INPA

Jeff Cooke (Swinburne University) "The Keck Wide-Field Imager and the future direction of the Keck Observatory"
2022-10-07 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | 50A-5132 / https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95016696011?pwd=[REDACTED] One Cyclotron Road, 50A-5132, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
ABSTRACT:
The Keck Wide-Field Imager (KWFI) is a 1 degree diameter field of view wide-field optical imager for Keck that will be the most powerful wide-field imager in the world for the foreseeable future. KWFI has extreme sensitivity from 10000A down to 3000A that will enable new science from the high redshift Universe, to time-domain science, to the local Universe and the solar system that cannot be done on any other existing or planned telescope for decades. We have now entered into the era of next-generation facilities, including JWST and NASA Roman space telescope, the Cherenkov Telescope Array, the Square Kilometre Array, LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA, Subaru Prime Focus Spectrograph, Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer, and 30m-class telescopes, with larger, more sensitive facilities in planning for the next decades, such as the Cosmic Explorer, LISA, LUVOIR, and others. In this talk, I will discuss how KWFI’s extremely deep, wide-field imaging is vital for nearly all science cases for these facilities (many are billion-dollar facilities) operating at all wavelengths and how it will greatly extend their reach. KWFI will excel at targeted science programs, which make up the bulk of all Keck community science. I will discuss the status and continued progress of KWFI and development of a deployable secondary mirror to enable new science and fast imaging and spectroscopy capability in the same night.
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SPEAKER: Yuuki Omori - University of Chicago
2022-09-16 12:00 - 13:00 | 50A-5132 / https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95016696011?pwd=[REDACTED] One Cyclotron Road, 50A-5132, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
Date: Friday, September 16, 2022
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Speaker: Yuuki Omori (University of Chicago)
Title: “Constraining cosmology and astrophysics using the combination of CMB x LSS, and understanding biases in cross-correlation measurements”
Abstract:
Cross-correlation measurements between CMB and LSS observables is becoming an increasingly popular approach to constrain cosmology and astrophysics. Since CMB and LSS surveys have different experimental systematic effects, cross-correlation measurements are known to be minimally impacted by these effects. However, what is often disregarded are the astrophysical systematic effects, which are present in both CMB and LSS data, which contaminate cross-correlation measurements. In the first part of the talk, I will present the recent results from the DESxSPT 6x2pt analysis and discuss how we mitigated such biases. In the second part of the talk, I will present a new simulation suite that has both CMB and LSS observables that can be used to study these biases.
Hybrid Location: Conference Room 50-5132
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THE NEXT INPA SEMINAR WILL BE FRIDAY: September 23, 2022, at 12:00 Noon

Speaker: Zhelei Xu (MIT) - Precision Cosmology: from CMB and 21cm
2022-09-02 12:00 - 13:00 | 50A-5132- Sessler, 50A-5132 Sessler Conference Room, CA
Date: Friday, September 2, 2022
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Conference Room B50-5132
Speaker: Zhelei Xu (MIT)
Title: Precision Cosmology: from CMB and 21cm
This is a HYBRID Meeting: Please see ZOOM Information Below
ABSTRACT: Over the past decades, observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have established the standard cosmological model. In the future, 21cm signals from neutral hydrogen have great potential for cosmological and astrophysical studies. In this talk, I will review the previous CMB observations and how it established the ΛCDM cosmology model. Then I will discuss the instrumentation and calibration of the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) and the Simons Observatory (SO). At the end, I will discuss how we can use the 21cm observation as a powerful probe to study cosmology, and introduce our novel mapping method for 21cm interferometric data.
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Christopher Grant (University of Boston) - New Results from KamLAND-Zen 800 with Nearly a Ton-Year Exposure of Xe-136
2022-05-13 12:00 - 13:00 | 50A-5132- Sessler, 50A-5132 Sessler Conference Room, CA
KamLAND-Zen is searching for neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay in Xe-136 using a xenon-loaded liquid scintillator. The KamLAND-Zen detector was recently upgraded with almost double the amount of xenon and an ultra-low radioactivity container. With almost 1-ton-year of Xe-136 exposure, we are exploring the double-beta decay parameter space corresponding to the inverted hierarchy for the first time. We have not yet observed NDBD, but these results make use of novel algorithms to perform beta-gamma separation using ML and tag spallation products on day-long time scales. We obtain a lower limit for the 0νββ decay half-life of 2.3×10^26 yr at 90% C.L., corresponding to upper limits on the effective Majorana neutrino mass of 36-156 meV using commonly adopted nuclear matrix element calculations.

Andrei Puiu (Gran Sasso Science Institute) "Direct Dark Matter Search with COSINUS"
2022-05-06 12:00 - 13:00 | 50A-5132 / https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95016696011?pwd=[REDACTED] One Cyclotron Road, 50A-5132, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
ABSTRACT:
The search for dark matter is one of the most important challenges in modern physics. In my presentation I will make a brief introduction to the direct detection of dark matter in underground facilities, followed by the description of the COSINUS experiment. COSINUS aims at the direct detection of dark matter scattering off Na and I nuclei. It will use sodium Iodide crystals as absorber and hence as the dark matter target in a low temperature detector operating at ~10 mK. The unique feature of COSINUS is the simultaneous measurement of both the phonon signal and the scintillation signal. This will allow us to perform an event-by-event particle identification using the light yield of each energy deposition in the crystal, and to finally disentangle electron from nuclear recoil events. I will give an overview of the experimental technique and of the experimental facility currently under construction in Hall B of the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso.
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Artur Ankowski (SLAC) "Determination of the argon spectral function from (e, e'p) data"
2022-04-15 12:00 - 13:00 | 50A-5132- Sessler, 50A-5132 Sessler Conference Room, CA
Abstract:

Reliable reconstruction of neutrino energy in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and in the Fermilab-based short-baseline oscillation program requires a realistic description of the ground state properties of the argon nucleus. Toward this goal, the E12-14-012 experiment in Jefferson Lab Hall A measured proton knockout from argon induced by scattering of 2.2-GeV electrons, collecting data over a broad range of the initial proton’s momenta and the excitation energies of the residual nucleus. Presenting the results of the recent paper, arXiv:2203.01748, I will describe the analysis that lead to the extraction of the proton spectral function of argon. I also will discuss the obtained results in the context of past experiments, performed using electron, proton, and deuteron beams.

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Diego Redigolo (CERN) "Is Dark Matter Electroweak? Towards a final test of WIMP Dark Matter"
2022-03-25 12:00 - 13:00
Abstract:
The possibility that the DM sits inside an EW multiplet is still viable in scenarios where Z-mediated elastic scattering of DM with nucleons is absent. Using an effective field theory approach, I will classify all the viable DM EW multiplets and derive the freeze-out predictions on the DM mass. Interestingly, the parameter space of these WIMPs can be fully explored by combining future large exposure Xenon detectors and a hypothetical high energy muon collider.
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Joint Special RPM and INPA Seminar | Chelsea Bartram (U of Washington)
2022-03-04 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Chelsea Bartram (U. of Washington)
Title: “Combing the Cosmos: A Deep Dive Into the Nature of (Dark) Matter and Fundamental Symmetries”
Abstract:

One of the most striking mysteries in modern astrophysics manifests itself as an absence of matter needed to form a narrative consistent with our current understanding of the universe. A promising candidate for the so-called ‘dark matter’ is the axion, whose wave-like nature requires unique technology to detect. The Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) leverages the inverse Primakoff effect to search for axions using an ultra-low noise receiver chain and microwave cavity in a strong magnetic field. If discovered, the axion could not only solve the dark matter problem, but also resolve the Strong CP problem. Fundamental symmetries have been at the center of many deep astrophysical questions. As such, they have served as a driving force behind my research, motivating my graduate search for CP- and CPT-violation in the lepton sector, as well as my post-doctoral work in axion dark matter. I present my prior research and explain how it fits into my larger ambition to understand the
large-scale structure and composition of the universe with CMB-S4.

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VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Ralph Massarczyk (LANL)
2022-02-25 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Ralph Massarczyk (LANL)
Title: Results from the BEST Sterile Neutrino Oscillation Experiment
Abstract:

The Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST) searches for the oscillations between active and sterile neutrinos by exploring the gallium anomaly. Based on the Gallium-Germanium Neutrino Telescope (GGNT) of the SAGE experiment, the BEST setup is comprised of two zones of liquid Ga target to explore neutrino oscillations on the meter scale. Any deficits in the 71Ge production rates in the two zones, as well as the differences between them, would be an indication of nonstandard neutrino properties at this short scale. From July 5th to October 23rd 2019, the two-zone target was exposed to the mainly monoenergetic Cr neutrino source ten times with 20 independent 71Ge extractions from the two Ga targets. The 71Ge decay rates were measured from July 2019 to March 2020 to determine the total production rate from the neutrino source. At the end of the experiment, the counting systems were calibrated using 71Ge isotope data taken in November 2020. In this talk, I will give an overview of the experiment and the analysis, and discuss the results from the BEST sterile neutrino oscillation experiment.

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Meeting ID: 979 8302 5115

[UPDATE] VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Sherry Song (Princeton University)
2022-02-18 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Sherry Song (Princeton University)
Title: Integration and Analysis of the Balloon-borne Telescope, SPIDER
Abstract:

Ever since the discovery of cosmic microwave background(CMB) in the year of 1965, its existence has led many ground or space observation programs attempt to unveil its nature, of which the SPIDER program is a balloon-borne telescope designed to map the polarization pattern of the CMB at degree angular scale.

Each of SPIDER’s flight consists of 6 independently controlled telescopes. SPIDER-1 flew in January 2015 and the data analysis targets mainly on polarized B-mode detection, using XFaster power spectrum estimator as its main pipeline.

My talk covers the hardware integration of the SPIDER-2 cryo-system and operation, new data at 280GHz from this second flight will complement the first flight, providing powerful measurements of the polarized Galactic dust emission. It also covers the pipeline, data analysis and result of SPIDER-1. SPIDER-1 passes the outlier and distribution null test in all frequencies using 500 end-to-end well-constructed null simulations, with a PTE value of 0.78 and 0.56 respectively for all frequency combined case. We derive 95% upper limits on the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio r from Feldman-Cousins and Bayesian constructions, finding r<0.11 and r<0.19, respectively.

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NO VIRTUAL INPA Seminar
2022-02-11 12:00 - 13:00, 2022-02-04 12:00 - 13:00, 2022-01-07 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-11-26 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-11-12 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-11-05 12:00 - 13:00

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Julie Pagès (University of Zurich)
2022-01-28 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Julie Pagès (University of Zurich)
Title: Different Flavors For Different Particles: Mass Hierarchies, B Anomalies, and Neutrinos
Abstract:
Despite many advances in neutrino physics, their masses are still not known and their mass generation remains mysterious. On the other hand, quarks and charged leptons exhibit a very hierarchical mass spectrum which can be well described by an approximate U(2)5 flavor symmetry. Coincidently, the B anomalies, hinting at Lepton Flavor Universality Violation, seem to require the same flavor structure of new interactions. The flavor non-universal Pati-Salam model establishes the connection explicitly by unifying quarks and leptons, providing a combined explanation of the charged and neutral current B anomalies and, at the same time, of the mass hierarchies in the SM… except for the neutrinos, which once again seem to defy the trend with their anarchic mass spectrum. In this talk, I will discuss a resolution to this apparent problem through the Inverse Seesaw mechanism and briefly mention how a natural interpretation can be found in the context of extra-dimensions. Finally, I will present the main signatures to expect from this neutrino extension.

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Meeting ID: 995 3641 4141

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Lingyuan Ji (John Hopkins)
2022-01-21 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Lingyuan Ji (John Hopkins)
Title: Cosmological Neutrino Perturbations Without The Boltzmann Hierarchy
Abstract:
We present a formulation of cosmological perturbation theory where the Boltzmann hierarchies that evolve the neutrino phase-space distributions are replaced by integrals that can be evaluated easily with Fast Fourier transforms. The simultaneous evaluation of these integrals combined with the differential equations for the rest of the system (dark matter, photons, baryons) are then solved with an iterative scheme that converges quickly. The formulation is particularly powerful for massive neutrinos, where the phase space is three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional, and even more so for three different neutrino mass eigenstates. Therefore, it has the potential to significantly speed up the computation times of cosmological perturbation calculations. This approach should also be applicable to models with other non-cold collisionless relics.

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Meeting ID: 944 9346 5642

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Matthew Ho (Carnegie Mellon)
2022-01-14 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Matthew Ho (Carnegie Mellon)
Title: Galaxy Cluster Mass Estimation Using Deep Learning
Abstract:
In this talk, I will discuss how we use modern deep learning models to infer galaxy cluster masses with high precision, reliable uncertainty, and computational efficiency. I will describe our work in using Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) to mitigate systematics in the virial scaling relation to produce dynamical mass estimates of galaxy clusters, using projected galaxies, with remarkably low bias and scatter. I will also discuss how we can recover and empirically verify Bayesian uncertainties on deep learning mass predictions using variational weight distributions. I will describe how we’ve validated our methods on real observational systems like the Coma, CLASH, and HeCS clusters as well as projections for how we can use these models to study cluster cosmology using data from current and upcoming sky surveys. Lastly, I will mention results from our ongoing work on combining multi-wavelength observables to produce fully informed observational probes of cluster dark matter.

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/93651647483
Meeting ID: 936 5164 7483

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Jason Sun (CalTech )
2021-12-17 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Jason Sun (CalTech)
Title: Understanding the Cosmological Evolution of Galaxies with Intensity Mapping
Abstract:
The intensity mapping (IM) technique has been devised as a powerful tool to investigate the formation/evolution of the large scale structure and galaxies, alternative and complementary to the more traditional means relying on galaxy detection. In the high-redshift universe, in particular, synergies of multiple IM tracers have been widely perceived as a promising way of revealing the connection between the emergence of first stars and galaxies and the reionization, a still mysterious chapter of cosmic history that even the JWST might not fully elucidate. I will present two main themes of my research on applications of the IM technique to understand the cosmological evolution of galaxies. On the experimental side, I will introduce the analysis and forecasting work I led for the Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME). TIME is a novel imaging spectrometer array recently commissioned that pioneers the quest for measuring large-scale intensity fluctuations of the 158-micron [CII] line emission redshifted from the epoch of reionization, which serves an ideal probe of ongoing cosmic star formation that sources the hydrogen-ionizing radiation background. I will discuss how TIME, with an optimization of survey strategy, can inform us about the reionization on its own and through synergies with other probes like galaxy surveys. I will also discuss challenges and opportunities arising from low-redshift “line interlopers”, namely rotational CO lines at z ≈ 0.5 to 2 for TIME, which require some exquisite cleaning strategy to be removed but at the same time allow a census of the molecular gas content of galaxies near the “cosmic high noon”. On the theory side, I will introduce LIMFAST, a fast, semi-numerical simulation developed to physically and self-consistently simulate a large set of high-redshift line-intensity mapping (LIM) data in different frequency regimes, including tracers of neutral gas (e.g., HI 21cm) and star-forming galaxies (e.g., Lyα, [CII]). I will elaborate on the scientific applications of LIMFAST to simulate multi-tracer LIM observations of high-redshift galaxies and their interplay with the intergalactic medium during reionization. Particular emphases will be on (1) how various LIM signals, such as Hα, Lyα and [CII], and their cross-correlations with the HI 21cm signal, may be affected by the astrophysics governing galaxy formation, such as feedback and star formation laws; and (2) how these astrophysical processes may be studied with future LIM experiments to deepen our understanding of high-redshift galaxy populations from both observational and theoretical perspectives.

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98739327626
Meeting ID: 987 3932 7626

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Chiara Salemi (MIT)
2021-12-10 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Chiara Salemi (Massachusettes Institute of Technology)
Title: Seeing the Invisible: Search for Low-Mass Axion Dark Matter
Abstract:
Multiple astrophysical and cosmological observations have shown that the visible matter described by the Standard Model is only a small fraction of the energy in the universe. We believe that there is about five times as much dark matter, which is likely comprised of massive particles that interact very little or not at all with other matter. One of the most well-motivated candidates to be the dark matter is the axion, a hypothetical particle that is predicted by the solution to another long-standing mystery in physics, the strong CP problem. This talk presents ABRACADABRA-10 cm, the first direct search for low-mass axion dark matter, which used an innovative lumped element detection method. This prototype experiment set world-leading limits on axions and set the stage for the DOE-funded DMRadio program, a series of larger detectors that will be capable of finding axions or definitively excluding them over a large range of masses below 1 μeV.
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Meeting ID: 938 4979 9393

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Phillipp Windischofer (University of Oxford)
2021-12-03 12:00 - 13:00
Location: via Zoom
Speaker: Phillipp Windischofer (University of Oxford)
Title: Detectors for Physics and Physics For Detectors
Abstract:
Powerful instrumentation has been a key enabler for many discoveries at the forefront of fundamental physics, from gravitational waves to the Higgs boson. In this seminar, I will argue that the converse is also true. I will show that applying established tools from physics to the study of particle detectors is a compelling strategy for identifying synergies and moving beyond the current boundaries of our instrumentation.

Starting from classical electrodynamics, I will explain how reciprocity relations give rise to a rigorous description of the electrical signals induced in detectors by moving charged particles, and how this opens up new possibilities for the simulation of radio arrays for neutrino detection. Continuing with many-body quantum mechanics, I will then highlight how Fock-space methods can be used to characterise the time resolution of single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). Taken together, these calculations suggest that SPADs can also act as fast detectors for charged particles, and I will end by presenting the first results from a recent beam test at the CERN SPS that demonstrate this capability.

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/93457647521
Meeting ID: 934 5764 7521

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR |Charlotte Alison Ward (Univ. of Maryland at College Park)
2021-11-19 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Charlotte Alison Ward (Univ. of Maryland at College Park)
Title: Using The Zwicky Transient Facility and Vera C. Rubin Observatory To Study Black Hole Seeds, Discover High-Z Quasars, and Measure Time Delays From Lensed Supernovae
Abstract:
Over the last 3 years, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) has demonstrated the potential of wide-field transient surveys for the discovery of black hole populations which trace the formation of the first BH seeds and their merger-driven growth. For instance, our search for off-nuclear AGN in ZTF revealed 9 supermassive black holes (SMBHs) which may have been ejected from their host galaxy by gravitational wave recoil from SMBH mergers with misaligned spins. Likewise, our search for faintly variable intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) in dwarf galaxies with ZTF and WISE found 200 new IMBH candidates, most of which could not have been found via their spectroscopic or multi-wavelength signatures. We found these rare BH populations by using the latest techniques in forward modeling to improve photometric sensitivity, resolve blended sources and measure the separations between variable objects and their host galaxies. Our work is an exciting precursor to the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which we expect to detect large populations of recoiling SMBHs, IMBH candidates, and high-z quasars—especially when combined with large spectroscopic surveys. LSST is also predicted to find thousands of strongly gravitationally lensed, multiply-imaged supernovae, and application of the forward modeling techniques we previously demonstrated for ZTF will enable improved measurements of the Hubble constant.

Join Zoom Meeting https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98918084629?pwd=[REDACTED] Meeting ID: 989 1808 4629
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Luca Pagani (UC Davis )
2021-10-29 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Luca Pagani (UC Davis)
Title: First Results From The ARTIE Experiment
Abstract:
A measurement of the transmission coefficient for neutrons through a thick (~3 atoms/b) liquid natural argon target in the energy range 30-70 keV was performed by the Argon Resonance Transmission Interaction Experiment (ARTIE) using a time of flight neutron beam at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In this energy range theory predicts an anti-resonance in the 40-Ar cross section near 57 keV, but the existing data, coming from an experiment performed in the 90s (Winters. et al.), does not support this. This discrepancy gives rise to significant uncertainty in the penetration depth of neutrons through liquid argon, an important parameter for next generation neutrino and dark matter experiments.In this talk, the first results from the ARTIE experiment will be presented. The ARTIE measurement of the total cross section as a function of energy confirms the existence of the anti-resonance near 57 keV, but not as deep as the theory prediction.

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/96839979915pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 968 3997 9915
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Noah Kurinsky (SLAC )
2021-10-22 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Noah Kurinsky (SLAC)
Title: Quantum Sensors for Direct Detection of Sub-GeV Dark Matter
Abstract:
Over the last 20 years, searches for dark matter above the proton mass have advanced significantly across direct and indirect searches, but sub-GeV dark matter has until recently been comparatively unprobed. In this talk, I will discuss the state of the Sub-GeV direct detection field, and prospects for applying quantum measurement techniques to lowering mass thresholds for new searches with event thresholds at the eV-scale. I will then discuss the outlook for the field in the next 5-10 years, in the context of synergy with ongoing research in materials science and quantum information science. The goal over the next decade is to run background-free dark matter searches at gram-year exposures with meV-scale thresholds, an exciting challenge that requires a broad range of expertise, and comes with enormous scientific discovery potential.

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98007893520?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 980 0789 3520
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Peter Taylor (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory )
2021-10-15 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Peter Taylor (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory )
Title: The RSD Sorting Hat
Abstract:
Redshift-space distortions (RSD) and weak lensing (WL) studies yield some of the tightest cosmological constraints. Large overlapping data sets from Euclid, the Rubin Observatory, the Roman Space Science Telescope and the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instruments will enable a joint RSD/WL analysis. Such an analysis could significantly outperform WL and RSD analyses performed in isolation. In this talk I show how to optimally extract information from the RSD signal using angular statistics. This is a first step towards combing WL and RSD.

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https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91769253333?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 917 6925 3333
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Kevin Thieme (Univ. of Zurich)
2021-10-08 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Kevin Thieme (University of Zurich)
Title: A Measurement of the Mean Electronic Excitation Energy of Liquid Xenon

Abstract:
Detectors using liquid xenon as target are widely deployed in rare event searches. Conclusions on the interacting particle rely on a precise reconstruction of the deposited energy which requires calibrations of the energy scale of the detector by means of radioactive sources. However, a microscopic calibration, i.e. the translation from the number of excitation quanta into deposited energy, also necessitates good knowledge of the energy required to produce single scintillation photons or ionisation electrons in liquid xenon. The sum of these excitation quanta is directly proportional to the deposited energy in the target. The proportionality constant is the mean excitation energy and is commonly known as W-value. Here we present a measurement of the W-value with electronic recoil interactions in a small dual-phase xenon time projection chamber with a hybrid (photomultiplier tube and silicon photomultipliers) photosensor configuration. Our result is based on calibrations at O(1–10 keV) with internal 37-Ar and 83m-Kr sources and single electron events. We obtain a value of W=(11.5 +0.2 -0.3 (syst.)) eV, with negligible statistical uncertainty, which is lower than previously measured at these energies. If further confirmed, our result will be relevant for modelling the absolute response of liquid xenon detectors to particle interactions.

Join Zoom Meeting https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/93376704948?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 933 7670 4948
Passcode: [REDACTED]

VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Andreas Biekert (UC Berkeley)
2021-10-01 12:00 - 13:00
Speaker: Andreas Biekert (UC Berkeley)
Title: Scintillation Yield From Electronic and Nuclear Recoils In Superfluid 4He
Abstract:
HeRALD is a proposed sub-GeV scale dark matter detector based on a superfluid 4He target and transition edge sensor readout, supported as part of the TESSERACT project. Possible signal channels available for readout include prompt photons, triplet excimers, and roton and phonon quasiparticles, but the relative strength of these signals for low energy nuclear recoils requires experimental verification. We have measured the superfluid 4He scintillation yield at 1.75 K from nuclear recoils in the range of 50-1100 keV using a 16 cm3 target volume read out by six superfluid-immersed PMTs. Elastic scattering of 2.8 MeV neutrons produced by a deuterium-deuterium neutron generator and Compton scattering of 662 keV 137Cs gamma rays were used to determine the relative scintillation yield. Yields of both prompt and delayed scintillation components were measured and compared to a semi-empirical response model based on helium-helium and electron-helium scattering cross sections. We also discuss the development of a 24 keV neutron source to extend our measurements to smaller nuclear recoil energies.
Join Zoom Meeting https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91625792208?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 916 2579 2208
Passcode: [REDACTED]

NO VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Friday, September 24, 2021
2021-09-24 12:00 - 13:00

NO VIRTUAL INPA SEMINAR | Friday, September 17, 2021
2021-09-17 12:00 - 13:00
