Measurements of hyperon semileptonic decays at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron

The charged hyperon beam at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) has been used to collect data on semileptonic decays of Σ^?, Ξ^?, andΛ. A magnetic channel selected 100 GeV/c negatively charged particles produced in the forward direction by interaction of a 210 GeV/c proton beam on a BeO target. The Σ^? and Ξ^? hyperons were concurrently identified in a DISC ?erenkov counter, and their decay products were analysed by a magnetic spectrometer. Electron-hadron discrimination was achieved by the combined use of lead glass and lead/scintillator counters, transition radiation detectors, and a ?erenkov counter. In this article we report results on the \(\Xi \to \Lambda \pi (\Lambda \to pe\bar v), \Xi \to \Lambda e\bar v(\Lambda \to p\pi ),\) and \(\Xi \to \sum ^0 e\bar v(\sum ^0 \to \Lambda \gamma ) (\Lambda \to p\pi )\) decay modes. Samples of 7,111 \(\Lambda \to pe\bar v, 2,608 \Xi \to \Lambda e\bar v\) , and \(154 \Xi \to \Sigma ^0 e\bar v\) were used in our analysis. The branching ratio measurements gave values of (8.57±0.36)×10^?4, (5.64±0.31)×10^?4, and (0.87±0.17)×10^?4 for \(\Lambda \to pe\bar v, \Xi \to \Lambda e\bar v\) , and \( \Xi \to \sum ^0 e\bar v\) , respectively. Measurements of the Λ polarization and of the centre-of-mass distributions yield the axial vector to vector form factor ratio,g ₁/f ₁=+0.70±0.03 for \(\Lambda \to pe\bar v\) , andg ₁/f ₁=+0.25±0.05 for \(\Xi \to \Lambda e\bar v\) . The effects ofq ²-dependence off ₁ andg ₁ and of radiative corrections, the measurement of the weak magnetism termf ₂, and the effect of possible second-class current terms are discussed. Results on the \(\sum \to \Lambda e\bar v\) and \(\sum \to ne\bar v\) decay modes are reported in separate articles.     

Accurate estimation of normal incidence absorption coefficients with confidence intervals using a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer

When using optical measurements of the sound fields inside a glass tube, near the material under test, to estimate the reflection and absorption coefficients, not only these acoustical parameters but also confidence intervals can be determined. The sound fields are visualized using a scanning laser Doppler vibrometer (SLDV). In this paper the influence of different test signals on the quality of the results, obtained with this technique, is examined. The amount of data gathered during one measurement scan makes a thorough statistical analysis possible leading to the knowledge of confidence intervals. The use of a multi-sine, constructed on the resonance frequencies of the test tube, shows to be a very good alternative for the traditional periodic chirp. This signal offers the ability to obtain data for multiple frequencies in one measurement, without the danger of a low signal-to-noise ratio. The variability analysis in this paper clearly shows the advantages of the proposed multi-sine compared to the periodic chirp. The measurement procedure and the statistical analysis are validated by measuring the reflection ratio at a closed end and comparing the results with the theoretical value. Results of the testing of two building materials (an acoustic ceiling tile and linoleum) are presented and compared to supplier data.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis of mGluR1 ligands: carbon, nitrogen and oxygen linked derivatives of pyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-ylamines

The syntheses of 6-fluoropyrido[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-ylamine derivatives is reported herein. Methods for generating C, N and O linked analogues under microwave irradiation are described.     

Observation of a narrow meson state decaying to D(+)(s)pi(0) at a mass of 2.32 GeV/c(2)

We have observed a narrow state near 2.32 GeV/c(2) in the inclusive D(+)(s)pi(0) invariant mass distribution from e(+)e(-) annihilation data at energies near 10.6 GeV. The observed width is consistent with the experimental resolution. The small intrinsic width and the quantum numbers of the final state indicate that the decay violates isospin conservation. The state has natural spin-parity and the low mass suggests a J(P)=0(+) assignment. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 91 fb(-1) recorded by the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric-energy e(+)e(-) storage ring.     

meso‐2,2′‐Di­phenyl‐3,3′,4,4′‐tetra­hydro‐2,2′‐bi­furan‐5,5′(2H,2′H)‐dione

The crystal structure of the title compound, C₂₀H₁₈O₄, contains a crystallographic inversion center. The C—C bond linking the two halves of the mol­ecule is slightly elongated at 1.577 (3) Å.     

Search for the decay B+ --> K+nunu

We search for the rare flavor-changing neutral-current decay B(+)--> K(+)nunu in a data sample of 82 fb(-1) collected with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II B-factory. Signal events are selected by examining the properties of the system recoiling against either a reconstructed hadronic or semileptonic charged-B decay. Using these two independent samples we obtain a combined limit of B(B(+)-->K(+)nunu ) < 5.2 x 10(-5) at the 90% confidence level. In addition, by selecting for pions rather than kaons, we obtain a limit of B(B+-->pi(+)nunu) < 1.0 x 10(-4) using only the hadronic B reconstruction method.     

Development of a colorimetric microfluidic pH sensor for autonomous seawater measurements

High quality carbonate chemistry measurements are required in order to fully understand the dynamics of the oceanic carbonate system. Seawater pH data with good spatial and temporal coverage are particularly critical to apprehend ocean acidification phenomena and their consequences. There is a growing need for autonomous in situ instruments that measure pH on remote platforms. Our aim is to develop an accurate and precise autonomous in situ pH sensor for long term deployment on remote platforms. The widely used spectrophotometric pH technique is capable of the required high-quality measurements. We report a key step towards the miniaturization of a colorimetric pH sensor with the successful implementation of a simple microfluidic design with low reagent consumption. The system is particularly adapted to shipboard deployment: high quality data was obtained over a period of more than a month during a shipboard deployment in northwest European shelf waters, and less than 30 mL of indicator was consumed. The system featured a short term precision of 0.001 pH (n = 20) and an accuracy within the range of a certified Tris buffer (0.004 pH). The quality of the pH system measurements have been checked using various approaches: measurements of certified Tris buffer, measurement of certified seawater for DIC and TA, comparison of measured pH against calculated pH from pCO₂, DIC and TA during the cruise in northwest European shelf waters. All showed that our measurements were of high quality. The measurements were made close to in situ temperature (+0.2 ?C) in a sampling chamber which had a continuous flow of the ship’s underway seawater supply. The optical set up was robust and relatively small due to the use of an USB mini-spectrometer, a custom made polymeric flow cell and an LED light source. The use of a three wavelength LED with detection that integrated power across the whole of each LED output spectrum indicated that low wavelength resolution detectors can be used instead of the current USB mini spectrophotometer. Artefacts due to the polychromatic light source and inhomogeneity in the absorption cell are shown to have a negligible impact on the data quality. The next step in the miniaturization of the sensor will be the incorporation of a photodiode as detector to replace the spectrophotometer.     

Self assembly of anastomosis-like superstructures in fatty acid/guanidine hydrochloride aqueous dispersions

A mixture between 1% sodium myristate and guanidine hydrochloride at a molar ratio of 1 in water forms a gel of membranes below a phase transition of ca. 21 °C and a viscous limpid and isotropic solution above. As observed by both TEM and AFM, we report the formation of interconnected superstructures in that latter phase. Those assemblies exhibit a size of ca. 4–40 nm width and several tens of μm length with unexpected disconnections and re-connections between them having the appearance of an anastomosis-like superstructure.     

Calculations of electron inelastic mean free paths. XIII. Data for 14 organic compounds and water over the 50 eV to 200 keV range with the relativistic full Penn algorithm

We have calculated inelastic mean free paths (IMFPs) for 14 organic compounds (26-n-paraffin, adenine, β-carotene, diphenyl-hexatriene, guanine, Kapton, polyacetylene, poly (butene-1-sulfone), polyethylene, polymethylmethacrylate, polystyrene, poly(2-vinylpyridine), thymine, and uracil) and liquid water for electron energies from 50 eV to 200 keV with the relativistic full Penn algorithm including the correction of the bandgap effect in insulators. These calculations were made with energy-loss functions (ELFs) obtained from measured optical constants and from calculated atomic scattering factors for X-ray energies. Our calculated IMFPs could be fitted to a modified form of the relativistic Bethe equation for inelastic scattering of electrons in matter from 50 eV to 200 keV. The average root-mean-square (RMS) deviation in these fits was 0.17%. The IMFPs were also compared with a relativistic version of our predictive Tanuma–Powell–Penn (TPP-2M) equation. The average RMS deviation in these comparisons was 7.2% for energies between 50 eV and 200 keV. This average RMS deviation is smaller than that found in a similar comparison for our group of 41 elemental solids (11.9%) and for our group of 42 inorganic compounds (10.7%) for the same energy range. We found generally satisfactory agreement between our calculated IMFPs and values from other calculations for energies between 200 eV and 10 keV. We also found reasonable agreement between our IMFPs for organic compounds and measured IMFPs for energies between 50 eV and 200 keV. Substantial progress for IMFP measurements for liquid water has been made in recent years through the invention of liquid water microjet photoelectron spectroscopy and droplet photoelectron imaging. We found that the IMFPs from these experiments and the associated analyses were larger than our IMFPs by factors between two and four for energies between about 30 eV and 1000 eV. The energy dependences of the measured IMFPs are, however, similar to that of our IMFPs in the same energy range. Since IMFPs calculated from the same algorithm for a number of inorganic compounds agree reasonably well with measured IMFPs for energies between 100 eV and 200 keV, the large differences between IMFPs for water from recent experiments and our results are surprising and need to be resolved with additional experiments.