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Alain Blondel

Publications and source records attributed to Alain Blondel.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Search for Heavy Right Handed Neutrinos at the FCC-ee

The Standard Model of particle physics is still lacking an understanding of the generation and nature of neutrino masses. A favorite theoretical scenario (the see-saw mechanism) is that both Dirac and Majorana mass terms are present, leading to the existence of heavy partners of the light neutrinos, presumably massive and nearly sterile. These heavy neutrinos can be searched for at high energy lepton colliders of very high luminosity, such as the Future electron-positron e+e- Circular Collider, FCC-ee (TLEP), presently studied within the Future Circular Collider design study at CERN, as a possible first step. A first look at sensitivities, both from neutrino counting and from direct search for heavy neutrino decay, are presented. The number of neutrinos should be measurable with a precision between 0.001 - 0.0004, while the direct search appears very promising due to the long lifetime of heavy neutrinos for small mixing angles. A sensitivity down to a heavy-light mixing of 10^{-12} is obtained, covering a large phase-space for heavy neutrino masses between 10 and 80 GeV/c2.

hep-ex↗

Report of the ICFA Beam Dynamics Workshop 'Accelerators for a Higgs Factory: Linear vs. Circular' (HF2012)

This paper is a summary report of the ICFA Beam Dynamics Workshop 'Accelerators for a Higgs Factory: Linear vs. Circular' (HF2012). It discusses four types of accelerators as possible candidates for a Higgs factory: linear e+e- colliders, circular e+e- colliders, muon collider and photon colliders. The comparison includes: physics reach, performance (energy and luminosity), upgrade potential, technology maturity and readiness, and technical challenges requiring further R&D.

physics.acc-ph↗

European Strategy for Accelerator-Based Neutrino Physics

Massive neutrinos reveal physics beyond the Standard Model, which could have deep consequences for our understanding of the Universe. Their study should therefore receive the highest level of priority in the European Strategy. The discovery and study of leptonic CP violation and precision studies of the transitions between neutrino flavours require high intensity, high precision, long baseline accelerator neutrino experiments. The community of European neutrino physicists involved in oscillation experiments is strong enough to support a major neutrino long baseline project in Europe, and has an ambitious, competitive and coherent vision to propose. Following the 2006 European Strategy for Particle Physics (ESPP) recommendations, two complementary design studies have been carried out: LAGUNA/LBNO, focused on deep underground detector sites, and EUROnu, focused on high intensity neutrino facilities. LAGUNA LBNO recommends, as first step, a conventional neutrino beam CN2PY from a CERN SPS North Area Neutrino Facility (NANF) aimed at the Pyhasalmi mine in Finland. A sterile neutrino search experiment which could also be situated in the CERN north area has been proposed (ICARUS-NESSIE) using a two detector set-up, allowing a definitive answer to the 20 year old question open by the LSND experiment. EUROnu concluded that a 10 GeV Neutrino Factory, aimed at a magnetized neutrino detector situated, also, at a baseline of around 2200 km (+-30%), would constitute the ultimate neutrino facility; it recommends that the next 5 years be devoted to the R&D, preparatory experiments and implementation study, in view of a proposal before the next ESPP update. The coherence and quality of this program calls for the continuation of neutrino beams at CERN after the CNGS, and for a high priority support from CERN and the member states to the experiments and R&D program.

hep-ex↗

A High Luminosity e+e- Collider in the LHC tunnel to study the Higgs Boson

We consider the possibility of a 120x120 GeV e+e- ring collider in the LHC tunnel. A luminosity of 10^34/cm2/s can be obtained with a luminosity life time of a few minutes. A high operation efficiency would require two machines: a low emittance collider storage ring and a separate accelerator injecting electrons and positrons into the storage ring to top up the beams every few minutes. A design inspired from the high luminosity b-factory design and from the LHeC design report is presented. Statistics of over 10^4 HZ events per year per experiment can be contemplated for a Standard Higgs Boson mass of 115-130 GeV.

hep-ex↗

Future neutrino oscillation facilities: physics priorities and open issues

The recent discovery that neutrinos have mass opens a wide new field of experimentation. Accelerator-made neutrinos are essential. Ideas for future facilities include superbeams beta-beams and neutrino factories, each associated with one or several options for detector systems. A summary of the perceived virtues and shortcomings of these options, and a number of open questions, are presented.

hep-ph↗