Drift velocity, longitudinal and transverse diffusion in hydrocarbons derived from distributions of single electrons
A time of flight method is described which allows the simultaneous measurement of drift velocity w and the ratios of the longitudinal and transverse diffusion coefficients to mobility (D L /μ, D T /μ) of electrons in gases. The accuracy achieved in this omnipurpose experiment is comparable with that of specialised techniques and is estimated to be ±1% for w and ±5% for the D/μ measurements. Results for methane, ethane, ethene, propane, propene and cyclopropane for values of E/N (the electric field strength divided by the number density) ranging from 0.02 to 15 Td are presented and discussed (1 Td=10 21 Vm 2 )

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: 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: 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: 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: Imaging and Demography of the Host Galaxies of High-Redshift Type Ia Supernovae* **
abstract: We present the results of a study of the host galaxies of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We provide a catalog of 18 hosts of SNe Ia observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) by the High-z Supernova Search Team, including images, scale lengths, measurements of integrated (Hubble-equivalent) BVRIZ photometry in bands where the galaxies are brighter than m ≈ 25 mag, and galactocentric distances of the supernovae. We compare the residuals of SN Ia distance measurements from cosmological fits with measurable properties of the supernova host galaxies that might be expected to correlate with variable properties of the progenitor population, such as host-galaxy color and position of the supernova. We find mostly null results; the current data are generally consistent with no correlations of the distance residuals with host-galaxy properties in the redshift range 0.42 < z < 1.06. Although a subsample of SN hosts shows a formally significant (3 σ) correlation between apparent V-R host color and distance residuals, the correlation is not consistent with the null results from other host colors probed by our largest samples. There is also evidence for the same correlations between SN Ia properties and host type at low redshift and high redshift. These similarities support the current practice of extrapolating properties of the nearby population to high redshifts, pending more robust detections of any correlations between distance residuals from cosmological fits and host properties.

title: Optical and Radio Observations of the Afterglow from GRB 990510: Evidence for a Jet
abstract: We present multicolor optical and two-frequency radio observations of the bright BeppoSAX event GRB 990510. Neither the well-sampled optical decay nor the radio observations are consistent with simple spherical afterglow models. The achromatic steepening in the optical band and the early decay of the radio afterglow, which both occur at t ~ 1 day, are evidence for hydrodynamical evolution of the source and can be most easily interpreted by models in which the gamma-ray burst ejecta are collimated in a jet. Employing a simple jet model to explain the observations, we derive a jet opening angle of θ_0 = 0.08(n/1 cm^(-3))^(1/8), reducing the isotropic gamma-ray energy release of 2.9 × 10^(53) ergs by a factor of ~300.

title: SkyMapper and the Southern Sky Survey: a valuable resource for stellar astrophysics
abstract: The Australian National University's SkyMapper telescope is amongst the first of a new generation of dedicated wide-field survey telescopes. Featuring a 5.7 square deg field-of-view Cassegrain imager and 268 Mega-pixel CCD array, its primary goal will be to undertake the Southern Sky Survey: a six color (uvgriz), six-epoch digital record of the entire southern sky. The survey will provide photometry for objects between 8th and 23rd magnitude with a global photometric accuracy of 0.03 magnitudes and astrometry to 50 mas. In this contribution we introduce the SkyMapper facility, the survey data products and outline a variety of case-studies in stellar astrophysics for which SkyMapper will have high impact.

title: Measurement of the Lambda polarization in nu(mu) charged current interactions in the NOMAD experiment
abstract: We present a measurement of the polarization of $\alam$ hyperons produced in $\nu_\mu$ charged current interactions. The full data sample from the NOMAD experiment has been analyzed using the same $\vo$ identification procedure and analysis method reported in a previous paper~\cite{NOMAD-polar} for the case of $\lam$ hyperons. The $\alam$ polarization has been measured for the first time in a neutrino experiment. The polarization vector is found to be compatible with zero.

title: Time resolution limits of the MWPCs for the LHCb muon system
abstract: Detailed simulations of the timing properties of the Multi-Wire-Proportional-Chambers of the LHCb muon system are compared with actual measurements. The simulated time resolution is in good agreement with the measurement which allows to study the resolution limiting parameters like diffusion, charge deposit fluctuations, cluster position fluctuations, electronics noise, track position and wire spacing to show how they affect the performance of the system. Methods to improve the time resolution of the muon chambers are discussed.