Bulletin of the American Physical Society
APS April Meeting 2015
Volume 60, Number 4
Saturday–Tuesday, April 11–14, 2015; Baltimore, Maryland
Session Y4: Neutrino Instrumentation |
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Sponsoring Units: DPF DNP Chair: Robert Bernstein, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Room: Holiday 3 |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 1:30PM - 1:42PM |
Y4.00001: LArIAT: Liquid Argon In A Testbeam Ryan Linehan Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers are quickly becoming one of the main detector technologies in neutrino physics. They offer very good 3D resolution and allow relatively easy construction of large mass detectors, making them a prime candidate for future precision neutrino measurements. Calibration is a necessary step for efficient use of these detectors, but so far, there has been relatively little effort to perform this. The LArIAT (Liquid Argon In A Testbeam) experiment, stationed in the Fermilab Test Beam Facility, aims to fill that gap. Using a beam of charged particles of known momentum, it hopes to measure and refine the LArTPC's particle identification capabilities. Objectives include electron-gamma shower discrimination, a determination of electron recombination parameters, and improved identification of pions and kaons through their interaction modes in liquid argon, amongst others. Experiment status and first data will be shown in this presentation. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 1:42PM - 1:54PM |
Y4.00002: Energy Resolution of a Large-Scale Liquid Argon Detector Kevin Wood, Sanjib Mishra The high granularity and feasibility of large-scale construction makes the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) a suitable technology for the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) far detector. Particle identification relies largely on the topology and calorimetric information from the signature left in the detector. The measurements LBNE intends to make depend on accurately distinguishing charged current electron neutrino events from neutral current background events. A neutrino event featuring an electron produced by $\nu_e$ interaction will tag it as signal; although, gammas from $\pi^{0}$ decays in neutral current events induce electromagnetic showers that resemble those of an electron. The granularity and high energy resolution of LArTPCs enable dE/dx to be extracted from the beginning of these showers which helps separate gammas from electrons and, ultimately, charged current electron neutrino events from neutral current events. Presented here is an estimation of the technology's energy resolution and a demonstration of its capabilities for separating electrons and gammas using dE/dx. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 1:54PM - 2:06PM |
Y4.00003: Improved TPB-coated Light Guides for Liquid Argon TPC Light Detection Systems Zander Moss This talk will discuss the outcome of recent research and development of wavelength-shifting lightguides for LArTPCs. The response of the lightguides was characterized in both air and liquid argon. Attenuation lengths over 100cm were consistently measured in air, which is an important step in the development of meter-scale lightguides for future LArTPCs. Additionally, good agreement was found between simulations and measurements performed in air and liquid argon. Such agreement indicates that characterization in air is sufficient for quality control of lightguide production. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 2:06PM - 2:18PM |
Y4.00004: Scintillation photon detection in liquid argon at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility Bruce Howard, Brice Adams, Brian Baugh, Norm Buchanan, Len Bugel, Janet Conrad, Ronald Davis, Mark Gebhard, Michael Lang, Bill Miner, Stuart Mufson, James Musser, Stephen Pordes, Brian Rebel, Paul Smith, Matt Toups, Jon Urheim, David Warner, Taritree Wongjirad, Denver Whittington The proposed Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) aims to answer outstanding questions relating to neutrino physics and other phenomena, such as proton decay and supernova neutrinos. The proposed far detector design calls for a multi-kiloton liquid argon time-projection chamber at a long baseline. In addition to its utility as a target material, liquid argon scintillates in the far UV, providing further physics information and serving as a trigger for non-beam events. The photon detection system in development for the LBNF far detector includes a mechanism for capturing and transporting the light, a method to detect the photons (silicon photomultipliers), and the necessary readout electronics. Testing in liquid argon has occurred at the ``TallBo'' facility at Fermilab to characterize and compare the performance of these systems. In this talk, we present the details of these photon detection systems and the latest results of testing. [Preview Abstract] |
(Author Not Attending)
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Y4.00005: Optimization of the LBNF Beamline Laura Fields Conventional neutrino beams are created by directing a high energy proton beam onto a target, focusing the resulting pions and kaons through one or more magnetized focusing horns, and allowing the focused hadrons to decay to produce neutrinos. This type of beam has many configurable parameters, such as horn shapes and positions, that can be changed to create a wide variety of neutrino energy spectra. Historically, beams designed for neutrino oscillation measurements have been configured to maximize the signal neutrino spectrum in the region where oscillations are expected. Recent advances in computing power coupled with the development of complex optimization algorithms enable identification of improved beam designs that are precisely tuned to physics observables. We present an example beam optimization wherein the LBNF (Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility) beam is tuned to maximize sensitivity to neutrino CP violation. Simulations indicate that the beam configuration identified by this optimization improve LBNF's sensitivity to CP violation by more than 40{\%}. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 2:30PM - 2:42PM |
Y4.00006: IsoDAR LEBT Progress Summer 2014 Alexandra Day IsoDAR, the Isotope-Decay-At-Rest experiment, will search for physics beyond the standard model and will provide an innovative platform for sterile neutrino searches. A key component of the IsoDAR design is Low Energy Beamline Transport (LEBT), which includes the H2$+$ production, transport, and injection into a 60 MeV/amu Cyclotron prior to acceleration. This presentation describes progress made to the LEBT at the Best Cyclotron Systems, Inc., test facility in Vancouver, Canada during the summer of 2014. Results about beam simulations, transport efficiency, and beam dynamics are discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 2:42PM - 2:54PM |
Y4.00007: The latest results/analysis from Double Chooz Experiment Guang Yang Precise measurement of the neutrino mixing angle theta13 is the primary goal of the Double Chooz Experiment. Inverse beta decay process provides a unique signature of anti-neutrino interaction from the reactors, giving prompt signals from positron annihilation and delayed signals from neutron capture by either Gadolinium (Gd) or Hydrogen (H). In this talk, the latest Gd- and H-based analysis results from Double Chooz will be presented, including the detection efficiency evaluation, background estimates, energy calibration and oscillation results. [Preview Abstract] |
Tuesday, April 14, 2015 2:54PM - 3:06PM |
Y4.00008: Entering the Two-Detector Phase of Double Chooz: First Near Detector Data and Prospects for Future Analyses Rachel Carr In 2011, Double Chooz reported the first evidence for $\theta_{13}$-driven reactor antineutrino oscillation, derived from observations of inverse beta decay (IBD) events in a single detector located $\sim$1 km from two nuclear reactors. Since then, the collaboration has honed the precision of its $\sin^22\theta_{13}$ measurement by reducing backgrounds, improving detection efficiency and systematics, and including additional statistics from IBD events with neutron captures on hydrogen. By 2014, the overwhelmingly dominant contribution to $\sin^22\theta_{13}$ uncertainty was reactor flux uncertainty, which is irreducible in a single-detector experiment. Now, as Double Chooz collects the first data with a near detector, we can begin to suppress that uncertainty and approach the experiment's full potential. In this talk, we show quality checks on initial data from the near detector. We also present our two-detector sensitivity to both $\sin^22\theta_{13}$ and sterile neutrino mixing, which are enhanced by analysis strategies developed in our single-detector phase. In particular, we discuss prospects for the first two-detector results from Double Chooz, expected in 2015. [Preview Abstract] |
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