arXiv subjects

A. Polosa

Publications and source records attributed to A. Polosa.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

A Design for an Electromagnetic Filter for Precision Energy Measurements at the Tritium Endpoint

We present a detailed description of the electromagnetic filter for the PTOLEMY project to directly detect the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB). Starting with an initial estimate for the orbital magnetic moment, the higher-order drift process of ExB is configured to balance the gradient-B drift motion of the electron in such a way as to guide the trajectory into the standing voltage potential along the mid-plane of the filter. As a function of drift distance along the length of the filter, the filter zooms in with exponentially increasing precision on the transverse velocity component of the electron kinetic energy. This yields a linear dimension for the total filter length that is exceptionally compact compared to previous techniques for electromagnetic filtering. The parallel velocity component of the electron kinetic energy oscillates in an electrostatic harmonic trap as the electron drifts along the length of the filter. An analysis of the phase-space volume conservation validates the expected behavior of the filter from the adiabatic invariance of the orbital magnetic moment and energy conservation following Liouville's theorem for Hamiltonian systems.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

PTOLEMY: A Proposal for Thermal Relic Detection of Massive Neutrinos and Directional Detection of MeV Dark Matter

We propose to achieve the proof-of-principle of the PTOLEMY project to directly detect the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB). Each of the technological challenges described in [1,2] will be targeted and hopefully solved by the use of the latest experimental developments and profiting from the low background environment provided by the LNGS underground site. The first phase will focus on the graphene technology for a tritium target and the demonstration of TES microcalorimetry with an energy resolution of better than 0.05 eV for low energy electrons. These technologies will be evaluated using the PTOLEMY prototype, proposed for underground installation, using precision HV controls to step down the kinematic energy of endpoint electrons to match the calorimeter dynamic range and rate capabilities. The second phase will produce a novel implementation of the EM filter that is scalable to the full target size and which demonstrates intrinsic triggering capability for selecting endpoint electrons. Concurrent with the CNB program, we plan to exploit and develop the unique properties of graphene to implement an intermediate program for direct directional detection of MeV dark matter [3,4]. This program will evaluate the radio-purity and scalability of the graphene fabrication process with the goal of using recently identified ultra-high radio-purity CO2 sources. The direct detection of the CNB is a snapshot of early universe dynamics recorded by the thermal relic neutrino yield taken at a time that predates the epochs of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, the Cosmic Microwave Background and the recession of galaxies (Hubble Expansion). Big Bang neutrinos are believed to have a central role in the evolution of the Universe and a direct measurement with PTOLEMY will unequivocally establish the extent to which these predictions match present-day neutrino densities.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2015

Fully covering the MSSM Higgs sector at the LHC

In the context of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM), we reanalyze the search for the heavier CP-even $H$ and CP-odd $A$ neutral Higgs bosons at the LHC in their production in the gluon-fusion mechanism and their decays into gauge and lighter $h$ bosons and into top quark pairs. We show that only when considering these processes, that one can fully cover the entire parameter space of the Higgs sector of the model. Indeed, they are sensitive to the low $\tanβ$ and high Higgs mass ranges, complementing the traditional searches for high mass resonances decaying into $τ$-lepton pairs which are instead sensitive to the large and moderate $\tanβ$ regions. The complementarity of the various channels in the probing of the complete $[\tanβ, M_A]$ MSSM parameter space at the previous and upcoming phases of the LHC is illustrated in a recently proposed simple and model independent approach for the Higgs sector, the $h$MSSM, that we also refine in this paper.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

The post-Higgs MSSM scenario: Habemus MSSM?

We analyze the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model that we have after the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, the hMSSM (habemus MSSM?), i.e. a model in which the lighter $h$ boson has a mass of approximately 125 GeV which, together with the non-observation of superparticles at the LHC, indicates that the SUSY-breaking scale $M_S$ is rather high, $M_S > 1$ TeV. We first demonstrate that the value $M_h \approx 125$ GeV fixes the dominant radiative corrections that enter the MSSM Higgs boson masses, leading to a Higgs sector that can be described, to a good approximation, by only two free parameters. In a second step, we consider the direct supersymmetric radiative corrections and show that, to a good approximation, the phenomenology of the lighter Higgs state can be described by its mass and three couplings: those to massive gauge bosons and to top and bottom quarks. We perform a fit of these couplings using the latest LHC data on the production and decay rates of the light $h$ boson and combine it with the limits from the negative search of the heavier $H,A$ and $H^\pm$ states, taking into account the current uncertainties.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

New Hadronic Spectroscopy

In the past few years the field of hadron spectroscopy has seen renewed interest due to the pubblication, initially mostly from B-Factories, of evidences of states that do not match regular spectroscopy, but are rather candidates for bound states with additional quarks or gluons. A huge effort in understanding the nature of this new states and in building a new spectroscopy is ongoing. This report reviews the experimental and theoretical state of the art on heavy quarkonium exotic spectroscopy, with particular attention on the steps towards a global picture.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2008

Proceedings of SuperB Workshop VI: New Physics at the Super Flavor Factory

The sixth SuperB Workshop was convened in response to questions posed by the INFN Review Committee, evaluating the SuperB project at the request of INFN. The working groups addressed the capability of a high-luminosity flavor factory that can gather a data sample of 50 to 75 /ab in five years to elucidate New Physics phenomena unearthed at the LHC. This report summarizes the results of the Workshop.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Towards the European strategy for particle physics: the Briefing Book

This document was prepared as part of the briefing material for the Workshop of the CERN Council Strategy Group, held in DESY Zeuthen from 2nd to 6th May 2006. It gives an overview of the physics issues and of the technological challenges that will shape the future of the field, and incorporates material presented and discussed during the Symposium on the European Strategy for Particle Physics, held in Orsay from 30th January to 2nd February 2006, reflecting the various opinions of the European community as recorded in written submissions to the Strategy Group and in the discussions at the Symposium.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

A new look at scalar mesons

Light scalar mesons are found to fit rather well a diquark-antidiquark description. The resulting nonet obeys mass formulae which respect, to a good extent, the OZI rule. OZI allowed strong decays are reasonably reproduced by a single amplitude describing the switch of a qbar-q pair, which transforms the state into two colourless pseudoscalar mesons. Predicted heavy states with one or more quarks replaced by charm or beauty are briefly described; they should give rise to narrow states with exotic quantum numbers.

hep-ph↗