Abstract: We study the decoupling process of neutrinos in the early universe in the presence of three-flavour oscillations. The evolution of the neutrino spectra is found by solving the corresponding momentum-dependent kinetic equations for the neutrino density matrix, including for the first time the proper collision integrals for both diagonal and off-diagonal elements. This improved calculation modifies the evolution of the off-diagonal elements of the neutrino density matrix and changes the deviation from equilibrium of the frozen neutrino spectra. However, it does not vary the contribution of neutrinos to the cosmological energy density in the form of radiation, usually expressed in terms of the effective number of neutrinos, N-eff. We find a value of N-eff = 3.045, in agreement with previous theoretical calculations and consistent with the latest analysis of Planck data. This result does not depend on the ordering of neutrino masses. We also consider the effect of non-standard neutrino-electron interactions (NSI), predicted in many theoretical models where neutrinos acquire mass. For two sets of NSI parameters allowed by present data, we find that Neff can be reduced down to 3.040 or enhanced up to 3.059.

Abstract: We revisit the production of baryon asymmetries in the minimal type I seesaw model with heavy Majorana singlets in the GeV range. In particular we include “washout” effects from scattering processes with gauge bosons, Higgs decays and inverse decays, besides the dominant top scatterings. We show that in the minimal model with two singlets, and for an inverted light neutrino ordering, future measurements from SHiP and neutrinoless double beta decay could in principle provide sufficient information to predict the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. We also show that SHiP measurements could provide very valuable information on the PMNS CP phases.

Abstract: The newly built second experimental area EAR2 of then n_ToF spallation neutron source at CERN allows to perform (n, charged particles) experiments on short-lived highly radioactive targets. This paper describes a detection apparatus and the experimental procedure for the determination of the cross-section of the Be-7(n,alpha)alpha reaction, which represents one of the focal points toward the solution of the cosmological Lithium abundance problem, and whose only measurement, at thermal energy, dates back to 1963. The apparently unsurmountable experimental difficulties stemming from the huge Be-7 gamma-activity, along with the lack of a suitable neutron beam facility, had so far prevented further measurements. The detection system is subject to considerable radiation damage, but is capable of disentangling the rare reaction signals from the very high background. This newly developed setup could likely be useful also to study other challenging reactions requiring the detectors to be installed directly in the neutron beam.

Abstract: The goal of this study is to evaluate the ambient dose due to the transit of high dose rate (HDR) Co-60 sources along a transfer tube as compared to Ir-192 ones in a realistic clinical scenario. This goal is accomplished by evaluating air-kerma differences with Monte Carlo calculations using PENELOPE2011. Scatter from both the afterloader and the patient was not taken into account. Two sources, mHDR-v2 and Flexisource Co-60, (Elekta Brachytherapy, Veenendaal, the Netherlands) have been considered. These sources were simulated within a standard transfer tube located in an infinite air phantom. The movement of the source was included by displacing their positions along the connecting tube from z = – 75 cm to z = + 75 cm and combining them. Since modern afterloaders like Flexitron (Elekta) or Saginova (BEBIG GmbH) are able to use equally 192Ir and 60Co sources, it was assumed that both sources are displaced with equal speed. Typical HDR source activity content values were provided by the manufacturer. 2D distributions were obtained with type-A uncertainties (k = 2) less than 0.01%. From those, the air-kerma ratio Co-60/Ir-192 was evaluated weighted by their corresponding typical activities. It was found that it varies slowly with distance (less than 10% variation at 75 cm) but strongly in time due to the shorter half-life of the 192Ir (73.83 d). The maximum ratio is located close to the tube. It reaches a value of 0.57 when the typical activity of the sources at the time when they were installed by the vendor was used. Such ratio increases up to 1.28 at the end of the recommended working life (90 d) of the Ir-192 source. Co-60/Ir-192 air-kerma ratios are almost constant (0.51-0.57) in the vicinity of the source-tube with recent installed sources. Nevertheless, air-kerma ratios increase rapidly (1.15-1.29) whenever the Ir-192 is approaching the end of its life. In case of a medical event requiring the medical staff to access the treatment room, these ratios indicate that the dosimetric impact on the medical team will be lower, with a few exceptions, in the case of Co-60-based HDR brachytherapy as compared to Ir-192-based one when typical air-kerma strength values are considered.

Abstract: This paper describes the physics case for a new fixed target facility at CERN SPS. The SHiP (search for hidden particles) experiment is intended to hunt for new physics in the largely unexplored domain of very weakly interacting particles with masses below the Fermi scale, inaccessible to the LHC experiments, and to study tau neutrino physics. The same proton beam setup can be used later to look for decays of tau-leptons with lepton flavour number non-conservation, tau -> 3 μand to search for weakly-interacting sub-GeV dark matter candidates. We discuss the evidence for physics beyond the standard model and describe interactions between new particles and four different portals-scalars, vectors, fermions or axion-like particles. We discuss motivations for different models, manifesting themselves via these interactions, and how they can be probed with the SHiP experiment and present several case studies. The prospects to search for relatively light SUSY and composite particles at SHiP are also discussed. We demonstrate that the SHiP experiment has a unique potential to discover new physics and can directly probe a number of solutions of beyond the standard model puzzles, such as neutrino masses, baryon asymmetry of the Universe, dark matter, and inflation.