US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017

INFN ScienzaPerTutti: 20 years of science for society

A groundbreaking and ambitious project took shape within the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nuclare (INFN) community 20 years ago. The driving aim was the intent to popularize physics, and all this started through a web portal. Since then, the general public and, in particular, students and teachers have been engaged with cutting edge topics of modern research in particle and nuclear physics, astroparticle, theoretical and applied physics. During the 20 years from its birth, the ScienzaPerTutti project evolved in many different directions, becoming a reference point in the Italian landscape, with an average of 3000 contacts every day on the web pages and thousands of followers on the facebook profile. The project encompasses a variety of multimedia products like didactic units, research materials, infographics, interviews, book reviews, and, more recently, podcasts. A particular feature of many of these activities is a constant call to action to directly involve the audience, providing a continuous challenge for the ScienzaPerTutti editorial board to improve contents and devise new approaches. This contribution focuses on some of these activities, even if it does not provide an exhaustive description of all the programmes and opportunities that are offered to our public for lack of space. Finally, we provide an outlook on new activities

π+\pi^+ photoproduction on the proton for photon energies from 0.725 to 2.875 GeV

Differential cross sections for the reaction $\gamma p \to n \pi^+$ have been measured with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) and a tagged photon beam with energies from 0.725 to 2.875 GeV. Where available, the results obtained here compare well with previously published results for the reaction. Agreement with the SAID and MAID analyses is found below 1 GeV. The present set of cross sections has been incorporated into the SAID database, and exploratory fits have been made up to 2.7 GeV. Resonance couplings have been extracted and compared to previous determinations. With the addition of these cross sections to the world data set, significant changes have occurred in the high-energy behavior of the SAID cross-section predictions and amplitudes.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

A new multianodic large area photomultiplier to be used in underwater neutrino detectors

In this article we describe the properties of a new 10-in. hemispherical photomultiplier manufactured by Hamamatsu. The prototype has a segmented photocathode and four independent amplification stages. The photomultiplier is one of the main components of a newly designed direction-sensitive optical module to be employed in large-scale underwater neutrino telescopes. The R&D activity has been co-funded by the INFN and the KM3NeT Consortium. The prototype performance fully meets with the design specifications

Photodisintegration of 4^4He into p+t

The two-body photodisintegration of $^4$He into a proton and a triton has been studied using the CEBAF Large-Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) at Jefferson Laboratory. Real photons produced with the Hall-B bremsstrahlung-tagging system in the energy range from 0.35 to 1.55 GeV were incident on a liquid $^4$He target. This is the first measurement of the photodisintegration of $^4$He above 0.4 GeV. The differential cross sections for the $\gamma$$^4$He$\to pt$ reaction have been measured as a function of photon-beam energy and proton-scattering angle, and are compared with the latest model calculations by J.-M. Laget. At 0.6-1.2 GeV, our data are in good agreement only with the calculations that include three-body mechanisms, thus confirming their importance. These results reinforce the conclusion of our previous study of the three-body breakup of $^3$He that demonstrated the great importance of three-body mechanisms in the energy region 0.5-0.8 GeV .Comment: 13 pages submitted in one tgz file containing 2 tex file and 22 postscrip figure

Exclusive Photoproduction of the Cascade (Xi) Hyperons

We report on the first measurement of exclusive Xi-(1321) hyperon photoproduction in gamma p --> K+ K+ Xi- for 3.2 < E(gamma) < 3.9 GeV. The final state is identified by the missing mass in p(gamma,K+ K+)X measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Laboratory. We have detected a significant number of the ground-state Xi-(1321)1/2+, and have estimated the total cross section for its production. We have also observed the first excited state Xi-(1530)3/2+. Photoproduction provides a copious source of Xi's. We discuss the possibilities of a search for the recently proposed Xi5-- and Xi5+ pentaquarks.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev.

US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

Dark sectors 2016 Workshop: community report

This report, based on the Dark Sectors workshop at SLAC in April 2016, summarizes the scientific importance of searches for dark sector dark matter and forces at masses beneath the weak-scale, the status of this broad international field, the important milestones motivating future exploration, and promising experimental opportunities to reach these milestones over the next 5-10 years

Outreach activities of the Extreme Energy Events Project

The Extreme Energy Events Project (EEE) represents a breakthrough in outreach activities in Cosmic Ray Physics: high school students are protagonists of an experiment to measure Extensive Air Showers at ground. They start their experience at CERN with the construction of the three high performing Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers constituting the telescope that is then installed inside their school; then they take care of the telescope operation and data analysis. Presently 60 telescopes are installed in Italy and, since 2014, coordinated data taking have been performed during each school year providing a huge amount of candidate muon tracks. Every year hundreds of students and teachers are involved in the activities directly correlated to EEE. The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly affected the experimental activities of the EEE Project. However in the last two years the online activities were strengthened, with an intense programme of collaboration meetings, masterclasses, and hugely successful topical seminars. Starting from the fall of 2021, the improvement of epidemiological situation made it possible to start some of the EEE activities in presence