Search

A finite axion-nucleon coupling, nearly unavoidable for QCD axions, leads to the production of axions via the thermal excitation and subsequent de-excitation of 57 Fe isotopes in the sun. We revise the solar bound on this flux adopting the up to date emission rate, and investigate the sensitivity of the proposed International Axion Observatory IAXO and its intermediate stage BabyIAXO to detect these axions. We compare different realistic experimental options and discuss the model dependence of the signal. Already BabyIAXO has sensitivity far beyond previous solar axion searches via the nucleon coupling and IAXO can improve on this by more than an order of magnitude., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

We report the first measurement of the average of the electron-proton and positron-proton elastic scattering cross sections. This lepton charge-averaged cross section is insensitive to the leading effects of hard two-photon exchange, giving more robust access to the proton's electromagnetic form factors. The cross section was extracted from data taken by the OLYMPUS experiment at DESY, in which alternating stored electron and positron beams were scattered from a windowless gaseous hydrogen target. Elastic scattering events were identified from the coincident detection of the scattered lepton and recoil proton in a large-acceptance toroidal spectrometer. The luminosity was determined from the rates of Møller, Bhabha, and elastic scattering in forward electromagnetic calorimeters. The data provide some selectivity between existing form factor global fits and will provide valuable constraints to future fits.

The OLYMPUS Collaboration reports on a precision measurement of the positron-proton to electron-proton elastic cross section ratio, R&#95;{2γ}, a direct measure of the contribution of hard two-photon exchange to the elastic cross section. In the OLYMPUS measurement, 2.01 GeV electron and positron beams were directed through a hydrogen gas target internal to the DORIS storage ring at DESY. A toroidal magnetic spectrometer instrumented with drift chambers and time-of-flight scintillators detected elastically scattered leptons in coincidence with recoiling protons over a scattering angle range of ≈20° to 80°. The relative luminosity between the two beam species was monitored using tracking telescopes of interleaved gas electron multiplier and multiwire proportional chamber detectors at 12°, as well as symmetric Møller or Bhabha calorimeters at 1.29°. A total integrated luminosity of 4.5  fb^{-1} was collected. In the extraction of R&#95;{2γ}, radiative effects were taken into account using a Monte Carlo generator to simulate the convolutions of internal bremsstrahlung with experiment-specific conditions such as detector acceptance and reconstruction efficiency. The resulting values of R&#95;{2γ}, presented here for a wide range of virtual photon polarization 0.456<ε<0.978, are smaller than some hadronic two-photon exchange calculations predict, but are in reasonable agreement with a subtracted dispersion model and a phenomenological fit to the form factor data.

Inclusive K&#95;{S};{0}K&#95;{S};{0} production in ep collisions at the DESY ep collider HERA was studied with the ZEUS detector using an integrated luminosity of 0.5 fb;{-1}. Enhancements in the mass spectrum were observed and are attributed to the production of f&#95;{2}(1270)/a&#95;{2};{0}(1320), f&#95;{2};{'}(1525) and f&#95;{0}(1710). Masses and widths were obtained using a fit which takes into account theoretical predictions based on SU(3) symmetry arguments, and are consistent with the Particle Data Group values. The f&#95;{0}(1710) state, which has a mass consistent with a glueball candidate, was observed with a statistical significance of 5 standard deviations. However, if this state is the same as that seen in gammagamma-->K&#95;{S};{0}K&#95;{S};{0}, it is unlikely to be a pure glueball state.

The study "Potential and Limits of Independent Living in Private Households" (MuG III) provides a comprehensive picture concerning the life situation of persons in need of help and care within private households. Domestic care in Germany is still provided by the family. Professional services within the framework of the Long Term Care Insurance add to domestic care, with the central objective to support the private willingness to home care. Viewed in line with the trend, domestic care arrangements - also against the background of the effects of demographic change - prove themselves as stable and adaptable. Meanwhile more men are integrated into care giving, and the number of neighbours and friends filling in as main caregivers has increased, too. However, the still considerable burden is noticeable. The limits of domestic care become evident any time when there are not enough caregivers available, as well as in cases of people suffering from dementia who are in need of extensive care.

At the end of 1994, an Infratest carried out a representative survey in Germany of the life situation of people with disabilities who live in a institution. According to the results, about 660,000 people presently live in homes for the elderly and about 140,000 in homes for the handicapped. Impaired mobility is a characteristic feature for the inhabitants of homes for the elderly. However, only two of three inhabitants (63%) have "need of care". That means that at least every third inhabitant will not receive benefits from the new long term care insurance. 47% of the inhabitants rsp. 60% of those with need of care show mental disorders, which points to dementia. The living and life situation itself show that in Western Germany only 39% and in Eastern Germany only 29% of the inhabitants of the geriatric units of homes for the elderly are able to live in a single-bed room. The typical daily life normally shows routines, e.g., meal times are preset firmly. Restrictions such as no own room or front-door keys or no possibilities to keep pets are common. Therefore, quality control must be directed towards the extension of the living and lifestyle options of the inhabitants in addition to the problems of care giving. The individuality and the needs of the inhabitants must be the guiding rules for the options and procedures in institutions.

In two representative infratest-surveys, needs for care were systematically assessed regarding 24 basic activities of daily living (hygiene, mobility, communication, etc.). About 1.2 million persons in private homes and .5 million in homes for the elderly or handicaped were found to need care at least once a day. Impaired mobility was a persisting characteristic, partly due to physical disability, partly due to cognitive deficits. Being unable to phone or to orientate oneself outside the home, for instance, points to dementia. For the future, an increase in the number of persons who are dependent on care to 1.32 million in private homes and 900,000 who probably will live in homes for elderly, can be calculated for the year 2040 as a consequence of the demographic impact. Nevertheless, also in the future nearly one out of two elderly will be able to live independently without any need of care or help. Self-maintenance can be identified as the essential problem, because people with need of care will increasingly live alone without any relatives.