Jordan, D., Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., Domingo-Pardo, C., Gomez-Hornillos, M. B., et al. (2013). Measurement of the neutron background at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory LSC. Astropart Phys., 42, 1–6.
Abstract: The energy distribution of the neutron background was measured for the first time at Hall A of the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. For this purpose we used a novel approach based on the combination of the information obtained with six large high-pressure He-3 proportional counters embedded in individual polyethylene blocks of different size. In this way not only the integral value but also the flux distribution as a function of neutron energy was determined in the range from 1 eV to 10 MeV. This information is of importance because different underground experiments show different neutron background energy dependence. The high sensitivity of the setup allowed to measure a neutron flux level which is about four orders of magnitude smaller that the neutron background at sea level. The integral value obtained is Phi(Hall A) = (3.44 +/- 0.35) x 10(-6) cm(-2) s(-1).
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Natochii, A. et al, & Marinas, C. (2023). Measured and projected beam backgrounds in the Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB collider. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 1055, 168550–21pp.
Abstract: The Belle II experiment at the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider aims to collect an unprecedented data set of 50 ab-1 to study CP-violation in the B-meson system and to search for Physics beyond the Standard Model. SuperKEKB is already the world's highest-luminosity collider. In order to collect the planned data set within approximately one decade, the target is to reach a peak luminosity of 6 x 1035 cm-2 s-1by further increasing the beam currents and reducing the beam size at the interaction point by squeezing the betatron function down to betay* = 0.3 mm. To ensure detector longevity and maintain good reconstruction performance, beam backgrounds must remain well controlled. We report on current background rates in Belle II and compare these against simulation. We find that a number of recent refinements have significantly improved the background simulation accuracy. Finally, we estimate the safety margins going forward. We predict that backgrounds should remain high but acceptable until a luminosity of at least 2.8 x 1035 cm-2 s-1is reached for betay* = 0.6 mm. At this point, the most vulnerable Belle II detectors, the Time-of-Propagation (TOP) particle identification system and the Central Drift Chamber (CDC), have predicted background hit rates from single-beam and luminosity backgrounds that add up to approximately half of the maximum acceptable rates.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Mendoza, E. et al), Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2011). Improved Neutron Capture Cross Section Measurements with the n_TOF Total Absorption Calorimeter. J. Korean Phys. Soc., 59(2), 1813–1816.
Abstract: The n_TOF collaboration operates a Total Absorption Calorimeter (TAC) [1] for measuring neutron capture cross-sections of low-mass and/or radioactive samples. The results obtained with the TAC have led to a substantial improvement of the capture cross sections of (237)Np and (240)Pu [2]. The experience acquired during the first measurements has allowed us to optimize the performance of the TAC and to improve the capture signal to background ratio, thus opening the way to more complex and demanding measurements on rare radioactive materials. The new design has been reached by a series of detailed Monte Carlo simulations of complete experiments and dedicated test measurements. The new capture setup will be presented and the main achievements highlighted.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Zugec, P. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Giubrone, G., & Tain, J. L. (2014). GEANT4 simulation of the neutron background of the C6D6 set-up for capture studies at n_TOF. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 760, 57–67.
Abstract: The neutron sensitivity of the Cr6D6 detector setup used at nTOF facility for capture measurements has been studied by means of detailed GEANT4 simulations. A realistic software replica of the entire nTOF experimental hall, including the neutron beam line, sample, detector supports and the walls of the experimental area has been implemented in the simulations. The simulations have been analyzed in the same manner as experimental data, in particular by applying the Pulse Height Weighting Technique. The simulations have been validated against a measurement of the neutron background performed with a(nat)-C sample, showing an excellent agreement above 1 keV. At lower energies, an additional component in the measured C-nat yield has been discovered, which prevents the use of C-nat data for neutron background estimates at neutron energies below a few hundred eV. The origin and time structure of the neutron background have been derived from the simulations. Examples of the neutron background for two different samples are demonstrating the important role of accurate simulations of the neutron background in capture cross-section measurements.
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Plaza, J., Martinez, T., Becares, V., Cano-Ott, D., Villamarin, D., de Rada, A. P., et al. (2023). Thermal neutron background at Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC). Astropart Phys., 146, 102793–9pp.
Abstract: The thermal neutron background at Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC) has been determined using several He-3 proportional counter detectors. Bare and Cd shielded counters were used in a series of long measurements. Pulse shape discrimination techniques were applied to discriminate between neutron and gamma signals as well as other intrinsic contributions. Montecarlo simulations allowed us to estimate the sensitivity of the detectors and calculate values for the background flux of thermal neutrons inside Hall-A of LSC. The obtained value is (3.5 +/- 0.8)x10(-6) n/cm(2)s, and is within an order of magnitude compared to similar facilities.
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PTOLEMY Collaboration(Betti, M. G. et al), de Salas, P. F., Gariazzo, S., & Pastor, S. (2019). A design for an electromagnetic filter for precision energy measurements at the tritium endpoint. Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys., 106, 120–131.
Abstract: We present a detailed description of the electromagnetic filter for the PTOLEMY project to directly detect the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB). Starting with an initial estimate for the orbital magnetic moment, the higher-order drift process of E x B is configured to balance the gradient-B drift motion of the electron in such a way as to guide the trajectory into the standing voltage potential along the mid-plane of the filter. As a function of drift distance along the length of the filter, the filter zooms in with exponentially increasing precision on the transverse velocity component of the electron kinetic energy. This yields a linear dimension for the total filter length that is exceptionally compact compared to previous techniques for electromagnetic filtering. The parallel velocity component of the electron kinetic energy oscillates in an electrostatic harmonic trap as the electron drifts along the length of the filter. An analysis of the phase-space volume conservation validates the expected behavior of the filter from the adiabatic invariance of the orbital magnetic moment and energy conservation following Liouville's theorem for Hamiltonian systems. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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Reichardt, C. L., de Putter, R., Zahn, O., & Hou, Z. (2012). New limits on early dark energy from the South Pole telescope. Astrophys. J. Lett., 749(1), L9–5pp.
Abstract: We present new limits on early dark energy (EDE) from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using data from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) satellite on large angular scales and South Pole Telescope on small angular scales. We find a strong upper limit on the EDE density of Omega(e) < 0.018 at 95% confidence, a factor of three improvement over WMAP data alone. We show that adding lower-redshift probes of the expansion rate to the CMB data improves constraints on the dark energy equation of state, but not the EDE density. We also explain how small-scale CMB temperature anisotropy constrains EDE.
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Sanchis-Lozano, M. A. (2022). Stringy Signals from Large-Angle Correlations in the Cosmic Microwave Background? Universe, 8(8), 396–13pp.
Abstract: We interpret the lack of large-angle temperature correlations and the even-odd parity imbalance observed in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) by COBE, WMAP and Planck satellite missions as a possible stringy signal ultimately stemming from a composite inflaton field (e.g., a fermionic condensate). Based on causality arguments and a Fourier analysis of the angular two-point correlation function, two infrared cutoffs k(min)(even,odd) (satisfying k(min)(even) similar or equal to 2k(min)(odd)) are introduced to the CMB power spectrum associated, respectively, with periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions of the fermionic constituents (echoing the Neveu-Schwarz-Ramond model in superstring theory), without resorting to any particular model.
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Sanchis-Lozano, M. A., Melia, F., Lopez-Corredoira, M., & Sanchis-Gual, N. (2022). Missing large-angle correlations versus even-odd point-parity imbalance in the cosmic microwave background. Astron. Astrophys., 660, A121–10pp.
Abstract: Context. The existence of a maximum correlation angle (theta(max) & 60 greater than or similar to degrees) in the two-point angular temperature correlations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, measured by WMAP and Planck, stands in sharp contrast to the prediction of standard inflationary cosmology, in which the correlations should extend across the full sky (i.e., 180 degrees). The introduction of a hard lower cuto ff (k(min)) in the primordial power spectrum, however, leads naturally to the existence of theta(max). Among other cosmological anomalies detected in these data, an apparent dominance of odd-over-even parity multipoles has been seen in the angular power spectrum of the CMB. This feature, however, may simply be due to observational contamination in certain regions of the sky. Aims. In attempting to provide a more detailed assessment of whether this odd-over-even asymmetry is intrinsic to the CMB, we therefore proceed in this paper, first, to examine whether this odd-even parity imbalance also manifests itself in the angular correlation function and, second, to examine in detail the interplay between the presence of theta(max) and this observed anomaly. Methods. We employed several parity statistics and recalculated the angular correlation function for di fferent values of the cuto ff kmin in order to optimize the fit to the di fferent Planck 2018 data. Results. We find a phenomenological connection between these features in the data, concluding that both must be considered together in order to optimize the theoretical fit to the Planck 2018 data. Conclusions. This outcome is independent of whether the parity imbalance is intrinsic to the CMB, but if it is, the odd-over-even asymmetry would clearly point to the emergence of new physics.
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Vagnozzi, S., Visinelli, L., Mena, O., & Mota, D. F. (2020). Do we have any hope of detecting scattering between dark energy and baryons through cosmology? Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 493(1), 1139–1152.
Abstract: We consider the possibility that dark energy and baryons might scatter off each other. The type of interaction we consider leads to a pure momentum exchange, and does not affect the background evolution of the expansion history. We parametrize this interaction in an effective way at the level of Boltzmann equations. We compute the effect of dark energy-baryon scattering on cosmological observables, focusing on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum and the matter power spectrum. Surprisingly, we find that even huge dark energy-baryon cross-sections sigma(xb) similar to O(b), which are generically excluded by non-cosmological probes such as collider searches or precision gravity tests, only leave an insignificant imprint on the observables considered. In the case of the CMB temperature power spectrum, the only imprint consists in a sub-per cent enhancement or depletion of power (depending whether or not the dark energy equation of state lies above or below -1) at very low multipoles, which is thus swamped by cosmic variance. These effects are explained in terms of differences in how gravitational potentials decay in the presence of a dark energy-baryon scattering, which ultimately lead to an increase or decrease in the late-time integrated Sachs-Wolfe power. Even smaller related effects are imprinted on the matter power spectrum. The imprints on the CMB are not expected to be degenerate with the effects due to altering the dark energy sound speed. We conclude that, while strongly appealing, the prospects for a direct detection of dark energy through cosmology do not seem feasible when considering realistic dark energy-baryon cross-sections. As a caveat, our results hold to linear order in perturbation theory.
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