Studying very light gravitino at the ILC

A collider signal with a stable gravitino of O(10) eV mass at the International Linear Collider (ILC) experiment is investigated. Such a light gravitino is generally predicted in the low-scale gauge mediation scenario of the supersymmetry breaking. We particularly focus on the case that the next lightest supersymmetric particle is stau, which eventually decays into a gravitino and a τ-lepton. With such a small gravitino mass, the lifetime of the stau is ¹⁰−15-¹⁰−11 s, and the produced stau decays before reaching the first layer of the inner detector of the ILC. It is shown, however, that the lifetime can be determined from the distribution of the impact parameter, which is obtained by observing charged tracks caused by decay products of the τ-lepton. This measurement also enables us to estimate the mass of the gravitino and determine the scale of the supersymmetry breaking. Based on a simulation study, we found that the lifetime can be measured when it is longer than ∼¹⁰−14 s and the stau mass is about 100 GeV.     

Lβ2 satellites in the X‐ray emission spectra of elements 72Hf, 73Ta, 74W, 81Tl, 83Bi and 92U

The satellite spectra arising due to the L₃M_x–M_xN_4,5 (x = 1–5) transition array in the X‐ray emission spectra of ₇₂Hf, ₇₃Ta, ₇₄W, ₈₁Tl, ₈₃Bi and ₉₂U have been calculated using available HFS data on K–LM and L–MN Auger transition energies. The agreement between the calculated and measured energies, that between calculated and measured separations in energies and the consideration of the relative probabilities of all the L₃M_x–M_xN_4,5 transitions have been used as the basis for deciding the origin of the satellites. It has been established that two satellites observed in the Lβ₂ region of the X‐ray spectra of various elements, named β₂^I and β₂^II in the order of increasing energy, are mainly emitted by the L₃M_4,5–M_4,5N_4,5 transitions. It is observed that satellite β₂^I in the spectra of elements with ₇₂Hf to ₇₄W has been assigned to the superposition of the ³F₄–³G₅ and ³F₄–³D₃ transitions and must be the most intense one among all these satellites. The same transition has been proved to be the main origin of satellite β₂^II, reported in the element with ₈₁Tl, ₈₃Bi and ₉₂U. Further, satellite β₂^I, reported in the spectra of elements with ₈₁Tl and ₉₂U, has been associated with the transitions ³D₃–³F₄ and ¹D₂–¹F₃. Finally, line β₂^II, reported in the spectra of elements with Z = 72–74, has been assigned to the ¹F₃–¹G₄ and ³P₀–³D₁ transitions. The possible contributions of other transitions of the L₃M_x–M_xN_4,5 (x = 1–5) array having intensities comparable with those of the above transitions, as well as the corresponding lines that have not yet been observed, have also been discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.