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X. Li

Publications and source records attributed to X. Li.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Electro- and photoproduction of muon pairs with $μ$CLAS12: Double Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering, Timelike Compton Scattering, and $J/ψ$ production

The CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer for operation at 12 GeV (CLAS12) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has played a central role in advancing the understanding of nucleon and nuclear structure. As increasingly precise data become available, new physics opportunities emerge that extend beyond the current capabilities of CLAS12. In this article, a program to explore the quark and gluon structure of the nucleon through di-muon electro- and photoproduction is presented. Its primary focus is the measurement of beam-spin asymmetries in Double Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering, $ep \rightarrow e^\prime μ^+ μ^-p^\prime $. By independently varying the incoming and outgoing photon virtualities and momentum transfer, the DDVCS measurement provides access to the Generalized Parton Distributions over their full three-dimensional phase space, extending beyond the kinematic constraints of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering and Timelike Compton Scattering. In addition, the large acceptance and high luminosity of the $μ$CLAS12 experiment will enable precision measurements of near-threshold $J/ψ$ production and high-statistics studies of Timelike Compton Scattering.

hep-ex↗

The nEXO Radioassay Program

Material radioactivity compilations, such as the one presented here, are important enablers of science. They are useful for the selection of radiopure materials used in the design and construction of low-energy rare-event search experiments. They allow researchers developing such experiments to save time on material studies and avoid costly duplication of effort. The data presented here were generated in support of the planned nEXO double-beta decay search. This work contains among the most restrictive constraints on the natural radioactivity content of materials of general interest to the low-radioactivity community, found in any tabulation of this kind. In this study, various techniques were employed; they are described here.

physics.ins-det↗

Precision QCD with the Electron-Ion Collider

This document summarizes the discussions at the program "Precision QCD with the Electron Ion Collider", held from May to June 2025 at the Institute for Nuclear Theory (INT) at the University of Washington. The program was co-sponsored by the INT and by the Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science (CFNS, Stony Brook University). Over its five-week duration it brought together about 70 theorists, experimentalists and computer scientists all interested in the physics program at the future Electron Ion Collider in preparation at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Key topics at the program were: higher-order perturbative-QCD calculations and techniques; nuclear structure and tomography; comparisons of phenomenological and lattice determinations of parton distribution functions; identification of signature observables for saturated gluons; assessment of the importance of AI techniques for EIC studies and detector development.

hep-ph↗

Observations of the Fermi bubbles and the Galactic center excess with the DArk Matter Particle Explorer

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is a space-borne high-energy particle detector that surveys the $γ$-ray sky above$\sim 2~\rm GeV$ with a peak acceptance of $\sim 0.2~\rm m^2\,sr$. With the 102 months of data collected by DAMPE, we show that the Fermi bubbles are detected at a significance of $\sim 26σ$ and identify a GeV excess in the direction of Galactic center at $\sim 7 σ$ confidence. Both spectra and morphology are consistent with those observed by Fermi-LAT and the GeV excess component can be interpreted by the dark matter annihilation with a mass of $\sim 50$ GeV and a velocity-averaged cross section of $\sim 10^{-26}~{\rm cm^{3}~s^{-1}}$ for the $χχ\rightarrow b\bar{b}$ channel. Our results thus provide the first independent detection of these two intriguing diffuse gamma-ray sources besides Fermi-LAT.

astro-ph.HE↗

Low Energy Phonon Bursts Created By Fast Neutron Damage

Solid state athermal phonon calorimeters used in the search for low mass dark matter or coherent neutrino-nucleus interactions have long observed a large excess of events below several hundred eV. The relaxation of damage created by the interaction of fast cosmic ray neutrons with the detector has been proposed as a source of these excess events. By comparing neutron exposed detectors to control detectors, we report the first measurement of phonon bursts caused by damage created by fast neutrons. Differences in the spectral shape, the rate dependence on thermal history, and the observed spectral rate scaled to the neutron exposure between irradiated and control detectors suggest that our observed LEE backgrounds are not dominated by neutron damage-induced phonon bursts.

physics.ins-det↗

MiroThinker-1.7 & H1: Towards Heavy-Duty Research Agents via Verification

We present MiroThinker-1.7, a new research agent designed for complex long-horizon reasoning tasks. Building on this foundation, we further introduce MiroThinker-H1, which extends the agent with heavy-duty reasoning capabilities for more reliable multi-step problem solving. In particular, MiroThinker-1.7 improves the reliability of each interaction step through an agentic mid-training stage that emphasizes structured planning, contextual reasoning, and tool interaction. This enables more effective multi-step interaction and sustained reasoning across complex tasks. MiroThinker-H1 further incorporates verification directly into the reasoning process at both local and global levels. Intermediate reasoning decisions can be evaluated and refined during inference, while the overall reasoning trajectory is audited to ensure that final answers are supported by coherent chains of evidence. Across benchmarks covering open-web research, scientific reasoning, and financial analysis, MiroThinker-H1 achieves state-of-the-art performance on deep research tasks while maintaining strong results on specialized domains. We also release MiroThinker-1.7 and MiroThinker-1.7-mini as open-source models, providing competitive research-agent capabilities with significantly improved efficiency.

cs.CL↗

Solar photospheric velocities measured in space: a comparison between SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI

The Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (SO/PHI) onboard Solar Orbiter is a spectropolarimeter scanning the Fe I line at 617.3 nm, providing data of the solar photosphere. The same line is sampled by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and many other on-ground instruments. In this paper, we aim at assessing the consistency between line-of-sight (LoS) velocity measurements from the two instruments. Reliable measurements of up and down flows from SO/PHI are crucial and unique when Solar Orbiter is facing the far side of the Sun. Also, a combination of measurements from two vantage points to study horizontal flows must rely on consistent observations. For this purpose, we compare the LoS velocity measured by SO/PHI's High Resolution Telescope (SO/PHI-HRT) and SDO/HMI on 29 March 2023, when Solar Orbiter was crossing the Sun-Earth line at a distance of 0.39 au from the Sun. Because such co-alignments are rare, this configuration offered an almost unique opportunity to directly compare data products from both telescopes. The data are aligned and remapped to allow a pixel-by-pixel comparison of the whole time series of 4 hours length. Temporal and spatial variations are considered for a direct combination of the measurements. The LoS velocity distributions are evaluated and a clear linear relation is found between the two instruments with a slope of 0.96 and a correlation of 92%. We find that the signals form at similar heights, with a separation of 7$\pm$14 km, which is larger than previous estimates. A close-up look at the penumbra of a sunspot and its Evershed flow is presented. We conclude that the signals inferred by SO/PHI-HRT and SDO/HMI show very good agreement and high correlation when instrumental effects and large-scale velocities on the Sun are properly accounted for.

astro-ph.SR↗

Sensitivity of a closed dielectric haloscope to axion dark matter

We present a method to determine the sensitivity of a closed dielectric haloscope to axion dark matter. Dielectric haloscopes aim to probe the theoretically well-motivated axion mass range of ~26 $\mathrmμ$eV to ~500 $\mathrmμ$eV by utilizing a stack of dielectric disks and a mirror to enhance the axion-photon conversion within an external magnetic field. Their conversion volume is nearly axion-mass independent, thereby favoring large-scale designs to increase sensitivity. The large volume causes simulations to be computationally expensive and time-consuming. This paper presents a simple model that can be used to determine the sensitivity of the experiment with minimal computational resources. The model is able to describe the electromagnetic response of a closed dielectric haloscope, accounting for realistic geometric imperfections, as well as the noise introduced by the receiver system. It is applied to data taken with a MAgnetized Disk and Mirror Axion Experiment (MADMAX) prototype within the 1.6 T Morpurgo magnet at CERN. This work underpins the first axion dark matter search using a dielectric haloscope and provides the foundation for future dark matter searches with MADMAX.

astro-ph.IM↗

PulSKASim: A Pulsar Simulator for SKA-Scale Interferometric Observations

Accurate simulation of pulsar flux variability is critical for testing Square Kilometre Array (SKA) interferometric pipelines. However, most existing simulators neglect the effects of integration time and related observational parameters, limiting their realism and utility for interferometric end-to-end testing. To address these shortcomings, we develop a Pulsar Simulator for SKA-scale interferometric observations (PulSKASim), which models pulsar flux evolution across pulsar period, maximum flux, duty cycle, and noise, accounting for integration time, sampling, and observation duration, and naturally models flux smoothing that arises from finite integration within each dump time. PulSKASim generates synthetic measurement sets using functions in simulators for radio interferometers, such as OSKAR and Pyuvsim, where each snapshot contains pulsars with controlled flux levels, enabling realistic per-time-slot experiments. This simulator allows for detailed assessment of calibration, imaging, and detection pipelines under realistic SKA-like conditions, bridging pulsar variability modelling with interferometric simulation in a way not achievable by existing tools.

astro-ph.IM↗

Design of a high voltage delivery system for noble liquid time projection chambers

Noble liquid time projection chambers (TPCs) are a leading technology in the detection of ionizing radiation, particularly in applications such as accelerator neutrino physics, dark matter detection, and neutrinoless double beta decay. This paper addresses the design considerations for implementing stable high voltage (HV) systems within large noble liquid TPCs, with a focus on the nEXO experiment. Utilizing insights from prior HV research and experimental investigations, we outline factors influencing HV stability and discuss design choices to improve stability and prevent electrical discharges. A novel HV delivery system concept is presented, tailored for the nEXO TPC, which incorporates these design considerations while also meeting the stringent radiopurity requirements of the nEXO neutrinoless double beta decay search. These design considerations and their specific implementation towards a HV delivery system offer guidance to future experiments applying high voltage in noble liquid environments.

physics.ins-det↗

Charge collection parameterization of MALTA2, a depleted monolithic active pixel sensor

A fast simulation method is presented for a depleted monolithic active pixel sensor, which uses a data driven parameterization of the charge collection and propagation. This approach provides an efficient alternative to TCAD simulations, particularly for sensors whose proprietary process details - such as doping profiles or implant geometries - are unavailable. Data was obtained with a MALTA2 sensor fabricated in a 180 nm CMOS imaging technology on 30 μm epitaxial silicon using the MALTA beam telescope at CERN SPS. The model reproduces the measured inpixel efficiency with high accuracy and enables a realistic yet computationally lightweight analog pixel simulation. This method will be further employed in optimizing the digital sensor design for applications in high-rate particle tracking and high-granularity calorimetry.

physics.ins-det↗

Near-Threshold J/$ψ\to μ^+μ^-$ Photoproduction and the Gluonic Gravitational Form Factors of the Proton

We report on the measurement of the two-dimensional differential cross section for near-threshold J/$ψ\to μ^+μ^-$ photoproduction from the J/$ψ$-007 experiment in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. Our results agree with the previously published J/$ψ\to e^+e^-$ results. We extract the integrated photoproduction cross section and find no evidence for open-charm contributions. A combined analysis of both decay channels following a Holographic QCD approach yields improved experimental constraints on the gluonic gravitational form factor $\mathcal{C}_g(t)$. Our results agree with recent lattice QCD calculations and we obtain $\mathcal{C}_g(t)$ with a comparable statistical precision to lattice QCD. Our results support a spatial picture where gluons dominate at larger radii with a confining inward pressure. This work provides new input for exploring the mechanical properties of gluons inside the proton.

nucl-ex↗

Search for Light-Mass Fractionally Charged Particles in Space with DAMPE Experiment

Free Fractionally Charged Particles (FCPs) are predicted by some theories beyond or extended to the standard model. FCPs have been widely searched for by underground and space-based experiments based on the assumption of heavy lepton-like particles. However, there is a paucity of research focusing on light-mass FCPs (LFCPs) in the sub-MeV mass range. In this work, we report the LFCPs in primary high energy cosmic rays, based on observational data from the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite. This study utilized ten years on-orbit data of DAMPE to search for LFCPs with a charge of $\frac{2}{3}~e$. No LFCP candidate was observed. Upper flux limit of LFCPs with a mass of 0.511 MeV$/c^{2}$ and a charge of $\frac{2}{3}~e$ is determined to be $\rm 5.0 \times 10^{-11}\,cm^{-2}sr^{-1}s^{-1}$ at the $\rm 90\%$ confidence level.

astro-ph.HE↗

Diverse properties of electron Forbush decreases revealed by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer

The Forbush decrease (FD) of cosmic rays is an important probe of the interplanetary environment disturbed by solar activities. In this work, we study the properties of 8 FDs electrons (including positrons) between 2 GeV and 20 GeV from January, 2016 to March, 2024, with the Dark Matter Particle Explorer. The maximum decrease amplitudes of these events are about 30% - 15%, and the amplitudes reduce with energy. The recovery time of these events shows diverse behaviors of their energy-dependence. Some of them show strong energy-dependence, while some have a nearly constant recovery time. It has been shown that such diverse behaviors could be related with the geometry of the disturbed regions of the interplanetary space by coronal mass ejections (CME), represented by the combined effect of the CME velocity, angular spread, and ejection direction.

astro-ph.HE↗

Measurements of Beam Spin Asymmetries of $π^\pmπ^0$ dihadrons at CLAS12

A first measurement of beam spin asymmetries for $π^+π^0$ and $π^-π^0$ pairs in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering is reported. The asymmetries in the dihadron angular distributions were measured from the scattering of a 10.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electron beam off a proton target, using the CLAS12 detector at Jefferson Lab. A photon classifier using a Gradient Boosted Trees (GBTs) architecture was trained with Monte Carlo simulations to reduce the amount of false combinatorial background $π^0$s, increasing statistics by up to five-fold compared to previous CLAS12 $π^0$ analyses. A nonzero $\sinϕ_{R_\perp}$ asymmetry is observed. This measurement is sensitive to the underexplored collinear twist-3 PDF $e(x)$, which encodes quark-gluon correlations in the proton, and presents a new avenue for its point-by-point extraction. The asymmetries also provide the first experimental evidence for the isospin-dependence of the helicity-dependent dihadron fragmentation function $G_1^\perp$, revealed by a sign-difference between the $π^+π^0$ and $π^-π^0$ channels in the $\sin(ϕ_h-ϕ_{R_\perp})$ modulation. In contrast, a large, same-sign enhancement near the $ρ$ mass for the $\sin(2ϕ_h-2ϕ_{R_\perp})$ modulation is observed, matching spectator model predictions in $π^+π^-$ pairs.

hep-ex↗

First Study of the Nuclear Response to Fast Hadrons via Angular Correlations between Pions and Slow Protons in Electron-Nucleus Scattering

We report on the first measurement of angular correlations between high-energy pions and slow protons in electron-nucleus ($eA$) scattering, providing a new probe of how a nucleus responds to a fast-moving quark. The experiment employed the CLAS detector with a 5-GeV electron beam incident on deuterium, carbon, iron, and lead targets. For heavier nuclei, the pion-proton correlation function is more spread-out in azimuth than for lighter ones, and this effect is more pronounced in the $πp$ channel than in earlier $ππ$ studies. The proton-to-pion yield ratio likewise rises with nuclear mass, although the increase appears to saturate for the heaviest targets. These trends are qualitatively reproduced by state-of-the-art $eA$ event generators, including BeAGLE, eHIJING, and GiBUU, indicating that current descriptions of target fragmentation rest on sound theoretical footing. At the same time, the precision of our data exposes model-dependent discrepancies, delineating a clear path for future improvements in the treatment of cold-nuclear matter effects in $eA$ scattering.

nucl-ex↗

Formal Modeling and Verification of Grover's Algorithm

Grover's algorithm relies on the superposition and interference of quantum mechanics, which is more efficient than classical computing in specific tasks such as searching an unsorted database. Due to the high complexity of quantum mechanics, the correctness of quantum algorithms is difficult to guarantee through traditional simulation methods. By contrast, the fundamental concepts and mathematical structure of Grover's algorithm can be formalized into logical expressions and verified by higher-order logical reasoning. In this paper, we formally model and verify Grover's algorithm in the HOL Light theorem prover. We focus on proving key properties such as the unitarity of its oracle and diffusion operators, the monotonicity of the success probability with respect to the number of iterations, and an exact expression for the optimal iteration count. By analyzing a concrete application to integer factorization, we demonstrate the practicality and prospects of our work.

quant-ph↗

Measurement of the nucleon spin structure functions for 0.01<$Q^2$<1 GeV$^2$ using CLAS

The spin structure functions of the proton and the deuteron were measured during the EG4 experiment at Jefferson Lab in 2006. Data were collected for longitudinally polarized electron scattering off longitudinally polarized NH$_3$ and ND$_3$ targets, for $Q^2$ values as small as 0.012 and 0.02 GeV$^2$, respectively, using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). This is the archival paper of the EG4 experiment that summaries the previously reported results of the polarized structure functions $g_1$, $A_1F_1$, and their moments $\overline Γ_1$, $\overline γ_0$, and $\overline I_{TT}$, for both the proton and the deuteron. In addition, we report on new results on the neutron $g_1$ extracted by combining proton and deuteron data and correcting for Fermi smearing, and on the neutron moments $\overline Γ_1$, $\overline γ_0$, and $\overline I_{TT}$ formed directly from those of the proton and the deuteron. Our data are in good agreement with the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule for the proton, deuteron, and neutron. Furthermore, the isovector combination was formed for $g_1$ and the Bjorken integral $\overline Γ_1^{p-n}$, and compared to available theoretical predictions. All of our results provide for the first time extensive tests of spin observable predictions from chiral effective field theory ($χ$EFT) in a $Q^2$ range commensurate with the pion mass. They motivate further improvement in $χ$EFT calculations from other approaches such as the lattice gauge method.

nucl-ex↗