The liquid Argon TPC: a powerful detector for future neutrino experiments and proton decay searches

We discuss the possibility of new generation neutrino and astroparticle physics experiments exploiting the liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr TPC) technique, following a graded strategy that envisions applications with increasing detector masses (from 100 ton to 100 kton). The ICARUS R&D program has already demonstrated that the technology is mature with the test of the T600 detector at surface. Since 2003 we have been working with the conceptual design of a very large LAr TPC with a mass of 50-100 kton to be built by employing a monolithic technology based on the use of industrial, large volume, cryogenic tankers developed by the petro-chemical industry. Such a detector, if realized, would be an ideal match for a Super Beam, Beta Beam or Neutrino Factory, covering a broad physics program that includes the detection of atmospheric, solar and supernova neutrinos, and searches for proton decay, in addition to the rich accelerator neutrino physics program. A "test module" with a mass of the order of 10 kton operated underground or at shallow depth would represent a necessary milestone towards the realization of the 100 kton detector, with an interesting physics program on its own. In parallel, physics is calling for a shorter scale application of the LAr TPC technique at the level of 100 ton mass, for low energy neutrino physics and for use as a near station setup in future long baseline neutrino facilities. We outline here the main physics objectives and the design of such a detector for operation in the upcoming T2K neutrino beam. We finally present the result of a series of R&D studies conducted with the aim of validating the design of the proposed detectors.Comment: 16 pages, 18 figures, Invited talk at High Intensity Physics HIF05, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba (Italy), June 200

Collective excitations of a trapped degenerate Fermi gas

We evaluate the small-amplitude excitations of a spin-polarized vapour of Fermi atoms confined inside a harmonic trap. The dispersion law $\omega=\omega_{f}[l+4n(n+l+2)/3]^{1/2}$ is obtained for the vapour in the collisional regime inside a spherical trap of frequency $\omega_{f}$, with $n$ the number of radial nodes and $l$ the orbital angular momentum. The low-energy excitations are also treated in the case of an axially symmetric harmonic confinement. The collisionless regime is discussed with main reference to a Landau-Boltzmann equation for the Wigner distribution function: this equation is solved within a variational approach allowing an account for non-linearities. A comparative discussion of the eigenmodes of oscillation for confined Fermi and Bose vapours is presented in an Appendix.Comment: 14 pages, no figures, accepted for publication in Eur.Phys.Jour.

Kinetic energy of a trapped Fermi gas interacting with a Bose-Einstein condensate

We study a confined mixture of bosons and fermions in the regime of quantal degeneracy, with particular attention to the effects of the interactions on the kinetic energy of the fermionic component. We are able to explore a wide region of system parameters by identifying two scaling variables which completely determine its state at low temperature. These are the ratio of the boson-fermion and boson-boson interaction strengths and the ratio of the radii of the two clouds. We find that the effect of the interactions can be sizeable for reasonable choices of the parameters and that its experimental study can be used to infer the sign of the boson-fermion scattering length. The interplay between interactions and thermal effects in the fermionic kinetic energy is also discussed.Comment: REVTEX, 8 pages, 6 figures included. Small corrections to text and figures, accepted for publication in EPJ

Temperature-dependent density profiles of trapped boson-fermion mixtures

We present a semiclassical three-fluid model for a Bose-condensed mixture of interacting Bose and Fermi gases confined in harmonic traps at finite temperature. The model is used to characterize the experimentally relevant behaviour of the equilibrium density profile of the fermions with varying composition and temperature across the onset of degeneracy, for coupling strengths relevant to a mixture of $^{39}$K and $^{40}$K atoms.Comment: 9 pages, 2 postscript figures, accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. Jour.

Thermodynamics of Multi-Component Fermi Vapors

We study the thermodynamical properties of Fermi vapors confined in a harmonic external potential. In the case of the ideal Fermi gas, we compare exact density profiles with their semiclassical approximation in the conditions of recent experiments. Then, we consider the phase-separation of a multi-component Fermi vapor. In particular, we analyze the phase-separation as a function of temperature, number of particles and scattering length. Finally, we discuss the effect of rotation on the stability and thermodynamics of the trapped vapors.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, to be published in J. Phys. B (Atom. Mol.) as a Special Issue Articl

Inversion of synthetic geodetic data for the 1997 Colfiorito events: clues on the effects of layering, assessment of model parameter PDFs, and model selection criteria

The 1997 September-October Umbria-Marche sequence has been extensively studied in the past by analyzing coseismic displacement data (GPS, leveling, SAR). Here we focus on synthetic data representative of the main event of the 1997 Umbria-Marche sequence and investigate the effects of a crustal layering proper to the Colfiorito area on surface displacements and inferred source features when inverting coseismic geodetic data without taking into account layering. We compare bootstrapping and NA-Bayes as tools for parameter uncertainty assessment and show how the Akaike Information Criterion can be used to select the model which is most likely to be correct. Since SAR images offer the most complete coverage of the study area, we use synthetic line-ofsight displacement data

Space-weighted seismic attenuation mapping of the aseismic source of Campi Flegrei 1983-84 unrest

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Scalings of domain wall energies in two dimensional Ising spin glasses

We study domain wall energies of two dimensional spin glasses. The scaling of these energies depends on the model's distribution of quenched random couplings, falling into three different classes. The first class is associated with the exponent theta =-0.28, the other two classes have theta = 0, as can be justified theoretically. In contrast to previous claims, we find that theta=0 does not indicate d=d_l but rather d <= d_l, where d_l is the lower critical dimension.Comment: Clarifications and extra reference