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Iwamoto, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Iwamoto, K..

Introducing a Markov chain-based time calibration procedure for multi-channel particle detectors: application to the SuperFGD and ToF detectors of the T2K experiment

Inter-channel mis-synchronisation can be a limiting factor to the time resolution of high performance timing detectors with multiple readout channels and independent electronics units. In these systems, time calibration methods employed must be able to efficiently correct for minimal mis-synchronisation between channels and achieve the best detector performance. We present an iterative time calibration method based on Markov Chains, suitable for detector systems with multiple readout channels. Starting from correlated hit pairs alone, and without requiring an external reference time measurement, the method solves for fixed per-channel offsets, with precision limited only by the intrinsic single-channel resolution. A mathematical proof that the method is able to find the correct time offsets to be assigned to each detector channel in order to achieve inter-channel synchronisation is given, and it is shown that the number of iterations to reach convergence within the desired precision is controllable with a single parameter. Numerical studies are used to confirm unbiased recovery of true offsets. Finally, the application of the calibration method to the Super Fine-Grained Detector (SuperFGD) and the Time of Flight (TOF) detector at the upgraded T2K near detector (ND280) shows good improvement in overall timing resolution, demonstrating the effectiveness in a real-world scenario and scalability.

calibration and fitting methods↗

Characterization of the optical model of the T2K 3D segmented plastic scintillator detector unit cube

The magnetized near detector (ND280) of the T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment has been recently upgraded aiming to satisfy the requirement of reducing the systematic uncertainty from measuring the neutrino–nucleus interaction cross section, which is the largest systematic uncertainty in the search for leptonic charge-parity symmetry violation. A key component of the upgrade is SuperFGD, a 3D segmented plastic scintillator detector made of approximately 2,000,000 optically-isolated 1 cm 3 cubes. The SuperFGD cube unit shows promising optical performance, including a high light yield of about 40 photoelectrons (p.e.) per channel, a low cube-to-cube crosstalk rate below 3%, and a sub-nanosecond time resolution of 0.96 ns. By combining tracking and stopping power measurements of final state particles, this novel detector enables precise 3D-imaging of GeV neutrino interactions with reduced systematic uncertainties. A detailed Geant4 based optical simulation of the SuperFGD building block, i.e. a plastic scintillating cube read out by three wavelength shifting fibers, has been developed and validated with the different datasets collected in various beam tests. In this manuscript the description of the optical model as well as the comparison with data are reported.

Neutrino oscillations↗

An Unusual Supernova in the Error Box of the Gamma-Ray Burst of 25 April 1998

The discovery of afterglows associated with gamma-ray bursts at X-ray, optical and radio wavelengths and the measurement of the redshifts of some of these events has established that gamma-ray bursts lie at extreme distances, making them the most powerful photon-emitters known in the Universe. Here we report the discovery of transient optical emission in the error box of the gamma-ray burst GRB980425, the light curve of which was very different from that of previous optical afterglows associated with gamma-ray bursts. The optical transient is located in a spiral arm of the galaxy ESO 184-GS2, which has a redshift velocity of only 2,550 km/ s. Its optical spectrum and location indicate that it is a very luminous supernova, which has been identified as SN1998bw. If this supernova and GRB980425 are indeed associated, the energy radiated in gamma-rays is at least four orders of magnitude less than in other gamma-ray bursts, although its appearance was otherwise unremarkable: this indicates that very different mechanisms can give rise to gamma-ray bursts. But independent of this association, the supernova is itself unusual, exhibiting an unusual light curve at radio wavelengths that requires that the gas emitting the radio photons be expanding relativistically.

Galama , T. J.↗