arXiv subjects

D. Heuchel

Publications and source records attributed to D. Heuchel.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An investigation of fast simulation techniques for pion showers using kernel density estimators with the CALICE AHCAL Technological Prototype

In this article, the development and investigation of fast hadron shower simulation methods is presented. A test beam dataset has been recorded in 2018 at CERN with the AHCAL Technological Prototype of the CALICE Collaboration, where the calorimeter prototype was exposed to electron, muon, and negatively charged pion beams of various initial energies. The pion shower dataset, covering energies between 10 GeV and 200 GeV, has been used to develop a data-driven fast simulation algorithm of the AHCAL response to pion showers. The resulting shower model demonstrates excellent agreement with measured shower observables. In addition, a method for simulating pion showers at arbitrary energies is introduced, based upon interpolation between simulated showers at neighbouring beam energies.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

The International Axion Observatory (IAXO): case, status and plans. Input to the European Strategy for Particle Physics

The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a next-generation axion helioscope designed to search for solar axions with unprecedented sensitivity. IAXO holds a unique position in the global landscape of axion searches, as it will probe a region of the axion parameter space inaccessible to any other experiment. In particular, it will explore QCD axion models in the mass range from meV to eV, covering scenarios motivated by astrophysical observations and potentially extending to axion dark matter models. Several studies in recent years have demonstrated that IAXO has the potential to probe a wide range of new physics beyond solar axions, including dark photons, chameleons, gravitational waves, and axions from nearby supernovae. IAXO will build upon the two-decade experience gained with CAST, the detailed studies for BabyIAXO, which is currently under construction, as well as new technologies. If, in contrast to expectations, solar axion searches with IAXO ``only'' result in limits on new physics in presently uncharted parameter territory, these exclusions would be very robust and provide significant constraints on models, as they would not depend on untestable cosmological assumptions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

An accurate solar axions ray-tracing response of BabyIAXO

BabyIAXO is the intermediate stage of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) to be hosted at DESY. Its primary goal is the detection of solar axions following the axion helioscope technique. Axions are converted into photons in a large magnet that is pointing to the sun. The resulting X-rays are focused by appropriate X-ray optics and detected by sensitive low-background detectors placed at the focal spot. The aim of this article is to provide an accurate quantitative description of the different components (such as the magnet, optics, and X-ray detectors) involved in the detection of axions. Our efforts have focused on developing robust and integrated software tools to model these helioscope components, enabling future assessments of modifications or upgrades to any part of the IAXO axion helioscope and evaluating the potential impact on the experiment's sensitivity. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the application of these tools by presenting a precise signal calculation and response analysis of BabyIAXO's sensitivity to the axion-photon coupling. Though focusing on the Primakoff solar flux component, our virtual helioscope model can be used to test different production mechanisms, allowing for direct comparisons within a unified framework.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2024

Shower Separation in Five Dimensions for Highly Granular Calorimeters using Machine Learning

To achieve state-of-the-art jet energy resolution for Particle Flow, sophisticated energy clustering algorithms must be developed that can fully exploit available information to separate energy deposits from charged and neutral particles. Three published neural network-based shower separation models were applied to simulation and experimental data to measure the performance of the highly granular CALICE Analogue Hadronic Calorimeter (AHCAL) technological prototype in distinguishing the energy deposited by a single charged and single neutral hadron for Particle Flow. The performance of models trained using only standard spatial and energy and charged track position information from an event was compared to models trained using timing information available from AHCAL, which is expected to improve sensitivity to shower development and, therefore, aid in clustering. Both simulation and experimental data were used to train and test the models and their performances were compared. The best-performing neural network achieved significantly superior event reconstruction when timing information was utilised in training for the case where the charged hadron had more energy than the neutral one, motivating temporally sensitive calorimeters. All models under test were observed to tend to allocate energy deposited by the more energetic of the two showers to the less energetic one. Similar shower reconstruction performance was observed for a model trained on simulation and applied to data and a model trained and applied to data.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2024

Software Compensation for Highly Granular Calorimeters using Machine Learning

A neural network for software compensation was developed for the highly granular CALICE Analogue Hadronic Calorimeter (AHCAL). The neural network uses spatial and temporal event information from the AHCAL and energy information, which is expected to improve sensitivity to shower development and the neutron fraction of the hadron shower. The neural network method produced a depth-dependent energy weighting and a time-dependent threshold for enhancing energy deposits consistent with the timescale of evaporation neutrons. Additionally, it was observed to learn an energy-weighting indicative of longitudinal leakage correction. In addition, the method produced a linear detector response and outperformed a published control method regarding resolution for every particle energy studied.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2023

Feebly Interacting Particles: FIPs 2022 workshop report

Particle physics today faces the challenge of explaining the mystery of dark matter, the origin of matter over anti-matter in the Universe, the origin of the neutrino masses, the apparent fine-tuning of the electro-weak scale, and many other aspects of fundamental physics. Perhaps the most striking frontier to emerge in the search for answers involves new physics at mass scales comparable to familiar matter, below the GeV-scale, or even radically below, down to sub-eV scales, and with very feeble interaction strength. New theoretical ideas to address dark matter and other fundamental questions predict such feebly interacting particles (FIPs) at these scales, and indeed, existing data provide numerous hints for such possibility. A vibrant experimental program to discover such physics is under way, guided by a systematic theoretical approach firmly grounded on the underlying principles of the Standard Model. This document represents the report of the FIPs 2022 workshop, held at CERN between the 17 and 21 October 2022 and aims to give an overview of these efforts, their motivations, and the decadal goals that animate the community involved in the search for FIPs.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Characterisation of different stages of hadronic showers using the CALICE Si-W ECAL physics prototype

A detailed investigation of hadronic interactions is performed using $π^-$-mesons with energies in the range 2--10 GeV incident on a high granularity silicon-tungsten electromagnetic calorimeter. The data were recorded at FNAL in 2008. The region in which the $π^-$-mesons interact with the detector material and the produced secondary particles are characterised using a novel track-finding algorithm that reconstructs tracks within hadronic showers in a calorimeter in the absence of a magnetic field. The principle of carrying out detector monitoring and calibration using secondary tracks is also demonstrated.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2019

Analysis of Testbeam Data of the Highly Granular RPC-Steel CALICE Digital Hadron Calorimeter and Validation of Geant4 Monte Carlo Models

We present a study of the response of the highly granular Digital Hadronic Calorimeter with steel absorbers, the Fe-DHCAL, to positrons, muons, and pions with momenta ranging from 2 to 60 GeV/c. Developed in the context of the CALICE collaboration, this hadron calorimeter utilises Resistive Plate Chambers as active media, interspersed with steel absorber plates. With a transverse granularity of $1\,\times\,1\,$cm$^{2}$ and a longitudinal segmentation of 38 layers, the calorimeter counted 350,208 readout channels, each read out with single-bit resolution (digital readout). The data were recorded in the Fermilab test beam in 2010-11. The analysis includes measurements of the calorimeter response and the energy resolution to positrons and muons, as well as detailed studies of various shower shape quantities. The results are compared to simulations based on Geant4, which utilise different electromagnetic and hadronic physics lists.

physics.ins-det↗