We report the results of a study of multi-muon events produced at the Fermilab Tevatron collider and acquired with the CDF II detector using a dedicated dimuon trigger. The production cross section and kinematics of events in which both muon candidates are produced inside the beam pipe of radius 1.5 cm are successfully modeled by known processes which include heavy flavor production. In contrast, we are presently unable to fully account for the number and properties of the remaining events, in which at least one muon candidate is produced outside of the beam pipe, in terms of the same understanding of the CDF II detector, trigger, and event reconstruction.

We present a measurement of the electric charge of the top quark using p{bar p} collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.7 fb{sup -1} at the CDF II detector. We reconstruct t{bar t} events in the lepton+jets final state and use kinematic information to determine which b-jet is associated with the leptonically- or hadronically-decaying t-quark. Soft lepton taggers are used to determine the b-jet flavor. Along with the charge of the W boson decay lepton, this information permits the reconstruction of the top quark's electric charge. Out of 45 reconstructed events with 2.4 {+-} 0.8 expected background events, 29 are reconstructed as tt with the standard model +2/3 charge, whereas 16 are reconstructed as t{bar t} with an exotic -4/3 charge. This is consistent with the standard model and excludes the exotic scenario at 95% confidence level. This is the strongest exclusion of the exotic charge scenario and the first to use soft leptons for this purpose.

We present a new measurement of the Z/{gamma}* transverse momentum distribution in the range 0-330 GeV, in proton anti-proton collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. The measurement uses 0.97 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity recorded by the D0 experiment and is the first using the Z/{gamma}* {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -} + X channel at this center-of-mass energy. This is also the first measurement of the Z/{gamma}* transverse momentum distribution that presents the result at the level of particles entering the detector, minimizing dependence on theoretical models. As any momentum of the Z/{gamma}* in the plane transverse to the incoming beams must be balanced by some recoiling system, primarily the result of QCD radiation in the initial state, this variable is an excellent probe of the underlying process. Tests of the predictions of QCD calculations and current event generators show they have varied success in describing the data. Using this measurement as an input to theoretical predictions will allow for a better description of hadron collider data and hence it will increase experimental sensitivity to rare signals.

The standard model (SM) of particle physics has been extensively tested in the past three decades and is found to be in excellent agreement with experimental observations. It is widely assumed, however, that the SM is only a low energy approximation of a more general theory. Therefore, any significant deviation from the SM predictions yields information on the nature of a more fundamental theory. Production of WZ pairs is the least studied diboson process within the SM, as it is a charged final state and can only be produced at hadron colliders. A detailed study of this process probes the electroweak sector of the SM. In addition, searches for new phenomena in the production of heavy gauge boson pairs are interesting, as many extensions of the SM predict 1-4 additional heavy gauge bosons that can decay into a WZ boson pairs.

We present a search for flavor changing neutral currents via quark-gluon couplings in a sample of single top quark final states corresponding to 2.3 fb{sup -1} of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. We select events containing a single top quark candidates with an additional jet, and obtain separation between signal and background using Bayesian neural networks. We find consistency between background expectation and observed data, and set limits on avor changing neutral current gluon couplings of the top quark to up quarks (tgu) and charm quarks (tgc). The cross section limits at the 95% C.L. are {sigma}{sub tgu} < 0.20 pb and {sigma}{sub tgc} < 0.27 pb. These correspond to limits on the top quark decay branching fractions of B(t {yields} gu) < 2.0 x 10{sup -4} and B(t {yields} gc) < 3.9 x 10{sup -3}.

Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin energy threshold, 6 x 10{sup 19} eV. The anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less than 3.1{sup o} from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc (using the Veron-Cetty and Veron 12th catalog). An updated measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009. The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more precise measurement. The correlating fraction is (38{sub -6}{sup +7})%, compared with 21% expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early estimate of (69{sub -13}{sup +11})%. The enlarged set of arrival directions is examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects: galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function …

This letter reports results from a search for {nu}{sub {mu}}{yields}{nu}{sub {mu}} transitions by the MINOS experiment based on a 7 x 1020 protons-on-target exposure. Our observation of 54 candidate e events in the Far Detector with a background of 49.1 {+-} 7.0(stat.) {+-} 2.7(syst.) events predicted by the measurements in the Near Detector requires 2 sin2(2{theta}13) sin2{theta}23 < 0.12 (0.20) at the 90% C.L. for the normal (inverted) mass hierarchy at {delta}CP = 0. The experiment sets the tightest limits to date on the value of {theta}13 for nearly all values of {delta}CP for the normal neutrino mass hierarchy and maximal sin2(2{theta}23).

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We review the subject of central exclusive particle production at high energy hadron colliders. In particular we consider reactions of the type A + B {yields} A + X + B, where X is a fully specified system of particles that is well separated in rapidity from the outgoing beam particles. We focus on the case where the colliding particles are strongly interacting and mainly they will be protons (or antiprotons) as at the ISR, Sp{bar p}S, Tevatron and LHC. The data are surveyed and placed within the context of theoretical developments.

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies on high-quality Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} crystals exhibit perfect correspondence to ARPES data, hence enabling identification of different regimes measured in the local density of states (LDOS). Oscillations of LDOS near a step are analyzed. Within the main part of the surface band oscillations are strongly damped, supporting the hypothesis of topological protec- tion. At higher energies, as the surface band becomes concave, oscillations appear which disperse with a particular wave-vector that may result from an unconventional hexagonal warping term.

We present the latest CDF searches for the Standard Model Higgs boson with 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy collisions produced at the Fermilab Tevatron. The data was collected with the CDF II detector at the Tevatron collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity from 2 to 4.8 1/fb. To achieve maximal sensitivity, many channels are analyzed including final states from gluon fusion, vector boson fusion, and associated production with W and Z bosons.

We report a comparison study of LaOFeP and LaOFeAs, two parent compounds of recently discovered iron-pnictide superconductors, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Both systems exhibit some common features that are very different from well-studied cuprates. In addition, important differences have also been observed between these two ferrooxypnictides. For LaOFeP, quantitative agreement can be found between our photoemission data and the LDA band structure calculations, suggesting that a weak coupling approach based on an itinerant ground state may be more appropriate for understanding this new superconducting compound. In contrast, the agreement between LDA calculations and experiments in LaOFeAs is relatively poor, as highlighted by the unexpected Fermi surface topology around ({pi},{pi}). Further investigations are required for a comprehensive understanding of the electronic structure of LaOFeAs and related compounds.

Space-charge neutralization of a pulsed, high-current ion beam is required to compress and focus the beam on a target for warm dense matter physics or heavy ion fusion experiments. We described attempts to produce dense plasma in and near the final focusing solenoid through which the ion beam travels, thereby providing an opportunity for the beam to acquire the necessary charge-compensating electrons. Among the options are plasma injection from four pulsed vacuum arc sources located outside the solenoid, and using a high current (> 4 kA) pulsed vacuum arc plasma from a ring cathode near the edge of the solenoid. The plasma distribution is characterized by photographic means and by an array of movable Langmuir probes. The plasma is produced at several cathode spots distributed azimuthally on the ring cathode. Beam neutralization and compression are accomplished, though issues of density, uniformity, and pulse-to-pulse reproducibly remain to be solved.

The reduction in symmetry associated with the onset of ferroelectric order in PbZr{sub 0.2}Ti{sub 0.8}O{sub 3} (PZT) thin films leads to a pronounced difference at the Ti L{sub 3,2} absorption edges between spectra measured with the x-ray linear polarization perpendicular and parallel to the ferroelectric polarization. We introduce a general method to analyze the observed difference spectra using atomic multiplet calculations. Moreover, we find experimental evidence for structural changes in PZT induced by the reversal of the ferroelectric polarization.

LANMAS is a transaction-based nuclear material accountability software product developed to replace outdated and legacy accountability systems throughout the DOE. The core underlying purpose of LANMAS is to track nuclear materials inventory and report transactions (movement, mixing, splitting, decay, etc.) to the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System (NMMSS). While LANMAS performs those functions well, there are many additional functions provided by the software product. As a material is received onto a site or created at a site, its entire lifecycle can be tracked in LANMAS complete to its termination of safeguards. There are separate functions to track material movements between and within material balance areas (MBAs). The level of detail for movements within a MBA is configurable by each site and can be as high as a site designation or as detailed as building/room/rack/row/position. Functionality exists to track the processing of materials, either as individual items or by modeling a bulk process as an individual item to track inputs and outputs from the process. In cases where sites have specialized needs, the system is designed to be flexible so that site specific functionality can be integrated into the product. This paper will demonstrate how the software can be used …

We present an update of the search for the flavor-changing neutral current B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{nu}{bar {nu}} decay using 351 X 10{sup 6} B{bar B} pairs collected at the {Upsilon}(4S) resonance with the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II B factory. Due to the presence of two neutrinos in the final state, we require the reconstruction of the companion B in the event through the decay channel B{sup -} {yields} D{sup 0}{ell}{sup -}{bar {nu}}X. We find 38 candidates in the data with an expected background of 31{-+} 12. This allows us to set an upper limit on the branching fraction for B{sup +} {yields} K{sup +}{nu}{bar {nu}} of 4.5 X 10{sup -5} at 90% confidence level.

We present a search for decays of B mesons to final states with a b{sub 1} meson and a {rho} or K*(892) meson. The search is based on a data sample consisting of 465 million B{bar B} pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. We do not observe any statistically significant signal. The upper limits we set on the branching fractions range from 1.4 to 8.0 x 10{sup -6} at the 90% confidence level (C.L.), including systematic uncertainties.

Searches for lepton-flavor-violating decays of a {tau} lepton to a lighter mass lepton and a photon have been performed with the entire dataset of (963 {+-} 7) x 10{sup 6} {tau} decays collected by the BABAR detector near the {Upsilon}(4S), {Upsilon}(3S) and {Upsilon}(2S) resonances. The searches yield no evidence of signals and they set upper limits on the branching fractions of {Beta}({tau}{sup {+-}} {yields} e{sup {+-}}{gamma}) < 3.3 x 10{sup -8} and {Beta}({tau}{sup {+-}} {yields} {mu}{sup {+-}}{gamma}) < 4.4 x 10{sup -8} at 90% confidence level.

The design and current status of experiments to couple the Tapered Hybrid Undulator (THUNDER) to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) laser plasma accelerator (LPA) to measure electron beam energy spread and emittance are presented.

Abstract: This paper provides a description of the updated and enhanced Fire Events Data Base (FEDB) developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in cooperation with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The FEDB is the principal source of fire incident operational data for use in fire PRAs. It provides a comprehensive and consolidated source of fire incident information for nuclear power plants operating in the U.S. The database classification scheme identifies important attributes of fire incidents to characterize their nature, causal factors, and severity consistent with available data. The database provides sufficient detail to delineate important plant specific attributes of the incidents to the extent practical. A significant enhancement to the updated FEDB is the reorganization and refinement of the database structure and data fields and fire characterization details added to more rigorously capture the nature and magnitude of the fire and damage to the ignition source and nearby equipment and structures

Adoption of information and communication technologies and access to the Internet is expanding in Africa, but because of the rapid growth elsewhere, a Digital Divide between Africa and the rest of the world exists, and the gap is growing. In many sub-Saharan African countries, education and research sector suffers some of the worst deficiencies in access to the Internet, despite progress in development of NRENs - National Research and Education (cyber) Networks. By contrast, it is widely acknowledged in policy statements from the African Union, the UN, and others that strength in this very sector provides the key to meeting and sustaining Millennium Development Goals. Developed countries with effective cyber-capabilities proclaim the benefits to rich and poor alike arising from the Information Revolution. This is but a dream for many scientists in African institutions. As the world of science becomes increasingly Internet-dependent, so they become increasingly isolated. eGY-Africa is a bottom-up initiative by African scientists and their collaborators to try to reduce this Digital Divide by a campaign of advocacy for better institutional facilities. Four approaches are being taken. The present status of Internet services, problems, and plans are being mapped via a combination of direct measurement of Internet performance …

The 2010 Gordon Conference on Correlated Electron Systems will present cutting-edge research on emergent properties arising from strong electronic correlations. The Conference will feature a wide range of topics, such as the role of topology in condensed matter systems, quantum Hall interferometry and non-Abelian statistics, quantum criticality, metal-insulator transition, quantum effects in conductivity, Dirac quasiparticles, and superconductivity in cuprates and pnictides. In addition, we are reserving two sessions for new developments in this field that may arise in the coming year. The Conference will bring together a collection of investigators who are at the forefront of their field, and will provide opportunities for junior scientists and graduate students to present their work in poster format and exchange ideas with leaders in the field. We intend to have talks by established leaders in the field and also by young researchers who have made seminal contributions to various aspects of correlated electron physics, The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions as well as opportunities for informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides an avenue for scientists from different disciplines to brainstorm and promotes cross-disciplinary collaborations in the various research areas represented.

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