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Tortajada, S., Albiol, F., Caballero, L., Albiol, A., & Leganes-Nieto, J. L. (2023). A portable geometry-independent tomographic system for gamma-ray, a next generation of nuclear waste characterization. Sci Rep, 13(1), 12284–10pp.
Abstract: One of the main activities of the nuclear industry is the characterisation of radioactive waste based on the detection of gamma radiation. Large volumes of radioactive waste are classified according to their average activity, but often the radioactivity exceeds the maximum allowed by regulators in specific parts of the bulk. In addition, the detection of the radiation is currently based on static detection systems where the geometry of the bulk is fixed and well known. Furthermore, these systems are not portable and depend on the transport of waste to the places where the detection systems are located. However, there are situations where the geometry varies and where moving waste is complex. This is especially true in compromised situations.We present a new model for nuclear waste management based on a portable and geometry-independent tomographic system for three-dimensional image reconstruction for gamma radiation detection. The system relies on a combination of a gamma radiation camera and a visible camera that allows to visualise radioactivity using augmented reality and artificial computer vision techniques. This novel tomographic system has the potential to be a disruptive innovation in the nuclear industry for nuclear waste management.
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Garcia-Barcelo, J. M., Melcon, A. A., Diaz-Morcillo, A., Gimeno, B., Lozano-Guerrero, A. J., Monzi-Cabrera, J., et al. (2023). Methods and restrictions to increase the volume of resonant rectangular-section haloscopes for detecting dark matter axions. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 098–37pp.
Abstract: Haloscopes are resonant cavities that serve as detectors of dark matter axions when they are immersed in a strong static magnetic field. In order to increase the volume and improve space compatibility with dipole or solenoid magnets for axion searches, various haloscope design techniques for rectangular geometries are discussed in this study. The volume limits of two types of haloscopes are explored: those based on single cavities and those based on multicavities. In both cases, possibilities for increasing the volume of long and/or tall structures are presented. For multicavities, 1D geometries are explored to optimise the space in the magnets. Also, 2D and 3D geometries are introduced as a first step in laying the foundations for the development of these kinds of topologies. The results prove the usefulness of the developed methods, evidencing the ample room for improvement in rectangular haloscope designs nowadays. A factor of three orders of magnitude improvement in volume compared with a single cavity based on the WR-90 standard waveguide is obtained with the design of a long and tall single cavity. Similar procedures have been applied for long and tall multicavities. Experimental measurements are shown for prototypes based on tall multicavities and 2D structures, demonstrating the feasibility of using these types of geometries to increase the volume of real haloscopes.
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Khosa, C. K., & Sanz, V. (2023). Anomaly Awareness. SciPost Phys., 15(2), 053–24pp.
Abstract: We present a new algorithm for anomaly detection called Anomaly Awareness. The algorithm learns about normal events while being made aware of the anomalies through a modification of the cost function. We show how this method works in different Particle Physics situations and in standard Computer Vision tasks. For example, we apply the method to images from a Fat Jet topology generated by Standard Model Top and QCD events, and test it against an array of new physics scenarios, including Higgs production with EFT effects and resonances decaying into two, three or four subjets. We find that the algorithm is effective identifying anomalies not seen before, and becomes robust as we make it aware of a varied-enough set of anomalies.
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Fernandez-Martinez, E., Lopez-Pavon, J., No, J. M., Ota, T., & Rosauro-Alcaraz, S. (2023). nu Electroweak baryogenesis: the scalar singlet strikes back. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(8), 715–23pp.
Abstract: We perform a comprehensive scan of the parameter space of a general singlet scalar extension of the Standard Model to identify the regions which can lead to a strong first-order phase transition, as required by the electroweak baryogenesis mechanism. We find that taking into account bubble nucleation is a fundamental constraint on the parameter space and present a conservative and fast estimate for it so as to enable efficient parameter space scanning. The allowed regions turn out to be already significantly probed by constraints on the scalar mixing from Higgs signal strength measurements. We also consider the addition of new neutrino singlet fields with Yukawa couplings to both scalars and forming heavy (pseudo)-Dirac pairs, as in the linear or inverse Seesaw mechanisms for neutrino mass generation. We find that their inclusion does not alter the allowed parameter space from early universe phenomenology in a significant way. Conversely, there are allowed regions of the parameter space where the presence of the neutrino singlets would remarkably modify the collider phenomenology, yielding interesting new signatures in Higgs and singlet scalar decays.
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Sandner, S., Escudero, M., & Witte, S. J. (2023). Precision CMB constraints on eV-scale bosons coupled to neutrinos. Eur. Phys. J. C, 83(8), 709–12pp.
Abstract: The cosmic microwave background (CMB) has proven to be an invaluable tool for studying the properties and interactions of neutrinos, providing insight not only into the sum of neutrino masses but also the free streaming nature of neutrinos prior to recombination. The CMB is a particularly powerful probe of new eV-scale bosons interacting with neutrinos, as these particles can thermalizewith neutrinos via the inverse decay process, v (v) over bar -> X, and suppress neutrino free streaming near recombination – even for couplings as small as lambda(v) similar to O(10(-13)). Here, we revisit CMB constraints on such bosons, improving upon a number of approximations previously adopted in the literature and generalizing the constraints to a broader class of models. This includes scenarios in which the boson is either spin-0 or spin-1, the number of interacting neutrinos is either N-int = 1, 2 or 3, and the case in which a primordial abundance of the species is present. We apply these bounds to well-motivatedmodels, such as the singlet majoron model or a light U(1) L-mu- L-t gauge boson, and find that they represent the leading constraints for masses m(X) similar to 1 eV. Finally, we revisit the extent to which neutrinophilic bosons can ameliorate the Hubble tension, and find that recent improvements in the understanding of how such bosons damp neutrino free streaming reduces the previously found success of this proposal.
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Blennow, M., Fernandez-Martinez, E., Hernandez-Garcia, J., Lopez-Pavon, J., Marcano, X., & Naredo-Tuero, D. (2023). Bounds on lepton non-unitarity and heavy neutrino mixing. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 030–41pp.
Abstract: We present an updated and improved global fit analysis of current flavour and electroweak precision observables to derive bounds on unitarity deviations of the leptonic mixing matrix and on the mixing of heavy neutrinos with the active flavours. This new analysis is motivated by new and updated experimental results on key observables such as V-ud, the invisible decay width of the Z boson and the W boson mass. It also improves upon previous studies by considering the full correlations among the different observables and explicitly calibrating the test statistic, which may present significant deviations from a & chi;(2) distribution. The results are provided for three different Type-I seesaw scenarios: the minimal scenario with only two additional right-handed neutrinos, the next to minimal one with three extra neutrinos, and the most general one with an arbitrary number of heavy neutrinos that we parametrise via a generic deviation from a unitary leptonic mixing matrix. Additionally, we also analyze the case of generic deviations from unitarity of the leptonic mixing matrix, not necessarily induced by the presence of additional neutrinos. This last case relaxes some correlations among the parameters and is able to provide a better fit to the data. Nevertheless, inducing only leptonic unitarity deviations avoiding both the correlations implied by the right-handed neutrino extension as well as more strongly constrained operators is challenging and would imply significantly more complex UV completions.
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Coloma, P., Gonzalez-Garcia, M. C., Maltoni, M., Pinheiro, J. P., & Urrea, S. (2023). Global constraints on non-standard neutrino interactions with quarks and electrons. J. High Energy Phys., 08(8), 032–42pp.
Abstract: We derive new constraints on effective four-fermion neutrino non-standard interactions with both quarks and electrons. This is done through the global analysis of neutrino oscillation data and measurements of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE & nu;NS) obtained with different nuclei. In doing so, we include not only the effects of new physics on neutrino propagation but also on the detection cross section in neutrino experiments which are sensitive to the new physics. We consider both vector and axial-vector neutral-current neutrino interactions and, for each case, we include simultaneously all allowed effective operators in flavour space. To this end, we use the most general parametrization for their Wilson coefficients under the assumption that their neutrino flavour structure is independent of the charged fermion participating in the interaction. The status of the LMA-D solution is assessed for the first time in the case of new interactions taking place simultaneously with up quarks, down quarks, and electrons. One of the main results of our work are the presently allowed regions for the effective combinations of non-standard neutrino couplings, relevant for long-baseline and atmospheric neutrino oscillation experiments.
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Batra, A., Bharadwaj, P., Mandal, S., Srivastava, R., & Valle, J. W. F. (2023). Phenomenology of the simplest linear seesaw mechanism. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 221–48pp.
Abstract: The linear seesaw mechanism provides a simple way to generate neutrino masses. In addition to Standard Model particles, it includes quasi-Dirac leptons as neutrino mass mediators, and a leptophilic scalar doublet seeding small neutrino masses. Here we review its associated physics, including restrictions from theory and phenomenology. The model yields potentially detectable μ-> e gamma rates as well as distinctive signatures in the production and decay of heavy neutrinos ( N-i) and the charged Higgs boson (H-+/-) arising from the second scalar doublet. We have found that production processes such as e(+) e(-) -> NN, e- gamma -> NH- and e(+) e(-) -> H (+) H- followed by the decay chain H-+/--> l(+/-) (i) N, N -> l`(+/-) (j) W (-/+) leads to striking lepton number violation signatures at high energies which may probe the Majorana nature of neutrinos.
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Dreiner, H. K., Koay, Y. S., Kohler, D., Martin Lozano, V., Montejo Berlingen, J., Nangia, S., et al. (2023). The ABC of RPV: classification of R-parity violating signatures at the LHC for small couplings. J. High Energy Phys., 07(7), 215–52pp.
Abstract: We perform a classification of all potential supersymmetric R-parity violating signatures at the LHC to address the question: are existing bounds on supersymmetric models robust, or are there still signatures not covered by existing searches, allowing LHCscale supersymmetry to be hiding? We analyze all possible scenarios with one dominant RPV trilinear coupling at a time, allowing for arbitrary LSPs and mass spectra. We consider direct production of the LSP, as well as production via gauge-cascades, and find 6 different experimental signatures for the LL <overline> E -case, 6 for the LQ <overline> D -case, and 5 for the <overline> U <overline> D <overline> D -case; together these provide complete coverage of the RPV-MSSM landscape. This set of signatures is confronted with the existing searches by ATLAS and CMS. We find all signatures have been covered at the LHC, although not at the sensitivity level needed to probe the direct production of all LSP types. For the case of a dominant LL <overline> E -operator, we use CheckMATE to quantify the current lower bounds on the supersymmetric masses and find the limits to be comparable to or better than the R-parity conserving case. Our treatment can be easily extended to scenarios with more than one non-zero RPV coupling.
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Clement, E., Bracco, A., Gadea, A., & Simpson, J. (2023). Organisation of the AGATA collaboration and physics campaigns. Eur. Phys. J. A, 59(7), 152–5pp.
Abstract: The AGATA spectrometer has a well-established organisational and management structure for its construction and operation. The roles and responsibilities of each of the management committees and their interaction, as well as the scientific organisation is described in this contribution. The organisation of the present campaign, which aims to realise the 4p spectrometer, is presented. General comments on the previous physics campaigns at LNL (2010-2011), GSI (2012-2014) and GANIL (2015-2021) are made.
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