NEXT Collaboration(Lorca, D. et al), Martin-Albo, J., Laing, A., Ferrario, P., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2014). Characterisation of NEXT-DEMO using xenon K-alpha X-rays. J. Instrum., 9, P10007–20pp.
Abstract: The NEXT experiment aims to observe the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136 in a high-pressure xenon gas TPC using electroluminescence (EL) to amplify the signal from ionization. Understanding the response of the detector is imperative in achieving a consistent and well understood energy measurement. The abundance of xenon K-shell X-ray emission during data taking has been identified as a multitool for the characterisation of the fundamental parameters of the gas as well as the equalisation of the response of the detector. The NEXT-DEMO prototype is a similar to 1.5 kg volume TPC filled with natural xenon. It employs an array of 19 PMTs as an energy plane and of 256 SiPMs as a tracking plane with the TPC light tube and SiPM surfaces being coated with tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) which acts as a wavelength shifter for the VUV scintillation light produced by xenon. This paper presents the measurement of the properties of the drift of electrons in the TPC, the effects of the EL production region, and the extraction of position dependent correction constants using K-alpha X-ray deposits. These constants were used to equalise the response of the detector to deposits left by gammas from Na-22.
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LAGUNA-LBNO Collaboration(Agarwalla, S. K., et al), Cervera-Villanueva, A., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., & Sorel, M. (2014). The mass-hierarchy and CP-violation discovery reach of the LBNO long-baseline neutrino experiment. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 094–38pp.
Abstract: The next generation neutrino observatory proposed by the LBNO collaboration will address fundamental questions in particle and astroparticle physics. The experiment consists of a far detector, in its first stage a 20 kt LAr double phase TPC and a magnetised iron calorimeter, situated at 2300 km from CERN and a near detector based on a highpressure argon gas TPC. The long baseline provides a unique opportunity to study neutrino flavour oscillations over their 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima exploring the L/E behaviour, and distinguishing effects arising from delta(CP) and matter. In this paper we have reevaluated the physics potential of this setup for determining the mass hierarchy (MH) and discovering CP-violation (CPV), using a conventional neutrino beam from the CERN SPS with a power of 750 kW. We use conservative assumptions on the knowledge of oscillation parameter priors and systematic uncertainties. The impact of each systematic error and the precision of oscillation prior is shown. We demonstrate that the first stage of LBNO can determine unambiguously the MH to > 5 sigma C.L. over the whole phase space. We show that the statistical treatment of the experiment is of very high importance, resulting in the conclusion that LBNO has similar to 100% probability to determine the MH in at most 4-5 years of running. Since the knowledge of MH is indispensable to extract delta(CP) from the data, the first LBNO phase can convincingly give evidence for CPV on the 3 sigma C.L. using today's knowledge on oscillation parameters and realistic assumptions on the systematic uncertainties.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abi, B. et al), Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., Fernandez Menendez, P., et al. (2021). Searching for solar KDAR with DUNE. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 10(10), 065–28pp.
Abstract: The observation of 236 MeV muon neutrinos from kaon-decay-at-rest (KDAR) originating in the core of the Sun would provide a unique signature of dark matter annihilation. Since excellent angle and energy reconstruction are necessary to detect this monoenergetic, directional neutrino flux, DUNE with its vast volume and reconstruction capabilities, is a promising candidate for a KDAR neutrino search. In this work, we evaluate the proposed KDAR neutrino search strategies by realistically modeling both neutrino-nucleus interactions and the response of DUNE. We find that, although reconstruction of the neutrino energy and direction is difficult with current techniques in the relevant energy range, the superb energy resolution, angular resolution, and particle identification offered by DUNE can still permit great signal/background discrimination. Moreover, there are non-standard scenarios in which searches at DUNE for KDAR in the Sun can probe dark matter interactions.
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T2K Collaboration(Abe, K. et al), Cervera-Villanueva, A., Escudero, L., Izmaylov, A., Sorel, M., & Stamoulis, P. (2015). Neutrino oscillation physics potential of the T2K experiment. Prog. Theor. Exp. Phys., (4), 043C01–36pp.
Abstract: The observation of the recent electron neutrino appearance in a muon neutrino beam and the high-precision measurement of the mixing angle theta(13) have led to a re-evaluation of the physics potential of the T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. Sensitivities are explored for CP violation in neutrinos, non-maximal sin(2) 2 theta(23), the octant of theta(23), and the mass hierarchy, in addition to the measurements of delta CP, sin(2) theta(23), and Delta m(32)(2), for various combinations of nu-mode and (nu) over bar -mode data-taking. With an exposure of 7.8 x 10(21) protons-on-target, T2K can achieve 1 sigma resolution of 0.050 (0.054) on sin(2) theta(23) and 0.040 (0.045) x 10(-3) eV(2) on Delta m(32)(2) for 100% (50%) neutrino beam mode running assuming sin(2) theta(23) = 0.5 and Delta m(32)(2) = 2.4 x 10(-3) eV(2). T2K will have sensitivity to the CP-violating phase delta(CP) at 90% C.L. or better over a significant range. For example, if sin(2) 2 theta(23) is maximal (i.e.theta(23) = 45 degrees) the range is -115 degrees < delta(CP) < -60 degrees for normal hierarchy and +50 degrees < delta(CP) < + 130 degrees for inverted hierarchy. When T2K data is combined with data from the NO nu A experiment, the region of oscillation parameter space where there is sensitivity to observe a non-zero delta CP is substantially increased compared to if each experiment is analyzed alone.
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DUNE Collaboration(Abud, A. A. et al), Amedo, P., Antonova, M., Barenboim, G., Cervera-Villanueva, A., De Romeri, V., et al. (2023). Reconstruction of interactions in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector with Pandora. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(7), 618–25pp.
Abstract: The Pandora Software Development Kit and algorithm libraries provide pattern-recognition logic essential to the reconstruction of particle interactions in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. Pandora is the primary event reconstruction software used at ProtoDUNE-SP, a prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment far detector. ProtoDUNE-SP, located at CERN, is exposed to a charged-particle test beam. This paper gives an overview of the Pandora reconstruction algorithms and how they have been tailored for use at ProtoDUNE-SP. In complex events with numerous cosmic-ray and beam background particles, the simulated reconstruction and identification efficiency for triggered test-beam particles is above 80% for the majority of particle type and beam momentum combinations. Specifically, simulated 1 GeV/c charged pions and protons are correctly reconstructed and identified with efficiencies of 86.1 +/- 0.6% and 84.1 +/- 0.6%, respectively. The efficiencies measured for test-beam data are shown to be within 5% of those predicted by the simulation.
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