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Lorca, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Lorca, D..

11 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Performance study of a 3×1×1 m 3 dual phase liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber exposed to cosmic rays

We report the results of the analyses of the cosmic ray data collected with a 4 tonne (3×1×1 m 3 ) active mass (volume) Liquid Argon Time-Projection Chamber (TPC) operated in a dual-phase mode. We present a detailed study of the TPC's response, its main detector parameters and performance. The results are important for the understanding and further developments of the dual-phase technology, thanks to the verification of key aspects, such as the extraction of electrons from liquid to gas and their amplification through the entire one square metre readout plain, gain stability, purity and charge sharing between readout views.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cosmic Ray Background Rejection with Wire-Cell LArTPC Event Reconstruction in the MicroBooNE Detector

For a large liquid-argon time-projection chamber (LArTPC) operating on or near the Earth’s surface to detect neutrino interactions, the rejection of cosmogenic background is a critical and challenging task because of the large cosmic-ray flux and the long drift time of the time-projection chamber. We introduce a superior cosmic background rejection procedure based on the Wire-Cell three-dimensional (3D) event reconstruction for LArTPCs. From an initial 1:20 000 neutrino to cosmic-ray background ratio, we demonstrate these tools on data from the MicroBooNE experiment and create a high-performance generic neutrino event selection with a cosmic contamination of 14.9% (9.7%) for a visible energy region greater than O(200) MeV. The neutrino interaction selection efficiency is 80.4% and 87.6% for inclusive ν μ charged-current and ν e charged-current interactions, respectively. Here, this significantly improved performance compared with existing reconstruction algorithms marks a major milestone toward reaching the scientific goals of LArTPC neutrino oscillation experiments operating near the Earth’s surface.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Measurement of the atmospheric muon rate with the MicroBooNE Liquid Argon TPC

MicroBooNE is a near-surface liquid argon (LAr) time projection chamber (TPC) located at Fermilab. We measure muons originating from cosmic interactions in the atmosphere using both the charge collection and light readout detectors. The data is compared with the cosmic-ray simulation. Agreement is found between the observation, simulation and previous results. Furthermore, the angular resolution of the reconstructed muons inside the TPC is studied in simulation.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Study of scintillation light collection, production and propagation in a 4 tonne dual-phase LArTPC

The 3×1×1 m3 demonstrator is a dual phase liquid argon time projection chamber that has recorded cosmic rays events in 2017 at CERN. The light signal in these detectors is crucial to provide precise timing capabilities. The performance of the photon detection system, composed of five PMTs, are discussed. The collected scintillation and electroluminescence light created by passing particles has been studied in various detector conditions. In particular, the scintillation light production and propagation processes have been analyzed and compared to simulations, improving the understanding of some liquid argon properties.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Vertex-finding and reconstruction of contained two-track neutrino events in the MicroBooNE detector

In this work, we describe algorithms developed to isolate and accurately reconstruct two-track events that are contained within the MicroBooNE detector. This method is optimized to reconstruct two tracks of lengths longer than 5cm. This code has applications to searches for neutrino oscillations and measurements of cross sections using quasi-elastic-like charged current events. The algorithms we discuss will be applicable to all detectors running in Fermilab's Short Baseline Neutrino program (SBN), and to any future liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) experiment with beam energies ~ 1 GeV. The algorithms are publicly available on a GITHUB repository. This reconstruction offers a complementary and independent alternative to the Pandora reconstruction package currently in use in LArTPC experiments, and provides similar reconstruction performance for two-track events.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

The continuous readout stream of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber for detection of supernova burst neutrinos

The MicroBooNE continuous readout stream is a parallel readout of the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) which enables detection of non-beam events such as those from a supernova neutrino burst. The low energies of the supernova neutrinos and the intense cosmic-ray background flux due to the near-surface detector location makes triggering on these events very challenging. Instead, MicroBooNE relies on a delayed trigger generated by SNEWS (the Supernova Early Warning System) for detecting supernova neutrinos. The continuous readout of the LArTPC generates large data volumes, and requires the use of real-time compression algorithms (zero suppression and Huffman compression) implemented in an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) in the readout electronics. In this paper we present the results of the optimization of the data reduction algorithms, and their operational performance. To demonstrate the capability of the continuous stream to detect low-energy electrons, a sample of Michel electrons from stopping cosmic-ray muons is reconstructed and compared to a similar sample from the lossless triggered readout stream.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of space charge effects in the MicroBooNE LArTPC using cosmic muons

Large liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs), especially those operating near the surface, are susceptible to space charge effects. In the context of LArTPCs, the space charge effect is the build-up of slow-moving positive ions in the detector primarily due to ionization from cosmic rays, leading to a distortion of the electric field within the detector. This effect leads to a displacement in the reconstructed position of signal ionization electrons in LArTPC detectors ("spatial distortions"), as well as to variations in the amount of electron-ion recombination experienced by ionization throughout the volume of the TPC. We present techniques that can be used to measure and correct for space charge effects in large LArTPCs by making use of cosmic muons, including the use of track pairs to unambiguously pin down spatial distortions in three dimensions. Finally, the performance of these calibration techniques are studied using both Monte Carlo simulation and MicroBooNE data, utilizing a UV laser system as a means to estimate the systematic bias associated with the calibration methodology.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

First Measurement of Differential Charged Current Quasielasticlike $\nu_{\mu}$ -Argon Scattering Cross Sections with the MicroBooNE Detector

We report on the first measurement of flux-integrated single differential cross sections for charged-current (CC) muon neutrino ($\nu_{\mu}$) scattering on argon with a muon and a proton in the final state, 40 Ar $(\nu_{\mu},μp)X$. The measurement was carried out using the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the MicroBooNE liquid argon time projection chamber detector with an exposure of 4.59 × 10 19 protons on target. Events are selected to enhance the contribution of CC quasielastic (CCQE) interactions. The data are reported in terms of a total cross section as well as single differential cross sections in final state muon and proton kinematics. We measure the integrated per-nucleus CCQE-like cross section (i.e., for interactions leading to a muon, one proton, and no pions above detection threshold) of (4.93 ± 0.76 stat ± 1.29 sys )×10 -38 cm 2 , in good agreement with theoretical calculations. The single differential cross sections are also in overall good agreement with theoretical predictions, except at very forward muon scattering angles that correspond to low-momentum-transfer events.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗