arXiv subjects

K. Saito

Publications and source records attributed to K. Saito.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Search for Anisotropy in the Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray Spectrum using the Telescope Array Surface Detector

The Telescope Array (TA) experiment is located in the western desert of Utah, USA, and observes ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) in the Northern hemisphere. At the highest energies, $E>10$~EeV, the shape of cosmic ray energy spectrum may carry an imprint of the source density distribution along the line of sight different in different directions of the sky. In this study, we search for such directional variations in the shape of the energy spectrum using events observed with the Telescope Array's surface detector. We divide the TA field of view into two nearly equal-exposure regions: the "on-source" region which we define as $\pm 30^\circ$ of the supergalactic plane containing mostly nearby structures, and the complementary "off-source" region where the sources are further away on average. We compare the UHECR spectra in these regions by fitting them to the broken power law and comparing the resulting parameters. We find that the off-source spectrum has an earlier break at highest energies. The chance probability to obtain such or larger difference in statistically equivalent distributions is estimated as $6.2\pm1.1\times10^{-4}$ ($3.2σ$) by a Monte-Carlo simulation. The observed difference in spectra is in a reasonable quantitative agreement with a simplified model that assumes that the UHECR sources trace the galaxy distribution from the 2MRS catalogue, primary particles are protons and the magnetic deflections can be neglected.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

Nonlinear transport associated with spin-density-wave dynamics in Ca$_3$Co$_{4}$O$_9$

We have carried out the transient nonlinear transport measurements on the layered cobalt oxide Ca$_3$Co$_{4}$O$_9$, in which a spin density wave (SDW) transition is proposed at $T_{\rm SDW} \simeq 30$ K. We find that, below $T_{\rm SDW}$, the electrical conductivity systematically varies with both the applied current and the time, indicating a close relationship between the observed nonlinear conduction and the SDW order in this material. The time dependence of the conductivity is well analyzed by considering the dynamics of SDW which involves a low-field deformation and a sliding motion above a threshold field. We also measure the transport properties of the isovalent Sr-substituted systems to examine an impurity effect on the nonlinear response, and discuss the obtained threshold fields in terms of thermal fluctuations of the SDW order parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Towards a Unified Model of Neutrino-Nucleus Reactions for Neutrino Oscillation Experiments

A precise description of neutrino-nucleus reactions will play a key role in addressing fundamental questions such as the leptonic CP violation and the neutrino mass hierarchy through analyzing data from next-generation neutrino oscillation experiments. The neutrino energy relevant to the neutrino-nucleus reactions spans a broad range and, accordingly, the dominant reaction mechanism varies across the energy region from quasi-elastic scattering through nucleon resonance excitations to deep inelastic scattering. This corresponds to transitions of the effective degree of freedom for theoretical description from nucleons through meson-baryon to quarks. The main purpose of this review is to report our recent efforts towards a unified description of the neutrino-nucleus reactions over the wide energy range; recent overall progress in the field is also sketched. Starting with an overview of the current status of neutrino-nucleus scattering experiments, we formulate the cross section to be commonly used for the reactions over all the energy regions. A description of the neutrino-nucleon reactions follows and, in particular, a dynamical coupled-channels model for meson productions in and beyond the $Δ$(1232) region is discussed in detail. We then discuss the neutrino-nucleus reactions, putting emphasis on our theoretical approaches. We start the discussion with electroweak processes in few-nucleon systems studied with the correlated Gaussian method. Then we describe quasi-elastic scattering with nuclear spectral functions, and meson productions with a $Δ$-hole model. Nuclear modifications of the parton distribution functions determined through a global analysis are also discussed. Finally, we discuss issues to be addressed for future developments.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2016

Search for EeV Protons of Galactic Origin

Cosmic rays in the energy range $10^{18.0}$ - $10^{18.5}$ eV are thought to have a light, probably protonic, composition. To study their origin one can search for anisotropy in their arrival directions. Extragalactic cosmic rays should be isotropic, but galactic cosmic rays of this type should be seen mostly along the galactic plane, and there should be a shortage of events coming from directions near the galactic anticenter. This is due to the fact that, under the influence of the galactic magnetic field, the transition from ballistic to diffusive behavior is well advanced, and this qualitative picture persists over the whole energy range. Guided by models of the galactic magnetic field that indicate that the enhancement along the galactic plane should have a standard deviation of about 20$^\circ$ in galactic latitude, and the deficit in the galactic anticenter direction should have a standard deviation of about 50$^\circ$ in galactic longitude, we use the data of the Telescope Array surface detector in $10^{18.0}$ to $10^{18.5}$ eV energy range to search for these effects. The data are isotropic. Neither an enhancement along the galactic plane nor a deficit in the galactic anticenter direction is found. Using these data we place an upper limit on the fraction of EeV cosmic rays of galactic origin at 1.3% at 95% confidence level.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Impacts of B-factory measurements on determination of fragmentation functions from electron-positron annihilation data

Fragmentation functions are determined for the pion and kaon by global analyses of charged-hadron production data in electron-positron annihilation. Accurate measurements were reported by the Belle and BaBar collaborations for the fragmentation functions at the center-of-mass energies of 10.52 GeV and 10.54 GeV, respectively, at the KEK and SLAC B factories, whereas other available $e^+e^-$ measurements were mostly done at higher energies, mainly at the $Z$ mass of 91.2 GeV. There is a possibility that gluon fragmentation functions, as well as quark fragmentation functions, are accurately determined by scaling violation. We report our global analysis of the fragmentation functions especially to show impacts of the B-factory measurements on the fragmentation function determination. Our results indicate that the fragmentation functions are determined more accurately not only by the scaling violation but also by high-statistical nature of the Belle and BaBar data. However, there are some tensions between the Belle and BaBar data in comparison with previous measurements. We also explain how the flavor dependence of quark fragmentation functions and the gluon function are separated by using measurements at different $Q^2$ values. In particular, the electric and weak changes are different depending on the quark type, so that a light-quark flavor separation also became possible in principle due to the precise data at both $\sqrt{s}\simeq 10.5$ GeV and 91.2 GeV.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Detailed neutron diffraction study of magnetic order in NdFe$_2$Al$_{10}$

The orthorhombic compound NdFe$_2$Al$_{10}$ has been studied by powder and single-crystal neutron diffraction. Below $T_N$ = 3.9 K, the Nd$^{3+}$ magnetic moments order in a double-$k$ [$\mathbf{k}_1 = (0, \frac{3}{4}, 0)$, $\mathbf{k}_2 = (0, \frac{1}{4}, 0)$] collinear magnetic structure, whose unit cell consists of four orthorhombic units in the $b$ direction.The refinements show that this structure consists of (0 1 0) ferromagnetic planes stacked along $b$, in which the moments are oriented parallel to $a$ (the easy anisotropy axis according to bulk magnetization measurements) and nearly equal in magnitude ($\approx 1.7-1.9\ μ_B$). The alternating 8-plane sequence providing the best agreement to the data turns out to be that which yields the lowest exchange energy if one assumes antiferromagnetic near-neighbor exchange interactions with $J_1 \gg J_2, J_3$. With increasing temperature, the single-crystal measurements indicate the suppression of the $\mathbf{k}_2$ component at $T = 2.7$ K, supporting the idea that the anomalies previously observed around 2--2.5 K result from a squaring transition. In a magnetic field applied along the $a$ axis, the magnetic Bragg satellites disappear at $H_c = 2.45$ T, in agreement with earlier measurements. Comparisons are made with related magnetic orders occurring in Ce$T_2$Al$_{10}$ ($T$: Ru, Os) and TbFe$_2$Al$_{10}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Clustering structure of nuclei in deep inelastic processes

A clustering aspect is explained for the $^9$Be nucleus in charged-lepton deep inelastic scattering. Nuclear modifications of the structure function $F_2$ are studied by the ratio $R_{\rm EMC} = F_2^A /F_2^D$, where $A$ and $D$ are a nucleus and the deuteron, respectively. In a JLab experiment, an unexpectedly large nuclear modification slope $|dR_{\rm EMC}/dx|$ was found for $^9$Be, which could be related to its clustering structure. We investigated a mean conventional part of a nuclear structure function $F_2^A$ by a convolution description with nucleon momentum distributions calculated by antisymmetrized (or fermionic) molecular dynamics (AMD) and also by a simple shell model. We found that clustering effects are small in the conventional part, so that the JLab result could be associated with an internal nucleon modification or a short-range nuclear correlation which is caused by high densities due to cluster formation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Insulator-to-Superconductor Transition upon Electron Doping in a BiS$_{2}$-Based Superconductor Sr$_{1-x}$La$_{x}$FBiS$_{2}$

Effects of electron doping on the BiS$_2$-based superconductors Sr$_{1-x}$La$_x$FBiS$_2$ ($0\le x\le 0.6$) have been investigated using the systematically synthesized polycrystals. The pristine compound is a band insulator with the BiS$_2$ layer, which accommodates electron carriers through the La substitution for Sr, as evidenced by the change in x-ray absorption spectra reflecting the occupancy of Bi 6$p$ orbitals. With increasing the carrier density, the resistivity progressively decreases and a bad metallic state appears for $x\ge0.45$, where bulk superconductivity manifests itself below approximately 3 K. The value of $T_{\rm c}$ gradually increases with decreasing $x$ from 0.6 to 0.45 and immediately decreases down to zero at the critical concentration of $x\sim 0.4$, resulting in an insulator-superconductor transition highly sensitive to the carrier density. Thermodynamic measurements furthermore have revealed the possible enhancement of the superconducting coupling strength as the insulating phase is approached. The obtained superconducting phase diagram is markedly different from the broad dome-shaped superconducting phase previously reported for $R$O$_{1-x}$F$_x$BiS$_2$ ($R$: rare-earth ion), suggesting a strong influence of the blocking layer on the superconductivity. Instead all these features are similar to those observed in Li-intercalated ZrNCl superconductor, except for the critical electron concentration of as low as 6% in the latter compound. For the present superconductor, notably, the existence of hole-type carriers has been indicated in the normal state from the Hall effect measurements. The Sr$_{1-x}$La$_x$FBiS$_2$ system providing the phase diagram for the rigid-band doping in the BiS$_2$ layer would be another prototypical example of superconductivity derived from a doped layered band insulator, hosting both hole-like and electron-like Fermi surfaces.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

The Cherenkov Telescope Array Large Size Telescope

The two arrays of the Very High Energy gamma-ray observatory Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) will include four Large Size Telescopes (LSTs) each with a 23 m diameter dish and 28 m focal distance. These telescopes will enable CTA to achieve a low-energy threshold of 20 GeV, which is critical for important studies in astrophysics, astroparticle physics and cosmology. This work presents the key specifications and performance of the current LST design in the light of the CTA scientific objectives.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

The Rise of Ingot Niobium as a Material for Superconducting Radiofrequency Accelerating Cavities

As a result of a collaboration between Jefferson Lab and niobium manufacturer CBMM, ingot niobium was explored as a possible material for superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavity fabrication. The first single cell cavity from large grain high purity niobium was fabricated and successfully tested at Jefferson Lab in 2004. This pioneering work triggered research activities in other SRF laboratories around the world. Large grain niobium became not only an interesting alternative material for cavity builders, but also material scientists and surface scientists were eager to participate in the development of this material. Most of the original expectations for this material of being less costly and allowing less expensive fabrication and treatment procedures at the same performance levels in cavities have been met. Many single cell cavities made from material of different suppliers have been tested successfully and several multi-cell cavities have shown the performances comparable to the best cavities made from standard poly-crystalline niobium. Several 9-cell cavities fabricated by Research Instruments and tested at DESY exceeded the best performing fine grain cavities with a record accelerating gradient of Eacc = 45.6 MV/m. Recently- at JLab- by using a new furnace treatment procedure a single cell cavity made of ingot niobium performed at a remarkably high Q0-value (~5x10^10) at an accelerating gradient of ~20 MV/m, at 2K. Such performance levels push the state-of-the art of SRF technology to new limits and are of great interest for future accelerators. This contribution reviews the development of ingot niobium technology and attempts to make a case for this material being the choice for future accelerators.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2013

Toward Construction of the Unified Lepton-Nucleus Interaction Model from a Few Hundred MeV to GeV Region

Next generation neutrino oscillation experiments will need a quantitative understanding of neutrino-nucleus interaction far better than ever. Kinematics covered by the relevant neutrino-nucleus interaction spans wide region, from the quasi-elastic, through the resonance region, to the deeply inelastic scattering region. The neutrino-nucleus interaction in each region has quite different characteristics. Obviously, it is essential to combine different expertise to construct a unified model that covers all the kinematical region of the neutrino-nucleus interaction. Recently, several experimentalists and theorists got together to form a collaboration to tackle this problem. In this contribution, we report the collaboration's recent activity and a goal in near future.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

VHE gamma-ray emission from the FSRQs observed by the MAGIC telescopes

Among more than fifty blazars detected in very high energy (VHE, E>100GeV) gamma-rays, only three belong to the subclass of Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs): PKS 1510-089, PKS 1222+216 and 3C 279. The detection of FSRQs in the VHE range is challenging, mainly because of their steep soft spectra in the GeV-TeV regime. MAGIC has observed and detected all FSRQs known to be VHE emitters up to now and found that they exhibit very different behavior. The 2010 discovery of PKS 1222+216 (z = 0.432) with the fast variability observed, challenges simple one-zone emission models and more complicated scenarios have been proposed. 3C 279 is the most distant VHE gamma-ray emitting AGN (z = 0.536), which was discovered by MAGIC in 2006 and detected again in 2007. In 2011 MAGIC observed 3C 279 two times: first during a monitoring campaign and later observations were triggered by a flare detected with Fermi-LAT. We present the MAGIC results and the multiwavelength behavior during this flaring epoch. Finally, we report the 2012 detection of PKS 1510-089 (z = 0.36), together with its simultaneous multiwavelength data from optical to gamma-rays.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Selected topics on parton distribution functions

We report recent studies on structure functions of the nucleon and nuclei. First, clustering effects are investigated in the structure function F_2 of Be-9 for explaining an unusual nuclear correction found in a JLab experiment. We propose that high densities created by formation of clustering structure like 2*alpha+neutron in Be-9 is the origin of the unexpected JLab result by using the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (AMD). There is an approved proposal at JLab to investigate the structure functions of light nuclei including the cluster structure, so that much details will become clear in a few years. Second, tensor-polarized quark and antiquark distributions are obtained by analyzing HERMES measurements on the structure function b_1 for the deuteron. The result suggests a finite tensor polarization for antiquark distributions, which is an interesting topic for further theoretical and experimental investigations. An experimental proposal exists at JLab for measuring b_1 of the deuteron as a new tensor-structure study in 2010's. Furthermore, the antiquark tensor polarization could be measured by polarized deuteron Drell-Yan processes at hadron facilities such as J-PARC and GSI-FAIR. Third, the recent CDF dijet anomaly is investigated within the standard model by considering possible modifications of the strange-quark distribution. We find that the shape of a dijet-mass spectrum changes depending on the strange-quark distribution. It indicates that the CDF excess could be partially explained as a PDF effect, particularly by the strangeness in the nucleon, within the standard model if the excess at m_{jj}~140 GeV is not a sharp peak.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Challenging the high-energy emission zone in FSRQs

The blazar zone in quasars is commonly assumed to be located inside the broad-line region at some hundreds of Schwartzschild radii from the central black hole. Now, the simultaneous Fermi/LAT and MAGIC observations of a strong flare in the FSRQ PKS 1222+21 (4C 21.35, z=0.432) on 2010 June 17 challenge this picture. The spectrum can be described by a single power law with photon index 2.72+/-0.34 between 3 GeV and 400 GeV, and this is consistent with emission from a single component in the jet. The absence of a spectral cutoff constrains the gamma-ray emission region to lie outside of the broad-line region, which would otherwise absorb the VHE gamma-rays. On the other hand, the MAGIC measurement of a doubling time of about 10 minutes indicates an extremely compact emission region, in conflict with the "far dissipation" scenario. This could be a hint for the importance of jet sub-structures, such as filaments, reconnection zones or shear layers for the occurrence of blazar flares.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Testing the emission models of blazar jets with the MAGIC telescopes

The MAGIC telescopes discovered very high energy (VHE, E>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission coming from the distant Flat Spectrum Radio Quasar (FSRQ) PKS 1222+21 (4C +21.35, z=0.432). It is the second most distant VHE gamma-ray source, with well measured redshift, detected until now. The observation was performed on 2010 June 17 (MJD 55364.9) using the two 17 m diameter imaging Cherenkov telescopes on La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). The MAGIC detection coincides with high energy MeV/GeV gamma-ray activity measured by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi satellite. The averaged integral flux above 100 GeV is equivalent to 1 Crab Nebula flux. The VHE flux measured by MAGIC varies significantly within the 30 minutes of exposure implying a flux doubling time of about 10 minutes. The VHE and MeV/GeV spectra, corrected for the absorption by the extragalactic background light, can be described by a single power law with photon index 2.72+/-0.34 between 3 GeV and 400 GeV, consistent with gamma-ray emission belonging to a single component in the jet. The absence of a spectral cutoff at 30-60 GeV (indeed, one finds a strict lower limit Ec>130 GeV) constrains the gamma-ray emission region to lie outside the broad line region, which would otherwise absorb the VHE gamma-rays. Together with the detected fast variability, this challenges present emission models from jets in FSRQs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Stereoscopic Observations of the Blazar 3C 66A with the MAGIC Telescopes

3C 66A is an intermediate-frequency peaked BL Lacertae object of uncertain redshift. We report recent observations of the region around the blazar with the MAGIC telescopes. The source was observed and detected in 2009 December and 2010 January, in 2.3 h of good quality data. The signal could clearly be assigned to the blazar 3C 66A, statistically and systematically rejecting the nearby radio galaxy 3C 66B as a possible origin of the gamma-ray signal by 3.6 standard deviations. The derived integral flux above 100GeV is 8.3% of the Crab Nebula flux, and the energy spectrum is reproduced by a power law of photon index 3.64 \pm 0.39(stat.) \pm 0.25(sys.). Within the errors, this is compatible with the spectrum derived by VERITAS in 2009. From the spectra corrected for absorption by the extragalactic background light, we only find small differences between the four modellings that we applied, and constrain the redshift of the blazar to z < 0.68.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

CANGAROO-III observation of TeV gamma rays from the unidentified gamma-ray source HESS J1614-518

We report the detection, with the CANGAROO-III imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescope array, of a very high energy gamma-ray signal from the unidentified gamma-ray source HESS J1614-518, which was discovered in the H.E.S.S. Galactic plane survey. Diffuse gamma-ray emission was detected above 760 GeV at the 8.9 sigma level during an effective exposure of 54 hr from 2008 May to August. The spectrum can be represented by a power-law: 8.2+-2.2_{stat}+-2.5_{sys}x10^{-12}x (E/1TeV)^{-Gamma} cm^{-2} s^{-1} TeV^{-1} with a photon index Gamma of 2.4+-0.3_{stat}+-0.2_{sys}, which is compatible with that of the H.E.S.S. observations. By combining our result with multi-wavelength data, we discuss the possible counterparts for HESS J1614-518 and consider radiation mechanisms based on hadronic and leptonic processes for a supernova remnant, stellar winds from massive stars, and a pulsar wind nebula. Although a leptonic origin from a pulsar wind nebula driven by an unknown pulsar remains possible, hadronic-origin emission from an unknown supernova remnant is preferred.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2011

Recent progress on nuclear parton distribution functions

We report current status of global analyses on nuclear parton distribution functions (NPDFs). The optimum NPDFs are determined by analyzing high-energy nuclear reaction data. Due to limited experimental measurements, antiquark modifications have large uncertainties at x>0.2 and gluon modifications cannot be determined. A nuclear modification difference between u and d quark distributions could be an origin of the long-standing NuTeV sin^2 theta_w anomaly. There is also an issue of nuclear modification differences between the structure functions of charged-lepton and neutrino reactions. Next, nuclear clustering effects are discussed in structure functions F_2^A as a possible explanation for an anomalous result in the Be-9 nucleus at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). Last, tensor-polarized quark and antiquark distribution functions are extracted from HERMES data on the polarized structure function b_1 of the deuteron, and they could be used for testing theoretical models and for proposing future experiments, for example, the one at JLab. Such measurements could open a new field of spin physics in spin-one hadrons.

hep-ph↗