1,118 research outputs found
On the complementarity of Hyper-K and LBNF
The next generation of long-baseline experiments is being designed to make a
substantial step in the precision of measurements of neutrino-oscillation
probabilities. Two qualitatively different proposals, Hyper-K and LBNF, are
being considered for approval. This document outlines the complimentarity
between Hyper-K and LBNF.Comment: 5 pager
Initial report from the ICFA Neutrino Panel
In July 2013 ICFA established the Neutrino Panel with the mandate "To promote
international cooperation in the development of the accelerator-based
neutrino-oscillation program and to promote international collaboration in the
development a neutrino factory as a future intense source of neutrinos for
particle physics experiments". This, the Panel's Initial Report, presents the
conclusions drawn by the Panel from three regional "Town Meetings" that took
place between November 2013 and February 2014.
After a brief introduction and a short summary of the status of the knowledge
of the oscillation parameters, the report summarises the approved programme and
identifies opportunities for the development of the field. In its conclusions,
the Panel recognises that to maximise the discovery potential of the
accelerator-based neutrino-oscillation programme it will be essential to
exploit the infrastructures that exist at CERN, FNAL and J-PARC and the
expertise and resources that reside in laboratories and institutes around the
world. Therefore, in its second year, the Panel will consult with the
accelerator-based neutrino-oscillation community and its stakeholders to:
develop a road-map for the future accelerator-based neutrino-oscillation
programme that exploits the ambitions articulated at CERN, FNAL and J-PARC and
includes the programme of measurement and test-beam exposure necessary to
ensure the programme is able to realise its potential; develop a proposal for a
coordinated "Neutrino RD" programme, the accelerator and detector R&D programme
required to underpin the next generation of experiments; and to explore the
opportunities for the international collaboration necessary to realise the
Neutrino Factory.Comment: ICFA Neutrino Panel 2014(01
Philosophy and Science in Leibniz
This paper explores the question of Leibniz’s contribution to the rise of modern ‘science’. To be sure, it is now generally agreed that the modern category of ‘science’ did not exist in the early modern period. At the same time, this period witnessed a very important stage in the process from which modern science eventually emerged. My discussion will be aimed at uncovering the new enterprise, and the new distinctions which were taking shape in the early modern period under the banner of the old Aristotelian terminology. I will argue that Leibniz begins to theorize a distinction between physics and metaphysics that tracks our distinction between the autonomous enterprise of science in its modern meaning, and the enterprise of philosophy. I will try to show that, for Leibniz, physics proper is the study of natural phenomena in mathematical and mechanical terms without recourse for its explanations to metaphysical notions. This autonomy, however, does not imply for Leibniz that physics can say on its own all that there is to be said about the natural world. Quite the opposite. Leibniz inherits from the Aristotelian tradition the view that physics needs metaphysical roots or a metaphysical grounding. For Leibniz, what is ultimately real is reached by metaphysics, not by physics. This is, in my view, Leibniz’s chief insight: the new mathematical physics is an autonomous enterprise which offers its own kind of explanations but does not exhaust what can (and should) be said about the natural world
Future Precision Neutrino Oscillation Experiments and Theoretical Implications
Future neutrino oscillation experiments will lead to precision measurements
of neutrino mass splittings and mixings. The flavour structure of the lepton
sector will therefore at some point become better known than that of the quark
sector. This article discusses the potential of future oscillation experiments
on the basis of detailed simulations with an emphasis on experiments which can
be done in about ten years. In addition, some theoretical implications for
neutrino mass models will be briefly discussed.Comment: Talk given at Nobel Symposium 2004: Neutrino Physics, Haga Slott,
Enkoping, Sweden, 19-24 Aug 200
Teleology and Realism in Leibniz's Philosophy of Science
This paper argues for an interpretation of Leibniz’s claim that physics requires both mechanical and teleological principles as a view regarding the interpretation of physical theories. Granting that Leibniz’s fundamental ontology remains non-physical, or mentalistic, it argues that teleological principles nevertheless ground a realist commitment about mechanical descriptions of phenomena. The empirical results of the new sciences, according to Leibniz, have genuine truth conditions: there is a fact of the matter about the regularities observed in experience. Taking this stance, however, requires bringing non-empirical reasons to bear upon mechanical causal claims. This paper first evaluates extant interpretations of Leibniz’s thesis that there are two realms in physics as describing parallel, self-sufficient sets of laws. It then examines Leibniz’s use of teleological principles to interpret scientific results in the context of his interventions in debates in seventeenth-century kinematic theory, and in the teaching of Copernicanism. Leibniz’s use of the principle of continuity and the principle of simplicity, for instance, reveal an underlying commitment to the truth-aptness, or approximate truth-aptness, of the new natural sciences. The paper concludes with a brief remark on the relation between metaphysics, theology, and physics in Leibniz
Limits on muon-neutrino to tau-neutrino oscillations induced by a sterile neutrino state obtained by OPERA at the CNGS beam
The OPERA experiment, exposed to the CERN to Gran Sasso beam,
collected data from 2008 to 2012. Four oscillated Charged Current
interaction candidates have been detected in appearance mode, which are
consistent with oscillations at the atmospheric within the "standard" three-neutrino framework. In this paper, the OPERA
appearance results are used to derive limits on the mixing
parameters of a massive sterile neutrino.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures; reference to Planck result updated in the
Introduction. Submitted to JHE
Determination of the muon charge sign with the dipolar spectrometers of the OPERA experiment
The OPERA long-baseline neutrino-oscillation experiment has observed the
direct appearance of in the CNGS beam. Two large muon
magnetic spectrometers are used to identify muons produced in the
leptonic decay and in interactions by measuring their charge and
momentum. Besides the kinematic analysis of the decays, background
resulting from the decay of charmed particles produced in
interactions is reduced by efficiently identifying the muon track. A new method
for the charge sign determination has been applied, via a weighted angular
matching of the straight track-segments reconstructed in the different parts of
the dipole magnets. Results obtained for Monte Carlo and real data are
presented. Comparison with a method where no matching is used shows a
significant reduction of up to 40\% of the fraction of wrongly determined
charges.Comment: 10 pages. Improvements in the tex
Missing data approaches in longitudinal studies of aging: A case example using the National Health and Aging Trends Study
Purpose Missing data is a key methodological consideration in longitudinal studies of aging. We described missing data challenges and potential methodological solutions using a case example describing five-year frailty state transitions in a cohort of older adults. Methods We used longitudinal data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally-representative cohort of Medicare beneficiaries. We assessed the five components of the Fried frailty phenotype and classified frailty based on their number of components (robust: 0, prefrail: 1–2, frail: 3–5). One-, two-, and five-year frailty state transitions were defined as movements between frailty states or death. Missing frailty components were imputed using hot deck imputation. Inverse probability weights were used to account for potentially informative loss-to-follow-up. We conducted scenario analyses to test a range of assumptions related to missing data. Results Missing data were common for frailty components measured using physical assessments (walking speed, grip strength). At five years, 36% of individuals were lost-to-follow-up, differentially with respect to baseline frailty status. Assumptions for missing data mechanisms impacted inference regarding individuals improving or worsening in frailty. Conclusions Missing data and loss-to-follow-up are common in longitudinal studies of aging. Robust epidemiologic methods can improve the rigor and interpretability of aging-related research
Procedure for short-lived particle detection in the OPERA experiment and its application to charm decays
The OPERA experiment, designed to perform the first observation of oscillations in appearance mode through the detection of
the leptons produced in charged current interactions, has
collected data from 2008 to 2012. In the present paper, the procedure developed
to detect particle decays, occurring over distances of the order of 1 mm
from the neutrino interaction point, is described in detail. The results of its
application to the search for charmed hadrons are then presented as a
validation of the methods for appearance detection
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