Bulletin of the American Physical Society
Fall 2014 Joint Meeting of the Texas Section of the APS, Texas Section of the AAPT, and Zone 13 of the Society of Physics Students
Volume 59, Number 12
Friday–Sunday, October 17–19, 2014; College Station, Texas
Session B4: High Energy Physics |
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Chair: Loius Strigari, Texas A&M University Room: MPHY 336 |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 10:35AM - 10:47AM |
B4.00001: SiPM Simulation Study with GosSiP Ronald Musser, Amit Bashyal, Joshua Medford, Ying Wun Yvo Ng, Timothy Watson, Andrew White, Jaehoon Yu Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) are photon detection devices that can detect down to single photon events. SiPMs can be an important advancement on typical Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs) that are used in PET imaging in the medical field and have been used in detectors in high energy particle physics experiments. However, these devices are still relatively new and there is still much to learn about their behavior, in particular under a cryogenic temperature such as that in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber. In order to understand SiPMs in detail, this study used simulation software called GosSiP. With GosSiP, the behaviors of various types of SiPMs were examined with variations in multiple characteristic parameters such as photo-detection efficiency (PDE), device gain, crosstalk probability and many others. The information from this study will then be used in future experiments, in particular, the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to examine the optimal coupling of SiPMs with a scintillator inside the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 10:47AM - 10:59AM |
B4.00002: Magnetic Moment of Neutrino at Finite Temperature and Density Samina Masood We recalculate the magnetic moment of neutrinos in the light of observational data and other available information. We show that the magnetic dipole moment of a flavor of neutrinos may be more significant for a particular astronomical system than others, based on the statistical conditions. Interaction of neutrino with the magnetic field is a higher order effect due to the induced magnetic moment of massive neutrino in an astrophysical body with a strong magnetic field. However, the higher order radiative correction contributions may be more than the vacuum values at extremely high temperatures and densities. We show that the neutrinos were not polarized at any time in the early universe but they may be polarized inside the superdense stars with high magnetic field. Polarization component of the form factors always vanishes in electron-positron symmetric background at extremely high temperatures. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 10:59AM - 11:11AM |
B4.00003: Probing the nature of neutrinos under the supersymmetric U(1) B-L Model Yu Gao, Rouzbeh Allahverdi, Sheldon Campbell, Bhaskar Dutta This talk presents the prospects for determining the nature of neutrinos in the context of a supersymmetric $B-L$ extension of the standard model by using dark matter indirect detection signals and bounds on $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ from the cosmic microwave background data. The model contains two new dark matter candidates whose dominant annihilation channels produce more neutrinos than neutralino dark matter in the minimal supersymmetric standard model. The photon and neutrino counts may then be used to discriminate between the two models. If the dark matter comes from the B-L sector, its indirect signals and impact on the cosmic microwave background can shed light on the nature of the neutrinos. When the light neutrinos are of Majorana type, the indirect neutrino signal from the Sun and the galactic center may show a prompt neutrino box-feature, as well as an earlier cut-off in both neutrino and gamma ray energy spectra. When the light neutrinos are of Dirac type, their contribution to the effective number of neutrinos $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ is at a detectable level. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 11:11AM - 11:23AM |
B4.00004: Helical Phase Inflation Zhijin Li, Tianjun Li, Dimitri Nanopoulos We show that quadratic inflation can be realized by the phase of a complex field with helicoid potential. Remarkably, this helicoid potential can be simply realized in minimal supergravity. The global U(1) symmetry of the K\"ahler potential introduces a flat direction in the F-term potential and evades the ? problem automatically. So such inflation is technically natural. During inflation the norm of the complex field is strongly stabilized and the phase evolves along a flat helix trajectory. The phase excursion is super-Planckian as required by the Lyth bound, while the norm of the complex field can be suppressed in the sub-Planckian region. This model resolves the contradiction between the strict flat condition for inflation and the dangerous corrections from quantum gravity effects. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 11:23AM - 11:35AM |
B4.00005: SuperCDMS Detector R{\&}D: SNOLAB and Beyond Andrew Jastram SuperCDMS (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) is an experiment designed to directly detect dark matter particles in the form of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). Germanium and silicon detectors, cooled to \textless 30mK, are instrumented to simultaneously measure phonon and ionization energy deposited by incident particles, allowing event-by-event discrimination, to identify and study possible WIMP interactions. Using phonon amplification via the Neganov-Luke effect, recent studies utilizing a modified version of these detectors (called CDMSLite) have demonstrated the energy resolution necessary to search for WIMPs of mass $\sim$ 1 GeV/c$^{2}$. A recent design, inspired by these studies, has led to a world record ionization resolution of 8eV. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 11:35AM - 11:47AM |
B4.00006: Aerogel Cherenkov Detector For The LArIAT Experiment Brandon Soubasis, Will Flanagan, John Cesar, Karol Lang, Ramon Salazar The Liquid Argon In A Testbeam (LArIAT) experiment at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility (FTBF) will allow for critical measurements of interest to all current and proposed liquid argon detectors. Our group has designed and constructed prototypes of an aerogel Cherenkov detector to be placed along the beamline. This detector will allow us to separate incoming muons and pions in the momentum range of most interest to the LArIAT experiment. This talk will focus on the detector design, PMT calibration, prototype construction, and preliminary measurements using cosmic muons. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 11:47AM - 11:59AM |
B4.00007: Neutron Detection with Cadmium Tungstate Crystal Scintillators William Baker Neutrons of MeV scale energy can be produced by a number of nuclear reactions, yet traditional detectors have a hard time seeing these free neutrons due to their lack of charge. Their detection has relevance to dark matter experiments and radiation monitoring for security. The most common means of detecting neutrons is through scintillating materials which typically create a signal by converting the energy of the neutron into light. We present a neutron detection system utilizing a high density polyethylene for energy moderation, Gadolinium (Gd) and Cadmium Tungstate (CdWO$_{4}$), an inorganic crystal scintillator. Gadolinium is used for its high neutron capture cross-section which produces several high energy gammas in a single n $+$ Gd$_{157}$ reaction. CdWO$_{4}$ converts this gamma production into a burst of light in the ultraviolet range, which can be detected with photo-sensitive electronics such as Avalanche Photo-Diodes (APDs). We produce a monoenergetic collimated beam of neutrons for use in calibration by using a pelletron-driven proton accelerator. Moving forward from preliminary results with a polyvinyltoluene scintillator, we explore the detection efficiency for $\sim$ 120 keV neutrons with CdWO$_{4}$. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 11:59AM - 12:11PM |
B4.00008: Geant4 Simulations of the Beam Hadron Monitor for the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment at Fermilab Timothy Watson, Amit Bashyal, Jaehoon Yu Modern research into new physics on the scale of the fundamental constituents of nature often requires multimillion-dollar machines capable of producing high-energy particles and equally expensive detectors sensitive enough to make the desired measurements. Such constructions are necessarily intricate endeavors, complicated by the fact that often the desired experiment demands a very high level of precision. For these reasons, it is prudent to perform computational simulations in order to ensure proper performance of the experiment as well as to anticipate possible sensitive tolerances in construction. To these ends, the de facto standard for the simulation of particle physics remains Geant4. Presented here are the results of simulations for the beamline of the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment. Specifically outlined are the results of simulations of the beam hadron monitor and the interpretation and application of these simulations for the design considerations of the detector. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 18, 2014 12:11PM - 12:23PM |
B4.00009: 100 TeV Hadron Collider: an Opportunity for Texas Peter McIntyre There is a growing enthusiasm for the importance of building a 100 TeV hadron collider as the basis for a next generation of discovery in high energy physics. A cable-in-conduit NbTi dipole technology is being developed at Texas A\&M University as an affordable basis for this purpose. It requires a 270 km circumference tunnel, and an optimum site for this purpose lies in the favorable rock strata that underlie the city of Dallas. [Preview Abstract] |
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