S. Andringa

Measurement of the depth of maximum of extensive air showers above 10(18) eV

We describe the measurement of the depth of maximum, Xmax, of the longitudinal development of air showers induced by cosmic rays. Almost four thousand events above 10^18 eV observed by the fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory in coincidence with at least one surface detector station are selected for the analysis. The average shower maximum was found to evolve with energy at a rate of (106 +35/-21) g/cm^2/decade below 10^(18.24 +/- 0.05) eV and (24 +/- 3) g/cm^2/decade above this energy. The measured shower-to-shower fluctuations decrease from about 55 to 26 g/cm^2. The interpretation of these results in terms of the cosmic ray mass composition is briefly discussed.

Trigger and aperture of the surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The surface detector array of the Pierre Auger Observatory consists of 1600 water-Cherenkov detectors, for the study of extensive air showers (EAS) generated by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays. We describe the trigger hierarchy, from the identification of candidate showers at the level of a single detector, amongst a large background (mainly random single cosmic ray muons), up to the selection of real events and the rejection of random coincidences. Such trigger makes the surface detector array fully efficient for the detection of EAS with energy above 3 x 10(18) eV, for all zenith angles between 0 degrees and 60 degrees, independently of the position of the impact point and of the mass of the primary particle. In these range of energies and angles, the exposure of the surface array can be determined purely on the basis of the geometrical acceptance

A study of the effect of molecular and aerosol conditions in the atmosphere on air fluorescence measurements at the Pierre Auger Observatory

The air fluorescence detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory is designed to perform calorimetric measurements of extensive air showers created by cosmic rays of above 10 eV. To correct these measurements for the effects introduced by atmospheric fluctuations, the Observatory contains a group of monitoring instruments to record atmospheric conditions across the detector site, an area exceeding 3000 km. The atmospheric data are used extensively in the reconstruction of air showers, and are particularly important for the correct determination of shower energies and the depths of shower maxima. This paper contains a summary of the molecular and aerosol conditions measured at the Pierre Auger Observatory since the start of regular operations in 2004, and includes a discussion of the impact of these measurements on air shower reconstructions. Between 10 and 10 eV, the systematic uncertainties due to all atmospheric effects increase from 4% to 8% in measurements of shower energy, and 4 g cm 2 to 8 g cm 2 in measurements of the shower maximum. 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A search for heavy stable and long-lived squarks and sleptons in

A search for stable and long-lived heavy charged particles used the data taken by the DELPHI experiment at energies from 130 to 183 GeV. The Cherenkov light detected in the Ring Imaging Cherenkov D ...

e^{+}e^{-}

A search for charginos with masses close to the mass of the lightest neutralino is reported, based on the data collected with the DELPHI detector at LEP from 1995 to 1997 at centre-of-mass energies between 130 and 183 GeV. The signature of a photon at high transverse momentum radiated from the initial state reduces the two-photon background to acceptable rates, thus making the mass differences between a few hundred MeV/c^2 and 3 GeV/c^2 detectable. In very nearly degenerate scenarios, the lifetime of the chargino can be large enough to produce either visible secondary vertices or decays outside the detector; therefore, quasi-stable heavy charged particles and displaced decay vertices were also searched for. No excess of events with respect to the Standard Model expectations was observed, and limits in the plane of chargino-neutralino mass difference versus chargino mass are given.

collisions at energies from 130 to 183 GeV

A search for events with one jet and at most one isolated lepton used data taken at LEP-2 by the DELPHI detector.These data were accumulated at a center-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 47.7 1/pb. Production of single scalar and vector leptoquarks was searched for. Limits at 95% confidence level were derived on the masses (ranging from

Search for charginos nearly mass-degenerate with the lightest neutralino

134 GeV/c^2

Search for Leptoquarks and FCNC in e+e− annihilations at S(1/2) = 183-GeV

to

W pair production cross-section and W branching fractions in e+e- interactions at 189 GeV

171 GeV/c^2

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

for electromagnetic type couplings) and couplings of the leptoquark states.A search for top-charm flavour changing neutral currents(