediate momenta as observed on the lattice. A separate computation of the three-gluon vertex from the results is used to confirm the stability of this behavior a posteriori. We also present further arguments for the absence of the decoupling solution in two dimensions. Finally, we show how in general the infrared exponent κ of the scaling solutions in two, three and four dimensions can be changed by allowing an angle dependence and thus an essential singularity of the ghost-gluon vertex in the infrared.

title: Spurious divergences in Dyson-Schwinger equations
abstract: A bstractWe revisit the treatment of spurious ultraviolet divergences in the equation of motion of the gluon propagator caused by a momentum cutoff and the resulting violation of gauge invariance. With present continuum studies of the gluon propagator from its Dyson-Schwinger equation reaching the level of quantitatively accurate descriptions, it becomes increasingly important to understand how to subtract these spurious divergences in an unambiguous way. Here we propose such a method. It is based entirely on the asymptotic perturbative behavior of the QCD Green’s functions without affecting non-perturbative aspects such as mass terms or the asymptotic infrared behavior. As a particular example, this allows us to assess the possible influence of the tadpole diagram beyond perturbation theory. Finally, we test this method numerically by solving the system of Dyson-Schwinger equations of the gluon and ghost propagators.