A state observer for the Virgo inverted pendulum.

We report an application of Kalman filtering to the inverted pendulum (IP) of the Virgo gravitational wave interferometer. Using subspace method system identification techniques, we calculated a linear mechanical model of Virgo IP from experimental transfer functions. We then developed a Kalman filter, based on the obtained state space representation, that estimates from open loop time domain data, the state variables of the system. This allows the observation (and eventually control) of every resonance mode of the IP mechanical structure independently.

Directional limits on persistent gravitational waves using LIGO S5 science data.

The gravitational-wave (GW) sky may include nearby pointlike sources as well as stochastic backgrounds. We perform two directional searches for persistent GWs using data from the LIGO S5 science run: one optimized for pointlike sources and one for arbitrary extended sources. Finding no evidence to support the detection of GWs, we present 90% confidence level (C.L.) upper-limit maps of GW strain power with typical values between 2-20×10(-50) strain(2) Hz(-1) and 5-35×10(-49) strain(2) Hz(-1) sr(-1) for pointlike and extended sources, respectively. The latter result is the first of its kind. We also set 90% C.L. limits on the narrow-band root-mean-square GW strain from interesting targets including Sco X-1, SN 1987A and the Galactic center as low as ≈7×10(-25) in the most sensitive frequency range near 160 Hz.

In-vacuum Faraday isolation remote tuning.

In-vacuum Faraday isolators (FIs) are used in gravitational wave interferometers to prevent the disturbance caused by light reflected back to the input port from the interferometer itself. The efficiency of the optical isolation is becoming more critical with the increase of laser input power. An in-vacuum FI, used in a gravitational wave experiment (Virgo), has a 20 mm clear aperture and is illuminated by an almost 20 W incoming beam, having a diameter of about 5 mm. When going in vacuum at 10(-6) mbar, a degradation of the isolation exceeding 10 dB was observed. A remotely controlled system using a motorized lambda=2 waveplate inserted between the first polarizer and the Faraday rotator has proven its capability to restore the optical isolation to a value close to the one set up in air.

An upper limit on the stochastic gravitational-wave background of cosmological origin.

A stochastic background of gravitational waves is expected to arise from a superposition of a large number of unresolved gravitational-wave sources of astrophysical and cosmological origin. It should carry unique signatures from the earliest epochs in the evolution of the Universe, inaccessible to standard astrophysical observations. Direct measurements of the amplitude of this background are therefore of fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of the Universe when it was younger than one minute. Here we report limits on the amplitude of the stochastic gravitational-wave background using the data from a two-year science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Our result constrains the energy density of the stochastic gravitational-wave background normalized by the critical energy density of the Universe, in the frequency band around 100 Hz, to be <6.9 x 10(-6) at 95% confidence. The data rule out models of early Universe evolution with relatively large equation-of-state parameter, as well as cosmic (super)string models with relatively small string tension that are favoured in some string theory models. This search for the stochastic background improves on the indirect limits from Big Bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background at 100 Hz.

In-vacuum optical isolation changes by heating in a Faraday isolator.

We describe a model evaluating changes in the optical isolation of a Faraday isolator when passing from air to vacuum in terms of different thermal effects in the crystal. The changes are particularly significant in the crystal thermal lensing (refraction index and thermal expansion) and in its Verdet constant and can be ascribed to the less efficient convection cooling of the magneto-optic crystal of the Faraday isolator. An isolation decrease by a factor of 10 is experimentally observed in a Faraday isolator that is used in a gravitational wave experiment (Virgo) with a 10 W input laser when going from air to vacuum. A finite element model simulation reproduces with a great accuracy the experimental data measured on Virgo and on a test bench. A first set of measurements of the thermal lensing has been used to characterize the losses of the crystal, which depend on the sample. The isolation factor measured on Virgo confirms the simulation model and the absorption losses of 0.0016 +/- 0.0002/cm for the TGG magneto-optic crystal used in the Faraday isolator.

Quasifree pi0 and pi- electroproduction on 4He in the Delta-resonance region.

The reactions 4He(e, e' p3He)pi- and 4He(e, e' p3He)pi0 were studied simultaneously, and for the first time, in a large kinematical domain including the Delta-resonance region. This was achieved by detecting the recoiling 3He and 3H nuclei instead of the emitted pions. The dependences of the cross section on the recoil momentum p(rec), the invariant mass WpiN, and the direction thetapi,q' and phipi,q' of the produced pion, are globally well described by the results of (quasifree) distorted-wave impulse approximation calculations. However, in the Delta-resonance region there are clear discrepancies, which point to medium modifications of the Delta in 4He.

Limits for the central production of Theta+ and Xi(--)pentaquarks in 920-GeV pA collisions.

We have searched for Theta+(1540) and Xi(--)(1862) pentaquark candidates in proton-induced reactions on C, Ti, and W targets at midrapidity and square root of s = 41.6 GeV. In 2 x 10(8) inelastic events we find no evidence for narrow (sigma approximately 5 MeV) signals in the Theta+ --> pK0(S) and Xi(--) --> Xi- pi- channels; our 95% C.L. upper limits (UL) for the inclusive production cross section times branching fraction B dsigma/dy/(y approximately 0) are (4-16) mub/N for a Theta+ mass between 1521 and 1555 MeV, and 2.5 mub/N for the Xi(--). The UL of the yield ratio of Theta+/Lambda(1520) < (3-12)% is significantly lower than model predictions. Our UL of B Xi(--)/Xi(1530)0 < 4% is at variance with the results that have provided the first evidence for the Xi(--).

Electron-induced neutron knockout from 4He.

The differential cross section for electron-induced neutron knockout in the reaction 4He(e,e(')n)(3)He has been measured for the first time with a statistical accuracy of 11%. The experiment was performed in quasielastic kinematics at a momentum transfer of 300 MeV/c and in the missing-momentum range of 25-70 MeV/c. The comparison of the data with theoretical calculations shows an impressive increase of the cross section resulting from final state interaction effects. Specifically, the p-n charge-exchange process dominates the cross section in this kinematical regime.

Spin-momentum correlations in quasielastic electron scattering from deuterium.

The spin-momentum correlation parameter A(V)(ed) was measured for the 2H-->(e-->,e'p)n reaction for missing momenta up to 350 MeV/c at Q2 = 0.21 (GeV/c)(2) for quasielastic scattering of polarized electrons from vector-polarized deuterium. The data give detailed information about the deuteron spin structure and are in good agreement with the results of microscopic calculations based on realistic nucleon-nucleon potentials and including various spin-dependent reaction mechanism effects. The experiment reveals in a most direct manner the effects of the D state in the deuteron ground-state wave function and shows the importance of isobar configurations for this reaction.