Esteban, I., Mena, O., & Salvado, J. (2022). Nonstandard neutrino cosmology dilutes the lensing anomaly. Phys. Rev. D, 106(8), 083516–9pp.
Abstract: Despite the impressive success of the standard cosmological model, several anomalies defy its triumph. Among them is the so-called lensing anomaly: The Planck satellite observes stronger cosmic microwave background (CMB) gravitational lensing than expected. The role of neutrinos in this anomaly has been mostly overlooked, despite their key role in CMB lensing, because in the standard scenario they tend to increase the tension. Here, we show that this strongly depends on the assumed neutrino equation of state. We demonstrate that if neutrinos have yet undiscovered long-range interactions, the lensing pattern is significantly affected, rendering the lensing anomaly as a statistical fluctuation. Our results, thus, open up a window to link anomalous CMB lensing with present and future cosmological, astrophysical, and laboratory measurements of neutrino properties.
|
Borys, D. et al, & Brzezinski, K. (2022). ProTheRaMon-a GATE simulation framework for proton therapy range monitoring using PET imaging. Phys. Med. Biol., 67(22), 224002–15pp.
Abstract: Objective. This paper reports on the implementation and shows examples of the use of the ProTheRaMon framework for simulating the delivery of proton therapy treatment plans and range monitoring using positron emission tomography (PET). ProTheRaMon offers complete processing of proton therapy treatment plans, patient CT geometries, and intra-treatment PET imaging, taking into account therapy and imaging coordinate systems and activity decay during the PET imaging protocol specific to a given proton therapy facility. We present the ProTheRaMon framework and illustrate its potential use case and data processing steps for a patient treated at the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) proton therapy center in Krakow, Poland. Approach. The ProTheRaMon framework is based on GATE Monte Carlo software, the CASToR reconstruction package and in-house developed Python and bash scripts. The framework consists of five separated simulation and data processing steps, that can be further optimized according to the user's needs and specific settings of a given proton therapy facility and PET scanner design. Main results. ProTheRaMon is presented using example data from a patient treated at CCB and the J-PET scanner to demonstrate the application of the framework for proton therapy range monitoring. The output of each simulation and data processing stage is described and visualized. Significance. We demonstrate that the ProTheRaMon simulation platform is a high-performance tool, capable of running on a computational cluster and suitable for multi-parameter studies, with databases consisting of large number of patients, as well as different PET scanner geometries and settings for range monitoring in a clinical environment. Due to its modular structure, the ProTheRaMon framework can be adjusted for different proton therapy centers and/or different PET detector geometries. It is available to the community via github (Borys et al 2022).
|
Feijoo, A., Molina, R., Dai, L. R., & Oset, E. (2022). Lambda(1405) mediated triangle singularity in the K(-)d -> p Sigma(-) reaction. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(11), 1028–16pp.
Abstract: We study for the first time the p Sigma(-) -> K- d and K- d -> p Sigma(-) reactions close to threshold and show that they are driven by a triangle mechanism, with the Lambda(1405), a proton and a neutron as intermediate states, which develops a triangle singularity close to the (K) over bard threshold. We find that a mechanism involving virtual pion exchange and the K- p -> pi(+)Sigma(-) amplitude dominates over another one involving kaon exchange and the K- p -> K- p amplitude. Moreover, of the two Lambda(1405) states, the one with higher mass around 1420 MeV, gives the largest contribution to the process. We show that the cross section, well within measurable range, is very sensitive to different models that, while reproducing (K) over barN observables above threshold, provide different extrapolations of the (K) over barN amplitudes below threshold. The observables of this reaction will provide new constraints on the theoretical models, leading to more reliable extrapolations of the (K) over barN amplitudes below threshold and to more accurate predictions of the Lambda(1405) state of lower mass.
|
Abada, A., Escribano, P., Marcano, X., & Piazza, G. (2022). Collider searches for heavy neutral leptons: beyond simplified scenarios. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(11), 1030–17pp.
Abstract: With very few exceptions, the large amount of available experimental bounds on heavy neutral leptons – HNL – have been derived relying on the assumption of the existence of a single (usually Majorana) sterile fermion state that mixes with only one lepton flavour. However, most of the extensions of the Standard Model involving sterile fermions predict the existence of several HNLs, with complex mixing patterns to all flavours. Consequently, most of the experimental bounds for HNLs need to be recast before being applied to a generic scenario. In this work, we focus on LHC searches of heavy neutral leptons and discuss how to reinterpret the available bounds when it comes to consider mixings to all active flavours, not only in the case with a single HNL, but also in the case when more heavy neutral leptons are involved. In the latter case, we also consider the possibility of interference effects and show how the bounds on the parameter space should be recast.
|
ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Aparisi Pozo, J. A., Bailey, A. J., Cabrera Urban, S., Cardillo, F., Castillo Gimenez, V., et al. (2022). Measurement of the polarisation of single top quarks and antiquarks produced in the t-channel at root s=13 TeV and bounds on the tWb dipole operator from the ATLAS experiment. J. High Energy Phys., 11(11), 040–62pp.
Abstract: A simultaneous measurement of the three components of the top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors in t-channel single-top-quark production is presented. This analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb(-1), collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Selected events contain exactly one isolated electron or muon, large missing transverse momentum and exactly two jets, one being b-tagged. Stringent selection requirements are applied to discriminate t-channel single-top-quark events from the background contributions. The top-quark and top-antiquark polarisation vectors are measured from the distributions of the direction cosines of the charged-lepton momentum in the top-quark rest frame. The three components of the polarisation vector for the selected top-quark event sample are P-x' = 0.01 +/- 0.18, P-y' = -0.029 +/- 0.027, P-z' = 0.91 +/- 0.10 and for the top-antiquark event sample they are P-x' = -0.02 +/- 0.20, P-y' = -0.007 +/- 0.051, P-z' = -0.79 +/- 0.16. Normalised differential cross-sections corrected to a fiducial region at the stable-particle level are presented as a function of the charged-lepton angles for top-quark and top-antiquark events inclusively and separately. These measurements are in agreement with Standard Model predictions. The angular differential cross-sections are used to derive bounds on the complex Wilson coefficient of the dimension-six O-tW operator in the framework of an effective field theory. The obtained bounds are C-tW is an element of[-0.9, 1.4] and C-itW is an element of [-0.8, 0.2], both at 95% confidence level.
|
Balibrea-Correa, J., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Ladarescu, I., Guerrero, C., Rodriguez-Gonzalez, T., Jimenez-Ramos, M. C., et al. (2022). Hybrid in-beam PET- and Compton prompt-gamma imaging aimed at enhanced proton-range verification. Eur. Phys. J. Plus, 137(11), 1258–18pp.
Abstract: We report on a hybrid in-beam PET and prompt-gamma Compton imaging system aimed at quasi real-time ion-range verification in proton-therapy treatments. Proof-of-concept experiments were carried out at the radiobiology beam line of the CNA cyclotron facility using a set of two synchronous Compton imagers and different target materials. The time structure of the 18 MeV proton beam was shaped with a series of beam-on and beam-off intervals, thereby mimicking a pulsed proton beam on a long time scale. During beam-on intervals, Compton imagingwas performed utilizing the high energy. -rays promptly emitted from the nuclear reactions occurring in the targets. In the course of the beam-off intervals in situ positron-emission tomography was accomplished with the same imagers using the beta+ decay of activated nuclei. The targets used were stacks of different materials covering also various proton ranges and energies. A systematic study on the performance of these two complementary imaging techniques is reported and the experimental results interpreted on the basis ofMonte Carlo calculations. The results demonstrate the possibility to combine both imaging techniques in a concomitant way, where high-efficiency prompt-gamma imaging is complemented with the high spatial accuracy of PET. Empowered by these results we suggest that a pulsed beam with a suitable duty cycle, in conjunction with in situ Compton- and PET-imaging may help to attain complementary information and quasi real-time range monitoring with high accuracy.
|
Winney, D., Pilloni, A., Mathieu, V., Hiller Blin, A. N., Albaladejo, M., Smith, W. A., et al. (2022). XYZ spectroscopy at electron-hadron facilities. II. Semi-inclusive processes with pion exchange. Phys. Rev. D, 106(9), 094009–13pp.
Abstract: Semi-inclusive processes arc very promising to investigate XYZ hadrons at the next generation of electron-hadron facilities, because they generally boast higher cross sections. We extend our formalism of exclusive photoproduction to semi-inclusive final states. The inclusive production cross sections for charged axial-vector Z states from pion exchange are predicted. We isolate the contribution of Delta resonances at small missing mass. Production near threshold is shown to be enhanced roughly by a factor of two compared to the exclusive reaction. We benchmark the model with data of semi-inclusive b(1)(+/-) production.
|
Albaladejo, M., Bibrzycki, L., Dawid, S. M., Fernandez-Ramirez, C., Gonzalez-Solis, S., Hiller Blin, A. N., et al. (2022). Novel approaches in hadron spectroscopy. Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys., 127, 103981–75pp.
Abstract: The last two decades have witnessed the discovery of a myriad of new and unexpected hadrons. The future holds more surprises for us, thanks to new-generation experiments. Understanding the signals and determining the properties of the states requires a parallel theoretical effort. To make full use of available and forthcoming data, a careful amplitude modeling is required, together with a sound treatment of the statistical uncertainties, and a systematic survey of the model dependencies. We review the contributions made by the Joint Physics Analysis Center to the field of hadron spectroscopy.
|
Calefice, L., Hennequin, A., Henry, L., Jashal, B. K., Mendoza, D., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2022). Effect of the high-level trigger for detecting long-lived particles at LHCb. Front. Big Data, 5, 1008737–13pp.
Abstract: Long-lived particles (LLPs) show up in many extensions of the Standard Model, but they are challenging to search for with current detectors, due to their very displaced vertices. This study evaluated the ability of the trigger algorithms used in the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment to detect long-lived particles and attempted to adapt them to enhance the sensitivity of this experiment to undiscovered long-lived particles. A model with a Higgs portal to a dark sector is tested, and the sensitivity reach is discussed. In the LHCb tracking system, the farthest tracking station from the collision point is the scintillating fiber tracker, the SciFi detector. One of the challenges in the track reconstruction is to deal with the large amount of and combinatorics of hits in the LHCb detector. A dedicated algorithm has been developed to cope with the large data output. When fully implemented, this algorithm would greatly increase the available statistics for any long-lived particle search in the forward region and would additionally improve the sensitivity of analyses dealing with Standard Model particles of large lifetime, such as KS0 or Lambda (0) hadrons.
|
Alonso, I. et al, & Bernabeu, J. (2022). Cold atoms in space: community workshop summary and proposed road-map. EPJ Quantum Technol., 9(1), 30–55pp.
Abstract: We summarise the discussions at a virtual Community Workshop on Cold Atoms in Space concerning the status of cold atom technologies, the prospective scientific and societal opportunities offered by their deployment in space, and the developments needed before cold atoms could be operated in space. The cold atom technologies discussed include atomic clocks, quantum gravimeters and accelerometers, and atom interferometers. Prospective applications include metrology, geodesy and measurement of terrestrial mass change due to, e.g., climate change, and fundamental science experiments such as tests of the equivalence principle, searches for dark matter, measurements of gravitational waves and tests of quantum mechanics. We review the current status of cold atom technologies and outline the requirements for their space qualification, including the development paths and the corresponding technical milestones, and identifying possible pathfinder missions to pave the way for missions to exploit the full potential of cold atoms in space. Finally, we present a first draft of a possible road-map for achieving these goals, that we propose for discussion by the interested cold atom, Earth Observation, fundamental physics and other prospective scientific user communities, together with the European Space Agency (ESA) and national space and research funding agencies.
|