Single-Photon Events in the DELPHI Experiment

Abstract: A series of studies pertaining to the STIC calorimeter at the DELPHI experiment at LEP is presented, and a new generation of fast wire scanners for emittance measurements at PS is described. The STIC studies are centered around a single-photon analysis, in which the reaction e+ e- -> gamma + invisible particles was studied at center-of-mass energies of 161, 172 and 183 GeV. The cross section thus obtained was used to measure the number of neutrino families, and also to set limits on physics reactions occuring outside the framework of the Standard Model. The single-photon analysis was rendered difficult by an abundance of off-energy electron background. This type of background was examined in a separate series of Monte Carlo simulations, which are also reported. The STIC calorimeter modules have been equipped with a tracking device in the form of silicon-strip detectors, in order to improve the rejection of off-energy electrons in single-photon analyses. Results from a study of the performance of these detectors are presented. A method to reduce coherent noise in the silicon-strip detectors is also described. A new generation of fast wire scanners was installed at PS in 1994. The wire scanners are an important tool for measuring transverse beam profiles, from which transverse emittances are derived. An upgrade of a previous set of wire scanners was essential in order to obtain a reliable instrument that provides highly accurate emittance measurements, in particular in view of the future use of the PS accelerator complex as part of the injector chain for LHC. A presentaion is given of the new instrument.