[en] This paper summarises the LHC potential for pp physics, with emphasis on aspects relevant to the study of High-Energy Cosmic Rays (HECR). A few examples are discussed, namely forward physics, which gives access to the highest energies, and searches for the Higgs boson, dark matter candidate particles, and black holes

[en] An upgrade of the LHC luminosity to 10³⁵ cm^-2 s^-1 is presently being considered. We discuss in this paper the implications on the experimental environment, the main detector challenges, and examples of the physics potential. Comparisons with other machines and options are performed for some relevant cases

[en] An imaging detector in the gamma range has its applications in various and different fields spanning from the medical diagnostic to the gamma astronomy. One of the techniques used in building such kind of 'gamma cameras' is based on the replication of individual pixel, each one being a stand alone detector. This kind of philosophy has been used in the construction of the PICsIT detector. PICsIT is the high-energy detector layer of the Imager IBIS that is one of the major instruments on board the INTEGRAL satellite observatory that the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch next October from Baikonour. PICsIT is made of 4096 CsI(Tl) scintillating detector 8.4 x 8.4 x 30 mm in size coupled to a PIN PD. Its operative range is 180-20400 keV and its operative modes allows to collect the information from both photoelectric events, which involves just one pixel and Compton or Pair events that involves more than one pixel at the same time. PICsIT is operating with a coded mask placed 3 m far from the detector. PICsIT has been integrated in the INTEGRAL satellite since the end of the year 2001 and is now undergoing the test foreseen for this kind of experiments

[en] IBIS is the gamma-ray imaging telescope onboard the ESA satellite INTEGRAL, which will be launched in 2001, PICsIT, the high-energy (140 keV-10 MeV) detector of IBIS, consists of a 64x64 units array. Each detection unit is a congruent with 0.8 cm2, 3 cm thick CsI(TI) crystal coupled with a photodiode. The engineering model (EM) of PICsIT has now been tested, calibrated, and integrated in IBIS for delivery to ESA. The calibration of PICsIT EM has allowed for the first time its scientific qualification in terms of: energy threshold, linearity, energy resolution, and photopeak efficiency (for events of various multiplicity)

[en] We update a previously-proposed set of supersymmetric benchmark scenarios, taking into account the precise constraints on the cold dark matter density obtained by combining WMAP and other cosmological data, as well as the LEP and b→sγ constraints. We assume that R parity is conserved and work within the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) with universal soft supersymmetry-breaking scalar and gaugino masses m₀ and m_1/2. In most cases, the relic density calculated for the previous benchmarks may be brought within the WMAP range by reducing slightly m₀, but in two cases more substantial changes in m₀ and m_1/2 are made. Since the WMAP constraint reduces the effective dimensionality of the CMSSM parameter space, one may study phenomenology along ''WMAP lines'' in the (m_1/2, m₀) plane that have acceptable amounts of dark matter. We discuss the production, decays and detectability of sparticles along these lines, at the LHC and at linear e⁺e^- colliders in the sub- and multi-TeV ranges, stressing the complementarity of hadron and lepton colliders, and with particular emphasis on the neutralino sector. Finally, we preview the accuracy with which one might be able to predict the density of supersymmetric cold dark matter using collider measurements. (orig.)

[en] The present paper is a progress report on our work towards estimating the energy emission involved in the many Gamma-Ray Bursts for which no redshift has been actually measured. Once such an estimate is obtained, we can try to extend the E_peak^rest-E_iso relation found by Amati et al. (Astron. Astrophys., 390 (2002) 81) to those vents. Following Attelia (Astron. Astrophys., 407 (2003) L1) we obtain a pseudo-redshift (z) estimate which then allows to estimate E_peak^rest and E_iso for each burst

[en] PICsIT is the high-energy detector layer of the IBIS Imager, composed of 4096 CsI(Tl) scintillator detectors 8.4 x 8.4 x 300 mm in size with Photodiode readout. The detector operates in the 175 keV-20.4 MeV range and its data generation modes make it possible to collect information from single events and multiple coincident events. PICsIT is surrounded by the active BGO VETO and is located about 3 metres below the coded mask. The entire PICsIT plane is physically divided into 8 modules and logically divided into smaller units. The overall performance of the plane is directly related to the behaviour of each individual pixel, including its electronics, the system interconnection logic, and interaction with the other sub-systems. Pixels and electronic parameters were monitored constantly during instrument assembly. The following report describes PICsIT design and contains a summary of on-ground test results. (authors)

[en] We present the preliminary results of a systematic search for GRB and other transients ill the publicly available data for the IBIS/PICsIT (0.2-10 MeV) detector on board INTEGRAL. Light curves in 2-8 energy bands with time resolution from 1 to 62.5 ms have been collected and an analysis of spectral and temporal characteristics has been performed. This is the nucleus of a forthcoming first catalog of GRB observed by PICsIT. (authors)

[en] We propose a new set of supersymmetric benchmark scenarios, taking into account the constraints from LEP, b →s γ, g_μ - 2 and cosmology. We work in the specific context of the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) with universal soft supersymmetry-breaking masses and vanishing trilinear terms, assuming that R parity is conserved. We propose benchmark points that exemplify the different generic possibilities in this context, including focus-point models, points where coannihilation effects on the relic density are important, and points with rapid relic annihilation via direct-channel Higgs poles. We discuss the principal decays and signatures of the different classes of benchmark scenarios, and make initial estimates of the physics reaches of different accelerators, including the Tevatron collider, the LHC, and e⁺ e^- colliders in the sub- and multi-TeV ranges. We stress the complementarity of hadron and lepton colliders, with the latter favoured for non-strongly-interacting particles and precision measurements. We mention features that could usefully be included in future versions of supersymmetric event generators. (orig.)

[en] We motivate, propose and examine a new set of benchmark supersymmetric scenarios, some of which have non-universal Higgs scalar masses (NUHM) and others have gravitino dark matter (GDM). The scalar masses in these proposed models are either considerably larger or smaller than the narrow range allowed for the same gaugino mass m_1/2 in the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) with universal scalar masses m₀ and neutralino dark matter. Unlike the CMSSM, the proposed NUHM and GDM models with larger m₀ may have large branching ratios for Higgs and/or Z production in the cascade decays of heavier sparticles, whose detection we discuss. The novel phenomenology of the GDM models depends on the nature of the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP), which has a lifetime exceeding 10⁴ s in the proposed benchmark scenarios. In one GDM scenario the NLSP is the lightest neutralino χ, and the supersymmetric collider signatures are similar to those in previous CMSSM benchmarks, but with a distinctive spectrum that would be challenging for the LHC and ILC. In the other GDM scenarios based on minimal supergravity (mSUGRA), the NLSP is the lighter stau slepton τ₁, with a lifetime between ∝10⁴ and 3 x 10⁶ s. Every supersymmetric cascade would end in a τ₁, which would have a distinctive time-of-flight signature. Slow-moving τ₁'s might be trapped in a collider detector or outside it, and the preferred detection strategy would depend on the τ₁ lifetime. We discuss the extent to which these mSUGRA GDM scenarios could be distinguished from gauge-mediated models. (orig.)