Periodic Reporting for period 2 - INTENSE (INTENSE: particle physics experiments at the intensity frontier. A cooperative Europe - United States effort.)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-09-01 al 2024-08-31
INTENSE is a new European training network between universities, research centres and industries that has carried out an interdisciplinary research and training program for a cohort of 11 fellows. INTENSE has promoted the collaboration among European and US researchers involved in the most important particle physics research projects at the high intensity frontier. The observation of neutrino oscillations established a picture consistent with the mixing of three neutrino flavours with three mass eigenstates and small mass differences. Experimental anomalies point to the presence of sterile neutrino states participating in the mixing and not coupling to Standard Model gauge bosons. Lepton mixings and massive neutrinos offer a gateway to deviations from the Standard Model in the lepton sector including Charged Lepton Flavour Violation (CLFV). The Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab (FNAL) based on three almost identical liquid argon Time Project Chambers located along the Booster Neutrino Beam offers a compelling opportunity to resolve the anomalies and perform the most sensitive search of sterile neutrinos at the eV mass scale through appearance and disappearance oscillation searches. MicroBooNE, SBND, and ICARUS are searching for the oscillation signal by comparing the neutrino event spectra measured at different distances from the source. The FNAL SBN program and the CERN ProtoDUNE are a major step towards the global effort in realising the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Mu2e at FNAL improves the sensitivity on the search for the CLFV neutrinoless, coherent conversion of muons into electrons in the field of a nucleus of for orders of magnitude. MEG-II and Mu3e at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) improve the sensitivity on other CLFV muon decays. INTENSE researchers have provided leading contributions and taken leading roles in detectors commissioning, data taking and analysis. These endeavours foster the development of cutting-edge technologies with spin-offs outside particle physics.
INTENSE has coordinated 9 EU research institutions, 2 small/medium size enterprises and 7 partners from EU, US and China and has promoted these international collaborations by means of secondments of personnel.
INTENSE has coordinated 9 EU research institutions, 2 small/medium size enterprises and 7 partners from EU, US and China and has promoted these international collaborations by means of secondments of personnel.
INTENSE has been dedicated to the construction, commissioning and operation of the detectors employed in the SBN at Fermilab and in ProtoDUNE at CERN. This includes the Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers, the associated electronics, the calibration and data acquisitions systems, and the scintillator-based Cosmic Ray Taggers necessary to reduce the cosmic-ray induced backgrounds. INTENSE researchers have provided leading contribution to the development of software methods to optimize codes for neutrino event reconstruction at MicroBooNE, ICARUS, SBND and ProtoDUNE. Machine learning algorithms and deep learning tools are widely employed to improve pattern recognition algorithms. The new algorithms have been widely tested on real events and tuned to each SBN detector and ProtoDUNE. INTENSE researchers have been working also on the analysis of the Fermilab SBN and ProtoDUNE experiments. Using the full statistics collected by MicroBooNE in stand alone operation the nature of the MiniBooNE signal is thoroughly investigated to determine the nature as being due to a so far unknown background or a potential new physics signal. Taking advantage of the large statistics collected by MicroBooNE, ICARUS, SBND and ProtoDUNE, exclusive channels of low-energy interactions can be studied by measuring differential cross-sections. Once all three detectors have been made operational, data have begun to be combined to perform the full SBN search for oscillations using a global fit of the three-detector response. The neutrino events recorded at the far position by ICARUS can be compared to the un-oscillated neutrino spectra measured by SBND at the near site. This is fundamental experience to provide input to the future DUNE experiment on the new reconstruction algorithms and the liquid-argon cross-section measurements.
INTENSE has been dedicated also to the construction and operation of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab and the MEG-II and Mu3e experiments at PSI. This includes developing trigger and calibration algorithms at Mu2e, MEG-II and Mu3e, and developing the High Intensity Muon Beamlines at PSI and providing leading contribution to the analysis of the data collected by the experiments. The goal of Mu2e is the search for the neutrino-less muon conversion to electron in the field of an Aluminum nucleus, MEG-II for a positive muon decay to a positron and a photon, Mu3e for the decay of a positive muon decay to an electron and two positrons.
Networking among institutes, trainings of personnel, dissemination and outreach have been fundamental in INTENSE and has produced transfer of knowledge among participants and visibility of the project both towards the scientific community and the general public.
INTENSE has been dedicated also to the construction and operation of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab and the MEG-II and Mu3e experiments at PSI. This includes developing trigger and calibration algorithms at Mu2e, MEG-II and Mu3e, and developing the High Intensity Muon Beamlines at PSI and providing leading contribution to the analysis of the data collected by the experiments. The goal of Mu2e is the search for the neutrino-less muon conversion to electron in the field of an Aluminum nucleus, MEG-II for a positive muon decay to a positron and a photon, Mu3e for the decay of a positive muon decay to an electron and two positrons.
Networking among institutes, trainings of personnel, dissemination and outreach have been fundamental in INTENSE and has produced transfer of knowledge among participants and visibility of the project both towards the scientific community and the general public.
INTENSE has published technical papers on the performance of the Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) Program experiments at Fermilab, including the software and calibration tools measured on data. INTENSE has contributed to the publication of physics papers on the nature of the LSND/MiniBooNE anomaly, on high-statistics measurements of neutrino differential cross-sections in exclusive/inclusive low-energy neutrino channels with SBND and ProtoDUNE data, on neutrino cross-sections in the off-axis NuMI beam with ICARUS data. INTENSE has developed and published technical papers on the performance of the detectors and has prepared for the publication of physics papers on the analysis of the data collected by the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab and the MEG-II and Mu3e experiments at PSI to search for CLFV.
The technological challenges adopted by INTENSE researchers to develop particle detectors as well as the complex computing infrastructures necessary to process the produced data find applications also in other fields with wider impact on the society. The development of particle detectors and electronic systems for hostile environments which requires to qualify or re-design commercial devices favours the transfer of knowledge between academia and industry.
Particle accelerator technology is fundamental for our society. Many thousands of accelerators are employed for biomedical and materials research, for diagnosing and treating illnesses, and for a growing host of tasks in manufacturing, energy technology and homeland security. Advances in proton and ion beam therapy are enabling doctors to avoid harming tissue near the cancer. Accelerators offer several options to scan cargo containers and vehicles which is fundamental for homeland security. The semiconductor industry relies on ion beams to add special atoms in semiconductors. Ion implantation modifies semiconductors’ electrical properties leading to better, cheaper electronics.
The EU is making large investments in High Performance Computing (HPC) systems, crucial for the progress of science and a strategic resource for the future. The collaboration with US is fundamental to master advanced technologies. INTENSE partners in US are leaders in the effort to provide computing infrastructures to the particle physics experiments and a wider range of disciplines. HPC can be fundamental in many computation-intensive research areas.
The technological challenges adopted by INTENSE researchers to develop particle detectors as well as the complex computing infrastructures necessary to process the produced data find applications also in other fields with wider impact on the society. The development of particle detectors and electronic systems for hostile environments which requires to qualify or re-design commercial devices favours the transfer of knowledge between academia and industry.
Particle accelerator technology is fundamental for our society. Many thousands of accelerators are employed for biomedical and materials research, for diagnosing and treating illnesses, and for a growing host of tasks in manufacturing, energy technology and homeland security. Advances in proton and ion beam therapy are enabling doctors to avoid harming tissue near the cancer. Accelerators offer several options to scan cargo containers and vehicles which is fundamental for homeland security. The semiconductor industry relies on ion beams to add special atoms in semiconductors. Ion implantation modifies semiconductors’ electrical properties leading to better, cheaper electronics.
The EU is making large investments in High Performance Computing (HPC) systems, crucial for the progress of science and a strategic resource for the future. The collaboration with US is fundamental to master advanced technologies. INTENSE partners in US are leaders in the effort to provide computing infrastructures to the particle physics experiments and a wider range of disciplines. HPC can be fundamental in many computation-intensive research areas.