180,467 research outputs found
Gaseous Dark Matter Detectors
Dark Matter detectors with directional sensitivity have the potential of
yielding an unambiguous positive observation of WIMPs as well as discriminating
between galactic Dark Matter halo models. In this article, we introduce the
motivation for directional detectors, discuss the experimental techniques that
make directional detection possible, and review the status of the experimental
effort in this field.Comment: 19 pages, review on gaseous directional dark matter detectors
submitted to New Journal of Physic
Measuring Measurement: Theory and Practice
Recent efforts have applied quantum tomography techniques to the calibration
and characterization of complex quantum detectors using minimal assumptions. In
this work we provide detail and insight concerning the formalism, the
experimental and theoretical challenges and the scope of these tomographical
tools. Our focus is on the detection of photons with avalanche photodiodes and
photon number resolving detectors and our approach is to fully characterize the
quantum operators describing these detectors with a minimal set of well
specified assumptions. The formalism is completely general and can be applied
to a wide range of detectorsComment: 22 pages, 27 figure
Directional detection of Dark Matter
Among the many experimental techniques available, those providing directional
information have the potential of yielding an unambiguous observation of WIMPs
even in the presence of insidious backgrounds. A measurement of the
distribution of arrival direction of WIMPs can also discriminate between
Galactic Dark Matter halo models. In this article, I will discuss the
motivation for directional detectors and review the experimental techniques
used by the various experiments. I will then describe one of them, the DMTPC
detector, in more detail.Comment: 17 pages, 11 postscript figures, mini-review submitted to Modern
Physics Letters A (MPLA). Submitted to Modern Physics Letters A (MPLA
Determining the Neutrino Mass Hierarchy and CP Violation in NOvA with a Second Off-Axis Detector
We consider a Super-NOvA-like experimental configuration based on the use of
two detectors in a long-baseline experiment as NOvA. We take the far detector
as in the present NOvA proposal and add a second detector at a shorter
baseline. The location of the second off-axis detector is chosen such that the
ratio L/E is the same for both detectors, being L the baseline and E the
neutrino energy. We consider liquid argon and water-Cherenkov techniques for
the second off-axis detector and study, for different experimental setups, the
detector mass required for the determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy,
for different values of theta13. We also study the capabilities of such an
experimental setup for determining CP violation in the neutrino sector. Our
results show that by adding a second off-axis detector a remarkable enhancement
on the capabilities of the current NOvA experiment could be achieved.Comment: 20 p
Quantifying the unknown: issues in simulation validation and their experimental impact
The assessment of the reliability of Monte Carlo simulations is discussed,
with emphasis on uncertainty quantification and the related impact on
experimental results. Methods and techniques to account for epistemic
uncertainties, i.e. for intrinsic knowledge gaps in physics modeling, are
discussed with the support of applications to concrete experimental scenarios.
Ongoing projects regarding the investigation of epistemic uncertainties in the
Geant4 simulation toolkit are reported.Comment: To be published in the Proceedings of the 13th ICATPP Conference on
Astroparticle, Particle, Space Physics and Detectors for Physics
Applications, Villa Olmo, Como, 3-7 October 201
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