Test of the Pauli Exclusion Principle in the VIP-2 Underground Experiment

The validity of the Pauli exclusion principle\u2014a building block of Quantum Mechanics\u2014is tested for electrons. The VIP (violation of Pauli exclusion principle) and its follow-up VIP-2 experiments at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso search for X-rays from copper atomic transitions that are prohibited by the Pauli exclusion principle. The candidate events\u2014if they exist\u2014originate from the transition of a 2p orbit electron to the ground state which is already occupied by two electrons. The present limit on the probability for Pauli exclusion principle violation for electrons set by the VIP experiment is 4.7 710^ 1229. We report a first result from the VIP-2 experiment improving on the VIP limit, which solidifies the final goal of achieving a two orders of magnitude gain in the long run

probing strong interaction with siddharta 2

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Design and setup of a high resolution X-ray detector system to study strong interaction induced width and shift of the 1s ground state of kaonic deuterium

Eine erste Messung von kaonischem Deuterium (E57) wird am K1.8BR Strahl der J-PARC Beschleunigeranlage geplant. Das Ziel dieses Experiments ist sowohl Verschiebung und Breite des K-d 1s-Zustandes mit einer Genauigkeit von 60 eV beziehungsweise 140 eV zu messen. Zusammen mit den Messdaten von kanonischen Wasserstoff kann damit die Abhängigkeit Antikaon-Kern- Streulänge vom Isospin a(I=0) bzw. a(I=1) bestimmt werden. Eine detaillierte Monte-Carlo-Simulation wurde von mir durchgeführt zur Optimierung der Apparatur um eine entscheidende Verbesserung des S/N Verhältnisses zu erzielen und die wesentlichen Parameter für das Design des hochauflösenden Röntgendetektors zu bestimmten. Zusätzlich arbeitete ich an der Charakterisierung der Silikon Drift Detektoren, welche erstmals in einer Teststrahlzeit zur Optimierung der Kaon-Stoppdichte in Materialien mit niedriger Dichte eingesetzt wurden. Letztendlich präsentiere ich die Analyse der Verschiebung und Verbreitung des 2p-Zustandes (bestimmt durch die Messung 3d-2p Übergangs) in kaonischem Lithium, hervorgerufen durch die Starke Wechselwirkung.A first measurement of kaonic X-rays (E57) is going to be performed at the K1.8BR beamline at J-PARC. The experiment aims to measure the shift and width of the K-d 1s state with an accuracy of 60 eV and 140 eV respectively. These results together with the kaonic hydrogen data will permit the determination of the isospin dependent antikaon-nucleon scattering lengths a(I=0) and a(I=1). I performed a detailed Monte Carlo study to improve the setup response in terms of S/N ratio and delivered the necessary boundaries for an optimal design of the high resolution detector. On the hardware side I worked on the characterization of Silicon Drift Detectors, which were used for a first test beam time to optimise the kaon stopping density in low density materials. In addition, the analysis of the strong interaction induced 2p shift and width (measured via the 3d-2p transition) of kaonic lithium will be presented

LIDAL, a Time-of-Flight Radiation Detector for the International Space Station: Description and Ground Calibration

LIDAL (Light Ion Detector for ALTEA, Anomalous Long-Term Effects on Astronauts) is a radiation detector designed to measure the flux, the energy spectra and, for the first time, the time-of-flight of ions in a space habitat. It features a combination of striped silicon sensors for the measurement of deposited energy (using the ALTEA device, which operated from 2006 to 2012 in the International Space Station) and fast scintillators for the time-of-flight measurement. LIDAL was tested and calibrated using the proton beam line at TIFPA (Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics Application) and the carbon beam line at CNAO (National Center for Oncology Hadron-therapy) in 2019. The performance of the time-of-flight system featured a time resolution (sigma) less than 100 ps. Here, we describe the detector and the results of these tests, providing ground calibration curves along with the methodology established for processing the detector’s data. LIDAL was uploaded in the International Space Station in November 2019 and it has been operative in the Columbus module since January 2020

Hunting the "impossible atoms" Pauli exclusion principle violation and spontaneous collapse of the wave function at test

The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) and, more generally, the spin-statistics connection, are at the very basis of our understanding of matter, life and Universe. The PEP spurs, presently, a lively debate on its possible limits, deeply rooted in the very foundations of Quantum Mechanics. It is, therefore, extremely important to test the limits of its validity. The Violation of the PEP (VIP) experiment established the best limit on the probability that PEP is violated by electrons, using the method of searching for PEP forbidden atomic transitions in copper. We describe the experimental method, the obtained results, and plans to go beyond the actual limit by upgrading the experimental apparatus. We discuss the possibility of using a similar experimental technique to search for X-rays as a signature of the spontaneous collapse of the wave function predicted by continuous spontaneous localization (CSL) theories

The X-ray machine for the examination of quantum mechanics

By performing X-rays measurements in the underground laboratory of Gran Sasso, LNGS-INFN, we test a basic principle of quantum mechanics: the Pauli exclusion principle (PEP). In the future, we aim to use a similar experimental technique to search for X-rays as a signature of the spontaneous collapse of the wave function predicted by continuous spontaneous localization theories. We present the achieved results of the VIP experiment and the future plans to gain two orders of magnitude in testing PEP with the recently VIP2 setup installed at Gran Sasso

X-ray Detectors for Kaonic Atoms Research at DAΦNE

This article presents the kaonic atom studies performed at the INFN National Laboratory of Frascati (Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati dell’INFN, LNF-INFN) since the opening of this field of research at the DA Φ NE collider in early 2000. Significant achievements have been obtained by the DA Φ NE Exotic Atom Research (DEAR) and Silicon Drift Detector for Hadronic Atom Research by Timing Applications (SIDDHARTA) experiments on kaonic hydrogen, which have required the development of novel X-ray detectors. The 2019 installation of the new SIDDHARTA-2 experiment to measure kaonic deuterium for the first time has been made possible by further technological advances in X-ray detection