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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Search for invisible particles produced in association with single-top-quarks in proton–proton collisions at √s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for the production of single-top-quarks in association with missing energy is performed in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the large hadron collider using data collected in 2012, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb -1 . In this study, the W boson from the top quark is required to decay into an electron or a muon and a neutrino. No deviation from the standard model prediction is observed, and upper limits are set on the production cross-section for resonant and non-resonant production of an invisible exotic state in association with a right-handed top quark. In the case of resonant production, for a spin-0 resonance with a mass of 500 GeV, an effective coupling strength above 0.15 is excluded at 95% confidence level for the top quark and an invisible spin-1/2 state with mass between 0 and 100 GeV. In the case of non-resonant production, an effective coupling strength above 0.2 is excluded at 95% confidence level for the top quark and an invisible spin-1 state with mass between 0 and 657 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Electron-beam energy reconstruction for neutrino oscillation measurements

Neutrinos exist in one of three types or ‘flavours’—electron, muon and tau neutrinos—and oscillate from one flavour to another when propagating through space. This phenomena is one of the few that cannot be described using the standard model of particle physics (reviewed in ref. 1), and so its experimental study can provide new insight into the nature of our Universe (reviewed in ref. 2). Neutrinos oscillate as a function of their propagation distance (L) divided by their energy (E). Therefore, experiments extract oscillation parameters by measuring their energy distribution at different locations. As accelerator-based oscillation experiments cannot directly measure E, the interpretation of these experiments relies heavily on phenomenological models of neutrino–nucleus interactions to infer E. Here we exploit the similarity of electron–nucleus and neutrino–nucleus interactions, and use electron scattering data with known beam energies to test energy reconstruction methods and interaction models. We find that even in simple interactions where no pions are detected, only a small fraction of events reconstruct to the correct incident energy. More importantly, widely used interaction models reproduce the reconstructed energy distribution only qualitatively and the quality of the reproduction varies strongly with beam energy. This shows both the need and the pathway to improve current models to meet the requirements of next-generation, high-precision experiments such as Hyper-Kamiokande (Japan) and DUNE (USA).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Search for supersymmetry in events containing a same-flavour opposite-sign dilepton pair, jets, and large missing transverse momentum in √s = 8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two searches for supersymmetric particles in final states containing a same-flavour opposite-sign lepton pair, jets and large missing transverse momentum are presented. The proton–proton collision data used in these searches were collected at a centre-of-mass energy √s=8 TeV by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 20.3 fb -1 . Two leptonic production mechanisms are considered: decays of squarks and gluinos with Z bosons in the final state, resulting in a peak in the dilepton invariant mass distribution around the Z-boson mass; and decays of neutralinos (e.g. χ ~0 2 →ℓ + ℓ - χ ~0 1 ), resulting in a kinematic endpoint in the dilepton invariant mass distribution. For the former, an excess of events above the expected Standard Model background is observed, with a significance of three standard deviations. In the latter case, the data are well-described by the expected Standard Model background. Results from each channel are interpreted in the context of several supersymmetric models involving the production of squarks and gluinos.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

B -meson decay constants from 2 + 1 -flavor lattice QCD with domain-wall light quarks and relativistic heavy quarks

We calculate the B-meson decay constants f B , f B s , and their ratio in unquenched lattice QCD using domain-wall light quarks and relativistic b quarks. We use gauge-field ensembles generated by the RBC and UKQCD collaborations using the domain-wall fermion action and Iwasaki gauge action with three flavors of light dynamical quarks. We analyze data at two lattice spacings of a ≈ 0.11, 0.086 fm with unitary pion masses as light as M π ≈ 290 MeV; this enables us to control the extrapolation to the physical light-quark masses and continuum. For the b quarks we use the anisotropic clover action with the relativistic heavy-quark interpretation, such that discretization errors from the heavy-quark action are of the same size as from the light-quark sector. We renormalize the lattice heavy-light axial-vector current using a mostly nonperturbative method in which we compute the bulk of the matching factor nonperturbatively, with a small correction, that is close to unity, in lattice perturbation theory. We also improve the lattice heavy-light current through O(α s a). We extrapolate our results to the physical light-quark masses and continuum using SU(2) heavy-meson chiral perturbation theory, and provide a complete systematic error budget. We obtain f B 0 = 199.5(12.6) MeV, f B + =195.6(14.9) MeV, f B s =235.4(12.2) MeV, f B s /f B 0 =1.197(50), and f B s /f B + =1.223(71), where the errors are statistical and total systematic added in quadrature. Finally, these results are in good agreement with other published results and provide an important independent cross-check of other three-flavor determinations of B-meson decay constants using staggered light quarks.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Recent Results from ArgoNeuT and Status of MicroBooNE

Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) detectors hold the key to answering the outstanding questions about the role of neutrinos in the Standard Model of Particle physics and beyond. Their fine granularity combined with calorimetric capabilities allows for precision measurements that answering these questions will require. Here, we discuss the recent results from the ArgoNeuT experiment as well as the status and prospects for MicroBooNE, both a part of the US-based LArTPC neutrino program.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

An experimental program with high duty-cycle polarized and unpolarized positron beams at Jefferson Lab

Positron beams, both polarized and unpolarized, are identified as important ingredients for the experimental programs at the next generation of lepton accelerators. In the context of the hadronic physics program at Jefferson Lab (JLab), positron beams are complementary, even essential, tools for a precise understanding of the electromagnetic structure of nucleons and nuclei, in both the elastic and deep-inelastic regimes. For instance, elastic scattering of polarized and unpolarized electrons and positrons from the nucleon enables a model independent determination of its electromagnetic form factors. Also, the deeply-virtual scattering of polarized and unpolarized electrons and positrons allows unambiguous separation of the different contributions to the cross section of the lepto-production of photons and of lepton-pairs, enabling an accurate determination of the nucleons and nuclei generalized parton distributions, and providing an access to the gravitational form factors of the energy-momentum tensor. Furthermore, positron beams offer the possibility of alternative tests of the Standard Model of particle physics through the search of a dark photon, the precise measurement of electroweak couplings, and the investigation of charged lepton flavor violation. This document discusses the perspectives of an experimental program with high duty-cycle positron beams at JLab.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Axion-assisted production of sterile neutrino dark matter

Sterile neutrinos can be generated in the early universe through oscillations with active neutrinos and represent a popular and well-studied candidate for our Universe’s dark matter. Stringent constraints from X-ray and gamma-ray line searches, however, have excluded the simplest of such models. Here in this paper, we propose a novel alternative to the standard scenario in which the mixing angle between the sterile and active neutrinos is a dynamical quantity, induced through interactions with a light axionlike field. As the energy density of the axionlike particles is diluted by Hubble expansion, the degree of mixing is reduced at late times, suppressing the decay rate and easily alleviating any tension with X-ray or gamma-ray constraints. Lastly, we present a simple model which illustrates the phenomenology of this scenario, and also describe a framework in which the QCD axion is responsible for the production of sterile neutrinos in the early universe.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Searches for scalar leptoquarks and differential cross-section measurements in dilepton–dijet events in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

Searches for scalar leptoquarks pair-produced in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ =13 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider are performed by the ATLAS experiment. A data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.1 fb -1 is used. Final states containing two electrons or two muons and two or more jets are studied, as are states with one electron or muon, missing transverse momentum and two or more jets. No statistically significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed. The observed and expected lower limits on the leptoquark mass at 95% confidence level extend up to 1.29 TeV and 1.23 TeV for first- and second-generation leptoquarks, respectively, as postulated in the minimal Buchmüller–Rückl–Wyler model, assuming a branching ratio into a charged lepton and a quark of 50%. In addition, measurements of particle-level fiducial and differential cross sections are presented for the Z→ ee, Z→ μμ and $ t\bar{t} $ processes in several regions related to the search control regions. Predictions from a range of generators are compared with the measurements, and good agreement is seen for many of the observables. However, the predictions for the Z→ ℓℓ measurements in observables sensitive to jet energies disagree with the data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Standard Model thermodynamics across the electroweak crossover

Even though the Standard Model with a Higgs mass m{sub \tiny H}=125 GeV possesses no bulk phase transition, its thermodynamics still experiences a “soft point” at temperatures around T=160 GeV, with a deviation from ideal gas thermodynamics. Such a deviation may have an effect on precision computations of weakly interacting dark matter relic abundances if their mass is in the few TeV range, or on leptogenesis scenarios operating in this temperature range. By making use of results from lattice simulations based on a dimensionally reduced effective field theory, we estimate the relevant thermodynamic functions across the crossover. The results are tabulated in a numerical form permitting for their insertion as a background equation of state into cosmological particle production/decoupling codes. We find that Higgs dynamics induces a non-trivial “structure” visible e.g. in the heat capacity, but that in general the largest radiative corrections originate from QCD effects, reducing the energy density by a couple of percent from the free value even at T>160 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Mixed dark matter in left-right symmetric models

Motivated by the recently reported diboson and dijet excesses in Run 1 data at ATLAS and CMS, we explore models of mixed dark matter in left-right symmetric theories. In this study, we calculate the relic abundance and the elastic scattering cross section with nuclei for a number of dark matter candidates that appear within the fermionic multiplets of left-right symmetric models. In contrast to the case of pure multiplets, WIMP-nucleon scattering proceeds at tree-level, and hence the projected reach of future direct detection experiments such as LUX-ZEPLIN and XENON1T will cover large regions of parameter space for TeV-scale thermal dark matter. Decays of the heavy charged W{sup ′} boson to particles in the dark sector can potentially shift the right-handed gauge coupling to larger values when fixed to the rate of the Run 1 excesses, moving towards the theoretically attractive scenario, g{sub R}=g{sub L}. This region of parameter space may be probed by future collider searches for new Higgs bosons or electroweak fermions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Centrality and pseudorapidity dependence of the transverse energy density in p Pb collisions at s N N = 5.02 TeV

The almost hermetic coverage of the CMS detector is used to measure the distribution of transverse energy, E T , over 13.2 units of pseudorapidity, η, for p Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of s NN = 5.02 TeV. The huge angular acceptance exploits the fact that the CASTOR calorimeter at -6.6 < η < -5.2 is effectively present on both sides of the colliding system because of a switch in the proton-going and lead-going beam directions. This wide acceptance enables the study of correlations between well-separated angular regions and makes the measurement a particularly powerful test of event generators. For minimum bias p Pb collisions the maximum value of dE T / d η is 22GeV, which implies an E T per participant nucleon pair comparable to that of peripheral PbPb collisions at s NN =2.76TeV. The increase of dE T / d η with centrality is much stronger for the lead-going side than for the proton-going side. The η dependence of dE T / d η is sensitive to the η range in which the centrality variable is defined. Several modern generators are compared to these results but none is able to capture all aspects of the η and centrality dependence of the data and the correlations observed between different η regions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1999

Neutron yields from 155 MeV/nucleon carbon and helium stopping in aluminum

Neutron fluences have been measured from 155 MeV/nucleon 4He and 12C ions stopping in an Al target at laboratory angles between 10 and 160 deg. The resultant spectra were integrated over angle and energy above 10 MeV to produce total neutron yields. Comparison of the two systems shows that approximately two times as many neutrons are produced from 155 MeV/nucleon 4He stopping in Al and 155 MeV/nucleon 12C stopping in Al. Using an energy-dependent geometric cross-section formula to calculate the expected number of primary nuclear interactions shows that the 12C + Al system has, within uncertainties, the same number of neutrons per interaction (0.99 +/- 0.03) as does the 4He + Al system (1.02 +/- 0.04), despite the fact that 12C has three times as many neutrons as does 4He. Energy and angular distributions for both systems are also reported. No major differences can be seen between the two systems in those distributions, except for the overall magnitude. Where possible, the 4He + Al spectra are compared with previously measured spectra from 160 and 177.5 MeV/nucleon 4He interactions in a variety of stopping targets. The reported spectra are consistent with previously measured spectra. The data were acquired to provide data applicable to problems dealing with the determination of the radiation risk to humans engaged in long-term missions in space; however, the data are also of interest for issues related to the determination of the radiation environment in high-altitude flight, with shielding at high-energy heavy-ion accelerators and with doses delivered outside tumor sites treated with high-energy hadronic beams.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗
DOE OSTI2024

ALP-assisted strong first-order electroweak phase transition and baryogenesis

Axion-like particles (ALPs) can be naturally lighter than the electroweak scale. We consider an ALP that couples to the Standard Model Higgs to achieve the strong first-order electroweak phase transition. We discuss the two-field dynamics of the phase transition and the associated computation in detail and identify the viable parameter space. The ALP mass can be from the MeV to GeV scale. Baryon asymmetry can be explained by local baryogenesis without violating the current electron and atom electric dipole moment bound in most of the viable parameter space. The viable parameter space can be probed through Higgs exotic decay, rare kaon decay, the electron and atomic electric dipole moment, and the effective number of neutrinos in the cosmic microwave background in the future. The gravitational-wave signal is too weak to be detected.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Two-nucleon emission in neutrino and electron scattering from nuclei: The modified convolution approximation

The theoretical formalism of inclusive lepton–nucleus scattering in the two-nucleon emission channel is discussed in the context of a simplified approach, the modified convolution approximation. This allows one to write the 2p2h responses of the relativistic Fermi gas as a folding integral of two 1p1h responses with the energies and momenta transferred to each nucleon. The idea behind this method is to introduce different average momenta for the two initial nucleons in the matrix elements of the two-body current, with the innovation that they depend on the transferred energies and momenta. This method treats exactly the two-body phase space kinematics, and reduces the formulae of the response functions from seven-dimensional integrals over momenta to much simpler three-dimensional ones. The applicability of the method is checked by comparing with the full results within a model of electroweak meson-exchange currents. The predictions are accurate enough, especially in the low-energy threshold region where the average momentum approximation works the best.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Status of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR

The MAJORANA Collaboration is constructing the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, an ultralow background, 40-kg modular high purity Ge (HPGe) detector array to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ-decay) in 76 Ge. The goal of the experiment is to demonstrate a background rate at or below 3 counts/(t-y) in the 4 keV region of interest (ROI) around the 2039 keV Q-value for 76 Ge 0νββ-decay. In this study, the status of the MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR, including its design and measurements of properties of the HPGe crystals is presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Stationary bound states of Dirac particles in collapsar fields

It is the first time stationary bound states of elementary spin 1/2 particles that do not decay with time are obtained for a Schwarzschild gravitational field using a self-conjugate Hamiltonian with a flat scalar product in a wide range of gravitational coupling constant. In order to obtain a discrete energy spectrum, we introduce a boundary condition such that the current density of Dirac particles near the “event horizon” is zero.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Search for dark matter in events with a Z boson and missing transverse momentum in p p collisions at s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for production of dark-matter particles recoiling against a leptonically decaying Z boson in 20.3 fb -1 of pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with large missing transverse momentum and two oppositely charged electrons or muons consistent with the decay of a Z boson are analyzed. No excess above the Standard Model prediction is observed. Limits are set on the mass scale of the contact interaction as a function of the dark-matter particle mass using an effective field theory description of the interaction of dark matter with quarks or with Z bosons. Limits are also set on the coupling and mediator mass of a model in which the interaction is mediated by a scalar particle.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗