The OPERA experiment

The aim of the OPERA experiment is to provide unambiguous evidence for the ν _μ ↔ ν _τ oscillation by looking at the appearance of ν _τ in a pure ν _μ beam. This oscillation will be sought in the region of the oscillation parameters indicated by the atmospheric neutrino results. The experiment is part of the CNGS (CERN Neutrino beam to Gran Sasso) project. The ν μ beam produced at CERN will be sent towards the Gran Sasso underground laboratory, where the OPERA detector is under construction. The detector, the physics potential, and performance for neutrino oscillation studies including the subleading ν _μ ↔ ν _ε search are presented. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Non-standard interactions using the OPERA experiment

We investigate the implications of non-standard interactions on neutrino oscillations in the OPERA experiment. In particular, we study the non-standard interaction parameter ε _{μ τ} . We show that the OPERA experiment has a unique opportunity to reduce the allowed region for this parameter compared with other experiments such as the MINOS experiment, mostly due to the higher neutrino energies in the CNGS beam compared to the NuMI beam. We find that OPERA is mainly sensitive to a combination of standard and non-standard parameters and that a resulting anti-resonance effect could suppress the expected number of events. Furthermore, we show that running OPERA for five years each with neutrinos and anti-neutrinos would help in resolving the degeneracy between the standard parameters and ε _{μ τ} . This scenario is significantly better than the scenario with a simple doubling of the statistics by running with neutrinos for ten years.     

The revival role of nuclear emulsion detectors in the OPERA experiment

We discuss nuclear emulsion detectors, their history, types, scanning techniques as well as their revival key role in the OPERA experiment. Nuclear emulsion can be considered as an analog data storage device from which the automatic scanning system retrieves the data stored in it. The recent improvement of emulsion scanning techniques brings back the nuclear emulsion as one of the most important detectors among all other elementary particle detectors. OPERA uses the ECC technique used previously by the DONUT experiment. As in the OPERA experiment good modularity for a large apparatus is present, the existence of an automatic scanning system and the availability of fast data scan (Net Scan) are the required parameters, which can only be obtained by utilizing the ECC Nuclear emulsion technique. Therefore, the role of nuclear emulsion is very important in the OPERA experiment.     

Interpreting OPERA results on superluminal neutrino

OPERA has claimed the discovery of superluminal propagation of neutrinos. We analyze the consistency of this claim with previous tests of special relativity. We find that reconciling the OPERA measurement with information from SN1987a and from neutrino oscillations requires stringent conditions. The superluminal limit velocity of neutrinos must be nearly flavor independent, must decrease steeply in the low-energy domain, and its energy dependence must depart from a simple power law. We construct illustrative models that satisfy these conditions, by introducing Lorentz violation in a sector with light sterile neutrinos. We point out that, quite generically, electroweak quantum corrections transfer the information of superluminal neutrino properties into Lorentz violations in the electron and muon sector, in apparent conflict with experimental data.     

Search for neutrino oscillations vμ → vτ in CERN → Gran Sasso high-energy neutrino beam (the OPERA experiment)

The main purpose of the OPERA experiment is the direct observation of neutrino oscillations (v_μ → v_τ) in the v_μ beam from the CERN accelerator through the direct detection of τ leptons in nuclear emulsions at the Gran Sasso National Underground Laboratory. Some aspects of the use of the Russian PAVICOM facility for processing and analyzing the data obtained from the OPERA experiment are discussed.     

Superluminal neutrinos at OPERA confront pion decay kinematics

Violation of Lorentz invariance (VLI) has been suggested as an explanation of the superluminal velocities of muon neutrinos reported by OPERA. In this Letter, we show that the amount of VLI required to explain this result poses severe difficulties with the kinematics of the pion decay, extending its lifetime and reducing the momentum carried away by the neutrinos. We show that the OPERA experiment limits α=(ν(ν)-c)/c<4×10(-6). We then take recourse to cosmic-ray data on the spectrum of muons and neutrinos generated in Earth's atmosphere to provide a stronger bound on VLI: (ν-c)/c<10(-12).     

Constraints and tests of the OPERA superluminal neutrinos

The superluminal neutrinos detected by OPERA indicate Lorentz invariance violation (LIV) of the neutrino sector at the order of 10(-5). We study the implications of the result in this work. We find that such a large LIV implied by OPERA data will make the neutrino production process π → μ + ν(μ) kinematically forbidden for a neutrino energy greater than about 5 GeV. The OPERA detection of neutrinos at 40 GeV can constrain the LIV parameter to be smaller than 3×10(-7). Furthermore, the neutrino decay in the LIV framework will modify the neutrino spectrum greatly. The atmospheric neutrino spectrum measured by the IceCube Collaboration can constrain the LIV parameter to the level of 10(-12). The future detection of astrophysical neutrinos of galactic sources is expected to be able to give an even stronger constraint on the LIV parameter of neutrinos.     

ON THE TESTING OF RENOVATIONS INSIDE HISTORICAL OPERA HOUSES

Due to the large number of historical opera houses in Italy, many theatres have been renovated in the past, but still more will undergo major restoration in the near future. Unfortunately in this context, the quality and protection of acoustics is rarely considered as an issue of its own. As a consequence, the renovations are hardly ever accompanied by proper scientific and technical support. In this paper, the acoustical impact of works inside the Teatro Municipale “R.Valli” in Reggio Emilia, including the restoration of the main hall and the construction of a new acoustic shell, will be dealt with. Surveys were held in the theatre before renovation and were repeated with identical procedure and instruments after its completion. By means of a comparative analysis of the architectural project and of acoustical data, the impact of major changes in the theatre can be predicted. It is shown that this approach can help in drafting an operational scheme for safeguarding the acoustics of historical opera houses.     

System for processing emulsion data of the OPERA experiment using the PAVICOM facility and prospects of its application to scan objects by muon radiography methods

The last data on the search results for neutrino oscillations in the OPERA experiment and the completed modernization of the PAVICOM facility (Lebedev Physical Institute) for automatic processing of nuclear emulsions of this experiment are presented. A new test application is developed for the PAVICOM to perform all stages of image processing. The application is tested using a GTX570 video card. The processing time for one frame is significantly reduced, which made it possible tomore than tenfold speed up processing. This is of crucial importance not only for prompt acquisition of statistically significant data of the OPERA experiment, but also for planned works on muon radiography.     

The 'DANTE' experiment

The selective excitation scheme known as ‘DANTE’ emerged from a confluence of several ideas for new NMR experiments, some more fanciful than others. DANTE offers a simple and effective way to restrict excitation to a very narrow frequency band, usually that of a single resonance line. Initially applied to the study of individual proton-coupled carbon-13 spin multiplets, the method has been extended to water presaturation, relaxation measurements, and chemical exchange studies. Through the imposition of a magnetic field gradient it offers a simple method to enhance resolution by restricting the effective volume of the sample. Multiple DANTE excitation (with Hadamard encoding) can speed up multidimensional spectroscopy by orders of magnitude. Applied to magnetic resonance imaging, the DANTE sequence has been used to superimpose a rectangular grid onto a cardiac image, permitting motional distortions to be monitored in real time.     

The TOTEM experiment

The European Physical Journal C - TOTEM will measure the total pp cross-section at LHC by using a luminosity independent method based on simultaneous evaluation of the total elastic and inelastic...     

真空的获得与测量

“真空的获得与测量”是近代物理实验中的一个有关真空技术的基础性实验，本文论述了该实验的意义及更新的必要性，简单描述了实验装置，记述了主要技术指标以及实验内容。     

The Franson experiment revisited

Previously, the Franson experiment was challenged as a true test of local realism. In this Letter we review this situation and show that this experiment reveals a peculiar behavior when we try to, simultaneously, explain second and fourth order interferences. In order to enhance this idea, a proposed local model is discussed.     

The ANAIS billiard experiment

The problem on the motion of a homogeneous ball on a horizontal plane is considered. The existence of the vector first integral independent of the friction character and the motion of the support plane in the horizontal directions is shown. In particular, the velocities of the ball center are identical at the moments of rolling on a motionless plane, which corresponds to experiments with the ANAIS billiard table.     

The E158 experiment

We have carried out a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry A _PV in the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons off electrons in a liquid-hydrogen target. The measurement was performed with the 50GeV beam line at SLAC. The final result with the full data set collected in three production runs is A _PV = - 131±14 (stat) ±10 (syst) parts per billion. The result leads to new limits on possible contact interactions at the TeV scale. We discuss future prospects for more precise measurements.     

The Armstrong experiment revisited

When a high-voltage direct-current is applied to two beakers filled with water or polar liquid dielectrica, a horizontal bridge forms between the two beakers. This experiment was first carried out by Lord Armstrong in 1893 and then forgotten until recently. Such bridges are stable by the action of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) forces caused by electric field gradients counteracting gravity. Due to these gradients a permanent pumping of liquid from one beaker into the other is observed. At macroscopic scale several of the properties of a horizontal water bridge can be explained by modern electrohydrodynamics, analyzing the motion of fluids in electric fields. Whereas on the molecular scale water can be described by quantum mechanics, there is a conceptual gap at mesoscopic scale which is bridged by a number of theories including quantum mechanical entanglement and coherent structures in water – theories that we discuss here. Much of the phenomenon is already understood, but even more can still be learned from it, since such “floating” liquid bridges resemble a small high voltage laboratory of their own: The physics of liquids in electric fields of some kV/cm can be studied, even long time experiments like neutron or light scattering are feasible since the bridge is in a steady-state equilibrium and can be kept stable for hours. It is also an electro-chemical reactor where compounds are transported through by the EHD flow, enabling the study of electrochemical reactions under potentials which are otherwise not easily accessible. Last but not least the bridge provides the experimental biologist with the opportunity to expose living organisms such as bacteria to electric fields without killing them, but with a significant influence on their behavior, and possibly, even on their genome.