arXiv subjects

P. Massarotti

Publications and source records attributed to P. Massarotti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

HIKE, High Intensity Kaon Experiments at the CERN SPS

A timely and long-term programme of kaon decay measurements at a new level of precision is presented, leveraging the capabilities of the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS). The proposed programme is firmly anchored on the experience built up studying kaon decays at the SPS over the past four decades, and includes rare processes, CP violation, dark sectors, symmetry tests and other tests of the Standard Model. The experimental programme is based on a staged approach involving experiments with charged and neutral kaon beams, as well as operation in beam-dump mode. The various phases will rely on a common infrastructure and set of detectors.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

KLEVER: An experiment to measure BR($K_L\toπ^0ν\barν$) at the CERN SPS

Precise measurements of the branching ratios for the flavor-changing neutral current decays $K\toπν\barν$ can provide unique constraints on CKM unitarity and, potentially, evidence for new physics. It is important to measure both decay modes, $K^+\toπ^+ν\barν$ and $K_L\toπ^0ν\barν$, since different new physics models affect the rates for each channel differently. The goal of the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS is to measure the BR for the charged channel to within 10%. For the neutral channel, the BR has never been measured. We are designing the KLEVER experiment to measure BR($K_L\toπ^0ν\barν$) to $\sim$20% using a high-energy neutral beam at the CERN SPS starting in LHC Run 4. The boost from the high-energy beam facilitates the rejection of background channels such as $K_L\toπ^0π^0$ by detection of the additional photons in the final state. On the other hand, the layout poses particular challenges for the design of the small-angle vetoes, which must reject photons from $K_L$ decays escaping through the beam exit amidst an intense background from soft photons and neutrons in the beam. Background from $Λ\to nπ^0$ decays in the beam must also be kept under control. We present findings from our design studies for the beamline and experiment, with an emphasis on the challenges faced and the potential sensitivity for the measurement of BR($K_L\toπ^0ν\barν$).

hep-ex↗

arXiv2018

Construction techniques and performances of a full-size prototype Micromegas chamber for the ATLAS muon spectrometer upgrade

A full-size prototype of a Micromegas precision tracking chamber for the upgrade of the ATLAS detector at the LHC Collider has been built between October 2015 and April 2016. This paper describes in detail the procedures used in constructing the single modules of the chamber in various INFN laboratories and the final assembly at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF). Results of the chamber exposure to the CERN SPS/H8 beam line in June 2016 are also presented. The performances achieved in the construction and the results of the test beam are compared with the requirements, which are imposed by the severe environment during the data-taking of the LHC foreseen for the next years.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2017

CHANTI: a Fast and Efficient Charged Particle Veto Detector for the NA62 Experiment at CERN

The design, construction and test of a charged particle detector made of scintillation counters read by Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) is described. The detector, which operates in vacuum and is used as a veto counter in the NA62 experiment at CERN, has a single channel time resolution of 1.14 ns, a spatial resolution of ~2.5 mm and an efficiency very close to 1 for penetrating charged particles.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2016

ChPT tests at the NA48 and NA62 experiments at CERN

The NA48/2 Collaboration at CERN has accumulated unprecedented statistics of rare kaon decays in the Ke4 modes: Ke4(+-) ($K^\pm \to π^+ π^- e^\pm ν$) and Ke4(00) ($K^\pm \to π^0 π^0 e^\pm ν$) with nearly one percent background contamination. The detailed study of form factors and branching rates, based on these data, has been completed recently. The results brings new inputs to low energy strong interactions description and tests of Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) and lattice QCD calculations. In particular, new data support the ChPT prediction for a cusp in the $π^0π^0$ invariant mass spectrum at the two charged pions threshold for Ke4(00) decay. New final results from an analysis of about 400 $K^\pm \to π^\pm γγ$ rare decay candidates collected by the NA48/2 and NA62 experiments at CERN during low intensity runs with minimum bias trigger configurations are presented. The results include a model-independent decay rate measurement and fits to ChPT description.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2014

Recent NA48/2 and NA62 results

The NA48/2 Collaboration at CERN has accumulated and analysed unprecedented statistics of rare kaon decays in the $K_{e4}$ modes: $K_{e4}(+-)$ ($K^\pm \to π^+ π^- e^\pm ν$) and $K_{e4}(00)$ ($K^\pm \to π^0 π^0 e^\pm ν$) with nearly one percent background contamination. It leads to the improved measurement of branching fractions and detailed form factor studies. New final results from the analysis of 381 $K^\pm \to π^\pm γγ$ rare decay candidates collected by the NA48/2 and NA62 experiments at CERN are presented. The results include a decay rate measurement and fits to Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) description.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2012

The large-angle photon veto system for the NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS

The branching ratio (BR) for the decay K^+ \to π^+ν\barν is a sensitive probe for new physics. The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS will measure this BR to within about 10%. To reject the background from dominant kaon decays with final state photons, the large-angle photon vetoes (LAVs) must detect photons of energy as low as 200 MeV with an inefficiency of less than 10^{-4}. The LAV detectors make use of lead glass blocks recycled from the OPAL electromagnetic calorimeter barrel. We describe the mechanical design and challenges faced during construction, the characterization of the lead glass blocks and solutions adopted for monitoring their performance, and the development of front-end electronics to allow simultaneous time and energy measurements over an extended dynamic range using the time over-threshold technique. Our results are based on test-beam data and are reproduced by a detailed Monte Carlo simulation that includes the readout chain.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2012

Wave hierarchies in viscoelasticity

An evolution operator L_n with n arbitrary, typical of several models, is analyzed. When n= 1, the operator characterizes the standard linear solid of viscoelasticity, whose properties are already established in previous papers. The fundamental solution εn of L_n is explicitly obtained and it's estimated in terms of the fundamental solution ε1 of L_1. So, whatever n may be, asymptotic properties and maximum theorems are achieved. These results are applied to the Rouse model and reptation model, which describe different aspects of polymer chains.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

The NA62 LAV front-end electronics

The branching ratio for the decay $K^+ \to π^+ν\barν$ is sensitive to new physics; the NA62 experiment will measure it to within about 10%. To reject the dominant background from channels with final state photons, the large-angle vetoes (LAVs) must detect particles with better than 1 ns time resolution and 10% energy resolution over a very large energy range. Our custom readout board uses a time-over-threshold discriminator coupled to a TDC as a straightforward solution to satisfy these requirements. A prototype of the readout system was extensively tested together with the ANTI-A2 large angle veto module at CERN in summer 2010.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2011

The Large-Angle Photon Veto System for the NA62 Experiment at CERN

The branching ratio (BR) for the decay K^+ \rightarrow π^+ ν\barν is a sensitive probe for new physics. The NA62 experiment at the CERN SPS will measure this BR to within about 10%. To reject the dominant background from channels with final state photons, the large-angle vetoes (LAVs) must detect photons of energy as low as 200 MeV with an inefficiency of less than 10^-4, as well as provide energy and time measurements with resolutions of 10% and 1 ns for 1 GeV photons. The LAV detectors make creative reuse of lead glass blocks recycled from the OPAL electromagnetic calorimeter barrel. We describe the mechanical design and challenges faced during construction, the characterization of the lead glass blocks and solutions adopted for monitoring their performance, and the development of front-end electronics to allow simultaneous time and energy measurements over an extended dynamic range using the time-over-threshold technique. Our results are based on test-beam data and are reproduced by a detailed Monte Carlo simulation that includes the readout chain.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2011

Observation of the rare eta->e+e-e+e- decay with the KLOE experiment

We report the first observation of the rare eta->e+e-e+e- decay based on 1.7 fb^{-1} collected by the KLOE experiment at the DAFNE phi-factory. The selection of the e+e-e+e- final state is fully inclusive of radiation. We have identified 362 +- 29 events resulting in a branching ratio of (2.4 +- 0.2_stat+bckg +- 0.1_syst) x 10^{-5}.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2011

Measurement of $Γ(η\to π^+π^-γ)/Γ(η\to π^+π^-π^0)$ with KLOE experiment

We report the measurement of the ratio $Γ(η\to π^+π^-γ)/Γ(η\to π^+π^-π^0)$ analyzing a large sample of $ϕ\to ηγ$ decays recorded with the KLOE experiment at the DA$Φ$NE $e^+ e^-$ collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 558 pb$^{-1}$. The $η\to π^+π^-γ$ process is supposed to proceed both via a resonant contribution, mediated by the $ρ$ meson, and a non resonant direct term, connected to the box anomaly. The presence of the direct term affects the partial width value. Our result $R_η=Γ(η\to π^+ π^- γ)/Γ(η\to π^+ π^- π^0)= 0.1838\pm 0.0005_{stat} \pm 0.0030_{syst}$ is in agreement with a recent CLEO measurement, which differs by more 3 $σ$ from the average of previous results.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2011

Measurement of sigma(e+ e- -> pi+ pi-) from threshold to 0.85 GeV^2 using Initial State Radiation with the KLOE detector

We have measured the cross section of the radiative process e+e- -> pi+pi-gamma with the KLOE detector at the Frascati phi-factory DAPHNE, from events taken at a CM energy W=1 GeV. Initial state radiation allows us to obtain the cross section for e+e- -> pi+pi-, the pion form factor |F_pi|^2 and the dipion contribution to the muon magnetic moment anomaly, Delta a_mu^{pipi} = (478.5+-2.0_{stat}+-5.0_{syst}+-4.5_{th}) x 10^{-10} in the range 0.1 < M_{pipi}^2 < 0.85 GeV^2, where the theoretical error includes a SU(3) ChPT estimate of the uncertainty on photon radiation from the final pions. The discrepancy between the Standard Model evaluation of a_mu and the value measured by the Muon g-2 collaboration at BNL is confirmed.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2010

Measurement of the $η\to 3π^{0}$ slope parameter $α$ with the KLOE detector

We present a measurement of the slope parameter $α$ for the $η\to 3π^{0}$ decay, with the KLOE experiment at the DA$Φ$NE $ϕ$-factory, based on a background free sample of $\sim$ 17 millions $η$ mesons produced in $ϕ$ radiative decays. By fitting the event density in the Dalitz plot we determine $α= -0.0301 \pm 0.0035\,stat\;_{-0.0035}^{+0.0022}\,syst\,$. The result is in agreement with recent measurements from hadro- and photo-production experiments.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2010

Vus determination from kaon decays

This review presents the analysis of leptonic and semileptonic kaon decays data done by the FlaviaNet Kaon Working group, as described in FlaviaNet Note of October 2008. Data include all recent results by BNL-E865, KLOE, KTeV, ISTRA+, and NA48. Experimental results are critically reviewed and combined, taking into account theoretical (both analytical and numerical) constraints on the semileptonic kaon form factors. We report on a very accurate determination of Vus as well as on many other tests of the SM which can be performed with leptonic and semileptonic kaon decays.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2009

A global fit to determine the pseudoscalar mixing angle and the gluonium content of the eta' meson

We update the values of the eta-eta' mixing angle and of the eta' gluonium content by fitting our measurement R_phi = BR(phi to eta' gamma)/ BR(phi to eta gamma) together with several vector meson radiative decays to pseudoscalars (V to P gamma), pseudoscalar mesons radiative decays to vectors (P to V gamma) and the eta' to gamma gamma, pi^0 to gamma gamma widths. From the fit we extract a gluonium fraction of Z^2_G = 0.12 +- 0.04, the pseudoscalar mixing angle psi_P = (40.4 +- 0.6) degree and the phi-omega mixing angle psi_V = (3.32 +- 0.09) degree. Z^2_G and psi_P are fairly consistent with those previously published. We also evaluate the impact on the eta' gluonium content determination of future experimental improvements of the eta' branching ratios and decay width.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Search for the decay phi -> K0 K0bar gamma with the KLOE experiment

We have searched for the decay phi -> K0 K0bar gamma, by detecting K_s pairs plus a photon and with the K_s-mesons decaying to pi^+ pi^-, in a sample of about 1.5x 10^9 phi-decays collected by the KLOE experiment at DAFNE. The reaction proceeds through the intermediate states f_0(980) gamma, a_0(980) gamma. We find five events with 3.2 events expected from background processes. We obtain the upper limit: BR (phi -> K0 K0bar gamma) < 1.9x10^-8 at 90% C.L. .

hep-ex↗

arXiv2009

Measurement of the branching ratio and search for a CP violating asymmetry in the eta -> pi+pi-e+e-(gamma) decay at KLOE

We have studied the eta->pi+pi-e+e-(gamma) decay using about 1.7 fb^-1 collected by the KLOE experiment at the DAFNE phi-factory. This corresponds to about 72 millions eta mesons produced in phi radiative decays. We have measured the branching ratio, inclusive of radiative effects, with 4% accuracy: BR(eta->pi+pi-e+e-(gamma)) = (26.8 +/- 0.9_Stat. +/- 0.7_Syst.) x 10^-5. We have obtained the first measurement of the CP-odd pipi-ee decay planes angular asymmetry, A_phi = (-0.6 +/- 2.5_Stat. +/- 1.8_Syst.) x 10^-2.

hep-ex↗