Fermilab 50th Anniversary Symposium and Users Meeting

6 Jun 2017, 17:15 → 8 Jun 2017, 20:00 US/Central

Ramsey Auditorium (Fermilab)

Andreas Kronfeld (Fermilab), Louise Suter (Fermilab), Sarah Lockwitz (Fermilab), Tammy Walton (Fermilab), Thomas Strauss (Fermilab)

1967 marked the birth of Fermilab. That year the lab hired its first employees and began operations in Illinois.  To celebrate fifty years of science and innovation, we are holding a special one-day symposium, in conjunction with the fiftieth Users Meeting.

Tuesday, 6 June

20:00 → 23:00 Festa Italiana

Wednesday, 7 June

08:30 → 10:20 Anniversary Symposium: Session I

Convener: Andreas Kronfeld (Fermilab)

08:30 Welcome

Speakers: Eric Isaacs (University of Chicago), Marta Cehelsky (URA), Michael Weis (Department of Energy), Nigel Lockyer (Fermilab)

08:45 Origins of Fermilab

Speakers: Adrienne Kolb (Fermilab), Alvin Tollestrup (Fermilab), Giorgio Bellettini (University and INFN, Pisa), John Peoples (Fermilab), Valerie Higgins (Fermilab), Victor Matveev (JINR)

Slides ORIGINS_OF_FERMILAB_SLIDES_FINAL_V2.pptx

09:10 Fixed Target Experiments

Speaker: Heidi Schellman (Northwestern University)

Slides FixedTarget50Year_v10.pptx.pdf

09:40 An International Laboratory at the Frontier

Speakers: Daniela Bortoletto (University of Oxford), Gregorio Bernardi (LPNHE Paris), Marcela Carena (Fermilab), Masanori Yamauchi (KEK), Ronald Shellard (CBPF), Stefan Söldner-Rembold (University of Manchester)

Slides International-Panel.pptx

10:20 → 10:45 Coffee Break

10:45 → 12:45 Anniversary Symposium: Session II

Convener: Sergio Bertolucci (CERN)

10:45 Theoretical Physics at Fermilab

Speaker: Andre de Gouvea (Northwestern University)

Slides FNAL_50_th.pdf

11:15 Superconducting Magnets at Fermilab

Speaker: Peter Limon (Fermilab, retired)

Slides Symposium_Presentation-final.pdf

11:45 Computing Innovations

Speaker: Oliver Gutsche (Fermilab)

Slides 170607_-_50-year_Symposium_-_Computing_Innovations.pdf

12:15 Fermilab Technology and Innovation

Speakers: Donna Kubik (Fermilab), Farah Fahim (Fermilab), Hugh Montgomery (Jefferson Lab), Marcel Demarteau (Argonne National Laboratory), Norbert Holtkamp (SLAC), Ralph Pasquinelli (Fermilab, retired)

Slides Technology_round_table_with_updated_cosmic_slides.pptx

12:45 → 14:00 Lunch

14:00 → 15:30 Anniversary Symposium: Session III

Convener: Patrice Verdier (CNRS/IN2P3)

14:00 Perspective from the Department of Energy Office of Science

Speaker: Jim Siegrist (DOE)

Slides 2017-06-07_Fermilab_50th_Anniversary_-_Siegrist_v3.pptx

14:20 Astrophysics

Speaker: Alex Drlica-Wagner (Fermilab)

Slides adw_fermilab50th_v4.pdf

14:50 Hadron-Collider Physics Panel

Speakers: Cecilia Gerber (UIC), Darien Wood (Northeastern University), Fabiola Gianotti (CERN), Luciano Ristori (INFN Pisa and Fermilab), Young-Kee Kim (University of Chicago)

Slides SlideShow-June5.pptx

15:30 → 16:00 Coffee Break

16:00 → 18:00 Anniversary Symposium: Session IV

Convener: Louise Suter (Fermilab)

16:00 50 Years of Success for Superconducting RF

Speaker: Hasan Padamsee (Cornell University)

Slides 50th_Anniversary_Fermilab5.ppt.pptx

16:20 Future Muon Experiments

Speaker: Brendan Kiburg (Fermilab)

Slides Symposium-Muons-Kiburg-2017.pptx

16:40 Current and Future Neutrino Experiments

Speaker: Angela Fava (Fermilab)

Slides Neutrino_oscillations.pptx

17:20 Keynote

Speaker: Shirley Jackson (President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

18:00 → 20:00 Reception

The symposium and Keynote will be followed by a special reception in the Atrium.


Registration required (via the main registration form).

Thursday, 8 June

09:00 → 10:50 Users Meeting: Morning I

09:00 Welcome from UEC

Speaker: Ed Kearns (Boston University)

Slides Kearns_Users_Meeting_Welcome.pdf

UEC Nomination Form FNAL_UEC_NOMINATION_FORM-2017.pdf

09:10 R&D at Fermilab

Speaker: Petra Merkel (Fermilab)

Slides UsersMeeting_DetectorRandD_060817.pdf

09:35 Fall 2016 / Spring 2017 URA Visiting Scholar Program Awardees

Speaker: Marta Cehelsky (URA)

Slides Users_Meeting_-_URA_VS_PPt_F_2016__S_2017.pdf

09:36 URA Thesis Award Ceremony

09:40 URA Thesis Award Talk - "Neutrino Flux Predictions for the NuMI Beam"

Speaker: Leonidas Aliaga Soplin (Fermilab)

Slides ura_thesis_aliaga.pdf

10:00 Minerva

Speaker: Jiyeon Han (University of Pittsburgh)

Slides Minerva_users_meeting_2017_v5.pdf

10:10 MINOS+

Speaker: Adam Aurisano (University of Cincinnati)

Slides aurisanoUsersMeeting2017.pdf

10:20 Coffee Break

10:50 → 12:15 Users Meeting: Morning II

10:50 Accelerator

Speaker: Ioanis Kourbanis (Fermilab)

Slides ACCELERATOR_REPORT.pdf

11:15 Mu2e

Speaker: Daniel Ambrose (University of Minnesota)

Slides Mu2e_User_Meeting.pptx

11:35 DUNE

Speaker: Ed Blucher (University of Chicago)

Slides Fermilab_Users_2017_blucher.pdf

11:55 Dark Matter Experiments

Speaker: Amy Cottle (Fermilab)

Slides UsersMeeting.pdf

12:15 → 13:15 Lunch

13:15 → 14:45 Users Meeting: Afternoon I

13:15 g-2

Speaker: Jason Crnkovic (BNL)

Slides gm2-users-meeting.pdf

13:40 Directors Panel

Speakers: Karen Kosky (Argonne National Laboratory), Laura Fields (Fermilab), Mayly Sanchez (Iowa State University), Sandra Charles (Fermilab), Prof. Sowjanya Gollapinni (University of Tennessee, Knoxville), Tim Meyer (Fermilab)

14:20 URA Tollestrup Award Ceremony

Speakers: Alvin Tollestrup (Fermilab), Marta Cehelsky (URA)

14:25 URA Tollestrup Award Talk: Boosting Hidden Light New Physics at the LHC and Beyond

Speaker: Tran V Nhan (Fermilab)

Slides tollestrup-170608.pdf

14:45 → 15:15 Coffee

15:15 → 18:00 Users Meeting: Afternoon II

15:15 SBN Program

Speaker: Anne Schukraft (Fermilab)

Slides SchukraftSBNUsersMeeting2017.pptx

15:40 Theory - Lattice QCD at Fermilab

Speaker: Ruth Van de Water (Fermilab)

Slides LQCD_FNAL_2017.pdf

16:05 DES

Speaker: Chihway Chang (UChicago (KICP))

Slides fermilab_user_meeting_DES.pdf

16:25 NOvA

Speaker: Kanika Sachdev (Fermilab)

Slides 2017_users_meeting.pdf

16:50 CMB and Southpole Telescope

Speaker: Alexandra Rahlin (Fermilab)

Slides 2017_06_08_Rahlin_Users_SPT3G.pdf

17:10 CMS

Speaker: Salvatore Rappoccio (University of Buffalo)

Slides FNAL50_CMS_rappoccio.pdf

17:40 Computing at Fermilab

Speaker: James Amundson (Fermilab)

Slides computing-amundson.pdf

18:00 → 20:00 Young Scientist Poster Session

18:00 Calibrating Inner-Shell Electron Recoils in a Xenon Time Projection Chamber

In the field of dark matter direct detection, the biggest challenge remains building detectors that sufficiently understand and control their radioactive backgrounds in order to distinguish individual dark matter interactions. Experiments rely on calibrations to understand each detector’s response to predicted backgrounds. Certain backgrounds, such as neutrino-electron scatters, cannot be directly calibrated, and so beta- or gamma-decay sources are often used as a proxy. This research postulates that such a treatment is ignoring important second-order effects that distinguish between the standard calibration schemes and simulated background. We have constructed a xenon time projection chamber, a leading technology of the field, to compare a standard tritium beta-decay calibration against Xe-127 electron-captures that simulate neutrino scatters on inner-shell electrons in xenon.

Speaker: Daniel Baxter (Northwestern University)

Poster XELDA_poster.pdf (Protected)

18:00 Current status of ANNIE and outlook for the second phase of the experiment

The primary physics goal of the Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) is to use gadolinium-doped water to measure the neutron yield from neutrino-nucleus interactions. ANNIE's studies of neutron yield will lead to reduced systematic uncertainties in oscillation searches and cross-section studies. They will also improve the power of background rejection techniques that use neutron tagging, whether from a capture on gadolinium as in ANNIE, or a capture on hydrogen as planned for the Hyper Kamiokande detector. Detection of supernova neutrinos and nucleon decay searches, an important test of the predictions of Grand Unification Theories, are examples of where one can reject dominant backgrounds using neutron tagging. The ANNIE detector consists of an interaction volume of around 30 tons of pure water, loaded with gadolinium, sitting on the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. Surrounding the interaction volume, photodetectors will collect Cherenkov light from the primary particles produced in neutrino interactions and the 8 MeV photons from neutron captures. A crucial part of the detector design is that, in addition to photomultiplier tubes, we will house the first live test of prototype Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors, whose picosecond timing resolution will enhance our ability to reconstruct the interaction vertex. We will present an overview of the first phase, which was devoted to the characterisation of backgrounds, and plans for the second phase, where we expect physics data next year.

Speaker: Ashley Back (Iowa State University)

Poster poster.pdf (Protected)

18:00 Direct production of top squark pairs in all-hadronic channel

We present the results of a search for direct and gluino-mediated production of supersymmetric scalar top-quark pairs in the all-hadronic final state using top tagging. The measurement is based on a 13 TeV proton-proton sample collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 fb-1. The results of the search are interpreted in several Simplified Models (SMS).

Speaker: Andrés Abreu (University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez)

Poster FNAL_50_SUSY_Poster_Abreu.pdf

18:00 Electron attenuation measurement using cosmic ray muons in MicroBooNE

MicroBooNE experiment in Fermilab uses the liquid-argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) technology to study neutrino interactions in argon. A fundamental requirement for LArTPCs is to achieve and maintain a low level of electronegative contaminants in the liquid to minimize the capture of drifting ionization electrons. The attenuation time for the drifting electrons should be long compared to the maximum drift time, so that the signals from tracks that generate electrons with long drift paths can be detected efficiently. Our measurement of electron attenuation in the MicroBooNE LArTPC using cosmic-ray muons yields a minimum electron 1/e lifetime of 18 ms under typical operating conditions, long compared to the maximum drift time of 2.3 ms.

Speaker: Varuna Crishan Meddage (KSU)

Slides users_centre_poster_copy_2.pdf

18:00 Electron neutrino quasi elastic scattering in Minerva

Direct information about electron neutrino initiated quasielastic scattering will be an important input to ongoing and future long-baseline electron neutrino appearance measurements. Minerva has performed measurements of this process using the sub-dominant electron neutrino 1.8% fractional beam component using its LE NuMI beam exposure (3.5E20 P.O.T). Constraints on rates and Q^2 dependence relative to muon neutrino initiated quasielastic scattering in NuMI LE beam mode will be presented. Minerva has recently completed 12E20 P.O.T of data taking in ME Numi beam. Expected improvements in the ME beam exposure analysis which is now underway will also be presented.

Speaker: Jiyeon Han (Pittsburgh University)

Slides CCQE_NuE_UserMeeting_v5.pdf

18:00 Flavor asymmetry in the Nucleon Sea

SeaQuest E906 is an experiment aimed at studying the anti-quark distributions in the nucleon and nuclei. The experiment uses a 120 GeV proton beam extracted from the Main Injector at Fermilab to collide with various targets of hydrogen, deuterium, carbon, iron and tungsten to study a variety of physics topics. It takes advantage of the Drell-Yan process to probe the nucleon sea structure. In the Drell-Yan process, a quark from one hadron annihilates with an anti-quark from another hadron, producing a virtual photon which eventually decays into a dilepton pair. The SeaQuest forward spectrometer is optimized for detecting such di-muons. Comparison of Drell-Yan cross-section ratios of liquid hydrogen and deuterium allows SeaQuest to probe the $\overline{d}(x)/\overline{u}(x)$ ratio up to a region of ~0.45 in Bjorken-x, a region which hasn't been explored yet. Preliminary analysis of FY 2015 data sets will be presented in the poster.

Speaker: Arun Tadepalli (Rutgers University)

Poster Flavor_asymmetry_in_the_Nucleon_sea_v4.pdf

18:00 GENIE global fits of neutrino scattering data

GENIE is the main physics generator used in DUNE. As a world leading neutrino event generator, the collaboration is in the process of optimizing the prediction for neutrino interactions in the GeV energy region which has been shown to be difficult to understand, especially in heavy nuclei. To solve this issue, the GENIE collaboration has developed its own system to perform global fits of neutrino (and anti-neutrino) scattering data. The fitting framework is very generic and can accommodate any combination of observables and datasets, while properly handling possible correlations. The machinery is based on the Professor software suite which is actively used for general purpose MC tuning at the LHC. The fitting system also benefits from new models and comprehensive configurations recently implemented into GENIE. We have developed new comprehensive global models based on empirical and theory-driven configurations, and we may now estimate cross section and FSI parameters for each of them. The outcome of this effort will be several new GENIE tunes that will also include data-driven constraints on systematic parameters. Neutrino interaction uncertainties will be one of the dominant systematics for DUNE and this work aims to improve the understanding on one of the major ingredients for the CP violation search at DUNE.

Speaker: Rhiannon Jones (University of Liverpool)

Poster Poster_attempt_4d.pdf

18:00 IceCube DOM beamtest at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility (FTBF)

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer particle detector located at the South Pole. It consists of 5160 digital optical modules (DOMs) embedded in the ice, each containing a 10-inch photomultiplier tube (PMT). The infrastructure at the FTBF gives us a precise knowledge of the particles which are contained in the beamline. Using this knowledge, we plan to make precise measurements of the DOM response in water at the secondary beamline, known as MTest, at the 1-32 GeV configuration, meaning that the beamline contains mainly pions and muons. Such direct photon measurements from particles can be used for particle identification (PID) and will be most applicable in the PINGU detector which is the proposed lower energy upgrade in the next generation of IceCube experiments. Current efforts are focused on gathering and doing checks on equipment such as the DAQ at the FTBF.

Speaker: Shivesh Mandalia (Queen Mary University of London)

18:00 Investigation of neutron-induced background in HPGe detectors – first phase

Background induced by neutrons is a poorly understood background component for all low-level systems. In shielded laboratories, neutrons can still be produced by interactions of cosmic rays (hadronic cascades, negative muon capture) and by natural radioactivity, via spontaneous fission or (α, n) reactions. Predicting all background components correctly is crucial for designing efficient shielding and applying appropriate eventrejection strategies. The interactions of fast neutrons in a coaxial p-type high-purity germanium detector (HPGe) have been studied experimentally and by the detector simulation tool GEANT4. Neutrons and gamma-rays emitted from a 241Am-Be source with an activity 370 MBq were used for a detailed investigation of their interactions in a coaxial p-type HPGe. In HPGe detector, the main energy deposition mechanisms of neutrons with energies between 0.5 and 10 MeV, are elastic and inelastic scattering. Elastic and inelastic scattering of neutrons for HPGe energy thresholds below about 50 keV give the largest contribution to the interaction probability, and may be an important effect to take into account in future gamma-ray spectrometers based on gamma-ray tracking. (Ljungvall and Nyberg, 2005) The experimental setup consisted of a 241Am-Be source encapsulated in a case of stainless steel and in an aluminium shell placed coaxially 161.2 mm above a 50% coaxial p-type HPGe detector in a low-level shield. Two circular iron absorbers were placed above the detector to absorb the abundant gamma rays of 241Am and so reduce the dead time and a plastic beaker was used to keep the distance of the source to the detector. The experimental results were compared with GEANT4 simulations of the neutron and gamma-ray interactions with the detector and shielding. Precise geometry of the setup was coded including individual material impurities. Detailed analysis of both, experimental and simulated spectra was carried out. Elastic and inelastic scattering of fast neutrons were observed, as well as their capture. Ge peaks at energies 68.6 keV, 564.0 keV, 597.0 keV, 688.1 keV, 836.1 keV, 1039.6 keV and 1215.7 keV have typical triangular shape, which is due to the inelastic scattering of fast neutrons on Ge. A Peak at the energy of 68.8 keV corresponds to the reaction 73Ge(n, n'gamma)73Ge*, peaks at energies 564.0 keV and 597.0 keV to the reaction 76Ge(n, n'gamma)76Ge*, peaks at energies 688.1 keV and 836.1 keV to the reaction 72Ge(n, n'gamma)72Ge*, and the peak at the energy of 1215.7 keV to the reaction 70Ge(n, n'gamma)70Ge*. The results of this work have shown that the GEANT4 simulation tool and the neutron cross section data implemented into GEANT4 are suitable for neutron simulations and give good results at least up to neutron energy 11 MeV, which is the maximum energy of neutrons from 241Am-Be source. Concluding, GEANT4 was validated for further studies by comparing experimental results with simulations. Ljungvall, J., Nyberg, J., 2005. Nucl. Instr. Meth. in Phys. Res. A 546, 553–573

Speaker: Miloslava Baginova (CERN)

Poster Poster_Fermilab.pdf

18:00 Longitudinal electron diffusion measurement at MicroBooNE‬

MicroBooNE is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) which has been running in the Booster Neutrino Beam since October 2015. As one of the first large scale LArTPCs, one of the primary goals of MicroBooNE is to understand the performance of the LArTPC technology towards the development of future detectors such as the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). In particular, understanding the diffusion of ionization electrons as they traverse the detector is important in order to help determine the spatial and timing resolution of both MicroBooNE and upcoming LArTPC experiments. This poster will outline the Monte Carlo based studies aimed at extracting a longitudinal diffusion measurement in MicroBooNE.

Speaker: Adam Lister (Lancaster University)

Poster UM_Poster(1).pdf

18:00 Measurement of Muon Neutrino Quasi-Elastic-Like Scattering on MINERvA at Eν∼6 GeV

The MINERvA Experiment (Main Injector Experiment v-A interaction) is a highly segmented detector of neutrinos, able to record events with high precision using the NuMI Beam (Neutrino Main Injector) at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. In this poster, we present the development in the measurement of the charged current quasi-elastic-like interaction on polystyrene scintillator (CH) in the MINERvA detector at neutrino energies around 6 GeV. The analysis presented here uses the muon kinematics to reconstruct the event and has potential to reduce cross section systematics for oscillation experiments as well as shed a light into different nuclear models. The recent changes in the beamline provide this analysis with substantial statistics opening, opening a range of possible studies.

Speaker: Mateus Carneiro (CBPF)

Slides M_POSTER.pdf

18:00 Moving Physics Forward -- CMS Pixel Detector Upgrade for HL-HLC

To meet the experimental challenges and reach the physics potential of the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), the CMS experiment will be replacing its current pixel detector with new technology and designs. The upgrade plan includes extending the inner pixel detector in the forward region from the current coverage of |\eta|<2.4 to 4, and adopting small-pitch pixel sensors and next-generation electronic read-out. This presentation reviews the objective and status of the pixel detector upgrade, including mechanical and electronic designs, silicon sensor developments, and performance estimation and design optimization through simulation. Finally, potential physics benefits from the pixel detector upgrade are discussed.

Speaker: Yangyang Cheng (Cornell University)

Slides fnal50_pixel_poster.pdf

18:00 Neutrino trident production at the MINERvA experiment

Our aim is to study the so called neutrino trident production in the context of the MINERvA experiment. This process has a small cross section, in comparison to neutrino-nucleus charged current inclusive interaction. It experimentally appears as a pair of oppositely charged leptons. More specifically, for MINERvA, we will use as a signature the presence of dimuons in the final state. We have implemented a detailed simulation of neutrino trident production in the neutrino Monte Carlo generator GENIE. Additionally, we have performed a careful study of the background processes for dimuon interactions. These include quasielastic charged current charm production, as well as exclusive charged current single-pion production. In the latter, we test the ability of the MINERvA detector in the pion reconstruction, the pion may be misreconstructed as an antimuon. Finally, we analyze the capacity of disentangling trident events from its backgrounds and explore the posibility to scale this study, keeping the same experimental characteristics as MINERvA. In fact it would be also useful for future planned neutrino experiments.

Speaker: Jose Becerra (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú)

Poster TridentPoster_UsersMeeting_JoseB_SebasS_v4.pdf

18:00 Prospects of Light Sterile Neutrino Oscillation and CP Violation Searches at the Fermilab Short Baseline Neutrino Facility

The Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab will be uniquely poised to probe for the existence of 3 active plus N sterile (3+N) neutrino oscillation models. In this poster, we present the results of a complete sensitivity analysis of the 3+N parameter space for 3+1, 3+2 and 3+3 models with a focus on the globally allowed regions of parameter space by other short baseline experiments. In the case of 3+2 and 3+3 models, CP-violating phases appear in the oscillation probability terms, leading to observable differences in appearance probabilities between neutrinos and antineutrinos. We explore SBN’s sensitivity to those phases in the currently planned neutrino beam running and find that if an additional antineutrino exposure is considered, for maximal values of the 3+2 CP-violating phases, SBN could be the first experiment to directly observe hints of CP violation associated with an extended lepton sector.

Speaker: Davio Cianci (Columbia University)

Poster Poster draft

18:00 Results from the Liquid Argon In A Testbeam (LArIAT) experiment

The Liquid Argon In A Testbeam (LArIAT) is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) positioned in the Fermilab charged particle beamline whose primary purpose is to study the response of LArTPC’s to charged particle interactions in energy ranges relevant for planned neutrino experiments. Paritcles in the tertiary beam line are identified using a set of dedicated beamline detectors including Wire Chambers, Time of Flight counters, Cherenkov counters, and a muon range stack. Here we present an updated calibration of the negative pion-Argon interaction data utilizing the two years of running data and work on the inclusive positive pion inclusive cross-section analysis.

Speaker: Gregory Pulliam (Syracuse University)

Slides UsersMeetingPoster.pdf

18:00 Space-charge Simulation of Integrable Rapid Cycling Synchrotron

Integrable optics is an innovation in particle accelerator design that enables strong nonlinear focusing without generating parametric resonances. We consider an integrable Rapid-Cycling Synchrotron (iRCS) design for a hypothetical replacement of the Fermilab Booster. We show this iRCS is compatible with other modern features of RCS design, including long dispersion-free drifts, six-fold periodicity, acceleration without transition crossing, and chromaticity with harmonically canceling sextupoles. We use Synergia to perform high-intensity space-charge simulations of this highly nonlinear lattice and demonstrate beam stability with large betatron tune spreads. Experimental tests of the efficacy of integrable optics in controlling high-intensity beams will take place over the next several years at the Fermilab Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) and the University of Maryland Electron Ring (UMER).

Speaker: Jeffrey Eldred (Indiana University)

Slides JELDRED_IPAC17_Poster1.pdf

18:00 Sterile neutrino search through Neutral Current Disappearance in NOvA experiment

Contradictory evidence has been presented on the issue of neutrino mixing between the three known active neutrinos and a light sterile neutrino. The excess in observed events seen by LSND and MiniBooNE experiments can be interpreted as sterile neutrinos with mass at 1 eV level. While these results are tantalizing, they are not conclusive as they are in tension with null results from other short-baseline experiments, and with disappearance searches in long-baseline and atmospheric experiments. Resolving the issue of the existence of light sterile neutrinos has profound implications for both particle physics and cosmology. The NOvA (NuMI Off-Axis νe Appearance) experiment may help to clarify the situation by searching for disappearance of active neutrinos from the NuMI (Neutrinos from the Main Injector) beam over a baseline of 810 km, assuming the missed neutrinos are oscillated to undetectable sterile flavor. In our poster, we will describe the methodology of NOvA to look for the sterile neutrinos, making use of the disappearance of neutral current (NC) neutrino events in the NOvA Far Detector. Specifically we will detail how we reject cosmogenic events in the FD which is a large potential background that can mimic our signal.

Speakers: SIJITH EDAYATH (Cochin University of Science and Technology), Shaokai Yang (university of Cincinnati)

Poster UsersMeeting_NOvA_NC_Yang_Edayath.pdf

18:00 SuperCDMS SNOLAB

SuperCDMS SNOLAB will be a second generation experiment aimed at directly detecting low-mass (≤10 GeV/c2) dark matter. By measuring ionization and phonon signals using a combination of cryogenic detectors of two types (HV and iZIP) and two target materials (germanium and silicon) we maximize the low-mass reach. The science reach of the detectors show an improvement of 2-3 orders of magnitude beyond current results from SuperCDMS Soudan in cross section, and an order of magnitude in mass, due to improved detector design and a cleaner experimental site. This poster will discuss the projected sensitivity and current status of the SuperCDMS SNOLAB which is expected to start operation in 2020.

Speaker: Vijay Iyer (National Institute of Science Education and Research)

Poster SuperCDMS SNOLAB Poster

18:00 Systematics Studies for MicroBooNE’s Deep-Learning-Based Low-Energy Excess Analysis

Convolutional neural nets (CNNs) are increasingly being used for data analysis tasks in high energy physics. A common strategy for using CNNs relies on training the networks on simulated data and then applying them to real data from the detector. Consequently, any analysis using CNNs must quantify systematic uncertainties due to discrepancies between the simulations and detector data. In this poster, I will discuss our work in addressing these issues in the context of applying CNNs to data from MicroBooNE's liquid argon time projection chamber for a low-energy excess analysis. I will present the methods we are investigating to quantify systematic uncertainties, by using independent data samples.

Speaker: Lauren Yates (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Poster MicroBooNE_DL_LEE_Systematics_Poster

18:00 Tackling the Neutrino Oscillation Problem

In Neutrino Physics we are particularly interested in Neutrino Oscillations. Since the discovery of the oscillations, what we have been trying to do is to make high precision measurements of quantities that interest us. In order to do that, we have to compare our data to the number of events that we expect. But the number of events that we expect is a theoretical prediction that depends on the nuclear model that we are using in each case. This is the reason why I would like to suggest possible ways of tackling the Neutrino Oscillation Problem by constructing observables that are model independent.

Speaker: Afroditi Papadopoulou (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Poster New_Perspectives_Afroditi_Papadopoulou.pdf

18:00 The Physics Program of NOvA

Alexander Radovic (William & Mary) and Gavin Davies (Indiana University)

Speakers: Alexander Radovic (College of William and Mary), Gavin Davies (Indiana University)

Slides ar-gsd-users-draft.pdf

18:00 Three-Flavor Oscillations in NOvA

Erika Cantano-Mur (Iowa State) and Kirk Bays (CalTech)

Speakers: Erika Catano Mur (Iowa State University), Kirk Bays (Caltech)

Slides SketchPoster_NovaOsc_kbays_ecatanom.pdf

18:00 Usage of Commercial Ultrasound ADCs for the Digitization of Silicon Photomultiplier Signals for the SBND Experiment

Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) have become popular devices for detecting light created in scintillators, due to their low cost and scalability. Inexpensive electronics for the digitization of SiPM signals currently lacks due to significant thermal noise inherent to the SiPMs. This poster presents a proposed readout configuration of the Short Baseline Near Detector (SBND) light bars based on commercial ultrasound analogue to digital converters (ADCs). We have tested these ADCs using a front end board designed for the Mu2e experiment, and have found them to be sufficient for distinguishing single PE signals for a variety of SiPM configurations.

Speaker: Joel Mousseau (University of Michigan)

Poster poster.pdf

18:00 Using Multiple Coulomb Scattering to Measure Muon Momentum in the MicroBooNE Experiment

MicroBooNE is a Fermilab-based experiment that uses a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) to investigate the excess of low energy events observed by MiniBooNE, study neutrino-argon cross-sections, and perform R&D for future LArTPC devices. Multiple Coulomb scattering has been shown to be a promising means of determining muon momentum in a LArTPC, and allows MicroBooNE to study higher energy, often uncontained, events from both the Booster and NuMI neutrino beams. The accuracy of momentum determination from multiple Coulomb scattering is within 5-10% for contained muons for both simulation and data, and under 15% for simulated exiting muons. This technique may also offer an applicable means for track direction determination, particle identification, and constraining beam K+ production. I will discuss the status and performance of using the multiple Coulomb scattering technique on both simulation and data in MicroBooNE.

Speaker: Polina Abratenko (University of Michigan)

Poster posterDraft2.pdf