Professor Claire Gwenlan

Abstract:

Multiplicity moments of charged particles in deep inelastic e+p scattering have been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.4 pb-1. The moments for Q2 > 1000 GeV2 were studied in the current region of the Breit frame. The evolution of the moments was investigated as a function of restricted regions in polar angle and, for the first time, both in the transverse momentum and in absolute momentum of final-state particles. Analytic perturbative QCD predictions in conjunction with the hypothesis of Local Parton-Hadron Duality (LPHD) reproduce the trends of the moments in polar-angle regions, although some discrepancies are observed. For the moments restricted either in transverse or absolute momentum, the analytic results combined with the LPHD hypothesis show considerable deviations from the measurements. The study indicates a large influence of the hadronisation stage on the multiplicity distributions in the restricted phase-space regions studied here, which is inconsistent with the expectations of the LPHD hypothesis. © 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Abstract:

Dijet production has been studied in neutral current deep inelastic e⁺p scattering for 470 < Q² < 20000 GeV² with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.4 pb^-1. Dijet differential cross sections are presented in a kinematic region where both theoretical and experimental uncertainties are small. Next-to-leading-order (NLO) QCD calculations describe the measured differential cross sections well. A QCD analysis of the measured dijet fraction as a function of Q² allows both a precise determination of αs(Mz) and a test of the energy-scale dependence of the strong coupling constant. A detailed analysis provides an improved estimate of the uncertainties of the NLO QCD cross sections arising from the paxton distribution functions of the proton. The value of αs(Mz), as determined from the QCD fit, is αs (MZ) = 0.1166 ± 0.0019(stat.)^+0.0024 -0.0044 (exp.) ^+0.0057 0.0044(th.). © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V.

Abstract:

Exclusive production of ρ⁰ and J/ψ mesons in e⁺p collisions has been studied with the ZEUS detector in the kinematic range 0.25 < Q² < 50 GeV², 20 < W < 167 GeV for the ρ⁰ data and 2 < Q² < 40 GeV², 50 < W < 150 GeV for the J/ψ data. Cross sections for exclusive ρ⁰ and J/ψ production have been measured as a function of Q², W and t. The spin-density matrix elements r⁰⁴ 00, r¹ 1-1i and Re r⁵ 10 have been determined for exclusive ρ⁰ production as well as r⁰⁴ 00 and r⁰⁴ 1-1 for exclusive J/ψ production. The results are discussed in the context of theoretical models invoking soft and hard phenomena.

Abstract:

The reaction γ p → J/ψ p has been studied in ep interactions using the ZEUS detector at HERA. The cross section for elastic J/ψ photoproduction has been measured as a function of the photon-proton centre of mass energy W in the range 40 < W < 140 GeV at a median photon virtuality Q2 of 5 × 10-5 GeV2. The photoproduction cross section, σγp→J/ψp, is observed to rise steeply with W. A fit to the data presented in this paper to determine the parameter δ in the form σγp→J/ψp α Wδ yields the value δ = 0.92±0.14±0.10. The differential cross section dσ/d|t| is presented over the range |t| < 1.0 GeV2 where t is the square of the four-momentum exchanged at the proton vertex. dσ/d|t| falls exponentially with a slope parameter of 4.6 ± 0.4-0.6+0.4 GeV-2. The measured decay angular distributions are consistent with s-channel helicity conservation. © Springer-Verlag 1997.

Abstract:

A search for new particles that decay into top quark pairs (ttbar) is performed with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC using an integrated luminosity of 4.7 fb^-1 of proton-proton (pp) collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy sqrt(s)=7 TeV. In the ttbar --> WbWb decay, the lepton plus jets final state is used, where one W boson decays leptonically and the other hadronically. The ttbar system is reconstructed using both small-radius and large-radius jets, the latter being supplemented by a jet substructure analysis. A search for local excesses in the number of data events compared to the Standard Model expectation in the ttbar invariant mass spectrum is performed. No evidence for a ttbar resonance is found and 95% credibility-level limits on the production rate are determined for massive states predicted in two benchmark models. The upper limits on the cross section times branching ratio of a narrow Z' resonance range from 5.1 pb for a boson mass of 0.5 TeV to 0.03 pb for a mass of 3 TeV. A narrow leptophobic topcolor Z' resonance with a mass below 1.74 TeV is excluded. Limits are also derived for a broad color-octet resonance with Gamma/m = 15.3%. A Kaluza-Klein excitation of the gluon in a Randall-Sundrum model is excluded for masses below 2.07 TeV.