ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., Fiorini, L., et al. (2015). Search for pair-produced long-lived neutral particles decaying to jets in the ATLAS hadronic calorimeter in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV. Phys. Lett. B, 743, 15–34.
Abstract: The ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is used to search for the decay of a scalar boson to a pair of long-lived particles, neutral under the Standard Model gauge group, in 20.3 fb(-1) of data collected in proton-proton collisions at root s = 8 TeV. This search is sensitive to long-lived particles that decay to Standard Model particles producing jets at the outer edge of the ATLAS electromagnetic calorimeter or inside the hadronic calorimeter. No significant excess of events is observed. Limits are reported on the product of the scalar boson production cross section times branching ratio into long-lived neutral particles as a function of the proper lifetime of the particles. Limits are reported for boson masses from 100 GeV to 900 GeV, and a long-lived neutral particle mass from 10 GeV to 150 GeV.
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NEXT Collaboration(Cebrian, S. et al), Alvarez, V., Carcel, S., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Diaz, J., Ferrario, P., et al. (2015). Radiopurity assessment of the tracking readout for the NEXT double beta decay experiment. J. Instrum., 10, P05006–16pp.
Abstract: The “Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon Time-Projection Chamber” (NEXT) is intended to investigate the neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136, which requires a severe suppression of potential backgrounds; therefore, an extensive screening and selection process is underway to control the radiopurity levels of the materials to be used in the experimental set-up of NEXT. The detector design combines the measurement of the topological signature of the event for background discrimination with the energy resolution optimization. Separate energy and tracking readout planes are based on different sensors: photomultiplier tubes for calorimetry and silicon multi-pixel photon counters for tracking. The design of a radiopure tracking plane, in direct contact with the gas detector medium, was specially challenging since the needed components like printed circuit boards, connectors, sensors or capacitors have typically, according to available information in databases and in the literature, activities too large for experiments requiring ultra-low background conditions. Here, the radiopurity assessment of tracking readout components based on gamma-ray spectroscopy using ultra-low background germanium detectors at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (Spain) is described. According to the obtained results, radiopure enough printed circuit boards made of kapton and copper, silicon photomultipliers and other required components, fulfilling the requirement of an overall background level in the region of interest of at most 8 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) y(-1), have been identified.
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Papoulias, D. K., & Kosmas, T. S. (2015). Neutrino transition magnetic moments within the non-standard neutrino-nucleus interactions. Phys. Lett. B, 747, 454–459.
Abstract: Tensorial non-standard neutrino interactions are studied through a combined analysis of nuclear structure calculations and a sensitivity chi(2)-type of neutrino events expected to be measured at the COHERENT experiment, recently planned to operate at the Spallation Neutron Source (Oak Ridge). Potential sizeable predictions on transition neutrino magnetic moments and other electromagnetic parameters, such as neutrino milli-charges, are also addressed. The non-standard neutrino-nucleus processes, explored from nuclear physics perspectives within the context of quasi-particle random phase approximation, are exploited in order to estimate the expected number of events originating from vector and tensor exotic interactions for the case of reactor neutrinos, studied with TEXONO and GEMMA neutrino detectors.
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Rinaldi, M., Scopetta, S., Traini, M., & Vento, V. (2016). Double parton scattering: A study of the effective cross section within a Light-Front quark model. Phys. Lett. B, 752, 40–45.
Abstract: We present a calculation of the effective cross section sigma(eff), an important ingredient in the description of double parton scattering in proton-proton collisions. Our theoretical approach makes use of a Light-Front quark model as a framework to calculate the double parton distribution functions at low-resolution scale. QCD evolution is implemented to reach the experimental scale. The obtained values of sigma(eff) in the valence region are consistent with the present experimental scenario, in particular with the sets of data which include the same kinematical range. However the result of the complete calculation shows a dependence of sigma(eff) on x(i), a feature not easily seen in the available data, probably because of their low accuracy. Measurements of sigma(eff) in restricted x(i) regions are addressed to obtain indications on double parton correlations, a novel and interesting aspect of the three dimensional structure of the nucleon.
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Renner, J., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Hernando, J. A., Izmaylov, A., Monrabal, F., Muñoz, J., et al. (2015). Improved background rejection in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments using a magnetic field in a high pressure xenon TPC. J. Instrum., 10, P12020–19pp.
Abstract: We demonstrate that the application of an external magnetic field could lead to an improved background rejection in neutrinoless double-beta (0 nu beta beta) decay experiments using a high-pressure xenon (HPXe) TPC. HPXe chambers are capable of imaging electron tracks, a feature that enhances the separation between signal events (the two electrons emitted in the 0 nu beta beta decay of Xe-136) and background events, arising chiefly from single electrons of kinetic energy compatible with the end-point of the 0 nu beta beta decay (Q(beta beta)). Applying an external magnetic field of sufficiently high intensity (in the range of 0.5-1 Tesla for operating pressures in the range of 5-15 atmospheres) causes the electrons to produce helical tracks. Assuming the tracks can be properly reconstructed, the sign of the curvature can be determined at several points along these tracks, and such information can be used to separate signal (0 nu beta beta) events containing two electrons producing a track with two different directions of curvature from background (single-electron) events producing a track that should spiral in a single direction. Due to electron multiple scattering, this strategy is not perfectly efficient on an event-by-event basis, but a statistical estimator can be constructed which can be used to reject background events by one order of magnitude at a moderate cost (about 30%) in signal efficiency. Combining this estimator with the excellent energy resolution and topological signature identification characteristic of the HPXe TPC, it is possible to reach a background rate of less than one count per ton-year of exposure. Such a low background rate is an essential feature of the next generation of 0 nu beta beta experiments, aiming to fully explore the inverse hierarchy of neutrino masses.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Fernandez Martinez, P., et al. (2016). Performance of b-jet identification in the ATLAS experiment. J. Instrum., 11, P04008–126pp.
Abstract: The identification of jets containing b hadrons is important for the physics programme of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Several algorithms to identify jets containing b hadrons are described, ranging from those based on the reconstruction of an inclusive secondary vertex or the presence of tracks with large impact parameters to combined tagging algorithms making use of multi-variate discriminants. An independent b-tagging algorithm based on the reconstruction of muons inside jets as well as the b-tagging algorithm used in the online trigger are also presented. The b-jet tagging efficiency, the c-jet tagging efficiency and the mistag rate for light flavour jets in data have been measured with a number of complementary methods. The calibration results are presented as scale factors defined as the ratio of the efficiency (or mistag rate) in data to that in simulation. In the case of b jets, where more than one calibration method exists, the results from the various analyses have been combined taking into account the statistical correlation as well as the correlation of the sources of systematic uncertainty.
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ATLAS TRT collaboration(Mindur, B. et al), Mitsou, V. A., & Valls Ferrer, J. A. (2016). Gas gain stabilisation in the ATLAS TRT detector. J. Instrum., 11, P04027–19pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS (one of two general purpose detectors at the LHC) Transition Radiation Tracker (TRT) is the outermost of the three tracking subsystems of the ATLAS Inner Detector. It is a large straw-based detector and contains about 350,000 electronics channels. The performance of the TRT as tracking and particularly particle identification detector strongly depends on stability of the operation parameters with most important parameter being the gas gain which must be kept constant across the detector volume. The gas gain in the straws can vary significantly with atmospheric pressure, temperature, and gas mixture composition changes. This paper presents a concept of the gas gain stabilisation in the TRT and describes in detail the Gas Gain Stabilisation System (GGSS) integrated into the Detector Control System (DCS). Operation stability of the GGSS during Run-1 is demonstrated.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2016). A new algorithm for identifying the flavour of B-s(0) mesons at LHCb. J. Instrum., 11, P05010–23pp.
Abstract: A new algorithm for the determination of the initial flavour of B-s(0) mesons is presented. The algorithm is based on two neural networks and exploits the b hadron production mechanism at a hadron collider. The first network is trained to select charged kaons produced in association with the B-s(0) meson. The second network combines the kaon charges to assign the B-s(0) flavour and estimates the probability of a wrong assignment. The algorithm is calibrated using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1) collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at 7 and 8 TeV centre-of-mass energies. The calibration is performed in two ways: by resolving the B-s(0)-B-s(0) flavour oscillations in B-s(0) -> D-s(-)pi(+) decays, and by analysing flavour-specific B-s2*(5840)(0) -> B+K- decays. The tagging power measured in B-s(0) -> D-s(-)pi(+) decays is found to be (1.80 +/- 0.19 ( stat) +/- 0.18 (syst))%, which is an improvement of about 50% compared to a similar algorithm previously used in the LHCb experiment.
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Andricek, L., Boronat, M., Fuster, J., Garcia, I., Gomis, P., Marinas, C., et al. (2016). Integrated cooling channels in position-sensitive silicon detectors. J. Instrum., 11, P06018–15pp.
Abstract: We present an approach to construct position-sensitive silicon detectors with an integrated cooling circuit. Tests on samples demonstrate that a very modest liquid flow very effectively cool the devices up to a power dissipation of over 10 W/cm(2). The liquid flow is found to have a negligible impact on the mechanical stability. A finite-element simulation predicts the cooling performance to an accuracy of approximately 10%.
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ATLAS Tile Calorimeter System(Abdallah, J. et al), Ferrer, A., Fiorini, L., Hernandez Jimenez, Y., Higon-Rodriguez, E., Ruiz-Martinez, A., et al. (2016). The Laser calibration of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter during the LHC run 1. J. Instrum., 11, T10005–29pp.
Abstract: This article describes the Laser calibration system of the ATLAS hadronic Tile Calorimeter that has been used during the run 1 of the LHC. First, the stability of the system associated readout electronics is studied. It is found to be stable with variations smaller than 0.6 %. Then, the method developed to compute the calibration constants, to correct for the variations of the gain of the calorimeter photomultipliers, is described. These constants were determined with a statistical uncertainty of 0.3 % and a systematic uncertainty of 0.2 % for the central part of the calorimeter and 0.5 % for the end-caps. Finally, the detection and correction of timing mis-configuration of the Tile Calorimeter using the Laser system are also presented.
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