ATLAS

Abstract:

The ATLAS SemiConductor Tracker (SCT) is a silicon-strip tracking detector which forms part of the ATLAS inner detector. The SCT is designed to track charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN at an energy of 14 TeV. The tracker is made up of a central barrel and two identical end-caps. The barrel contains 2112 silicon modules, while each end-cap contains 988 modules. The overall tracking performance depends not only on the intrinsic measurement precision of the modules but also on the characteristics of the whole assembly, in particular, the stability and the total material budget. This paper describes the engineering design and construction of the SCT end-caps, which are required to support mechanically the silicon modules, supply services to them and provide a suitable environment within the inner detector. Critical engineering choices are highlighted and innovative solutions are presented - these will be of interest to other builders of large-sca e tracking detectors. The SCT end-caps will be fully connected at the start of 2008. Further commissioning will continue, to be ready for proton-proton collision data in 2008. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.

Abstract:

We present the first measurement of σ(gg→tt̄)/ σ(pp̄→tt̄). We use 0.96fb-1 of s=1.96TeV pp̄ collision data recorded with the CDF II detector at Fermilab. Using charged particles with low transverse momentum in tt̄ events, we find σ(gg→ tt̄)/σ(pp̄→tt̄)=0.07±0.14(stat)±0. 07(syst), corresponding to a 95% confidence level upper limit of 0.33, in agreement with the standard model next-to-leading-order prediction of 0.15±0.05. © 2008 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

At HERA heavy quarks may contribute up to 30% of the structure function F2. The potential of including heavy-quark data in the ZEUS PDF fits is explored, using D* double dierential cross-sections as well as the inclusive quantities Fcc2 , Fcc2 . The introduction of heavy quarks requires an extension of the DGLAP formalism. The effect of using different heavy avour number schemes, and different approaches to the running of αs, are compared.

Abstract:

High precision magnetometry is an essential requirement of the cryoEDM experiment at the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble. We have developed a SQUID system for this purpose, however tests done in Oxford have been limited by the noisy electromagnetic environment inside our laboratory, therefore we have tested a smaller version of our prototype system in the very low noise environment at LSBB, Rustrel, France. We have studied the crosstalk between an array of parallel pick-up loops - where the field generated by a current in one loop is detected by the others. We monitored the magnetic field in the LSBB for over twelve hours; and after correcting these data for SQUID resets, and crosstalk, we compare it to the published values from nearby geomagnetic observatories. We have also measured the noise spectrum of our system and studied the effect that heating one of the pick-up loops into its conducting state has on the other, parallel loops. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd and SISSA.

Abstract:

The Standard Model of particle physics has a number of asymmetries suggestive of a more fundamental theory, where the symmetries are restored. If the symmetry breaking scale is the electroweak scale, new Higgs bosons beyond that of the Standard Model could be observed at the Tevatron. Recent Tevatron searches have set the most stringent limits on new Higgs bosons in a variety of models.