Astronomical instrumentation

Abstract:

This paper reports a measurement of the W +b-jets (W +b+ X and W+b̄b+X) production cross-section in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV at the LHC. These results are based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb-1, collected with the ATLAS detector. Cross-sections are presented as a function of jet multiplicity and of the transverse momentum of the leading b-jet for both the muon and electron decay modes of the W boson. The W +b-jets cross-section, corrected for all known detector effects, is quoted in a limited kinematic range. Combining the muon and electron channels, the fiducial cross-section for W +b-jets is measured to be 7.1 ± 0.5 (stat) ± 1.4 (syst) pb, consistent with the next-to-leading order QCD prediction, corrected for non-perturbative and double-parton interactions (DPI) contributions, of 4.70 ± 0.09 (stat)-0.49+0.60 (scale) ±0.06 (PDF) ±0.16 (non-pert)-0.38+0.52 (DPI) pb. © 2013 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.

Abstract:

We present an analysis of the luminosities and equivalent widths of the 284 z < 0.56 [O II]-emitting galaxies found in the 169 arcmin2 pilot survey for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). By combining emission-line fluxes obtained from the Mitchell spectrograph on the McDonald 2.7 m telescope with deep broadband photometry from archival data, we derive each galaxy's dereddened [O II] λ3727 luminosity and calculate its total star formation rate. We show that over the last ∼5 Gyr of cosmic time, there has been substantial evolution in the [O II] emission-line luminosity function, with L* decreasing by ∼0.6 ± 0.2 dex in the observed function, and by ∼0.9 ± 0.2 dex in the dereddened relation. Accompanying this decline is a significant shift in the distribution of [O II] equivalent widths, with the fraction of high equivalent-width emitters declining dramatically with time. Overall, the data imply that the relative intensity of star formation within galaxies has decreased over the past ∼5 Gyr, and that the star formation rate density of the universe has declined by a factor of ∼2.5 between z ∼ 0.5 and z ∼ 0. These observations represent the first [O II]-based star formation rate density measurements in this redshift range, and foreshadow the advancements which will be generated by the main HETDEX survey. © 2013. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

A measurement of splitting scales, as defined by the kT clustering algorithm, is presented for final states containing a W boson produced in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The measurement is based on the full 2010 data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 pb−1 which was collected using the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Cluster splitting scales are measured in events containing W bosons decaying to electrons or muons. The measurement comprises the four hardest splitting scales in a kT cluster sequence of the hadronic activity accompanying the W boson, and ratios of these splitting scales. Backgrounds such as multi-jet and top-quark-pair production are subtracted and the results are corrected for detector effects. Predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators at particle level are compared to the data. Overall, reasonable agreement is found with all generators, but larger deviations between the predictions and the data are evident in the soft regions of the splitting scales.