0000000000655697

AUTHOR

C. Lampoudis

Search for trilepton resonances from chargino and neutralino pair production in s=13  TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for the electroweak pair production of charginos and associated production of a chargino and neutralino, each of which decays through an $R$-parity-violating coupling into a lepton and a $W$, $Z$, or Higgs boson. The trilepton invariant-mass spectrum is constructed from events with three or more leptons, targeting chargino decays that include an electron or muon and a leptonically decaying $Z$ boson. The analyzed dataset corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data produced by the Large Hadron Collider at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and collected by the ATLAS experiment between 2015 and 2018. The data are f…

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Neutron measurements for advanced nuclear systems: The n_TOF project at CERN

A few years ago, the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF was built at CERN to address some of the urgent needs of high-accuracy nuclear data for Accelerator Driven Systems and other advanced nuclear energy systems, as well as for nuclear astrophysics and fundamental nuclear physics. Thanks to the characteristics of the neutron beam, and to state-of-the-art detection and acquisition systems, high quality neutron cross-section data have been obtained for a variety of isotopes, many of which radioactive. Following an important upgrade of the spallation target and of the experimental area, a new measurement campaign has started last year. After a brief review of the most important results obt…

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Neutron capture cross section measurement ofU238at the CERN n_TOF facility in the energy region from 1 eV to 700 keV

The aim of this work is to provide a precise and accurate measurement of the U238(n,γ) reaction cross section in the energy region from 1 eV to 700 keV. This reaction is of fundamental importance for the design calculations of nuclear reactors, governing the behavior of the reactor core. In particular, fast reactors, which are experiencing a growing interest for their ability to burn radioactive waste, operate in the high energy region of the neutron spectrum. In this energy region most recent evaluations disagree due to inconsistencies in the existing measurements of up to 15%. In addition, the assessment of nuclear data uncertainty performed for innovative reactor systems shows that the u…

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Performance of the upgraded PreProcessor of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

The PreProcessor of the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger prepares the analogue trigger signals sent from the ATLAS calorimeters by digitising, synchronising, and calibrating them to reconstruct transverse energy deposits, which are then used in further processing to identify event features. During the first long shutdown of the LHC from 2013 to 2014, the central components of the PreProcessor, the Multichip Modules, were replaced by upgraded versions that feature modern ADC and FPGA technology to ensure optimal performance in the high pile-up environment of LHC Run 2. This paper describes the features of the newMultichip Modules along with the improvements to the signal processing achieved.

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Search for bottom-squark pair production in pp collision events at s=13  TeV with hadronically decaying τ -leptons, b -jets, and missing transverse momentum using the ATLAS detector

A search for pair production of bottom squarks in events with hadronically decaying τ-leptons, b-tagged jets, and large missing transverse momentum is presented. The analyzed dataset is based on proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded by the ATLAS detector from 2015 to 2018, and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb-1. The observed data are compatible with the expected Standard Model background. Results are interpreted in a simplified model where each bottom squark is assumed to decay into the second-lightest neutralino χ 20 and a bottom quark, with χ 20 decaying into a Higgs boson and the lightest neutralino χ 10. The search focu…

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Observation and Measurement of Forward Proton Scattering in Association with Lepton Pairs Produced via the Photon Fusion Mechanism at ATLAS

The observation of forward proton scattering in association with lepton pairs (eþe− þ p or μþμ− þ p) produced via photon fusion is presented. The scattered proton is detected by the ATLAS Forward Proton spectrometer, while the leptons are reconstructed by the central ATLAS detector. Proton-proton collision data recorded in 2017 at a center-of-mass energy of ffiffiffi s p ¼ 13 TeV are analyzed, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 14.6 fb−1. A total of 57 (123) candidates in the ee þ p (μμ þ p) final state are selected, allowing the background-only hypothesis to be rejected with a significance exceeding 5 standard deviations in each channel. Proton-tagging techniques are introduced f…

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Nuclear Data for the Thorium Fuel Cycle and the Transmutation of Nuclear Waste

Neutron-induced reaction cross sections play an important role in a wide variety of research fields, ranging from stellar nucleosynthesis, the investigation of nuclear level density studies, to applications of nuclear technology, including the transmutation of nuclear waste, accelerator-driven systems, and nuclear fuel cycle investigations. Simulations of nuclear technology applications largely rely on evaluated nuclear data libraries. These libraries are based both on experimental data and theoretical models. An outline of experimental nuclear data activities at CERN’s neutron time-of-flight facility, n_TOF, will be presented.

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The 236U neutron capture cross-section measured at the n TOF CERN facility

International audience; The $^{236}$U isotope plays an important role in nuclear systems, both for future and currently operating ones. The actual knowledge of the capture reaction of this isotope is satisfactory in the thermal region, but it is considered insufficient for Fast Reactor and ADS applications. For this reason the $^{236} \text{U}(n, \gamma)$ reaction cross-section has been measured for the first time in the whole energy region from thermal energy up to 1 MeV at the n_TOF facility with two different detection systems: an array of C$_6$D$_6$ detectors, employing the total energy deposited method, and a 4$\pi$ total absorption calorimeter (TAC), made of 40 BaF$_2$ crystals. The t…

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High precision measurement of the radiative capture cross section of 238U at the n_TOF CERN facility

The importance of improving the accuracy on the capture cross-section of 238U has been addressed by the Nuclear Energy Agency, since its uncertainty significantly affects the uncertainties of key design parameters for both fast and thermal nuclear reactors. Within the 7th framework programme ANDES of the European Commission three different measurements have been carried out with the aim of providing the 238U(n,γ) cross-section with an accuracy which varies from 1 to 5%, depending on the energy range. Hereby the final results of the measurement performed at the n-TOF CERN facility in a wide energy range from 1 eV to 700 keV will be presented. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017.

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ANDES Measurements for Advanced Reactor Systems

Abstract A significant number of new measurements was undertaken by the ANDES “Measurements for advanced reactor systems” initiative. These new measurements include neutron inelastic scattering from 23 Na, Mo, Zr, and 238 U, neutron capture cross sections of 238 U, 241 Am, neutron induced fission cross sections of 240 Pu, 242 Pu, 241 Am, 243 Am and 245 Cm, and measurements that explore the limits of the surrogate technique. The latter study the feasibility of inferring neutron capture cross sections for Cm isotopes, the neutron-induced fission cross section of 238 Pu and fission yields and fission probabilities through full Z and A identification in inverse kinematics for isotopes of Pu, Am…

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Measurement of the 241Am neutron capture cross section at the n-TOF facility at CERN

New neutron cross section measurements of minor actinides have been performed recently in order to reduce the uncertainties in the evaluated data, which is important for the design of advanced nuclear reactors and, in particular, for determining their performance in the transmutation of nuclear waste. We have measured the 241 Am(n,γ) cross section at the n TOF facility between 0.2 eV and 10 keV with a BaF2 Total Absorption Calorimeter, and the analysis of the measurement has been recently concluded. Our results are in reasonable agreement below 20 eV with the ones published by C. Lampoudis et al. in 2013, who reported a 22% larger capture cross section up to 110 eV compared to experimental …

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