Proton beam characterization in the experimental room of the Trento Proton Therapy facility

As proton therapy is becoming an established treatment methodology for cancer patients, the number of proton centres is gradually growing worldwide. The economical effort for building these facilities is motivated by the clinical aspects, but might be also supported by the potential relevance for the research community. Experiments with high-energy protons are needed not only for medical physics applications, but represent also an essential part of activities dedicated to detector development, space research, radiation hardness tests, as well as of fundamental research in nuclear and particle physics. Here we present the characterization of the beam line installed in the experimental room of the Trento Proton Therapy Centre (Italy). Measurements of beam spot size and envelope, range verification and proton flux were performed in the energy range between 70 and 228 MeV. Methods for reducing the proton flux from typical treatments values of 106–109 particles/s down to 101–105 particles/s were also investigated. These data confirm that a proton beam produced in a clinical centre build by a commercial company can be exploited for a broad spectrum of experimental activities. The results presented here will be used as a reference for future experiments

Nonlocal vs local vortex dynamics in the transversal flux transformer effect

In this follow-up to our recent Letter [F. Otto et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 027005 (2010)], we present a more detailed account of the superconducting transversal flux transformer effect (TFTE) in amorphous (a-)NbGe nanostructures in the regime of strong nonequilibrium in local vortex motion. Emphasis is put on the relation between the TFTE and local vortex dynamics, as the former turns out to be a reliable tool for determining the microscopic mechanisms behind the latter. By this method, a progression from electron heating at low temperatures T to the Larkin-Ovchinnikov effect close to the transition temperature Tc is traced over a range 0.26 < T/Tc < 0.95. This is represented by a number of relevant parameters such as the vortex transport entropy related to the Nernst-like effect at low T, and a nonequilibrium magnetization enhancement close to Tc. At intermediate T, the Larkin-Ovchinnikov effect is at high currents modified by electron heating, which is clearly observed only in the TFTE

The International Large Detector: Letter of Intent

163 pages, 91 figuresThe International Large Detector (ILD) is a concept for a detector at the International Linear Collider, ILC. The ILC will collide electrons and positrons at energies of initially 500 GeV, upgradeable to 1 TeV. The ILC has an ambitious physics program, which will extend and complement that of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A hallmark of physics at the ILC is precision. The clean initial state and the comparatively benign environment of a lepton collider are ideally suited to high precision measurements. To take full advantage of the physics potential of ILC places great demands on the detector performance. The design of ILD is driven by these requirements. Excellent calorimetry and tracking are combined to obtain the best possible overall event reconstruction, including the capability to reconstruct individual particles within jets for particle ow calorimetry. This requires excellent spatial resolution for all detector systems. A highly granular calorimeter system is combined with a central tracker which stresses redundancy and efficiency. In addition, efficient reconstruction of secondary vertices and excellent momentum resolution for charged particles are essential for an ILC detector. The interaction region of the ILC is designed to host two detectors, which can be moved into the beam position with a push-pull scheme. The mechanical design of ILD and the overall integration of subdetectors takes these operational conditions into account

Eddy currents in a transverse MRI gradient coil

A transverse gradient coil (x- or y-coil) of an MRI-scanner is modeled as a network of curved circular strips placed at the surface of a cylinder. The current in this network is driven by a time-harmonic source current. The low frequency applied allows for an electro-quasi-static approach. The strips are thin and the current is assumed to be uniformly distributed in the thickness direction. For the current distribution in the width direction of the strips, an integral equation is derived. Its logarithmically singular kernel represents inductive effects related to the occurrence of eddy currents. For curved circular strips of width much smaller than the radius of the cylinder one may locally replace the curved circular strip by a tangent plane circular strip. This plane geometry preserves the main characteristics of the transverse current distribution through the strips. The current distribution depends strongly on the in-plane curvature of the strips. The Petrov–Galerkin method, using Legendre polynomials, is applied to solve the integral equation and shows fast convergence. Explicit results are presented for two examples: a set of 1 strip and one of 10 strips. The results show that the current distributions are concentrated near the inner edges and that resulting edge-effects, both local and global, are non-symmetric. This behavior is more apparent for higher frequencies and larger in-plane curvatures. Results have been verified by comparison with finite-element results

High Intensity Kaon Experiments (HIKE) at the CERN SPS Proposal for Phases 1 and 2

A timely and long-term programme of kaon decay measurements at an unprecedented level of precision is presented, leveraging the capabilities of the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The proposed HIKE programme is firmly anchored on the experience built up studying kaon decays at the SPS over the past four decades, and includes rare processes, CP violation, dark sectors, symmetry tests and other tests of the Standard Model. The programme is based on a staged approach involving experiments with charged and neutral kaon beams, as well as operation in beam-dump mode. The various phases will rely on a common infrastructure and set of detectors.Comment: 147 pages, 82 Figures, 19 Tables. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2211.1658