Neutrino detection without neutrino detectors: Discovering collider neutrinos at FASER with electronic signals only
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72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
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NuSD: A Geant4 based simulation framework for segmented anti-neutrino detectors
NuSD: Neutrino Segmented Detector is a Geant4-based user application that simulates inverse beta decay event in a variety of segmented scintillation detectors developed by different international collaborations. This simulation framework uses a combination of cross-programs and libraries including Geant4, ROOT and CLHEP developed and used by high energy physics community. It will enable the neutrino physics community to simulate and study neutrino interactions within different detector concepts using a single program. In addition to neutrino simulations in segmented detectors, this program can also be used for various research projects that use of scintillation detectors for different physics purposes.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
A Call to Arms Control: Synergies between Nonproliferation Applications of Neutrino Detectors and Large-Scale Fundamental Neutrino Physics Experiments (A Snowmass White Paper)
The High Energy Physics community can benefit from a natural synergy in research activities into next-generation large-scale water and scintillator neutrino detectors, now being studied for remote reactor monitoring, discovery and exclusion applications in cooperative nonproliferation contexts. Since approximately 2010, US nonproliferation researchers, supported by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), have been studying a range of possible applications of relatively large (100 ton) to very large (hundreds of kiloton) water and scintillator neutrino detectors. In parallel, the fundamental physics community has been developing detectors at similar scales and with similar design features for a range of high-priority physics topics, primarily in fundamental neutrino physics. These topics include neutrino oscillation studies at beams and reactors, solar, and geological neutrino measurements, supernova studies, and others. Examples of ongoing synergistic work at U.S. national laboratories and universities include prototype gadolinium-doped water and water-based and opaque scintillator test-beds and demonstrators, extensive testing and industry partnerships related to large area fast position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes, and the development of concepts for a possible underground kiloton-scale water-based detector for reactor monitoring and technology demonstrations. Some opportunities for engagement between the two communities include bi-annual Applied Antineutrino Physics conferences, collaboration with U.S. National Laboratories engaging in this research, and occasional NNSA funding opportunities supporting a blend of nonproliferation and basic science R&D, directed at the U.S. academic community.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Reaching For New Physics With MeV-scale Reconstruction In The MicroBooNE LArTPC Neutrino Detector
Large neutrino liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments can broaden their physics reach by reconstructing MeV-Scale energy depositions, or blips, in their data. We demonstrate new calorimetric and particle discrimination capabilities at the MeV scale using reconstructed blips in MicroBooNE LArTPC data at Fermilab. A concentration of low-energy ($<$3 MeV) blips is observed around fiberglass mechanical support struts along the TPC edges, with spectral features consistent with the Compton edge of the 2.614 MeV $^{208}$Tl decay $\gamma$ ray. With these features we perform the electron energy scale calibration to few-percent precision and yield the specific activity of $^{208}$Tl in the struts, $(11.7 \pm 0.2 \text{(stat)} \pm 2.8 \text{(syst)})$ Bq/kg. Using cosmogenic blips above 3 MeV, we demonstrate the ability of large LArTPCs to discriminate low-energy proton and electron depositions. An enriched low-energy proton sample selected with this technique is smaller in data than in dedicated CORSIKA simulations, pointing to possible mismodeling in CORSIKA incident cosmic fluxes or Geant4 particle transport. These methods are applied to MicroBooNE's inclusive single-photon search, which reported a 2.2$\sigma$ excess below 600 MeV in shower energy for events with no reconstructed protons. By identifying and classifying blips near single-photon events selected by the WireCell reconstruction framework, a more comprehensive labeling of nearby hadronic activity is established: blips upstream of the shower axis indicate previously unidentified final-state protons, while elevated blip counts at wide angles signal final-state neutrons. Taken together with MiniBooNE's long-standing low-energy excess (LEE) and MicroBooNE electron-like and sterile neutrino searches disfavored as possible explanations of the MiniBooNE anomaly, this analysis motivates an expanded exploration of the single-photon channel in Fermilab's short-baseline LArTPC program. This thesis documents the current status of this enhanced analysis, which will form a key part of MicroBooNE's final low-energy-excess results.
Andrade Aldana, Diego Armando [IIT, Chicago (main)↗
Convolutional Neural Networks for the CHIPS Neutrino Detector R&D Project.
The CHerenkov detectors In mine PitS (Chips) neutrino detector R&D project aims to develop novel strategies and technologies for very large yet ‘cheap as chips’ water Cherenkov neutrino detectors. Via deployment in a body of water, use of commercially available components, and instrumentation coverage optimisation for the study of exclusively accelerator beam neutrinos, Chips will enable megaton scale detectors to become a reality at the cost of $200k-$300k per kt of sensitive mass. During the summer of 2019 a prototype Chips detector, Chips-5, was deployed into the Wentworth 2W disused mine pit in northern Minnesota, 7 mrad off the NuMI beam axis. A novel data acquisition system was introduced using cheap single-board computers and open-source software. This work presents a novel approach to water Cherenkov neutrino detector event reconstruction and classification. Three forms of a Convolutional Neural Network, a type of deep learning algorithm, have been trained to reject cosmic muon events, classify beam events, and estimate neutrino energies, all using only the raw detector event as input. When evaluated on the expected distribution of Chips-5 events, this new approach is shown to be robust and explainable as well as providing a significant performance increase over the standard likelihood-based reconstruction and simple neural network classification. Promisingly, the performance presented here is comparable to the more complex (and expensive) neutrino oscillation experiments within the field.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Light and Dark in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Neutrino Detectors
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detectors have emerged as a detector technology poised to perform measurements of neutrino interactions with unprecedented precision and as a result answer some of the largest open questions in neutrino physics in the coming decade. This thesis describes methods developed to tackle the computational challenges faced as LArTPC detectors increase in scale and complexity moving towards the multi-kiloton DUNE detectors. These include a new, approximated, model that enables rapid simulation of scintillation light in very large scale detectors, as well as the first demonstration of running the LArSoft software framework on a high performance computer. The high precision of LArTPC detectors designed for next-generation neutrino measurements enables them to also search for Beyond the Standard Model physics produced in high-energy proton--fixed-target collisions in neutrino beams. This thesis presents searches for two dark-sector models performed with the ArgoNeuT experiment: Heavy Neutral Leptons and Heavy QCD Axions. Between them, these models can provide solutions for various unresolved puzzles including neutrino mass generation, the baryon asymmetry of the universe, dark matter and the strong CP problem. In both cases, the dark-sector particles could be produced in the NuMI neutrino beam and can then decay to a pair of oppositely charged muons observable in ArgoNeuT and the downstream MINOS near detector. Both measurements required the development of novel experimental selection techniques and enabled new constraints to be set on the existence of these particles in previously unexplored parameter-space. These searches are both the first of their kind in LArTPC neutrino detectors and pave the way for searches at future neutrino facilities.Date of Award31 Dec 2022Original languageEnglishAwarding InstitutionThe University of ManchesterSupervisorStefan Soldner-Rembold (Supervisor) & Justin Evans (Supervisor)
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Scalable DAQ system operating the CHIPS-5 neutrino detector
The CHIPS R&D project focuses on development of low-cost water Cherenkov neutrino detectors through novel design strategies and resourceful engineering. This work presents an end-to-end DAQ solution intended for a recent 5 kt CHIPS prototype, which is largely based on affordable mass-produced components. Much like the detector itself, the presented instrumentation is composed of modular arrays that can be scaled up and easily serviced. A single such array can carry up to 30 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) accompanied by electronics that generate high voltage in-situ and deliver time resolution of up to 0.69 ns. In addition, the technology is compatible with the White Rabbit timing system, which can synchronize its elements to within 100 ps. While deployment issues did not permit the presented DAQ system to operate beyond initial evaluation, the presented hardware and software successfully passed numerous commissioning tests that demonstrated their viability for use in a large-scale neutrino detector, instrumented with thousands of PMTs.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Prospects for Light Dark Matter Searches at Large-Volume Neutrino Detectors
We propose a new approach to search for light dark matter (DM), with keV–GeV mass, via inelastic nucleus scattering at large-volume neutrino detectors such as Borexino, DUNE, Super-K, Hyper-K, and JUNO. The approach uses inelastic nuclear scattering of cosmic-ray boosted DM, enabling a low-background search for DM in these experiments. Large neutrino detectors, with higher thresholds than dark matter detectors, can be used, since the nuclear deexcitation lines are O ( 10 ) MeV . Using a hadrophilic dark-gauge-boson-portal model as a benchmark, we show that the nuclear inelastic channels generally provide better sensitivity than the elastic scattering for a large region of light DM parameter space. Published by the American Physical Society 2024
Dutta, Bhaskar↗
Optimizing the hit finding algorithm for liquid argon TPC neutrino detectors using parallel architectures
Neutrinos are particles that interact rarely, so identifying them requires large detectors which produce lots of data. Processing this data with the computing power available is becoming even more difficult as the detectors increase in size to reach their physics goals. Liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino experiments are expected to grow in the next decade to have 100 times more wires than in currently operating experiments, and modernization of LArTPC reconstruction code, including parallelization both at data- and instruction-level, will help to mitigate this challenge. The LArTPC hit finding algorithm is used across multiple experiments through a common software framework. In this paper we discuss a parallel implementation of this algorithm. Using a standalone setup we find speedup factors of two times from vectorization and 30–100 times from multi-threading on Intel architectures. The new version has been incorporated back into the framework so that it can be used by experiments. On a serial execution, the integrated version is about 10 times faster than the previous one and, once parallelization is enabled, more speedups comparable to the standalone program are achieved.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Lessons from commissioning of the cryogenic system for the Short-Baseline Neutrino Detector at Fermilab
Results from commissioning and first year of operations of the cryogenic system of the Short-Baseline Neutrino Detector (SBND) and its membrane cryostat installed at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are described. The SBND detector is installed in a 200 m$^3$ membrane cryostat filled with liquid argon, which serves both as target and as active media. For the correct operation of the detector, the liquid argon must be kept in very stable thermal conditions while the contamination of electronegative impurities must be consistently kept at the level of small fractions of parts per billion. The detector is operated in Booster Neutrino Beams (BNB) at Fermilab for the search of sterile neutrinos and measurements of neutrino-argon cross sections. The cryostat and the cryogenic systems also serve as prototypes for the much larger equipment to be used for the LBNF/DUNE experiment. Since its installation in 2018-2023 and cooldown in spring of 2024, the cryostat and the cryogenic system have been commissioned to support the detector operations. The lessons learned through installation, testing, commissioning, cooldown, and initial operations are described.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Lessons from commissioning of the cryogenic system for the Short-Baseline Neutrino Detector at Fermilab
Results from commissioning and first year of operations of the cryogenic system of the Short-Baseline Neutrino Detector (SBND) and its membrane cryostat installed at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are described. The SBND detector is installed in a 200 m3 membrane cryostat filled with liquid argon, which serves both as target and as active media. For the correct operation of the detector, the liquid argon must be kept in very stable thermal conditions while the contamination of electronegative impurities must be consistently kept at the level of small fractions of parts per billion. The detector is operated in Booster Neutrino Beams (BNB) at Fermilab for the search of sterile neutrinos and measurements of neutrino-argon cross sections. The cryostat and the cryogenic systems also serve as prototypes for the much larger equipment to be used for the LBNF/DUNE experiment. Since its installation in 2018-2023 and cooldown in spring of 2024, the cryostat and the cryogenic system have been commissioned to support the detector operations. The lessons learned through installation, testing, commissioning, cooldown, and initial operations are described.
Geynisman, Michael [Fermilab]↗
Exploiting the PRISM Feature and Purity Monitors of the SBND Neutrino Detector
The Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab will pursue neutrino properties searches, exploiting three Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) experiments to investigate neutrino oscillations with neutrinos from the Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB). SBND will be the near detector in the program, measuring the un-oscillated flux. It is anticipated to begin operating in 2023. Thanks to its peculiar proximity to the neutrino source of about 110 meters, SBND will collect extremely high statistics data of the flux in the GeV energy range, providing unprecedented precision measurements. SBND particular setting also allows to take measurements at different distances from BNB’s center maintaining statistics high enough at each range. LArTPC and the cold electronics technologies, as well as the argon-neutrino interaction studies, will play a key role in future neutrino physics. In this prospect, this work was focused on two SBND features: SBND PRISM tool, with the aim of investigating neutrino flux at different distances from the beam axis, and Purity Monitors, which provide a clever measurement of argon purity in the detector, whose value is fundamental in neutrino-argon interaction.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Future Advances in Photon-Based Neutrino Detectors: A SNOWMASS White Paper
We discuss here new, enabling technologies for future photon-based neutrino detectors. These technologies touch nearly every aspect of such detectors: new scintillating materials, new methods of loading isotopes, new photon sensors and collectors, new approaches to simulation and analysis, and new front-end electronics and DAQ ideas. Of particular interest are technologies that enable broad physics programs in hybrid Cherenkov/scintillation detectors, such as slow fluors, water-based liquid scintillator, and spectral sorting of photons. Several new large-scale detector ideas are also discussed, including hybrid detectors like Theia, ArTEMIS, and generic slow-fluor detectors, as well as the very different SLIPs and LiquidO approaches to instrumenting photon-based detectors. A program of demonstrators for future detectors, including ANNIE, Eos, and NuDOT are also discussed.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
Design of a Cryogenic Scintillation Neutrino Detector at the Spallation Neutron Source
We successfully verified in the following three aspects the feasibility of using a cryogenic scintillating crystal-based neutrino detector at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for the detection of low-mass dark matter particles and non-standard neutrino interactions (NSIs), as part of the detector R&D effort of the COHERENT experiment. First, we demonstrated the possibility of using silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) at cryogenic temperatures to replace traditional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) as light sensors. Second, we verified that the high light yield of undoped CsI crystals measured above 13 keVee at 77 K still holds down to 5.9 keVee. Third, we successfully measured nuclear quenching factor of undoped cryogenic CsI at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory with the help from our Duke collaborators. The first achievement resulted in a publication in European Physics Journal C. The second resulted in an arXiv pre-print, which is under journal review. The last one indicates that the performance of the proposed detector may be better than what was assumed in the literature. The analysis is in the final stage and will result in another journal publication. In addition, two graduate students involved in this project graduated with master’s degrees during the project period. Both decided to continue their research as PhD students. One open-source data analysis code package was created and is publicly available on GitHub. A set of tutorials about Monte Carlo simulation of radiation interacting with detectors were created on YouTube, receiving more than 100,000 views.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
Early Career: Constraining the Electromagnetic Shower Energy Scale at LArTPC Neutrino Detectors Near and Far (Final Scientific/Technical Report)
This is the final scientific/technical report associated with the award "Early Career: Constraining the Electromagnetic Shower Energy Scale at LArTPC Neutrino Detectors Near and Far"; the primary research topics associated with the award are neutrino oscillation physics, reconstruction of neutrino interaction events using machine learning techniques, and detector calibration.
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
Search for Neutron-Antineutron Transition in Large Neutrino Detectors
Neutron-antineutron transition is a baryon number violation process with $\Delta B=2$, providing a unique insight into the potential explanation of the baryon asymmetry in our university, especially in the context of post-sphaleron baryogenesis. Studies have been conducted in various neutron-rich environment including free neutron sources, neutron stars, and bound neutrons in large neutrino detectors, among which the large neutrino experiments obtained the most stringent constraints.
Wan, Linyan [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000155246137)↗
Prong Segmentation using Point Set Transformers in Multiple View Neutrino Detectors
NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino experiment studying neutrino oscillations by detecting neutrinos from the NuMI beam at Fermilab. Its physics analysis relies on accurate prong segmentation, which involves matching each hit to its source particle and identifying the particle type. This task has commonly been addressed using a combination of traditional clustering algorithms and convolutional neural networks (CNNs). However, NOvA’s detector design presents data as two sparse and decoupled 2D images (XZ and YZ views) rather than a native 3D representation, posing a significant challenge for traditional CNN-based models. In this talk, we propose a novel neural network based on the Point Set Transformer. By treating detector hits as sparse point clouds and implementing a cross-view attention mechanism, our model enables efficient information mixing between both views. Evaluated on NOvA simulated data, our model achieves superior accuracy while requiring significantly fewer computational resources compared to other models. Furthermore, the model demonstrates great performance when applied to Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) data, which shows its potential as a universal prong segmentation algorithm for multiple view neutrino detectors.
Liu, Jiaxi [UC, Irvine]↗
Nucleon Decays into Light New Particles in Neutrino Detectors
Proton and neutron decays into light new particles 𝑋 can drastically change the experimental signatures and benefit from the complementarity of large water-Cherenkov neutrino detectors such as Super- and Hyper-Kamiokande and tracking detectors such as JUNO and DUNE. The proton decays 𝑝 → ℓ + 𝑋 and 𝑝 → 𝜋 + 𝑋 with 𝑚 𝑋 near phase-space closure lead to charged particles below the Cherenkov threshold, rendering them practically invisible in Super- and Hyper-Kamiokande but not in JUNO and DUNE, which are therefore uniquely positioned for these baryon-number-violating signatures despite their smaller size. As an additional signature, such nucleon decays in the Earth can produce a sizable flux of 𝑋 particles in underground detectors. We present a simple model in which nucleons decay into sub-GeV sterile neutrinos that subsequently decay through active-sterile neutrino mixing, with a promisingly large number of events in Super-Kamiokande even in the seesaw-motivated parameter space.
Baryon & lepton number symmetries↗