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At least 145 records · Page 8

Recent Progress in Low-Energy Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions Physics

Tens of MeV neutrinos, such as those from stopped pion or core-collapse supernova sources, interact with target nuclei in detectors through either coherent elastic or inelastic scattering processes. These interactions provide valuable insights into various Standard Model and Beyond the Standard Model phenomena, with significant implications for nuclear physics, particle physics, and astrophysics.The precision of coherent elastic scattering, where the nucleus remains in its ground state, depends on the accuracy of the underlying weak form factor of the nucleus. In contrast, inelastic scattering, where neutrinos excite the target nucleus to low-lying nuclear states, involves complex nuclear structures and dynamics and are quite poorly constrained. Moreover, these low-energy processes also have implications for neutrino-nucleus scattering of GeV energy neutrino beams. In this talk, I will present an overview of the field, highlight recent advancements, and outline future directions.

Pandey, Vishvas↗

Neutrino Physics Opportunities with Pion and Kaon Decay-at-Rest Neutrino Source

Low-energy neutrino sources, such as those from stopped-pion, stopped-kaon or core-collapse supernova, interact with target nuclei in detectors through either coherent elastic or inelastic scattering processes. These interactions provide valuable insights into various Standard Model and Beyond the Standard Model phenomena, with significant implications for nuclear physics, particle physics, and astrophysics. The precision of coherent elastic scattering, where the nucleus remains in its ground state, depends on the accuracy of the underlying weak form factor of the nucleus. In contrast, inelastic scattering, where neutrinos excite the target nucleus to low-lying nuclear states, involves complex nuclear structures and dynamics and are quite poorly constrained. In this talk, I will present the physics opportunities offered by these neutrino sources, produced as secondary beams in an electron beam dump configuration at Jefferson Lab, and discuss their synergy with global neutrino experiments.

Pandey, Vishvas [Fermilab]↗

Interplay of Nuclear and New Physics with Low-Energy Neutrino Sources

Low-energy neutrino sources, such as those from stopped pion or core-collapse supernova, interact with target nuclei in detectors through either coherent elastic or inelastic scattering processes. These interactions provide valuable insights into various Standard Model and Beyond the Standard Model phenomena, with significant implications for nuclear physics, particle physics, and astrophysics. The precision of coherent elastic scattering, where the nucleus remains in its ground state, depends on the accuracy of the underlying weak form factor of the nucleus. In contrast, inelastic scattering, where neutrinos excite the target nucleus to low-lying nuclear states, involves complex nuclear structures and dynamics and are quite poorly constrained. In this talk, I will present an overview of the field, highlight recent advancements, and outline future directions.

Pandey, Vishvas [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000230827987↗

ASCR Workshop Position Paper: Challenges and Opportunities in High Energy Physics

High energy particle physics and cosmology concern themselves with estimating fundamental parameters of nature, such as the masses and interactions of fundamental particles like the Higgs boson and the rate of expansion of the universe. In doing so, they analyze exabyte-scale datasets, some of the largest in all of science, and face many challenges in subsequent data analysis. These challenges are shared between the two disciplines, but we focus on particle physics to highlight one specific domain. In particle physics, the standard method for estimating parameters involves performing Monte Carlo (MC) integration as a function of both parameters of interest and nuisance parameters using an expensive simulator, counting the number of observed collision events (i.i.d. samples) from an experiment in the corresponding integration domains, and forming a Poisson likelihood function. This likelihood function is then used in a Frequentist manner to construct a maximum likelihood point estimate (MLE) and confidence set for the parameters. To sufficiently populate the high-dimensional integration domains, simulators consume billions of CPU-hours annually and produce hundreds of petabytes of intermediate output data. Several techniques have been developed to: optimize definitions of the integration domains so as to be maximally sensitive to a particular subset of parameters, efficiently estimate the integrals, and build robust surrogate models by interpolating between integral evaluations at different parameter points. One can view this whole endeavor as classical Simulation-Based Inference (SBI).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Individual neutrino masses from a supernova

A nearby supernova will carry an unprecedented wealth of information about astrophysics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. Because supernova are fundamentally neutrino driven phenomenon, our knowledge about neutrinos—particles that remain quite elusive—will increase dramatically with such a detection. One of the biggest open questions in particle physics is related to the masses of neutrinos. Here, we show how a galactic supernova provides information about the masses of each of the three mass eigenstates , at some precision, and is well probed at JUNO. This information comes from several effects including time delay and the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect within the supernova. The time delay feature is strongest during a sharp change in the flux such as the neutronization burst; additional information may also come from a QCD phase transition in the supernova or if the supernova forms a black hole. We consider both standard cases as dictated by local oscillation experiments as well as new physics motivated scenarios where neutrino masses may differ across the galaxy. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Python package for machine-readable access to PDG data (PDG Python API) v0.1

This Python package implements a high-level interface to access the data published by the Particle Data Group (PDG) in the Review of Particle Physics (the "Review"). The Particle Data Group is an international collaboration led by the PDG group at LBNL. The PDG summarizes the established knowledge in the field of particle physics in a single publication, the Review of Particle Physics. The Review is published and updated online (see https://pdg.lbl.gov) each year, and published in a scientific journal every other year. It is currently licensed under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. In 2021 PDG was designated by the Office of Science as a SC PuRe Data Resource. The Review is one of the most highly cited publications in the field of particle physics. The PDG Python API is part of PDG's efforts to make all data provided in the Review available in machine-readable format. This data includes the PDG world averages (or best limits) on particle masses, widths or lifetimes, branching fractions, magnetic moments, form factors, coupling constant ratios, and searches, as well as particle quantum numbers. It also includes detailed information on how PDG arrived at its averages, such as e.g. tables of published measurements with comments and footnotes, information on the consistency of published measurements, and detailed fit information.

Beringer, Juerg↗

The Annual Phenomenology Symposia (Final Report)

PITT PACC once again successfully held the 3-day “Phenomenology 2019 Symposium”, during May 6-8, 2019. There were 296 registrants from 28 States, 20 countries. The high-quality plenary program brought the participants to the most updated cutting-edge research by the world leading experts in particle physics, astro-particle physics and cosmology. The 182 talks in the parallel sessions offer a great forum for presenting specific research results, especially for students and postdocs. A special career development forum was held for the 150 student participants. Pheno 2020 will take place during May 4-6, 2020, and the preparation is under way.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Snowmass’21 Accelerator Frontier

Snowmass’21 is decadal particle physics community planning study. It provides an opportunity for the entire particle physics community to come together to identify and document a scientific vision for the future of particle physics in the U.S. and its international partners. Snowmass will define the most important questions for the field of particle physics and identify promising opportunities to address them. The P5, Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, will take the scientific input from Snowmass and develop a strategic plan for U.S. particle physics that can be executed over a 10 year timescale, in the context of a 20-year global vision for the field. Here we present the goals, progress and plans of the Snowmass’21 Accelerator Frontier.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Microphysical processes affecting stratospheric aerosol particles

Physical processes which affect stratospheric aerosol particles include nucleation, condensation, evaporation, coagulation and sedimentation. Quantitative studies of these mechanisms to determine if they can account for some of the observed properties of the aerosol are carried out. It is shown that the altitude range in which nucleation of sulfuric acid-water solution droplets can take place corresponds to that region of the stratosphere where the aerosol is generally found. Since heterogeneous nucleation is the dominant nucleation mechanism, the stratospheric solution droplets are mainly formed on particles which have been mixed up from the troposphere or injected into the stratosphere by volcanoes or meteorites. Particle growth by heteromolecular condensation can account for the observed increase in mixing ratio of large particles in the stratosphere. Coagulation is important in reducing the number of particles smaller than 0.05 micron radius. Growth by condensation, applied to the mixed nature of the particles, shows that available information is consistent with ammonium sulfate being formed by liquid phase chemical reactions in the aerosol particles. The upper altitude limit of the aerosol layer is probably due to the evaporation of sulfuric acid aerosol particles, while the lower limit is due to mixing across the tropopause.

Hamill, P.↗

The Muon Collider

Muons offer a unique opportunity to build a compact high-energy electroweak collider at the 10 TeV scale. A Muon Collider enables direct access to the underlying simplicity of the Standard Model and unparalleled reach beyond it. It will be a paradigm-shifting tool for particle physics representing the first collider to combine the high-energy reach of a proton collider and the high precision of an electron-positron collider, yielding a physics potential significantly greater than the sum of its individual parts. A high-energy muon collider is the natural next step in the exploration of fundamental physics after the HL-LHC and a natural complement to a future low-energy Higgs factory. Such a facility would significantly broaden the scope of particle colliders, engaging the many frontiers of the high energy community. The last European Strategy for Particle Physics Update and later the Particle Physics Project Prioritisation Panel in the US requested a study of the muon collider, which is being carried on by the International Muon Collider Collaboration. In this comprehensive document we present the physics case, the state of the work on accelerator design and technology, and propose an R\&D project that can make the muon collider a reality.

Accelerator Physics (physics.acc-ph)↗

Interaction of Burning Metal Particles

Physical characteristics of the combustion of metal particle groups have been addressed in this research. The combustion behavior and interaction effects of multiple metal particles has been studied using a microgravity environment, which presents a unique opportunity to create an "aerosol" consisting of relatively large particles, i.e., 50-300 micrometer diameter. Combustion behavior of such an aerosol could be examined using methods adopted from well-developed single particle combustion research. The experiment included fluidizing relatively large (order of 100 micrometer diameter) uniform metal particles under microgravity and igniting such an "aerosol" using a hot wire igniter. The flame propagation and details of individual particle combustion and particle interaction have been studied using a high speed movie and video-imaging with cameras coupled with microscope lenses to resolve individual particles. Interference filters were used to separate characteristic metal and metal oxide radiation bands form the thermal black body radiation. Recorded flame images were digitized and employed to understand the processes occurring in the burning aerosol. The development of individual particle flames, merging or separation, and extinguishing as well as induced particle motion have been analyzed to identify the mechanisms governing these processes. Size distribution, morphology, and elemental compositions of combustion products were characterized and used to link the observed in this project aerosol combustion phenomena with the recently expanded mechanism of single metal particle combustion.

Dreizin, Edward L.↗

Interaction of Burning Metal Particles

Physical characteristics of the combustion of metal particle groups have been addressed in this research. The combustion behavior and interaction effects of multiple metal particles has been studied using a microgravity environment, which presents a unique opportunity to create an "aerosol" consisting of relatively large particles, i.e., 50-300 m diameter. Combustion behavior of such an aerosol could be examined using methods adopted from well-developed single particle combustion research. The experiment included fluidizing relatively large (order of 100 m diameter) uniform metal particles under microgravity and igniting such an "aerosol" using a hot wire igniter. The flame propagation and details of individual particle combustion and particle interaction have been studied using a high speed movie and video-imaging with cameras coupled with microscope lenses to resolve individual particles. Interference filters were used to separate characteristic metal and metal oxide radiation bands from the thermal black body radiation. Recorded flame images were digitized and various image processing techniques including flame position tracking, color separation, and pixel by pixel image comparison were employed to understand the processes occurring in the burning aerosol. The development of individual particle flames, merging or separation, and extinguishment as well as induced particle motion have been analyzed to identify the mechanisms governing these processes. Size distribution, morphology, and elemental compositions of combustion products were characterized and used to link the observed in this project aerosol combustion phenomena with the recently expanded mechanism of single metal particle combustion.

Dreizin, Edward L.↗

A cross-frontier quest to reveal the origin of the Universe [Slides]

The Standard Model is one of the most well-tested theories in Particle Physics. The particle content was completed by the discovery of the Higgs boson. However, it does not explain the complete picture. This report discusses physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM Physics).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering: A Tool to Search for New Physics

The Neutrino is a well-understood particle in the models of particle physics. Even so, it is electrically neutral, and has a very small mass. As such, it’s interaction probability is extremely small. Detecting neutrinos has always been a challenge for particle physics. Over 40 years ago, Daniel Freedman predicted a new type of interaction that neutrinos could undergo that would be much more frequent. This has since been called Coherent Elastic Neutrino Nucleus Scattering (CEvNS). While this process occurred more frequently than the traditionally used interaction process (called inverse beta decay) it was more challenging to detect. Interestingly, though, if you could detect the CEvNS process, you would be sensitive to many new studies of fundamental particle physics. A researcher may also be able to use this process to study neutrinos in more applied settings, for instance by more easily monitoring the neutrinos given off during the nuclear reaction processes in nuclear reactors. The aim of this project was to observe coherent neutrino scattering for the first time, and begin to use it as a tool both to study new types of physics models, and to study the feasibility of this concept for applied situations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Technology Demands of a Muon Collider and its Relation to other HEP Projects

The decadal US Particle Physics Community Planning Exercise known as “Snowmass” has released a final report. Snowmass is a scientific study to define the most important questions for the field of particle physics and identify promising opportunities to address them. The Snowmass report will serve as input for the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) to develop a strategic plan for U.S. particle physics that will guide the field for the next decade and R&D priorities beyond that. A broad range of proposals for future facilities have been put forward. Among them, a Muon Collider has generated considerable interest from the particle physics community. Enabling such a facility will involve solving a variety of challenges that will be briefly described in this talk.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Community Engagement Frontier

This is the summary report of the Community Engagement Frontier for the Snowmass 2021 study of the future of particle physics. The report discusses a number of general issues of importance to the particle physics community, including (1) the relation of universities, national laboratories, and industry, (2) career paths for scientists engaged in particle physics, (3) diversity, equity, and inclusion, (4) physics education, (5) public education and outreach, (6) engagement with the government and public policy, and (7) the environmental and social impacts of particle physics.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Opportunities and challenges to study solar neutrinos with a Q-Pix pixel readout

The study of solar neutrinos presents significant opportunities in astrophysics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. However, the low-energy nature of these neutrinos introduces considerable challenges to isolate them from background events, requiring detectors with low-energy threshold, high spatial and energy resolutions, and low data rate. We present the study of solar neutrinos with a kiloton-scale liquid argon detector located underground, instrumented with a pixel readout using the Q-Pix technology. We explore the potential of using volume fiducialization, directional topological information, light signal coincidence, and pulse-shape discrimination to enhance solar neutrino sensitivity. We find that discriminating neutrino signals below 5 MeV is very difficult. However, we show that these methods are useful for the detection of solar neutrinos when external backgrounds are sufficiently understood and when the detector is built using low-background techniques. When building a workable background model for this study, we identify 𝛾 background from the cavern walls and from capture of 𝛼 particles in radon decay chains as both critical to solar neutrino sensitivity and significantly underconstrained by existing measurements. Finally, we highlight that the main advantage of the use of Q-Pix for solar neutrino studies lies in its ability to enable the continuous readout of all low-energy events with minimal data rates and manageable storage for further off-line analyses.

multi-purpose particle detectors↗

The science case for an intermediate energy advanced and novel accelerator linear collider facility

It is widely accepted that the next lepton collider beyond a Higgs factory would require center-of-mass energy of the order of up to 15 TeV. Since, given reasonable space and cost restrictions, conventional accelerator technology reaches its limits near this energy, high-gradient advanced acceleration concepts are attractive. Advanced and novel accelerators (ANAs) are leading candidates due to their ability to produce acceleration gradients on the order of 1–100 GV/m, leading to compact acceleration facilities. However, intermediate energy facilities (IEF) are required to test the critical technology elements on the way towards multi-TeV-class colliders. Here a science case for a 20–100 GeV center-of-mass energy ANA-based lepton collider that can be a candidate for an intermediate energy facility is presented. The IEF can provide numerous opportunities for high energy physics studies including precision Quantum Chromodynamics and Beyond the Standard Model physics measurements, investigation of charged particle interactions with extreme electromagnetic fields, and exploring muon and proton beam acceleration. Possible applications of this collider include the studies of γγ and electron beam-fixed target/beamdump collider designs. Thus, the goal of the proposed IEF is to both carry out particle physics measurements in the 20-100 GeV ranges as well as to serve as an ANA demonstrator facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗