A
bstract
The Double Chooz experiment presents improved measurements of the neutrino mixing angle
θ
13
using the data collected in 467.90 live days from a detector positioned at an average distance ...of 1050 m from two reactor cores at the Chooz nuclear power plant. Several novel techniques have been developed to achieve significant reductions of the backgrounds and systematic uncertainties with respect to previous publications, whereas the efficiency of the
ν
¯
e
signal has increased. The value of
θ
13
is measured to be sin
2
2
θ
13
= 0.090
− 0.029
+ 0.032
from a fit to the observed energy spectrum. Deviations from the reactor
ν
¯
e
prediction observed above a prompt signal energy of 4 MeV and possible explanations are also reported. A consistent value of
θ
13
is obtained from a fit to the observed rate as a function of the reactor power independently of the spectrum shape and background estimation, demonstrating the robustness of the
θ
13
measurement despite the observed distortion.
We present a novel approach for the search of dark matter in the DarkSide-50 experiment, relying on Bayesian Networks. This method incorporates the detector response model into the likelihood ...function, explicitly maintaining the connection with the quantity of interest. No assumptions about the linearity of the problem or the shape of the probability distribution functions are required, and there is no need to morph signal and background spectra as a function of nuisance parameters. By expressing the problem in terms of Bayesian Networks, we have developed an inference algorithm based on a Markov Chain Monte Carlo to calculate the posterior probability. A clever description of the detector response model in terms of parametric matrices allows us to study the impact of systematic variations of any parameter on the final results. Our approach not only provides the desired information on the parameter of interest, but also potential constraints on the response model. Our results are consistent with recent published analyses and further refine the parameters of the detector response model.
The Double Chooz experiment has determined the value of the neutrino oscillation parameter θ13 from an analysis of inverse beta decay interactions with neutron capture on hydrogen. This analysis uses ...a three times larger fiducial volume than the standard Double Chooz assessment, which is restricted to a region doped with gadolinium (Gd), yielding an exposure of 113.1 GW-ton-years. The data sample used in this analysis is distinct from that of the Gd analysis, and the systematic uncertainties are also largely independent, with some exceptions, such as the reactor neutrino flux prediction. A combined rate- and energy-dependent fit finds sin22θ13=0.097±0.034 (stat.)±0.034 (syst.), excluding the no-oscillation hypothesis at 2.0σ. This result is consistent with previous measurements of sin22θ13.
We present a search for signatures of neutrino mixing of electron anti-neutrinos with additional hypothetical sterile neutrino flavors using the Double Chooz experiment. The search is based on data ...from 5 years of operation of Double Chooz, including 2 years in the two-detector configuration. The analysis is based on a profile likelihood, i.e. comparing the data to the model prediction of disappearance in a data-to-data comparison of the two respective detectors. The analysis is optimized for a model of three active and one sterile neutrino. It is sensitive in the typical mass range
5
×
10
-
3
eV
2
≲
Δ
m
41
2
≲
3
×
10
-
1
eV
2
for mixing angles down to
sin
2
2
θ
14
≳
0.02
. No significant disappearance additionally to the conventional disappearance related to
θ
13
is observed and correspondingly exclusion bounds on the sterile mixing parameter
θ
14
as a function of
Δ
m
41
2
are obtained.
A
bstract
The Double Chooz collaboration presents a measurement of the neutrino mixing angle
θ
13
using reactor
ν
e
¯
observed via the inverse beta decay reaction in which the neutron is captured on ...hydrogen. This measurement is based on 462.72 live days data, approximately twice as much data as in the previous such analysis, collected with a detector positioned at an average distance of 1050 m from two reactor cores. Several novel techniques have been developed to achieve significant reductions of the backgrounds and systematic uncertainties. Accidental coincidences, the dominant background in this analysis, are suppressed by more than an order of magnitude with respect to our previous publication by a multi-variate analysis. These improvements demonstrate the capability of precise measurement of reactor
ν
e
¯
without gadolinium loading. Spectral distortions from the
ν
e
¯
reactor flux predictions previously reported with the neutron capture on gadolinium events are confirmed in the independent data sample presented here. A value of sin
2
2
θ
13
= 0.095
− 0.039
+ 0.038
(stat+syst) is obtained from a fit to the observed event rate as a function of the reactor power, a method insensitive to the energy spectrum shape. A simultaneous fit of the hydrogen capture events and of the gadolinium capture events yields a measurement of sin
2
2
θ
13
= 0
.
088 ± 0
.
033(stat+syst).
The activation of materials due to exposure to cosmic rays may become an important background source for experiments investigating rare event phenomena. DarkSide-20k, currently under construction at ...the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, is a direct detection experiment for galactic dark matter particles, using a two-phase liquid-argon Time Projection Chamber (TPC) filled with 49.7 tonnes (active mass) of Underground Argon (UAr) depleted in 39Ar. Despite the outstanding capability of discriminating γ/β background in argon TPCs, this background must be considered because of induced dead time or accidental coincidences mimicking dark-matter signals and it is relevant for low-threshold electron-counting measurements. Here, the cosmogenic activity of relevant long-lived radioisotopes induced in the experiment has been estimated to set requirements and procedures during preparation of the experiment and to check that it is not dominant over primordial radioactivity; particular attention has been paid to the activation of the 120 t of UAr used in DarkSide-20k. Expected exposures above ground and production rates, either measured or calculated, have been considered in detail. From the simulated counting rates in the detector due to cosmogenic isotopes, it is concluded that activation in copper and stainless steel is not problematic. The activity of 39Ar induced during extraction, purification and transport on surface is evaluated to be 2.8% of the activity measured in UAr by DarkSide-50 experiment, which used the same underground source, and thus considered acceptable. Other isotopes in the UAr such as 37Ar and 3H are shown not to be relevant due to short half-life and assumed purification methods.
The mechanical activation of the Ni85.8Fe10.6Cu2.2W1.4 powder mixture in the time intervals of 30-210 min in combination with thermal treatment at 393-873 K resulted in microstructural changes, ...forming the nanostructured mixture of the same composition but improved magnetic properties. The best result were achieved for mechanical activation during 120 min and thermal treatment at temperatures close to the Curie temperature (693K), enhancing the mass magnetization of the starting powder mixture by about 57%. The microstructural changes, which include the structural relaxation, decrease in free volume, density of dislocation and microstrain, improve structural characteristics of material, enabling better mobility of walls of magnetic domains and their better orientation in applied magnetic field and consequently enabling better mass magnetization of the material. With longer time of milling, the growing stress introduced in the sample undergoes easier relief, relocating stress-relieving processes toward lower temperatures.
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