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Particle Flow Algorithms (PFAs) attempt to measure each particle in a hadronic jet individually, using the detector subsystem that provides the best energy/momentum resolution. Calorimeters that can exploit the power of PFAs emphasize spatial granularity over single particle energy resolution. In this context, the CALICE Collaboration developed the Digital Hadron Calorimeter (DHCAL). The DHCAL uses Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs) as active media and is read out with 1 × 1 cm 2 pads and digital (1-bit) resolution. In order to obtain a unique dataset of electromagnetic and hadronic interactions with unprecedented spatial resolution, the DHCAL went through a broad test beam program. In addition to conventional calorimetry, the DHCAL offers detailed measurements of event shapes, rigorous tests of simulation models and various analytical tools to improve calorimetric performance. Here we report on the results from the analysis of DHCAL data and comparisons with the Monte Carlo simulations.

A novel design of Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs), using only a single resistive plate, was developed and tested. Based on this design, prototype chambers of size ranging from 10 cm × 10 cm to 32 cm × 48 cm were constructed and tested with cosmic rays and particle beams. The tests confirmed the viability of this new approach for calorimetric applications where the particle rates do not exceed 1 kHz/cm 2 , such as CALICE digital calorimeters. The chambers also have improved single-particle response, such as a pad multiplicity close to unity. In addition to this development, we probed a new technique to mitigate limitations associated with common RPC gases compatible with the environment. The technique is based on electron multiplication in a thin layer of high secondary electron yield material coating on the anode plane. Here we report on the construction of various different glass RPC designs, and their performance measurements in laboratory tests and with particle beams.

The HL-LHC prototype crab-cavities are installed in the CERN SPS, which, for the first time, will allow for a comprehensive beam test with high energy protons. As the time available for experimental beam dynamics studies with the crab cavities installed in the machine will be limited, a very good preparation is required. One of the main concerns is the induced emittance growth, driven by phase amplitude jitter in the crab cavities. In this respect, several machine development (MD) studies were performed during the past years to quantify and characterize the long term emittance evolution of proton beams in the SPS. In these proceedings, the experimental observations from past years are summarized and the MD studies from 2016 and 2017 are presented.

In special tests, the active layers of the CALICE Digital Hadron Calorimeter prototype, the DHCAL, were exposed to low energy particle beams, without being interleaved by absorber plates. The thickness of each layer corresponded approximately to 0.29 radiation lengths or 0.034 nuclear interaction lengths, defined mostly by the copper and steel skins of the detector cassettes. This paper reports on measurements performed with this device in the Fermilab test beam with positrons in the energy range of 1 to 10 GeV. The measurements are compared to simulations based on GEANT4 and a standalone program to emulate the detailed response of the active elements.

The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is an option for a future e + e - collider operating at centre-of-mass energies up to 3 TeV , providing sensitivity to a wide range of new physics phenomena and precision physics measurements at the energy frontier. This paper is the first comprehensive presentation of the Higgs physics reach of CLIC operating at three energy stages: s = 350 GeV , 1.4 and 3 TeV . The initial stage of operation allows the study of Higgs boson production in Higgsstrahlung ( e + e - → Z H ) and W W -fusion ( e + e - → H ν e ν ¯ e ), resulting in precise measurements of the production cross sections, the Higgs total decay width Γ H , and model-independent determinations of the Higgs couplings. Operation at s > 1 TeV provides high-statistics samples of Higgs bosons produced through W W -fusion, enabling tight constraints on the Higgs boson couplings. Studies of the rarer processes e + e - → t t ¯ H and e + e - → H H ν e ν ¯ e allow measurements of the top Yukawa coupling and the Higgs boson self-coupling. This paper presents detailed studies of the precision achievable with Higgs measurements at CLIC and describes the interpretation of these measurements in a global fit.

A bstract The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) is a proposed future high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider operating at three energy stages, with nominal centre-of-mass energies s = 380 GeV, 1 . 5 TeV, and 3 TeV. Its aim is to explore the energy frontier, providing sensitivity to physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM) and precision measurements of Standard Model processes with an emphasis on Higgs boson and top-quark physics. The opportunities for top-quark physics at CLIC are discussed in this paper. The initial stage of operation focuses on top-quark pair production measurements, as well as the search for rare flavour-changing neutral current (FCNC) top-quark decays. It also includes a top-quark pair production threshold scan around 350 GeV which provides a precise measurement of the top-quark mass in a well-defined theoretical framework. At the higher-energy stages, studies are made of top-quark pairs produced in association with other particles. A study of t ̄ tH production including the extraction of the top Yukawa coupling is presented as well as a study of vector boson fusion (VBF) production, which gives direct access to high-energy electroweak interactions. Operation above 1 TeV leads to more highly collimated jet environments where dedicated methods are used to analyse the jet constituents. These techniques enable studies of the top-quark pair production, and hence the sensitivity to BSM physics, to be extended to higher energies. This paper also includes phenomenological interpretations that may be performed using the results from the extensive top-quark physics programme at CLIC.

A bstract Natural radioactivity represents one of the main backgrounds in the search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Within the NEXT physics program, the radioactivity- induced backgrounds are measured with the NEXT-White detector. Data from 37.9 days of low-background operations at the Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc with xenon depleted in 136 Xe are analyzed to derive a total background rate of (0.84 ± 0.02) mHz above 1000 keV. The comparison of data samples with and without the use of the radon abatement system demonstrates that the contribution of airborne-Rn is negligible. A radiogenic background model is built upon the extensive radiopurity screening campaign conducted by the NEXT collaboration. A spectral fit to this model yields the specific contributions of 60 Co, 40 K, 214 Bi and 208 Tl to the total background rate, as well as their location in the detector volumes. The results are used to evaluate the impact of the radiogenic backgrounds in the double beta decay analyses, after the application of topological cuts that reduce the total rate to (0.25 ± 0.01) mHz. Based on the best-fit background model, the NEXT-White median sensitivity to the two-neutrino double beta decay is found to be 3.5 σ after 1 year of data taking. The background measurement in a Q ββ ± 100 keV energy window validates the best-fit background model also for the neutrinoless double beta decay search with NEXT-100. Only one event is found, while the model expectation is (0.75 ± 0.12) events.

A bstract In experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay, the possibility of identifying the two emitted electrons is a powerful tool in rejecting background events and therefore improving the overall sensitivity of the experiment. In this paper we present the first measurement of the efficiency of a cut based on the different event signatures of double and single electron tracks, using the data of the NEXT-White detector, the first detector of the NEXT experiment operating underground. Using a 228 Th calibration source to produce signal-like and background-like events with energies near 1.6 MeV, a signal efficiency of 71 . 6 ± 1 . 5 stat ± 0 . 3 sys % for a background acceptance of 20 . 6 ± 0 . 4 stat ± 0 . 3 sys % is found, in good agreement with Monte Carlo simulations. An extrapolation to the energy region of the neutrinoless double beta decay by means of Monte Carlo simulations is also carried out, and the results obtained show an improvement in background rejection over those obtained at lower energies.

A bstract The measurement of the internal 222 Rn activity in the NEXT-White detector during the so-called Run-II period with 136 Xe-depleted xenon is discussed in detail, together with its implications for double beta decay searches in NEXT. The activity is measured through the alpha production rate induced in the fiducial volume by 222 Rn and its alpha-emitting progeny. The specific activity is measured to be (38.1 ± 2.2 (stat.) ± 5.9 (syst.)) mBq/m 3 . Radon-induced electrons have also been characterized from the decay of the 214 Bi daughter ions plating out on the cathode of the time projection chamber. From our studies, we conclude that radon-induced backgrounds are sufficiently low to enable a successful NEXT-100 physics program, as the projected rate contribution should not exceed 0.1 counts/yr in the neutrinoless double beta decay sample.

We present evidence of non-excimer-based secondary scintillation in gaseous xenon, obtained using both the NEXT-White time projection chamber (TPC) and a dedicated setup. Detailed comparison with first-principle calculations allows us to assign this scintillation mechanism to neutral bremsstrahlung (NBrS), a process that is postulated to exist in xenon that has been largely overlooked. For photon emission below 1000 nm, the NBrS yield increases from about10−2photon/e−cm−1bar−1at pressure-reduced electric field values of50Vcm−1bar−1to above3×10−1photon/e−cm−1bar−1at500Vcm−1bar−1. Above1.5kVcm−1bar−1, values that are typically employed for electroluminescence, it is estimated that NBrS is present with an intensity around1photon/e−cm−1bar−1, which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than conventional, excimer-based electroluminescence. Despite being fainter than its excimeric counterpart, our calculations reveal that NBrS causes luminous backgrounds that can interfere, in either gas or liquid phase, with the ability to distinguish and/or to precisely measure low primary-scintillation signals (S1). In particular, we show this to be the case in the “buffer” region, where keeping the electric field below the electroluminescence threshold does not suffice to extinguish secondary scintillation. The electric field leakage in this region should be mitigated to avoid intolerable levels of NBrS emission. Furthermore, we show that this new source of light emission opens up a viable path toward obtaining S2 signals for discrimination purposes in future single-phase liquid TPCs for neutrino and dark matter physics, with estimated yields up to20–50photons/e−cm−1.