Search for stellar gravitational collapse by MACRO: Characteristics and results
The first MACRO lower supermodule has been sensitive to antineutrinos from stellar gravitational collapse since spring 1989. The results with the 44 tonnes of liquid scintillator which have been instrumented to search for stellar gravitational collapse are discussed here.

title: EXPLORER and NAUTILUS gravitational wave detectors: a status report
abstract: The two cryogenic resonant bar detectors of the ROG Collaboration, EXPLORER and NAUTILUS, have been taking data continuously with a high duty cycle for several years. We report here on the status of recent analysis of the data and in particular on the results of the burst searches in the year 2004.

title: Comparison of muon and neutrino times from decays of mesons in the atmosphere
abstract: We propose a test to compare the speed of muons and muon neutrinos produced in the same bundles in the atmosphere. By comparing the arrival times of primary muons and muons induced by neutrinos, experiments such as Super-Kamiokande, IceCube and ANTARES could verify recent hints on the possibility that neutrinos have a velocity larger than the speed of light. For smaller detectors such as MINOS and OPERA, where it may be challenging to recognize downgoing muons induced by neutrinos inside the active volume, another measurement may be possible thanks to the ns-time resolution. The arrival times of muons in a bundle produced by one cosmic ray interaction in the atmosphere should return a value compatible with the time resolution, while if neutrinos have larger velocity than muons some of the muons may arrive slightly earlier in a bundle of particles than others.

title: Detection of high energy cosmic rays with the resonant gravitational wave detectors NAUTILUS and EXPLORER
abstract: The cryogenic resonant gravitational wave detectors NAUTILUS and EXPLORER, made of an aluminum alloy bar, can detect cosmic ray showers. At temperatures above 1 K, when the material is in the normal-conducting state, the measured signals are in good agreement with the expected values based on the cosmic rays data and on the thermo-acoustic model. When NAUTILUS was operated at the temperature of 0.14 K, in superconductive state, large signals produced by cosmic ray interactions, more energetic than expected, were recorded. The NAUTILUS data in this case are in agreement with the measurements done by a dedicated experiment on a particle beam. The biggest recorded event was in EXPLORER and excited the first longitudinal mode to a vibrational energy of ∼670 K, corresponding to ∼360 TeV absorbed in the bar. Cosmic rays can be an important background in future acoustic detectors of improved sensitivity. At present, they represent a useful tool to verify the gravitational wave antenna performance.

title: Muon tracking underground
abstract: SummaryWe present a new design of plastic streamer tubes, optimized to match the experimental requirements of large-area under-ground detectors, where muon identification is needed with good angular resolution.RiassuntoSi descrive un nuovo disegno di tubi a streamer in plastica, ottimizzati per le esigenze sperimentali di apparati sotterranei di grande area, dove si richiede l'identificazione di muoni con buona risoluzione angolare.РзюмеПредлагается новый проект пластических стримерных трубок, оптимально согласованный с эксперименталыми требованиями подэемных детекторов на большой площади, когда небходима идентификция мюоноб с высокими угловым разрешением.

title: RAP: thermoacoustic detection at the DAΦNE beam test facility
abstract: In order to investigate the anomalous response at ultra-low temperatures of the resonant-mass gravitational wave detector NAUTILUS, the RAP experiment has been planned to measure the vibrations in a small cylindrical aluminium bar when hit by 105 510 MeV electrons from the DAΦNE beam test facility, corresponding to the energies released by typical extensive air showers. The results of the measurement at low temperature and in the superconducting regime are crucial to understand the interaction of ionizing particles with bulk superconductors and to confirm the results on the thermoacoustic model of the past experiments. The first run of RAP experiment is scheduled for the end of June. The scheme of operation and the preliminary results at room temperature will be presented.

title: Prediction for the lightest Higgs boson mass in the CMSSM using indirect experimental constraints
abstract: Measurements at low energies provide interesting indirect information about masses of particles that are (so far) too heavy to be produced directly. Motivated by recent progress in consistently and rigorously calculating electroweak precision observables and flavour related observables, we derive the preferred value for m h in the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM), obtained from a fit taking into account electroweak precision data, flavour physics observables and the abundance of cold dark matter. No restriction is imposed on m h itself: the experimental bound from direct Higgs boson search at LEP is not included in the fit. A multi-parameter χ 2 is minimized with respect to the free parameters of the CMSSM, M 0 , M 1 / 2 , A 0 , tan β . A statistical comparison with the Standard Model fit to the electroweak precision data is made. The preferred value for the lightest Higgs boson mass in the CMSSM is found to be m h CMSSM = 110 −10 +8 ( exp. ) ± 3 ( theo. ) GeV / c 2 , where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second uncertainty is theoretical. This value is compatible with the limit from direct Higgs boson search at LEP.

title: Computing System for the Belle Experiment
abstract: We describe the offline computing system of the Belle experiment, consisting of a computing farm with one thousand IA-32 CPUs. Up to now, the Belle experiment has accumulated more than 120 fb$^{-1}$ of data, which is the world largest $B\bar{B}$ sample at the $\Upsilon(4S)$ energy. The data have to be processed with a single version of reconstruction software and calibration constants to perform precise measurements of $B$ meson decays. In addition, Monte Carlo samples three times larger than the real beam data are generated. To fullfill our computing needs, we have constructed the computing system with 90(300) quad(dual) CPU PC servers from multiple vendors as a central processing system. The details of this computing system and performance of data processing with the current model are presented.

title: Frequentist analysis of the parameter space of minimal supergravity
abstract: We make a frequentist analysis of the parameter space of minimal supergravity (mSUGRA), in which, as well as the gaugino and scalar soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters being universal, there is a specific relation between the trilinear, bilinear and scalar supersymmetry-breaking parameters, A0=B0+m0, and the gravitino mass is fixed by m3/2=m0. We also consider a more general model, in which the gravitino mass constraint is relaxed (the VCMSSM). We combine in the global likelihood function the experimental constraints from low-energy electroweak precision data, the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, the lightest Higgs boson mass Mh, B physics and the astrophysical cold dark matter density, assuming that the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is a neutralino. In the VCMSSM, we find a preference for values of m1/2 and m0 similar to those found previously in frequentist analyses of the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) and a model with common non-universal Higgs masses (NUHM1). On the other hand, in mSUGRA we find two preferred regions: one with larger values of both m1/2 and m0 than in the VCMSSM, and one with large m0 but small m1/2. We compare the probabilities of the frequentist fits in mSUGRA, the VCMSSM, the CMSSM and the NUHM1: the probability that mSUGRA is consistent with the present data is significantly less than in the other models. We also discuss the mSUGRA and VCMSSM predictions for sparticle masses and other observables, identifying potential signatures at the LHC and elsewhere.

title: The CMS Tracker operation and performance at the Magnet Test and Cosmic Challenge
abstract: During summer 2006 a fraction of the CMS silicon strip tracker was operated in a comprehensive slice test called the Magnet Test and Cosmic Challenge (MTCC). At the MTCC, cosmic rays detected in the muon chambers were used to trigger the readout of all CMS sub-detectors in the general data acquisition system and in the presence of the 4 T magnetic field produced by the CMS superconducting solenoid. This document describes the operation of the Tracker hardware and software prior, during and after data taking. The performance of the detector as resulting from the MTCC data analysis is also presented.

title: Measurement of branching fractions for B-->eta(c)K(*) decays.
abstract: We report measurements of branching fractions for charged and neutral B-->eta(c)K decays where the eta(c) meson is reconstructed in the K(0)(S)K+/-pi(-/+), K+K-pi(0), K(*0)K-pi(+), and pp; decay channels. The neutral B0 channel is a CP eigenstate and can be used to measure the CP violation parameter sin(2phi(1). We also report the first observation of the B0-->eta(c)K(*0) mode. The results are based on an analysis of 29.1 fb(-1) of data collected by the Belle detector at KEKB.