Detection of muons in the LHCb experiment: the aging of RPC detectors and the study of Z0→μ+μ−Z^0 \to \mu^+ \mu^-

The LHCb experiment will take place at the future LHC accelerator at CERN and will start in 2007. It is a single arm spectrometer dedicated to precision measure- ments of CP violation and rare decays in the b quark sector . Recent experimental results have shown that CP violation is large in this sector . LHCb is designed with a robust and exible trigger , in order to extensively gain access to a wide spread of different physical processes involving the beauty particles. This will allow to over-constrain the Standard Model predictions about CP violation, and to discover any possible inconsistency , which would reveal the presence of ìNew Physicsî. The work presented in this thesis has two main parts: the development of the Resistive Plate Chambers, proposed for the detection of muons in LHCb, and the study of the detector performances in the physical channel Z 0 -> u + u -. The LHCb experiment has nished its R&D at the end of 2002. We have par- ticipated in the development of a suitable detector for the outer part of the Muon system. Because of the large surface to cover (more than 200 m ) and the high time resolution requested for triggering, the Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) ap- peared to represent a valid technology , and their industrial implemented produc- tion would have allowed to reduce the costs. The efforts have then been concen- trated on the aging effects, to verify that the RPC detectors are able to satisfy the LHCb requirements for a period of ten years working. The results of a compre- hensive aging test carried through three years are presented in the rst part of the thesis. As we shall see the detectors have showed important aging effects and have been abandoned. The design values of the center-of -mass energy and luminosity at LHC repre- sent new limits, never reached by hadron colliders. As a result, high production cross-sections will be attained and high statistics data samples are foreseen to be collected, for a large variety of processes. In the second part of the thesis is reported a complete study of the the process pp -> Z 0 -> u + u -, a marginal channel respect to main LHCb physics program. However it has recently gained interest, since its the theoretical cross-section has been determined with a good accuracy . New physics results can thus arise from the comparison of the predicted value and a precise experimental measurement. A particular focus has been put on the detection performances of LHCb, and on off - line and on-line event selections. Three possible physics elds of interest have been individuated and discussed: the application as an absolute luminosity monitor , the efcacy in a precise calibration of the LHCb spectrometer , and the study of the proton structure functions

The new detectors of the KLOE-2 experiment

Three new sub-detectors have been installed in the KLOE apparatus of the Frascati National Laboratory of INFN, for a new data taking period started in autumn 2013. Photon detection is upgraded by means of a small crystal calorimeter in the very forward direction and of a tungstenplastic scintillator sampling device covering the low-beta quadrupoles of the accelerator. A new tracking device, the first cylindrical GEM ever built, is inserted to extended tracking capabilities closer to the interaction point. The novel idea of a cylindrical GEM was developed at the Frascati Laboratory in order to build a transparent device with a total material budget of only 2% of a radiation length, thus minimizing the multiple scattering of low-momentum particles. It is composed by four tracking layers with diameters from 260 mm to 410 mm and an active length of 700 mm

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

Pediatric tuberculosis in Italian children: Epidemiological and clinical data from the Italian register of pediatric tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Over the last decades, TB has also emerged in the pediatric population. Epidemiologic data of childhood TB are still limited and there is an urgent need of more data on very large cohorts. A multicenter study was conducted in 27 pediatric hospitals, pediatric wards, and public health centers in Italy using a standardized form, covering the period of time between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2012. Children with active TB, latent TB, and those recently exposed to TB or recently adopted/immigrated from a high TB incidence country were enrolled. Overall, 4234 children were included; 554 (13.1%) children had active TB, 594 (14.0%) latent TB and 3086 (72.9%) were uninfected. Among children with active TB, 481 (86.8%) patients had pulmonary TB. The treatment of active TB cases was known for 96.4% (n = 534) of the cases. Overall, 210 (39.3%) out of these 534 children were treated with three and 216 (40.4%) with four first-line drugs. Second-line drugs where used in 87 (16.3%) children with active TB. Drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were reported in 39 (7%) children. Improving the surveillance of childhood TB is important for public health care workers and pediatricians. A non-negligible proportion of children had drug-resistant TB and was treated with second-line drugs, most of which are off-label in the pediatric age. Future efforts should concentrate on improving active surveillance, diagnostic tools, and the availability of antitubercular pediatric formulations, also in low-endemic countries

Status of the KLOE-2 experiment

The KLOE-2 experiment is steadily taking data since November 2014 at DAFNE, the Φ-factory in the Frascati National Laboratories. 3.5 fb−1 of integrated luminosity have been collected up to now, with an average rate of 10 pb−1/day. Performance of the detector, data taking conditions and data quality monitoring are briefly summarized