Scintillation light increase of carbontetrafluoride gas at low temperature

Scintillation detector is widely used for the particle detection in the field of particle physics. Particle detectors containing fluorine-19 (19F) are known to have advantages for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) dark matter search, especially for spin-dependent interactions with WIMPs due to its spin structure. In this study, the scintillation properties of carbontetrafluoride (CF4) gas at low temperature were evaluated because its temperature dependence of light yield has not been measured. We evaluated the light yield by cooling the gas from room temperature (300 K) to 263 K. As a result, the light yield of CF4 was found to increase by (41.0 ± 4.0stat. ± 6.6syst.)% and the energy resolution was also found to improve at low temperature.

Segmentation of EM showers for neutrino experiments with deep graph neural networks

We introduce a first-ever algorithm for the reconstruction of multiple showers from the data collected with electromagnetic (EM) sampling calorimeters. Such detectors are widely used in High Energy Physics to measure the energy and kinematics of in-going particles. In this work, we consider the case when many electrons pass through an Emulsion Cloud Chamber (ECC) brick, initiating electron-induced electromagnetic showers, which can be the case with long exposure times or large input particle flux. For example, SHiP experiment is planning to use emulsion detectors for dark matter search and neutrino physics investigation. The expected full flux of SHiP experiment is about 1020 particles over five years. To reduce the cost of the experiment associated with the replacement of the ECC brick and off-line data taking (emulsion scanning), it is decided to increase exposure time. Thus, we expect to observe a lot of overlapping showers, which turn EM showers reconstruction into a challenging point cloud segmentation problem. Our reconstruction pipeline consists of a Graph Neural Network that predicts an adjacency matrix and a clustering algorithm. We propose a new layer type (EmulsionConv) that takes into account geometrical properties of shower development in ECC brick. For the clustering of overlapping showers, we use a modified hierarchical density-based clustering algorithm. Our method does not use any prior information about the incoming particles and identifies up to 87% of electromagnetic showers in emulsion detectors. The achieved energy resolution over 16,577 showers is σE/E = (0.095 ± 0.005) + (0.134 ± 0.011)/√(E). The main test bench for the algorithm for reconstructing electromagnetic showers is going to be SND@LHC.

Gravity beyond Einstein? Part III: numbers and coupling constants, contradictory experiments, hypercomplex gravity like-fields, propellantless space propulsion

This article, the last in a series of three articles, attempts to unravel the underlying physics of recent experiments regarding the contradictory properties of the neutron lifetime that has been a complete riddle for quite some time. So far, none of the advanced theories beyond the Standard Models (SMs) of particle physics and cosmology have shown sufficient potential to resolve this mystery. We also try to explain the blatant contradiction between the predictions of particle physics and experiments concerning the nature and properties of the (so far undetected) dark matter and dark energy particles. To this end the novel concepts of both negative and hypercomplex matter (giving rise to the concept of matter flavor) are introduced, replacing the field of real numbers by hypercomplex numbers. This extension of the number system in physics leads to both novel internal symmetries requiring new elementary particles – as outlined in Part I and II, and to novel types of matter. Hypercomplex numbers are employed in place of the widely accepted (but never observed) concept of extra space dimensions – and, hence, also to question the corresponding concept of supersymmetry. To corroborate this claim, we report on the latest experimental searches for novel and supersymmetric elementary particles by direct searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and other colliders as well as numerous other dedicated experiments that all have come up empty handed. The same holds true for the dark matter search at European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) [CERN Courier Team, “Funky physics at KIT,” in CERN Courier, 2020, p. 11]. In addition, new experiments looking for dark or hidden photons (e.g., FUNK at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, CAST at CERN, and ALPS at Desy, Hamburg) are discussed that all produced negative results for the existence of the hitherto unseen but nevertheless gravitationally noticeably dark matter. In view of this contradicting outcome, we suggest a four-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, assumed to be a quasi de Sitter space, dS 1,3, complemented by a dual spacetime, denoted by DdS 1,3, in which the dark matter particles that are supposed to be of negative mass reside. This space is endowed with an imaginary time coordinate, −it and an imaginary speed of light, ic. This means that time is considered a complex quantity, but energy m(ic)2 > 0. With this construction visible and dark matter both represent positive energies, and hence gravitation makes no distinction between these two types of matter. As dark matter is supposed to reside in dual space DdS 1,3, it is principally undetectable in our spacetime. That this is evident has been confirmed by numerous astrophysical observations. As the concept of matter flavor may possibly resolve the contradictory experimental results concerning the lifetime of the neutron [J. T. Wilson, “Space based measurement of the neutron lifetime using data from the neutron spectrometer on NASA’s messenger mission,” Phys. Rev. Res., vol. 2, p. 023216, 2020] this fact could be considered as a first experimental hint for the actual existence of hypercomplex matter. In canonical gravity the conversion of electromagnetic into gravity-like fields (as surmised by Faraday and Einstein) should be possible, but not in cosmological gravity (hence these attempts did not succeed), and thus these conversion fields are outside general relativity. In addition, the concept of hypercomplex mass in conjunction with magnetic monopoles emerging from spin ice materials is discussed that may provide the enabling technology for long sought propellantless space propulsion.

Characterization of the scintillation time response of liquid argon detectors for dark matter search

The scintillation time response of liquid argon has a key role in the discrimination of electronic backgrounds in dark matter search experiments. However, its extraordinary rejection power can be affected by various detector effects such as the delayed light emission of TetraPhenyl Butadiene, the most commonly used wavelength shifter, and the electric drift field applied in Time Projection Chambers. In this work, we characterized the TetraPhenyl Butadiene delayed response and the dependence of the pulse shape discrimination on the electric field, exploiting the data acquired with the ARIS, a small-scale single-phase liquid argon detector exposed to monochromatic neutron and gamma sources at the ALTO facility of IJC Lab in Orsay.

Horizontal position reconstruction in PandaX-II

Dual-phase noble-gas time projection chambers (TPCs) have improved the sensitivities for dark matter direct search in past decades. The capability of TPCs to reconstruct 3-D vertexes of keV scale recoilings is one of the most advantageous features. In this work, we develop two horizontal position reconstruction algorithms for the PandaX-II dark matter search experiment using the dual-phase liquid xenon TPC. Both algorithms are optimized by the 83mKr calibration events and use photon distribution of ionization signals among photomultiplier tubes to infer the positions. According to the events coming from the gate electrode, the uncertainties in the horizontal positions are 3.4 mm (3.9 mm) in the analytical (simulation-based) algorithm for an ionization signal with several thousand photon electrons in the center of the TPC.

Radio line properties of axion dark matter conversion in neutron stars

Axions are well-motivated candidates for dark matter. Recently, much interest has focused on the detection of photons produced by the resonant conversion of axion dark matter in neutron star magnetospheres. Various groups have begun to obtain radio data to search for the signal, however, more work is needed to obtain a robust theory prediction for the corresponding radio lines. In this work we derive detailed properties for the signal, obtaining both the line shape and time-dependence. The principal physical effects are from refraction in the plasma as well as from gravitation which together lead to substantial lensing which varies over the pulse period. The time-dependence from the co-rotation of the plasma with the pulsar distorts the frequencies leading to a Doppler broadened signal whose width varies in time. For our predictions, we trace curvilinear rays to the line of sight using the full set of equations from Hamiltonian optics for a dispersive medium in curved spacetime. Thus, for the first time, we describe the detailed shape of the line signal as well as its time dependence, which is more pronounced compared to earlier results. Our prediction of the features of the signal will be essential for this kind of dark matter search.