| 1. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
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Alignment of the ALICE Inner Tracking System with cosmic-ray tracks
- 2010
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In: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 5
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) experiment devoted to investigating the strongly interacting matter created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC energies. The ALICE ITS, Inner Tracking System, consists of six cylindrical layers of silicon detectors with three different technologies; in the outward direction: two layers of pixel detectors, two layers each of drift, and strip detectors. The number of parameters to be determined in the spatial alignment of the 2198 sensor modules of the ITS is about 13,000. The target alignment precision is well below 10 mu m in some cases (pixels). The sources of alignment information include survey measurements, and the reconstructed tracks from cosmic rays and from proton-proton collisions. The main track-based alignment method uses the Millepede global approach. An iterative local method was developed and used as well. We present the results obtained for the ITS alignment using about 10(5) charged tracks from cosmic rays that have been collected during summer 2008, with the ALICE solenoidal magnet switched off.
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| 2. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
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First proton-proton collisions at the LHC as observed with the ALICE detector: measurement of the charged-particle pseudorapidity density at root s=900 GeV
- 2010
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In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 65:1-2, s. 111-125
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- On 23rd November 2009, during the early commissioning of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), two counter-rotating proton bunches were circulated for the first time concurrently in the machine, at the LHC injection energy of 450 GeV per beam. Although the proton intensity was very low, with only one pilot bunch per beam, and no systematic attempt was made to optimize the collision optics, all LHC experiments reported a number of collision candidates. In the ALICE experiment, the collision region was centred very well in both the longitudinal and transverse directions and 284 events were recorded in coincidence with the two passing proton bunches. The events were immediately reconstructed and analyzed both online and offline. We have used these events to measure the pseudorapidity density of charged primary particles in the central region. In the range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.5, we obtain dN(ch)/d eta = 3.10 +/- 0.13(stat.) +/- 0.22(syst.) for all inelastic interactions, and dN(ch)/d eta = 3.51 +/- 0.15(stat.) +/- 0.25(syst.) for nonsingle diffractive interactions. These results are consistent with previous measurements in proton-antiproton interactions at the same centre-of-mass energy at the CERN Sp<(p)over bar>S collider. They also illustrate the excellent functioning and rapid progress of the LHC accelerator, and of both the hardware and software of the ALICE experiment, in this early start-up phase.
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| 3. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
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Midrapidity Antiproton-to-Proton Ratio in pp Collisons root s=0.9 and 7 TeV Measured by the ALICE Experiment
- 2010
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In: Physical Review Letters. - 1079-7114. ; 105:7
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ratio of the yields of antiprotons to protons in pp collisions has been measured by the ALICE experiment at root s = 0.9 and 7 TeV during the initial running periods of the Large Hadron Collider. The measurement covers the transverse momentum interval 0.45 < p(t) < 1.05 GeV/c and rapidity vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5. The ratio is measured to be R-vertical bar y vertical bar<0.5 = 0.957 +/- 0.006(stat) +/- 0.0014(syst) at 0.9 Tev and R-vertical bar y vertical bar<0.5 = 0.991 +/- 0.005 +/- 0.014(syst) at 7 TeV and it is independent of both rapidity and transverse momentum. The results are consistent with the conventional model of baryon-number transport and set stringent limits on any additional contributions to baryon-number transfer over very large rapidity intervals in pp collisions.
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| 4. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Production of pions, kaons and protons in pp collisions at root s=900 GeV with ALICE at the LHC
- 2011
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In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 71:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The production of pi(+), pi(-), K+, K-, p, and (p) over bar at mid-rapidity has been measured in proton-proton collisions at root s = 900 GeV with the ALICE detector. Particle identification is performed using the specific energy loss in the inner tracking silicon detector and the time projection chamber. In addition, time-of-flight information is used to identify hadrons at higher momenta. Finally, the distinctive kink topology of the weak decay of charged kaons is used for an alternative measurement of the kaon transverse momentum (p(t)) spectra. Since these various particle identification tools give the best separation capabilities over different momentum ranges, the results are combined to extract spectra from p(t) = 100 MeV/c to 2.5 GeV/c. The measured spectra are further compared with QCD-inspired models which yield a poor description. The total yields and the mean pt are compared with previous measurements, and the trends as a function of collision energy are discussed.
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| 5. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Transverse momentum spectra of charged particles in proton-proton collisions at root s=900 GeV with ALICE at the LHC
- 2010
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In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 693:2, s. 53-68
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The inclusive charged particle transverse momentum distribution is measured in proton-proton collisions at root s = 900 GeV at the LHC using the ALICE detector. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8) over the transverse momentum range 0.15 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c. The correlation between transverse momentum and particle multiplicity is also studied. Results are presented for inelastic (INEL) and non-single-diffractive (NSD) events. The average transverse momentum for vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.8 is < p(T)>(INEL) = 0.483 +/- 0.001 (stat.) +/- 0.007 (syst.) GeV/c and < p(T)>(NSD) = 0.489 +/- 0.001 (stat.) +/- 0.007 (syst.) GeV/c, respectively. The data exhibit a slightly larger < p(T)> than measurements in wider pseudorapidity intervals. The results are compared to simulations with the Monte Carlo event generators PYTHIA and PHOJET. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V.
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| 6. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
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Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in pp collisions at root s=900 GeV
- 2010
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In: Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology). - 1550-2368. ; 82:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the measurement of two-pion correlation functions from pp collisions at root s = 900 GeV performed by the ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Our analysis shows an increase of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss radius with increasing event multiplicity, in line with other measurements done in particle- and nuclear collisions. Conversely, the strong decrease of the radius with increasing transverse momentum, as observed at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and at Tevatron, is not manifest in our data.
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| 7. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
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Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton-proton collisions at root s=0.9 and 2.36 TeV with ALICE at LHC
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 68:1-2, s. 89-108
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Charged-particle production was studied in proton-proton collisions collected at the LHC with the ALICE detector at centre-of-mass energies 0.9 TeV and 2.36 TeV in the pseudorapidity range vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1.4. In the central region (vertical bar eta vertical bar < 0.5), at 0.9 TeV, we measure charged-particle pseudo-rapidity density dN(ch)/d eta = 3.02 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.05)(+0.08)(syst.) for inelastic interactions, and dN(ch)/d eta = 3.58 +/- 0.01 (stat.)(-0.12)(+0.12)(syst.) for non-single-diffractive interactions. At 2.36 TeV, we find dN(ch)/d eta = 3.77 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.12)(+0.25)(syst.) for inelastic, and dN(ch)/d eta = 4.43 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.12)(+0.17)(syst.) for non-single-diffractive collisions. The relative increase in charged-particle multiplicity from the lower to higher energy is 24.7% +/- 0.5%(stat.)(-2.8)(+5.7)%(syst.) for inelastic and 23.7% +/- 0.5%(stat.)(-1.1)(+4.6)%(syst.) for non-single-diffractive interactions. This increase is consistent with that reported by the CMS collaboration for non-single-diffractive events and larger than that found by a number of commonly used models. The multiplicity distribution was measured in different pseudorapidity intervals and studied in terms of KNO variables at both energies. The results are compared to proton-antiproton data and to model predictions.
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| 8. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
Charged-particle multiplicity measurement in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV with ALICE at LHC
- 2010
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 68:3-4, s. 345-354
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The pseudorapidity density and multiplicity distribution of charged particles produced in proton-proton collisions at the LHC, at a centre-of-mass energy root s = 7 TeV, were measured in the central pseudorapidity region vertical bar eta vertical bar < 1. Comparisons are made with previous measurements at root s = 0.9 TeV and 2.36 TeV. At root s = 7 TeV, for events with at least one charged particle in |eta vertical bar| < 1, we obtain dN(ch)/d eta = 6.01 +/- 0.01(stat.)(-0.12)(+0.20) (syst.). This corresponds to an increase of 57.6%+/-0.4%(stat.)(-1.8%)(+3.6) (syst.) relative to collisions at 0.9 TeV, significantly higher than calculations from commonly used models. The multiplicity distribution at 7 TeV is described fairly well by the negative binomial distribution.
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| 9. |
- Aamodt, K., et al.
(author)
-
The ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC
- 2008
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In: Journal of Instrumentation. - 1748-0221. ; 3:S08002
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries, Its overall dimensions are 16 x 16 x 26 m(3) with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008.
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| 10. |
- Colette, A., et al.
(author)
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Future air quality in Europe: a multi-model assessment of projected exposure to ozone
- 2012
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 12:21, s. 10613-10630
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In order to explore future air quality in Europe at the 2030 horizon, two emission scenarios developed in the framework of the Global Energy Assessment including varying assumptions on climate and energy access policies are investigated with an ensemble of six regional and global atmospheric chemistry transport models. A specific focus is given in the paper to the assessment of uncertainties and robustness of the projected changes in air quality. The present work relies on an ensemble of chemistry transport models giving insight into the model spread. Both regional and global scale models were involved, so that the ensemble benefits from medium-resolution approaches as well as global models that capture long-range transport. For each scenario a whole decade is modelled in order to gain statistical confidence in the results. A statistical downscaling approach is used to correct the distribution of the modelled projection. Last, the modelling experiment is related to a hind-cast study published earlier, where the performances of all participating models were extensively documented. The analysis is presented in an exposure-based framework in order to discuss policy relevant changes. According to the emission projections, ozone precursors such as NOx will drop down to 30% to 50% of their current levels, depending on the scenario. As a result, annual mean O-3 will slightly increase in NOx saturated areas but the overall O-3 burden will decrease substantially. Exposure to detrimental O-3 levels for health (SOMO35) will be reduced down to 45% to 70% of their current levels. And the fraction of stations where present-day exceedences of daily maximum O-3 is higher than 120 mu g m(-3) more than 25 days per year will drop from 43% down to 2 to 8 %. We conclude that air pollution mitigation measures (present in both scenarios) are the main factors leading to the improvement, but an additional cobenefit of at least 40% (depending on the indicator) is brought about by the climate policy.
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| 11. |
- Schaap, M., et al.
(author)
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Performance of European chemistry transport models as function of horizontal resolution
- 2015
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In: Atmospheric Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2844 .- 1352-2310. ; 112, s. 90-105
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Air pollution causes adverse effects on human health as well as ecosystems and crop yield and also has an impact on climate change trough short-lived climate forcers. To design mitigation strategies for air pollution, 3D Chemistry Transport Models (CTMs) have been developed to support the decision process. Increases in model resolution may provide more accurate and detailed information, but will cubically increase computational costs and pose additional challenges concerning high resolution input data. The motivation for the present study was therefore to explore the impact of using finer horizontal grid resolution for policy support applications of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) model within the Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) convention. The goal was to determine the "optimum resolution" at which additional computational efforts do not provide increased model performance using presently available input data. Five regional CTMs performed four runs for 2009 over Europe at different horizontal resolutions. The models' responses to an increase in resolution are broadly consistent for all models. The largest response was found for NO2 followed by PM10 and O-3. Model resolution does not impact model performance for rural background conditions. However, increasing model resolution improves the model performance at stations in and near large conglomerations. The statistical evaluation showed that the increased resolution better reproduces the spatial gradients in pollution regimes, but does not help to improve significantly the model performance for reproducing observed temporal variability. This study clearly shows that increasing model resolution is advantageous, and that leaving a resolution of 50 km in favour of a resolution between 10 and 20 km is practical and worthwhile. As about 70% of the model response to grid resolution is determined by the difference in the spatial emission distribution, improved emission allocation procedures at high spatial and temporal resolution are a crucial factor for further model resolution improvements. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 12. |
- Simpson, David, 1961, et al.
(author)
-
The EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model - technical description
- 2012
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 12:16, s. 7825-7865
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Meteorological Synthesizing Centre-West (MSC-W) of the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) has been performing model calculations in support of the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) for more than 30 years. The EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model is still one of the key tools within European air pollution policy assessments. Traditionally, the model has covered all of Europe with a resolution of about 50 km x 50 km, and extending vertically from ground level to the tropopause (100 hPa). The model has changed extensively over the last ten years, however, with flexible processing of chemical schemes, meteorological inputs, and with nesting capability: the code is now applied on scales ranging from local (ca. 5 km grid size) to global (with 1 degree resolution). The model is used to simulate photo-oxidants and both inorganic and organic aerosols. In 2008 the EMEP model was released for the first time as public domain code, along with all required input data for model runs for one year. The second release of the EMEP MSC-W model became available in mid 2011, and a new release is targeted for summer 2012. This publication is in-tended to document this third release of the EMEP MSC-W model. The model formulations are given, along with details of input data-sets which are used, and a brief background on some of the choices made in the formulation is presented. The model code itself is available at www.emep.int, along with the data required to run for a full year over Europe.
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| 13. |
- Jonson, J. E., et al.
(author)
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Impact of excess NOx emissions from diesel cars on air quality, public health and eutrophication in Europe
- 2017
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In: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-9318 .- 1748-9326. ; 12:9
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Diesel cars have been emitting four to seven times more NOx in on-road driving than in type approval tests. These 'excess emissions' are a consequence of deliberate design of the vehicle's after-treatment system, as investigations during the 'Dieselgate' scandal have revealed. Here we calculate health and environmental impacts of these excess NOx emissions in all European countries for the year 2013. We use national emissions reported officially under the UNECE Convention for Long-range Transport of Atmospheric Pollutants and employ the EMEP MSC-W Chemistry Transport Model and the GAINS Integrated AssessmentModel to determine atmospheric concentrations and resulting impacts. We compare with impacts from hypothetical emissions where light duty diesel vehicles are assumed to emit only as much as their respective type approval limit value or as little as petrol cars of the same age. Excess NO2 concentrations can also have direct health impacts, but these overlap with the impacts from particulate matter ( PM) and are not included here. We estimate that almost 10 000 premature deaths from PM2.5 and ozone in the adult population (age>30 years) can be attributed to the NOx emissions from diesel cars and light commercial vehicles in EU28 plus Norway and Switzerland in 2013. About 50% of these could have been avoided if diesel limits had been achieved also in on-road driving; and had diesel cars emitted as little NOx as petrol cars, 80% of these premature deaths could have been avoided. Ecosystem eutrophication impacts (critical load exceedances) from the same diesel vehicles would also have been reduced at similar rates as for the health effects.
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| 14. |
- Pommier, Matthieu, 1984, et al.
(author)
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Impact of regional climate change and future emission scenarios on surface O3 and PM2.5 over India
- 2018
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 18:1, s. 103-127
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Eleven of the world's 20 most polluted cities are located in India and poor air quality is already a major public health issue. However, anthropogenic emissions are predicted to increase substantially in the short-term (2030) and medium-term (2050) futures in India, especially if no further policy efforts are made. In this study, the EMEP/MSC-W chemical transport model has been used to predict changes in surface ozone (O3) and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) for India in a world of changing emissions and climate. The reference scenario (for present-day) is evaluated against surface-based measurements, mainly at urban stations. The evaluation has also been extended to other data sets which are publicly available on the web but without quality assurance. The evaluation shows high temporal correlation for O 3 (r = 0.9) and high spatial correlation for PM 2.5 (r = 0.5 and r = 0.8 depending on the data set) between the model results and observations. While the overall bias in PM 2.5 is small (lower than 6%), the model overestimates O 3 by 35%. The underestimation in NO x titration is probably the main reason for the O 3 overestimation in the model. However, the level of agreement can be considered satisfactory in this case of a regional model being evaluated against mainly urban measurements, and given the inevitable uncertainties in much of the input data. For the 2050s, the model predicts that climate change will have distinct effects in India in terms of O 3 pollution, with a region in the north characterized by a statistically significant increase by up to 4% (2 ppb) and one in the south by a decrease up to -3% (-1.4 ppb). This variation in O 3 is assumed to be partly related to changes in O 3 deposition velocity caused by changes in soil moisture and, over a few areas, partly also by changes in biogenic non-methane volatile organic compounds. Our calculations suggest that PM 2.5 will increase by up to 6.5% over the Indo-Gangetic Plain by the 2050s. The increase over India is driven by increases in dust, particulate organic matter (OM) and secondary inorganic aerosols (SIAs), which are mainly affected by the change in precipitation, biogenic emissions and wind speed. The large increase in anthropogenic emissions has a larger impact than climate change, causing O 3 and PM 2.5 levels to increase by 13 and 67% on average in the 2050s over the main part of India, respectively. By the 2030s, secondary inorganic aerosol is predicted to become the second largest contributor to PM 2.5 in India, and the largest in the 2050s, exceeding OM and dust.
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| 15. |
- Simpson, David, 1961, et al.
(author)
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Impacts of climate and emission changes on nitrogen deposition in Europe: a multi-model study
- 2014
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 14:13, s. 6995-7017
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The impact of climate and emissions changes on the deposition of reactive nitrogen (Nr) over Europe was studied using four offline regional chemistry transport models (CTMs) driven by the same global projection of future climate over the period 2000-2050. Anthropogenic emissions for the years 2005 and 2050 were used for simulations of both present and future periods in order to isolate the impact of climate change, hemispheric boundary conditions and emissions, and to assess the robustness of the results across the different models. The results from these four CTMs clearly show that the main driver of future N-deposition changes is the specified emission change. Under the specified emission scenario for 2050, emissions of oxidised nitrogen were reduced substantially, whereas emissions of NH3 increase to some extent, and these changes are largely reflected in the modelled concentrations and depositions. The lack of sulfur and oxidised nitrogen in the future atmosphere results in a much larger fraction of NHx being present in the form of gaseous ammonia. Predictions for wet and total deposition were broadly consistent, although the three fine-scale models resolve European emission areas and changes better than the hemisphericscale model. The biggest difference in the models is for predictions of individual N compounds. One model (EMEP) was used to explore changes in critical loads, also in conjunction with speculative climate-induced increases in NH3 emissions. These calculations suggest that the area of ecosystems that exceeds critical loads is reduced from 64% for year 2005 emissions levels to 50% for currently estimated 2050 levels. A possible climate-induced increase in NH3 emissions could worsen the situation, with areas exceeded increasing again to 57% (for a 30% NH3 emission increase).
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