Infrared Cloud Monitoring with UCIRC2

The second generation of the Extreme Universe Space Observatory on a Super Pressure Balloon (EUSO-SPB2) is a balloon instrument that searched for ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies above 1 EeV and very high energy neutrinos with energies above 1 PeV. EUSO-SPB2 consists of two telescopes: a fluorescence telescope pointed downward for the detection of UHECRs and a Cherenkov telescope toward the limb for the detection of PeV-scale showers produced by neutrino-sourced tau decay (just below the limb) and by cosmic rays (just above the limb). Clouds inside the fields of view of these telescopes--particularly that of the fluorescence telescope--reduce EUSO-SPB2's geometric aperture. As such, cloud coverage and cloud-top altitude within the field of view of the fluorescence telescope must be monitored throughout data-taking. The University of Chicago Infrared Camera (UCIRC2) monitored these clouds using two infrared cameras centered at 10 and 12 $\mu$m. By capturing images at wavelengths spanning the cloud thermal emission peak, UCIRC2 measured cloud color-temperatures and thus cloud-top altitudes. In this contribution, we provide an overview of UCIRC2, including an update on its construction and performance. We also show first results from the flight.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, proceedings of the 38th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2023). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2112.09618, arXiv:1909.0266

Research report: Updated review and developments in jihadist radicalisation in Switzerland : updated version of an exploratory study on prevention and intervention

Based on the study ‘Background to jihadist radicalisation in Switzerland’ (Eser Davolio et al. 2015 with a sample of 66 jihadist-motivated travellers), the research status and current level of data available are analysed using an increased sample of jihadist-motivated persons. In comparison to studies from neighbouring countries, a largely similar picture emerges in terms of relevant push and pull factors. Male, Muslim, second-generation persons aged between 21 and 35 years of age with a relatively low level of education and links to peers with similar orientation are overrepresented in the sample. Particular importance is also attached to the phenomenon of conversion. In view of the fact that around 40% of the persons surveyed (N=130) receive state welfare benefits, relevant follow-up questions are raised here with regard to resocialisation and reintegration. In relation to the challenges in the prison system, the interviews with prison directors show that considerations are made and strategies applied regarding placement, execution of sentence, separation and institutional and individual monitoring when dealing with radicalised jihadist inmates. As long periods of pretrial detention are common in such cases, there is generally little scope for measures, such as therapy and reintegration. Concepts for dealing with radicalised inmates and promoting resocialisation and disengagement must be developed, approaches regarding cantonal ‘core extremism groups’ or the involvement of Muslim spiritual advisers must be further elaborated and monitoring of potential risks – particularly concerning the protection of potentially endangered fellow inmates – must be driven forward. As far as prevention is concerned, the extremism specialist units have increased from two in 2015 to nine now and the bridge-building specialist units from three to eight (as at May 2019). In particular, cities and cantons which experienced high levels of jihadist radicalisation have recruited specialists and developed expertise on prevention. As low-threshold points of contact, they can usually clear up the uncertainties that radicalisation phenomena or associated situations can trigger and contribute towards resolving issues by advising the persons involved as second-level prevention. In contrast, the bridgebuilding specialist units primarily focus on building trust and dialogue with mosque associations as well as providing information in the field of asylum as part of radicalisation prevention. This means they play a key link role between the Muslim organisations and the police and other administrative bodies. In summary, individual cantons and cities expanded prevention units between May 2015 and May 2019, but they are still far from available nationwide in the overall context of Switzerland. While progress has been made and experience accumulated in prevention and intervention, there are still gaps in the fields of disengagement and reintegration of radicalised jihadist persons

Neutrino constraints on long-lived heavy dark sector particle decays in the Earth

Recent theoretical work has explored dark matter accumulation in the Earth and its drift toward the center of the Earth that, for the current age of the Earth, does not necessarily result in a concentration of dark matter (χ) in the Earth's core. We consider a scenario of long-lived $(τ_χ∼10^{28}s)$, superheavy $(m_χ=10^7-10^{10} GeV)$ dark matter that decays via $χ→ν_τ\overline{ν}_τ$ or $χ→ν_μ\overline{ν}_μ$. We show that an IceCube-like detector over 10 years can constrain a dark matter density that mirrors the Earth's density or has a uniform density with density fraction ϵρ combined with the partial decay width $B_{χ→ντ\overline{ν}_τΓ_χ}$ in the range of $(ϵρ/10^{-10})B_{χ→ν_τ}Γ_χ≲1.5×10^{-29}-1.5×10^{-28} s^{-1}$. For $χ→ν_μ\overline{ν}_μ, m_χ=10^8-10^{10} GeV$, and $E_μ>10^7 GeV$, the range of constraints is $(ϵρ/10_{-10})B_{χ→ν_μ}Γ_χ≲3×10^{-29}-7×10^{-28} s^{-1}$

Neutrino constraints on long-lived heavy dark sector particle decays in the Earth

Recent theoretical work has explored dark matter accumulation in the Earth and its drift towards the center of the Earth that, for the current age of the Earth, does not necessarily result in a concentration of dark matter ($\chi$) in the Earth's core. We consider a scenario of long-lived ($\tau_\chi\sim 10^{28}$ s), super heavy ($m_\chi=10^7-10^{10}$ GeV) dark matter that decays via $\chi\to \nu_\tau H$ or $\chi\to \nu_\mu H$. We show that an IceCube-like detector over 10 years can constrain a dark matter density that mirrors the Earth's density or has a uniform density with density fraction $\epsilon_\rho$ combined with the partial decay width $B_{\chi\to \nu_\tau H}\Gamma_\chi$ in the range of $(\epsilon_\rho/10^{-10}) B_{\chi\to \nu_\tau}\Gamma_\chi \lesssim 3\times 10^{-29}-3\times 10^{-28}$ s$^{-1}$. For $\chi\to \nu_\mu H$, $m_\chi = 10^8-10^{10}$ GeV and $E_\mu>10^7$ GeV, the range of constraints is $(\epsilon_\rho/10^{-10}) B_{\chi\to \nu_\mu}\Gamma_\chi \lesssim 6\times 10^{-29}-1.4\times 10^{-27}$ s$^{-1}$.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Prospects for macroscopic dark matter detection at space-based and suborbital experiments

We compare two different formalisms for modeling the energy deposition of macroscopically sized/massive quark nuggets (a.k.a. macros) in the Earth's atmosphere. We show that for a reference mass of 1 g, there is a discrepancy in the macro luminosity of about 14 orders of magnitude between the predictions of the two formalisms. Armed with our finding we estimate the sensitivity for macro detection at space-based (Mini-EUSO and POEMMA) and suborbital (EUSO-SPB2) experiments.Comment: 5 pages revtex, 3 figure

Enhanced Spike-specific, but attenuated Nucleocapsid-specific T cell responses upon SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough versus non-breakthrough infections

SARS-CoV-2 vaccine breakthrough infections frequently occurred even before the emergence of Omicron variants. Yet, relatively little is known about the impact of vaccination on SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell and antibody response dynamics upon breakthrough infection. We have therefore studied the dynamics of CD4 and CD8 T cells targeting the vaccine-encoded Spike and the non-encoded Nucleocapsid antigens during breakthrough infections (BTI, n=24) and in unvaccinated control infections (non-BTI, n=30). Subjects with vaccine breakthrough infection had significantly higher CD4 and CD8 T cell responses targeting the vaccine-encoded Spike during the first and third/fourth week after PCR diagnosis compared to non-vaccinated controls, respectively. In contrast, CD4 T cells targeting the non-vaccine encoded Nucleocapsid antigen were of significantly lower magnitude in BTI as compared to non-BTI. Hence, previous vaccination was linked to enhanced T cell responses targeting the vaccine-encoded Spike antigen, while responses against the non-vaccine encoded Nucleocapsid antigen were significantly attenuated

Neutrino propagation in the Earth and emerging charged leptons with nuPyProp\texttt{nuPyProp}

Ultra-high-energy neutrinos serve as messengers of some of the highest energy astrophysical environments. Given that neutrinos are neutral and only interact via weak interactions, neutrinos can emerge from sources, traverse astronomical distances, and point back to their origins. Their weak interactions require large target volumes for neutrino detection. Using the Earth as a neutrino converter, terrestrial, sub-orbital, and satellite-based instruments are able to detect signals of neutrino-induced extensive air showers. In this paper, we describe the software code $\texttt{nuPyProp}$ that simulates tau neutrino and muon neutrino interactions in the Earth and predicts the spectrum of the $\tau$-lepton and muons that emerge. The $\texttt{nuPyProp}$ outputs are lookup tables of charged lepton exit probabilities and energies that can be used directly or as inputs to the $\texttt{nuSpaceSim}$ code designed to simulate optical and radio signals from extensive air showers induced by the emerging charged leptons. We describe the inputs to the code, demonstrate its flexibility and show selected results for $\tau$-lepton and muon exit probabilities and energy distributions. The $\texttt{nuPyProp}$ code is open source, available on github.Comment: 42 pages, 21 figures, code available at https://github.com/NuSpaceSim/nupypro

THE ARCADE PROJECT

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