343 research outputs found
MICE: the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment. Step I: First Measurement of Emittance with Particle Physics Detectors
The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is a strategic R&D project intended to demonstrate the only practical solution to providing high brilliance beams necessary for a neutrino factory or muon collider. MICE is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. It comprises a dedicated beamline to generate a range of input muon emittances and momenta, with time-of-flight and Cherenkov detectors to ensure a pure muon beam. The emittance of the incoming beam will be measured in the upstream magnetic spectrometer with a scintillating fiber tracker. A cooling cell will then follow, alternating energy loss in Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) absorbers to RF cavity acceleration. A second spectrometer, identical to the first, and a second muon identification system will measure the outgoing emittance. In the 2010 run at RAL the muon beamline and most detectors were fully commissioned and a first measurement of the emittance of the muon beam with particle physics (time-of-flight) detectors was performed. The analysis of these data was recently completed and is discussed in this paper. Future steps for MICE, where beam emittance and emittance reduction (cooling) are to be measured with greater accuracy, are also presented
Crime as risk taking
Engagement in criminal activity may be viewed as risk-taking behaviour as it has both benefits and drawbacks that are probabilistic. In two studies, we examined how individuals' risk perceptions can inform our understanding of their intentions to engage in criminal activity. Study 1 measured youths' perceptions of the value and probability of the benefits and drawbacks of engaging in three common crimes (i.e. shoplifting, forgery, and buying illegal drugs), and examined how well these perceptions predicted youths' forecasted engagement in these crimes, controlling for their past engagement. We found that intentions to engage in criminal activity were best predicted by the perceived value of the benefits that may be obtained, irrespective of their probabilities or the drawbacks that may also be incurred. Study 2 specified the benefit and drawback that youth thought about and examined another crime (i.e. drinking and driving). The findings of Study 1 were replicated under these conditions. The present research supports a limited rationality perspective on criminal intentions, and can have implications for crime prevention/intervention strategies
A Review of NEST Models, and Their Application to Improvement of Particle Identification in Liquid Xenon Experiments
Liquid xenon is a leader in rare-event physics searches. Accurate modeling of
charge and light production is key for simulating signals and backgrounds in
this medium. The signal- and background-production models in the Noble Element
Simulation Technique (NEST) are presented. NEST is a simulation toolkit based
on experimental data, fit using simple, empirical formulae for the average
charge and light yields and their variations. NEST also simulates the final
scintillation pulses and exhibits the correct energy resolution as a function
of the particle type, the energy, and the electric fields. After vetting of
NEST against raw data, with several specific examples pulled from XENON,
ZEPLIN, LUX/LZ, and PandaX, we interpolate and extrapolate its models to draw
new conclusions on the properties of future detectors (e.g., XLZD's), in terms
of the best possible discrimination of electron(ic) recoil backgrounds from a
potential nuclear recoil signal, especially WIMP dark matter. We discover that
the oft-quoted value of 99.5% discrimination is overly conservative,
demonstrating that another order of magnitude improvement (99.95%
discrimination) can be achieved with a high photon detection efficiency (g1 ~
15-20%) at reasonably achievable drift fields of 200-350 V/cm.Comment: 24 Pages, 6 Tables, 15 Figures, and 15 Equation
Recommended from our members
Searches For High-Frequency Variations In The B-8 Solar Neutrino Flux At The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
We have performed three searches for high-frequency signals in the solar neutrino flux measured by the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, motivated by the possibility that solar g-mode oscillations could affect the production or propagation of solar B-8 neutrinos. The first search looked for any significant peak in the frequency range 1-144 day(-1), with a sensitivity to sinusoidal signals with amplitudes of 12% or greater. The second search focused on regions in which g-mode signals have been claimed by experiments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite, and was sensitive to signals with amplitudes of 10% or greater. The third search looked for extra power across the entire frequency band. No statistically significant signal was detected in any of the three searches.Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, CanadaIndustry Canada, CanadaNational Research Council, CanadaNorthern Ontario Heritage Fund, CanadaAtomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., CanadaOntario Power Generation, CanadaHigh Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory, CanadaCanada Foundation for InnovationDept. of Energy, USNational Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, USScience and Technologies Facilities Council, UKAstronom
MICE: The muon ionization cooling experiment. Step I: First measurement of emittance with particle physics detectors
Copyright @ 2011 APSThe Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) is a strategic R&D project intended to demonstrate the only practical solution to providing high brilliance beams necessary for a neutrino factory or muon collider. MICE is under development at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in the United Kingdom. It comprises a dedicated beamline to generate a range of input muon emittances and momenta, with time-of-flight and Cherenkov detectors to ensure a pure muon beam. The emittance of the incoming beam will be measured in the upstream magnetic spectrometer with a scintillating fiber tracker. A cooling cell will then follow, alternating energy loss in Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) absorbers to RF cavity acceleration. A second spectrometer, identical to the first, and a second muon identification system will measure the outgoing emittance. In the 2010 run at RAL the muon beamline and most detectors were fully commissioned and a first measurement of the emittance of the muon beam with particle physics (time-of-flight) detectors was performed. The analysis of these data was recently completed and is discussed in this paper. Future steps for MICE, where beam emittance and emittance reduction (cooling) are to be measured with greater accuracy, are also presented.This work was supported by NSF grant PHY-0842798
Independent measurement of the total active B8 solar neutrino flux using an array of He3 proportional counters at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) used an array of 3He proportional counters to measure the rate of neutral-current interactions in heavy water and precisely determined the total active (νx) 8B solar neutrino flux. This technique is independent of previous methods employed by SNO. The total flux is found to be 5.54-0.31+0.33(stat)-0.34+0.36(syst)×106  cm-2 s-1, in agreement with previous measurements and standard solar models. A global analysis of solar and reactor neutrino results yields Δm2=7.59-0.21+0.19×10-5  eV2 and θ=34.4-1.2+1.3 degrees. The uncertainty on the mixing angle has been reduced from SNO’s previous results
Search for Event Rate Modulation in XENON100 Electronic Recoil Data
We have searched for periodic variations of the electronic recoil event rate
in the (2-6) keV energy range recorded between February 2011 and March 2012
with the XENON100 detector, adding up to 224.6 live days in total. Following a
detailed study to establish the stability of the detector and its background
contributions during this run, we performed an un-binned profile likelihood
analysis to identify any periodicity up to 500 days. We find a global
significance of less than 1 sigma for all periods suggesting no statistically
significant modulation in the data. While the local significance for an annual
modulation is 2.8 sigma, the analysis of a multiple-scatter control sample and
the phase of the modulation disfavor a dark matter interpretation. The
DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation interpreted as a dark matter signature with
axial-vector coupling of WIMPs to electrons is excluded at 4.8 sigma.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Characterisation of the muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment
A novel single-particle technique to measure emittance has been developed and used to characterise seventeen different muon beams for the Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment (MICE). The muon beams, whose mean momenta vary from 171 to 281 MeV/c, have emittances of approximately 1.2–2.3 π mm-rad horizontally and 0.6–1.0 π mm-rad vertically, a horizontal dispersion of 90–190 mm and momentum spreads of about 25 MeV/c. There is reasonable agreement between the measured parameters of the beams and the results of simulations. The beams are found to meet the requirements of MICE
Search for Two-Neutrino Double Electron Capture of Xe with XENON100
Two-neutrino double electron capture is a rare nuclear decay where two
electrons are simultaneously captured from the atomic shell. For Xe
this process has not yet been observed and its detection would provide a new
reference for nuclear matrix element calculations. We have conducted a search
for two-neutrino double electron capture from the K-shell of Xe using
7636 kgd of data from the XENON100 dark matter detector. Using a
Bayesian analysis we observed no significant excess above background, leading
to a lower 90 % credibility limit on the half-life
yr. We also evaluated the sensitivity of the XENON1T experiment, which is
currently being commissioned, and find a sensitivity of
yr after an exposure of 2 tyr.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
- …