Performance Of A Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Exposed To The WANF Neutrino Beam

We present the results of the first exposure of a Liquid Argon TPC to a multi-GeV neutrino beam. The data have been collected with a 50 liters ICARUS-like chamber located between the CHORUS and NOMAD experiments at the CERN West Area Neutrino Facility (WANF). We discuss both the instrumental performance of the detector and its capability to identify and reconstruct low multiplicity neutrino interactions.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures. Submitted for publication to Physical Review

Measurement of Through-Going Particle Momentum By Means Of Multiple Scattering With The ICARUS T600 TPC

The ICARUS collaboration has demonstrated, following the operation of a 600 ton (T600) detector at shallow depth, that the technique based on liquid Argon TPCs is now mature. The study of rare events, not contemplated in the Standard Model, can greatly benefit from the use of this kind of detectors. In particular, a deeper understanding of atmospheric neutrino properties will be obtained thanks to the unprecedented quality of the data ICARUS provides. However if we concentrate on the T600 performance, most of the $\nu_\mu$ charged current sample will be partially contained, due to the reduced dimensions of the detector. In this article, we address the problem of how well we can determine the kinematics of events having partially contained tracks. The analysis of a large sample of atmospheric muons collected during the T600 test run demonstrate that, in case the recorded track is at least one meter long, the muon momentum can be reconstructed by an algorithm that measures the Multiple Coulomb Scattering along the particle's path. Moreover, we show that momentum resolution can be improved by a factor two using an algorithm based on the Kalman Filtering technique

Measurement of the muon decay spectrum with the ICARUS liquid Argon TPC

Examples are given which prove the ICARUS detector quality through relevant physics measurements. We study the muon decay energy spectrum from a sample of stopping muon events acquired during the test run of the ICARUS T600 detector. This detector allows the spatial reconstruction of the events with fine granularity, hence, the precise measurement of the range and dE/dx of the muon with high sampling rate. This information is used to compute the calibration factors needed for the full calorimetric reconstruction of the events. The Michel rho parameter is then measured by comparison of the experimental and Monte Carlo simulated muon decay spectra, obtaining rho = 0.72 +/- 0.06(stat.) +/- 0.08(syst.). The energy resolution for electrons below ~50 MeV is finally extracted from the simulated sample, obtaining (Emeas-Emc)/Emc = 11%/sqrt(E[MeV]) + 2%.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, LaTex, A4. Some text and 1 figure added. Final version as accepted for publication in The European Physical Journal

The ICARUS Experiment, A Second-Generation Proton Decay Experiment and Neutrino Observatory at the Gran Sasso Laboratory

The final phase of the ICARUS physics program requires a sensitive mass of liquid Argon of 5000 tons or more. The T600 detector stands today as the first living proof that such large detector can be built and that liquid Argon imaging technology can be implemented on such large scales. After the successful completion of a series of technical tests to be performed at the assembly hall in Pavia, the T600 detector will be ready to be transported into the LNGS tunnel. The operation of the T600 at the LNGS will allow us (1) to develop the local infrastructure needed to operate our large detector (2) to start the handling of the underground liquid argon technology (3) to study the local background (4) to start the data taking with an initial liquid argon mass that will reach in a 5-6 year program the multi-kton goal. The T600 is to be considered as the first milestone on the road towards a total sensitive mass of 5000 tons: it is the first piece of the detector to be complemented by further modules of appropriate size and dimensions, in order to reach in a most efficient and rapid way the final design mass. In this document, we describe the physics program that will be accomplished within the first phase of the program

Observation of long ionizing tracks with the ICARUS T600 first half-module

F. Arneodo, B. Bade"ek, A. Badertscher, B. Baiboussinov, M. Baldo Ceolin, G. Battistoni, B. Bekman, P. Benetti, E. Bernardini, M. Bischofberger, A. Borio di Tigliole, R. Brunetti, A. Bueno, E. Calligarich, M. Campanelli, C. Carpanese, D. Cavalli, F. Cavanna, P. Cennini, S. Centro, A. Cesana, C. Chen, D. Chen, D.B. Chen, Y. Chen, D. Cline, Z. Dai, C. De Vecchi, A. Dabrowska, R. Dolfini*, M. Felcini, A. Ferrari, F. Ferri, Y. Ge, A. Gigli Berzolari, I. Gil-Botella, K. Graczyk, L. Grandi, K. He, J. Holeczek, X. Huang, C. Juszczak, D. Kie"czewska, J. Kisiel, T. Koz"owski, H. Kuna-Ciska", M. Laffranchi, J. Łagoda, Z. Li, F. Lu, J. Ma, M. Markiewicz, A. Martinez de la Ossa, C. Matthey, F. Mauri, D. Mazza, G. Meng, M. Messina, C. Montanari, S. Muraro, S. Navas-Concha, M. Nicoletto, G. Nurzia, S. Otwinowski, Q. Ouyang, O. Palamara, D. Pascoli, L. Periale, G. Piano Mortari, A. Piazzoli, P. Picchi, F. Pietropaolo, W. P ! o"ch"opek, T. Rancati, A. Rappoldi, G.L. Raselli, J. Rico, E. Rondio, M. Rossella, A. Rubbia, C. Rubbia, P. Sala, D. Scannicchio, E. Segreto, F. Sergiampietri, J. Sobczyk, J. Stepaniak, M. Szeptycka, M. Szleper, M. Szarska, M. Terrani, S. Ventura, C. Vignoli, H. Wang, M. W ! ojcik, J. Woo, G. Xu, Z. Xu, A. Zalewska, J. Zalipska, C. Zhang, Q. Zhang, S. Zhen, W. Zipper a INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, s.s. 17bis Km 18+910, Assergi (L'Aquila), Italy b Institute of Experimental Physics, Warsaw University, Warszawa, Poland c Institute for Particle Physics, ETH H . onggerberg, Z . urich, Switzerland Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Padova, via Marzolo 8, Padova, Italy Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Milano, via Celoria 16, Milano, Italy f Institute of Physics, University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy Dpto de F!isica Te ! orica y del Cosmos & C.A.F.P.E., Universidad de Granada, Avda. Severo Ochoa s/n, Granada, Spain Dipartimento di Fisica e INFN, Universit " a dell'Aquila, via Vetoio, L'Aquila, Italy CERN, CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland Politecnico di Milano (CESNEF), Universit " a di Milano, via Ponzio 34/3, Milano, Ital

Study of an intrinsically safe infrastructure for training and research on nuclear technologies

Within European Partitioning & Transmutation research programs, infrastructures specifically dedicated to the study of fundamental reactor physics and engineering parameters of future fast-neutron-based reactors are very important, being some of these features not available in present zero-power prototypes. This presentation will illustrate the conceptual design of an Accelerator-Driven System with high safety standards, but ample flexibility for measurements. The design assumes as base option a 70MeV, 0.75mA proton cyclotron, as the one which will be installed at the INFN National Laboratory in Legnaro, Italy and a Beryllium target, with Helium gas as core coolant. Safety is guaranteed by limiting the thermal power to 200 kW, with a neutron multiplication coefficient around 0.94, loading the core with fuel containing Uranium enriched at 20% inserted in a solid-lead diffuser. The small decay heat can be passively removed by thermal radiation from the vessel. Such a system could be used to study, among others, some specific aspects of neutron diffusion in lead, beam-core coupling, target cooling and could serve as a training facility

Test of a novel detector technique: the ICARUS T600 module

The T600 module is the first step of the ICARUS scientific program towards the construction of large liquid argon (LAr) masses (several kilotons) into the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory to study items of interest of the non-accelerator physics. The ICARUS LAr Time Projection Chamber provides a high resolution three-dimensional reconstruction of the ionising events that take place inside the sensitive volume. During the year 2001, after the completion of the first T600 half-module construction in the INFN laboratory in Pavia (Italy), the ICARUS Collaboration has accomplished a technical run of the detector collecting a large amount of data of cosmic ray interactions in LAr, in order to tune all the relevant detector parameters before the T600 physics run in the Gran Sasso Laboratory. Here we present the T600 main characteristics and the results of the Pavia test run

Physics with the ICARUS detector

The multipurpose ICARUS detector, with its large sensitive volume, high granularity, excellent tracking and particle identification capabilities, is an ideal device for searching for phenomena beyond the Standard Model. A vast physics program, including accelerator (CNGS neutrino beam), and non-accelerator (supernova, atmospheric, and nucleon decay) physics, planned for the ICARUS detector, is reviewed

Possible application of the ICARUS Technology for Studies of Neutrino Interactions in the Intermediate Energy range

The precise measurement of the neutrino cross-section in the atmospheric neutrino range performed with best suited, available technologies has been identified as one of the most urgent experimental task for the next few years. The liquid Argon technology, developed by the ICARUS Collaboration, is an ideal candidate for a dedicated experiment operated on adequate, available neutrino beam line. Among various beam options, we have investigated on the expected performance with the present KEK neutrino beam and with the NuMI beam, presently under construction. Neutrino cross-section measurements with unprecedented accuracy can be performed in short time of run