A Study of Dielectric Breakdown Along Insulators Surrounding Conductors in Liquid Argon

High voltage breakdown in liquid argon is an important concern in the design of liquid argon time projection chambers, which are often used as neutrino and dark matter detectors. We have made systematic measurements of breakdown voltages in liquid argon along insulators surrounding negative rod electrodes where the breakdown is initiated at the anode. The measurements were performed in an open cryostat filled with commercial grade liquid argon exposed to air, and not the ultra-pure argon required for electron drift. While not addressing all high voltage concerns in liquid argon, these measurements have direct relevance to the design of high voltage feedthroughs especially for averting the common problem of flash-over breakdown. The purpose of these tests is to understand the effects of materials, of breakdown path length, and of surface topology for this geometry and setup. We have found that the only material-specific effects are those due to their permittivity. We have found that the breakdown voltage has no dependence on the length of the exposed insulator. A model for the breakdown mechanism is presented that can help inform future designs.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Accepted to JINS

Summary of the second workshop on liquid argon time projection chamber research and development in the United States

The second workshop to discuss the development of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) in the United States was held at Fermilab on July 8-9, 2014. The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Coordinating Panel for Advanced Detectors, a body that was initiated by the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields. All presentations at the workshop were made in six topical plenary sessions: i) Argon Purity and Cryogenics, ii) TPC and High Voltage, iii) Electronics, Data Acquisition and Triggering, iv) Scintillation Light Detection, v) Calibration and Test Beams, and vi) Software. This document summarizes the current efforts in each of these areas. It primarily focuses on the work in the US, but also highlights work done elsewhere in the world.ISSN:1748-022

Measurement of the D+D^+- Meson Production Cross Section at Low Transverse Momentum in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions at s=1.96\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

International audienceWe report on a measurement of the D+-meson production cross section as a function of transverse momentum (pT) in proton-antiproton (pp¯) collisions at 1.96 TeV center-of-mass energy, using the full data set collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab in Tevatron Run II and corresponding to 10  fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We use D+→K-π+π+ decays fully reconstructed in the central rapidity region |y|<1 with transverse momentum down to 1.5  GeV/c, a range previously unexplored in pp¯ collisions. Inelastic pp¯-scattering events are selected online using minimally biasing requirements followed by an optimized offline selection. The K-π+π+ mass distribution is used to identify the D+ signal, and the D+ transverse impact-parameter distribution is used to separate prompt production, occurring directly in the hard-scattering process, from secondary production from b-hadron decays. We obtain a prompt D+ signal of 2950 candidates corresponding to a total cross section σ(D+,1.5<pT<14.5  GeV/c,|y|<1)=71.9±6.8(stat)±9.3(syst)  μb. While the measured cross sections are consistent with theoretical estimates in each pT bin, the shape of the observed pT spectrum is softer than the expectation from quantum chromodynamics. The results are unique in pp¯ collisions and can improve the shape and uncertainties of future predictions