Cristian Pena

Study of Z production in PbPb and pp collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV in the dimuon and dielectron decay channels

A bstractThe production of Z bosons is studied in the dimuon and dielectron decay channels in PbPb and pp collisions at sNN=2.76

Calorimeters for Precision Timing Measurements in High Energy Physics

\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76

Precision Timing Calorimeter for High Energy Physics

TeV, using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The PbPb data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 166 μb−1, while the pp data sample collected in 2013 at the same nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy has an integrated luminosity of 5.4 pb−1. The Z boson yield is measured as a function of rapidity, transverse momentum, and collision centrality. The ratio of PbPb to pp yields, scaled by the number of inelastic nucleon-nucleon collisions, is found to be 1.06 ± 0.05 (stat) ± 0.08 (syst) in the dimuon channel and 1.02 ± 0.08 (stat) ± 0.15 (syst) in the dielectron channel, for centrality-integrated Z boson production. This binary collision scaling is seen to hold in the entire kinematic region studied, as expected for a colourless probe that is unaffected by the hot and dense QCD medium produced in heavy ion collisions.

Measurement of differential cross sections for the production of a pair of isolated photons in pp collisions at √s=7TeV

Dijet production has been measured in pPb collisions at a nucleon–nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. A data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 nb−1 was collected using the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The dijet transverse momentum balance, azimuthal angle correlations, and pseudorapidity distributions are studied as a function of the transverse energy in the forward calorimeters (E4<|η|<5.2 T ). For pPb collisions, the dijet transverse momentum ratio and the width of the distribution of dijet azimuthal angle difference are comparable to the same quantities obtained from a simulated pp reference and insensitive to E4<|η|<5.2 T . In contrast, the mean value of the dijet pseudorapidity is found to change monotonically with increasing E4<|η|<5.2 T , indicating a correlation between the energy emitted at large pseudorapidity and the longitudinal motion of the dijet frame. The pseudorapidity distribution of the dijet system in minimum bias pPb collisions is compared with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions obtained from both nucleon and nuclear parton distribution functions, and the data more closely match the latter.

Comparative test beam studies of precision timing calorimeter technologies

Current and future high energy physics particle colliders are capable to provide instantaneous luminosities of 1034 cm-2s-1 and above. The high center of mass energy, the large number of simultaneous collision of beam particles in the experiments and the very high repetition rates of the collision events pose huge challenges. They result in extremely high particle fluxes, causing very high occupancies in the particle physics detectors operating at these machines. To reconstruct the physics events, the detectors have to make as much information as possible available on the final state particles. We discuss how timing information with a precision of around 10 ps and below can aid the reconstruction of the physics events under such challenging conditions. High energy photons play a crucial role in this context. About one third of the particle flux originating from high energy hadron collisions is detected as photons, stemming from the decays of neutral mesons. In addition, many key physics signatures under study are identified by high energy photons in the final state. They pose a particular challenge in that they can only be detected once they convert in the detector material. The particular challenge in measuring the time of arrival of a high energy photon lies in the stochastic component of the distance to the initial conversion and the size of the electromagnetic shower. They extend spatially over distances which propagation times of the initial photon and the subsequent electromagnetic shower which are large compared to the desired precision. We present studies and measurements from test beams and a cosmic muon test stand for calorimeter based timing measurements to explore the ultimate timing precision achievable for high energy photons of 10 GeV and above. We put particular focus on techniques to measure the timing with a precision of about 10 ps in association with the energy of the photon. For calorimeters utilizing scintillating materials and light guiding components, the propagation speed of the scintillation light in the calorimeter is important. We present studies and measurements of the propagation speed on a range of detector geometries. Finally, possible applications of precision timing in future high energy physics experiments are discussed.

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged hadrons in proton-lead collisions at

A bstractA comparison of the differential cross sections for the processes Z/γ* + jets and photon (γ)+jets is presented. The measurements are based on data collected with the CMS detector at s=8

5.02 and 8.16 TeV

\sqrt{s}=8