Socio-Economic Impact of the Creation and Operation of Mega-Science Projects

Challenges of development facing society and states require efforts consolidation, in the research field in particular. Therefore, to organize international cooperation and to conduct basic and applied research, mega-science infrastructures are being created and implemented all over the world. Currently, research facilities of the mega-science class are being created in the Russian Federation. They play an important role in the development of science and the innovation process. The competitiveness of Russian science is a determining factor for ensuring the safety and technological independence of Russia. Therefore, the Federal program for the development of Synchrotron and Neutron research and research infrastructure for 2019-2027 was approved in March 2020. In the present article, the concept of the socio-economic impact of the operation of large-scale research infrastructure is revealed. The authors refer to the materials on the socio-economic impact analysis, which was based on the data on the Swedish neutron source (European Spallation Source). The article provides a generalized idea of the main indicators for assessing the potential of the research infrastructure as well as their application to characterize the research facilities in the Russian Federation. It is worth highlighting that each large research facility is unique and it is not possible to unify the analysis of the socio-economic impact. However, the obtained results can be used for a similar analysis of research infrastructures, based on the same physical principles and created to solve general scientific problems

A facility to Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) at the CERN SPS

A new general purpose fixed target facility is proposed at the CERN SPS accelerator which is aimed at exploring the domain of hidden particles and make measurements with tau neutrinos. Hidden particles are predicted by a large number of models beyond the Standard Model. The high intensity of the SPS 400~GeV beam allows probing a wide variety of models containing light long-lived exotic particles with masses below ${\cal O}$(10)~GeV/c$^2$, including very weakly interacting low-energy SUSY states. The experimental programme of the proposed facility is capable of being extended in the future, e.g. to include direct searches for Dark Matter and Lepton Flavour Violation.Comment: Technical Proposa

A facility to Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) at the CERN SPS

A new general purpose fixed target facility is proposed at the CERN SPS accelerator which is aimed at exploring the domain of hidden particles and make measurements with tau neutrinos. Hidden particles are predicted by a large number of models beyond the Standard Model. The high intensity of the SPS 400~GeV beam allows probing a wide variety of models containing light long-lived exotic particles with masses below ${\cal O}$(10)~GeV/c$^2$, including very weakly interacting low-energy SUSY states. The experimental programme of the proposed facility is capable of being extended in the future, e.g. to include direct searches for Dark Matter and Lepton Flavour Violation

Light Yield in DarkSide-10: a Prototype Two-phase Liquid Argon TPC for Dark Matter Searches

As part of the DarkSide program of direct dark matter searches using liquid argon TPCs, a prototype detector with an active volume containing 10 kg of liquid argon, DarkSide-10, was built and operated underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. A critically important parameter for such devices is the scintillation light yield, as photon statistics limits the rejection of electron-recoil backgrounds by pulse shape discrimination. We have measured the light yield of DarkSide-10 using the readily-identifiable full-absorption peaks from gamma ray sources combined with single-photoelectron calibrations using low-occupancy laser pulses. For gamma lines of energies in the range 122-1275 keV, we get consistent light yields averaging 8.887+-0.003(stat)+-0.444(sys) p.e./keVee. With additional purification, the light yield measured at 511 keV increased to 9.142+-0.006(stat) p.e./keVee.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

A facility to Search for Hidden Particles (SHiP) at the CERN SPS

A new general purpose fixed target facility is proposed at the CERN SPS accelerator which is aimed at exploring the domain of hidden particles and make measurements with tau neutrinos. Hidden particles are predicted by a large number of models beyond the Standard Model. The high intensity of the SPS 400~GeV beam allows probing a wide variety of models containing light long-lived exotic particles with masses below ${\cal O}$(10)~GeV/c$^2$, including very weakly interacting low-energy SUSY states. The experimental programme of the proposed facility is capable of being extended in the future, e.g. to include direct searches for Dark Matter and Lepton Flavour Violation

Cryogenic Characterization of FBK RGB-HD SiPMs

We report on the cryogenic characterization of Red Green Blue - High Density (RGB-HD) SiPMs developed at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) as part of the DarkSide program of dark matter searches with liquid argon time projection chambers. A dedicated setup was used to measure the primary dark noise, the correlated noise, and the gain of the SiPMs at varying temperatures. A custom-made data acquisition system and analysis software were used to precisely characterize these parameters. We demonstrate that FBK RGB-HD SiPMs with low quenching resistance (RGB-HD-LR$_q$) can be operated from 40 K to 300 K with gains in the range $10^5$ to $10^6$ and noise rates on the order of a few Hz/mm$^2$

Megascience class projects maintenance

The paper considers the peculiarities of unique scientific facilities operation (installations of the megascience class), special attention was paid to the activities of the International Center for Neutron Research on the basis of the high-flux research reactor PIK and the prospects for adapting foreign experience to Russian projects. A number of features of organizing access to the results of work on megascience facilities are described. It is shown that there is an access hierarchy structure with the gradual increase of open data impact. The problem of remote access to mega-installations and the organization of the corresponding business processes are considered. The results of the analysis of risks and challenges associated with the organization of work at megascience facilities are described. A number of practical steps have been proposed in order to optimize the use of the outcomes of unique scientific facilities operation. The mechanism of accounting for intellectual property objects is discussed, possible ways of assessing, examining and commercializing the results of scientific research through the cadastre of intellectual property are proposed. It is shown that a number of trends have received additional impetus due to the quarantine regime imposed in connection with the coronavirus infection in 2020