Buchta, S., Chachamis, G., Draggiotis, P., & Rodrigo, G. (2017). Numerical implementation of the loop-tree duality method. Eur. Phys. J. C, 77(5), 274–15pp.
Abstract: We present a first numerical implementation of the loop-tree duality (LTD) method for the direct numerical computation of multi-leg one-loop Feynman integrals. We discuss in detail the singular structure of the dual integrands and define a suitable contour deformation in the loop three-momentum space to carry out the numerical integration. Then we apply the LTD method to the computation of ultraviolet and infrared finite integrals, and we present explicit results for scalar and tensor integrals with up to eight external legs (octagons). The LTD method features an excellent performance independently of the number of external legs.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Adrian-Martinez, S. et al), Barrios-Marti, J., Calvo Diaz-Aldagalan, D., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Real, D., Zornoza, J. D., et al. (2016). The prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 76(2), 54–12pp.
Abstract: A prototype detection unit of the KM3NeT deep-sea neutrino telescope has been installed at 3500m depth 80 km offshore the Italian coast. KM3NeT in its final configuration will contain several hundreds of detection units. Each detection unit is a mechanical structure anchored to the sea floor, held vertical by a submerged buoy and supporting optical modules for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles emerging from neutrino interactions. This prototype string implements three optical modules with 31 photomultiplier tubes each. These optical modules were developed by the KM3NeT Collaboration to enhance the detection capability of neutrino interactions. The prototype detection unit was operated since its deployment in May 2014 until its decommissioning in July 2015. Reconstruction of the particle trajectories from the data requires a nanosecond accuracy in the time calibration. A procedure for relative time calibration of the photomultiplier tubes contained in each optical module is described. This procedure is based on the measured coincidences produced in the sea by the K background light and can easily be expanded to a detector with several thousands of optical modules. The time offsets between the different optical modules are obtained using LED nanobeacons mounted inside them. A set of data corresponding to 600 h of livetime was analysed. The results show good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations of the expected optical background and the signal from atmospheric muons. An almost background-free sample of muons was selected by filtering the time correlated signals on all the three optical modules. The zenith angle of the selected muons was reconstructed with a precision of about 3 degrees.
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Cañas, B. C., Miranda, O. G., Parada, A., Tortola, M., & Valle, J. W. F. (2016). Updating neutrino magnetic moment constraints. Phys. Lett. B, 753, 191–198.
Abstract: In this paper we provide an updated analysis of the neutrino magnetic moments (NMMs), discussing both the constraints on the magnitudes of the three transition moments Lambda(i) and the role of the CP violating phases present both in the mixing matrix and in the NMM matrix. The scattering of solar neutrinos off electrons in Borexino provides the most stringent restrictions, due to its robust statistics and the low energies observed, below 1 MeV. Our new limit on the effective neutrino magnetic moment which follows from the most recent Borexino data is 3.1 x 10(-11) mu(B) at 90% C.L. This corresponds to the individual transition magnetic moment constraints: vertical bar Lambda(1)vertical bar <= 5.6 x10(-11)mu(B), vertical bar Lambda(2)vertical bar <= 4.0 x10(-11)mu(B), and vertical bar Lambda(3)vertical bar <= 3.1 x10(-11)mu B(90% C. L.), irrespective of any complex phase. Indeed, the incoherent admixture of neutrino mass eigenstates present in the solar flux makes Borexino insensitive to the Majorana phases present in the NMM matrix. For this reason we also provide a global analysis including the case of reactor and accelerator neutrino sources, presenting the resulting constraints for different values of the relevant CP phases. Improved reactor and accelerator neutrino experiments will be needed in order to underpin the full profile of the neutrino electromagnetic properties.
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Magan, D. L. P., Caballero, L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Agramunt-Ros, J., Albiol, F., Casanovas, A., et al. (2016). First tests of the applicability of gamma-ray imaging for background discrimination in time-of-flight neutron capture measurements. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 823, 107–119.
Abstract: In this work we explore for the first time the applicability of using gamma-ray imaging in neutron capture measurements to identify and suppress spatially localized background. For this aim, a pinhole gamma camera is assembled, tested and characterized in terms of energy and spatial performance. It consists of a monolithic CeBr3 scintillating crystal coupled to a position-sensitive photomultiplier and readout through an integrated circuit AMIC2GR. The pinhole collimator is a massive carven block of lead. A series of dedicated measurements with calibrated sources and with a neutron beam incident on a Au-197 sample have been carried out at n_TOF, achieving an enhancement of a factor of two in the signal-to-background ratio when selecting only those events coming from the direction of the sample.
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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 pile-up mitigation techniques for jets in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV using the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 76(11), 581–36pp.
Abstract: The large rate of multiple simultaneous protonproton interactions, or pile-up, generated by the Large Hadron Collider in Run 1 required the development of many new techniques to mitigate the adverse effects of these conditions. This paper describes the methods employed in the ATLAS experiment to correct for the impact of pile-up on jet energy and jet shapes, and for the presence of spurious additional jets, with a primary focus on the large 20.3 fb(-1) data sample collected at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV. The energy correction techniques that incorporate sophisticated estimates of the average pile-up energy density and tracking information are presented. Jet-to-vertex association techniques are discussed and projections of performance for the future are considered. Lastly, the extension of these techniques to mitigate the effect of pile-up on jet shapes using subtraction and grooming procedures is presented.
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Tostado, S. L., & Lopez Castro, G. (2016). Radiative corrections of O(alpha) to B- -> V(0)l(-)(nu)over-bar(l) decays. Eur. Phys. J. C, 76(9), 495–15pp.
Abstract: The O(alpha) electromagnetic radiative corrections to the B- -> V(0)l(-)(nu) over bar (l) (V is a vector meson and l a charged lepton) decay rates are evaluated using the cutoff method to regularize virtual corrections and incorporating intermediate resonance states in the real-photon amplitude to extend the region of validity of the soft-photon approximation. The electromagnetic and weak form factors of hadrons are assumed to vary smoothly over the energies of virtual and real photons under consideration. The cutoff dependence of radiative corrections upon the scale Lambda that separates the long-and short-distance regimes is found to be mild and is considered as an uncertainty of the calculation. Owing to partial cancellations of electromagnetic corrections evaluated over the three-and four-body regions of phase space, the photoninclusive corrected rates are found to be dominated by the short-distance contribution. These corrections will be relevant for a precise determination of the b quark mixing angles by testing isospin symmetrywhen measurements of semileptonic rates of charged and neutral B mesons at the fewpercent level become available. For completeness, we also provide numerical values of radiative corrections in the three-body region of the Dalitz plot distributions of these decays.
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ANTARES Collaboration(Adrian-Martinez, S. et al), Barrios-Marti, J., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Sanchez-Losa, A., Tönnis, C., Zornoza, J. D., et al. (2016). The first combined search for neutrino point-sources in the Southern Hemisphere with the ANTARES and IceCube neutrino telescopes. Astrophys. J., 823(1), 65–12pp.
Abstract: We present the results of searches for point-like sources of neutrinos based on the first combined analysis of data from both the ANTARES and IceCube neutrino telescopes. The combination of both detectors, which differ in size and location, forms a window in the southern sky where the sensitivity to point sources improves by up to a factor of 2 compared with individual analyses. Using data recorded by ANTARES from 2007 to 2012, and by IceCube from 2008 to 2011, we search for sources of neutrino emission both across the southern sky and from a preselected list of candidate objects. No significant excess over background has been found in these searches, and flux upper limits for the candidate sources are presented for E-2.5 and E-2 power-law spectra with different energy cut-offs.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Alvarez Piqueras, D., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Cerda Alberich, L., Costa, M. J., et al. (2016). Measurements of top-quark pair differential cross-sections in the lepton plus jets channel in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV using the ATLAS detector. Eur. Phys. J. C, 76(10), 538–39pp.
Abstract: Measurements of normalized differential cross-sections of top-quark pair production are presented as a function of the top-quark, t (t) over bar system and event-level kinematic observables in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8 TeV. The observables have been chosen to emphasize the t (t) over bar production process and to be sensitive to effects of initial-and final-state radiation, to the different parton distribution functions, and to non-resonant processes and higher-order corrections. The dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb(-1), recorded in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Events are selected in the lepton+jets channel, requiring exactly one charged lepton and at least four jets with at least two of the jets tagged as originating from a b-quark. The measured spectra are corrected for detector effects and are compared to several Monte Carlo simulations. The results are in fair agreement with the predictions over a wide kinematic range. Nevertheless, most generators predict a harder top-quark transverse momentum distribution at high values than what is observed in the data. Predictions beyond NLO accuracy improve the agreement with data at high top-quark transverse momenta. Using the current settings and parton distribution functions, the rapidity distributions are not well modelled by any generator under consideration. However, the level of agreement is improved when more recent sets of parton distribution functions are used.
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NEXT Collaboration(Martin-Albo, J. et al), Muñoz Vidal, J., Ferrario, P., Nebot-Guinot, M., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2016). Sensitivity of NEXT-100 to neutrinoless double beta decay. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 159–30pp.
Abstract: NEXT-100 is an electroluminescent high-pressure xenon gas time projection chamber that will search for the neutrinoless double beta (0v beta beta) decay of Xe-136. The detector possesses two features of great value for 0v beta beta searches: energy resolution better than 1% FWHM at the Q value of Xe-136 and track reconstruction for the discrimination of signal and background events. This combination results in excellent sensitivity, as discussed in this paper. Material-screening measurements and a detailed Monte Carlo detector simulation predict a background rate for NEXT-100 of at most 4 x 10(-4) counts keV(-1) kg(-1) yr(-1). Accordingly, the detector will reach a sensitivity to the 0v beta beta-decay half-life of 2.8 x 10(25) years (90% CL) for an exposure of 100 kg.year, or 6.0 x 10(25) years after a run of 3 effective years.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Ruiz Valls, P., & Sanchez Mayordomo, C. (2016). Measurements of long-range near-side angular correlations in root sNN=5TeV proton-lead collisions in the forward region. Phys. Lett. B, 762, 473–483.
Abstract: Two-particle angular correlations are studied in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-ofmass energy of root sNN= 5 TeV, collected with the LHCb detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on data recorded in two beam configurations, in which either the direction of the proton or that of the lead ion is analysed. The correlations are measured in the laboratory system as a function of relative pseudorapidity, Delta eta, and relative azimuthal angle, Delta phi, for events in different classes of event activity and for different bins of particle transverse momentum. In high-activity events a long-range correlation on the near side, Delta phi approximate to 0, is observed in the pseudorapidity range 2.0 < eta < 4.9. This measurement of long-range correlations on the near side in proton-lead collisions extends previous observations into the forward region up to eta= 4.9. The correlation increases with growing event activity and is found to be more pronounced in the direction of the lead beam. However, the correlation in the direction of the lead and proton beams are found to be compatible when comparing events with similar absolute activity in the direction analysed.
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