Engineering topics

Kyberd, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Kyberd, P..

11 records

DOE OSTI2022

Neutrinos from Stored Muons (nuSTORM)

The 2020 Update of the European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP) (see https://cds.cern.ch/record/2720129 ) recommended that muon beam R&D should be considered a high-priority future initiative and that a programme of experimentation be developed to determine the neutrino cross-sections required to extract the most physics from the DUNE and Hyper-K long-baseline experiments. The ENUBET and nuSTORM collaborations have begun to work within and alongside the CERN Physics Beyond Colliders study group and the international Muon Collider collaboration to carry out a joint, five-year R&D programme to deliver a detailed plan for the implementation of an infrastructure in which: (1) ENUBET and nuSTORM deliver the neutrino cross-section measurement programme identified in the ESPP and allow sensitive searches for physics beyond the Standard Model to be carried out; and in which (2) A 6D muon ionisation cooling experiment is delivered as part of the technology development programme defined by the international Muon Collider collaboration. This document summarises the status of development of the nuSTORM and 6D cooling experiments and identifies opportunities for collaboration in the development of the initiative outlined above.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2019

MAUS: the MICE analysis user software

The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration has developed the MICE Analysis User Software (MAUS) to simulate and analyze experimental data. It serves as the primary codebase for the experiment, providing for offline batch simulation and reconstruction as well as online data quality checks. The software provides both traditional particle-physics functionalities such as track reconstruction and particle identification, and accelerator physics functions, such as calculating transfer matrices and emittances. The code design is object orientated, but has a top-level structure based on the Map-Reduce model. This allows for parallelization to support live data reconstruction during data-taking operations. MAUS allows users to develop in either Python or C++ and provides APIs for both. Various software engineering practices from industry are also used to ensure correct and maintainable code, including style, unit and integration tests, continuous integration and load testing, code reviews, and distributed version control. The software framework and the simulation and reconstruction capabilities are described.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2019

First particle-by-particle measurement of emittance in the Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment

The Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) collaboration seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of ionization cooling, the technique by which it is proposed to cool the muon beam at a future neutrino factory or muon collider. The emittance is measured from an ensemble of muons assembled from those that pass through the experiment. A pure muon ensemble is selected using a particle-identification system that can reject efficiently both pions and electrons. The position and momentum of each muon are measured using a high-precision scintillating-fibre tracker in a 4 T solenoidal magnetic field. This paper presents the techniques used to reconstruct the phase-space distributions in the upstream tracking detector and reports the first particle-by-particle measurement of the emittance of the MICE Muon Beam as a function of muon-beam momentum.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2018

νSTORM - Neutrinos from STORed Muons: Letter of Intent to the Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee

The idea of using a muon storage ring to produce a high-energy (≃ 50 GeV) neutrino beam for experiments was first discussed by Koshkarev in 1974. A detailed description of a muon storage ring for neutrino oscillation experiments was first produced by Neuffer in 1980. In his paper, Neuffer studied muon decay rings with E μ of 8, 4.5 and 1.5 GeV. With his 4.5 GeV ring design, he achieved a figure of merit of ≃ 6 x 10 9 useful neutrinos per 3 x 10 13 protons on target. The facility we describe here (νSTORM) is essentially the same facility proposed in 1980 and would utilize a 3-4 GeV/c muon storage ring to study eV-scale oscillation physics and, in addition, could add significantly to our understanding of ν e and ν μ cross sections. In particular the facility can: (1) address the large Δm 2 oscillation regime and make a major contribution to the study of sterile neutrinos, (2) make precision ν e and $\bar{ν}$ e cross-section measurements, (3) provide a technology (μ decay ring) test demonstration and μ beam diagnostics test bed, and (4) provide a precisely understood ν beam for detector studies. The facility is the simplest implementation of the Neutrino Factory concept. In our case, 60 GeV/c protons are used to produce pions off a conventional solid target. The pions are collected with a focusing device (horn or lithium lens) and are then transported to, and injected into, a storage ring. The pions that decay in the first straight of the ring can yield a muon that is captured in the ring. The circulating muons then subsequently decay into electrons and neutrinos. We are starting with a storage ring design that is optimized for 3.8 GeV/c muon momentum. This momentum was selected to maximize the physics reach for both oscillation and the cross section physics. See Fig. 1 for a schematic of the facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Pion contamination in the MICE muon beam

Here, the international Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment (MICE) will perform a systematic investigation of ionization cooling with muon beams of momentum between 140 and 240\,MeV/c at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ISIS facility. The measurement of ionization cooling in MICE relies on the selection of a pure sample of muons that traverse the experiment. To make this selection, the MICE Muon Beam is designed to deliver a beam of muons with less than $\sim$1% contamination. To make the final muon selection, MICE employs a particle-identification (PID) system upstream and downstream of the cooling cell. The PID system includes time-of-flight hodoscopes, threshold-Cherenkov counters and calorimetry. The upper limit for the pion contamination measured in this paper is $f_\pi < 1.4\%$ at 90% C.L., including systematic uncertainties. Therefore, the MICE Muon Beam is able to meet the stringent pion-contamination requirements of the study of ionization cooling.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Neutrino factory

The properties of the neutrino provide a unique window on physics beyond that described by the standard model. The study of subleading effects in neutrino oscillations, and the race to discover CP-invariance violation in the lepton sector, has begun with the recent discovery that theta(13) > 0. The measured value of theta(13) is large, emphasizing the need for a facility at which the systematic uncertainties can be reduced to the percent level. The neutrino factory, in which intense neutrino beams are produced from the decay of muons, has been shown to outperform all realistic alternatives and to be capable of making measurements of the requisite precision. Its unique discovery potential arises from the fact that only at the neutrino factory is it practical to produce high-energy electron (anti) neutrino beams of the required intensity. This paper presents the conceptual design of the neutrino factory accelerator facility developed by the European Commission Framework Programme 7 EURO nu. Design Study consortium. EURO nu coordinated the European contributions to the International Design Study for the Neutrino Factory (the IDS-NF) collaboration. The EURO nu baseline accelerator facility will provide 10(21) muon decays per year from 12.6 GeV stored muon beams serving a single neutrino detector situated at a source-detector distance of between 1 500 km and 2 500 km. A suite of near detectors will allow definitive neutrino-scattering experiments to be performed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2014

Light sterile neutrino sensitivity at the nuSTORM facility

A facility that can deliver beams of electron and muon neutrinos from the decay of a stored muon beam has the potential to unambiguously resolve the issue of the evidence for light sterile neutrinos that arises in short-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments and from estimates of the effective number of neutrino flavors from fits to cosmological data. In this paper, we show that the nuSTORM facility, with stored muons of 3.8 GeV/c ± 10%, will be able to carry out a conclusive muon neutrino appearance search for sterile neutrinos and test the LSND and MiniBooNE experimental signals with 10σ sensitivity, even assuming conservative estimates for the systematic uncertainties. This experiment would add greatly to our knowledge of the contribution of light sterile neutrinos to the number of effective neutrino flavors from the abundance of primordial helium production and from constraints on neutrino energy density from the cosmic microwave background. Here, the appearance search is complemented by a simultaneous muon neutrino disappearance analysis that will facilitate tests of various sterile neutrino models.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2013

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 1.5--2.3 \pi mm-rad horizontally and 0.6--1.0 \pi 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.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2013

nuSTORM - Neutrinos from STORed Muons: Proposal to the Fermilab PAC

The nuSTORM facility has been designed to deliver beams of electron neutrinos and muon neutrinos (and their anti-particles) from the decay of a stored muon beam with a central momentum of 3.8 GeV/c and a momentum acceptance of 10%. The facility is unique in that it will: 1. Allow searches for sterile neutrinos of exquisite sensitivity to be carried out; 2. Serve future long- and short-baseline neutrino-oscillation programs by providing definitive measurements of electron neutrino and muon neutrino scattering cross sections off nuclei with percent-level precision; and 3. Constitutes the crucial first step in the development of muon accelerators as a powerful new technique for particle physics. The document describes the facility in detail and demonstrates its physics capabilities. This document was submitted to the Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee in consideration for Stage I approval.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Neutrinos from Stored Muons nuSTORM: Expression of Interest

The nuSTORM facility has been designed to deliver beams of electron and muon neutrinos from the decay of a stored muon beam with a central momentum of 3.8 GeV/c and a momentum spread of 10%. The facility is unique in that it will: serve the future long- and short-baseline neutrino-oscillation programmes by providing definitive measurements of electron-neutrino- and muon-neutrino-nucleus cross sections with percent-level precision; allow searches for sterile neutrinos of exquisite sensitivity to be carried out; and constitute the essential first step in the incremental development of muon accelerators as a powerful new technique for particle physics. Of the world's proton-accelerator laboratories, only CERN and FNAL have the infrastructure required to mount nuSTORM. Since no siting decision has yet been taken, the purpose of this Expression of Interest (EoI) is to request the resources required to: investigate in detail how nuSTORM could be implemented at CERN; and develop options for decisive European contributions to the nuSTORM facility and experimental programme wherever the facility is sited. The EoI defines a two-year programme culminating in the delivery of a Technical Design Report.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2012

νSTORM - Neutrinos from STORed Muons: Letter of Intent to the Fermilab Physics Advisory Committee

The results of LSND and MiniBooNE, along with the recent papers on a possible reactor neutrino flux anomaly give tantalizing hints of new physics. Models beyond the neutrino-SM have been developed to explain these results and involve one or more additional neutrinos that are non-interacting or 'sterile.' Neutrino beams produced from the decay of muons in a racetrack-like decay ring provide a powerful way to study this potential new physics. In this Letter of Intent, we describe a facility, νSTORM, 'Neutrinos from STORed Muons,' and an appropriate far detector for neutrino oscillation searches at short baseline. We present sensitivity plots that indicated that this experimental approach can provide over 10 sigma confirmation or rejection of the LSND/MinBooNE results. In addition we indicate how the facility can be used to make precision neutrino interaction cross section measurements important to the next generation of long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗