Photon Detection System Designs for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will be a premier facility for exploring long-standing questions about the boundaries of the standard model. Acting in concert with the liquid argon time projection chambers underpinning the far detector design, the DUNE photon detection system will capture ultraviolet scintillation light in order to provide valuable timing information for event reconstruction. To maximize the active area while maintaining a small photocathode coverage, the experiment will utilize a design based on plastic light guides coated with a wavelength-shifting compound, along with silicon photomultipliers, to collect and record scintillation light from liquid argon. This report presents recent preliminary performance measurements of this baseline design and several alternative designs which promise significant improvements in sensitivity to low-energy interactions.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, prepared for the conference proceedings of LIght Detection In Noble Elements (LIDINE 2015), updated to address review comment

Scintillation Light from Cosmic-Ray Muons in Liquid Argon

This paper reports the results of an experiment to directly measure the time-resolved scintillation signal from the passage of cosmic-ray muons through liquid argon. Scintillation light from these muons is of value to studies of weakly-interacting particles in neutrino experiments and dark matter searches. The experiment was carried out at the TallBo dewar facility at Fermilab using prototype light guide detectors and electronics developed for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Two models are presented for the time structure of the scintillation light, a phenomenological model and a composite model. Both models find $\tau_{\text{T}} = 1.52$ $\mu$s for the decay time constant of the Ar$_2^*$ triplet state. These models also show that the identification of the "early" light fraction in the phenomenological model, $F_{\text{E}}\approx 25\%$ of the signal, with the total light from singlet decays is an underestimate. The total fraction of singlet light is $F_{\text{S}} \approx 36\%$, where the increase over $F_{\text{E}}$ is from singlet light emitted by the wavelength shifter through processes with long decay constants. The models were further used to compute the experimental particle identification parameter $F_{\text{prompt}}$, the fraction of light coming in a short time window after the trigger compared with the light in the total recorded waveform. The models reproduce quite well the typical experimental value $\sim0.3$ found by dark matter and double $\beta$-decay experiments, which suggests this parameter provides a robust metric for discriminating electrons and muons from more heavily ionizing particles.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures. This experiment has been repeated with improved data quality and analysis technique

SEARCHES FOR LORENTZ VIOLATION IN TOP-QUARK PRODUCTION AND DECAY AT HADRON COLLIDERS

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Indiana University, Physics, 2012We present a first-of-its-kind confirmation that the most massive known elementary particle obeys the special theory of relativity. Lorentz symmetry is a fundamental aspect of special relativity which posits that the laws of physics are invariant regardless of the orientation and velocity of the reference frame in which they are measured. Because this symmetry is a fundamental tenet of physics, it is important to test its validity in all processes. We quantify violation of this symmetry using the Standard-Model Extension framework, which predicts the effects that Lorentz violation would have on elementary particles and their interactions. The top quark is the most massive known elementary particle and has remained inaccessible to tests of Lorentz invariance until now. This model predicts a dependence of the production cross section for top and antitop quark pairs on sidereal time as the orientation of the experiment in which these events are produced changes with the rotation of the Earth. Using data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, we search for violation of Lorentz invariance in events involving the production of a top and antitop quark pair. Within the experimental precision, we find no evidence for such a violation and set upper limits on parameters describing its possible strength within the Standard-Model Extension. We also investigate the prospects for extending this analysis using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider which, because of the higher rate of events containing a top and antitop quark pair at that experiment, has the potential to improve the limits presented here

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Photos of the LHC 2008 Open Day at CERN.

01+07 -> 17 : Jardin d'enfant. 02 -> 06 + 51 -> 53 : Microcosm. 10 -> 18 : Jardin d'enfant. 19 -> 50 : Exterieur Pt 1 et Globe. 54 - > 61 : ATLAS 3D. 62 -> 68 : Stand Cryogénie Meyrin

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), Far Detector Technical Design Report, Volume I Introduction to DUNE

International audienceThe preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay—these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. This TDR is intended to justify the technical choices for the far detector that flow down from the high-level physics goals through requirements at all levels of the Project. Volume I contains an executive summary that introduces the DUNE science program, the far detector and the strategy for its modular designs, and the organization and management of the Project. The remainder of Volume I provides more detail on the science program that drives the choice of detector technologies and on the technologies themselves. It also introduces the designs for the DUNE near detector and the DUNE computing model, for which DUNE is planning design reports. Volume II of this TDR describes DUNE's physics program in detail. Volume III describes the technical coordination required for the far detector design, construction, installation, and integration, and its organizational structure. Volume IV describes the single-phase far detector technology. A planned Volume V will describe the dual-phase technology

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), Far Detector Technical Design Report, Volume II: DUNE Physics

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early universe, the dynamics of the supernovae that produced the heavy elements necessary for life, and whether protons eventually decay -- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our universe, its current state, and its eventual fate. DUNE is an international world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions as it searches for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation, stands ready to capture supernova neutrino bursts, and seeks to observe nucleon decay as a signature of a grand unified theory underlying the standard model. The DUNE far detector technical design report (TDR) describes the DUNE physics program and the technical designs of the single- and dual-phase DUNE liquid argon TPC far detector modules. Volume II of this TDR, DUNE Physics, describes the array of identified scientific opportunities and key goals. Crucially, we also report our best current understanding of the capability of DUNE to realize these goals, along with the detailed arguments and investigations on which this understanding is based. This TDR volume documents the scientific basis underlying the conception and design of the LBNF/DUNE experimental configurations. As a result, the description of DUNE's experimental capabilities constitutes the bulk of the document. Key linkages between requirements for successful execution of the physics program and primary specifications of the experimental configurations are drawn and summarized. This document also serves a wider purpose as a statement on the scientific potential of DUNE as a central component within a global program of frontier theoretical and experimental particle physics research. Thus, the presentation also aims to serve as a resource for the particle physics community at large