730 research outputs found
Sensitivity potential to a light flavor-changing scalar boson with DUNE and NA64
In this work, we report on the sensitivity potential of complementary
muon-on-target experiments to new physics using a scalar boson benchmark model
associated with charged lepton flavor violation. The NA64 experiment at
CERN uses a 160-GeV energy muon beam with an active target to search for excess
events with missing energy and momentum as a probe of new physics. At the same
time, the proton beam at Fermilab, which is used to produce the neutrino beam
for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will also produce a
high-intensity muon beam dumped in an absorber. Combined with the liquid Argon
Near Detector, the system could be used to search for similar scalar boson
particles with a lower energy but higher intensity beam. We find that both
NA64 and DUNE could cover new, unexplored parts of the parameter space of
the same benchmark model, providing a complementary way to search for new
physics
First test of a high voltage feedthrough for liquid Argon TPCs connected to a 300 kV power supply
Voltages above a hundred kilo-volt will be required to generate the drift
field of future very large liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers. The most
delicate component is the feedthrough whose role is to safely deliver the very
high voltage to the cathode through the thick insulating walls of the cryostat
without compromising the purity of the argon inside. This requires a
feedthrough that is typically meters long and carefully designed to be vacuum
tight and have small heat input. Furthermore, all materials should be carefully
chosen to allow operation in cryogenic conditions. In addition, electric fields
in liquid argon should be kept below a threshold to reduce risks of discharges.
The combination of all above requirements represents significant challenges
from the design and manufacturing perspective. In this paper, we report on the
successful operation of a feedthrough satisfying all the above requirements.
The details of the feedthrough design and its manufacturing steps are provided.
Very high voltages up to unprecedented voltages of -300 kV could be applied
during long periods repeatedly. A source of instability was observed, which was
specific to the setup configuration which was used for the test and not due to
the feedthrough itself.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure
Vertical distribution of ozone and VOCs in the low boundary layer of Mexico City
International audienceThe evolution of ozone and 13 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the boundary layer of Mexico City was investigated during 2000?2004 to improve our understanding of the complex interactions between those trace gases and meteorological variables, and their influence on the air quality of a polluted megacity. A tethered balloon, fitted with electrochemical and meteorological sondes, was used to obtain detailed vertical profiles of ozone and meteorological parameters up to 1000 m above ground during part of the diurnal cycle (02:00?18:00 h). VOCs samples were collected up to 200 m by pumping air to canisters with a Teflon tube attached to the tether line. Overall, features of these profiles were found to be consistent with a simple picture of nighttime trapping of ozone in an upper residual layer and of VOCs in a shallow unstable layer above the ground. After sunrise an ozone balance is determined by photochemical production, entrainment from the upper residual layer and destruction by titration with NO, delaying the ground-level ozone rise by 2 h. The subsequent evolution of the conductive boundary layer and vertical distribution of pollutants are discussed in terms of the energy balance, the presence of turbulence and the atmospheric stability
Search for Axionlike and Scalar Particles with the NA64 Experiment
We carried out a model-independent search for light scalar (s) and
pseudoscalar axionlike (a) particles that couple to two photons by using the
high-energy CERN SPS H4 electron beam. The new particles, if they exist, could
be produced through the Primakoff effect in interactions of hard bremsstrahlung
photons generated by 100 GeV electrons in the NA64 active dump with virtual
photons provided by the nuclei of the dump. The a(s) would penetrate the
downstream HCAL module, serving as shielding, and would be observed either
through their decay in the rest of the HCAL detector or
as events with large missing energy if the a(s) decays downstream of the HCAL.
This method allows for the probing the a(s) parameter space, including those
from generic axion models, inaccessible to previous experiments. No evidence of
such processes has been found from the analysis of the data corresponding to
electrons on target allowing to set new limits on the
-coupling strength for a(s) masses below 55 MeV.Comment: This publication is dedicated to the memory of our colleague Danila
Tlisov. 7 pages, 5 figures, revised version accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev. Let
Chromosomal instability in aneuploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia associates with disease progression
Chromosomal instability (CIN) lies at the core of cancer development leading to aneuploidy, chromosomal copy-number heterogeneity (chr-CNH) and ultimately, unfavorable clinical outcomes. Despite its ubiquity in cancer, the presence of CIN in childhood B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (cB-ALL), the most frequent pediatric cancer showing high frequencies of aneuploidy, remains unknown. Here, we elucidate the presence of CIN in aneuploid cB-ALL subtypes using single-cell whole-genome sequencing of primary cB-ALL samples and by generating and functionally characterizing patient-derived xenograft models (cB-ALL-PDX). We report higher rates of CIN across aneuploid than in euploid cB-ALL that strongly correlate with intraclonal chr-CNH and overall survival in mice. This association was further supported by in silico mathematical modeling. Moreover, mass-spectrometry analyses of cB-ALL-PDX revealed a "CIN signature" enriched in mitotic-spindle regulatory pathways, which was confirmed by RNA-sequencing of a large cohort of cB-ALL samples. The link between the presence of CIN in aneuploid cB-ALL and disease progression opens new possibilities for patient stratification and offers a promising new avenue as a therapeutic target in cB-ALL treatment.</p
Ultrahigh-energy neutrino follow-up of Gravitational Wave events GW150914 and GW151226 with the Pierre Auger Observatory
On September 14, 2015 the Advanced LIGO detectors observed their first
gravitational-wave (GW) transient GW150914. This was followed by a second GW
event observed on December 26, 2015. Both events were inferred to have arisen
from the merger of black holes in binary systems. Such a system may emit
neutrinos if there are magnetic fields and disk debris remaining from the
formation of the two black holes. With the surface detector array of the Pierre
Auger Observatory we can search for neutrinos with energy above 100 PeV from
point-like sources across the sky with equatorial declination from about -65
deg. to +60 deg., and in particular from a fraction of the 90% confidence-level
(CL) inferred positions in the sky of GW150914 and GW151226. A targeted search
for highly-inclined extensive air showers, produced either by interactions of
downward-going neutrinos of all flavors in the atmosphere or by the decays of
tau leptons originating from tau-neutrino interactions in the Earth's crust
(Earth-skimming neutrinos), yielded no candidates in the Auger data collected
within s around or 1 day after the coordinated universal time (UTC)
of GW150914 and GW151226, as well as in the same search periods relative to the
UTC time of the GW candidate event LVT151012. From the non-observation we
constrain the amount of energy radiated in ultrahigh-energy neutrinos from such
remarkable events.Comment: Published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Added Report
Numbe
Azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of the surface detector signals of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The azimuthal asymmetry in the risetime of signals in Auger surface detector
stations is a source of information on shower development. The azimuthal
asymmetry is due to a combination of the longitudinal evolution of the shower
and geometrical effects related to the angles of incidence of the particles
into the detectors. The magnitude of the effect depends upon the zenith angle
and state of development of the shower and thus provides a novel observable,
, sensitive to the mass composition of cosmic rays
above eV. By comparing measurements with predictions from
shower simulations, we find for both of our adopted models of hadronic physics
(QGSJETII-04 and EPOS-LHC) an indication that the mean cosmic-ray mass
increases slowly with energy, as has been inferred from other studies. However,
the mass estimates are dependent on the shower model and on the range of
distance from the shower core selected. Thus the method has uncovered further
deficiencies in our understanding of shower modelling that must be resolved
before the mass composition can be inferred from .Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
A search for point sources of EeV photons
Measurements of air showers made using the hybrid technique developed with
the fluorescence and surface detectors of the Pierre Auger Observatory allow a
sensitive search for point sources of EeV photons anywhere in the exposed sky.
A multivariate analysis reduces the background of hadronic cosmic rays. The
search is sensitive to a declination band from -85{\deg} to +20{\deg}, in an
energy range from 10^17.3 eV to 10^18.5 eV. No photon point source has been
detected. An upper limit on the photon flux has been derived for every
direction. The mean value of the energy flux limit that results from this,
assuming a photon spectral index of -2, is 0.06 eV cm^-2 s^-1, and no celestial
direction exceeds 0.25 eV cm^-2 s^-1. These upper limits constrain scenarios in
which EeV cosmic ray protons are emitted by non-transient sources in the
Galaxy.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
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