342 research outputs found
ICARUS T600: Status and perspectives of liquid-argon technology for neutrino physics
ICARUS T600 is the largest Liquid-Argon (LAr) Time Projection Chamber (TPC) ever built: the detector, assembled underground in the Hall B of the Gran Sasso laboratory (LNGS), is collecting neutrino events with the CERNto-Gran Sasso CNGS beam since May 2010. The excellent spatial and calorimetric resolutions and the three-dimensional visualization capabilities make the detector a
sort of “electronic bubble chamber”: for these reasons ICARUS T600 represents a major milestone towards the realization of future LAr detectors for neutrino physics
and for the search of rare events, such as the idea to use two identical LAr-TPCs in a “near-far” configuration at the foreseen new CERN-SPS neutrino beam to solve the sterile neutrino puzzle
WARP: a WIMP double phase Argon detector
The WARP programme for dark matter search with a double phase argon detector
is presented. In such a detector both excitation and ionization produced by an
impinging particle are evaluated by the contemporary measurement of primary
scintillation and secondary (proportional) light signal, this latter being
produced by extracting and accelerating ionization electrons in the gas phase.
The proposed technique, verified on a 2.3 liters prototype, could be used to
efficiently discriminate nuclear recoils, induced by WIMP's interactions, and
measure their energy spectrum. An overview of the 2.3 liters results and of the
proposed 100 liters detector is shown.Comment: Proceeding for IDM200
Demonstration and Comparison of Operation of Photomultiplier Tubes at Liquid Argon Temperature
Liquified noble gases are widely used as a target in direct Dark Matter
searches. Signals from scintillation in the liquid, following energy deposition
from the recoil nuclei scattered by Dark Matter particles (e.g. WIMPs), should
be recorded down to very low energies by photosensors suitably designed to
operate at cryogenic temperatures. Liquid Argon based detectors for Dark Matter
searches currently implement photo multiplier tubes for signal read-out. In the
last few years PMTs with photocathodes operating down to liquid Argon
temperatures (87 K) have been specially developed with increasing Quantum
Efficiency characteristics. The most recent of these, Hamamatsu Photonics Mod.
R11065 with peak QE up to about 35%, has been extensively tested within the R&D
program of the WArP Collaboration. During these testes the Hamamatsu PMTs
showed superb performance and allowed obtaining a light yield around 7
phel/keVee in a Liquid Argon detector with a photocathodic coverage in the 12%
range, sufficient for detection of events down to few keVee of energy
deposition. This shows that this new type of PMT is suited for experimental
applications, in particular for new direct Dark Matter searches with LAr-based
experiments
A new, very massive modular Liquid Argon Imaging Chamber to detect low energy off-axis neutrinos from the CNGS beam. (Project MODULAr)
The paper is considering an opportunity for the CERN/GranSasso (CNGS)
neutrino complex, concurrent time-wise with T2K and NOvA, to search for
theta_13 oscillations and CP violation. Compared with large water Cherenkov
(T2K) and fine grained scintillators (NOvA), the LAr-TPC offers a higher
detection efficiency and a lower backgrounds, since virtually all channels may
be unambiguously recognized. The present proposal, called MODULAr, describes a
20 kt fiducial volume LAr-TPC, following very closely the technology developed
for the ICARUS-T60o, and is focused on the following activities, for which we
seek an extended international collaboration:
(1) the neutrino beam from the CERN 400 GeV proton beam and an optimised horn
focussing, eventually with an increased intensity in the framework of the LHC
accelerator improvement program;
(2) A new experimental area LNGS-B, of at least 50000 m3 at 10 km off-axis
from the main Laboratory, eventually upgradable to larger sizes. A location is
under consideration at about 1.2 km equivalent water depth;
(3) A new LAr Imaging detector of at least 20 kt fiducial mass. Such an
increase in the volume over the current ICARUS T600 needs to be carefully
considered. It is concluded that a very large mass is best realised with a set
of many identical, independent units, each of 5 kt, "cloning" the technology of
the T600. Further phases may foresee extensions of MODULAr to meet future
physics goals.
The experiment might reasonably be operational in about 4/5 years, provided a
new hall is excavated in the vicinity of the Gran Sasso Laboratory and adequate
funding and participation are made available.Comment: Correspondig Author: C. Rubbia (E-mail: [email protected]), 33
pages, 11 figure
Precise 3D track reconstruction algorithm for the ICARUS T600 liquid argon time projection chamber detector
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr TPC) detectors offer charged
particle imaging capability with remarkable spatial resolution. Precise event
reconstruction procedures are critical in order to fully exploit the potential
of this technology. In this paper we present a new, general approach of
three-dimensional reconstruction for the LAr TPC with a practical application
to track reconstruction. The efficiency of the method is evaluated on a sample
of simulated tracks. We present also the application of the method to the
analysis of real data tracks collected during the ICARUS T600 detector
operation with the CNGS neutrino beam.Comment: Submitted to Advances in High Energy Physic
Experimental search for the LSND anomaly with the ICARUS detector in the CNGS neutrino beam
We report an early result from the ICARUS experiment on the search for nu_mu
to nu_e signal due to the LSND anomaly. The search was performed with the
ICARUS T600 detector located at the Gran Sasso Laboratory, receiving CNGS
neutrinos from CERN at an average energy of about 20 GeV, after a flight path
of about 730 km. The LSND anomaly would manifest as an excess of nu_e events,
characterized by a fast energy oscillation averaging approximately to
sin^2(1.27 Dm^2_new L/ E_nu) = 1/2. The present analysis is based on 1091
neutrino events, which are about 50% of the ICARUS data collected in 2010-2011.
Two clear nu_e events have been found, compared with the expectation of 3.7 +/-
0.6 events from conventional sources. Within the range of our observations,
this result is compatible with the absence of a LSND anomaly. At 90% and 99%
confidence levels the limits of 3.4 and 7.3 events corresponding to oscillation
probabilities of 5.4 10^-3 and 1.1 10^-2 are set respectively. The result
strongly limits the window of open options for the LSND anomaly to a narrow
region around (Dm^2, sin^2(2 theta))_new = (0.5 eV^2, 0.005), where there is an
overall agreement (90% CL) between the present ICARUS limit, the published
limits of KARMEN and the published positive signals of LSND and MiniBooNE
Collaborations.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Search for anomalies in the {\nu}e appearance from a {\nu}{\mu} beam
We report an updated result from the ICARUS experiment on the search for
{\nu}{\mu} ->{\nu}e anomalies with the CNGS beam, produced at CERN with an
average energy of 20 GeV and travelling 730 km to the Gran Sasso Laboratory.
The present analysis is based on a total sample of 1995 events of CNGS neutrino
interactions, which corresponds to an almost doubled sample with respect to the
previously published result. Four clear {\nu}e events have been visually
identified over the full sample, compared with an expectation of 6.4 +- 0.9
events from conventional sources. The result is compatible with the absence of
additional anomalous contributions. At 90% and 99% confidence levels the limits
to possible oscillated events are 3.7 and 8.3 respectively. The corresponding
limit to oscillation probability becomes consequently 3.4 x 10-3 and 7.6 x 10-3
respectively. The present result confirms, with an improved sensitivity, the
early result already published by the ICARUS collaboration
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