arXiv subjects

M. Sabate-Gilarte

Publications and source records attributed to M. Sabate-Gilarte.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Characterisation of the neutron beam in the n_TOF-EAR2 experimental area at CERN following the spallation target upgrade

The n_TOF facility at CERN has undergone a major upgrade after the installation of a new spallation target, designed to improve the features of both neutron beamlines at the experimental areas 1 and 2 (EAR1 and EAR2) and the commissioning of a new experimental area (NEAR). Due to improved coupling of the spallation target with the EAR2 beamline, the upgrade resulted in a significantly increased neutron flux and improved neutron energy resolution. This paper presents the results of the commissioning phase that followed to characterise the EAR2 neutron beamline and validate the FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations of the facility. The main features of the neutron beam, namely the neutron flux, spatial profile and energy resolution, are evaluated and compared to the previous target. The neutron flux presents a general increase of 20% below 1 eV, 40% between 1 eV and 100 keV and 50% between 100 keV and 10 MeV. The measured width of the beam profile was 3 cm (FWHM) at the reference position for neutron capture measurements. The energy resolution with the new spallation target shows a significant improvement compared to the previous one. Moreover, FLUKA Monte Carlo simulations present a good agreement with the measured neutron flux and profile within uncertainties, and a remarkable reproduction of the energy resolution.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

FACET: A new long-lived particle detector in the very forward region of the CMS experiment

We describe a proposal to add a set of very forward detectors to the CMS experiment for the high-luminosity era of the Large Hadron Collider to search for beyond the standard model long-lived particles, such as dark photons, heavy neutral leptons, axion-like particles, and dark Higgs bosons. The proposed subsystem is called FACET for Forward-Aperture CMS ExTension, and will be sensitive to any particles that can penetrate at least 50 m of magnetized iron and decay in an 18 m long, 1 m diameter vacuum pipe. The decay products will be measured in detectors using identical technology to the planned CMS Phase-2 upgrade.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Machine learning based event classification for the energy-differential measurement of the $^\text{nat}$C(n,p) and $^\text{nat}$C(n,d) reactions

The paper explores the feasibility of using machine learning techniques, in particular neural networks, for classification of the experimental data from the joint $^\text{nat}$C(n,p) and $^\text{nat}$C(n,d) reaction cross section measurement from the neutron time of flight facility n_TOF at CERN. Each relevant $ΔE$-$E$ pair of strips from two segmented silicon telescopes is treated separately and afforded its own dedicated neural network. An important part of the procedure is a careful preparation of training datasets, based on the raw data from Geant4 simulations. Instead of using these raw data for the training of neural networks, we divide a relevant 3-parameter space into discrete voxels, classify each voxel according to a particle/reaction type and submit these voxels to a training procedure. The classification capabilities of the structurally optimized and trained neural networks are found to be superior to those of the manually selected cuts.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2020

Further studies on the physics potential of an experiment using LHC neutrinos

We discuss an experiment to investigate neutrino physics at the LHC in Run 3, with emphasis on tau flavour. As described in our previous paper [arXiv:1903.06564v1], the detector can be installed in the decommissioned TI18 tunnel, about 480 m downstream the ATLAS cavern, after the first bending dipoles of the LHC arc. In that location, the prolongation of the beam Line-of-Sight from Interaction Point IP1 to TI18 traverses about 100 m of rock. The detector intercepts the intense neutrino flux, generated by the LHC beams colliding in IP1, at large pseudorapidity eta, where neutrino energies can exceed a TeV. This paper focuses on optimizing global features of the experiment, like detector mass and acceptance. Since the neutrino-nucleon interaction cross section grows almost linearly with energy, the detector can be light and still collect a considerable sample of neutrino events; in the present study it weighs less than 3 tons. The detector is positioned off the beam axis, slightly above the ideal prolongation of the LHC beam from the straight section, covering 7.4 < eta < 9.2. In this configuration, the flux at high energies (0.5-1.5 TeV and beyond) is found to be dominated by neutrinos originating directly from IP1, mostly from charm decays, of which about 50% are electron neutrinos and about 5% are tau neutrinos. The contribution of pion and kaon decays to the muon neutrino flux is studied by means of simulations that embed the LHC optics and found small at high energies. The above studies indicate that with 150 /fb of delivered LHC luminosity in Run 3 the experiment can record a few thousand very high energy neutrino charged current interactions and over 50 tau neutrino charged current events.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2020

Study of a data analysis method for the angle resolving silicon telescope

A new data analysis method is developed for the angle resolving silicon telescope introduced at the neutron time of flight facility n_TOF at CERN. The telescope has already been used in measurements of several neutron induced reactions with charged particles in the exit channel. The development of a highly detailed method is necessitated by the latest joint measurement of the $^{12}$C($n,p$) and $^{12}$C($n,d$) reactions from n_TOF. The reliable analysis of these data must account for the challenging nature of the involved reactions, as they are affected by the multiple excited states in the daughter nuclei and characterized by the anisotropic angular distributions of the reaction products. The unabridged analysis procedure aims at the separate reconstruction of all relevant reaction parameters - the absolute cross section, the branching ratios and the angular distributions - from the integral number of the coincidental counts detected by the separate pairs of silicon strips. This procedure is tested under the specific conditions relevant for the $^{12}$C($n,p$) and $^{12}$C($n,d$) measurements from n_TOF, in order to assess its direct applicability to these experimental data. Based on the reached conclusions, the original method is adapted to a particular level of uncertainties in the input data.

physics.data-an↗

arXiv2019

XSEN: a $ν$N Cross Section Measurement using High Energy Neutrinos from pp collisions at the LHC

XSEN (Cross Section of Energetic Neutrinos) is a small experiment designed to study, for the first time, neutrino-nucleon interactions (including the tau flavour) in the 0.5-1 TeV neutrino energy range. The detector will be installed in the decommissioned TI18 tunnel and uses nuclear emulsions. Its simplicity allows construction and installation before the LHC Run 3, 2021-2023; with 150/fb in Run3, the experiment can record up to two thousand neutrino interactions, and up to a hundred tau neutrino events. The XSEN detector intercepts the intense neutrino flux, generated by the LHC beams colliding in IP1, at large pseudo-rapidities, where neutrino energies can exceed the TeV. Since the neutrino-N interaction cross section grows almost linearly with energy, the detector can be light and still collect a considerable sample of neutrino interactions. In our proposal, the detector weighs less than 3 tons. It is lying slightly above the ideal prolongation of the LHC beam from the straight section; this configuration, off the beam axis, although very close to it, enhances the contribution of neutrinos from c and b decays, and consequently of tau neutrinos. The detector fits in the TI18 tunnel without modifications. We plan for a demonstrator experiment in 2021 with a small detector of about 0.5 tons; with 25/fb, nearly a hundred interactions of neutrinos of about 1 TeV can be recorded. The aim of this pilot run is a good in-situ characterisation of the machine-generated backgrounds, an experimental verification of the systematic uncertainties and efficiencies, and a tuning of the emulsion analysis infrastructure and efficiency. This Letter provides an overview of the experiment motivations, location, design constraints, technology choice, and operation.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2018

Cross section measurements of $^{155,157}$Gd(n,$γ$) induced by thermal and epithermal neutrons

Neutron capture measurements on $^{155}$Gd and $^{157}$Gd were performed using the time-of-flight technique at the n\_TOF facility at CERN. Four samples in form of self-sustaining metallic discs isotopically enriched in $^{155}$Gd and $^{157}$Gd were used. The measurements were carried out at the experimental area (EAR1) at 185 m from the neutron source, with an array of 4 C$_6$D$_6$ liquid scintillation detectors. The capture cross sections of $^{155}$Gd and $^{157}$Gd at neutron kinetic energy of 0.0253 eV have been estimated to be 62.2(2.2) kb and 239.8(9.3) kb, respectively, thus up to 6\% different relative to the ones reported in the nuclear data libraries. A resonance shape analysis has been performed in the resolved resonance region up to 180 eV and 300 eV, respectively, in average resonance parameters have been found in good agreement with evaluations. Above these energies the observed resonance-like structures in the cross section have been tentatively characterised in terms of resonance energy and area up to 1 keV.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2017

A direct method for unfolding the resolution function from measurements of neutron induced reactions

The paper explores the numerical stability and the computational efficiency of a direct method for unfolding the resolution function from the measurements of the neutron induced reactions. A detailed resolution function formalism is laid out, followed by an overview of challenges present in a practical implementation of the method. A special matrix storage scheme is developed in order to facilitate both the memory management of the resolution function matrix, and to increase the computational efficiency of the matrix multiplication and decomposition procedures. Due to its admirable computational properties, a Cholesky decomposition is at the heart of the unfolding procedure. With the smallest but necessary modification of the matrix to be decomposed, the method is successfully applied to system of $10^5\times10^5$. However, the amplification of the uncertainties during the direct inversion procedures limits the applicability of the method to high-precision measurements of neutron induced reactions.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2016

Pulse processing routines for neutron time-of-flight data

A pulse shape analysis framework is described, which was developed for n_TOF-Phase3, the third phase in the operation of the n_TOF facility at CERN. The most notable feature of this new framework is the adoption of generic pulse shape analysis routines, characterized by a minimal number of explicit assumptions about the nature of pulses. The aim of these routines is to be applicable to a wide variety of detectors, thus facilitating the introduction of the new detectors or types of detectors into the analysis framework. The operational details of the routines are suited to the specific requirements of particular detectors by adjusting the set of external input parameters. Pulse recognition, baseline calculation and the pulse shape fitting procedure are described. Special emphasis is put on their computational efficiency, since the most basic implementations of these conceptually simple methods are often computationally inefficient.

physics.ins-det↗