SNO+

Abstract:

Results are reported from a joint analysis of Phase I and Phase II data from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. The effective electron kinetic energy threshold used is Teff=3.5 MeV, the lowest analysis threshold yet achieved with water Cherenkov detector data. In units of 106 cm-2 s-1, the total flux of active-flavor neutrinos from B8 decay in the Sun measured using the neutral current (NC) reaction of neutrinos on deuterons, with no constraint on the B8 neutrino energy spectrum, is found to be ΦNC=5.140-0.158+0.160(stat)-0.117+0.132(syst). These uncertainties are more than a factor of 2 smaller than previously published results. Also presented are the spectra of recoil electrons from the charged current reaction of neutrinos on deuterons and the elastic scattering of electrons. A fit to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory data in which the free parameters directly describe the total B8 neutrino flux and the energy-dependent νe survival probability provides a measure of the total B8 neutrino flux Φ8B=5.046-0.152+0.159(stat) -0.123+0.107(syst). Combining these new results with results of all other solar experiments and the KamLAND reactor experiment yields best-fit values of the mixing parameters of θ12=34.06-0.84+1.16 degrees and Δm212=7.59-0. 21+0.20×10-5 eV2. The global value of Φ8B is extracted to a precision of -2.95+2.38%. In a three-flavor analysis the best fit value of sin2θ13 is 2.00-1.63+2.09×10-2. This implies an upper bound of sin2θ13<0.057 (95% C.L.). © 2010 The American Physical Society.

Abstract:

Management of the large volume of data collected by any large scale scientific experiment requires the collection of coherent metadata quantities, which can be used by reconstruction or analysis programs and/or user interfaces, to pinpoint collections of data needed for specific purposes. In the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, we have collected metadata from systems storing non-event-wise data (Conditions) into a relational database. The Conditions metadata (COMA) database tables not only contain conditions known at the time of event recording, but also allow for the addition of conditions data collected as a result of later analysis of the data (such as improved measurements of beam conditions or assessments of data quality). A new web based interface called "runBrowser" makes these Conditions Metadata available as a Run based selection service. runBrowser, based on PHP and JavaScript, uses jQuery to present selection criteria and report results. It not only facilitates data selection by conditions attributes, but also gives the user information at each stage about the relationship between the conditions chosen and the remaining conditions criteria available. When a set of COMA selections are complete, runBrowser produces a human readable report as well as an XML file in a standardized ATLAS format. This XML can be saved for later use or refinement in a future runBrowser session, shared with physics/detector groups, or used as input to ELSSI (event level Metadata browser) or other ATLAS run or event processing services.

Abstract:

More than half a million minimum-bias events of LHC collision data were collected by the ATLAS experiment in December 2009 at centre-of-mass energies of 0.9 TeV and 2.36 TeV. This paper reports on studies of the initial performance of the ATLAS detector from these data. Comparisons between data and Monte Carlo predictions are shown for distributions of several track-and calorimeter-based quantities. The good performance of the ATLAS detector in these first data gives confidence for successful running at higher energies.

Abstract:

We have performed three searches for high-frequency signals in the solar neutrino flux measured by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, motivated by the possibility that solar g-mode oscillations could affect the production or propagation of solar 8B neutrinos. The first search looked for any significant peak in the frequency range 1-144day-1, with a sensitivity to sinusoidal signals with amplitudes of 12% or greater. The second search focused on regions in which g-mode signals have been claimed by experiments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite, and was sensitive to signals with amplitudes of 10% or greater. The third search looked for extra power across the entire frequency band. No statistically significant signal was detected in any of the three searches. © 2010. The American Astronomical Society.

Abstract:

The simulation software for the ATLAS Experiment at the Large Hadron Collider is being used for large-scale production of events on the LHC Computing Grid. This simulation requires many components, from the generators that simulate particle collisions, through packages simulating the response of the various detectors and triggers. All of these components come together under the ATLAS simulation infrastructure. In this paper, that infrastructure is discussed, including that supporting the detector description, interfacing the event generation, and combining the GEANT4 simulation of the response of the individual detectors. Also described are the tools allowing the software validation, performance testing, and the validation of the simulated output against known physics processes. © 2010 CERN for the benefit of the ATLAS collaboration.