Observation of muon neutrino disappearance with the MINOS detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam

This Letter reports results from the MINOS experiment based on its initial exposure to neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. The rates and energy spectra of charged current nu(mu) interactions are compared in two detectors located along the beam axis at distances of 1 and 735 km. With 1.27 x 10(20) 120 GeV protons incident on the NuMI target, 215 events with energies below 30 GeV are observed at the Far Detector, compared to an expectation of 336+/-14 events. The data are consistent with nu(mu) disappearance via oscillations with |Delta(m)2/32|=2.74 +0.44/-0.26 x10(-3)eV(2) and sin(2)(2theta(23))>0.87 (68% C.L.).     

Scaling violation favouring high multiplicity events at 540 GeV CMS energy

New data are presented on the charged multiplicity distribution for non single-diffractive events produced in pp? interactions at a CM energy $\text{s}\text{= 540}\text{GeV}$. The distribution in the full pseudorapidity range is compared with data from the ISR. Using the scaling variable $\text{z =}\text{n}\text{〈n〉}$ a change of shape is observed. The effect is manifested as an increase from 2% to 6% in the proportion of high multiplicity (z > 2) events. For the central pseudorapidity range, |η| ? 1.5, scaling is approximately valid up to $\text{s}\text{= 540}\text{GeV}$.     

Antiproton-proton cross sections at 200 and 900 GeV c.m. energy

Data on antiproton-proton cross sections at the c.m. energies 200 and 900 GeV are presented. The data were obtained at the CERN antiproton-proton Collider operated in a new pulsed mode in which the same beams were accelerated and decelerated between beam energies of 450 and 100 GeV. The properties of the machine determine the ratio of the luminosities at the two energies to about 1% and thus an accurate measurement of the ratioR of the inelastic cross sections could be made. We findR (=σ ⁹⁰⁰/σ ²⁰⁰)=1.20±0.01±0.02, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. Interpolating existing data to estimateσ _ine1(200 GeV) this measurement ofR leads toσ _ine1(900 GeV)=50.3+0.4+1.0 mb. Using an extrapolated value ofσ _e1/σ _tot we estimate the total cross section at 900 GeV to be 65.3±0.7±1.5 mb. Both the inelastic and total cross sections are compatible with a ln² s dependence. Comparisons are made with different fits to the total cross section energy dependence.     

Scaling of pseudorapidity distributions at c.m. energies up to 0.9 TeV

New data are presented on charged particle pseudorapidity distributions for inelastic events produced at c.m. energies \(\sqrt s \) =200 and 900 GeV. The data were obtained at the CERN antiproton-proton Collider operated in a new pulsed mode. The rise of the central density ρ(0) at energies up to \(\sqrt s \) =900 GeV has been studied. A new form of central region scaling is found involving the densityρ _n (0) for charged multiplicityn, namely that the scaled central densityρ _n (0)/ρ(0) expressed as a function ofz=n/〈n〉 is independent ofs. Scaling in the fragmentation region holds to 10–20%, and the small amount of scalebreaking observed here could be accommodated within the framework suggested by Wdowcyk and Wolfendale to account for both accelerator and cosmic ray data.     

Current limits on the cold dark matter interaction cross section obtained by the UK collaboration

The UK Dark Matter Collaboration has run a 5–6 kg NaI detector in a well-shielded underground environment for about a year. Signatures of Cold Dark Matter (CDM) interactions are sought using pulse shape discrimination techniques by searching for the relatively short scintillation pulses arising from nuclear recoils among the residual, longer, background events from residual radioactivity in the detector and its environment. Here we report on an improvement to the limits on the CDM cross section for spin dependent interactions using our latest data from a crystal with improved detection efficiency and taking into account recent improved estimates of the spin factor correction between the nucleus and nucleon-supersymmetric particle cross sections.