New articles on High Energy Physics - Experiment


[1] 2503.16694

Antihelium-3 Sensitivity for the GRAMS Experiment

The Gamma-Ray and AntiMatter Survey (GRAMS) is a next-generation balloon/satellite mission utilizing a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) detector to measure both MeV gamma rays and antinuclei produced by dark matter annihilation or decay. The GRAMS can identify antihelium-3 events based on the measurements of X-rays and charged pions from the decay of the exotic atoms, Time of Flight (TOF), energy deposition, and stopping range. This paper shows the antihelium-3 sensitivity estimation using a GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulation. For the proposed long-duration balloon (LDB) flight program (35 days $ \times $ 3 flights) and future satellite mission (2-year observation), the sensitivities become $ 1.47\times 10^{-7}\ [m^2s\ sr\ GeV/n]^{-1} $ and $ 1.55\times 10^{-9}\ [m^2s\ sr\ GeV/n]^{-1} $, respectively. The results indicate that GRAMS can extensively investigate various dark matter models through the antihelium-3 measurements.


[2] 2503.16699

Search for vector-like leptons with long-lived particle decays in the CMS muon system in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

A first search is presented for vector-like leptons (VLLs) decaying into a light long-lived pseudoscalar boson and a standard model $\tau$ lepton. The pseudoscalar boson is assumed to have a mass of 2 GeV and to decay exclusively into a pair of photons. It is identified using the CMS muon system. The analysis is carried out using a data set of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Selected events contain at least one pseudoscalar boson decaying electromagnetically in the muon system and at least one hadronically decaying $\tau$ lepton. No significant excess of data events is observed compared to the background expectation. Upper limits are set at 95% confidence level on the vector-like lepton production cross section as a function of the VLL mass and the pseudoscalar boson mean proper decay length. The observed and expected exclusion ranges of the VLL mass extend up to 700 and 670 GeV, respectively, depending on the pseudoscalar boson lifetime.


[3] 2503.16735

ATLAS Micromegas Performance Studies with LHC Run3 Data

After successfully completing Phase I upgrades during LHC Long Shutdown 2, the ATLAS detector is back in operation with several upgrades implemented. The most important and challenging upgrade is in the Muon Spectrometer, where the two inner forward muon stations have been replaced with the New Small Wheels (NSW) system. One of the two detector technologies used in the NSW are the resistive Micromegas (MM). After massive construction, testing and installation work in ATLAS, the Micromegas are now fully operational in the experiment participating in the muon spectrometer tracking and trigger systems. A huge effort has gone into the operation of the new data acquisition system, as well as the implementation of a new processing chain within the muon software framework. Tracking is performed with full consideration of the absolute alignment of each individual detector module by the ATLAS Muon Spectrometer optical alignment system. All the deviations from the nominal geometry of all the constituent elements of each MM module are accounted for through the modelling of the real chamber geometry reconstructed from the information of the construction databases. After an overview of the strategies adopted for the simulations and reconstruction, the studies on the performance of the MM in LHC run-3 data taken from 2022 to 2024 will be reported.


[4] 2503.16911

Status and prospects of the $χ_{c1}(3872)$ at BESIII

The $\chi_{c1}(3872)$ serves as a pivotal role for understanding hadronic structures, remaining one of the most extensively studied exotic particles despite the experimental discovery of numerous unconventional hadronic states. Sustained experimental and theoretical investigations into the particle over the past two decades have propelled its study into a high-precision regime, marked by refined measurements of its decay dynamics and line shape, thereby offering critical insights to resolve longstanding debates between molecular, tetraquark, hybrid, and charmonium interpretations of this particle. The BESIII experiment has made seminal contributions to the study of the $\chi_{c1}(3872)$, leveraging its unique capabilities in high-statistics data acquisition and low-background condition. This article gives a concise review and prospects of the study of the $\chi_{c1}(3872)$ from the BESIII experiment.


[5] 2503.16954

Observation of charge-parity symmetry breaking in baryon decays

The Standard Model of particle physics, the theory of particles and interactions at the smallest scale, predicts that matter and antimatter interact differently due to violation of the combined symmetry of charge conjugation ($C$) and parity ($P$). Charge conjugation transforms particles into their antimatter particles, while the parity transformation inverts spatial coordinates. This prediction applies to both mesons, which consist of a quark and an antiquark, and baryons, which are composed of three quarks. However, despite having been discovered in various meson decays, $CP$ violation has yet to be observed in baryons, the type of matter that makes up the observable Universe. This article reports a study of the decay of the beauty baryon $\Lambda^{0}_{b}$ to the $p K^{-} \pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ final state and its $CP$-conjugated process, using data collected by the LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) experiment at CERN. The results reveal significant asymmetries between the decay rates of the $\Lambda^{0}_{b}$ baryon and its $CP$-conjugated antibaryon, marking the first observation of $CP$ violation in baryon decays, thus demonstrating the different behaviour of baryons and antibaryons. In the Standard Model, $CP$ violation arises from the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism, while new forces or particles beyond the Standard Model could provide additional contributions. This discovery opens a new path to search for physics beyond the Standard Model.


[6] 2503.17081

A Possible Future Use of the LHC Tunnel

The FCC program at CERN provides an attractive all-in-one solution to address many of the key questions in particle physics. While we fully support the efforts towards this ambitious path, we believe that it is important to prepare a mitigation strategy in case the program faces unexpected obstacles for geopolitical or other reasons. This approach could be based on two components: I) a circular electron-positron collider in the LHC tunnel that operates at the Z-pole energy of 45.6 GeV and II) a high-energy electron-positron linear collider which acts as a Higgs, top quark and W-boson factory, and that can further be extended to TeV energies. The former could reach a high luminosity that is not accessible at a linear collider, the latter could probe the high energy regime with higher sensitivity and discovery potential than LEP3. The program should be flanked by dedicated intensity frontier searches at lower energies. These accelerators can be used in a feasible, timely and cost-efficient way to search for new physics and make precise determination of the parameters of the Standard Model.


[7] 2503.17165

Stringent test of $CP$ symmetry in $Σ^+$ hyperon decays

The non-leptonic two-body weak decays $\Sigma^{+} \to p \pi^{0}$ and $\bar{\Sigma}^{-} \to \bar{p} \pi^{0}$ are investigated, utilizing $(1.0087\pm0.0044)\times10^{10}$ $J/\psi$ events and $(2.7124\pm0.0143)\times10^{9}$ $\psi(3686)$ events collected by BESIII experiment. The precision of the weak-decay parameters for the decays $\Sigma^{+} \to p \pi^{0}$ ($\alpha_{0}$) and $\bar{\Sigma}^{-} \to \bar{p} \pi^{0}$ ($\bar{\alpha}_{0}$) is improved by a factor of three compared to the previous world average. Furthermore, the quantum-entangled $\Sigma^{+}\bar{\Sigma}^{-}$ system enables the most precise test of $CP$ symmetry for the decay $\Sigma^+\to p\pi^0$, through the asymmetry observable $A_{CP}=(\alpha_{0}+\bar{\alpha}_{0})/(\alpha_{0}-\bar{\alpha}_{0})$ that is measured to be $-0.0118\pm0.0083_{\rm stat}\pm0.0028_{\rm syst}$. Assuming $CP$ conservation, the average decay parameter is determined to be ${\left< \alpha_{\rm 0}\right>} = (\alpha_0-\bar\alpha_0)/2=-0.9869\pm0.0011_{\rm stat}\pm0.0016_{\rm syst}$, which is the most precise measurement of the asymmetry decay parameters in baryon sectors. The angular dependence of the ratio of the polarization of the $\Sigma^+$ in both $J/\psi$ and $\psi(3686)$ decays is studied for the first time.


[8] 2503.17186

Searches for direct slepton production in the compressed-mass corridor in $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents searches for the direct pair production of charged light-flavour sleptons, each decaying into a stable neutralino and an associated Standard Model lepton. The analyses focus on the challenging "corridor" region, where the mass difference, $\Delta m$, between the slepton ($\tilde{e}$ or $\tilde{\mu}$) and the lightest neutralino ($\tilde{\chi}^{0}_{1}$) is less or similar to the mass of the $W$ boson, $m(W)$, with the aim to close a persistent gap in sensitivity to models with $\Delta m \lesssim m(W)$. Events are required to contain a high-energy jet, significant missing transverse momentum, and two same-flavour opposite-sign leptons ($e$ or $\mu$). The analysis uses $pp$ collision data at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb$^{-1}$. Several kinematic selections are applied, including a set of boosted decision trees. These are each optimised for different $\Delta m$ to provide expected sensitivity for the first time across the full $\Delta m$ corridor. The results are generally consistent with the Standard Model, with the most significant deviations observed with a local significance of 2.0 $\sigma$ in the selectron search, and 2.4 $\sigma$ in the smuon search. While these deviations weaken the observed exclusion reach in some parts of the signal parameter space, the previously present sensitivity gap to this corridor is largely reduced. Constraints at the 95% confidence level are set on simplified models of selectron and smuon pair production, where selectrons (smuons) with masses up to 300 (350) GeV can be excluded for $\Delta m$ between 2 GeV and 100 GeV.


[9] 2503.17254

Search for a new pseudoscalar decaying into a pair of bottom and antibottom quarks in top-associated production in $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV proton-proton collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for a pseudoscalar $a$ produced in association with a top-quark pair, or in association with a single top quark plus a $W$ boson, with the pseudoscalar decaying into $b$-quarks ($a\rightarrow b\bar{b}$), is performed using the full Run 2 data sample using a dileptonic decay mode signature. The search covers pseudoscalar boson masses between 12-100 GeV and involves both the kinematic regime where the decay products of the pseudoscalar are reconstructed as two standard $b$-tagged small-radius jets, or merged into a large-radius jet due to its Lorentz boost. No significant excess relative to expectations is observed. Assuming a branching ratio BR($a\rightarrow b\bar{b}$)=100%, the range of pseudoscalar masses between 50 and 80 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for a coupling of the pseudoscalar to the top quark of 0.5, while a coupling of 1.0 is excluded at 95% confidence level for the masses considered, with the coupling defined as the strength modifier of the Standard Model Yukawa coupling.


[10] 2503.16658

Performance of neutron and proton irradiated AC-LGAD sensors

Characterization of strip and pixel AC-LGAD devices with both laser TCT and probe station (IV/CV) will be shown on AC-LGADs irradiated with 1 MeV reactor neutrons at JSI/Ljubljana and with 400~MeV protons at FNAL ITA to fluences from 1e13~$n_{eq}/cm^2$ to a few times 1e15~$n_{eq}/cm^2$. This study was conducted within the scope of the ePIC detector time of flight (TOF) layer R\&D program at the EIC, which will feature AC-LGADs with strip and pixel geometry. Sensors in the TOF layer will receive up to 1e13~$n_{eq}/cm^2$ fluence over the lifetime of the experiment.


[11] 2503.16880

Measurements on Time Resolution of BGO, PWO and BSO Crystals

A high-granularity crystal calorimeter (HGCCAL) has been proposed for the future Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC). This study investigates the time resolution of various crystal - Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) detection units for HGCCAL, focusing on Bismuth Germanate (BGO), Lead Tungstate (PWO), and Bismuth Silicon Oxide (BSO) crystals. Beam tests were conducted using 10 GeV pions at CERN and 5 GeV electrons at DESY, enabling systematic comparisons of timing performance under both minimum ionizing particle (MIP) signals and electromagnetic (EM) showers. Three timing methods - constant fraction timing (CFT) with sampled points, linear fitting, and exponential fitting - were evaluated, with an exponential fit combined with a 10% constant fraction providing the best time resolution. Measurements of crystal units with different dimensions revealed that both scintillation light yield and signal rise time influence timing performance. Among similarly sized crystals, PWO exhibited the best time resolution due to its fast signal rise time, while BGO and BSO demonstrated comparable timing performance. For long BGO bars (40 cm and 60 cm), the time resolution remained uniform along their length, achieving approximately 0.75 ns and 0.95 ns for MIP signals. Under intense EM showers, both bars reached a timing resolution of approximately 200 ps at high amplitudes. And the presence of upstream pre-shower layers can introduce additional timing fluctuations at similar amplitudes.


[12] 2503.17031

Ultraheavy diquark decaying into vectorlike quarks at the LHC

We explore the discovery potential of ultraheavy $(7-8.5$ TeV) diquark scalars $(S_{uu})$ produced in the collision of two up quarks at the LHC. Assuming that the diquark scalar decays in two vectorlike quarks of mass around 2 TeV, each of them decaying into a $W^{+}$ boson and a $b$ quark, we focus on the fully hadronic final state. We present a signal-from-background separation study based on a discriminator built with Machine Learning techniques. For this six-jet final state and a luminosity of $3000 \ \text{fb}^{-1}$, we estimate that a diquark scalar of mass near 8 TeV may be discovered or ruled out even when its coupling to up quarks is as low as 0.2.


[13] 2503.17035

Bayesian reconstruction of anisotropic flow fluctuations at fixed impact parameter

The cumulants of the distribution of anisotropic flow are measured accurately in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC as a function of centrality classifiers (charged multiplicity and/or transverse energy). Using Bayesian inference, we reconstruct from these measurements the probability distribution of anisotropic flow in the ``theorists' frame'' where the impact parameter has a fixed magnitude and orientation, up to $\sim 70\%$ centrality. The variation of flow fluctuations with impact parameter displays direct evidence of viscous damping, which is larger for higher Fourier harmonics, in line with expectations from hydrodynamics. We use intensive measures of non-Gaussian flow fluctuations, which have reduced dependence on centrality. We infer from ATLAS data the magnitude of these intensive non-Gaussianities in each Fourier harmonic. They provide data-driven estimates of response coefficients to initial anisotropies, without resorting to any specific microscopic model of initial conditions. These estimates agree with viscous hydrodynamic calculations.


[14] 2503.17053

High-Precision Alignment Techniques for Realizing an Ultracompact Electromagnetic Calorimeters Using Oriented high-Z Scintillator Crystals

Electromagnetic calorimeters used in high-energy physics and astrophysics rely heavily on high-Z inorganic scintillators, such as lead tungstate (PbWO4 or PWO). The crystalline structure and lattice orientation of inorganic scintillators are frequently underestimated in detector design, even though it is known that the crystalline lattice strongly modifies the features of the electromagnetic processes inside the crystal. A novel method has been developed for precisely bonding PWO crystals with aligned atomic planes within 100 {\mu}rad, exploiting X-ray diffraction (XRD) to accurately measure miscut angles. This method demonstrates the possibility to align a layer of crystals along the same crystallographic direction, opening a new technological path towards the development of next-generation electromagnetic calorimeters.


[15] 2503.17233

Performance of the ALICE Inner Tracking System 2

The upgraded Inner Tracking System (ITS2) of the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is based on Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS). With a sensitive area of about 10 $m^2$ and 12.5 billion pixels, ITS2 represents the largest pixel detector in high-energy physics. The detector consists of seven concentric layers equipped with ALPIDE pixel sensors manufactured in the TowerJazz 180 nm CMOS Imaging Sensor process. The high spatial resolution and low material budget, in combination with small radial distance of the innermost layer from the interaction point, make the detector well suited for secondary vertex reconstruction as well as for tracking at low transverse momentum. This paper will present the detector performance during the LHC Run 3 and give an overview on the calibration methods and running experience.


[16] 2503.17283

Energy Efficiency trends in HPC: what high-energy and astrophysicists need to know

The growing energy demands of HPC systems have made energy efficiency a critical concern for system developers and operators. However, HPC users are generally less aware of how these energy concerns influence the design, deployment, and operation of supercomputers even though they experience the consequences. This paper examines the implications of HPC's energy consumption, providing an overview of current trends aimed at improving energy efficiency. We describe how hardware innovations such as energy-efficient processors, novel system architectures, power management techniques, and advanced scheduling policies do have a direct impact on how applications need to be programmed and executed on HPC systems. For application developers, understanding how these new systems work and how to analyse and report the performances of their own software is critical in the dialog with HPC system designers and administrators. The paper aims to raise awareness about energy efficiency among users, particularly in the high energy physics and astrophysics domains, offering practical advice on how to analyse and optimise applications to reduce their energy consumption without compromising on performance.