Rate of germanium-isotope production by background processes in the SAGE experiment

Data on a direct determination of systematic uncertainties caused by the background production of germanium isotopes in the radiochemical SAGE experiment measuring the solar-neutrino flux are analyzed. The result obtained for the rate of ⁶⁸Ge production is 6.5(1±1.0) times greater than the expected one; the rate of ⁶⁹Ge production does not exceed preliminary estimates. The above result for ⁶⁸Ge corresponds to the systematic uncertainty that is caused by the interaction of cosmic-ray muons and which is equal to 5.8% (4.5 SNU) at a solar-neutrino-capture rate of 77.0 SNU. An experiment is proposed that would test the effect of cosmic-ray muon influence on the SAGE systematic uncertainty and which would be performed at the location of the underground scintillation telescope facilities of the Baksan Neutrino Observatory (Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences).     

Carbon-cluster mass calibration at SHIPTRAP

A carbon-cluster ion source has been installed and tested at SHIPTRAP, the Penning-trap mass spectrometer for precision mass measurements of heavy elements at GSI. Carbon-cluster ions ¹²C_n ⁺, 5 ≤n ≤23, were produced by laser-induced desorption and ionization from a carbon sample. They were tested for the first time as reference ions in an on-line mass measurement of the radionuclides ¹⁴⁴Dy, ¹⁴⁶Dy and ¹⁴⁷Ho. In addition, carbon clusters of various sizes were used for an investigation of the systematic uncertainty of SHIPTRAP covering a mass range from 84 u to 240 u. The mass-dependent uncertainty was found to be negligible for the case of (m-m _ref)< 100 u. However, a systematic uncertainty of 4.5 ×10^-8 was revealed.     

Colour Reconnection in <Emphasis Type="Italic">WW</Emphasis> Events and the Models with It

The colour reconnection effects were intensively studied with LEP2 data and are a dominant sources of systematic uncertainty in the W boson mass in e⁺e^? annihilation at LEP2 and one of a dominant sources of systematic uncertainty in the top quark mass determination at hadronic colliders. With the discovery of Higgs boson, a new arena for the effects studies opened up. The effects are discussed within the existent different models and what future tests may come with a future FCC-ee.     

A review of intercombination lines in beryllium-like ions

Theoretical and experimental results for the 2s^{2 1}S₀-2s2p³P₁ intercombination line in beryllium-like ions are reviewed and revised, and some new data are presented. The uncertainty in the resulting transition rate is estimated, by using convergence of systematic calculations, accuracy of energy properties and theoretical tests, and is used to evaluate the accuracy of present and other calculations, and arrive at a recommended theoretical value, with uncertainty estimates.     

Study of tracking efficiency and its systematic uncertainty from J/ψ→ppπ~+π~- at BESIII

Based on J/ψ events collected with the BESIII detector,with corresponding Monte Carlo samples,the tracking efficiency and its systematic uncertainty are studied using a control sample of J/ψ→ppπ~+π~-.Validation methods and different factors influencing the tracking efficiency are presented in detail.The tracking efficiency and its systematic uncertainty for protons and pions with the transverse momentum and polar angle dependence are also discussed.     

Measurement of particle and antiparticle elastic scattering on protons between 6 and 14 GeV

Differential cross sections in the t-range between 0.02 and 1.5 GeV² have been measured for the elastic scattering of particles and antiparticles on protons at 6.4, 10.4 and 14 GeV for K^±p and 10.4 GeV for π^±p and p^±p. Large statistics have been achieved and systematic uncertainties have been minimized. The relative systematic uncertainty between particle and antiparticle data is less than 0.5%. Accurate measurements of the position of the first crossover between particle and antiparticle differential cross sections have been performed. As the energy increases from 6.4 to 14 GeV the K^±p crossover moves to smaller values by 0.010 GeV² with a statistical error of 0.006 GeV² and a systematic uncertainty of 0.005 GeV². The crossover positions at 10.4 GeV for π^±, K^± and p^± scale approximately with the interaction radii.     

Mass measurements of few-electron systems in Penning traps

The accuracy of the SMILETRAP mass spectrometer has been verified by a number of mass comparisons involving well-known masses. Our results for H₂ ⁺,Ne⁶⁺,Ne^{9+ ,10+},Si^{12+ ,13+ ,14+},and Ar^{14+ ,16+} all agree within the statistical errors (0.3–1 ppb) with previous determinations. However, all measurements involving He give a deviation. The combined He^1+,2+ data results in a mass deviation of +1.9 ±0.23 ppb. The uncertainty of the accepted He mass is 0.25 ppb, thus this represents a significant deviation. High statistics comparisons (statistical uncertainty <0.5 × 10^-9utilizing different species (excluding He) and charge states agree within ±0.5 ppb. An analysis estimating the contribution from individual systematic error sources and other auxiliary tests does not allow a systematic error larger than ± 0.85 ppb. We conclude that for now we cannot rule out the presence of an unknown systematic error which in the He comparison results in a near 2 ppb deviation. Thus, as a safety measure we should exclude the He data when calculating the proton mass. The He discrepancy also forces us to give a larger limit of the systematic error of the proton mass than motivated by high statistics comparisons. However, due to the consistency of all other measurements and tests, it appears unlikely that this deviation should be present to the same extent in other comparisons. Thus, for now, after a preliminary analysis we report a proton mass = 1.007 276 466 72 ± 16 ± 85 u, where the errors are the weighted statistical errors and the estimated maximal systematical error, respectively. After a complete analysis we expect the systematic error to be reduced below ±0.5 ppb. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Accuracy studies with carbon clusters at the Penning trap mass spectrometer TRIGA-TRAP

Extensive cross-reference measurements of well-known frequency ratios using various sizes of carbon cluster ions ¹²C_n ⁺ (10≤n≤23) were performed to determine the effects limiting the accuracy of mass measurements at the Penning-trap facility TRIGA-TRAP. Two major contributions to the uncertainty of a mass measurement have been identified. Fluctuations of the magnetic field cause an uncertainty in the frequency ratio due to the required calibration by a reference ion of u_f(ν_ref)/ν_ref = 6(2) × 10^-11/min × Δt. A mass-dependent systematic shift of the frequency ratio of epsilon_m(r)/r = -2.2(2) × 10^-9 × (m-m_ref)/u has been found as well. Finally, the nuclide ¹⁹⁷Au was used as a cross-check since its mass is already known with an uncertainty of 0.6 keV.     

Deformed even-even nuclei in a quark-meson coupling model with tensor coupling

Neutron total cross sections of ¹⁹⁷Au and ^natTa have been measured at the nELBE photoneutron source in the energy range 0.1–10MeV with a statistical uncertainty of up to 2% and a total systematic uncertainty of 1%. This facility is optimized for the fast neutron energy range and combines an excellent time structure of the neutron pulses (electron bunch width 5ps) with a short flight path of 7m. Because of the low instantaneous neutron flux transmission measurements of neutron total cross sections are possible, that exhibit very different beam and background conditions than found at other neutron sources.     

Progress in the development of cryogenic detectors for GNO

An improvement of the statistical and systematic uncertainty beyond the level achieved in GALLEX is an essential prerequisite for GNO. As major contributions to these errors are associated with the detection of the EC-decay of ⁷¹Ge in miniaturized gas counters, low temperature calorimetric detectors might provide a promising alternative for a later phase of GNO. We report first results achieved in measurements of the EC-decaying isotopes ⁷¹Ge and ³⁷Ar with cryogenic calorimeters.     

The electron capture decay of85Sr-measurements of theK X-Ray emission probability,half-life,and decay scheme

TheK X-ray emission probabilityP _K ω _K for the decay of⁸⁵Sr has been measured to be 0.5866 with a standard error of 0.05% and a systematic uncertainty of 0.65%. The X-ray emission and total disintegration rates were measured by 4π proportional counting in a pressurized detector and by 4π(A, X)-γ coincidence counting respectively. In addition, a high-pressure ionization chamber has been used to measure the⁸⁵Sr half-life giving a value of 64.84 d with a standard error of 0.01% and a systematic uncertainty of 0.02%. An investigation of the decay scheme was performed which confirmed the presence of a weak decay branch to a state at 869 keV in the⁸⁵Rb daughter nucleus. A value of (1.25 ±0.05)×l0?4 was measured for the intensity of the 869 keVγ-ray relative to the predominant 514 keVγ-ray.     

Precise polarization measurements via detection of compton scattered electrons

The Qweak experiment at Jefferson Lab aims to make a 4% measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in elastic scattering at very low Q ² of a longitudinally polarized electron beam off a proton target. One of the dominant experimental systematic uncertainties in Qweak will result from determining the beam polarization. A new Compton polarimeter was installed in the fall of 2010 to provide a non-invasive and continuous monitoring of the electron beam polarization in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. The Compton-scattered electrons are detected in four planes of diamond micro-strip detectors. We have achieved the design goals of <1% statistical uncertainty per hour and expect to achieve <1% systematic uncertainty.     

Prospects for the measurement of the Higgs boson masswith a linear <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript> + </Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>-</Superscript> collider

The potential of a linear e ⁺ e^- collider operated at a centre-of-mass energy of 350 GeV is studied for the measurement of the Higgs boson mass. An integrated luminosity of 500 fb^-1 is assumed. For Higgs boson masses of 120, 150 and 180 GeV the uncertainty on the Higgs boson mass measurement is estimated to be 40, 65 and 70 MeV, respectively. The effects of beam related systematics, namely a bias in the beam energy measurement, the beam energy spread and the luminosity spectrum due to beamstrahlung, on the precision of the Higgs boson mass measurement are investigated. In order to keep the systematic uncertainty on the Higgs boson mass well below the level of the statistical error, the beam energy measurement must be controlled with a relative precision better than 10^-4. Received: 30 May 2005, Revised: 6 July 2005, Published online: 6 October 2005     

Linear Paul trap design for an optical clock with Coulomb crystals

We report on the design of a segmented linear Paul trap for optical clock applications using trapped ion Coulomb crystals. For an optical clock with an improved short-term stability and a fractional frequency uncertainty of 10^?18, we propose ¹¹⁵In⁺ ions sympathetically cooled by ¹⁷²Yb⁺. We discuss the systematic frequency shifts of such a frequency standard. In particular, we elaborate on high-precision calculations of the electric radiofrequency field of the ion trap using the finite element method. These calculations are used to find a scalable design with minimized excess micromotion of the ions at a level at which the corresponding second-order Doppler shift contributes less than 10^?18 to the relative uncertainty of the frequency standard.     

Annihilation semileptonic decays of <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis> mesons and the model dependence on the choice of the distribution amplitude

The rare semileptonic B-meson decay B → ??⁺?^? is considered. The partial decay rate integrated over the 1–8 GeV² interval of the dilepton invariant mass squared is computed with a 10% systematic uncertainty arising from the model dependence of the distribution amplitude. The purely perturbative contribution to the decay probability amounts to ? ～ 10^?12, which suggests that the LHC experiments could observe the B → ??⁺?^? decay in a few years of data taking.     

Background of external <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis> radiation in the proportional counters of the SAGE experiment

The effect of external γ radiation on the process of counting ⁷¹Ge decays in the proportional counters of the SAGE experiment measuring the solar-neutrino flux is considered. The systematic uncertainty in the SAGE result due to radon decays inside the air volume surrounding the counters is estimated. The background counting rate in the proportional counters that is caused by γ radiation from the enclosing shield is also determined.     

A new Coulomb correction method for Bose-Einstein correlations,based on the π+π− correlation measurements

We present the measured correlation functions for π⁺π^?, π^?π^? and π⁺π⁺ pairs in central S+Ag collisions at 200 GeV per nucleon. The Gamov function, which has been traditionally used to correct the correlation functions of charged pions for the Coulomb interaction, is found to be inconsistent with all measured correlation functions. Certain problems which have been dominating the systematic uncertainty of the correlation analysis are related to this inconsistency. It is demonstrated that a new Coulomb correction method, based exclusively on the measured correlation function for π⁺π^? pairs, may solve the problem.     

Structural investigation of mM Ni(II) complex isomers using transmission XAFS: the significance of model development

High‐accuracy transmission XAFS determined using the hybrid technique has been used to refine the geometries of bis(N‐n‐propyl‐salicylaldiminato) nickel(II) (n‐pr Ni) and bis(N‐i‐propyl‐salicylaldiminato) nickel(II) (i‐pr Ni) complexes which have approximately square planar and tetrahedral metal coordination. Multiple‐scattering formalisms embedded in FEFF were used for XAFS modelling of the complexes. Here it is shown that an IFEFFIT‐like package using weighting from experimental uncertainty converges to a well defined XAFS model. Structural refinement of (i‐pr Ni) was found to yield a distorted tetrahedral geometry providing an excellent fit, χ_r² = 2.94. The structure of (n‐pr Ni) is best modelled with a distorted square planar geometry, χ_r² = 3.27. This study demonstrates the insight that can be obtained from the propagation of uncertainty in XAFS analysis and the consequent confidence which can be obtained in hypothesis testing and in analysis of alternate structures ab initio. It also demonstrates the limitations of this (or any other) data set by defining the point at which signal becomes embedded in noise or amplified uncertainty, and hence can justify the use of a particular k‐range for one data set or a different range for another. It is demonstrated that, with careful attention to data collection, including the correction of systematic errors with statistical analysis of uncertainty (the hybrid method), it is possible to obtain reliable structural information from dilute solutions using transmission XAFS data.     

From direct to absolute mass measurements: A study of the accuracy of ISOLTRAP

For a detailed study of the accuracy of the Penning trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP all expected sources of uncertainty were investigated with respect to their contributions to the uncertainty of the final result. In the course of these investigations, cross-reference measurements with singly charged carbon clusters ¹²C⁺ _n were carried out. The carbon cluster ions were produced by use of laser-induced desorption, fragmentation, and ionization of C₆₀ fullerenes and injected into and stored in the Penning trap system. The comparison of the cyclotron frequencies of different carbon clusters has provided detailed insight into the residual systematic uncertainty of ISOLTRAP and yielded a value of 8×10^-9. This also represents the current limit of mass accuracy of the apparatus. Since the unified atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12 of the mass of the ¹²C atom, it will be possible to carry out absolute mass measurements with ISOLTRAP in the future. Received 7 June 2002 Published online 6 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: a.kellerbauer@cern.ch RID="b" ID="b"Current address: Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.