The OPERA experiment Target Tracker

The main task of the Target Tracker detector of the long baseline neutrino oscillation OPERA experiment is to locate in which of the target elementary constituents, the lead/emulsion bricks, the neutrino interactions have occurred and also to give calorimetric information about each event. The technology used consists in walls of two planes of plastic scintillator strips, one per transverse direction. Wavelength shifting fibres collect the light signal emitted by the scintillator strips and guide it to both ends where it is read by multi-anode photomultiplier tubes. All the elements used in the construction of this detector and its main characteristics are described.Comment: 25 pages, submitted to Nuclear Instrument and Method

The detection of neutrino interactions in the emulsion/lead target of the OPERA experiment

The OPERA neutrino detector in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS) was designed to perform the first detection of neutrino oscillations in appearance mode through the study of $\nu_\mu\to\nu_\tau$ oscillations. The apparatus consists of an emulsion/lead target complemented by electronic detectors and it is placed in the high energy long-baseline CERN to LNGS beam (CNGS) 730 km away from the neutrino source. Runs with CNGS neutrinos were successfully carried out in 2007 and 2008 with the detector fully operational with its related facilities for the emulsion handling and analysis. After a brief description of the beam and of the experimental setup we report on the collection, reconstruction and analysis procedures of first samples of neutrino interaction events

CMS physics technical design report : Addendum on high density QCD with heavy ions

Peer reviewe

SIRIUS is a state-of-the-art detector system for nuclear decay spectroscopy that will be mounted at the focalplane of S3 (Super Separator Spectrometer), which is part of the new SPIRAL2 facility at GANIL, Caen in France. Such a systemrequires high performance as it is dedicated to the study of very exotic nuclei. It is the result of collaboration between GANILCSNSM, IRFU, and IPHC It is composed of a succession of detectors (Trackers, Silicon detector DSSD and Tunnel plus anarray of five clover Germanium detectors). This set-up is mounted in a compact geometry. The energy measurement variesfrom 50 keV to over 500 MeV with high precision (2 x 10-3) at low energies and 1 % for the detection of heavy ions. A majorchallenge has been the development of new electronics with a very large dynamic range maintaining an adequate energyresolution for the measured particles (with energies from a few hundred keV up to 500 MeV).

International audienceSIRIUS is a state-of-the-art detector system for nuclear decay spectroscopy that will be mounted at the focal plane of S$^3$ (Super Separator Spectrometer), which is part of the new SPIRAL2 facility at GANIL, Caen in France. Such a systemrequires high performance as it is dedicated to the study of very exotic nuclei. It is the result of collaboration between GANILCSNSM, IRFU, and IPHC It is composed of a succession of detectors (Trackers, Silicon detector DSSD and Tunnel plus anarray of five clover Germanium detectors). This set-up is mounted in a compact geometry. The energy measurement variesfrom 50 keV to over 500 MeV with high precision (2 x 10$^{-3}$) at low energies and 1 % for the detection of heavy ions. A majorchallenge has been the development of new electronics with a very large dynamic range maintaining an adequate energyresolution for the measured particles (with energies from a few hundred keV up to 500 MeV)

Interferometric coupling of the keck telescopes with single-mode fibers

International audienc

Interferometric coupling of the Keck telescopes with single-mode fibers

International audienceWe report the successful interferometric coupling of two large telescopes using single-mode fibers. Interference fringes were obtained in the 2-2.3 micron wavelength range on the star 107 Herculis with the two Keck 10-m telescopes, each feeding their common interferometric focus with 300 m of single-mode fibers. The beams collected by the two telescopes were corrected with adaptive optics to restore the spatial coherence of light over the large pupils. This first step of the 'OHANA project demonstrates the potential of fibers to efficiently guide beams and preserve their coherence for future kilometric arrays of telescopes

The OPERA experiment in the CERN to Gran Sasso neutrino beam

The OPERA neutrino oscillation experiment has been designed to prove the appearance of ντ in a nearly pure νμ beam (CNGS) produced at CERN and detected in the underground Hall C of the Gran Sasso Laboratory, 730 km away from the source. In OPERA, τ leptons resulting from the interaction of ντ are produced in target units called bricks made of nuclear emulsion films interleaved with lead plates. The OPERA target contains 150000 of such bricks, for a total mass of 1.25 kton, arranged into walls interleaved with plastic scintillator strips. The detector is split into two identical supermodules, each supermodule containing a target section followed by a magnetic spectrometer for momentum and charge measurement of penetrating particles. Real time information from the scintillators and the spectrometers provide the identification of the bricks where the neutrino interactions occurred. The candidate bricks are extracted from the walls and, after X-ray marking and an exposure to cosmic rays for alignment, their emulsion films are developed and sent to the emulsion scanning laboratories to perform the accurate scan of the event. In this paper, we review the design and construction of the detector and of its related infrastructures, and report on some technical performances of the various components. The construction of the detector started in 2003 and it was completed in Summer 2008. The experiment is presently in the data taking phase. The whole sequence of operations has proven to be successful, from triggering to brick selection, development, scanning and event analysis

The detection of neutrino interactions in the emulsion/lead target of the OPERA experiment

The OPERA neutrino detector in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS) was designed to perform the first detection of neutrino oscillations in appearance mode through the study of \u3bd\u3bc\u2192 \u3bd\u3c4 oscillations. The apparatus consists of an emulsion/lead target complemented by electronic detectors and it is placed in the high energy long-baseline CERN to LNGS beam (CNGS) 730 km away from the neutrino source. Runs with CNGS neutrinos were successfully carried out in 2007 and 2008 with the detector fully operational with its related facilities for the emulsion handling and analysis. After a brief description of the beam and of the experimental setup we report on the collection, reconstruction and analysis procedures of first samples of neutrino interaction event