Observation of a spin-parity 4+ K1(2090)

High statistics data for the reaction K^?p → K^?π⁺n at $\text{11}\text{GeV}\text{c}$ have been obtained in the LASS spectrometer at SLAC. A spherical harmonic moment analysis of the Kπ angular distribution displays evidence for a new K¹ state at $\text{2086}\text{MeV}\text{c}{}^2$ with the spin-parity assignment, J^P = 4⁺.     

Magnetically-coupled piston pump for high-purity gas applications

Experiments based on noble elements such as gaseous or liquid argon or xenon utilize the ionization and scintillation properties of the target materials to detect radiation-induced recoils. A requirement for high light and charge yields is to reduce electronegative impurities well below the ppb (parts per billion, 1 ppb \(=1\times 10^{-9}\) mol/mol) level. To achieve this, the target material is continuously circulated in the gas phase through a purifier and returned to the detector. Additionally, the low backgrounds necessary dictate low-Rn-emanation rates from all components that contact the gas. Since commercial pumps often introduce electronegative impurities from lubricants on internal components or through small air leaks, and are not designed to meet the radiopurity requirements, custom-built pumps are an advantageous alternative. A new pump has been developed in Muenster in cooperation with the nEXO group at Stanford University and the nEXO/XENON group at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute based on a magnetically-coupled piston in a hermetically sealed low-Rn-emanating vessel. This pump delivers high performance for noble gases, reaching more than 210 standard liters per minute (slpm) with argon and more than 170 slpm with xenon while maintaining a compression of up to 1.9 bar, demonstrating its capability for noble gas detectors and other applications requiring high standards of gas purity.     

Observation of parity nonconservation in møller scattering

We report a measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (M?ller) scattering: A(PV)=[-175+/-30(stat)+/-20(syst)] x 10(-9). This first direct observation of parity nonconservation in M?ller scattering leads to a measurement of the electron's weak charge at low energy Q(e)(W)=-0.053+/-0.011. This is consistent with the standard model expectation at the current level of precision: sin((2)theta(W)(M(Z))((-)MS)=0.2293+/-0.0024(stat)+/-0.0016(syst)+/-0.0006(theory).     

Precision measurement of the weak mixing angle in Møller scattering

We report on a precision measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry in fixed target electron-electron (M?ller) scattering: A(PV) = [-131 +/- 14(stat) +/- 10(syst)] x 10(-9), leading to the determination of the weak mixing angle sin2(thetaW(eff) = 0.2397 +/- 0.0010(stat) +/- 0.0008(syst), evaluated at Q2 = 0.026 GeV2. Combining this result with the measurements of sin2(thetaW(eff) at the Z0 pole, the running of the weak mixing angle is observed with over 6sigma significance. The measurement sets constraints on new physics effects at the TeV scale.     

Observation of a direct low-mass e+e− continuum in π-p interactions at 16 GeV/c

The production of prompt electron-positron pairs in 16 GeV/c π^-p collisions has been measured using the LASS spectrometer at SLAC. An excess of events is observed above the estimated contribution of direct and Dalitz decays of known resonances in the kinematic range defined by $\text{0.1?χ?0.45, 0?p}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{?0.8}\text{GeV}\text{c}$ and $\text{0.2?M(e}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{e}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)?0.7}\text{GeV}\text{c}{}^2$. The excess signal decreases slowly with increasing M, but exhibits very steep χ and p_T² dependence.