Abstract: The luminosity determination for the ATLAS detector at the LHC during pp collisions at root s = 8 TeV in 2012 is presented. The evaluation of the luminosity scale is performed using several luminometers, and comparisons between these luminosity detectors are made to assess the accuracy, consistency and long-term stability of the results. A luminosity uncertainty of delta L/L = +/- 1.9% is obtained for the 22.7 fb(-1) of pp collision data delivered to ATLAS at root s = 8 TeV in 2012.

Abstract: The main objectives of the KM3NeT Collaboration are (i) the discovery and subsequent observation of high-energy neutrino sources in the Universe and (ii) the determination of the mass hierarchy of neutrinos. These objectives are strongly motivated by two recent important discoveries, namely: (1) the high-energy astrophysical neutrino signal reported by IceCube and (2) the sizable contribution of electron neutrinos to the third neutrino mass eigenstate as reported by Daya Bay, Reno and others. To meet these objectives, the KM3NeT Collaboration plans to build a new Research Infrastructure consisting of a network of deep-sea neutrino telescopes in the Mediterranean Sea. A phased and distributed implementation is pursued which maximises the access to regional funds, the availability of human resources and the synergistic opportunities for the Earth and sea sciences community. Three suitable deep-sea sites are selected, namely off-shore Toulon (France), Capo Passero (Sicily, Italy) and Pylos (Peloponnese, Greece). The infrastructure will consist of three so-called building blocks. A building block comprises 115 strings, each string comprises 18 optical modules and each optical module comprises 31 photo-multiplier tubes. Each building block thus constitutes a three-dimensional array of photo sensors that can be used to detect the Cherenkov light produced by relativistic particles emerging from neutrino interactions. Two building blocks will be sparsely configured to fully explore the IceCube signal with similar instrumented volume, different methodology, improved resolution and complementary field of view, including the galactic plane. One building block will be densely configured to precisely measure atmospheric neutrino oscillations.

Abstract: The MoEDAL experiment is designed to search for magnetic monopoles and other highly-ionising particles produced in high-energy collisions at the LHC. The largely passive MoEDAL detector, deployed at Interaction Point 8 on the LHC ring, relies on two dedicated direct detection techniques. The first technique is based on stacks of nuclear-track detectors with surface area similar to 18 m(2), sensitive to particle ionisation exceeding a high threshold. These detectors are analysed offline by optical scanning microscopes. The second technique is based on the trapping of charged particles in an array of roughly 800 kg of aluminium samples. These samples are monitored offline for the presence of trapped magnetic charge at a remote superconducting magnetometer facility. We present here the results of a search for magnetic monopoles using a 160 kg prototype MoEDAL trapping detector exposed to 8TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, for an integrated luminosity of 0.75 fb(-1). No magnetic charge exceeding 0.5g(D) (where g(D) is the Dirac magnetic charge) is measured in any of the exposed samples, allowing limits to be placed on monopole production in the mass range 100 GeV <= m <= 3500 GeV. Model-independent cross-section limits are presented in fiducial regions of monopole energy and direction for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 6g(D), and model-dependent cross-section limits are obtained for Drell-Yan pair production of spin-1/2 and spin-0 monopoles for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 4g(D). Under the assumption of Drell-Yan cross sections, mass limits are derived for vertical bar g vertical bar = 2g(D) and vertical bar g vertical bar = 3g(D) for the first time at the LHC, surpassing the results from previous collider experiments.

Abstract: The most recent measurements of the temperature and low-multipole polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background from the Planck satellite, when combined with galaxy clustering data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey in the form of the full shape of the power spectrum, and with baryon acoustic oscillation measurements, provide a 95% confidence level (C.L.) upper bound on the sum of the three active neutrinos Sigma m(nu) < 0.183 eV, among the tightest neutrino mass bounds in the literature, to date, when the same data sets are taken into account. This very same data combination is able to set, at similar to 70% C.L., an upper limit on Sigma m(nu) of 0.0968 eV, a value that approximately corresponds to the minimal mass expected in the inverted neutrino mass hierarchy scenario. If high-multipole polarization data from Planck is also considered, the 95% C.L. upper bound is tightened to Sigma m(nu) < 0.176 eV. Further improvements are obtained by considering recent measurements of the Hubble parameter. These limits are obtained assuming a specific nondegenerate neutrino mass spectrum; they slightly worsen when considering other degenerate neutrino mass schemes. Low-redshift quantities, such as the Hubble constant or the reionization optical depth, play a very important role when setting the neutrino mass constraints. We also comment on the eventual shifts in the cosmological bounds on Sigma m(nu) when possible variations in the former two quantities are addressed.

Abstract: The NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) project aims at the construction of a new high-efficiency compact neutron detector array to be coupled with large gamma-ray arrays such as AGATA. The application of NEDA ranges from its use as selective neutron multiplicity filter for fusion-evaporation reaction to a large solid angle neutron tagging device. In the present work, possible configurations for the NEDA coupled with the Neutron Wall for the early implementation with AGATA has been simulated, using Monte Carlo techniques, in order to evaluate their performance figures. The goal of this early NEDA implementation is to improve, with respect to previous instruments, efficiency and capability to select multiplicity for fusion-evaporation reaction channels in which 1, 2 or 3 neutrons are emitted. Each NEDA detector unit has the shape of a regular hexagonal prism with a volume of about 3.23 l and it is filled with the EJ301 liquid scintillator, that presents good neutron-gamma discrimination properties. The simulations have been performed using a fusion-evaporation event generator that has been validated with a set of experimental data obtained in the Ni-58 + Fe-56 reaction measured with the Neutron Wall detector array.