arXiv subjects

C. Thomas

Publications and source records attributed to C. Thomas.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

A single-phase bcc high-entropy alloy in the refractory Zr-Nb-Ti-V-Hf system

We report on the production and characterization of a high-entropy alloy in the refractory Zr-Nb-Ti-V-Hf system. Equiatomic ingots were produced by arc and levitation melting, and were subsequently homogenized by high-temperature annealing. We obtained a coarse-grained, single-phase high-entropy alloy, with a homogeneous distribution of the constituting elements. The phase is a chemically disordered solid solution, based on a bcc lattice with a lattice parameter of 0.336(5) nm.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

The EUCLID VIS read-out shutter unit: a low disturbance mechanism at cryogenic temperature

Euclid is the second medium-size mission (M2) of the ESA Cosmic Vision Program, currently scheduled for a launch in 2020. The two instruments on-board Euclid, VIS (VISible imager) and NISP (Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer), will provide key measurements to investigate the nature of dark energy, advancing our knowledge on cosmology. We present in this contribution the development and manufacturing status of the VIS Read-out Shutter Unit, whose main function is to prevent direct light from falling onto the VIS CCDs during the read-out of the scientific exposures and to allow the dark-current/bias calibrations of the instrument.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

Pressure induced BEC-BCS crossover in multi-band superconductors

Superconductivity in strongly correlated systems is a remarkable phenomenon that attracts a huge interest. The study of this problem is relevant for materials as the high $T_c$ oxides, pnictides and heavy fermions. These systems also have in common the existence of electrons of several orbitals that coexist at a common Fermi-surface. In this paper we study the effect of pressure, chemical or applied on multi-band superconductivity. Pressure varies the atomic distances and consequently the overlap of the wave-functions in the crystal. This rearranges the electronic structure that we model including a pressure dependent hybridization between the bands. We consider the case of two-dimensional systems in a square lattice with inverted bands. We study the conditions for obtaining a pressure induced superconductor quantum critical point and show that hybridization, i.e., pressure can induce a BCS-BEC crossover in multi-band systems even for moderate interactions. We briefly discuss the influence of the symmetry of the order parameter in the results.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Highly efficient spin-to-charge current conversion at room temperature in strained HgTe surface states

We report the observation of spin-to-charge current conversion in strained mercury telluride at room temperature, using spin pumping experiments. The conversion rates are found to be very high, with inverse Edelstein lengths up to 2.0 +/- 0.5 nm. The influence of the HgTe layer thickness on the conversion efficiency has been studied, as well as the role of a HgCdTe barrier inserted in-between the HgTe and NiFe layers. These measurements, associated to the temperature dependence of the resistivity, allows to ascribe these high conversion rates to the spin momentum locking property of HgTe surface states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Revealing topological Dirac fermions at the surface of strained HgTe thin films via Quantum Hall transport spectroscopy

We demonstrate evidences of electronic transport via topological Dirac surface states in a thin film of strained HgTe. At high perpendicular magnetic fields, we show that the electron transport reaches the quantum Hall regime with vanishing resistance. Furthermore, quantum Hall transport spectroscopy reveals energy splittings of relativistic Landau levels specific to coupled Dirac surface states. This study provides new insights in the quantum Hall effect of topological insulator (TI) slabs, in the cross-over regime between two- and three-dimensional TIs, and in the relevance of thin TI films to explore novel circuit functionalities in spintronics and quantum nanoelectronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Studies of the decays D^0 \rightarrow K_S^0K^-π^+ and D^0 \rightarrow K_S^0K^+π^-

The first measurements of the coherence factor R_{K_S^0Kπ} and the average strong--phase difference δ^{K_S^0Kπ} in D^0 \to K_S^0 K^\mpπ^\pm decays are reported. These parameters can be used to improve the determination of the unitary triangle angle γ in B^- \rightarrow $\widetilde{D}K^-$ decays, where $\widetilde{D}$ is either a D^0 or a D^0-bar meson decaying to the same final state, and also in studies of charm mixing. The measurements of the coherence factor and strong-phase difference are made using quantum-correlated, fully-reconstructed D^0D^0-bar pairs produced in e^+e^- collisions at the ψ(3770) resonance. The measured values are R_{K_S^0Kπ} = 0.70 \pm 0.08 and δ^{K_S^0Kπ} = (0.1 \pm 15.7)$^\circ$ for an unrestricted kinematic region and R_{K*K} = 0.94 \pm 0.12 and δ^{K*K} = (-16.6 \pm 18.4)$^\circ$ for a region where the combined K_S^0 π^\pm invariant mass is within 100 MeV/c^2 of the K^{*}(892)^\pm mass. These results indicate a significant level of coherence in the decay. In addition, isobar models are presented for the two decays, which show the dominance of the K^*(892)^\pm resonance. The branching ratio {B}(D^0 \rightarrow K_S^0K^+π^-)/{B}(D^0 \rightarrow K_S^0K^-π^+) is determined to be 0.592 \pm 0.044 (stat.) \pm 0.018 (syst.), which is more precise than previous measurements.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2016

The Read-Out Shutter Unit of the Euclid VIS Instrument

Euclid is the second medium-size mission (M2) of the ESA Cosmic Vision Program, currently scheduled for a launch in 2020. The two instruments on-board Euclid, VIS and NISP, will provide key measurements to investigate the nature of dark energy, advancing our knowledge on cosmology. We present in this contribution the development and manufacturing status of the VIS Read-out Shutter Unit, whose main function is to prevent direct light from falling onto the VIS CCDs during the read-out of the scientific exposures and to allow the dark-current/bias calibrations of the instrument.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

Single-Crystal Growth of a FeCoCrMnAl High-Entropy Alloy

We have grown a single crystal of the equiatomic FeCoCrMnAl high-entropy alloy. The crystal was grown by means of the Bridgman technique and is about 1 cm in diameter and 6.6 cm in length. X-ray Laue images taken at various positions on the surface are sharp and mutually consistent, reflecting its single-crystal nature. We thus report on the first successful growth of a single crystal of a high-entropy alloy with a volume of the order of cubic centimeters. The material has a microstructure consisting of B2 inclusions in a body-centered cubic matrix on the 10 nm length scale.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Model-independent determination of the strong-phase difference between D^0 and D^0-bar-> K^0_S,L h^+ h^- (h=pi,K) and its impact on the measurement of the CKM angle gamma/phi_3

We report the first determination of the relative strong-phase difference between D^0 -> K^0_S,L K^+ K^- and D^0-bar -> K^0_S,L K^+ K^-. In addition, we present updated measurements of the relative strong-phase difference between D^0 -> K^0_S,L pi^+ pi^- and D^0-bar -> K^0_S,L pi^+ pi^-. Both measurements exploit the quantum coherence between a pair of D^0 and D^0-bar mesons produced from psi(3770) decays. The strong-phase differences measured are important for determining the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa angle gamma/phi_3 in B^- -> K^- D^0-tilde decays, where D^0-tilde is a D^0 or D^0-bar meson decaying to K^0_S h^+ h^- (h=pi,K), in a manner independent of the model assumed to describe the D^0 -> K^0_S h^+ h^- decay. Using our results, the uncertainty in gamma/phi_3 due to the error on the strong-phase difference is expected to be between 1.7 and 3.9 degrees for an analysis using B^- K^- D^0-tilde D^0-tilde -> K^0_S pi^+ pi^- decays, and between 3.2 and 3.9 degrees for an analysis based on B^- -> K^- D^0-tilde, D^0-tilde -> K^0_S K^+ K^- decays. A measurement is also presented of the CP-odd fraction, F_-, of the decay D^0 -> K^0_S K^+ K^- in the region of the phi -> K^+ K^- resonance. We find that in a region within 0.01 GeV^2/c^4 of the nominal phi mass squared F_- > 0.91 at the 90% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2015

Towards an Understanding of the Correlations in Jet Substructure

Over the past decade, a large number of jet substructure observables have been proposed in the literature, and explored at the LHC experiments. Such observables attempt to utilize the internal structure of jets in order to distinguish those initiated by quarks, gluons, or by boosted heavy objects, such as top quarks and W bosons. This report, originating from and motivated by the BOOST2013 workshop, presents original particle-level studies that aim to improve our understanding of the relationships between jet substructure observables, their complementarity, and their dependence on the underlying jet properties, particularly the jet radius and jet transverse momentum. This is explored in the context of quark/gluon discrimination, boosted W boson tagging and boosted top quark tagging.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

First determination of the $CP$ content of $D \to π^+π^-π^+π^-$ and updated determination of the $CP$ contents of $D \to π^+π^-π^0$ and $D \to K^+K^-π^0$

Quantum-correlated $ψ(3770) \to D\bar{D}$ decays collected by the CLEO-c experiment are used to perform a first measurement of $F_+^{4π}$, the fractional $CP$-even content of the self-conjugate decay $D \to π^+π^-π^+π^-$, obtaining a value of $0.737 \pm 0.028$. An important input to the measurement comes from the use of $D \to K^0_{\rm S}π^+π^-$ and $D \to K^0_{\rm L}π^+π^-$ decays to tag the signal mode. This same technique is applied to the channels $D \toπ^+π^-π^0$ and $D \to K^+K^-π^0$, yielding $F_+^{πππ^0} = 1.014 \pm 0.045 \pm 0.022$ and $F_+^{KKπ^0} = 0.734 \pm 0.106 \pm 0.054$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. These measurements are consistent with those of an earlier analysis, based on $CP$-eigenstate tags, and can be combined to give values of $F_+^{πππ^0} = 0.973 \pm 0.017$ and $F_+^{KKπ^0} = 0.732 \pm 0.055$. The results will enable the three modes to be included in a model-independent manner in measurements of the unitarity triangle angle $γ$ using $B^\mp \to DK^\mp$ decays, and in time-dependent studies of $CP$ violation and mixing in the $D\bar{D}$ system.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2015

Measuring $CP$ violation and mixing in charm with inclusive self-conjugate multibody decay modes

Time-dependent studies of inclusive charm decays to multibody self-conjugate final states can be used to determine the indirect $CP$-violating observable $A_Γ$ and the mixing observable $y_{CP}$, provided that the fractional $CP$-even content of the final state, $F_+$, is known. This approach can yield significantly improved sensitivity compared with the conventional method that relies on decays to $CP$ eigenstates. In particular, $D \to π^+π^-π^0$ appears to be an especially powerful channel, given its relatively large branching fraction and the high value of $F_+$ that has recently been measured at charm threshold.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

First determination of the CP content of D->pi+pi-pi0 and D->K+K-pi0

Quantum-correlated psi(3770)->DDbar decays collected by the CLEO-c experiment are used to perform first measurements of F+, the fractional CP-even content of the self-conjugate decays D->pi+pi-pi0 and D->K+K-pi0. Values of 0.968 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.006 and 0.731 +/- 0.058 +/- 0.021 are obtained for pi+pi-pi0 and K+K-pi0, respectively. It is demonstrated how modes of this sort can be cleanly included in measurements of the unitarity triangle angle gamma using B+/- -> D K+/- decays. The high CP-even content of D -> pi+pi-pi0, in particular, makes this a promising mode for improving the precision on gamma.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2014

Performance of the LHCb Vertex Locator

The Vertex Locator (VELO) is a silicon microstrip detector that surrounds the proton-proton interaction region in the LHCb experiment. The performance of the detector during the first years of its physics operation is reviewed. The system is operated in vacuum, uses a bi-phase CO2 cooling system, and the sensors are moved to 7 mm from the LHC beam for physics data taking. The performance and stability of these characteristic features of the detector are described, and details of the material budget are given. The calibration of the timing and the data processing algorithms that are implemented in FPGAs are described. The system performance is fully characterised. The sensors have a signal to noise ratio of approximately 20 and a best hit resolution of 4 microns is achieved at the optimal track angle. The typical detector occupancy for minimum bias events in standard operating conditions in 2011 is around 0.5%, and the detector has less than 1% of faulty strips. The proximity of the detector to the beam means that the inner regions of the n+-on-n sensors have undergone space-charge sign inversion due to radiation damage. The VELO performance parameters that drive the experiment's physics sensitivity are also given. The track finding efficiency of the VELO is typically above 98% and the modules have been aligned to a precision of 1 micron for translations in the plane transverse to the beam. A primary vertex resolution of 13 microns in the transverse plane and 71 microns along the beam axis is achieved for vertices with 25 tracks. An impact parameter resolution of less than 35 microns is achieved for particles with transverse momentum greater than 1 GeV/c.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2014

Updated measurements of absolute $D^+$ and $D^0$ hadronic branching fractions and $σ(e^+e^-\to D\overline{D})$ at $E_\mathrm{cm} = 3774$ MeV

Utilizing the full CLEO-c data sample of 818 pb$^{-1}$ of $e^+e^-$ data taken at the $ψ(3770)$ resonance, we update our measurements of absolute hadronic branching fractions of charged and neutral $D$ mesons. We previously reportedresults from subsets of these data. Using a double tag technique we obtain branching fractions for three $D^0$ and six $D^+$ modes, including the reference branching fractions $\mathcal{B} (D^0\to K^-π^+)=(3.934 \pm 0.021 \pm 0.061)\%$ and $\mathcal{B} (D^+ \to K^- π^+π^+)=(9.224 \pm 0.059 \pm 0.157)\%$. The uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. In these measurements we include the effects of final-state radiation by allowing for additional unobserved photons in the final state, and the systematic errors include our estimates of the uncertainties of these effects. Furthermore, using an independent measurement of the luminosity, we obtain the cross sections $σ(e^+e^-\to D^0\overline{D}{}^0)=(3.607\pm 0.017 \pm 0.056) \ \mathrm{nb}$ and $σ(e^+e^-\to D^+D^-)=(2.882\pm 0.018 \pm 0.042) \ \mathrm{nb}$ at a center of mass energy, $E_\mathrm{cm} = 3774 \pm 1$ MeV.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2014

New determination of the D0->K-pi+pi0 and D0->K-pi+pi+pi- coherence factors and average strong-phase differences

Measurements of the coherence factors (R_Kpipi0 and R_K3pi) and the average strong-phase differences (delta^Kpipi0_D and delta^K3pi_D) for the decays D0-> K-pi+pi0 and D0->K-pi+pi+pi- are presented. These parameters are important inputs to the determination of the unitarity triangle angle gamma in B+/- -> DK+/- decays, where D designates a D0 or D0bar meson decaying to a common final state. The measurements are made using quantum correlated DDbar decays collected by the CLEO-c experiment at the psi(3770) resonance, and augment a previously published analysis by the inclusion of new events in which the signal decay is tagged by the mode D-> K0Spi+pi-. The measurements also benefit from improved knowledge of external inputs, namely the D0D0bar mixing parameters, r_D^Kpi and several D-meson branching fractions. The measured values are R_Kpipi0 = 0.82 +- 0.07, delta_D^Kpipi0 = (164+20-14) deg., R_K3pi = 0.32+0.20-0.28 and delta^K3pi_D = (225+21_-78) deg. Consideration is given to how these measurements can be improved further by using the larger quantum-correlated data set collected by BESIII.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2014

Plasticity of Zr-Nb-Ti-Ta-Hf high-entropy alloys

We have investigated the plastic deformation properties of non-equiatomic single phase Zr-Nb-Ti-Ta-Hf high-entropy alloys from room temperature up to 300 °C. Uniaxial deformation tests at a constant strain rate of 10$^{-4}$ s$^{-1}$ were performed including incremental tests such as stress-relaxations, strain-rate- and temperature changes in order to determine the thermodynamic activation parameters of the deformation process. The microstructure of deformed samples was characterized by transmission electron microscopy. The strength of the investigated Zr-Nb-Ti-Ta-Hf phase is not as high as the values frequently reported for high-entropy alloys in other systems. We find an activation enthalpy of about 1 eV and a stress dependent activation volume between 0.5 and 2 nm$^3$. The measurement of the activation parameters at higher temperatures is affected by structural changes evolving in the material during plastic deformation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Performance of the LHCb RICH detector at the LHC

The LHCb experiment has been taking data at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN since the end of 2009. One of its key detector components is the Ring-Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) system. This provides charged particle identification over a wide momentum range, from 2-100 GeV/c. The operation and control software, and online monitoring of the RICH system are described. The particle identification performance is presented, as measured using data from the LHC. Excellent separation of hadronic particle types (pion, kaon and proton) is achieved.

physics.ins-det↗