From the 2002 data taking with a neutral kaon beam extracted from the CERN-SPS, the NA48/1 experiment observed 97 Xi(0) -> Sigma(+)mu(-)(nu) over bar (mu) candidates with a background contamination of 30.8 +/- 4.2 events. From this sample, the BR( Xi(0) -> Sigma(+)mu(-)(nu) over bar (mu) ) is measured to be (2.17 +/- 0.32(stat) +/- 0.17(syst)) x 10(-6). (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

From the 2002 data taking with a neutral kaon beam extracted from the CERN-SPS, the NA48/1 experiment observed 97 $\Xi^{0}\rightarrow \Sigma^{+} \mu^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\mu}$ candidates with a background contamination of $30.8 \pm 4.2$ events. From this sample, the BR($\Xi^{0}\rightarrow \Sigma^{+} \mu^{-} \bar{\nu}_{\mu}$) is measured to be $(2.17 \pm 0.32_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 0.17_{\mathrm{syst}})\times10^{-6}$.

The KS→π+π−e+e− decay mode was investigated using the data collected in 2002 by the NA48/1 Collaboration. With about 23 k KS→π+π−e+e− events and 59 k KL→π+π−πD0 normalization decays, the KS→π+π−e+e− branching ratio relative to the KL→π+π−πD0 one was determined to be BR(KS→π+π−e+e−)/BR(KL→π+π−πD0)=(3.28±0.06stat±0.04syst)×10−2. This result was used to set the upper limit |gE1/gBR|<3.0 at 90% CL on the presence, in the decay amplitude, of an E1 direct emission (gE1) term relative to the dominant inner bremsstrahlung (gBR) term. The CP-violating asymmetry Aϕ in the sinϕcosϕ distribution of KS→π+π−e+e− events, where ϕ is the angle between the π+π− and the e+e− decay planes in the kaon centre of mass, was found to be Aϕ=(−0.4±0.8)%, consistent with zero. These results are in good agreement with a description of the KS→π+π−e+e− decay amplitude dominated by the CP-even inner bremsstrahlung process.

The results of the CMS tracker alignment analysis are presented using the data from cosmic tracks, optical survey information, and the laser alignment system at the Tracker Integration Facility at CERN. During several months of operation in the spring and summer of 2007, about five million cosmic track events were collected with a partially active CMS Tracker. This allowed us to perform first alignment of the active silicon modules with the cosmic tracks using three different statistical approaches; validate the survey and laser alignment system performance; and test the stability of Tracker structures under various stresses and temperatures ranging from +15 °C to −15 °C. Comparison with simulation shows that the achieved alignment precision in the barrel part of the tracker leads to residual distributions similar to those obtained with a random misalignment of 50 (80) μm RMS in the outer (inner) part of the barrel.

A total of 368415 Xi(0) --> Lambda Xi(0) and 31 171 (Xi(0)) over bar --> (Lambda) over bar pi(0) were selected from data recorded in the NA48/1 experiment during 2002 data taking. From this sample, the polarization of Xi(0) and (Xi(0)) over bar hyperons was measured to be P-Xi 0 = -0.102 +/- 0.012(stat) +/- 0.008(syst) and P-(Xi 0) over bar = -0.01 +/- 0.04(stat) 0.008(syst). The dependence of P-Xi 0 on the Xi(0) transverse momentum with respect to the primary proton beam is also presented. With the same data sample. the ratio of (Xi(0)) over bar and Xi(0) fluxes in proton collisions at 400 GeV/c oil a beryllium target was measured. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In March 2007 the assembly of the Silicon Strip Tracker was completed at the Tracker Integration Facility at CERN. Nearly 15% of the detector was instrumented using cables, fiber optics, power supplies, and electronics intended for the operation at the LHC. A local chiller was used to circulate the coolant for low temperature operation. In order to understand the efficiency and alignment of the strip tracker modules, a cosmic ray trigger was implemented. From March through July 4.5 million triggers were recorded. This period, referred to as the Sector Test, provided practical experience with the operation of the Tracker, especially safety, data acquisition, power, and cooling systems. This paper describes the performance of the strip system during the Sector Test, which consisted of five distinct periods defined by the coolant temperature. Significant emphasis is placed on comparisons between the data and results from Monte Carlo studies.

The subsystems of the CMS silicon strip tracker were integrated and commissioned at the Tracker Integration Facility (TIF) in the period from November 2006 to July 2007. As part of the commissioning, large samples of cosmic ray data were recorded under various running conditions in the absence of a magnetic field. Cosmic rays detected by scintillation counters were used to trigger the readout of up to 15% of the final silicon strip detector, and over 4.7 million events were recorded. This document describes the cosmic track reconstruction and presents results on the performance of track and hit reconstruction as from dedicated analyses.

During summer 2006 a fraction of the CMS silicon strip tracker was operated in a comprehensive slice test called the Magnet Test and Cosmic Challenge (MTCC). At the MTCC, cosmic rays detected in the muon chambers were used to trigger the readout of all CMS sub-detectors in the general data acquisition system and in the presence of the 4 T magnetic field produced by the CMS superconducting solenoid. This document describes the operation of the Tracker hardware and software prior, during and after data taking. The performance of the detector as resulting from the MTCC data analysis is also presented.

This report presents the capabilities of the CMS experiment to explore the rich heavy-ion physics programme offered by the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The collisions of lead nuclei at energies , will probe quark and gluon matter at unprecedented values of energy density. The prime goal of this research is to study the fundamental theory of the strong interaction ? Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) ? in extreme conditions of temperature, density and parton momentum fraction (low-x).This report covers in detail the potential of CMS to carry out a series of representative Pb-Pb measurements. These include bulk observables, (charged hadron multiplicity, low pT inclusive hadron identified spectra and elliptic flow) which provide information on the collective properties of the system, as well as perturbative probes such as quarkonia, heavy-quarks, jets and high pT hadrons which yield tomographic information of the hottest and densest phases of the reaction.

We present a measurement of the ratio of the decay rates Gamma(KL -> pi+ pi-)/Gamma(KL -> pi e nu), denoted as Gamma(K2pi)/Gamma(Ke3). The analysis is based on data taken during a dedicated run in 1999 by the NA48 experiment at the CERN SPS. Using a sample of 47000 K2pi and five million Ke3 decays, we find Gamma(K2pi)/Gamma(Ke3) = (4.835 +- 0.022(stat) +- 0.016(syst)) x 10^-3. From this we derive the branching ratio of the CP violating decay KL -> pi+ pi- and the CP violation parameter |eta+-|. Excluding the CP conserving direct photon emission component KL -> pi+ pi- gamma, we obtain the results BR(KL -> pi+ pi-) = (1.941 +- 0.019) x 10^-3 and |eta+-| = (2.223 +- 0.012) x 10^-3.

From 56 days of data taking in 2002, the NA48/1 experiment observed 6316 Xi0 -->Sigma+ e- nubar candidates (with the subsequent Sigma+ -->p pi0 decay) and 555 anti-Xi0 -->anti-Sigma+ e+ nu candidates with background contamination of 215+-44 and 136+-8 events, respectively. From these samples, the branching ratios BR(Xi0 -->Sigma+ e- nubar)= (2.51+-0.03stat+-0.09syst)E(-4) and BR(anti-Xi0 -->anti-Sigma+ e+ nu)= (2.55+-0.14stat+-0.10syst)E(-4) were measured allowing the determination of the CKM matrix element |Vus| = 0.209+0.023-0.028. Using the Particle Data Group average for |Vus| obtained in semileptonic kaon decays, we measured the ratio g1/f1 = 1.20+-0.05 of the axial-vector to vector form factors.

During summer 2006 a fraction of the CMS silicon strip tracke r was operated in a comprehensive slice test called the Magnet Test and Cosmic Challenge (MTCC ). At the MTCC, cosmic rays detected in the muon chambers were used to trigger the readout of all CM S sub-detectors in the general data acquisition system and in the presence of the 4 T magnetic fiel d produced by the CMS superconducting solenoid. This document describes the operation of the Trac ke hardware and software prior, during and after data taking. The performance of the detector as res ulting from the MTCC data analysis is also presented. 1) Université Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, BEL GIUM 2) Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, BELGIUM 3) Universiteit Antwerpen, Wilrijk, BELGIUM 4) Institut de Recherches Subatomiques, IN2P3-CNRS ULP, LEP SI Strasbourg, UHA Mulhouse, Strasbourg, FRANCE 5) Institut de Physique Nucléaire de Lyon, IN2P3-CNRS, Unive rsit ́ Claude Bernard Lyon I, Villeurbanne, FRANCE 6) RWTH, I. Physikalisches Institut, Aachen, GERMANY 7) RWTH, III. Physikalisches Institut B, Aachen, GERMANY 8) University of Hamburg, Hamburg, GERMANY 9) Institut für Experimentelle Kernphysik, Karlsruhe, GERM ANY 10) Università di Bari, Politecnico di Bari e Sezione dell’ INF, Bari, ITALY 11) Università di Catania e Sezione dell’ INFN, Catania, ITALY 12) Università di Firenze e Sezione dell’ INFN, Firenze, ITALY 13) Università di Padova e Sezione dell’ INFN, Padova, ITALY 14) Università di Perugia e Sezione dell’ INFN, Perugia, ITALY 15) Università di Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore e Sezione del l’ INFN, Pisa, ITALY 16) Università di Torino e Sezione dell’ INFN, Torino, ITALY 17) CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva, SWITZERLAND 18) Brunel University, Uxbridge, UNITED KINGDOM 19) Imperial College, London, UNITED KINGDOM 20) Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, UNITED KINGDOM 21) Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois , USA 22) Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massac husetts, USA 23) University of Rochester, Rochester, New York, USA 24) University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA 25) University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, Ca lifornia, USA 26) University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Chicago, Illinois , USA in 2p 300 23 55 16 , v er si on 1 4 Fe b 20 08

The beam and detector, used for the NA48 experiment, devoted to the measurement of Re(ε′/ε), and for the NA48/1 experiment on rare KS and neutral hyperon decays, are described.

The decay rate of KS→πeν relative to the rate of KL→πeν has been measured by the NA48 Collaboration in a neutral kaon beam originating from 400 GeV proton-Be interactions at the CERN SPS. The result is 0.993±0.026stat±0.022syst, compatible with 1 in agreement with the Standard Model prediction at tree level. It implies BR(KS→πeν)=(7.05±0.18stat±0.16syst)×10−4.