Abstract
After its successful campaign of measurements beyond the Polar Arctic Circle, the PolarquEEEst experiment measured the cosmic charged particle rate at sea level in a latitude interval ...between 35
$$^{\circ }$$
∘
N and 82
$$^{\circ }$$
∘
N. In this paper, these measurements are described and the corresponding results are discussed.
Abstract
We discuss the project “Per un pugno di libri … scientifici”, aimed at bringing the young generations closer to scientific culture through reading divulgation books about physics. The ...project, which is addressed to high-school students, is sponsored by INFN and other national and regional research institutions, along with physics departments of some Italian universities.
The Pixel Chamber project purpose is the production of the first solid state active target capable of performing continuous, high-resolution (O(μm)) 3D tracking. The aim is to create a bubble ...chamber-like high-granularity stack of hundreds of very thin monolithic active pixel sensors (MAPS) glued together. In this paper, the R&D to develop the first prototypes with ALPIDE sensors, designed for the ALICE experiment at the CERN LHC, will be presented. Tracking and vertexing algorithms were developed to reconstruct tracks and vertices inside Pixel Chamber. They were tested on Monte Carlo simulations which show that it is possible to obtain a high efficiency for the reconstruction of hadronic tracks, and for the primary and secondary vertices inside the detector. The tracking algorithm has been tested on test beam data to reconstruct long tracks produced in a single ALPIDE sensor parallel to a beam. Results show that it is possible to obtain very good performances in long track reconstruction on a single ALPIDE. Among the possible applications, Pixel Chamber used as an active target, has the potential to allow precision measurements of charm and beauty production. Even more interesting are possible medical and astrophysical applications. The usage of the Pixel Chamber as scatterer detector in Compton Cameras would reduce by orders of magnitude the numbers of gammas required for performing a precise source imaging, both for in vivo monitoring during hadron therapy and for astrophysics measurements.
After its successful campaign of measurements beyond the Polar Arctic Circle, the PolarquEEEst experiment measured the cosmic charged particle rate at sea level in a latitude interval between 35
∘
N ...and 82
∘
N. In this paper, these measurements are described and the corresponding results are discussed.
Dark matter elastic scattering off nuclei can result in the excitation and ionization of the recoiling atom through the so-called Migdal effect. The energy deposition from the ionization electron ...adds to the energy deposited by the recoiling nuclear system and allows for the detection of interactions of sub-GeV/c^{2} mass dark matter. We present new constraints for sub-GeV/c^{2} dark matter using the dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber of the DarkSide-50 experiment with an exposure of (12 306±184) kg d. The analysis is based on the ionization signal alone and significantly enhances the sensitivity of DarkSide-50, enabling sensitivity to dark matter with masses down to 40 MeV/c^{2}. Furthermore, it sets the most stringent upper limit on the spin independent dark matter nucleon cross section for masses below 3.6 GeV/c^{2}.
We present a search for dark matter particles with sub-GeV/c^{2} masses whose interactions have final state electrons using the DarkSide-50 experiment's (12 306±184) kg d low-radioactivity liquid ...argon exposure. By analyzing the ionization signals, we exclude new parameter space for the dark matter-electron cross section σover ¯_{e}, the axioelectric coupling constant g_{Ae}, and the dark photon kinetic mixing parameter κ. We also set the first dark matter direct-detection constraints on the mixing angle |U_{e4}|^{2} for keV/c^{2} sterile neutrinos.
The whole Extreme Energy Events (EEE) array is composed of 61 telescopes installed in Italian High Schools, built and operated by students and teachers, constantly supervised by researchers. The muon ...telescope of the EEE Project is made by 3 Multigap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC). The unconventional working sites are a unique test field for checking the robustness and the low-ageing features of the MRPC technology for particle tracking and timing purposes. The MRPCs are fluxed with a standard mixture (98% C
2
H
2
F
4
- 2% SF
6
) of greenhouse gases (GHG) phasing out of production. The EEE Collaboration is currently studying alternative mixtures environmentally and economically sustainable. The EEE Collaboration actions to reduce the Global Warming Potential (GWP) in the MRPC array of the EEE experiment are progressing.
The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) experiment consists in a network of cosmic muon tracker telescopes, each made of three Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chambers (MRPC), able to precisely measure the ...absolute muon crossing time and the muon integrated angular flux at the ground level. To investigate the MRPC telescope response and performance, a simulation tool was developed in GEMC, software package based on GEANT4 libraries. The framework was validated by comparing simulations with the EEE experimental data. Detailed description of telescope response is fundamental to carry on the physics program of the EEE project, and it could open other research avenues, such as using the telescope in combination with other detectors to perform a (muon) tomography of material surrounding the telescope. In this paper, the EEE simulation framework will be presented reporting results and discussing further applications.
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