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NEXT Collaboration(Byrnes, N. K. et al), Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Lopez, F., Lopez-March, N., Martin-Albo, J., et al. (2023). NEXT-CRAB-0: a high pressure gaseous xenon time projection chamber with a direct VUV camera based readout. J. Instrum., 18(8), P08006–33pp.
Abstract: The search for neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) remains one of the most compelling experimental avenues for the discovery in the neutrino sector. Electroluminescent gas-phase time projection chambers are well suited to 0νββ searches due to their intrinsically precise energy resolution and topological event identification capabilities. Scalability to ton-and multi-ton masses requires readout of large-area electroluminescent regions with fine spatial resolution, low radiogenic backgrounds, and a scalable data acquisition system. This paper presents a detector prototype that records event topology in an electroluminescent xenon gas TPC via VUV image-intensified cameras. This enables an extendable readout of large tracking planes with commercial devices that reside almost entirely outside of the active medium. Following further development in intermediate scale demonstrators, this technique may represent a novel and enlargeable method for topological event imaging in 0νββ.
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HAWC Collaboration(Abeysekara, A. U. et al), & Salesa Greus, F. (2023). The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory in Mexico: The primary detector. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 1052, 168253–18pp.
Abstract: The High-Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a second-generation continuously operated, wide field-of-view, TeV gamma-ray observatory. The HAWC observatory and its analysis techniques build on experience of the Milagro experiment in using ground-based water Cherenkov detectors for gamma-ray astronomy. HAWC is located on the Sierra Negra volcano in Mexico at an elevation of 4100 meters above sea level. The completed HAWC observatory principal detector (HAWC) consists of 300 closely spaced water Cherenkov detectors, each equipped with four photomultiplier tubes to provide timing and charge information to reconstruct the extensive air shower energy and arrival direction. The HAWC observatory has been optimized to observe transient and steady emission from sources of gamma rays within an energy range from several hundred GeV to several hundred TeV. However, most of the air showers detected are initiated by cosmic rays, allowing studies of cosmic rays also to be performed. This paper describes the characteristics of the HAWC main array and its hardware.
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NEXT Collaboration(Navarro, K. E. et al), Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Lopez, F., Lopez-March, N., Martin-Albo, J., et al. (2023). A compact dication source for Ba2+ tagging and heavy metal ion sensor development. J. Instrum., 18(7), P07044–19pp.
Abstract: We present a tunable metal ion beam that delivers controllable ion currents in the picoamp range for testing of dry-phase ion sensors. Ion beams are formed by sequential atomic evaporation and single or multiple electron impact ionization, followed by acceleration into a sensing region. Controllability of the ionic charge state is achieved through tuning of electrode potentials that influence the retention time in the ionization region. Barium, lead, and cadmium samples have been used to test the system, with ion currents identified and quantified using a quadrupole mass analyzer. Realization of a clean Ba2+ ion beam within a bench-top system represents an important technical advance toward the development and characterization of barium tagging systems for neutrinoless double beta decay searches in xenon gas. This system also provides a testbed for investigation of novel ion sensing methodologies for environmental assay applications, with dication beams of Pb2+ and Cd2+ also demonstrated for this purpose.
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Agaras, M. N. et al, & Fiorini, L. (2023). Laser calibration of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter during LHC Run 2. J. Instrum., 18(6), P06023–35pp.
Abstract: This article reports the laser calibration of the hadronic Tile Calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment in the LHC Run 2 data campaign. The upgraded Laser II calibration system is described. The system was commissioned during the first LHC Long Shutdown, exhibiting a stability better than 0.8% for the laser light monitoring. The methods employed to derive the detector calibration factors with data from the laser calibration runs are also detailed. These allowed to correct for the response fluctuations of the 9852 photomultiplier tubes of the Tile Calorimeter with a total uncertainty of 0.5% plus a luminosity-dependent sub-dominant term. Finally, we report the regular monitoring and performance studies using laser events in both standalone runs and during proton collisions. These studies include channel timing and quality inspection, and photomultiplier linearity and response dependence on anode current.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aitllo, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Garcia Soto, A., Gozzini, S. R., et al. (2023). Probing invisible neutrino decay with KM3NeT/ORCA. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 090–30pp.
Abstract: In the era of precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters, upcoming neutrino experiments will also be sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. KM3NeT/ORCA is a neutrino detector optimised for measuring atmospheric neutrinos from a few GeV to around 100 GeV. In this paper, the sensitivity of the KM3NeT/ORCA detector to neutrino decay has been explored. A three-flavour neutrino oscillation scenario, where the third neutrino mass state v3 decays into an invisible state, e.g. a sterile neutrino, is considered. We find that KM3NeT/ORCA would be sensitive to invisible neutrino decays with 1/alpha 3 = T3/m3 < 180 ps/eV at 90% confidence level, assuming true normal ordering. Finally, the impact of neutrino decay on the precision of KM3NeT/ORCA measurements for theta(23), Delta m(31)(2) and mass ordering have been studied. No significant effect of neutrino decay on the sensitivity to these measurements has been found.
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