Bilancio energetico ed irreversibilità in termodinamica dei continui

Molti sistemi fisici sono descritti, con ottima approssimazione, come sistemi continui, nei quali è trascurata la descrizione della struttura molecolare della materia costituente. La loro descrizione, tuttavia, deve essere arricchita, precisando quelle che sono tutte le altre proprietà caratterizzanti il continuo fisico, quali, ad esempio, la massa, la velocità, la temperatura e la pressione. Ciò viene fatto introducendo, nelle regioni occupate dal continuo, opportuni campi, scalari e tensoriali, corrispondenti a caratteristiche grandezze fisiche le cui leggi di bilancio sono formulate in modo tale da possedere carattere universale: valide per ogni continuo in ogni riferimento da cui lo si studia. A livello meccanico, la trattazione del continuo fisico è basata sui concetti di volume e superficie materiali, in grado di muoversi e deformarsi nello spazio e nel tempo. A livello termodinamico, l'impossibilità di attribuire un valore globale alle grandezze intensive di una porzione estesa di continuo non in equilibrio porta al bisogno di ripartire quest'ultima in porzioni infinitesime, ciascuna approssimativamente in equilibrio termodinamico, nelle quali i diversi campi possono essere definiti con continuità in ogni punto. Tuttavia le sole leggi di bilancio non risultano sufficienti per studiare compiutamente il comportamento di uno specifico continuo: ad esse si affiancano le relazioni costitutive, caratteristiche di ciascun mezzo, che legano tra loro i diversi campi introdotti nella trattazione

Impact of nuclear matrix element calculations for current and future neutrinoless double beta decay searches

Nuclear matrix elements (NME) are a crucial input for the interpretation of neutrinoless double beta decay data. We consider a representative set of recent NME calculations from different methods and investigate the impact on the present bound on the effective Majorana mass $m_{\beta\beta}$ by performing a combined analysis of the available data as well as on the sensitivity reach of future projects. A crucial role is played by the recently discovered short-range contribution to the NME, induced by light Majorana neutrino masses. Depending on the NME model and the relative sign of the long- and short-range contributions, the current $3\sigma$ bound can change between $m_{\beta\beta} < 40$ meV and 600 meV. The sign-uncertainty may either boost the sensitivity of next-generation experiments beyond the region for $m_{\beta\beta}$ predicted for inverted mass ordering or prevent even advanced setups to reach this region. Furthermore, we study the possibility to distinguish between different NME calculations by assuming a positive signal and by combining measurements from different isotopes. Such a discrimination will be impossible if the relative sign of the long- and short-range contribution remains unknown, but can become feasible if $m_{\beta\beta} \gtrsim 40$ meV and if the relative sign is known to be positive. Sensitivities will be dominated by the advanced $^{76}$Ge and $^{136}$Xe setups assumed here, but NME model-discrimination improves if data from a third isotope is added, e.g., from $^{130}$Te or $^{100}$Mo.Comment: 29 pages, 14 figures, the version to be published in JHE

Cervical mucus proteome in endometriosis

Additional file 1: Table S1. Identified proteins in CM in the group of controls and in patients affected by endometriosis

Neutrino physics with the XENONnT experiment

One of the most active fields in physics is the search for Dark Matter, for which the XENON Project is one of the main protagonists. The new XENONnT experiment will be operative starting from 2020 in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, under 3600 meters water equivalent of mountain rock shield. It is a multi-ton detector for direct search of Dark Matter, consisting of a double phase liquid-gas xenon TPC which contains 5.9 t of liquid xenon target mass, inserted in a Cryostat surrounded by a tank containing 700 t of Gd-loaded water, instrumented with PMTs for muon and neutron tagging. Its aim, as that of its precursor XENON1T, is to detect WIMPs elastic scattering off xenon nucleus through the measure of the light and charge observable signals produced by recoils in LXe. A new neutron Veto system, surrounding the outer Cryostat and instrumented with 120 additional PMTs, will contribute to reduce the neutron background in the TPC. Thanks to the large xenon target used, this experiment is sensitive also to all flavors of Supernova neutrinos. These can be detected through two different interactions channels: through coherent elastic scatters on xenon nuclei in the TPC and through interactions of electron antineutrinos with protons of water via inverse beta decay process. In the first part of this work, after a theoretical introduction to neutrino physics, I present the results of a Monte Carlo simulation to predict the XENONnT detection efficiencies for neutrino events as IBD interactions in the neutron and muon Vetoes. In the last part of the thesis, I investigate the XENONnT possibility to detect neutrinoless double beta decay of Xe-136 isotope, a Standard Model forbidden decay which can prove the Majorana nature of neutrinos. Starting from evaluation of the ER background rate from Cryostat and PMTs in the energy region where we expect to observe neutrinoless double beta decay, the sensitivity of XENONnT for this nuclear decay was estimated

Impact of nuclear matrix element calculations for current and future neutrinoless double beta decay searches

Abstract Nuclear matrix elements (NME) are a crucial input for the interpretation of neutrinoless double beta decay data. We consider a representative set of recent NME calculations from different methods and investigate the impact on the present bound on the effective Majorana mass m ββ by performing a combined analysis of the available data as well as on the sensitivity reach of future projects. A crucial role is played by the recently discovered short-range contribution to the NME, induced by light Majorana neutrino masses. Depending on the NME model and the relative sign of the long- and short-range contributions, the current 3σ bound can change between m ββ < 40 meV and 600 meV. The sign-uncertainty may either boost the sensitivity of next-generation experiments beyond the region for m ββ predicted for inverted mass ordering or prevent even advanced setups to reach this region. Furthermore, we study the possibility to distinguish between different NME calculations by assuming a positive signal and by combining measurements from different isotopes. Such a discrimination will be impossible if the relative sign of the long- and short-range contribution remains unknown, but can become feasible if m ββ ≳ 40 meV and if the relative sign is known to be positive. Sensitivities will be dominated by the advanced 76Ge and 136Xe setups assumed here, but NME model-discrimination improves if data from a third isotope is added, e.g., from 130Te or 100Mo

Nanotechnology-Based Strategies for the Detection and Quantification of MicroRNA

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are important regulators of gene expression, and many pathological conditions, including cancer, are characterized by altered miRNA expression levels. Therefore, accurate and sensitive quantification of miRNAs may result in correct disease diagnosis establishing these small noncoding RNA transcripts as valuable biomarkers. Aiming at overcoming some limitations of conventional quantification strategies, nanotechnology is currently providing numerous significant alternatives to miRNA sensing. In this review an up-to-date account of nanotechnology-based strategies for miRNA detection and quantification is given. The topics covered are: nanoparticle-based approaches in solution, sensing based on nanostructured surfaces, combined nanoparticle/ surface sensing approaches, and single-molecule approaches

Absolute ν Mass Measurement with the DUNE Experiment

Time of flight delay in the supernova neutrino signal offers a unique tool to set model-independent constraints on the absolute neutrino mass. The presence of a sharp time structure during a first emission phase, the so-called neutronization burst in the electron neutrino flavor time distribution, makes this channel a very powerful one. Large liquid argon underground detectors will provide precision measurements of the time dependence of the electron neutrino fluxes. We derive here a new ν mass sensitivity attainable at the future DUNE far detector from a future supernova collapse in our galactic neighborhood, finding a sub-eV reach under favorable scenarios. These values are competitive with those expected for laboratory direct neutrino mass searches.This work has been supported by the MCIN/AEI of Spain under Grant No. PID2020–113644GB-I00, by the Generalitat Valenciana of Spain under Grants No. PROMETEO/ 2019/083, No. PROMETEO/2021/087 and No. CDEIGENT/ 2020/003, and by the European Union’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020 (2014–2020) under Grant No. H2020-MSCA-ITN-2019/ 860881-HIDDeN