The LHCb experiment is dedicated to precision measurements of CP violation and rare decays of B hadrons at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN (Geneva). The initial configuration and expected performance of the detector and associated systems, as established by test beam measurements and simulation studies, is described.

The origin of the hard (2-10 keV) X-ray background has been a mystery for over 35 years. Most of the soft X-ray background has been resolved into individual sources (mainly quasars), but these sources do not have the spectral energy distribution required to match the spectrum of the X-ray background as a whole. Here we report the results of a deep survey, using the Chandra satellite, in which the detected hard X-ray sources account for at least 75 per cent of the hard X-ray background. The mean X-ray spectral energy distribution of these sources is in good agreement with that of the background. Moreover, most of those hard X-ray sources are associated unambiguously with either the nuclei of otherwise normal bright galaxies, or with optically faint sources. The latter could be active nuclei in dust-enshrouded galaxies or a population of quasars at extremely high redshift.

The ANTARES Neutrino Telescope was completed in May 2008 and is the first operational Neutrino Telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. The main purpose of the detector is to perform neutrino astronomy and the apparatus also offers facilities for marine and Earth sciences. This paper describes the design, the construction and the installation of the telescope in the deep sea, offshore from Toulon in France. An illustration of the detector performance is given. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

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