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The formation of secondary particles in the atmosphere accounts for more than half of global cloud condensation nuclei. Experiments at the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) chamber have underlined the importance of ions for new particle formation, but quantifying their effect in the atmosphere remains challenging. By using a novel instrument setup consisting of two nano-particle counters, one of them equipped with an ion filter, we were able to further investigate the ion-related mechanisms of new particle formation. In autumn 2015, we carried out experiments at CLOUD on four systems of different chemical compositions involving monoterpenes, sulfuric acid, nitrogen oxides, and ammonia. We measured the influence of ions on the nucleation rates under precisely controlled and atmospherically relevant conditions. Our results indicate that ions enhance the nucleation process when the charge is necessary to stabilize newly formed clusters, i.e. in conditions where neutral clusters are unstable. For charged clusters that were formed by ion-induced nucleation, we were able to measure, for the first time, their progressive neutralization due to recombination with oppositely charged ions. A large fraction of the clusters carried a charge at 1.2 nm diameter. However, depending on particle growth rates and ion concentrations, charged clusters were largely neutralized by ion–ion recombination before they grew to 2.2 nm. At this size, more than 90 % of particles were neutral. In other words, particles may originate from ion-induced nucleation, although they are neutral upon detection at diameters larger than 2.2 nm. Observations at Hyytiälä, Finland, showed lower ion concentrations and a lower contribution of ion-induced nucleation than measured at CLOUD under similar conditions. Although this can be partly explained by the observation that ion-induced fractions decrease towards lower ion concentrations, further investigations are needed to resolve the origin of the discrepancy.
Nucleation and growth of aerosol particles from atmospheric vapors constitutes a major source of global cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The fraction of newly formed particles that reaches CCN sizes is highly sensitive to particle growth rates, especially for particle sizes <10 nm, where coagulation losses to larger aerosol particles are greatest. Recent results show that some oxidation products from biogenic volatile organic compounds are major contributors to particle formation and initial growth. However, whether oxidized organics contribute to particle growth over the broad span of tropospheric temperatures remains an open question, and quantitative mass balance for organic growth has yet to be demonstrated at any temperature. Here, in experiments performed under atmospheric conditions in the Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD) chamber at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), we show that rapid growth of organic particles occurs over the range from −25 ∘C to 25 ∘C. The lower extent of autoxidation at reduced temperatures is compensated by the decreased volatility of all oxidized molecules. This is confirmed by particle-phase composition measurements, showing enhanced uptake of relatively less oxygenated products at cold temperatures. We can reproduce the measured growth rates using an aerosol growth model based entirely on the experimentally measured gas-phase spectra of oxidized organic molecules obtained from two complementary mass spectrometers. We show that the growth rates are sensitive to particle curvature, explaining widespread atmospheric observations that particle growth rates increase in the single-digit-nanometer size range. Our results demonstrate that organic vapors can contribute to particle growth over a wide range of tropospheric temperatures from molecular cluster sizes onward.
J/ψ suppression has long been considered a sensitive signature of the formation of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this letter, we present the first measurement of inclusive J/ψ production at mid-rapidity through the dimuon decay channel in Au+Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV with the STAR experiment. These measurements became possible after the installation of the Muon Telescope Detector was completed in 2014. The J/ψ yields are measured in a wide transverse momentum (pT) range of 0.15 GeV/c to 12 GeV/c from central to peripheral collisions. They extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements at RHIC with improved precision. In the 0-10% most central collisions, the J/ψ yield is suppressed by a factor of approximately 3 for pT > 5 GeV/c relative to that in p + p collisions scaled by the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions. The J/ψ nuclear modification factor displays little dependence on pT in all centrality bins. Model calculations can qualitatively describe the data, providing further evidence for the color-screening effect experienced by J/ψ mesons in the QGP.
The polarization of Λ and Λ¯ hyperons along the beam direction has been measured relative to the second and third harmonic event planes in isobar Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV. This is the first experimental evidence of the hyperon polarization by the triangular flow originating from the initial density fluctuations. The amplitudes of the sine modulation for the second and third harmonic results are comparable in magnitude, increase from central to peripheral collisions, and show a mild pT dependence. The azimuthal angle dependence of the polarization follows the vorticity pattern expected due to elliptic and triangular anisotropic flow, and qualitatively disagree with most hydrodynamic model calculations based on thermal vorticity and shear induced contributions. The model results based on one of existing implementations of the shear contribution lead to a correct azimuthal angle dependence, but predict centrality and pT dependence that still disagree with experimental measurements. Thus, our results provide stringent constraints on the thermal vorticity and shear-induced contributions to hyperon polarization. Comparison to previous measurements at RHIC and the LHC for the second-order harmonic results shows little dependence on the collision system size and collision energy.
We measure the Born cross section for the reaction e+e−→ηhc from s√=4.129 to 4.600~GeV using data sets collected by the BESIII detector running at the BEPCII collider. A resonant structure in the cross section line shape near 4.200~GeV is observed with a statistical significance of 7σ. The parameters of this resonance are measured to be \MeasMass\ and \MeasWidth, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic.
Observation of η_(c)(1S, 2S) and χ_(cJ) decays to 2(π⁺π^(−))η via ψ(3686) radiative transitions
(2024)
Based on 2.7×109 ψ(3686) decays collected with the BESIII detector, the radiative decay ψ(3686)→γ2(π+π−)η is investigated to measure properties of S- and P-wave charmonium states. The branching fraction of the decay ηc(1S)→2(π+π−)η, which is found to have a strong dependence on the interference pattern between ηc(1S) and non-ηc(1S) processes, is measured in both destructive and constructive interference scenarios for the first time. The mass and width of the ηc(1S) are measured to be M=(2984.14±0.13±0.38) MeV/c2 and Γ=(28.82±0.11±0.82) MeV, respectively. Clear signals for the decays of the χcJ(J=0,1,2) and the ηc(2S) to 2(π+π−)η are also observed for the first time, and the corresponding branching fractions are measured. The ratio of the branching fractions between the ηc(2S) and ηc(1S) decays is significantly lower than the theoretical prediction, which might suggest different dynamics in their decays.
Based on (2712.4±14.3)×106 ψ(3686) events, we investigate four hadronic decay modes of the P-wave charmonium spin-singlet state hc(1P1)→h+h−π0/η (h=π or K) via the process ψ(3686)→π0hc at BESIII. The hc→π+π−π0 decay is observed with a significance of 9.6σ after taking into account systematic uncertainties. Evidences for hc→K+K−π0 and hc→K+K−η are found with significances of 3.5σ and 3.3σ, respectively, after considering the systematic uncertainties. The branching fractions of these decays are measured to be B(hc→π+π−π0)=(1.36±0.16±0.14)×10−3, B(hc→K+K−π0)=(3.26±0.84±0.36)×10−4, and B(hc→K+K−η)=(3.13±1.08±0.38)×10−4, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. No significant signal of hc→π+π−η is found, and the upper limit of its decay branching fraction is determined to be B(hc→π+π−η)<4.0×10−4 at 90% confidence level.
Using 9.0 fb−1 of e+e− collision data collected at center-of-mass energies from 4.178 to 4.278 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider, we perform the first search for the radiative transition χc1(3872)→γψ2(3823). No χc1(3872)→γψ2(3823) signal is observed. The upper limit on the ratio of branching fractions B(χc1(3872)→γψ2(3823),ψ2(3823)→γχc1)/B(χc1(3872)→π+π−J/ψ) is set as 0.075 at the 90\% confidence level. Our result contradicts theoretical predictions under the assumption that the χc1(3872) is the pure charmonium state χc1(2P).
We report the first amplitude analysis of the decays D0→π+π−η and D+→π+π0η using a data sample taken with the BESIII detector at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7.9 fb−1. The contribution from the process D0(+)→a0(980)+π−(0) is significantly larger than the D0(+)→a0(980)−(0)π+ contribution. The ratios B(D0→a0(980)+π−)/B(D0→a0(980)−π+) and B(D+→a0(980)+π0)/B(D+→a0(980)0π+) are measured to be 7.5+2.5−0.8stat.±1.7syst. and 2.6±0.6stat.±0.3syst., respectively. The measured D0 ratio disagrees with the theoretical predictions by orders of magnitudes, thus implying a substantial contribution from final-state interactions.
The process e+e−→pp¯π0 is studied at 20 center-of-mass energies ranging from 2.1000 to 3.0800 GeV using 636.8 pb−1 of data collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider. The Born cross sections for e+e−→pp¯π0 are measured with high precision. Since the lowest center-of-mass energy, 2.1000 GeV, is less than 90 MeV above the pp¯π0 energy threshold, we can probe the threshold behavior for this reaction. However, no anomalous threshold enhancement is found in the cross sections for e+e−→pp¯π0.