The Status of the ARGO Experiment at YBJ
The ARGO-YBJ experiment, located at Yangbajing, Tibet, China, performed by a wide Sino-Italian collaboration, is designed to study cosmic rays, sub-TeV gamma ray sources and GeV Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) emission in the northern hemisphere, by means of detecting small size EAS ( using a full coverage RPC (Resistive Plate Chamber) carpet. The central carpet of the detector is installed and put into operation to date, with 1900m2 of the carpet already operating since December 2004. With a trigger multiplicity of ≥60 hits, corresponding to a primary mode energy of 2 TeV, the angular resolution of EAS measurements is

title: Phenomenon of Energy Concentration in High-Energy Family Events of Cosmic Rays
abstract: The phenomenon of energy concentration in high-energy family events of cosmic rays is studied by comparing the results of family events of total visible energies 100-400 TeV observed in the Kanbala emulsion chamber experiment with the Monte Carlo simulation data. The simulation is made by the program CORSIKA in which QGSJET is applied as the hadronic interaction model, and the chemical composition of primary cosmic rays is obtained from the rigidity-cut model and the extrapolation of new results of direct measurements. This shows that the whole distribution tendency of the rate of energy concentration of simulated family events is basically consistent with that of the experiment.

title: Layout and performance of RPCs used in the Argo-YBJ experiment
abstract: The layout of the RPCs, used in the Argo-YBJ experiment to image with a high space-time granularity the atmospheric shower, is described in this paper. The detector has been assembled to provide both digital and analog informations in order to cover a wide particle e front matter r 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ma.2006.02.136 ing author.

title: Non-Gaussianity, isocurvature perturbation, gravitational waves, and a no-go theorem for the isocurvaton
abstract: We investigate the isocurvaton model, in which the isocurvature perturbation plays a role in suppressing the curvature perturbation, and large non-Gaussianity and gravitational waves can be produced with no isocurvature perturbation for dark matter. We show that in the slow-roll noninteracting multifield theory, the isocurvaton mechanism cannot be realized. This result can also be generalized to most of the studied models with generalized kinetic terms. We also study the implications for the curvaton model. We show that there is a combined constraint for curvaton on non-Gaussianity, gravitational waves, and isocurvature perturbation. The technique used in this paper can also help to simplify some calculations in the mixed inflaton and curvaton models. We also investigate the possibility of producing large negative non-Gaussianity and nonlocal non-Gaussianity in the curvaton model.

title: New prototype multi-gap resistive plate chambers with long strips
abstract: A new kind of Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) has been built for the large-area Muon Telescope Detector (MTD) for the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). These long read-out strip Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (LMRPCs) have an active area of 87.0 � 17.0 cm 2 and ten 250mm-thick gas gaps arranged as a double stack. Each read-out strip is 2.5 cm wide and 90 cm long. The signals are read-out at both ends of each strip. Cosmic ray tests indicate a time resolution of � 70 ps and a detection efficiency of greater than 95%. Beam tests performed at T963 at Fermilab indicate a time resolution of 60–70 ps and a spatial resolution of � 1 cm along the strip direction. & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

title: Response to muons, electrons and pions of a calorimeter constituted by small cross section brass tubes
abstract: A brass tube prototype calorimeter for the L3 detector has been exposed to the X3 beam of the CERN SPS. Its performance, tested with muons and electrons, is very satisfactory. With a sampling of 14 mm of copper, the energy resolution is 30% for 4 GeV pions.

title: The entrainment-limited evolution of FR II sources: maximum sizes and a possible connection to FR Is
abstract: We construct a simple theoretical model to investigate how entrainment gradually erodes high-speed FR II jets. This process is described by embedding a mixing-layer model developed originally to describe FR I objects in a self-similar model for the lobe structure of classical FR II sources. Following the classical FR II models, we assume that the lobe is dominated by the particles injected from the central jet. The entrainment produces a boundary shear layer which acts at the interface between the dense central jet and the less denser surrounding lobe, and the associated erosion of the jet places interesting limits on the maximum size of FR II sources. The model shows that this limit depends mainly on the initial bulk velocity of the relativistic jet triggered. The bulk velocities of FR IIs suggested by our model are in good agreement with that obtained from direct pc-scale observations on ordinary radio galaxies and quasars. Finally, we discuss how FR IIs may evolve into FR Is upon reaching their maximum, entrainment-limited sizes.

title: Measurement of inclusive forward neutral pion production in 200-GeV polarized proton-proton collisions at RHIC