Paul Scherrer Institute

About: Paul Scherrer Institute is a facility organization based out in Villigen, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Neutron & Large Hadron Collider. The organization has 9248 authors who have published 23984 publications receiving 890129 citations. The organization is also known as: PSI.

Search for the associated production of the Higgs boson with a top-quark pair

Abstract: A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair (ttH) is presented, using data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 fb^(−1) and 19.7 fb^(−1) collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV respectively. The search is based on the following signatures of the Higgs boson decay: H → hadrons, H → photons, and H → leptons. The results are characterized by an observed ttH signal strength relative to the standard model cross section, μ=σ/σ SM,under the assumption that the Higgs boson decays as expected in the standard model. The best fit value is μ = 2.8 ± 1.0 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.6 GeV.

Low temperature anomalies and pressure effects on the structure and Tc of the superconductor YBa2Cu4O8 (Tc=80 K)

Abstract: The structure of the 80 K superconductor YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 has been measured as a function of temperature and pressure between 5 K and 165 K by high resolution neutron powder diffraction. The oxygen bridging CuO planes to double CuO chains moves away from the chains, toward the planes as T c increases with increasing pressure, indicating charge transfer to the planes. A similar effect occurs when YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6+ x is oxidised to YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 , again increasing T c . The a - and c -axes of YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 increase smoothly with temperature, but the b -axis, parallel to the direction of the CuO chains, appears to have a minimum near T c . This results in a slight inflexion in the orthorhombic distortion near T c , similar to that observed in YBa 2 Cu 4 O 7 . The oxygens within these chains appear disordered even at low temperature, again as in YBa 2 Cu 4 O 7 . However, in YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 oxygens from the CuO-planes also have relatively large out-of-plane amplitudes. High resolution electron microscopy and diffraction show that YBa 2 Cu 4 O 8 , unlike YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7 , does not have planar structural defects; there are no twins or superstructures.

Number size distributions and seasonality of submicron particles in europe 2008–2009

Abstract: Two years of harmonized aerosol number size distribution data from 24 European field monitoring sites have been analysed. The results give a comprehensive overview of the European near surface aerosol particle number concentrations and number size distributions between 30 and 500 nm of dry particle diameter. Spatial and temporal distribution of aerosols in the particle sizes most important for climate applications are presented. We also analyse the annual, weekly and diurnal cycles of the aerosol number concentrations, provide log-normal fitting parameters for median number size distributions, and give guidance notes for data users. Emphasis is placed on the usability of results within the aerosol modelling community. We also show that the aerosol number concentrations of Aitken and accumulation mode particles (with 100 nm dry diameter as a cut-off between modes) are related, although there is significant variation in the ratios of the modal number concentrations. Different aerosol and station types are distinguished from this data and this methodology has potential for further categorization of stations aerosol number size distribution types. The European submicron aerosol was divided into characteristic types: Central European aerosol, characterized by single mode median size distributions, unimodal number concentration histograms and low variability in CCN-sized aerosol number concentrations; Nordic aerosol with low number concentrations, although showing pronounced seasonal variation of especially Aitken mode particles; Mountain sites (altitude over 1000 m a.s.l.) with a strong seasonal cycle in aerosol number concentrations, high variability, and very low median number concentrations. Southern and Western European regions had fewer stations, which decreases the regional representativeness of these results. Aerosol number concentrations over the Britain and Ireland had very high variance and there are indications of mixed air masses from several source regions; the Mediterranean aerosol exhibit high seasonality, and a strong accumulation mode in the summer. The highest concentrations were observed at the JRC station in Northern Italy with high accumulation mode number concentrations in the winter. The aerosol number concentrations at the Arctic station Zeppelin in Ny-Alesund in Svalbard have also a strong seasonal cycle, with higher concentrations of accumulation mode particles in winter, and dominating summer Aitken mode indicating more recently formed particles. Observed particles did not show any statistically significant regional work-week or weekday related variation in number concentrations studied. Analysis products are made for open-access to the research community, available in a freely accessible internet site. The results give to the modelling community a reliable, easy-to-use and freely available comparison dataset of aerosol size distributions. © Author(s) 2011.