Status of BetaCage: an Ultra-sensitive Screener for Surface Contamination

BetaCage, a gaseous neon time-projection chamber, has been proposed as a viable screener for emitters of low-energy alphas and electrons to which commercial radioactivity counting techniques are insensitive. Using radiopure materials for construction, active and passive shielding from extrinsic backgrounds, large counting area and minimal detector mass, BetaCage will be able to achieve sensitivities of 10^(−5) counts keV^(−1) kg^(−1) day^(−1) in a few days of running time. We report on progress in prototype development work since the last meeting of this workshop

Reliability and Delay Distributions of Train Connections

Finding reliable train connections is a considerable issue in timetable information since train delays perturb the timetable daily. We present an effective probabilistic approach for estimating the reliability of connections in a large train network. Experiments on real customer queries and real timetables for all trains in Germany show that our approach can be implemented to deliver good results at the expense of only little processing time. Based on probability distributions for train events in connections, we estimate the reliability of connections. We have analyzed our computed reliability ratings by validating our predictions against real delay data from German Railways. This study shows that we are able to predict the feasibility of connections very well. In essence, our predictions are slightly optimistic for connections with a high rating and pretty accurate for connections with a medium rating. Only for the rare cases of a very low rating, we are too pessimistic. Our probabilistic approach already delivers good results, still has improvement potential, and offers a new perspective in the search for more reliable connections in order to bring passengers safely to their destinations even in case of delays

Determining the Mass of Dark Matter Particles with Direct Detection Experiments

In this article I review two data analysis methods for determining the mass (and eventually the spin-independent cross section on nucleons) of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles with positive signals from direct Dark Matter detection experiments: a maximum likelihood analysis with only one experiment and a model-independent method requiring at least two experiments. Uncertainties and caveats of these methods will also be discussed.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, 1 reference added, typos fixed, published version, to appear in the NJP Focus Issue on "Dark Matter and Particle Physics

Constraining Radon Backgrounds in LZ

The LZ dark matter detector, like many other rare-event searches, will suffer from backgrounds due to the radioactive decay of radon daughters. In order to achieve its science goals, the concentration of radon within the xenon should not exceed $2\mu$Bq/kg, or 20 mBq total within its 10 tonnes. The LZ collaboration is in the midst of a program to screen all significant components in contact with the xenon. The four institutions involved in this effort have begun sharing two cross-calibration sources to ensure consistent measurement results across multiple distinct devices. We present here five preliminary screening results, some mitigation strategies that will reduce the amount of radon produced by the most problematic components, and a summary of the current estimate of radon emanation throughout the detector. This best estimate totals $<17.3$ mBq, sufficiently low to meet the detector's science goals.Comment: Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT) 2017 Workshop Proceedings. 6 pages; 3 figure

The COMPLETE Nature of the Warm Dust Ring in Perseus

The Perseus molecular cloud complex is a ~30pc long chain of molecular clouds most well-known for the two star-forming clusters NGC1333 and IC348 and the well-studied outflow source in B5. However, when studied at mid- to far-infrared wavelengths the region is dominated by a ~10pc diameter shell of warm dust, likely generated by an HII region caused by the early B-star HD278942. Using a revised calibration technique the COMPLETE team has produced high-sensitivity temperature and column-density maps of the Perseus region from IRAS Sky Survey Atlas (ISSA) 60 and 100um data. In this paper, we combine the ISSA based dust-emission maps with other observations collected as part of the COMPLETE Survey, along with archival H-alpha and MSX observations. Molecular line observations from FCRAO and extinction maps constructed by applying the NICER method to the 2MASS catalog provide independent estimates of the ``true'' column-density of the shell. H-alpha emission in the region of the shell confirms that it is most likely an HII region located behind the cloud complex, and 8um data from MSX indicates that the shell may be interacting with the cloud. Finally, the two polarisation components previously seen towards background stars in the region can be explained by the association of the stronger component with the shell. If confirmed, this would be the first observation of a parsec-scale swept-up magnetic field.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. Figures have been compressed - full resolution version available at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/COMPLETE/results.htm

The BetaCage, an ultra-sensitive screener for surface contamination

Material screening for identifying low-energy electron emitters and alpha-decaying isotopes is now a prerequisite for rare-event searches (e.g., dark-matter direct detection and neutrinoless double-beta decay) for which surface radiocontamination has become an increasingly important background. The BetaCage, a gaseous neon time-projection chamber, is a proposed ultra-sensitive (and nondestructive) screener for alpha- and beta-emitting surface contaminants to which existing screening facilities are insufficiently sensitive. Sensitivity goals are 0.1 betas per keV-m$^2$-day and 0.1 alphas per m$^2$-day, with the former limited by Compton scattering of photons in the screening samples and (thanks to tracking) the latter expected to be signal-limited; radioassays and simulations indicate backgrounds from detector materials and radon daughters should be subdominant. We report on details of the background simulations and detector design that provide the discrimination, shielding, and radiopurity necessary to reach our sensitivity goals for a chamber with a 95$\times$95 cm$^2$ sample area positioned below a 40 cm drift region and monitored by crisscrossed anode and cathode planes consisting of 151 wires each.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of Low Radioactivity Techniques (LRT) 2013, Gran Sasso, Italy, April 10-12, 201

Influence of Operational Parameters on Photocatalytic Degradation of Linuron in Aqueous TiO2 Pillared Montmorillonite Suspension

TiO2 pillared clay was prepared by intercalation of titan polyoxocation into interlamelar space of an Algerian montmorillonite and used for the photocatalytic degradation of the linuron herbicide as a target pollutant in aqueous solution. The TiO2 pillared montmorillonite (Mont-TiO2) was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), X-Ray fluorescence (XRF), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry and differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), Fourier transformed infra-red (FT-IR), specific area and porosity determinations. This physicochemical characterization pointed to successful TiO2 pillaring of the clay. The prepared material has porous structure and exhibit a good thermal stability as indicated by its surface area after calcination by microwave. The effects of operating parameters such as catalyst loading, initial pH of the solution and the pollutant concentration on the photocatalytic efficiency and COD removal  were evaluated. Under initial pH of the solution around seven, pollutant concentration of 10 mg/L and 2.5 g/L of catalyst at room temperature, the degradation efficiency and COD removal of linuron was best then the other operating conditions. It was observed that operational parameters play a major role in the photocatalytic degradation process. Copyright © 2021 by Authors, Published by BCREC Group. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).

TMC-1C: an accreting starless core

We have mapped the starless core TMC-1C in a variety of molecular lines with the IRAM 30m telescope. High density tracers show clear signs of self-absorption and sub-sonic infall asymmetries are present in N2H+ (1-0) and DCO+ (2-1) lines. The inward velocity profile in N2H+ (1-0) is extended over a region of about 7,000 AU in radius around the dust continuum peak, which is the most extended ``infalling'' region observed in a starless core with this tracer. The kinetic temperature (~12 K) measured from C17O and C18O suggests that their emission comes from a shell outside the colder interior traced by the mm continuum dust. The C18O (2-1) excitation temperature drops from 12 K to ~10 K away from the center. This is consistent with a volume density drop of the gas traced by the C18O lines, from ~4x10^4 cm^-3 towards the dust peak to ~6x10^3 cm^-3 at a projected distance from the dust peak of 80" (or 11,000 AU). The column density implied by the gas and dust show similar N2H+ and CO depletion factors (f_D < 6). This can be explained with a simple scenario in which: (i) the TMC-1C core is embedded in a relatively dense environment (H2 ~10^4 cm^-3), where CO is mostly in the gas phase and the N2H+ abundance had time to reach equilibrium values; (ii) the surrounding material (rich in CO and N2H+) is accreting onto the dense core nucleus; (iii) TMC-1C is older than 3x10^5 yr, to account for the observed abundance of N2H+ across the core (~10^-10 w.r.t. H2); and (iv) the core nucleus is either much younger (~10^4 yr) or ``undepleted'' material from the surrounding envelope has fallen towards it in the past 10,000 yr.Comment: 29 pages, including 5 tables and 15 figure

On the direct search for spin-dependent WIMP interactions

We examine the current directions in the search for spin-dependent dark matter. We discover that, with few exceptions, the search activity is concentrated towards constraints on the WIMP-neutron spin coupling, with significantly less impact in the WIMP-proton sector. We review the situation of those experiments with WIMP-proton spin sensitivity, toward identifying those capable of reestablishing the balance.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure