Kiss, G. G. et al, Tarifeño-Saldivia, A., Tain, J. L., Agramunt, J., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., et al. (2022). Measuring the beta-decay Properties of Neutron-rich Exotic Pm, Sm, Eu, and Gd Isotopes to Constrain the Nucleosynthesis Yields in the Rare-earth Region. Astrophys. J., 936(2), 107–18pp.
Abstract: The beta-delayed neutron-emission probabilities of 28 exotic neutron-rich isotopes of Pm, Sm, Eu, and Gd were measured for the first time at RIKEN Nishina Center using the Advanced Implantation Detector Array (AIDA) and the BRIKEN neutron detector array. The existing beta-decay half-life (T (1/2)) database was significantly increased toward more neutron-rich isotopes, and uncertainties for previously measured values were decreased. The new data not only constrain the theoretical predictions of half-lives and beta-delayed neutron-emission probabilities, but also allow for probing the mechanisms of formation of the high-mass wing of the rare-earth peak located at A approximate to 160 in the r-process abundance distribution through astrophysical reaction network calculations. An uncertainty quantification of the calculated abundance patterns with the new data shows a reduction of the uncertainty in the rare-earth peak region. The newly introduced variance-based sensitivity analysis method offers valuable insight into the influence of important nuclear physics inputs on the calculated abundance patterns. The analysis has identified the half-lives of Sm-168 and of several gadolinium isotopes as some of the key variables among the current experimental data to understand the remaining abundance uncertainty at A = 167-172.
|
Massimi, C., Cristallo, S., Domingo-Pardo, C., & Lederer-Woods, C. (2022). n_TOF: Measurements of Key Reactions of Interest to AGB Stars. Universe, 8(2), 100–19pp.
Abstract: In the last 20 years, the neutron time-of-flight facility nTOF at CERN has been providing relevant data for the astrophysical slow neutron capture process (s process). At nTOF, neutron-induced radiative capture (n,gamma) as well as (n,p) and (n,alpha) reaction cross sections are measured as a function of energy, using the time-of-flight method. Improved detection systems, innovative ideas and collaborations with other neutron facilities have lead to a considerable contribution of the n_TOF collaboration to studying the s process in asymptotic giant branch stars. Results have been reported for stable and radioactive samples, i.e.,Mg- 24,Mg-25,Mg-26, Al-26, S-33,Fe- 54,Fe-57, Ni-58,Ni-59,Ni-62,Ni-63, Ge-70,Ge-72,Ge-73, Zr-90,Zr-91,Zr-92,Zr-93,Zr-94,Zr-96, La-139, Ce-140, Pm-147, Sm-151,Gd- 154,Gd-155,Gd-157, Tm-171, Os-186,Os-187,Os-188, Au-197, Tl-203,Tl-204,Pb- 204,Pb-206,Pb-207 and Bi-209 isotopes, while others are being studied or planned to be studied in the near future. In this contribution, we present an overview of the most successful achievements, and an outlook of future challenging measurements, including ongoing detection system developments.
|
Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Ardid, M., Bou Cabo, M., Calvo, D., Diaz, A. F., Gozzini, S. R., et al. (2022). Science with Neutrino Telescopes in Spain. Universe, 8(2), 89–25pp.
Abstract: The primary scientific goal of neutrino telescopes is the detection and study of cosmic neutrino signals. However, the range of physics topics that these instruments can tackle is exceedingly wide and diverse. Neutrinos coming from outside the Earth, in association with other messengers, can contribute to clarify the question of the mechanisms that power the astrophysical accelerators which are known to exist from the observation of high-energy cosmic and gamma rays. Cosmic neutrinos can also be used to bring relevant information about the nature of dark matter, to study the intrinsic properties of neutrinos and to look for physics beyond the Standard Model. Likewise, atmospheric neutrinos can be used to study an ample variety of particle physics issues, such as neutrino oscillation phenomena, the determination of the neutrino mass ordering, non-standard neutrino interactions, neutrino decays and a diversity of other physics topics. In this article, we review a selected number of these topics, chosen on the basis of their scientific relevance and the involvement in their study of the Spanish physics community working in the KM3NeT and ANTARES neutrino telescopes.
|
Real, D., Calvo, D., Diaz, A., Salesa Greus, F., & Sanchez Losa, A. (2022). A Narrow Optical Pulse Emitter Based on LED: NOPELED. Sensors, 22(19), 7683–15pp.
Abstract: Light sources emitting short pulses are needed in many particle physics experiments using optical sensors as they can replicate the light produced by the particles being detected and are also an important calibration and test element. This work presents NOPELED, a light source based on LEDs emitting short optical pulses with typical rise times of less than 3 ns and Full Width at Half Maximum lower than 7 ns. The emission wavelength depends on the model of LED used. Several LED models have been characterized in the range from 405 to 532 nm, although NOPELED can work with LED emitting wavelengths outside of that region. While the wavelength is fixed for a given LED model, the intensity and the frequency of the optical pulse can be controlled. NOPELED, which also has low cost and simple operation, can be operated remotely, making it appropriate for either different physics experiments needing in-place light sources such as astrophysical neutrino detectors using photo-multipliers or positron emission tomography devices using scintillation counters, or, beyond physics, applications needing short pulses of light such as protein fluorescence or chemodetection of heavy metals.
|
Menendez, A., Esperante, D., Garcia-Olcina, R., Torres, J., Perez-Soler, J., Marco, R., et al. (2022). RF Acquisition System Based on μTCA for Testing of High-Gradient Acceleration Cavities. Electronics, 11(5), 720–22pp.
Abstract: The radio frequency (RF) laboratory hosted in the Corpuscular Physics Institute (IFIC) of the University of Valencia is designed to house a high-power and high-repetition-rate facility to test normal conduction RF accelerator cavities in the S-Band (2.9985 GHz) in order to perform R & D activities related to particle accelerator cavities. The system, which manages the entire process of RF signal generation, data acquisition and closed-loop control of the laboratory, is currently based on a modular and compact PXI platform system. This contribution details the development of a platform with similar features, but which is based on open architecture standards at both the hardware and software level. For this purpose, a complete system based on the μTCA platform has been developed. This new system must be able to work with accelerator cavities at other operating frequencies, such as 750 MHz, as well as to explore different options at firmware and software levels based on open-source codes.
|
Otal, A., Celada, F., Chimeno, J., Vijande, J., Pellejero, S., Perez-Calatayud, M. J., et al. (2022). Review on Treatment Planning Systems for Cervix Brachytherapy (Interventional Radiotherapy): Some Desirable and Convenient Practical Aspects to Be Implemented from Radiation Oncologist and Medical Physics Perspectives. Cancers, 14(14), 3467–15pp.
Abstract: Simple Summary There are no brachytherapy treatment planning systems (TPS) exclusively for the treatment of cervical tumours, so general-purpose TPSs are used. However, these treatments have some particular features concerning the treatment of other pathologies, especially in the case of exclusive use of MRI as an imaging modality and the presence of gynaecological applicators in combination with an interstitial part. That is why it is essential to review the latest versions of commercial TPSs to find the potential features to improve with the help of a group of experimented medical physicists and radiation oncologists. Furthermore, after reviewing the recent literature for advances applicable to cervical brachytherapy and through his own clinical experience, possible improvements are proposed to software providers for the development of new tools. Intracavitary brachytherapy (BT, Interventional Radiotherapy, IRT), plays an essential role in the curative intent of locally advanced cervical cancer, for which the conventional approach involves external beam radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy followed by BT. This work aims to review the different methodologies used by commercially available treatment planning systems (TPSs) in exclusive magnetic resonance imaging-based (MRI) cervix BT with interstitial component treatments. Practical aspects and improvements to be implemented into the TPSs are discussed. This review is based on the clinical expertise of a group of radiation oncologists and medical physicists and on interactive demos provided by the software manufacturers. The TPS versions considered include all the new tools currently in development for future commercial releases. The specialists from the supplier companies were asked to propose solutions to some of the challenges often encountered in a clinical environment through a questionnaire. The results include not only such answers but also comments by the authors that, in their opinion, could help solve the challenges covered in these questions. This study summarizes the possibilities offered nowadays by commercial TPSs, highlighting the absence of some useful tools that would notably improve the planning of MR-based interstitial component cervix brachytherapy.
|
Barenboim, G. (2022). Some Aspects About Pushing the CPT and Lorentz Invariance Frontier With Neutrinos. Front. Physics, 10, 813753–7pp.
Abstract: The CPT symmetry, which combines Charge Conjugation, Parity, and Time Reversal, is a cornerstone of our model-building method, and its probable violation will endanger the most extended tool we presently utilize to explain physics, namely local relativistic quantum fields. However, the kaon system's conservation constraints appear to be rather severe. We will show in this paper that neutrino oscillation experiments can enhance this limit by many orders of magnitude, making them an excellent instrument for investigating the basis of our understanding of Nature. As a result, verifying CPT invariance does not evaluate a specific model, but rather the entire paradigm. Therefore, as the CPT's status in the neutrino sector, linked or not to Lorentz invariance violation, will be assessed at an unprecedented level by current and future long baseline experiments, distinguishing it from comparable experimental fingerprints coming from non-standard interactions is critical. Whether the entire paradigm or simply the conventional model of neutrinos is at jeopardy is significantly dependent on this.
|
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.
|
de Azcarraga, J. A. (2022). The new Spanish educational legislation: why public education will not improve. Rev. Esp. Pedagog., 80(281), 111–129.
Abstract: This paper provides some reasons that explain, in the view of the author, why the present eagerness of the Spanish Educational Authorities to reform all levels of education, from primary school to the universities, will not improve the quality of the Spanish educational system.
|
Garcia Navarro, J. E., Fernandez-Prieto, L. M., Villaseñor, A., Sanz, V., Ammirati, J. B., Diaz Suarez, E. A., et al. (2022). Performance of Deep Learning Pickers in Routine Network Processing Applications. Seismol. Res. Lett., 93, 2529–2542.
Abstract: Picking arrival times of P and S phases is a fundamental and time‐consuming task for the routine processing of seismic data acquired by permanent and temporary networks. A large number of automatic pickers have been developed, but to perform well they often require the tuning of multiple parameters to adapt them to each dataset. Despite the great advance in techniques, some problems remain, such as the difficulty to accurately pick S waves and earthquake recordings with a low signal‐to‐noise ratio. Recently, phase pickers based on deep learning (DL) have shown great potential for event identification and arrival‐time picking. However, the general adoption of these methods for the routine processing of monitoring networks has been held back by factors such as the availability of well‐documented software, computational resources, and a gap in knowledge of these methods. In this study, we evaluate recent available DL pickers for earthquake data, comparing the performance of several neural network architectures. We test the selected pickers using three datasets with different characteristics. We found that the analyzed DL pickers (generalized phase detection, PhaseNet, and EQTransformer) perform well in the three tested cases. They are very efficient at ignoring large‐amplitude transient noise and at picking S waves, a task that is often difficult even for experienced analysts. Nevertheless, the performance of the analyzed DL pickers varies widely in terms of sensitivity and false discovery rate, with some pickers missing a significant percentage of true picks and others producing a large number of false positives. There are also variations in run time between DL pickers, with some of them requiring significant resources to process large datasets. In spite of these drawbacks, we show that DL pickers can be used efficiently to process large seismic datasets and obtain results comparable or better than current standard procedures.
|
