1. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Precision measurement of the mass difference between light nuclei and anti-nuclei
- 2015
-
In: Nature Physics. - 1745-2473. ; 11:10, s. 120-811
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The measurement of the mass differences for systems bound by the strong force has reached a very high precision with protons and anti-protons(1,2). The extension of such measurement from (anti-)baryons to (anti-) nuclei allows one to probe any difference in the interactions between nucleons and anti-nucleons encoded in the (anti-) nuclei masses. This force is a remnant of the underlying strong interaction among quarks and gluons and can be described by effective theories(3), but cannot yet be directly derived from quantum chromodynamics. Here we report a measurement of the difference between the ratios of the mass and charge of deuterons (d) and anti-deuterons ((d) over bar), and He-3 and (3)(He) over bar nuclei carried out with the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment)(4) detector in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 2.76 TeV. Our direct measurement of the mass-over-charge differences confirms CPT invariance to an unprecedented precision in the sector of light nuclei(5,6). This fundamental symmetry of nature, which exchanges particles with anti-particles, implies that all physics laws are the same under the simultaneous reversal of charge(s) (charge conjugation C), reflection of spatial coordinates (parity transformation P) and time inversion (T).
|
|
2. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Centrality dependence of high-p(T) D meson suppression in Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The nuclear modification factor, R-AA, of the prompt charmed mesons D-0, D+ and D*+, and their antiparticles, was measured with the ALICE detector in Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy root s(NN) = 2 : 76 TeV in two transverse momentum intervals, 5 < p(T) < 8 GeV/c and 8 < p(T) < 16 GeV/c, and in six collision centrality classes. The R-AA shows a maximum suppression of a factor of 5{6 in the 10% most central collisions. The suppression and its centrality dependence are compatible within uncertainties with those of charged pions. A comparison with the R-AA of non-prompt J/psi from B meson decays, measured by the CMS Collaboration, hints at a larger suppression of D mesons in the most central collisions.
|
|
3. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of charm and beauty production at central rapidity versus charged-particle multiplicity in proton-proton collisions at root s=7 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :9
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Prompt D meson and non-prompt J/psi yields are studied as a function of the multiplicity of charged particles produced in inelastic proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 7 TeV. The results are reported as a ratio between yields in a given multiplicity interval normalised to the multiplicity-integrated ones (relative yields). They are shown as a function of the multiplicity of charged particles normalised to the average value for inelastic collisions (relative charged-particle multiplicity). D-0, D+ and D*+ mesons are measured in five p(T) intervals from 1 GeV/c to 20 GeV/c and for |y| < 0.5 via their hadronic decays. The D-meson relative yield is found to increase with increasing charged-particle multiplicity. For events with multiplicity six times higher than the average multiplicity of inelastic collisions, a yield enhancement of a factor about 15 relative to the multiplicity-integrated yield in inelastic collisions is observed. The yield enhancement is independent of transverse momentum within the uncertainties of the measurement. The D-0-meson relative yield is also measured as a function of the relative multiplicity at forward pseudo-rapidity. The non-prompt J/psi, i.e. the B hadron, contribution to the inclusive J/psi production is measured in the di-electron decay channel at central rapidity. It is evaluated for p(T) > 1.3 GeV/c and |y| < 0.9, and extrapolated to p(T) > 0. The fraction of non-prompt J/psi the inclusive J/psi yields shows no dependence on the charged-particle multiplicity at central rapidity. Charm and beauty hadron relative yields exhibit a similar increase with increasing charged-particle multiplicity. The measurements are compared to PYTHIA 8, EPOS 3 and percolation calculations.
|
|
4. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of jet quenching with semi-inclusive hadron-jet distributions in central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :9
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the measurement of a new observable of jet quenching in central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV, based on the semi-inclusive rate of charged jets recoiling from a high transverse momentum (high-p T) charged hadron trigger. Jets are measured using collinear-safe jet reconstruction with infrared cutoff for jet constituents of 0.15 GeV, for jet resolution parameters R = 0.2, 0.4 and 0.5. Underlying event background is corrected at the event-ensemble level, without imposing bias on the jet population. Recoil jet spectra are reported in the range 20 < p(T,jet)(ch) < 100 GeV. Reference distributions for pp collisions at root s = 2.76TeV are calculated using Monte Carlo and NLO pQCD methods, which are validated by comparing with measurements in pp collisions at root s = 7TeV. The recoil jet yield in central Pb-Pb collisions is found to be suppressed relative to that in pp collisions. No significant medium-induced broadening of the intra-jet energy profile is observed within 0.5 radians relative to the recoil jet axis. The angular distribution of the recoil jet yield relative to the trigger axis is found to be similar in central Pb-Pb and pp collisions, with no significant medium-induced acoplanarity observed. Large-angle jet deflection, which may provide a direct probe of the nature of the quasi-particles in hot QCD matter, is explored.
|
|
5. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Centrality dependence of inclusive J/psi production in p-Pb collisions at root S-NN=5.02TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :11
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a measurement of inclusive J/psi production in p-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 5.02 TeV as a function of the centrality of the collision, as estimated from the energy deposited in the Zero Degree Calorimeters. The measurement is performed with the ALICE detector down to zero transverse momentum, p(T), in the backward (-4.46 < y(cms) < -2.96) and forward (2.03 < y(cms) < 3.53) rapidity intervals in the dimuon decay channel and in the mid-rapidity region (-1.37 < y(cms) < 0.43) in the dielectron decay channel. The backward and forward rapidity intervals correspond to the Pb-going and p-going direction, respectively. The p(T)-differential J/psi production cross section at backward and forward rapidity is measured for several centrality classes, together with the corresponding average p(T) and p(T)(2) values. The nuclear modification factor is presented as a function of centrality for the three rapidity intervals, and as a function of p(T) for several centrality classes at backward and forward rapidity. At mid-and forward rapidity, the J/psi yield is suppressed up to 40% compared to that in pp interactions scaled by the number of binary collisions. The degree of suppression increases towards central p-Pb collisions at forward rapidity, and with decreasing p(T) of the J/psi. At backward rapidity, the nuclear modification factor is compatible with unity within the total uncertainties, with an increasing trend from peripheral to central p-Pb collisions.
|
|
6. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Forward-backward multiplicity correlations in pp collisions at root s=0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The strength of forward-backward (FB) multiplicity correlations is measured by the ALICE detector in proton-proton (pp) collisions at = 0.9, 2.76 and 7 TeV. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (|eta| < 0.8) for the transverse momentum p (T) > 0.3 GeV/c. Two separate pseudorapidity windows of width (delta eta) ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 are chosen symmetrically around eta = 0. The multiplicity correlation strength (b (corr)) is studied as a function of the pseudorapidity gap (eta (gap)) between the two windows as well as the width of these windows. The correlation strength is found to decrease with increasing eta (gap) and shows a non-linear increase with delta eta. A sizable increase of the correlation strength with the collision energy, which cannot be explained exclusively by the increase of the mean multiplicity inside the windows, is observed. The correlation coefficient is also measured for multiplicities in different configurations of two azimuthal sectors selected within the symmetric FB eta-windows. Two different contributions, the short-range (SR) and the long-range (LR), are observed. The energy dependence of b (corr) is found to be weak for the SR component while it is strong for the LR component. Moreover, the correlation coefficient is studied for particles belonging to various transverse momentum intervals chosen to have the same mean multiplicity. Both SR and LR contributions to b (corr) are found to increase with p (T) in this case. Results are compared to PYTHIA and PHOJET event generators and to a string-based phenomenological model. The observed dependencies of b (corr) add new constraints on phenomenological models.
|
|
7. |
- Adam, J, et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of pion, kaon and proton production in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text] TeV.
- 2015
-
In: European Physical Journal C. Particles and Fields. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044. ; 75:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The measurement of primary [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] production at mid-rapidity ([Formula: see text] 0.5) in proton-proton collisions at [Formula: see text][Formula: see text] 7 TeV performed with a large ion collider experiment at the large hadron collider (LHC) is reported. Particle identification is performed using the specific ionisation energy-loss and time-of-flight information, the ring-imaging Cherenkov technique and the kink-topology identification of weak decays of charged kaons. Transverse momentum spectra are measured from 0.1 up to 3 GeV/[Formula: see text] for pions, from 0.2 up to 6 GeV/[Formula: see text] for kaons and from 0.3 up to 6 GeV/[Formula: see text] for protons. The measured spectra and particle ratios are compared with quantum chromodynamics-inspired models, tuned to reproduce also the earlier measurements performed at the LHC. Furthermore, the integrated particle yields and ratios as well as the average transverse momenta are compared with results at lower collision energies.
|
|
8. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Search for weakly decaying (Lambda n)over-bar and Lambda Lambda exotic bound states in central Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV
- 2016
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 752, s. 267-277
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present results of a search for two hypothetical strange dibaryon states, i.e. the H-dibaryon and the possible (Lambda n) over bar bound state. The search is performed with the ALICE detector in central (0-10%) Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 2.76 TeV, by invariant mass analysis in the decay modes (Lambda n) over bar (d) over bar pi(+) and H-dibaryon -> Lambda p pi(-). No evidence for these bound states is observed. Upper limits are determined at 99% confidence level for a wide range of lifetimes and for the full range of branching ratios. The results are compared to thermal, coalescence and hybrid UrQMD model expectations, which describe correctly the production of other loosely bound states, like the deuteron and the hypertriton. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
9. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Inclusive, prompt and non-prompt J/psi production at mid-rapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :7
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The transverse momentum (p(T)) dependence of the nuclear modification factor R-AA and the centrality dependence of the average transverse momentum for inclusive J/psi have been measured with ALICE for Pb-Pb collisions at root S-NN = 2.76TeV in the e(+)e(-) decay channel at mid-rapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.8). The is significantly smaller than the one observed for pp collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy. Consistently, an increase of RAA is observed towards low p(T). These observations might be indicative of a sizable contribution of charm quark coalescence to the J/psi production. Additionally, the fraction of non-prompt J/psi from beauty hadron decays, f(B), has been determined in the region 1.5 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c in three centrality intervals. No significant centrality dependence of fB is observed. Finally, the RAA of non-prompt J/psi is discussed and compared with model predictions. The nuclear modification in the region 4.5 < p(T) < 10 GeV/c is found to be stronger than predicted by most models.
|
|
10. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of charged jet production cross sections and nuclear modification in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 749, s. 68-81
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Charged jet production cross sections in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV measured with the ALICE detector at the LHC are presented. Using the anti-k(T) algorithm, jets have been reconstructed in the central rapidity region from charged particles with resolution parameters R = 0.2 and R = 0.4. The reconstructed jets have been corrected for detector effects and the underlying event background. To calculate the nuclear modification factor, R-pPb, of charged jets in p-Pb collisions, a pp reference was constructed by scaling previously measured charged jet spectra at root s = 7 TeV. In the transverse momentum range 20 <= p(T, chjet) <= 120 GeV/c, R-pPb is found to be consistent with unity, indicating the absence of strong nuclear matter effects on jet production. Major modifications to the radial jet structure are probed via the ratio of jet production cross sections reconstructed with the two different resolution parameters. This ratio is found to be similar to the measurement in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV and to the expectations from PYTHIA pp simulations and NLO pQCD calculations at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
11. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of dijet k(T) in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 746, s. 385-395
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A measurement of dijet correlations in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector is presented. Jets are reconstructed from charged particles measured in the central tracking detectors and neutral energy deposited in the electromagnetic calorimeter. The transverse momentum of the full jet (clustered from charged and neutral constituents) and charged jet (clustered from charged particles only) is corrected event-by-event for the contribution of the underlying event, while corrections for underlying event fluctuations and finite detector resolution are applied on an inclusive basis. A projection of the dijet transverse momentum, k(Ty) = p(T,jet)(ch+ne) sin(Delta phi(dijet)) with Delta phi(dijet) the azimuthal angle between a full and charged jet and p(T,jet)(ch+ne) the transverse momentum of the full jet, is used to study nuclear matter effects in p-Pb collisions. This observable is sensitive to the acoplanarity of dijet production and its potential modificationin p-Pb collisions with respect to pp collisions. Measurements of the dijet k(Ty) as a function of the transverse momentum of the full and recoil charged jet, and the event multiplicity are presented. No significant modification of k(Ty) due to nuclear matter effects in p-Pb collisions with respect to the event multiplicity or a PYTHIA8 reference is observed. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
12. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
One-dimensional pion, kaon, and proton femtoscopy in Pb-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 92:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The size of the particle emission region in high-energy collisions can be deduced using the femtoscopic correlations of particle pairs at low relative momentum. Such correlations arise due to quantum statistics and Coulomb and strong final state interactions. In this paper, results are presented from femtoscopic analyses of pi(+/-) pi(+/-), K-+/- K-+/-, K-S(0) K-S(0), pp, and (pp) over bar correlations from Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. One-dimensional radii of the system are extracted from correlation functions in terms of the invariant momentum difference of the pair. The comparison of the measured radii with the predictions from a hydrokinetic model is discussed. The pion and kaon source radii display a monotonic decrease with increasing average pair transverse mass m(T) which is consistent with hydrodynamic model predictions for central collisions. The kaon and proton source sizes can be reasonably described by approximate m(T) scaling.
|
|
13. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of jet suppression in central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 746, s. 1-14
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The transverse momentum(p(T)) spectrum and nuclear modification factor (R-AA) of reconstructed jets in 0-10% and 10-30% central Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 2.76 TeV were measured. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-k(T) jet algorithm with a resolution parameter of R = 0.2 from charged and neutral particles, utilizing the ALICE tracking detectors and Electromagnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). The jet p(T) spectra are reported in the pseudorapidity interval of \eta(jet)\ < 0.5 for 40 < p(T), jet < 120 GeV/c in 0-10% and for 30 < p(T), jet < 100 GeV/c in 10-30% collisions. Reconstructed jets were required to contain a leading charged particle with p(T) > 5 GeV/c to suppress jets constructed from the combinatorial background in Pb-Pb collisions. The leading charged particle requirement applied to jet spectra both in pp and Pb-Pb collisions had a negligible effect on the R-AA. The nuclear modification factor R-AA was found to be 0.28 +/- 0.04 in 0-10% and 0.35 +/- 0.04 in 10-30% collisions, independent of p(T), jet within the uncertainties of the measurement. The observed suppression is in fair agreement with expectations from two model calculations with different approaches to jet quenching. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
14. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Centrality dependence of particle production in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 91:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report measurements of the primary charged-particle pseudorapidity density and transverse momentum distributions in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV and investigate their correlation with experimental observables sensitive to the centrality of the collision. Centrality classes are defined by using different event-activity estimators, i.e., charged-particle multiplicities measured in three different pseudorapidity regions as well as the energy measured at beam rapidity (zero degree). The procedures to determine the centrality, quantified by the number of participants (N-part) or the number of nucleon-nucleon binary collisions (N-coll) are described. We show that, in contrast to Pb-Pb collisions, in p-Pb collisions large multiplicity fluctuations together with the small range of participants available generate a dynamical bias in centrality classes based on particle multiplicity. We propose to use the zero-degree energy, which we expect not to introduce a dynamical bias, as an alternative event-centrality estimator. Based on zero-degree energy-centrality classes, the N-part dependence of particle production is studied. Under the assumption that the multiplicity measured in the Pb-going rapidity region scales with the number of Pb participants, an approximate independence of the multiplicity per participating nucleon measured at mid-rapidity of the number of participating nucleons is observed. Furthermore, at high-pT the p-Pb spectra are found to be consistent with the pp spectra scaled by N-coll for all centrality classes. Our results represent valuable input for the study of the event-activity dependence of hard probes in p-Pb collisions and, hence, help to establish baselines for the interpretation of the Pb-Pb data.
|
|
15. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Coherent psi (2S) photo-production in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physics Letters. Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693. ; 751, s. 358-370
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have performed the first measurement of the coherent psi(2S) photo-production cross section in ultraperipheral Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC. This charmonium excited state is reconstructed via the psi(2S) -> l(+)l(-) and ->(2S) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-) decays, where the J/psi decays into two leptons. The analysis is based on an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 22 mu b(-1). The cross section for coherent psi(2S) production in the rapidity interval -0.9 < y < 0.9is d sigma(coh)(psi(2S))/dy = 0.83 +/- 0.19 (stat+syst) mb. The psi(2S) to J/psi coherent cross section ratio is 0.34(-0.07)(+0.08)(stat+syst). The obtained results are compared to predictions from theoretical models. (C) 2015 CERN for the benefit of the ALICE Collaboration. Published by Elsevier B.V.
|
|
16. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Coherent rho(0) photoproduction in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=2.76 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :9
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the first measurement at the LHC of coherent photoproduction of rho(0) mesons in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions. The invariant mass and transverse momentum distributions for rho(0) production are studied in the pi(+)pi(-) decay channel at mid-rapidity. The production cross section in the rapidity range vertical bar y vertical bar < 0.5 is found to be d sigma/dy = 425 +/- 10 (stat.) (+42)(-50) (sys.) mb. Coherent rho(0) production is studied with and without requirement of nuclear breakup, and the fractional yields for various breakup scenarios are presented. The results are compared with those from lower energies and with model predictions.
|
|
17. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Rapidity and transverse-momentum dependence of the inclusive J/psi nuclear modification factor in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN)=5.02 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Journal of High Energy Physics. - 1029-8479. ; :6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have studied the transverse-momentum (p(T)) dependence of the inclusive J/psi production in p-Pb collisions at root s(NN) = 5.02 TeV, in three center-of-mass rapidity (y(cms)) regions, down to zero p(T). Results in the forward and backward rapidity ranges (2.03 < y(cms) < 3.53 and -4.46 < y(cms) < -2.96) are obtained by studying the J/psi decay to mu(+)mu(-), while the mid-rapidity region (-1.37 < y(cms) < 0.43) is investigated by measuring the e(+)e(-) decay channel. The p(T) dependence of the J/psi production cross section and nuclear modification factor are presented for each of the rapidity intervals, as well as the J/psi mean p(T) values. Forward and mid-rapidity results show a suppression of the J/psi yield, with respect to pp collisions, which decreases with increasing p(T). At backward rapidity no significant J/psi suppression is observed. Theoretical models including a combination of cold nuclear matter effects such as shadowing and partonic energy loss, are in fair agreement with the data, except at forward rapidity and low transverse momentum. The implications of the p-Pb results for the evaluation of cold nuclear matter effects on J/psi production in Pb-Pb collisions are also discussed.
|
|
18. |
- Adam, J., et al.
(author)
-
Two-pion femtoscopy in p-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S=5.02 TeV
- 2015
-
In: Physical Review C (Nuclear Physics). - 0556-2813. ; 91:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the results of the femtoscopic analysis of pairs of identical pions measured in p-Pb collisions at root(NN)-N-S = 5.02 TeV. Femtoscopic radii are determined as a function of event multiplicity and pair momentum in three spatial dimensions. As in the pp collision system, the analysis is complicated by the presence of sizable background correlation structures in addition to the femtoscopic signal. The radii increase with event multiplicity and decrease with pair transverse momentum. When taken at comparable multiplicity, the radii measured in p-Pb collisions, at high multiplicity and low pair transverse momentum, are 10%-20% higher than those observed in pp collisions but below those observed in A-A collisions. The results are compared to hydrodynamic predictions at large event multiplicity as well as discussed in the context of calculations based on gluon saturation.
|
|
19. |
|
|
20. |
- Acharyya, A., et al.
(author)
-
Monte Carlo studies for the optimisation of the Cherenkov Telescope Array layout
- 2019
-
In: Astroparticle physics. - : Elsevier. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 111, s. 35-53
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is the major next-generation observatory for ground-based veryhigh-energy gamma-ray astronomy. It will improve the sensitivity of current ground-based instruments by a factor of five to twenty, depending on the energy, greatly improving both their angular and energy resolutions over four decades in energy (from 20 GeV to 300 TeV). This achievement will be possible by using tens of imaging Cherenkov telescopes of three successive sizes. They will be arranged into two arrays, one per hemisphere, located on the La Palma island (Spain) and in Paranal (Chile). We present here the optimised and final telescope arrays for both CTA sites, as well as their foreseen performance, resulting from the analysis of three different large-scale Monte Carlo productions.
|
|
21. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Constraints on Minute-Scale Transient Astrophysical Neutrino Sources
- 2019
-
In: Physical Review Letters. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 122:5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- High-energy neutrino emission has been predicted for several short-lived astrophysical transients including gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), core-collapse supernovae with choked jets, and neutron star mergers. IceCube's optical and x-ray follow-up program searches for such transient sources by looking for two or more muon neutrino candidates in directional coincidence and arriving within 100 s. The measured rate of neutrino alerts is consistent with the expected rate of chance coincidences of atmospheric background events and no likely electromagnetic counterparts have been identified in Swift follow-up observations. Here, we calculate generic bounds on the neutrino flux of short-lived transient sources. Assuming an E-2.5 neutrino spectrum, we find that the neutrino flux of rare sources, like long gamma-ray bursts, is constrained to < 5% of the detected astrophysical flux and the energy released in neutrinos (100 GeV to 10 PeV) by a median bright GRB-like source is < 10(52.5) erg. For a harder E-2.13 neutrino spectrum up to 30% of the flux could be produced by GRBs and the allowed median source energy is < 10(52) erg. A hypothetical population of transient sources has to be more common than 10(-5) Mpc(-3) yr(-1) (5 x 10(-8) Mpc(-3) yr(-1) for the E-2.13 spectrum) to account for the complete astrophysical neutrino flux.
|
|
22. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Cosmic ray spectrum and composition from PeV to EeV using 3 years of data from IceTop and IceCube
- 2019
-
In: Physical Review D. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 100:8
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on measurements of the all-particle cosmic ray energy spectrum and composition in the PeV to EeV energy range using 3 years of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The IceTop detector measures cosmic ray induced air showers on the surface of the ice, from which the energy spectrum of cosmic rays is determined by making additional assumptions about the mass composition. A separate measurement is performed when IceTop data are analyzed in coincidence with the high-energy muon energy loss information from the deep in-ice IceCube detector. In this measurement, both the spectrum and the mass composition of the primary cosmic rays are simultaneously reconstructed using a neural network trained on observables from both detectors. The performance and relative advantages of these two distinct analyses are discussed, including the systematic uncertainties and the dependence on the hadronic interaction models, and both all-particle spectra as well as individual spectra for elemental groups are presented.
|
|
23. |
- Garrappa, S., et al.
(author)
-
Investigation of Two Fermi-LAT Gamma-Ray Blazars Coincident with High-energy Neutrinos Detected by IceCube
- 2019
-
In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 880:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- After the identification of the gamma-ray blazar TXS 0506+056 as the first compelling IceCube neutrino source candidate, we perform a systematic analysis of all high-energy neutrino events satisfying the IceCube realtime trigger criteria. We find one additional known gamma-ray source, the blazar GB6 J1040+0617, in spatial coincidence with a neutrino in this sample. The chance probability of this coincidence is 30% after trial correction. For the first time, we present a systematic study of the gamma-ray flux, spectral and optical variability, and multiwavelength behavior of GB6 J1040+0617 and compare it to TXS 0506+056. We find that TXS 0506+056 shows strong flux variability in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope gamma-ray band, being in an active state around the arrival of IceCube-170922A, but in a low state during the archival IceCube neutrino flare in 2014/15. In both cases the spectral shape is statistically compatible (<= 2 sigma) with the average spectrum showing no indication of a significant relative increase of a high-energy component. While the association of GB6 J1040+0617 with the neutrino is consistent with background expectations, the source appears to be a plausible neutrino source candidate based on its energetics and multiwavelength features, namely a bright optical flare and modestly increased gamma-ray activity. Finding one or two neutrinos originating from gamma-ray blazars in the given sample of high-energy neutrinos is consistent with previously derived limits of neutrino emission from gamma-ray blazars, indicating the sources of the majority of cosmic high-energy neutrinos remain unknown.
|
|
24. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Measurements using the inelasticity distribution of multi-TeV neutrino interactions in IceCube
- 2019
-
In: Physical Review D. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 99:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Inelasticity, the fraction of a neutrino's energy transferred to hadrons, is a quantity of interest in the study of astrophysical and atmospheric neutrino interactions at multi-TeV energies with IceCube. In this work, a sample of contained neutrino interactions in IceCube is obtained from five years of data and classified as 2650 tracks and 965 cascades. Tracks arise predominantly from charged-current nu(mu) interactions, and we demonstrate that we can reconstruct their energy and inelasticity. The inelasticity distribution is found to be consistent with the calculation of Cooper-Sarkar et al. across the energy range from similar to 1 to similar to 100 TeV. Along with cascades from neutrinos of all flavors, we also perform a fit over the energy, zenith angle, and inelasticity distribution to characterize the flux of astrophysical and atmospheric neutrinos. The energy spectrum of diffuse astrophysical neutrinos is described well by a power law in both track and cascade samples, and a best-fit index gamma = 2.62 +/- 0.07 is found in the energy range from 3.5 TeV to 2.6 PeV. Limits are set on the astrophysical flavor composition and are compatible with a ratio of (1/3 : 1/3 : 1/3)(circle plus). Exploiting the distinct inelasticity distribution of nu(mu) and (nu) over bar (mu) interactions, the atmospheric nu(mu) to (nu) over bar (mu) flux ratio in the energy range from 770 GeV to 21 TeV is found to be 0.77(-0.25)(+0.44) times the calculation by Honda et al. Lastly, the inelasticity distribution is also sensitive to neutrino charged-current charm production. The data are consistent with a leading-order calculation, with zero charm production excluded at 91% confidence level. Future analyses of inelasticity distributions may probe new physics that affects neutrino interactions both in and beyond the Standard Model.
|
|
25. |
- Kankare, E., et al.
(author)
-
Search for transient optical counterparts to high-energy IceCube neutrinos with Pan-STARRS1
- 2019
-
In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 626
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In order to identify the sources of the observed diffuse high-energy neutrino flux, it is crucial to discover their electromagnetic counterparts. To increase the sensitivity of detecting counterparts of transient or variable sources by telescopes with a limited field of view, IceCube began releasing alerts for single high-energy (E-v > 60 TeV) neutrino detections with sky localisation regions of order 1 degrees radius in 2016. We used Pan-STARRS1 to follow-up five of these alerts during 2016-2017 to search for any optical transients that may be related to the neutrinos. Typically 10-20 faint m(ip1) less than or similar to 22.5 mag) extragalactic transients are found within the Pan-STARRS1 footprints and are generally consistent with being unrelated field supernovae (SNe) and AGN. We looked for unusual properties of the detected transients, such as temporal coincidence of explosion epoch with the IceCube timestamp, or other peculiar light curve and physical properties. We found only one transient that had properties worthy of a specific follow-up. In the Pan-STARRS1 imaging for IceCube-160427A (probability to be of astrophysical origin of similar to 50%), we found a SN PS16cgx, located at 10.0' from the nominal IceCube direction. Spectroscopic observations of PS16cgx showed that it was an H-poor SN at redshift z = 0.2895 +/- 0.0001. The spectra and light curve resemble some high-energy Type Ic SNe, raising the possibility of a jet driven SN with an explosion epoch temporally coincident with the neutrino detection. However, distinguishing Type Ia and Type Ic SNe at this redshift is notoriously difficult. Based on all available data we conclude that the transient is more likely to be a Type Ia with relatively weak Sin absorption and a fairly normal rest-frame r-band light curve. If, as predicted, there is no high-energy neutrino emission from Type Ia SNe, then PS16cgx must be a random coincidence, and unrelated to the IceCube-160427A. We find no other plausible optical transient for any of the five IceCube events observed down to a 5 sigma limiting magnitude of mip1 approximate to 22 mag, between 1 day and 25 days after detection.
|
|
26. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Development of an analysis to probe the neutrino mass ordering with atmospheric neutrinos using three years of IceCube DeepCore data IceCube Collaboration
- 2020
-
In: European Physical Journal C. - : SPRINGER. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 80:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Neutrino Mass Ordering (NMO) remains one of the outstanding questions in the field of neutrino physics. One strategy to measure the NMO is to observe matter effects in the oscillation pattern of atmospheric neutrinos above similar to 1GeV, as proposed for several next-generation neutrino experiments. Moreover, the existing IceCube DeepCore detector can already explore this type of measurement. We present the development and application of two independent analyses to search for the signature of the NMO with three years of DeepCore data. These analyses include a full treatment of systematic uncertainties and a statistically-rigorous method to determine the significance for the NMO from a fit to the data. Both analyses show that the dataset is fully compatible with both mass orderings. For the more sensitive analysis, we observe a preference for normal ordering with a p-value of pIO=15.3% and CLs=53.3% for the inverted ordering hypothesis, while the experimental results from both analyses are consistent within their uncertainties. Since the result is independent of the value of delta CP and obtained from energies E nu greater than or similar to 5GeV, it is complementary to recent results from long-baseline experiments. These analyses set the groundwork for the future of this measurement with more capable detectors, such as the IceCube Upgrade and the proposed PINGU detector.
|
|
27. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Differential limit on the extremely-high-energy cosmic neutrino flux in the presence of astrophysical background from nine years of IceCube data
- 2018
-
In: Physical Review D. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 98:6
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report a quasidifferential upper limit on the extremely-high-energy (EHE) neutrino flux above 5 x 10(6) GeV based on an analysis of nine years of IceCube data. The astrophysical neutrino flux measured by IceCube extends to PeV energies, and it is a background flux when searching for an independent signal flux at higher energies, such as the cosmogenic neutrino signal. We have developed a new method to place robust limits on the EHE neutrino flux in the presence of an astrophysical background, whose spectrum has yet to be understood with high precision at PeV energies. A distinct event with a deposited energy above 10(6) GeV was found in the new two-year sample, in addition to the one event previously found in the seven-year EHE neutrino search. These two events represent a neutrino flux that is incompatible with predictions for a cosmogenic neutrino flux and are considered to be an astrophysical background in the current study. The obtained limit is the most stringent to date in the energy range between 5 x 10(6) and 2 x 10(10) GeV. This result constrains neutrino models predicting a three-flavor neutrino flux of E-nu(2)phi(nu e+nu mu+nu tau) similar or equal to 2 x 10(-8) GeV/cm(2) sec sr at 10(9) GeV. A significant part of the parameter space for EHE neutrino production scenarios assuming a proton-dominated composition of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is disfavored independently of uncertain models of the extragalactic background light which previous IceCube constraints partially relied on.
|
|
28. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Neutrinos below 100 TeV from the southern sky employing refined veto techniques to IceCube data
- 2020
-
In: Astroparticle physics. - : ELSEVIER. - 0927-6505 .- 1873-2852. ; 116
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Many Galactic sources of gamma rays, such as supernova remnants, are expected to produce neutrinos with a typical energy cutoff well below 100 TeV. For the IceCube Neutrino Observatory located at the South Pole, the southern sky, containing the inner part of the Galactic plane and the Galactic Center, is a particularly challenging region at these energies, because of the large background of atmospheric muons. In this paper, we present recent advancements in data selection strategies for track-like muon neutrino events with energies below 100 TeV from the southern sky. The strategies utilize the outer detector regions as veto and features of the signal pattern to reduce the background of atmospheric muons to a level which, for the first time, allows IceCube searching for point-like sources of neutrinos in the southern sky at energies between 100 GeV and several TeV in the muon neutrino charged current channel. No significant clustering of neutrinos above background expectation was observed in four years of data recorded with the completed IceCube detector. Upper limits on the neutrino flux for a number of spectral hypotheses are reported for a list of astrophysical objects in the southern hemisphere.
|
|
29. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Detection of the Temporal Variation of the Sun's Cosmic Ray Shadow with the IceCube Detector
- 2019
-
In: Astrophysical Journal. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 872:2
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report on the observation of a deficit in the cosmic ray flux from the directions of the Moon and Sun with five years of data taken by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. Between 2010 May and 2011 May the IceCube detector operated with 79 strings deployed in the glacial ice at the South Pole, and with 86 strings between 2011 May and 2015 May. A binned analysis is used to measure the relative deficit and significance of the cosmic ray shadows. Both the cosmic ray Moon and Sun shadows are detected with high statistical significance (>10σ) for each year. The results for the Moon shadow are consistent with previous analyses and verify the stability of the IceCube detector over time. This work represents the first observation of the Sun shadow with the IceCube detector. We show that the cosmic ray shadow of the Sun varies with time. These results make it possible to study cosmic ray transport near the Sun with future data from IceCube.
|
|
30. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Measurement of atmospheric tau neutrino appearance with IceCube DeepCore
- 2019
-
In: Physical Review D. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 99:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a measurement of atmospheric tau neutrino appearance from oscillations with three years of data from the DeepCore subarray of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory. This analysis uses atmospheric neutrinos from the full sky with reconstructed energies between 5.6 and 56 GeV to search for a statistical excess of cascadelike neutrino events which are the signature of nu(tau) interactions. For CC thorn NC (CC-only) interactions, we measure the tau neutrino normalization to be 0.73(-0.24)(+0.30) (0.57(-0.30)(+0.36)) and exclude the absence of tau neutrino oscillations at a significance of 3.2 sigma (2.0 sigma) These results are consistent with, and of similar precision to, a confirmatory IceCube analysis also presented, as well as measurements performed by other experiments.
|
|
31. |
- Aartsen, M. G., et al.
(author)
-
Search for steady point-like sources in the astrophysical muon neutrino flux with 8 years of IceCube data
- 2019
-
In: European Physical Journal C. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1434-6044 .- 1434-6052. ; 79:3
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The IceCube Collaboration has observed a high-energy astrophysical neutrino flux and recently found evidence for neutrino emission from the blazar TXS 0506+056. These results open a new window into the high-energy universe. However, the source or sources of most of the observed flux of astrophysical neutrinos remains uncertain. Here, a search for steady point-like neutrino sources is performed using an unbinned likelihood analysis. The method searches for a spatial accumulation of muon-neutrino events using the very high-statistics sample of about 497,000 neutrinos recorded by IceCube between 2009 and 2017. The median angular resolution is approximate to 1 degrees at 1 TeV and improves to approximate to 0.3 degrees for neutrinos with an energy of 1 PeV. Compared to previous analyses, this search is optimized for point-like neutrino emission with the same flux-characteristics as the observed astrophysical muon-neutrino flux and introduces an improved event-reconstruction and parametrization of the background. The result is an improvement in sensitivity to the muon-neutrino flux compared to the previous analysis of approximate to 35% assuming an E-2 spectrum. The sensitivity on the muon-neutrino flux is at a level of E2dN/dE=310-13s-1. No new evidence for neutrino sources is found in a full sky scan and in an a priori candidate source list that is motivated by gamma-ray observations. Furthermore, no significant excesses above background are found from populations of sub-threshold sources. The implications of the non-observation for potential source classes are discussed.
|
|