Search for heavy long-lived particles that decay to photons at CDF II
Physical Review Letters 99:12 (2007)
Abstract:
We present the first search for heavy, long-lived particles that decay to photons at a hadron collider. We use a sample of Î+jet+missing transverse energy events in pp collisions at s=1.96 TeV taken with the CDF II detector. Candidate events are selected based on the arrival time of the photon at the detector. Using an integrated luminosity of 570pb-1 of collision data, we observe 2 events, consistent with the background estimate of 1.3 0.7 events. While our search strategy does not rely on model-specific dynamics, we set cross section limits in a supersymmetric model with I E 10 GE and place the world-best 95% C.L. lower limit on the χ˜10 mass of 101 GeV/c2 at Ï.,χ˜10=5ns. © 2007 The American Physical Society.The first polarimetric signatures of infrared jets in X-ray binaries
(2007)
Low accretion rates at the AGN cosmic downsizing epoch
ArXiv 0709.0786 (2007)
Abstract:
Context: X-ray surveys of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) indicate `cosmic downsizing', with the comoving number density of high-luminosity objects peaking at higher redshifts (z about 2) than low-luminosity AGN (z<1). Aims: We test whether downsizing is caused by activity shifting towards low-mass black holes accreting at near-Eddington rates, or by a change in the average rate of accretion onto supermassive black holes. We estimate the black hole masses and Eddington ratios of an X-ray selected sample of AGN in the Chandra Deep Field South at z<1, probing the epoch where AGN cosmic downsizing has been reported. Methods: Black hole masses are estimated both from host galaxy stellar masses, which are estimated from fitting to published optical and near-infrared photometry, and from near-infrared luminosities, applying established correlations between black hole mass and host galaxy properties. Both methods give consistent results. Comparison and calibration of possible redshift-dependent effects is also made using published faint host galaxy velocity dispersion measurements. Results: The Eddington ratios in our sample span the range 10^{-5} to 1, with median log(L_bol/L_Edd)=-2.87, and with typical black hole masses about 10^{8} solar masses. The broad distribution of Eddington ratios is consistent with that expected for AGN samples at low and moderate luminosity. We find no evidence that the CDF-S AGN population is dominated by low-mass black holes accreting at near-Eddington ratios and the results suggest that diminishing accretion rates onto average-sized black holes are responsible for the reported AGN downsizing at redshifts below unity.Detection of compact radio emission from Circinus X-1 with the first Southern hemisphere e-VLBI experiment
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters Oxford University Press (OUP) 380:1 (2007) l11-l14