A 0535+26: an X‐ray/Optical Tour
We compiled X‐ray and Optical observations of the accreting X‐ray binary sytem A 0535+26 since its discovery in 1975, that will allow us to shed light on the unpredictible behavior of this binary system. We present the data in terms of the Be‐disc interaction with the neutron star companion. In addition, we show recent results from the continous monitoring of this source by the Gamma‐ray Burst Monitor (GBM), on board the Fermi observatory, since its launch in 2008 June 11.

title: On the Dramatic Spin-up/Spin-down Torque Reversals in Accreting Pulsars
abstract: Dramatic torque reversals between spin-up and spin-down have been observed in half of the persistent X-ray 
pulsars monitored by the BATSE all-sky monitor on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. Theoretical models 
developed to explain early pulsar timing data can explain spin-down torques via a disk-magnetosphere interaction 
if the star nearly corotates with the inner accretion disk. To produce the observed BATSE torque reversals, however, these equilibrium models require the disk to alternate between two mass accretion rates, with ˙M5 producing accretion torques of similar magnitude but always of opposite sign. Moreover, in at least one pulsar (GX 114) undergoing secular spin-down, the neutron star spins down faster during brief (~20 day) hard X-ray flares—this is opposite the correlation expected from standard theory, assuming that BATSE pulsed flux increases with mass accretion rate. The 10 day to 10 yr intervals between torque reversals in these systems are much longer than any characteristic magnetic or viscous timescale near the inner disk boundary and are more suggestive of a global disk phenomenon. 
 
We discuss possible explanations of the observed torque behavior. Despite the preferred sense of rotation defined by the binary orbit, the BATSE observations are urprisingly consistent with an earlier suggestion for GX 1+4: the disks in these systems somehow alternate between episodes of prograde and retrograde rotation. We are unaware of any mechanism that could produce a stable retrograde disk in a binary undergoing Roche lobe overflow, but such flip-flop behavior does occur in numerical simulations of wind-fed systems. One possibility is that the disks in some of these binaries are fed by an X-ray–excited wind.

title: Large Torque Variations in Two Soft Gamma Repeaters
abstract: We have monitored the pulse frequencies of the two soft gamma repeaters SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14 through the beginning of year 2001 using primarily Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array observations. In both sources, we observe large changes in the spin-down torque up to a factor of ~4, which persist for several months. Using long-baseline phase-connected timing solutions as well as the overall frequency histories, we construct torque noise power spectra for each SGR. The power spectrum of each source is very red (power-law slope ~-3.5). The torque noise power levels are consistent with some accreting systems on timescales of ~1 yr, yet the full power spectrum is much steeper in frequency than any known accreting source. To the best of our knowledge, torque noise power spectra with a comparably steep frequency dependence have been seen only in young, glitching radio pulsars (e.g., Vela). The observed changes in spin-down rate do not correlate with burst activity; therefore, the physical mechanisms behind each phenomenon are also likely unrelated. Within the context of the magnetar model, seismic activity cannot account for both the bursts and the long-term torque changes unless the seismically active regions are decoupled from one another.

title: Long-Term Spectral and Timing Behavior of the Black Hole Candidate XTE J1908+094
abstract: We present the long-term X-ray light curves and detailed spectral and timing analyses of XTE J1908+094 using the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array observations covering two outbursts in 2002 and early 2003. At the onset of the first outburst, the source was found in a spectrally low/hard state lasting for ~40 days, followed by a 3 day long transition to the high/soft state. The source flux (in 2-10 keV) reached ~100 mcrab on 2002 April 6, then decayed rapidly. In power spectra, we detect strong band-limited noise and varying low-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations that evolved from ~0.5 to ~5 Hz during the initial low/hard state of the source. We find that the second outburst closely resembled the spectral evolution of the first. The X-ray transient's overall outburst characteristics led us to classify XTE J1908+094 as a black hole candidate. Here we also derive precise X-ray position of the source using Chandra observations that were performed during the decay phase of the first outburst and following the second outburst.

title: Chandra Observations of the Anomalous X-ray Pulsar 4U 0142+61
abstract: We present X-ray imaging, timing, and phase-resolved spectroscopy of the anomalous X-ray pulsar 4U 0142+61 using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The spectrum is well described by a power-law plus blackbody model with Γ = 3.35(2), kTBB = 0.458(3) keV, and NH = 0.91(2) × 1022 cm-2; we find no significant evidence for spectral features (0.5-7.0 keV). Time-resolved X-ray spectroscopy shows evidence for evolution in phase in either Γ, kTBB, or some combination thereof as a function of pulse phase. We derive a precise X-ray position for the source and determine its spin period, P = 8.68866(30) s. We have detected emission beyond 4'' from the central source and extending beyond 100'', likely due to dust scattering in the interstellar medium.

title: Characterization of the Crab Pulsar's Timing Noise
abstract: We present a power spectral analysis of the Crab pulsar’s timing noise, mainly using radio measurements from Jodrell Bank taken over the period 1982-1989, an interval bounded by sparse data sampling and a large glitch. The power spectral analysis is complicated by nonuniform data sampling and the presence of a steep red power spectrum that can distort power spectra measurement by causing severe power “leakage”. We develop a simple windowing method for computing red noise power spectra of uniformly sampled data sets and test it on Monte Carlo generated sample realizations of red power-law noise. We generalize time-domain methods of generating power-law red noise with even integer spectral indices to the case of noninteger spectral indices. The Jodrell Bank pulse phase residuals are dense and smooth enough that an interpolation onto a uniform time series is possible. A windowed power spectrum is computed revealing a periodic or nearly periodic component with a period of 568± 10 days and a 1/f 3 power-law noise component in pulse phase with a noise strength Sφ = (1.24±0.067)×10−16 cycles/sec over the analysis frequency range f = 0.003 − 0.1 cycles/day. This result deviates from past analyses which characterized the pulse phase timing residuals as either 1/f 4 power-law noise or a quasiperiodic process. The analysis was checked using the Deeter polynomial method of power spectrum estimation that was developed for the case of nonuniform sampling, but has lower spectral resolution. The timing noise is consistent with a torque noise spectrum rising with analysis frequency as f implying blue torque noise, a result not predicted by current models of pulsar timing noise. If the periodic or nearly periodic component is due to a binary companion, we find a mass function f(M) = (6.8 ± 2.4) × 10−16 M⊙ and a companion mass, Mc ≥ 3.2M⊕ assuming a Crab pulsar mass of 1.4M⊙.

title: Search for $B^0_s \to \mu^+ \mu^-$ and $B^0 \to \mu^+ \mu^-$ decays
abstract: A search for the rare decays B_s to mu+ mu- and B^0 to mu^+ mu^- is performed in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, with a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. In both decays, the number of events observed after all selection requirements is consistent with the expectation from background plus standard model signal predictions. The resulting upper limits on the branching fractions are Br(B_s to mu^+ mu^-) < 7.7E-9 and Br(B^0 to mu^+ mu^-) < 1.8E-9 at 95% confidence level.

title: Measurement of the polarization of W bosons with large transverse momenta in W + jets events at the LHC.
abstract: A first measurement of the polarization of W bosons with large transverse momenta in pp collisions is presented. The measurement is based on 36 pb⁻¹ of data recorded at √s = 7 TeV by the CMS detector at the LHC. The left-handed, right-handed, and longitudinal polarization fractions (f(L), f(R), and f₀, respectively) of W bosons with transverse momenta larger than 50 GeV are determined by using decays to both electrons and muons. The muon final state yields the most precise measurement: (f(L) - f(R))⁻ = 0.240 ± 0.036(stat) ± 0.031(syst) and f₀⁻ = 0.183 ± 0.087(stat) ± 0.123(syst) for negatively charged W bosons and (f(L) - f(R))⁺ = 0.310 ± 0.036(stat) ± 0.017(syst) and f₀⁺ = 0.171 ± 0.085(stat) ± 0.099(syst) for positively charged W bosons. This establishes, for the first time, that W bosons produced in pp collisions with large transverse momenta are predominantly left-handed, as expected in the standard model.

title: Measurement of the Cross Section for High-$p_T$ Hadron Production in Scattering of 160 GeV/c Muons off Nucleons
abstract: The cross section for production of charged hadrons with high transversemomenta in scattering of 160 GeV/c muons off nucleons at low photonvirtualities has been measured at the COMPASS experiment at CERN. The results,which cover transverse momenta from 1.1 to 3.6 GeV/c, are compared to anext-to-leading order perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (NLO pQCD)calculation in order to evaluate the applicability of pQCD to this process inthe kinematic domain of the experiment. The shape of the calculateddifferential cross section as a function of transverse momentum is found to bein good agreement with the experimental data, but the normalization isunderestimated by NLO pQCD. This discrepancy may point towards the relevance ofterms beyond NLO in the pQCD framework. The dependence of the cross section onthe pseudo-rapidity and on the charge of the hadrons is also discussed.

title: Search for light resonances decaying into pairs of muons as a signal of new physics
abstract: A search for groups of collimated muons is performed using a data sample collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy of 7TeV, and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 pb−1. The analysis searches for production of new low-mass states decaying into pairs of muons and is designed to achieve high sensitivity to a broad range of models predicting leptonic jet signatures. With no excess observed over the background expectation, upper limits on the production cross section times branching fraction times acceptance areset, ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 pb at the 95% CL depending on event topology. In addition, the results are interpreted in several benchmark models in the context of supersymmetry with a new light dark sector exploring previously inaccessible parameter space.

title: First Results of the Full-Scale OSQAR Photon Regeneration Experiment
abstract: Recent intensive theoretical and experimental studies shed light on possible new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics, which can be probed with sub-eV energy experiments. In the second run of the OSQAR photon regeneration experiment, which looks for the conversion of photon to axion (or Axion-Like Particle), two spare superconducting dipole magnets of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have been used. In this paper we report on first results obtained from a light beam propagating in vacuum within the 9 T field of two LHC dipole magnets. No excess of events above the background was detected and the two-photon couplings of possible new scalar and pseudo-scalar particles could be constrained.