Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Annual Meeting of the Four Corners Section of the APS
Volume 57, Number 11
Friday–Saturday, October 26–27, 2012; Socorro, New Mexico
Session C1: Particle Detector Physics |
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Chair: Shufang Su, University of Arizona Room: Macey Center Silver |
Friday, October 26, 2012 1:15PM - 1:39PM |
C1.00001: Status of HAWC: Unraveling the Extreme Universe at TeV Energies Invited Speaker: Asif Imran HAWC (High Altitude Water Cherenkov) observatory is a next-generation ground-based particle shower detector under construction in Mexico. The wide field of view ($\sim$2sr) observatory will operate at nearly continuous duty cycle to achieve unparalleled sensitivity to highest energy gamma rays up to 100 TeV. HAWC's extended field of view complements the narrow field of view, TeV observations of atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes and the wide field of view, GeV observations of the Fermi and AGILE satellite-based, gamma-ray observatories. HAWC will conduct a comprehensive scientific program that includes unbiased TeV sky survey of galactic and extra-galactic particle accelerators along with the studies of transient phenomena such as flaring active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts. Funding for the construction has been granted by DOE, NSF and CONACyt with phased installation of detectors to be completed by 2014. However, gamma-ray observations will be performed during construction with an increasingly more sensitive detector. By the end of 2012, HAWC's sensitivity will exceed the capabilities of existing and past wide field of view TeV observatories. In this talk, I will discuss the status of the project as well as the design sensitivity, and the scientific objectives of HAWC. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 1:39PM - 1:51PM |
C1.00002: Radiation Hard Detector R\&D at the University of Colorado John Cumalat, Benjamin Bentele, Darren Schaeffer, Kevin Stenson, Steve Wagner The University of Colorado group has been working to develop a large monocrystal radiation hard diamond sensor for use in the inner layers of the pixel tracking chamber in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Collaboration. We will describe our efforts to create 1-inch square diamond mosaics and report our studies of light sensitivity, polarization, and impurities in the diamond wafers. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 1:51PM - 2:03PM |
C1.00003: Calibration of the Pi-Zero Detector at T2K Paul Rojas The Pi-zero Detector (P0D), is a subdetector in the off-axis near detector (ND280) at the Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) neutrino experiment. It is a scintillating plastic bar-based detector utilizing Avalanche-Photo-Diode-based Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs) and is primarily used for the detection of neutral pions. The $\pi^{0}$s are a significant background to an electron neutrino appearance measurement, and thus must be measured. As part of a precise $\pi^{0}$ measurement in the P0D, it is important that region-to-region variations are calibrated and accounted. I will present a description of the calibration procedure along with plans for improving the method as more calibration data is collected. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 2:03PM - 2:15PM |
C1.00004: On the temperature dependence observed in the scaler rates of a water Cherenkov detector Fred Schuckman II, Miguel Mostafa The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory is under construction in Sierra Negra, Mexico. The Observatory will consist of 300 Water Cherenkov Detectors (WCDs). The only full-size WCD outside the high altitude site (14,000 ft) is at Colorado State University (CSU). The main purpose of the CSU prototype is to test every component of the WCDs. The prototype is equipped with seven upward facing photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), and has been operational since March 2011. Dedicated data runs are regularly taken to study the laser calibration system, the HAWC DAQ, and the scalers. Five temperature probes constantly monitor the outside temperature as well as the temperature of the electronics. Scaler rates were found to be strongly correlated with the temperature of the electronics of the DAQ system. This temperature dependence will be described, and the corrected scaler rates will be shown in this presentation. The CSU prototype and the calibration methods will be described in two other presentations. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 26, 2012 2:15PM - 2:39PM |
C1.00005: The Search For Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay With The Majorana Demonstrator Invited Speaker: Michael Ronquest The neutrino sector is currently among the most dynamic topics of particle physics. The past two decades have revealed non-zero neutrino masses, large mixing of mass eigenstates compared to the quark sector and ``large'' values of $\theta_{13}$, with the latter permitting observation of possible CP violation in the neutrino sector. If current theoretical prejudges are confirmed by the identification of neutrinos as Majorana fermions, and thus are their own anti-particles, neutrino CP violation also permits leptogenesis and would thus advance our understanding of the generation mechanism of the matter/anti-matter asymmetry in the current universe. This talk will briefly outline the physics and signatures of neutrinoless double beta decay, which would serve as proof of the Majorana nature of the neutrino. The global program of searches for this process will be reviewed, with emphasis given to the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, an experiment featuring arrays of enriched HPGe detectors serving as both source and detector. The DEMONSTRATOR's design, rich physics reach, and schedule will be detailed. Finally, plans for a ton-scale HPGe experiment to be jointly developed by the MAJORANA and GERDA collaborations will be introduced. [Preview Abstract] |
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