Search for astrophysical point sources of muons with the MACRO detector

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: 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: 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: 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: Performance of the CMS cathode strip chambers with cosmic rays
abstract: The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in 
the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray 
run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 
1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 µm to 
243 µm. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction 
were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns.

title: Supersymmetry in light of 1/fb of LHC data
abstract: We update previous frequentist analyses of the CMSSM and NUHM1 parameter spaces to include the public results of searches for supersymmetric signals using ∼1/fb of LHC data recorded by ATLAS and CMS and ∼0.3/fb of data recorded by LHCb in addition to electroweak precision and B-physics observables. We also include the constraints imposed by the cosmological dark matter density and the XENON100 search for spin-independent dark matter scattering. The LHC data set includes ATLAS and CMS searches for jets + events and for the heavier MSSM Higgs bosons, and the upper limits on BR(Bs→μ+μ−) from LHCb and CMS. The absences of jets + signals in the LHC data favour heavier mass spectra than in our previous analyses of the CMSSM and NUHM1, which may be reconciled with (g−2)μ if tanβ∼40, a possibility that is, however, under pressure from heavy Higgs searches and the upper limits on BR(Bs→μ+μ−). As a result, the p-value for the CMSSM fit is reduced to ∼15(38)%, and that for the NUHM1 to ∼16(38)%, to be compared with ∼9(49)% for the Standard Model limit of the CMSSM for the same set of observables (dropping (g−2)μ), ignoring the dark matter relic density. We discuss the sensitivities of the fits to the (g−2)μ and BR(b→sγ) constraints, contrasting fits with and without the (g−2)μ constraint, and combining the theoretical and experimental errors for BR(b→sγ) linearly or in quadrature. We present predictions for $m_{\tilde{g}}$, BR(Bs→μ+μ−), Mh and MA, and update predictions for spin-independent dark matter scattering, incorporating the uncertainty in the π-nucleon σ term ΣπN. Finally, we present predictions based on our fits for the likely thresholds for sparticle pair production in e+e− collisions in the CMSSM and NUHM1.

title: Improved evidence for direct CP violation in B0-->pi+pi- decays and model-independent constraints on phi2.
abstract: We present a new measurement of the time-dependent CP-violating parameters in B(0)--> pi(+)pi(-) decays with 275 x 10(6) BB pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) collider operating at the Gamma(4S) resonance. We find 666 +/- 43 B(0) --> pi(+)pi(-) events and measure the CP-violating parameters: S(pipi) = -0.67 +/- 0.16(stat) +/- 0.06(syst) and A(pipi) = +0.56 +/- 0.12(stat) +/- 0.06(syst). We find evidence for large direct CP violation with a significance greater than 4 standard deviations for any S(pipi) value. Using isospin relations, we obtain 95.4% confidence intervals for the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark-mixing matrix angle phi(2) of 0 degree < phiv(2) < 19 degrees and 71 degrees < phi(2) < 180 degrees.

title: Tracking and Alignment in the CMS Detector
abstract: This Report summarises the alignment strategy of the CMS detector. Track reconstruction in the silicon tracker and muon chambers is briefly described. We then present the different sources of alignment information, in particular alignment algorithms using reconstructed tracks.

title: Search for B ---> tau nu and B ---> K nu anti-nu decays with a fully reconstructed B at Belle