Lerendegui-Marco, J., Balibrea-Correa, J., Babiano-Suarez, V., Ladarescu, I., & Domingo-Pardo, C. (2022). Towards machine learning aided real-time range imaging in proton therapy. Sci Rep, 12(1), 2735–17pp.
Abstract: Compton imaging represents a promising technique for range verification in proton therapy treatments. In this work, we report on the advantageous aspects of the i-TED detector for proton-range monitoring, based on the results of the first Monte Carlo study of its applicability to this field. i-TED is an array of Compton cameras, that have been specifically designed for neutron-capture nuclear physics experiments, which are characterized by gamma-ray energies spanning up to 5-6 MeV, rather low gamma-ray emission yields and very intense neutron induced gamma-ray backgrounds. Our developments to cope with these three aspects are concomitant with those required in the field of hadron therapy, especially in terms of high efficiency for real-time monitoring, low sensitivity to neutron backgrounds and reliable performance at the high gamma-ray energies. We find that signal-to-background ratios can be appreciably improved with i-TED thanks to its light-weight design and the low neutron-capture cross sections of its LaCl3 crystals, when compared to other similar systems based on LYSO, CdZnTe or LaBr3. Its high time-resolution (CRT similar to 500 ps) represents an additional advantage for background suppression when operated in pulsed HT mode. Each i-TED Compton module features two detection planes of very large LaCl3 monolithic crystals, thereby achieving a high efficiency in coincidence of 0.2% for a point-like 1 MeV gamma-ray source at 5 cm distance. This leads to sufficient statistics for reliable image reconstruction with an array of four i-TED detectors assuming clinical intensities of 10(8) protons per treatment point. The use of a two-plane design instead of three-planes has been preferred owing to the higher attainable efficiency for double time-coincidences than for threefold events. The loss of full-energy events for high energy gamma-rays is compensated by means of machine-learning based algorithms, which allow one to enhance the signal-to-total ratio up to a factor of 2.
|
Baeza-Ballesteros, J., Donini, A., & Nadal-Gisbert, S. (2022). Dynamical measurements of deviations from Newton's 1/r(2) law. Eur. Phys. J. C, 82(2), 154–30pp.
Abstract: In Ref. Donini and Marimon (Eur Phys J C 76:696, arXiv:1609.05654, 2016), an experimental setup aiming at the measurement of deviations from the Newtonian 1/r(2) distance dependence of gravitational interactions was proposed. The theoretical idea behind this setup was to study the trajectories of a “Satellite” with a mass m(S) similar to O(10(-9)) g around a “Planet” with mass m(P) is an element of [10(-7), 10(-5)] g, looking for precession of the orbit. The observation of such feature induced by gravitational interactions would be an unambiguous indication of a gravitational potential with terms different from 1/r and, thus, a powerful tool to detect deviations from Newton's 1/r(2) law. In this paper we optimize the proposed setup in order to achieve maximal sensitivity to look for such Beyond-Newtonian corrections. We then study in detail possible background sources that could induce precession and quantify their impact on the achievable sensitivity. We finally conclude that a dynamical measurement of deviations from newtonianity can test Yukawa-like corrections to the 1/r potential with strength as low as alpha similar to 10(-2) for distances as small as lambda similar to 10 μm.
|
Alvarez, A., Cepedello, R., Hirsch, M., & Porod, W. (2022). Temperature effects on the Z(2) symmetry breaking in the scotogenic model. Phys. Rev. D, 105(3), 035013–8pp.
Abstract: It is well known that the scotogenic model for neutrino mass generation can explain correctly the relic abundance of cold dark matter. There have been claims in the literature that an important part of the parameter space of the simplest scotogentic model can be constrained by the requirement that no Z(2)-breaking must occur in the early universe. Here we show that this requirement does not give any constraints on the underlying parameter space at least in those parts, where we can trust perturbation theory. To demonstrate this, we have taken into account the proper decoupling of heavy degrees of freedom in both the thermal potential and in the RGE evolution.
|
Khosa, C. K., & Sanz, V. (2022). On the Impact of the LHC Run 2 Data on General Composite Higgs Scenarios. Adv. High. Energy Phys., 2022, 8970837–13pp.
Abstract: We study the impact of Run 2 LHC data on general composite Higgs scenarios, where nonlinear effects, mixing with additional scalars, and new fermionic degrees of freedom could simultaneously contribute to the modification of Higgs properties. We obtain new experimental limits on the scale of compositeness, the mixing with singlets and doublets with the Higgs, and the mass and mixing angle of top-partners. We also show that for scenarios where new fermionic degrees of freedom are involved in electroweak symmetry breaking, there is an interesting interplay among Higgs coupling measurements, boosted Higgs properties, SMEFT global analyses, and direct searches for single and double production of vector-like quarks.
|
Coogan, A., Bertone, G., Gaggero, D., Kavanagh, B. J., & Nichols, D. A. (2022). Measuring the dark matter environments of black hole binaries with gravitational waves. Phys. Rev. D, 105(4), 043009–22pp.
Abstract: Large dark matter overdensities can form around black holes of astrophysical and primordial origin as they form and grow. This “dark dress” inevitably affects the dynamical evolution of binary systems and induces a dephasing in the gravitational waveform that can be probed with future interferometers. In this paper, we introduce a new analytical model to rapidly compute gravitational waveforms in the presence of an evolving dark matter distribution. We then present a Bayesian analysis determining when dressed black hole binaries can be distinguished from GR-in-vacuum ones and how well their parameters can be measured, along with how close they must be to be detectable by the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). We show that LISA can definitively distinguish dark dresses from standard binaries and characterize the dark matter environments around astrophysical and primordial black holes for a wide range of model parameters. Our approach can be generalized to assess the prospects for detecting, classifying, and characterizing other environmental effects in gravitational wave physics.
|