Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at √s =7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
European Physical Journal C 72:5 (2012) 1-30
Abstract:
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W→eν and W→μν decays, using data from pp collisions at √s =7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse momentum, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (pWT): 35 < pWT < 50 GeV and pWT > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For pWT >50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be: f0=0. 127±0. 030±0. 108 and fL-fR=0. 252±0. 017±0. 030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects. © 2012 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.Search for large extra dimensions in dimuon and dielectron events in pp collisions at s=7 TeV
Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics 711:1 (2012) 15-34
Abstract:
Results are presented from a search for large, extra spatial dimensions in events with either two isolated muons or two isolated electrons. The data are from proton-proton interactions at s=7 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC. The size of the data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of approximately 2 fb -1. The observed dimuon and dielectron mass spectra are found to be consistent with standard-model expectations. Depending on the number of extra dimensions, the 95% confidence level limits from the combined μμ and ee channels range from M s>2.4 TeV to M s>3.8 TeV, where M s characterizes the scale for the onset of quantum gravity. © 2012 CERN.Ubiquitous equatorial accretion disc winds in black hole soft states
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 422:1 (2012)
Abstract:
High-resolution spectra of Galactic black holes (GBHs) reveal the presence of highly ionized absorbers. In one GBH, accreting close to the Eddington limit for more than a decade, a powerful accretion disc wind is observed to be present in softer X-ray states and it has been suggested that it can carry away enough mass and energy to quench the radio jet. Here we report that these winds, which may have mass outflow rates of the order of the inner accretion rate or higher, are a ubiquitous component of the jet-free soft states of all GBHs. We furthermore demonstrate that these winds have an equatorial geometry with opening angles of few tens of degrees, and so are only observed in sources in which the disc is inclined at a large angle to the line of sight. The decrease in Fe XXV/Fe XXVI line ratio with Compton temperature, observed in the soft state, suggests a link between higher wind ionization and harder spectral shapes. Although the physical interaction between the wind, accretion flow and jet is still not fully understood, the mass flux and power of these winds and their presence ubiquitously during the soft X-ray states suggest they are fundamental components of the accretion phenomenon. © 2012 The Authors. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society © 2012 RAS.An ultraviolet-optical flare from the tidal disruption of a helium-rich stellar core.
Nature 485:7397 (2012) 217-220
Abstract:
The flare of radiation from the tidal disruption and accretion of a star can be used as a marker for supermassive black holes that otherwise lie dormant and undetected in the centres of distant galaxies. Previous candidate flares have had declining light curves in good agreement with expectations, but with poor constraints on the time of disruption and the type of star disrupted, because the rising emission was not observed. Recently, two 'relativistic' candidate tidal disruption events were discovered, each of whose extreme X-ray luminosity and synchrotron radio emission were interpreted as the onset of emission from a relativistic jet. Here we report a luminous ultraviolet-optical flare from the nuclear region of an inactive galaxy at a redshift of 0.1696. The observed continuum is cooler than expected for a simple accreting debris disk, but the well-sampled rise and decay of the light curve follow the predicted mass accretion rate and can be modelled to determine the time of disruption to an accuracy of two days. The black hole has a mass of about two million solar masses, modulo a factor dependent on the mass and radius of the star disrupted. On the basis of the spectroscopic signature of ionized helium from the unbound debris, we determine that the disrupted star was a helium-rich stellar core.Impact of Redshift Information on Cosmological Applications with Next-Generation Radio Surveys
ArXiv e-prints (2012)