Can EMMA solve the puzzle of the knee
The knee is a change in the slope of the cosmic ray spectrum at approximate energy of 3 PeV. There are multiple competing models for the knee giving conflicting predictions about this change for different masses of the primary particle. Accurate mass measurements of cosmic rays spectra around 3 PeV would be able to exclude some of these models. Cosmic-ray experiment EMMA uses a new method for studying the composition of cosmic rays at the knee area. It is able to determine the multiplicity, the lateral distribution, and the arrival direction of incoming muons produced early in the shower evolution on an event-by-event basis and deduce from these measurements the mass and the energy of the primary particle. EMMA is situated at the depth of 75 m in the Pyhasalmi mine, Finland. This rock overburden, which corresponds to 210 m of water equivalent, gives EMMA a cut-off energy of 50 GeV for vertical muons. Since the simulations using different air-shower models give similar predictions for the lateral distribution of these high energy muons, we are confident that EMMA should yield a reliable and an air-shower model independent data on the composition of cosmic rays around the knee region.

title: High-K four-quasiparticle states in Gd-138
abstract: States above the known K(pi) = 8(-) 6 mu s isomer in (138)Gd have been populated with the (106)Cd((36)Ar,2p2n) reaction at a beam energy of 180 MeV at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. The recoil-isomer tagging technique was utilized to correlate delayed gamma-ray decays, detected in the GREAT focal plane spectrometer, with prompt decays measured in the JUROGAM II spectrometer at the target position. The lifetime of the K(pi) = 8(-) isomeric state has been remeasured as 6.2(2) mu s. Two high-lying strongly coupled bands have been established with K(pi) >= 12(-). Potential-energy surface calculations, in conjunction with g factor measurements, reveal that they are built upon four-quasiparticle structures comprising two-quasineutron plus two-quasiproton configurations. The short half-life or lack of hindrance for the decays from these four-quasiparticle band-head states is reasoned to be a consequence of increased triaxial deformation and mixing due to the high density of states relative to the lower two-quasiparticle 6-mu s isomeric state.

title: Gamma-ray spectroscopy at the limits: first observation of rotational bands in 255Lr.
abstract: The rotational band structure of 255Lr has been investigated using advanced in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopic techniques. To date, 255Lr is the heaviest nucleus to be studied in this manner. One rotational band has been unambiguously observed and strong evidence for a second rotational structure was found. The structures are tentatively assigned to be based on the 1/2-[521] and 7/2-[514] Nilsson states, consistent with assignments from recently obtained alpha decay data. The experimental rotational band dynamic moment of inertia is used to test self-consistent mean-field calculations using the Skyrme SLy4 interaction and a density-dependent pairing force.

title: alpha decay of Re159 and proton emission from Ta155

title: Spectroscopy of Ho-144 using recoil-isomer tagging
abstract: Excited states in the proton-unbound odd-odd nucleus {sup 144}Ho have been populated using the {sup 92}Mo({sup 54}Fe,pn){sup 144}Ho reaction and studied using the recoil-isomer-tagging technique. The alignment properties and signature splitting of the rotational band above the I{sup p}i=(8{sup +}){sup 144m}Ho isomer have been analyzed and the isomer confirmed to have a pih{sub 11/2} x nuh{sub 11/2} two-quasiparticle configuration. The configuration-constrained blocking method has been used to calculate the shapes of the ground and isomeric states, which are both predicted to have triaxial nuclear shapes with |gamma|approx =24 deg.

title: Identification of the Kpi=8- rotational band in 138Gd

title: Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in the hard scattering regime at RHIC.
abstract: Azimuthal anisotropy (v(2)) and two-particle angular correlations of high p(T) charged hadrons have been measured in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s(NN)]=130 GeV for transverse momenta up to 6 GeV/c, where hard processes are expected to contribute significantly. The two-particle angular correlations exhibit elliptic flow and a structure suggestive of fragmentation of high p(T) partons. The monotonic rise of v(2)(p(T)) for p(T)<2 GeV/c is consistent with collective hydrodynamical flow calculations. At p(T)>3 GeV/c, a saturation of v(2) is observed which persists up to p(T)=6 GeV/c.

title: Charge Independent(CI) and Charge Dependent(CD) correlations as a function of Centrality formed from Delta phi imum Delta eta Charged Pair Correlations in Minimum Bias Au+Au Collisions at s(NN)**(1/2) = 200-GeV

title: An update from STAR—using strangeness to probe relativistic heavy ion collisions
abstract: An overview of the strangeness measurements made by the STAR collaboration at RHIC for Au-Au collisions at √s NN = 130 and 200 GeV plus p-p collisions at √s NN = 200 GeV is presented. A wealth of information has been generated on the kinematics and scale of strange particle production by this experiment. When viewed in combination a picture emerges of particles demonstrating a surprisingly high degree of collective motion, suggestive of strong internal pressure within the source which builds up rapidly. The non-resonance yields are consistent with statistical hadron formation. Although there appears to be a rapid decoupling of the source, resonance particle measurements show signs of rescattering during the hadronic phase. Meanwhile the observed suppression of high momentum probes and their large azimuthal asymmetry indicate that this hot dense matter has significant interactions with particles moving through it.

title: Testing models of hadron production with strange hadrons in the intermediate pT region using the STAR detector
abstract: We report on the transverse momentum dependence of strangeness production measured with the STAR detector. Identified particle spectra are used to provide a test of models of hadron production in the intermediate transverse momentum region, 2 < pT < 6 GeV/c. Further insight into hadron production is obtained from the nuclear modification factor, Rcp, in Au+Au collisions, which shows that there is a different pT dependence of hadron suppression in central collisions for baryons and mesons, consistent with quark coalescence. Evidence for a similar baryon–meson difference is also found in d+Au collisions.

title: Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV with ALICE at LHC
abstract: The pseudorapidity density and multiplicity distribution of charged particles produced in proton–proton collisions at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV, were measured in the central pseudorapidity region |η|<1. Comparisons are made with previous measurements at $\sqrt{s}=0.9$ TeV and 2.36 TeV. At $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV, for events with at least one charged particle in |η|<1, we obtain $\mathrm{d}N_{\mathrm{ch}}/\mathrm{d}\eta=6.01\pm0.01(\mathrm {stat.})^{+0.20}_{-0.12}(\mathrm{syst.})$. This corresponds to an increase of $57.6\%\pm0.4\%(\mathrm{stat.})^{+3.6}_{-1.8}\%(\mathrm{syst.})$ relative to collisions at 0.9 TeV, significantly higher than calculations from commonly used models. The multiplicity distribution at 7 TeV is described fairly well by the negative binomial distribution.