Studies on new Eco-gas mixtures for Extreme Energy Events Project Bossini, E.; Abbrescia, M.; Avanzini, C. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
01/2023, Letnik:
1046
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) experiment, a joint project of the Centro Fermi and INFN Italian national research institutes, has a dual purpose: a scientific research program for measurements of ...the cosmic rays flux at ground level and an intense outreach and educational program with an active contribution of students and teachers in the construction and operation of the detectors in High Schools. The network counts 60 tracking detectors, each made by three Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC), operated so far with a gas mixture composed by 98% C2H2F4 and 2% SF6. Given its high Global Warming Potential (GWP), the collaboration, since few years, started a R&D on alternative mixtures environmentally sustainable. Latest results on a C3H2F4 + He eco-friendly mixture are here presented.
The eruption of the Hunga-Tonga volcano in the South Pacific Ocean on January 15, 2022, at about 4:15 UTC, generated a violent explosion, which created atmospheric pressure disturbances in the form ...of Rayleigh-Lamb waves detected all over the globe. Here we discuss the observation of the Hunga-Tonga shock-wave performed at the Ny-Ålesund Research Station on the Spitsbergen island, by the detectors of the PolarquEEEst experiment and their ancillary sensors. Online pressure data as well as the results of dedicated offline analysis are presented and discussed in details. Results include wave arrival times, wave amplitude measurements and wave velocity calculation. We observed five passages of the shock wave with a significance larger than 3 Formula: see text and an amplitude up to 1 hPa. The average propagation velocity resulted to be (308 ± 0.6) m/s. Possible effects of the atmospheric pressure variation associated with the shock-wave multiple passages on the cosmic-ray rate at ground level are also investigated. We did not find any significant evidence of this effect.
The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) ‘telescope’ is made by 3 Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC), each with an active area of 158x82 cm2 in size. Each detector is part of a large network of about ...sixty telescopes spread over the Italian territory. Due to the good tracking capabilities (100 ps time resolution and cm2 spatial resolution) the EEE telescope can be used also as test station for large area detectors. The link between the EEE track and signals from the detector under test can be obtained by implementing a streaming DAQ with a common time reference between the two systems given by the GPS signal. The installation and first results of the cosmic muon test facility with the EEE MRPC telescope based on the low-cost, streaming-compatible 12 channels, 250MHz, 14 bits digitizer (INFN-WaveBoard or WB) developed by the JLAB12 Collaboration, is presented.
DarkSide-50 has demonstrated the high potential of dual-phase liquid argon time projection chambers in exploring interactions of WIMPs in the GeV/c2 mass range. The technique, based on the detection ...of the ionization signal amplified via electroluminescence in the gas phase, allows us to explore recoil energies down to the sub-keV range. We report here on the DarkSide-50 measurement of the ionization yield of electronic recoils down to ~ 180 eVer, exploiting 37Ar and 39Ar decays, and extrapolated to a few ionization electrons with the Thomas-Imel box model. Moreover, we present a model-dependent determination of the ionization response to nuclear recoils down to ~ 500 eVnr, the lowest ever achieved in liquid argon, using in situ neutron calibration sources and external datasets from neutron beam experiments.
The goal of the PolarquEEEst experiment was to measure the cosmic charged particle rate at latitudes greater than 66
∘
N, where no systematic and accurate measurements at sea level have ever been ...performed. A latitude range well above the Arctic Circle was explored on board of a sailboat, up to the unprecedented northernmost value of
82
∘
07
′
N. In this paper a description of the experimental set-up is reported, then the procedures for calibration and data analysis are described in detail. The results show that the rate measured in this latitude range stays constant within a novel accuracy of
±
1
%.
Abstract
Directional sensitivity to nuclear recoils would provide a smoking gun for a possible discovery of dark matter in the form of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). A hint of ...directional dependence of the response of a dual-phase argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC) was found in the SCENE experiment. Given the potential importance of such a capability in the framework of dark matter searches, a new dedicated experiment, ReD (Recoil Directionality), was designed by the Global Argon Dark Matter Collaboration, in order to scrutinise this hint. A small dual-phase argon TPC was irradiated with neutrons produced by the p(
7
Li,
7
Be)n reaction using the 15 MV TANDEM accelerator of the INFN - Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, Italy, so as to produce argon nuclear recoils in the range (20 - 100) keV of interest for dark matter searches. Energy and direction of nuclear recoils are inferred by the detection of the elastically-scattered neutron by a set of scintillation detectors. Events were selected by gating of the associated
7
Be, which is detected by a telescope of Si detectors.