Helium molecular gas mixtures for high resolution drift chambers
A comprehensive experimental study of helium based counting gases is presented. The properties of electron transport and gas amplification in mixtures of helium with a variety of molecular additives have been studied and compared with a standard argon based gas. Mixtures of helium with isobutane of CF 4 combine a low multiple scattering with excellent gas amplification properties and transport parameters.

title: Luminosity determination at HERA-B
abstract: A detailed description of an original method used to measure the luminosity accumulated by the HERA-B experiment for a data sample taken during the 2002–2003 HERA running period is reported. We show that, with this method, a total luminosity measurement can be achieved with a typical precision, including overall systematic uncertainties, at a level of 5% or better. We also report evidence for the detection of δ -rays generated in the target and comment on the possible use of such delta rays to measure luminosity.

title: BUNCH COMPRESSION MONITOR
abstract: The longitudinal charge distribution in the electron bunches has a strong impact on the lasing process in a Free-Electron Laser based on the principle of Self Amplified Spontaneous Emission of radiation. For the ultraviolet and soft X ray FEL FLASH at DESY, structures in the range of ten to hundred micrometers play a crucial role. The investigation of the longitudinal charge distribution in the electron bunches on a bunch-by-bunch basis is an important issue for optimizing the bunch compression and improving the performance of the machine. This paper introduces a new tool for longitudinal diagnostics based on THz spectroscopy of coherent radiation. A novel spectrometer has been designed which permits to analyze the radiation of single electron bunches in a broad spectral range and with high resolution. Preliminary measurements with this spectrometer are presented. A strong variation of the CTR intensity in the 40 μm regime is observed when the off-crest phase in the accelerating cavities preceding the first magnetic bunch compressor is changed in small steps. This variation in the CTR intensity is found to be correlated with a similar variation in the pulse energy of the FEL light. Hence the THz spectrometer appears to be a very sensitive device for controlling the parameters of the bunch compression scheme.

title: Ultrabroadband terahertz source and beamline based on coherent transition radiation
abstract: Coherent transition radiation (CTR) in the THz regime is an important diagnostic tool for analyzing the temporal structure of the ultrashort electron bunches needed in ultraviolet and x-ray free-electron lasers. It is also a powerful source of such radiation, covering an exceptionally broad frequency range from about 200 GHz to 100 THz. At the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH we have installed a beam transport channel for transition radiation (TR) with the intention to guide a large fraction of the radiation to a laboratory outside the accelerator tunnel. The radiation is produced on a screen inside the ultrahigh vacuum beam pipe of the linac, coupled out through a diamond window and transported to the laboratory through an evacuated tube equipped with five focusing and four plane mirrors. The design of the beamline has been based on a thorough analysis of the generation of TR on metallic screens of limited size. The optical propagation of the radiation has been computed taking into account the effects of near-field (Fresnel) diffraction. The theoretical description of the TR source is presented in the first part of the paper, while the design principles and the technical layout of the beamline are described in the second part. First experimental results demonstrate that the CTR beamline covers the specified frequency range and preserves the narrow time structure of CTR pulses emitted by short electron bunches.

title: HATSouth: A Global Network of Fully Automated Identical Wide-Field Telescopes*
abstract: HATSouth is the world's first network of automated and homogeneous telescopes that is capable of year-round 24 hr monitoring of positions over an entire hemisphere of the sky. The primary scientific goal of the network is to discover and characterize a large number of transiting extrasolar planets, reaching out to long periods and down to small planetary radii. HATSouth achieves this by monitoring extended areas on the sky, deriving high precision light curves for a large number of stars, searching for the signature of planetary transits, and confirming planetary candidates with larger telescopes. HATSouth employs six telescope units spread over three prime locations with large longitude separation in the southern hemisphere (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; HESS site, Namibia; Siding Spring Observatory, Australia). Each of the HATSouth units holds four 0.18 m diameter f/2.8 focal ratio telescope tubes on a common mount producing an 8.2° × 8.2° field of view on the sky, imaged using four 4 K × 4 K CCD cameras and Sloan r filters, to give a pixel scale of 3.7'' pixel-1. The HATSouth network is capable of continuously monitoring 128 square arc degrees at celestial positions moderately close to the anti-solar direction. We present the technical details of the network, summarize operations, and present detailed weather statistics for the three sites. Robust operations have meant that on average each of the six HATSouth units has conducted observations on ~500 nights over a 2 years time period, yielding a total of more than 1 million science frames at a 4 minute integration time and observing ~10.65 hr day-1 on average. We describe the scheme of our data transfer and reduction from raw pixel images to trend-filtered light curves and transiting planet candidates. Photometric precision reaches ~6 mmag at 4 minute cadence for the brightest non-saturated stars at r ≈ 10.5. We present detailed transit recovery simulations to determine the expected yield of transiting planets from HATSouth. We highlight the advantages of networked operations, namely, a threefold increase in the expected number of detected planets, as compared to all telescopes operating from the same site.

title: Anisotropic low energy electron collision cross sections for methane derived from transport coefficients
abstract: Based on a comprehensive set of transport parameters of electrons in methane derived from single electron spectra in the range of field 0.01-15 Td the authors determined a set of elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections up to 3 eV. The necessity to include anisotropic elastic scattering in a Boltzmann analysis of methane is demonstrated. In addition the drift velocity in a mixture of methane with helium was used to enhance the reliability of the derived cross sections. The low energy part of the cross sections for elastic scattering is subject to a MERT analysis and is compared with total cross section data from single scattering experiments.

title: Imaging and Demography of the Host Galaxies of High-Redshift Type Ia Supernovae* **
abstract: We present the results of a study of the host galaxies of high-redshift Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). We provide a catalog of 18 hosts of SNe Ia observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) by the High-z Supernova Search Team, including images, scale lengths, measurements of integrated (Hubble-equivalent) BVRIZ photometry in bands where the galaxies are brighter than m ≈ 25 mag, and galactocentric distances of the supernovae. We compare the residuals of SN Ia distance measurements from cosmological fits with measurable properties of the supernova host galaxies that might be expected to correlate with variable properties of the progenitor population, such as host-galaxy color and position of the supernova. We find mostly null results; the current data are generally consistent with no correlations of the distance residuals with host-galaxy properties in the redshift range 0.42 < z < 1.06. Although a subsample of SN hosts shows a formally significant (3 σ) correlation between apparent V-R host color and distance residuals, the correlation is not consistent with the null results from other host colors probed by our largest samples. There is also evidence for the same correlations between SN Ia properties and host type at low redshift and high redshift. These similarities support the current practice of extrapolating properties of the nearby population to high redshifts, pending more robust detections of any correlations between distance residuals from cosmological fits and host properties.

title: Absolute luminosity measurements with the LHCb detector at the LHC
abstract: Absolute luminosity measurements are of general interest for colliding-beam experiments at storage rings. These measurements are necessary to determine the absolute cross-sections of reaction processes and are valuable to quantify the performance of the accelerator. LHCb has applied two methods to determine the absolute scale of its luminosity measurements for proton-proton collisions at the LHC with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In addition to the classic "van der Meer scan" method a novel technique has been developed which makes use of direct imaging of the individual beams using beam-gas and beam-beam interactions. This beam imaging method is made possible by the high resolution of the LHCb vertex detector and the close proximity of the detector to the beams, and allows beam parameters such as positions, angles and widths to be determined. The results of the two methods have comparable precision and are in good agreement. Combining the two methods, an overal precision of 3.5% in the absolute luminosity determination is reached. The techniques used to transport the absolute luminosity calibration to the full data-taking period are presented.

title: Modeling the Hubble Space Telescope ultraviolet and optical spectrum of spot 1 on the circumstellar ring of SN 1987A
abstract: We report and interpret Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) long-slit observations of the optical and ultraviolet (1150-10270 A) emission line spectra of the rapidly brightening spot 1 on the equatorial ring of SN 1987A between 1997 September and 1999 October (days 3869-4606 after outburst). The emission is caused by radiative shocks created where the supernova blast wave strikes dense gas protruding inward from the equatorial ring. We measure and tabulate line identifications, fluxes, and, in some cases, line widths and shifts. We compute flux correction factors to account for substantial interstellar line absorption of several emission lines. Nebular analysis shows that optical emission lines come from a region of cool (Te ≈ 104 K) and dense (ne ≈ 106 cm-3) gas in the compressed photoionized layer behind the radiative shock. The observed line widths indicate that only shocks with shock velocities Vs < 250 km s-1 have become radiative, while line ratios indicate that much of the emission must have come from yet slower (Vs 135 km s-1) shocks. Such slow shocks can be present only if the protrusion has atomic density n 3 × 104 cm-3, somewhat higher than that of the circumstellar ring. We are able to fit the UV fluxes with an idealized radiative shock model consisting of two shocks (Vs = 135 and 250 km s-1). The observed UV flux increase with time can be explained by the increase in shock surface areas as the blast wave overtakes more of the protrusion. The observed flux ratios of optical to highly ionized UV lines are greater by a factor of ~2-3 than predictions from the radiative shock models, and we discuss the possible causes. We also present models for the observed Hα line widths and profiles, which suggest that a chaotic flow exists in the photoionized regions of these shocks. We discuss what can be learned with future observations of all the spots present on the equatorial ring.

title: Time resolution limits of the MWPCs for the LHCb muon system
abstract: Detailed simulations of the timing properties of the Multi-Wire-Proportional-Chambers of the LHCb muon system are compared with actual measurements. The simulated time resolution is in good agreement with the measurement which allows to study the resolution limiting parameters like diffusion, charge deposit fluctuations, cluster position fluctuations, electronics noise, track position and wire spacing to show how they affect the performance of the system. Methods to improve the time resolution of the muon chambers are discussed.

title: Gas gain uniformity tests performed on multiwire proportional chambers for the LHCb muon system
abstract: We present the experimental setup and the results of the gas gain uniformity tests performed as part of the quality control of the multiwire proportional chambers produced at CERN for the LHCb muon system. The test provides a relative gas gain measurement over the whole chamber sensitive area. It is based on the analysis of the pulse height spectrum obtained when the chamber is exposed to a 241 Am radioactive source. Since the measurement is normalized to the peak of a precise pulse generator, the gain uniformity can also be evaluated among different gas gaps and different chambers. In order to cope with the specific requirements related to the relatively high number of chambers and to their varying geometry, a standalone and compact data acquisition system has been developed which is programmable at the hardware level and may be applied to many other applications requiring precise time-to-digital and analog-to-digital conversion, in correlated or non-correlated mode.  29.30.Kv; 29.40.Cs