arXiv subjects

Jason Hirtz

Publications and source records attributed to Jason Hirtz.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Model bias and parameter optimisation with the example of INCL/ABLA

The accuracy and precision of high-energy spallation models play a crucial role in the design and development of new applications and experiments, as well as in data analysis. We discuss the complementarity between parameter optimisation and model bias estimation approaches within a Bayesian framework. This is illustrated using the IntraNuclear Cascade model of Li\`ege (INCL) together with the Ablation model (ABLA), for which these two approaches for model bias estimation have been applied independently in previous works.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2023

Parameter optimisation using Bayesian inference for spallation models

The accuracy and precision of high-energy spallation models are key issues for the design and development of new applications and experiments. We present a method to estimate model parameters and associated uncertainties by leveraging the Bayesian version of the Generalised Least Squares method, which enables us to incorporate prior knowledge on the parameter values. This approach is designed to adjust parameters based on experimental data, accounting for experimental uncertainty information, and providing uncertainties for all adjusted parameters. This approach is designed in order both to improve the accuracy of models through the modification of free parameters of these models, which results in a better reproduction of experimental data, and to estimate the uncertainties of these parameters and, by extension, their impacts on the model output. We aim at demonstrating the Generalised Least Square method can be applied in the case of Monte Carlo models. We present a proof-of-concept for Monte Carlo models in the specific case of nuclear physics with the model combination INCL/ABLA. We discuss the challenges in the application of this method to high-energy spallation models, notably the large runtime and the stochasticity of the models. Our results indicate this framework can also be applied to analogous situations where parameters of a computationally expensive Monte Carlo code should be inferred/improved.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

The role of de-excitation in the final-state interactions of protons in neutrino-nucleus interactions

Present and next generation of long-baseline accelerator experiments are bringing the measurement of neutrino oscillations into the precision era with ever-increasing statistics. One of the most challenging aspects of achieving such measurements is developing relevant systematic uncertainties in the modeling of nuclear effects in neutrino-nucleus interactions. To address this problem, state-of-the-art detectors are being developed to extract detailed information about all particles produced in neutrino interactions. To fully profit from these experimental advancements, it is essential to have reliable models of propagation of the outgoing hadrons through nuclear matter able to predict how the energy is distributed between all the final-state observed particles. In this article, we investigate the role of nuclear de-excitation in neutrino-nucleus scattering using two Monte Carlo cascade models: NuWro and INCL coupled with the de-excitation code ABLA. The ablation model ABLA is used here for the first time to model de-excitation in neutrino interactions. As input to ABLA, we develop a consistent simulation of nuclear excitation energy tuned to electron-scattering data. The paper includes the characterization of the leading proton kinematics and of the nuclear cluster production during cascade and de-excitation. The observability of nuclear clusters as vertex activity and their role in a precise neutrino energy reconstruction is quantified.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Neutron availability in the Complementary Experiments Hall of the IFMIF-DONES facility

The IFMIF-DONES facility will be dedicated to the irradiation of structural materials planned for the use in future fusion reactors such as DEMO (Demonstration Fusion Power Plant). The potentialities of the IFMIF-DONES facility to complement its principal purpose by other experiments that would open the facility to other communities is addressed in this work. It concerns a study based on simulations to evaluate the neutronic performances of IFMIF-DONES in an hall dedicated to complementary experiments where neutrons can be transported. With the simple beam tube geometry of 4.5~cm entrance diameter studied in this work we have shown that a collimated fast-neutron beam of about 2~10$^{10}$~n/cm$^2$/s is available in the hall. Adding a moderator in the hall with neutron extraction lines would allow to get thermal neutron beams of about ~10$^{6}$-10$^{7}$~n/cm$^2$/s for dedicated experiments. The results show that IFMIF-DONES has the potentialities to be a medium-flux neutron facility for most of the neutron applications.

physics.acc-ph↗

arXiv2021

Dispersion and focusing of cosmic rays in magnetospheres

Simulating the irradiation of planetary atmospheres by cosmic ray particles requires, among others, the ability to understand and to quantify the interactions of charged particles with planetary magnetic fields. Here we present a process that is very often ignored in such studies; the dispersion and focusing of cosmic ray trajectories in magnetospheres. The calculations were performed using our new code CosmicTransmutation, which has been developed to study cosmogenic nuclide production in meteoroids and planetary atmospheres and which includes the computation of the irradiation spectrum on top of the atmosphere. Here we discuss effects caused by dispersion and focusing of cosmic ray particle trajectories.

astro-ph.EP↗