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Barenboim, G., & Panotopoulos, G. (2010). Gravitino dark matter in the constrained next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model with neutralino next-to-lightest superpartner. J. High Energy Phys., 09, 011–20pp.
Abstract: The viability of a possible cosmological scenario is investigated. The theoretical framework is the constrained next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (cNMSSM), with a gravitino playing the role of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and a neutralino acting as the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP). All the necessary constraints from colliders and cosmology have been taken into account. For gravitino we have considered the two usual production mechanisms, namely out-of equillibrium decay from the NLSP, and scattering processes from the thermal bath. The maximum allowed reheating temperature after inflation, as well as the maximum allowed gravitino mass are determined.
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Fernandes, L. M. P., Freitas, E. D. C., Ball, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Monteiro, C. M. B., Yahlali, N., et al. (2010). Primary and secondary scintillation measurements in a Xenon Gas Proportional Scintillation Counter. J. Instrum., 5, P09006–15pp.
Abstract: NEXT is a new experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta decay using a 100 kg radio-pure high-pressure gaseous xenon TPC. The detector requires excellent energy resolution, which can be achieved in a Xe TPC with electroluminescence readout. Hamamatsu R8520-06SEL photomultipliers are good candidates for the scintillation readout. The performance of this photomultiplier, used as VUV photosensor in a gas proportional scintillation counter, was investigated. Initial results for the detection of primary and secondary scintillation produced as a result of the interaction of 5.9 keV X-rays in gaseous xenon, at room temperature and at pressures up to 3 bar, are presented. An energy resolution of 8.0% was obtained for secondary scintillation produced by 5.9 keV X-rays. No significant variation of the primary scintillation was observed for different pressures (1, 2 and 3 bar) and for electric fields up to 0.8 V cm(-1) torr(-1) in the drift region, demonstrating negligible recombination luminescence. A primary scintillation yield of 81 +/- 7 photons was obtained for 5.9 keV X-rays, corresponding to a mean energy of 72 +/- 6 eV to produce a primary scintillation photon in xenon.
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Marco-Hernandez, R. (2011). Development of a beam test telescope based on the Alibava readout system. J. Instrum., 6, C01002–7pp.
Abstract: A telescope for a beam test have been developed as a result of a collaboration among the University of Liverpool, Centro Nacional de Microelectronica (CNM) of Barcelona and Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (IFIC) of Valencia. This system is intended to carry out both analogue charge collection and spatial resolution measurements with different types of microstrip or pixel silicon detectors in a beam test environment. The telescope has four XY measurement as well as trigger planes (XYT board) and it can accommodate up to twelve devices under test (DUT board). The DUT board uses two Beetle ASICs for the readout of chilled silicon detectors. The board could operate in a self-triggering mode. The board features a temperature sensor and it can be mounted on a rotary stage. A peltier element is used for cooling the DUT. Each XYT board measures the track space points using two silicon strip detectors connected to two Beetle ASICs. It can also trigger on the particle tracks in the beam test. The board includes a CPLD which allows for the synchronization of the trigger signal to a common clock frequency, delaying and implementing coincidence with other XYT boards. An Alibava mother board is used to read out and to control each XYT/DUT board from a common trigger signal and a common clock signal. The Alibava board has a TDC on board to have a time stamp of each trigger. The data collected by each Alibava board is sent to a master card by means of a local data/address bus following a custom digital protocol. The master board distributes the trigger, clock and reset signals. It also merges the data streams from up to sixteen Alibava boards. The board has also a test channel for testing in a standard mode a XYT or DUT board. This board is implemented with a Xilinx development board and a custom patch board. The master board is connected with the DAQ software via 100M Ethernet. Track based alignment software has also been developed for the data obtained with the DAQ software.
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Garonna, A., Amaldi, U., Bonomi, R., Campo, D., Degiovanni, A., Garlasche, M., et al. (2010). Cyclinac medical accelerators using pulsed C6+/H-2(+) ion sources. J. Instrum., 5, C09004–19pp.
Abstract: Charged particle therapy, or so-called hadrontherapy, is developing very rapidly. There is large pressure on the scientific community to deliver dedicated accelerators, providing the best possible treatment modalities at the lowest cost. In this context, the Italian research Foundation TERA is developing fast-cycling accelerators, dubbed 'cyclinacs'. These are a combination of a cyclotron (accelerating ions to a fixed initial energy) followed by a high gradient linac boosting the ions energy up to the maximum needed for medical therapy. The linac is powered by many independently controlled klystrons to vary the beam energy from one pulse to the next. This accelerator is best suited to treat moving organs with a 4D multipainting spot scanning technique. A dual proton/carbon ion cyclinac is here presented. It consists of an Electron Beam Ion Source, a superconducting isochronous cyclotron and a high-gradient linac. All these machines are pulsed at high repetition rate (100-400 Hz). The source should deliver both C6+ and H-2(+) ions in short pulses (1.5 μs flat-top) and with sufficient intensity (at least 10(8) fully stripped carbon ions per pulse at 300 Hz). The cyclotron accelerates the ions to 120 MeV/u. It features a compact design (with superconducting coils) and a low power consumption. The linac has a novel C-band high-gradient structure and accelerates the ions to variable energies up to 400 MeV/u. High RF frequencies lead to power consumptions which are much lower than the ones of synchrotrons for the same ion extraction energy. This work is part of a collaboration with the CLIC group, which is working at CERN on high-gradient electron-positron colliders.
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ANTARES Collaboration(Aguilar, J. A. et al), Bigongiari, C., Dornic, D., Emanuele, U., Gomez-Gonzalez, J. P., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., et al. (2011). AMADEUS-The acoustic neutrino detection test system of the ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 626, 128–143.
Abstract: The AMADEUS (ANTARES Modules for the Acoustic Detection Under the Sea) system which is described in this article aims at the investigation of techniques for acoustic detection of neutrinos in the deep sea. It is integrated into the ANTARES neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea. Its acoustic sensors, installed at water depths between 2050 and 2300 m, employ piezo-electric elements for the broad-band recording of signals with frequencies ranging up to 125 kHz. The typical sensitivity of the sensors is around – 145 dB re 1 V/mu Pa (including preamplifier). Completed in May 2008, AMADEUS consists of six “acoustic clusters”, each comprising six acoustic sensors that are arranged at distances of roughly 1 m from each other. Two vertical mechanical structures (so-called lines) of the ANTARES detector host three acoustic clusters each. Spacings between the clusters range from 14.5 to 340 m. Each cluster contains custom-designed electronics boards to amplify and digitise the acoustic signals from the sensors. An on-shore computer cluster is used to process and filter the data stream and store the selected events. The daily volume of recorded data is about 10 GB. The system is operating continuously and automatically, requiring only little human intervention. AMADEUS allows for extensive studies of both transient signals and ambient noise in the deep sea, as well as signal correlations on several length scales and localisation of acoustic point sources. Thus the system is excellently suited to assess the background conditions for the measurement of the bipolar pulses expected to originate from neutrino interactions.
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