Diffractive production of ρ-mesons and of ρπ-systems by neutrinos and antineutrinos on protons

Evidence is presented for diffractive production of -mesons and of -systems invp and chargedcurrent interactions. In the (anti-)neutrino energy range 10 GeVE _v <60 gev=" the=" cross=" sections=" for=" diffractive="> and diffractive production are found to be (0.64±0.14 (stat.)±0.08 (syst.))% and (0.28±0.08 (stat.)±0.04 (syst.))% of the charged-current cross section. The diffractive signal is consistent with being entirely due to diffractivea ₁ production. However, the data cannot distinguish between diffractivea ₁ and diffractive nonresonant production. The experimental distributions ofW, Q ²,x _Bj andy _Bj for diffractive and events are consistent with model predictions.     

Inclusivef 2 (1270) meson production in νp and\bar vp charged current interactions

Using data obtained with the bubble chamber BEBC at CERN, the inclusivef ₂ (1270) meson production invp and \(\bar vp\) charged current reactions is studied. It is found thatf ₂ production occurs mainly in events with a hadronic invariant massW?7 GeV. In these events, the averagef ₂ multiplicity is about half the average ρ^O multiplicity, and thex _F andp _T ² distributions of thef ₂ agree in shape with those of the ρ^O. The predictions of a semi-empirical model (Wells model) are in accord with the measured multiplicities atW>7 GeV, whereas at lowerW the model predicts too largef ₂ multiplicities.     

Progress in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion research at the laboratory for laser energetics

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is expected to demonstrate high gain on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the next decade and is a leading candidate for inertial fusion energy production. The demonstration of high areal densities in hydrodynamically scaled cryogenic DT or D₂ implosions with neutron yields that are a significant fraction of the “clean” 1-D predictions will validate the ignition-equivalent direct-drive target performance on the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). This paper highlights the recent experimental and theoretical progress leading toward achieving this validation in the next few years. The NIF will initially be configured for X-ray drive and with no beams placed at the target equator to provide a symmetric irradiation of a direct-drive capsule. LLE is developing the “polar-direct-drive” (PDD) approach that repoints beams toward the target equator. Initial 2-D simulations have shown ignition. A unique “Saturn-like” plastic ring around the equator refracts the laser light incident near the equator toward the target, improving the drive uniformity. LLE is currently constructing the multibeam, 2.6-kJ/beam, petawatt laser system OMEGA EP. Integrated fast-ignition experiments, combining the OMEGA EP and OMEGA Laser Systems, will begin in FY08.     

A measurement of the proton structure functions from neutrino-hydrogen and antineutrino-hydrogen charged-current interactions

Within the framework of the quark-parton model, the quark and anti-quark structure functions of the proton have been measured by fitting them to the distributions of the events in the Bjorkeny variable. The data used form the largest sample of neutrino and antineutrino interactions on a pure hydrogen target available, and come from exposures of BEBC to the CERN wide band neutrino and antineutrino beams. It is found that the ratiod _v /u _v of valence quark distributions falls with increasing Bjorkenx. In the context of the quark-parton model the results constrain the isospin composition of the accompanying diquark system. Models involving scattering from diquarks are in disagreement with the data.     

Search space pruning and global optimisation of multiple gravity assist spacecraft trajectories

We introduce and describe the Multiple Gravity Assist problem, a global optimisation problem that is of great interest in the design of spacecraft and their trajectories. We discuss its formalization and we show, in one particular problem instance, the performance of selected state of the art heuristic global optimisation algorithms. A deterministic search space pruning algorithm is then developed and its polynomial time and space complexity derived. The algorithm is shown to achieve search space reductions of greater than six orders of magnitude, thus reducing significantly the complexity of the subsequent optimisation. This work was partially funded under the Ariadna scheme of the European Space Agency, contract number 18138/04/NL/MV.     

Determination of the ratior v =d v u v of the valence quark distributions in the proton from neutrino and antineutrino reactions on hydrogen and deuterium

Zeitschrift für Physik C Particles and Fields - A set of proton longitudinal polarized distributions, worked out under the assumption of small gluon polarization, is used to evaluate several...     

Study of transverse momenta of charged hadrons produced in νp and\bar vp charged current interactions

Data from a neutrino and antineutrino hydrogen experiment with BEBC are used to investigate transverse properties of the produced charged hadrons. Measurements are presented on average transverse momenta of charged pions as functions of Feynman-x and the hadronic mass, on the transverse momentum flow within an event and on jet-related quantities. The main features of the data are well described by the LUND model. The data favour a version of the model in which soft gluon effects are included and the primordial transverse momentum of the quarks in the proton is small. Effects from 1^st order QCD (hard gluon emission) are negligible.