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An inclusive gathering highlighting leading-edge science and celebrating Fermilab’s achievements, as well as looking toward the future as a community.
Featuring exciting and accessible talks, Snowmass panel discussion on the future of high energy physics, dynamic keynote address, fun virtual poster session, and important conversations on equity, diversity and inclusion in our community. Including celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the Booster accelerator, the 25th anniversary of the Top Quark discovery, and special memorial “Alvin Tollestrup: A Life in Science.”
ALL community members (including non-Users) are welcome! Please register as soon as possible. For more information, please see our website.
All registrants were sent Zoom connection info by email on Sunday, August 9. Connection link emails to registrants will be repeated daily at 7 AM (CDT).
Please see below for links to our virtual reality poster session. Note the the times associated with specific posters were only assigned to organize the materials visually, and that all posters and presenters are expected to be available for the entirely of the session.
If observed, neutrino-less double beta decay could provide answers for many current mysteries in particle physics, such as the possibility of Lepton number conservation violation, matter-antimatter asymmetry and neutrino mass ordering. This project examined the capability of a theoretical enhanced (through the doping of the detector medium with $^{136}$Xe, a double beta decay candidate) Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment 4th module observing a neutrino-less double beta decay. In order to do this, an energy region of interest and optimal minimum distance to the closest wall were found to optimize a fiducial volume for event selection in the presence of a wide variety of the most significant backgrounds. Imperfect detector energy resolution was accounted for by smearing the energy according to a Gaussian distribution. While the detection significance decreased with worsening energy resolution, the optimal energy ROI center was found to improve detection significance by up to a factor of 1.7 when compared to centering the energy ROI at $Q_{\beta\beta}$.
The ICARUS T600 liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) will soon begin taking data on Fermilab’s Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB). In preparation for its operations, we present an analysis of “online” data quality monitoring of the liquid argon purity. We evaluated the performance of the algorithm on simulated cosmic ray muon interactions in the ICARUS detector. Comparing the measured and simulated electron lifetimes, we found that the lifetime can be measured accurately across a variety of possible purity conditions. To further study the robustness of the algorithm, we also evaluated its performance under varying detector conditions: with different levels of noise from the TPC electronics and with different levels of the “space charge effect”. We found that while both affect the lifetime measurement, the noise effects dominate the deviation from the measured lifetimes. We also found that with some modifications to the algorithm, the effects of noise can be somewhat mitigated.
The present work is inspired to execute the $A_4$ modular symmetry in linear seesaw framework by limiting the use of multiple flavon fields. Linear seesaw is acknowledged by extending the Standard Model particle spectrum with six heavy fermions and a singlet scalar. The non-trivial transformation of Yukawa coupling under the $A_4$ modular symmetry helps to explore the neutrino phenomenology with a specific flavor structure of the mass matrix. We discuss the neutrino mixing and obtain the reactor mixing angle and CP violating phase compatible with the observed $3\sigma$ region of current oscillation data. Apart, we also collectively investigate the nonzero CP asymmetry from the decay of lightest heavy fermions to explain the preferred phenomena of baryogenesis through leptogenesis.
ProtoDUNE-SP at the CERN Neutrino Platform is a test bed liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) for the far-detector in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Space charge effects, attenuation due to electronegative impurities, diffusion, and electronics gain variations cause nonuniformities in charge deposition per unit length (dQ/dx) within a LArTPC. Corrections for space charge effects with measured electric-field maps and attenuation with purity-monitor data were applied. A sample of cosmic-ray muons crossing the cathode is used to calibrate the detector response to get a uniform dQ/dx over space and time. Using cosmic-ray stopping muons, which have a well-known energy loss per unit length (dE/dx), the absolute energy scale was determined. These calibration factors were uploaded to a database for use in further physics analysis.
Deep learning techniques are being widely used in high energy physics and they are playing a significant role in the reconstruction of the neutrino interactions in particle detectors. However, those algorithms normally use 2D images as inputs. Here, we consider a unique approach of using a simple 1D convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) to look directly at raw waveforms from single wires in a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC). In this poster, we present encouraging results in the application of a 1D-CNN to the task of finding the region-of-interest (ROI) in raw LArTPC waveforms from data collected by the ArgoNeuT experiment. The 1D-CNN ROI finder shows a promising ability to extract small signals from low-energy phenomena and can be implemented in early stages of reconstruction as a very effective filter to remove noise. It offers great potential for low-energy neutrino physics.
Please see below for links to our virtual reality poster session. Note the the times associated with specific posters were only assigned to organize the materials visually, and that all posters and presenters are expected to be available for the entirely of the session.
I will present a search for the decays of a neutral scalar boson produced by kaons decaying at rest, in the context of the Higgs Portal model, using the MicroBooNE detector. We analyze data triggered in time with the spill of the Fermilab NuMI neutrino beam (the neutrino beamline used by e.g. the $\textrm{NO}\nu\textrm{A}$ experiment), with an exposure of $1.93\times10^{20}$ protons on target. We look for monoenergetic scalars coming from the direction of the NuMI hadron absorber, $100~\textrm{m}$ away from the detector, and decaying to electron-positron pairs. We observe 5 candidate events, with a Standard Model background prediction of $2.0\pm0.8$. We set an upper limit on the scalar-Higgs mixing angle $\theta<(4.3-5.8)\times10^{-4}$ at the 95% confidence level, for scalar masses in the range $(100-200)~\textrm{MeV}/c^2$. We exclude at the 95% confidence level the remaining model parameters required to explain using this model the central value of the anomalous excess of $K^0_L\rightarrow\pi^0+\textrm{invisible}$ decays recently reported by the KOTO experiment.
NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. Situated 14.6 mrad off-axis of the NuMI beam produced at Fermilab, the detectors are exposed to a ${\nu}_{\mu}$ ($\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$) beam peaked at 2 GeV. By measuring ${\nu}_{\mu}$ ($\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$) disappearance and ${\nu}_{e}$ ($\bar{\nu}_{e}$) appearance between the NOvA Near Detector and the 14 kiloton Far Detector, the experiment is probing the neutrino mass hierarchy, the existence of leptonic CP violation, and making precise measurements of neutrino mixing parameters. The most precise measurements are achieved when fits can be performed to the shape of the observed neutrino energy spectra as well as the overall rate. Therefore, NOvA utilizes highly segmented tracking calorimeters to estimate neutrino energies via a combination of range based measurements and/or calorimetric information depending on the event and particle types determined by a neutral network trained on event topologies. This poster describes these energy estimation methods and outlines ongoing developments of improved deep learning based estimation techniques.
The MicroBooNE experiment is an 85 ton active volume liquid-argon time projection chamber located at the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beamline. MicroBooNE’s ability to detect low-energy protons allows us to study single-proton events with a four-momentum transfer squared $Q^2$ as low as 0.10 $GeV^2$. We present an analysis with a signal of one proton and no other particles (NC1p) in the final state. We report the progress toward the flux-averaged NC1p differential cross section for neutrinos scattering on argon as a function of $Q^2$ using a subset of MicroBooNE’s data.
NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. Probes of neutrino and antineutrino oscillations in the NuMI beam enable precise measurements of the atmospheric oscillation parameters, determination of the mass ordering, and constraints for the CP-violating phase. Additionally, NOvA is probing sterile neutrino mixing and setting stringent constraints on sterile model parameters.
Constructing statistically correct confidence intervals is challenging. NOvA follows the computationally expensive Feldman-Cousins (FC) prescription to ensure correct statistical coverage with test-statistics distributions constructed empirically, requiring generation and fitting of $\mathcal{O} (10^{6})$ pseudo-experiments.
In this poster, we present techniques and tools developed by the NOvA and the DOE SciDAC-4 "HEP Data Analytics on HPC" collaborations to leverage the power of supercomputers to determine NOvA's FC-constructed confidence intervals. This new framework reduces the time necessary to produce statistically robust results from several months down to a few days.
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) are an important technology in the field of experimental neutrino physics due to their exceptional calorimetric and position resolution capabilities. In particular, their ability to distinguish electrons from photons is crucial for current and future neutrino oscillation experiments. The MicroBooNE experiment is utilizing LArTPC technology to investigate the MiniBooNE low-energy excess, which could be either electron-like or photon-like in nature. On the photon-like side, MicroBooNE is searching for single-photon events, the most common of which result from neutral current (NC) $\Delta$ radiative decays. However, this search is complicated by the significantly more common neutrino-induced NC resonant $\pi^0$ production process. This poster presents the method for constraining this NC $\pi^0$ background for the single photon analysis by selecting two-photon events which are characteristic of the NC $\pi^0$ topology. The selected sample is then used to constrain the systematic uncertainty on the NC $\Delta$ radiative decay measurement.
Please see below for links to our virtual reality poster session. Note the the times associated with specific posters were only assigned to organize the materials visually, and that all posters and presenters are expected to be available for the entirely of the session.
Current and future generation neutrino oscillation experiments aim towards a high-precision mea-
surement of the oscillation parameters and that requires an unprecedented understanding of
neutrino-nucleus scattering. Charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) scattering is the process in
which the neutrino produces a charged lepton and removes a single intact nucleon from the nu-
cleus without producing any additional particles. For existing and forthcoming accelerator–based
neutrino experiments, CCQE interactions are either the dominant process or part of the signal.
MicroBooNE is the first liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) commissioned as part of
the Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program at Fermilab and its excellent particle reconstruction
capabilities allow the detection of neutrino interactions using exclusive final states, which will
play a crucial role in the success of future kiloton LArTPC detectors such as DUNE. This poster
will present the first measurement on argon of exclusive $\nu_{\mu}$ CCQE–like flux integrated total and
differential cros sections using single proton knock–out interactions recorded by the MicroBooNE
LArTPC detector with 4π acceptance and a 300 MeV/c proton threshold.
We quantify bipartite and tripartite entanglement for two and three flavor neutrino oscillations in terms of two and three-qubit states (known as W states) used in quantum information theory. We calculate the concurrence , negativity and three tangle and show genuine tripartite entanglement in terms of a residual entanglement that satisfies a monogamy inequality. We use this analogy to outline the simulation of a neutrino oscillation on a quantum computer. We suggest the implementation of entanglement in neutrino systems on a IBM quantum processor.
In sterile neutrino(3+1) parameterisation, we observe that sterile phases ($\delta_{14},\delta_{24}$) are always together in oscillation probability, even when the MSW effect is considered. We see that the difference between the sterile phases has a more dominating effect over event rates compared to small variations due to changes in individual values. In this work, we show the value of sterile phase difference($\delta_{14}-\delta_{24}$), least effects the parameter degeneracy resolution of $\delta_{13},\theta_{23}$ at NOvA. We find the value of sterile phase difference that will give a greater chance at sterile neutrino discovery.
NOvA is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment, which consists of two finely-segmented liquid-scintillator detectors operating 14.6 mrad off-axis from Fermilab’s NuMI muon neutrino beam. With an 810 km baseline, the measurements of muon neutrino disappearance and electron neutrino appearance allow the determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy, the octant of the largest neutrino mixing angle, and the CP violating phase.
In this poster, we summarize NOvA’s most recent 3-flavor oscillation results, based on the combined analysis of neutrino and anti-neutrino datasets with an exposure of ~13e20 protons-on-target in each beam mode. We also discuss the experiment’s projected sensitivities to determine the mass hierarchy, and to discover CP violation in the neutrino sector, with the full expected exposure.
An accurate calorimetric reconstruction is an integral component of liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiments such as ICARUS. Energy, more specifically energy loss per unit length or $\frac{dE}{dx}$, is used in higher levels of data reconstruction like particle identification, so it is crucial that reconstructed energy is as accurate as possible. Calculating $\frac{dE}{dx}$ starts by reconstructing the waveforms from the wire plane channels of the detector into hits using the Gauss, ICARUS raw, or hybrid hit finder. Next, the charge displaced per unit length, $\frac{dQ}{dx}$, is calculated from the hits. Finally, $\frac{dE}{dx}$ is calculated by calibrating $\frac{dQ}{dx}$ with an optimized calibration constant and using that calibrated $\frac{dQ}{dx}$ in a charge to energy conversion formula. There are two procedures used to optimize the calibration constants in this study, one from MicroBooNE and one from LArIAT. The goals of this study are to investigate which hit finding techniques best reconstruct energy and charge data and to optimize the calibration constants using the previously mentioned procedures.
Please see below for links to our virtual reality poster session. Note the the times associated with specific posters were only assigned to organize the materials visually, and that all posters and presenters are expected to be available for the entirely of the session.
NOvA is a long-baseline accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiment that uses the NuMI beam from Fermilab to measure electron-neutrino appearance and muon-neutrino disappearance using a Near Detector, located at Fermilab, and a Far Detector, located in Ash River, Minnesota. The high flux of muon neutrinos at the Near Detector allows for measurement of rare processes such as neutrino trident scattering, a Standard Model process in which a charged-lepton pair is produced via neutrino-nucleus scattering. The event rate of this process may give insight into a Beyond the Standard Model interaction involving a Z’ boson as a mediator. This poster will discuss estimates of the event rates, which are on the order of tens to hundreds, detail a method to reconstruct these events, and evaluate the viability of measuring an event rate in the NOvA Near Detector.
The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) is a 26-ton Gadolinium-loaded, water-based detector located on the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) with the goals of: (1) measuring the neutron abundance in the final state of neutrino-nucleus interactions, and (2) demonstrating advanced neutrino detection technology. The physics measurement of ANNIE will have a direct impact on our understanding of neutrino interactions and will lead to a better reduction of systematic errors and an improvement of signal-background discrimination in future large neutrino detectors. ANNIE is now the first Gd-loaded water Cherenkov detector deployed on a neutrino beam and will soon be the first deployment of Large Area Picosecond Photo-Detectors (LAPPDs). ANNIE has recorded very first neutrino candidate events at the beginning of 2020. This presentation will show early data from the ANNIE experiment.
MicroBooNE is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiment situated at the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam beamline. Event reconstruction is a crucial foundation for MicroBooNE’s neutrino interaction measurements and searches for new physics. In this work, we have selected a sample of muon neutrino-induced muon tracks and then performed data to Monte Carlo comparisons. These results were used to evaluate the performance of Pandora-based algorithms for track, vertex and momentum reconstruction. The techniques applied here can be used to validate detector systematics and disentangle them from other sources. Beyond MicroBooNE, these algorithms and techniques for data-driven studies are also relevant to future LArTPC experiments including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) and the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) Program.
Are you tired of having to join multiple collaborations? Do you struggle to keep track of different detectors, readouts, and active materials to do different physics? Do you wish you could do all the most interesting physics in just one experiment? There has to be a better way! Introducing DUNE-beta. It has argon! It has Xenon! It can fill all your double beta, oscillations, and supernova needs in one place! Get yours now for only 2% Xe and one pixel readout DUNE module!
Please see below for links to our virtual reality poster session. Note the the times associated with specific posters were only assigned to organize the materials visually, and that all posters and presenters are expected to be available for the entirely of the session.
The MicroBooNE detector at Fermilab was built to primarily investigate the “low energy excess” (LEE) of electron neutrino and antineutrino charged current quasi-elastic events observed in the MiniBooNE experiment. One of the possible interpretations of the MiniBooNE LEE is that it is comprised of neutrino-induced single-photon events. MicroBooNE is testing this hypothesis via a study of neutral current resonant delta production with subsequent radiative decay. This talk will cover the related studies to fully understand the systematic uncertainties of this single photon analysis, including re-weighting Monte Carlo events to estimate the effect of many flux and cross-section uncertainties as well as detector systematics. The analysis has secondary signal studies including neutral current pion production and subsequent decay which are used to constrain our final measurements. Simulations of this constraint predicting the impact on the results will also be shown.
MicroBooNE is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber detector
designed to address the excess of low energy electromagnetic events observed by the
MiniBooNE experiment. Electron neutrinos can create a wide variety of topologies when
interacting in liquid argon, and this analysis measures events both with (1eNp0π) and
without (1e0p0π) visible protons. This poster presents the measurement of single electron
events in the MicroBooNE detector, which includes events across the full range of neutrino energy. The single
electron selection (1e0p0π) is orthogonal to the 1eNp0π selection which makes it possible
for events to migrate between the two channels in a joint fit, and constrain uncertainties
associated with low energy protons such as those related to reconstruction, multiplicity and
their kinematics.
Recent $\nu_e$ appearance data from the Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment (MiniBooNE) are in support of the excess of events reported by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND), which provides an indirect hint for the existence of eV-scale sterile neutrino. As these sterile neutrinos can mix with the standard active neutrinos, in this paper we explore the effect of such active-sterile mixing on the determination of various oscillation parameters by the currently running long-baseline neutrino experiments T2K and NO$\nu$A. We find that the existence of sterile neutrino can lead to new kind of degeneracies among these parameters which would substantially deteriorate the mass hierarchy sensitivity of NO$\nu$A experiment. We further notice that the inclusion of data from T2K experiment helps in resolving the degeneracies. The impact of new CP violating phases $\delta_{14}$ and $\delta_{34}$ on the maximal CP-violation exclusion sensitivity for NO$\nu$A experiment has also been illustrated. Finally, we discuss the implication of such light sterile neutrinos on neutrinoless double beta decay processes in line with recent experimental results, as well as on the sensitivity reach of future experiments.
The ProtoDUNE-SP detector is a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber with an active volume of 7.2×6.0×6.9 m^3. It takes a specially-constructed beam that delivers multiple kinds of particles including charged pions, kaons, protons, muons and electrons with momenta in the range 0.3 GeV/c to 7 GeV/c. The ProtoDUNE-SP detector also serves as a prototype for the first far detector module of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. We present algorithms for particle identification (protons, pions, and showers) in the protoDUNE pion beam events and a scheme to select pion absorption & charge exchange processes based on our particle identification.
In addition, a detailed research plan of cross-section measurement and nuclear effect study will be presented.
We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a scientific job panel as one of the parallel sessions of the virtual users meeting this year. The panel will take place on Tuesday, August 11th, from 8-9 am CT. The panel will be composed of ~ 40 minutes of moderated panel discussion, followed by ~20 minutes of Q&A from the public. The invited panelists this year are (in alphabetic order by last name):
Dr. Georgia Karagiorgi - Assistant Professor, Columbia University
Dr. Monica Nunes - Postdoctoral researcher - Syracuse University
Dr. Gabriel Perdue - Scientist - Fermilab
Dr. Alex Radovic - Machine Learning Researcher at Borealis AI
Please not that this session will not be recorded.
If there are any questions about the scientific job panel, please feel free to contact david.martinezcaicedo@sdsmt.edu
Please join us for a presentation and discussion on the present and future of sustainability at Fermilab with Eric Mieland, chair of Fermilab's Sustainability Management Team. He will be joined by Wally Levernier, Fermilab ecologist. Eric plans a short presentation followed by open discussion time, so please bring your thoughts, questions, and ideas!
For more information, please contact Eric Mieland at mieland@fnal.gov.
Join us for a webinar to learn about the Visiting Faculty Program (VFP) at 8am CDT on Tuesday, August 11th. What is the Visiting Faculty Program? The VFP is a 10-week summer hands-on research experience at Fermilab where Fermilab scientists, engineers, and computer professionals collaborate with faculty/student teams from community colleges and four-year institutions historically underrepresented in the research community. This program is a great opportunity to engage and train our future workforce by raising awareness of the lab’s current and emerging research portfolio. One of the major advantages of the program is that the collaborative projects can be extended for up to 3 years. The VFP allows you to build long-lasting working relationships with faculty members from around the country and expose numerous students to Fermilab and the exciting projects that happen here! Please feel free to contact Kathrine Laureto at klaureto@fnal.gov with any questions or comments.
A parallel session on Science Communication will be hosted on Tuesday 8/11, 8-9 am (as part of the 53rd Annual Users Meeting). The session will be led by Becky Thompson, head of the Fermilab Office of Education and Public Outreach. Becky is an impressive and skilled science communicator, who is currently managing and reinventing the lab's outreach programs.
It should be a very interesting and useful session. Building science communication skills is fundamental not only for outreach, but also for scientific presentations and funding opportunities.
This will be an interactive workshop and participation will be limited to the first 30 to register, with later registrations placed in the waitlist. Currently all spots are full, with an active waitlist.
For any questions and concerns, please contact Manolis at ekargian@fnal.gov.
We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a session on immigration related topics at the Users Meeting on August 11th, 8-9 am (US Central). The session will be conducted by Kevin Aiston, the immigration attorney associated with Fragomen Worldwide.
In preparation for this session, we would like to request you to fill out this google form: https://forms.gle/hvYZ6GB8K4Wavs1s7 . We will send your questions to the speaker in advance so that they are adequately addressed during the discussion.
Please note that this session will not be recorded.
Please contact Griselda Lopez (griselda@fnal.gov) if you have any questions regarding this session.
Please see https://indico.fnal.gov/event/44869/ and https://events.fnal.gov/honoring-alvin-tollestrup/ for details
Benvenuti!
this year's Festa Italiana goes virtual as well!
Connect via zoom and join the fun.
We will be hosting a live cooking class with "Al Dente pasta Workshop"
Join ahead of time to introduce yourself and greet new and old Fermilab's friends
Stay after the class to show off your dish and to start dinner together.
Schedule:
- 3:30pm Benvenuti! Festa Italiana starts
- 4pm - 6pm Cooking experience with Al Dente
- 6pm - 7pm Social time: show off your tagliatelle, chat with friends and start dinner together
Please help us plan by submitting an RSVP here: https://forms.gle/vfSZUuRyhdyS129z6