Discovery of GRB 020405 and its Underlying Supernova

title: A RECONNAISSANCE OF THE POSSIBLE DONOR STARS TO THE KEPLER SUPERNOVA
abstract: The identity of Type Ia supernova progenitors remains a mystery, with various lines of evidence pointing toward either accretion from a nondegenerate companion or the rapid merger of two degenerate stars leading to the thermonuclear destruction of a white dwarf. In this paper, we spectroscopically scrutinize 24 of the brightest stars residing in the central 38'' × 38'' of the SN 1604 (Kepler) supernova remnant to search for a possible surviving companion star. We can rule out, with high certainty, a red giant companion star—a progenitor indicated by some models of the supernova remnant. Furthermore, we find no star that exhibits properties uniquely consistent with those expected of a donor star down to L > 10 L {sub ☉}. While the distribution of star properties toward the remnant are consistent with unrelated stars, we identify the most promising candidates for further astrometric and spectroscopic follow up. Such a program would either discover the donor star or place strong limits on progenitor systems to luminosities with L << L {sub ☉}.

title: Discovery and identification of the very high redshift afterglow of grb 050904
abstract: In 2000, Lamb and Reichart predicted that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and their afterglows occur in sufficient numbers and at sufficient brightnesses at very high redshifts (z > 5) to eventually replace quasars as the preferred probe of element formation and reionization in the early universe and to be used to characterize the star-formation history of the early universe, perhaps back to when the first stars formed. Here we report the discovery of the afterglow of GRB 050904 and the identification of GRB 050904 as the first very high redshift GRB. We measure its redshift to be 6.39(+0.11,-0.12), which is consistent with the reported spectroscopic redshift (6.29 +/- 0.01). Furthermore, just redward of Ly-alpha the flux is suppressed by a factor of three on the first night, but returns to expected levels by the fourth night. We propose that this is due to absorption by molecular hydrogen that was excited to rovibrational states by the GRB's prompt emission, but was then overtaken by the jet. Now that very high redshift GRBs have been shown to exist, and at least in this case the afterglow was very bright, observing programs that are designed to capitalize on this science will likely drive a new era of study of the early universe, using GRBs as probes.

title: On the significance of the excess number of strong Mg II absorbers observed toward gamma-ray bursts
abstract: The number of strong (equivalent width >1 A) Mg II absorbers observed toward gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) has been found to be statistically larger than the number of strong absorbers toward quasi-stellar objects (QSOs). We formalize this "Mg II problem" and present a detailed explanation of the statistical tools required to assess the significance of the discrepancy. We find that the problem exists at the 4σ level for GRBs with high-resolution spectra. It has been suggested that the discrepancy can be resolved by the combination of a dust obscuration bias toward QSOs, and a strong gravitational lensing bias toward GRBs. We investigate one of the two most probable lensed GRBs that we presented in our previous work (GRB020405) and find that it is not strongly gravitationally lensed, constraining the percentage of lensed GRBs to be <35% (2σ). Dust obscuration of QSOs has been estimated to be a significant effect with dusty Mg II systems removing ~20% of absorbed objects from flux-limited QSO samples. We find that if ~30% of the strong Mg II systems toward QSOs are missing from the observed samples, then GRBs and QSOs would have comparable numbers of absorbers per unit redshift. Thus, strong gravitational lensing bias is likely to make only a modest contribution to solving the Mg II problem. However, if the dust obscuration bias has been slightly underestimated, the Mg II problem would no longer persist.

title: HATS-1b: The First Transiting Planet Discovered by the HATSouth Survey
abstract: We report the discovery of HATS-1b, a transiting extrasolar planet orbiting the moderately bright V = 12.05 G dwarf star GSC 6652-00186, and the first planet discovered by HATSouth, a global network of autonomous wide-field telescopes. HATS-1b has a period of P 3.4465 days, mass of Mp 1.86 M J, and radius of Rp 1.30 R J. The host star has a mass of 0.99 M ☉ and radius of 1.04 R ☉. The discovery light curve of HATS-1b has near-continuous coverage over several multi-day timespans, demonstrating the power of using a global network of telescopes to discover transiting planets.

title: Supernova 2012ec: Identification of the progenitor and early monitoring with PESSTO
abstract: Research by JRM is supported through a Royal Society Research 
Fellowship. SJS is supported by FP7/2007-2013/ERC Grant agreement no. [291222]. GP acknowledges support from the Millennium 
Center for Supernova Science through grant P10-064-F funded by 
‘Programa Bicentenario de Ciencia y Tecnolog´ia de CONICYT’, 
‘Programa Iniciativa Cient´ifica Milenio deMIDEPLAN’ and 
proyecto interno UNAB DI-303-13/R. Research by AGY and his 
group is supported by funding from the FP7/ERC, Minerva and 
GIF grants.

title: Search for the decay $B_s^0 \to D^{*\mp} \pi^\pm$

title: Final results of the EDELWEISS-II WIMP search using a 4-kg array of cryogenic germanium detectors with interleaved electrodes
abstract: The EDELWEISS-II Collaboration has completed a direct search for WIMP dark matter with an array of ten 400-g cryogenic germanium detectors in operation at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane. The combined use of thermal phonon sensors and charge collection electrodes with an interleaved geometry enables the efficient rejection of γ -induced radioactivity as well as near-surface interactions. A total effective exposure of 384 kg d has been achieved, mostly coming from fourteen months of continuous operation. Five nuclear recoil candidates are observed above 20 keV, while the estimated background is 3.0 events. The result is interpreted in terms of limits on the cross-section of spin-independent interactions of WIMPs and nucleons. A cross-section of 4.4 × 10 − 8 pb is excluded at 90%CL for a WIMP mass of 85 GeV. New constraints are also set on models where the WIMP-nucleon scattering is inelastic.

title: Performance of the NOMAD-STAR detector
abstract: The NOMAD-STAR detector is a silicon vertex installed in the NOMAD spectrometer at the CERN SPS neutrino beam. It consists of four layers of a passive boron carbide target with a total mass of 45 kg and five layers of 600 single sided silicon microstrip detectors covering a total area of 1.14m^2. About 11,500 nu_mu charged current interactions were reconstructed in the fiducial volume of NOMAD-STAR from the neutrino run in 1998. The potential use of silicon detectors for nu_mu (nu_e) nu_tau oscillations depends on the observation of the tau candidates by the experimental signature of a large impact parameter, in the case of the one prong decay of the tau, or a double vertex, in the case of the three prong decay. The main aim of NOMAD-STAR is to measure the impact parameter and vertex distributions of charged current interactions, which constitute the main backgrounds for the oscillation signals, to understand the significance of a potential signal in a future experiment. The present paper describes the experience gained in the operation of this silicon vertex detector, and the peformance achieved with it.

title: Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier
abstract: Particle physics aims to understand the universe around us. The Standard Model of particle physics describes the basic structure of matter and forces, to the extent we have been able to probe thus far. However, it leaves some big questions unanswered. Some are within the Standard Model itself, such as why there are so many fundamental particles and why they have different masses. In other cases, the Standard Model simply fails to explain some phenomena, such as the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe, the existence of dark matter and dark energy, and the mechanism that reconciles gravity with quantum mechanics. These gaps lead us to conclude that the universe must contain new and unexplored elements of Nature. Most of particle and nuclear physics is directed towards discovering and understanding these new laws of physics. These questions are best pursued with a variety of approaches, rather than with a single experiment or technique. Particle physics uses three basic approaches, often characterized as exploration along the cosmic, energy, and intensity frontiers. Each employs different tools and techniques, but they ultimately address the same fundamental questions. This allows a multi-pronged approach where attacking basic questions from different angles furthers knowledge and providesmore » deeper answers, so that the whole is more than a sum of the parts. A coherent picture or underlying theoretical model can more easily emerge, to be proven correct or not. The intensity frontier explores fundamental physics with intense sources and ultra-sensitive, sometimes massive detectors. It encompasses searches for extremely rare processes and for tiny deviations from Standard Model expectations. Intensity frontier experiments use precision measurements to probe quantum effects. They typically investigate very large energy scales, even higher than the kinematic reach of high energy particle accelerators. The science addresses basic questions, such as: Are there new sources of CP violation? Is there CP violation in the leptonic sector? Are neutrinos their own antiparticles? Do the forces unify? Is there a weakly coupled hidden sector that is related to dark matter? Do new symmetries exist at very high energy scales? To identify the most compelling science opportunities in this area, the workshop Fundamental Physics at the Intensity Frontier was held in December 2011, sponsored by the Office of High Energy Physics in the US Department of Energy Office of Science. Participants investigated the most promising experiments to exploit these opportunities and described the knowledge that can be gained from such a program. The workshop generated much interest in the community, as witnessed by the large and energetic participation by a broad spectrum of scientists. This document chronicles the activities of the workshop, with contributions by more than 450 authors. The workshop organized the intensity frontier science program along six topics that formed the basis for working groups: experiments that probe (i) heavy quarks, (ii) charged leptons, (iii) neutrinos, (iv) proton decay, (v) light, weakly interacting particles, and (vi) nucleons, nuclei, and atoms. The conveners for each working group included an experimenter and a theorist working in the field and an observer from the community at large. The working groups began their efforts well in advance of the workshop, holding regular meetings and soliciting written contributions. Specific avenues of exploration were identified by each working group. Experiments that study rare strange, charm, and bottom meson decays provide a broad program of measurements that are sensitive to new interactions. Charged leptons, particularly muons and taus, provide a precise probe for new physics because the Standard Model predictions for their properties are very accurate. Research at the intensity frontier can reveal CP violation in the lepton sector, and elucidate whether neutrinos are their own antiparticles. A very weakly coupled hidden-sector that may comprise the dark matter in the universe could be discovered. The search for proton decay can probe the unification of the forces with unprecedented reach and test sacrosanct symmetries to very high scales. Detecting an electric dipole moment for the neutron, or neutral atoms, could establish a clear signal for new physics, while limits on such a measurement would place severe constraints on many new theories. This workshop marked the first instance where discussion of these diverse programs was held under one roof. As a result, it was realized that this broad effort has many connections; a large degree of synergy exists between the different areas and they address similar questions. Results from one area were found to be pertinent to experiments in another domain.« less

title: BROADBAND SINGLE SHOT SPECTROMETER
abstract: This paper summarizes the ongoing activities at DESY for the longitudinal phase space studies on ultra short bunches of VUV-FEL using infrared spectroscopy.