131 research outputs found
Tagger design optimization
This note presents the simulations and tests performed at LPSC Grenoble for the optimization of the DVCS tagger paddles. The choice of the wrapping material and the addition of a light guide with a specific triangular cut are discussed and confronted to experimental measurements. This study led to the final configuration of the DVCS tagger
MIMAC: MIcro-tpc MAtrix of Chambers for dark matter directional detection
Directional detection of non-baryonic Dark Matter is a promising search
strategy for discriminating WIMP events from neutrons, the ultimate background
for dark matter direct detection. This strategy requires both a precise
measurement of the energy down to a few keV and 3D reconstruction of tracks
down to a few mm. The MIMAC (MIcro-tpc MAtrix of Chambers) collaboration has
developed in the last years an original prototype detector based on the direct
coupling of large pixelized micromegas with a special developed fast
self-triggered electronics showing the feasibility of a new generation of
directional detectors. The first bi-chamber prototype has been installed at
Modane, underground laboratory in June 2012. The first undergournd background
events, the gain stability and calibration are shown. The first spectrum of
nuclear recoils showing 3D tracks coming from the radon progeny is presented.Comment: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Directional Dark
Matter Detection CYGNUS2013, held in Toyoma (Japan), June 201
Dark Matter Directionality Detection performance of the Micromegas-based TPC-MIMAC detector
Directional Dark Matter Detection (DDMD) can open a new signature for Weakly
Massive Interacting Particles (WIMPs) Dark Matter. The directional signature
provides in addition, an unique way to overcome the neutron and neutrino
backgrounds. In order to get the directional signature, the DDM detectors
should be sensitive to low nuclear energy recoils in the keV range and have an
angular resolution better than . We have performed experiments with
low energy () ion beam facilities to measure the angular
distribution of nuclear recoil tracks in a MIMAC detector prototype. In this
paper, we study angular spreads with respect to the electron drift direction
( incident angle) of Fluorine nuclear tracks in this low energy
range, and show nuclear recoil angle reconstruction produced by a monoenergetic
neutron field experiment. We find that a high-gain systematic effect leads to a
high angular resolution along the electron drift direction. The measured
angular distribution is impacted by diffusion, and space charge or ion feedback
effects, which can be corrected for by an asymmetry factor observed in the
flash-ADC profile. The estimated angular resolution of the incident
ion is better than at keV kinetic energy and agrees with the
simulations within %. The distributions from the nuclear recoils have been
compared with simulated results based on a modified Garfield++ code. Our study
shows that protons would be a more adapted target than heavier nuclei for DDMD
of light WIMPs. We demonstrate that directional signature from the Galactic
halo origin of a Dark Matter WIMP signal is experimentally achievable, with a
deep understanding of the operating conditions of a low pressure detector with
its diffusion mechanism.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figure
Modelling and simulating change in reforesting mountain landscapes using a social-ecological framework
Natural reforestation of European mountain landscapes raises major environmental and societal issues. With local stakeholders in the Pyrenees National Park area (France), we studied agricultural landscape colonisation by ash (Fraxinus excelsior) to enlighten its impacts on biodiversity and other landscape functions of importance for the valley socio-economics. The study comprised an integrated assessment of land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) since the 1950s, and a scenario analysis of alternative future policy. We combined knowledge and methods from landscape ecology, land change and agricultural sciences, and a set of coordinated field studies to capture interactions and feedback in the local landscape/land-use system. Our results elicited the hierarchically-nested relationships between social and ecological processes. Agricultural change played a preeminent role in the spatial and temporal patterns of LUCC. Landscape colonisation by ash at the parcel level of organisation was merely controlled by grassland management, and in fact depended on the farmer's land management at the whole-farm level. LUCC patterns at the landscape level depended to a great extent on interactions between farm household behaviours and the spatial arrangement of landholdings within the landscape mosaic. Our results stressed the need to represent the local SES function at a fine scale to adequately capture scenarios of change in landscape functions. These findings orientated our modelling choices in the building an agent-based model for LUCC simulation (SMASH - Spatialized Multi-Agent System of landscape colonization by ASH). We discuss our method and results with reference to topical issues in interdisciplinary research into the sustainability of multifunctional landscapes
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