Laser-plasma accelerator group

Abstract:

Inclusive event-shape variables have been measured in the current region of the Breit frame for neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering using an integrated luminosity of 45.0 pb-1 collected with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The variables studied included thrust, jet broadening and invariant jet mass. The kinematic range covered was 10 < Q2 < 20480 GeV2 and 6 × 10-4 < x < 0.6, where Q2 is the virtuality of the exchanged boson and x is the Bjorken variable. The Q dependence of the shape variables has been used in conjunction with NLO perturbative calculations and the Dokshitzer-Webber non-perturbative corrections ('power corrections') to investigate the validity of this approach.

Abstract:

The cross sections for inelastic photoproduction of J/ψ and ψ′ mesons have been measured in ep collisions with the ZEUS detector at HERA, using an integrated luminosity of 38.0 pb-1. The events were required to have 0.1 < z < 0.9 and 50 < W < 180 GeV, where z is the fraction of the incident photon energy carried by the J/ψ in the proton rest frame and W is the photon-proton centre-of-mass energy. The ψ′ to J/ψ cross-section ratio was measured in the range 0.55 < z < 0.9. The J/ψ data, for various ranges of transverse momentum, are compared to theoretical models incorporating colour-singlet and colour-octet matrix elements. Predictions of a next-to-leading-order colour-singlet model give a good description of the data, although there is a large normalisation uncertainty. The J/ψ helicity distribution for z > 0.4 is compared to leading-order QCD predictions.

Abstract:

Inclusive φ(1020)-meson production in neutral current deep inelastic e+p scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 45 pb-1. The φ mesons were studied in the range 10 < Q2 < 100 GeV2, where Q2 is the virtuality of the exchanged photon, and in restricted kinematic regions in the transverse momentum, pT, pseudorapidity, η, and the scaled momentum in the Breit frame, xp. Monte Carlo models with the strangeness-suppression factor as determined by analyses of e+e- annihilation events overestimate the cross sections. A smaller value of the strangeness-suppression factor reduces the predicted cross sections, but fails to reproduce the shapes of the measured differential cross sections. High-momentum φ mesons in the current region of the Breit frame give the first direct evidence for the strange sea in the proton at low x. © 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Abstract:

The azimuthal distribution of jets produced in the Breit frame in high-Q2 deep inelastic e+p scattering has been studied with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 38.6 pb-1. The measured azimuthal distribution shows a structure that is well described by next-to-leading-order QCD predictions over the Q2 range considered, Q2 > 125 GeV2. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Abstract:

We describe in detail the operation of the gas-filled capillary discharge waveguide for high-intensity laser pulses and discuss measurements and magnetohydrodynamic simulations that show that the plasma channel produced is parabolic and essentially fully ionized. We present the results of experiments in which laser pulses with a peak input intensity of 1.2 × 1017 W cm-2 were guided through hydrogen-filled capillary discharges with lengths of 30 and 50 mm. The pulse energy coupling and transmission losses were determined to be <4% and (7 ± 1) m-1, respectively. We discuss the application of waveguides of this type to driving short-wavelength lasers and laser wakefield accelerators. © 2003 Optical Society of America.