n_TOF Collaboration(Sabate-Gilarte et al.), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2017). High-accuracy determination of the neutron flux in the new experimental area n_TOF-EAR2 at CERNx. Eur. Phys. J. A, 53(10), 210–13pp.
Abstract: A new high flux experimental area has recently become operational at the nTOF facility at CERN. This new measuring station, nTOF-EAR2, is placed at the end of a vertical beam line at a distance of approximately 20m from the spallation target. The characterization of the neutron beam, in terms of flux, spatial profile and resolution function, is of crucial importance for the feasibility study and data analysis of all measurements to be performed in the new area. In this paper, the measurement of the neutron flux, performed with different solid-state and gaseous detection systems, and using three neutronconverting reactions considered standard in different energy regions is reported. The results of the various measurements have been combined, yielding an evaluated neutron energy distribution in a wide energy range, from 2meV to 100MeV, with an accuracy ranging from 2%, at low energy, to 6% in the high-energy region. In addition, an absolute normalization of the n_TOF-EAR2 neutron flux has been obtained by means of an activation measurement performed with 197 Au foils in the beam.
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Ruhr, F. et al, Escobar, C., & Miñano, M. (2020). Testbeam studies of barrel and end-cap modules for the ATLAS ITk strip detector before and after irradiation. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 979, 164430–6pp.
Abstract: In order to cope with the occupancy and radiation doses expected at the High-Luminosity LHC, the ATLAS experiment will replace its Inner Detector with an all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk), consisting of pixel and strip subsystems. In the last two years, several prototype ITk strip modules have been tested using beams of high energy electrons produced at the DESY-II testbeam facility. Tracking was provided by EUDET telescopes. The modules tested are built from two sensor types: the rectangular ATLAS17LS, which will be used in the outer layers of the central barrel region of the detector, and the annular ATLAS12EC, which will be used in the innermost ring (R0) of the forward region. Additionally, a structure with two RO modules positioned back-to-back has been measured, demonstrating space point reconstruction using the stereo angle of the strips. Finally, one barrel and one RO module have been measured after irradiation to 40% beyond the expected end-of-lifetime fluence. The data obtained allow for thorough tests of the module performance, including charge collection, noise occupancy, detection efficiency, and tracking performance. The results give confidence that the ITk strip detector will meet the requirements of the ATLAS experiment.
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Rubio, B., Gelletly, W., Algora, A., Nacher, E., & Tain, J. L. (2017). Beta decay studies with total absorption spectroscopy and the Lucrecia spectrometer at ISOLDE. J. Phys. G, 44(8), 084004–25pp.
Abstract: Here we present the experimental activities carried out at ISOLDE with the total absorption spectrometer Lucrecia, a large 4 pi scintillator detector designed to absorb a full gamma cascade following beta decay. This spectrometer is designed to measure beta-feeding to excited states without the systematic error called Pandemonium. The set up allows the measurement of decays of very short half life. Experimental results from several campaigns, that focus on the determination of the shapes of beta-decaying nuclei by measuring their beta decay strength distributions as a function of excitation energy in the daughter nucleus, are presented.
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Rout, J., Masud, M., & Mehta, P. (2017). Can we probe intrinsic CP and T violations and nonunitarity at long baseline accelerator experiments? Phys. Rev. D, 95(7), 075035–23pp.
Abstract: One of the fundamental parameters entering the neutrino oscillation framework is the leptonic CP phase delta(13), and its measurement is an important goal of the planned long baseline experiments. It should be noted that ordinary matter effects complicate the determination of this parameter, and there are studies in the literature that deal with separation of intrinsic vs extrinsic CP violation. It is important to investigate the consequences of new physics effects that can not only hamper the measurement of delta(13) but also impact the consequences of discrete symmetries such as CP, T, and unitarity in different oscillation channels. In the present work, we explore these discrete symmetries and implications on unitarity in the presence of two new physics scenarios (nonstandard interaction in propagation and the presence of sterile neutrinos) that serve as good examples of going beyond the standard scenario in different directions. We uncover the impact of new physics scenarios on disentangling intrinsic and extrinsic CP violation.
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Rossi, R. R., Sanchez Garcia, G., & Tortola, M. (2024). Probing nuclear properties and neutrino physics with current and future CEνNS experiments. Phys. Rev. D, 109(9), 095044–17pp.
Abstract: The recent observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEvNS) with neutrinos from pion decay at rest (N-DAR) sources by the COHERENT Collaboration has raised interest in this process in the search for new physics. Unfortunately, current uncertainties in the determination of nuclear parameters relevant to those processes can hide new physics effects. This is not the case for processes involving lower-energy neutrino sources such as nuclear reactors. Note, however, that a CEvNS measurement with reactor neutrinos depends largely on a (still-missing) precise determination of the quenching factor at very low energies, making its observation more challenging. In the upcoming years, once this signal is confirmed, a combined analysis of N-DAR and reactor CEvNS experiments will be very useful to probe particle and nuclear physics, with a reduced dependence on nuclear uncertainties. In this work, we explore this idea by simultaneously testing the sensitivity of current and future CEvNS experiments to neutrino nonstandard interactions (NSIs) and the neutron root mean square (rms) radius, considering different neutrino sources as well as several detection materials. We show how the interplay between future reactor and accelerator CEvNS experiments can help to get robust constraints on the neutron rms and to break degeneracies between the NSI parameters. Our forecast could be used as a guide to optimize the experimental sensitivity to the parameters under study.
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Roser, J., Muñoz, E., Barrientos, L., Barrio, J., Bernabeu, J., Borja-Lloret, M., et al. (2020). Image reconstruction for a multi-layer Compton telescope: an analytical model for three interaction events. Phys. Med. Biol., 65(14), 145005–17pp.
Abstract: Compton Cameras are electronically collimated photon imagers suitable for sub-MeV to few MeV gamma-ray detection. Such features are desirable to enablein vivorange verification in hadron therapy, through the detection of secondary Prompt Gammas. A major concern with this technique is the poor image quality obtained when the incoming gamma-ray energy is unknown. Compton Cameras with more than two detector planes (multi-layer Compton Cameras) have been proposed as a solution, given that these devices incorporate more signal sequences of interactions to the conventional two interaction events. In particular, three interaction events convey more spectral information as they allow inferring directly the incident gamma-ray energy. A three-layer Compton Telescope based on continuous Lanthanum (III) Bromide crystals coupled to Silicon Photomultipliers is being developed at the IRIS group of IFIC-Valencia. In a previous work we proposed a spectral reconstruction algorithm for two interaction events based on an analytical model for the formation of the signal. To fully exploit the capabilities of our prototype, we present here an extension of the model for three interaction events. Analytical expressions of the sensitivity and the System Matrix are derived and validated against Monte Carlo simulations. Implemented in a List Mode Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization algorithm, the proposed model allows us to obtain four-dimensional (energy and position) images by using exclusively three interaction events. We are able to recover the correct spectrum and spatial distribution of gamma-ray sources when ideal data are employed. However, the uncertainties associated to experimental measurements result in a degradation when real data from complex structures are employed. Incorrect estimation of the incident gamma-ray interaction positions, and missing deposited energy associated with escaping secondaries, have been identified as the causes of such degradation by means of a detailed Monte Carlo study. As expected, our current experimental resolution and efficiency to three interaction events prevents us from correctly recovering complex structures of radioactive sources. However, given the better spectral information conveyed by three interaction events, we expect an improvement of the image quality of conventional Compton imaging when including such events. In this regard, future development includes the incorporation of the model assessed in this work to the two interaction events model in order to allow using simultaneously two and three interaction events in the image reconstruction.
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Roser, J., Barrientos, L., Bernabeu, J., Borja-Lloret, M., Muñoz, E., Ros, A., et al. (2022). Joint image reconstruction algorithm in Compton cameras. Phys. Med. Biol., 67(15), 155009–15pp.
Abstract: Objective. To demonstrate the benefits of using an joint image reconstruction algorithm based on the List Mode Maximum Likelihood Expectation Maximization that combines events measured in different channels of information of a Compton camera. Approach. Both simulations and experimental data are employed to show the algorithm performance. Main results. The obtained joint images present improved image quality and yield better estimates of displacements of high-energy gamma-ray emitting sources. The algorithm also provides images that are more stable than any individual channel against the noisy convergence that characterizes Maximum Likelihood based algorithms. Significance. The joint reconstruction algorithm can improve the quality and robustness of Compton camera images. It also has high versatility, as it can be easily adapted to any Compton camera geometry. It is thus expected to represent an important step in the optimization of Compton camera imaging.
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Rosa, J. L., Lobo, F. S. N., & Olmo, G. J. (2021). Weak-field regime of the generalized hybrid metric-Palatini gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 104(12), 124030–11pp.
Abstract: In this work we explore the dynamics of the generalized hybrid metric-Palatini theory of gravity in the weak-field, slow-motion regime. We start by introducing the equivalent scalar-tensor representation of the theory, which contains two scalar degrees of freedom, and perform a conformal transformation to the Einstein frame. Linear perturbations of the metric in a Minkowskian background are then studied for the metric and both scalar fields. The effective Newton constant and the PPN parameter. of the theory are extracted after transforming back to the (original) Jordan frame. Two particular cases where the general method ceases to be applicable are approached separately. A comparison of these results with observational constraints is then used to impose bounds on the masses and coupling constants of the scalar fields.
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Ros Garcia, A., Barrio, J., Etxebeste, A., Garcia-Lopez, J., Jimenez-Ramos, M. C., Lacasta, C., et al. (2020). MACACO II test-beam with high energy photons. Phys. Med. Biol., 65(24), 245027–12pp.
Abstract: The IRIS group at IFIC Valencia is developing a three-layer Compton camera for treatment monitoring in proton therapy. The system is composed of three detector planes, each made of a LaBr3<i monolithic crystal coupled to a SiPM array. Having obtained successful results with the first prototype (MACACO) that demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed technology, a second prototype (MACACO II) with improved performance has been developed, and is the subject of this work. The new system has an enhanced detector energy resolution which translates into a higher spatial resolution of the telescope. The image reconstruction method has also been improved with an accurate model of the sensitivity matrix. The device has been tested with high energy photons at the National Accelerator Centre (CNA, Seville). The tests involved a proton beam of 18 MeV impinging on a graphite target, to produce 4.4 MeV photons. Data were taken at different system positions of the telescope with the first detector at 65 and 160 mm from the target, and at different beam intensities. The measurements allowed successful reconstruction of the photon emission distribution at two target positions separated by 5 mm in different telescope configurations. This result was obtained both with data recorded in the first and second telescope planes (two interaction events) and, for the first time in beam experiments, with data recorded in the three planes (three interaction events).
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Renner, J. et al, Romo-Luque, C., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., Martinez, A., Querol, M., et al. (2022). Monte Carlo characterization of PETALO, a full-body liquid xenon-based PET detector. J. Instrum., 17(5), P05044–17pp.
Abstract: New detector approaches in Positron Emission Tomography imaging will play an important role in reducing costs, lowering administered radiation doses, and improving overall performance. PETALO employs liquid xenon as the active scintillating medium and UV-sensitive silicon photomultipliers for scintillation readout. The scintillation time in liquid xenon is fast enough to register time-of-flight information for each detected coincidence, and sufficient scintillation is produced with low enough fluctuations to obtain good energy resolution. The present simulation study examines a full-body-sized PETALO detector and evaluates its potential performance in PET image reconstruction.
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