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1. Cosmogenic background simulations for neutrinoless double beta decay with the DARWIN observatory at various underground sites

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-023-12298-w  

   Adrover, M; Althueser, L; Andrieu, B; Angelino, E; Angevaare, J R; Antunovic, B; Aprile, E; Babicz, M; Bajpai, D; Barberio, E; et al (January 2024, The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract Xenon dual-phase time projections chambers (TPCs) have proven to be a successful technology in studying physical phenomena that require low-background conditions. With$$40\,\textrm{t}$$ $40\text{t}$ of liquid xenon (LXe) in the TPC baseline design, DARWIN will have a high sensitivity for the detection of particle dark matter, neutrinoless double beta decay ($$0\upnu \upbeta \upbeta $$ $0\nu \beta \beta$ ), and axion-like particles (ALPs). Although cosmic muons are a source of background that cannot be entirely eliminated, they may be greatly diminished by placing the detector deep underground. In this study, we used Monte Carlo simulations to model the cosmogenic background expected for the DARWIN observatory at four underground laboratories: Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM) and SNOLAB. We present here the results of simulations performed to determine the production rate of$${}^{137}$$ ${}^{137}$ Xe, the most crucial isotope in the search for$$0\upnu \upbeta \upbeta $$ $0\nu \beta \beta$ of$${}^{136}$$ ${}^{136}$ Xe. Additionally, we explore the contribution that other muon-induced spallation products, such as other unstable xenon isotopes and tritium, may have on the cosmogenic background. 

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2. High resolution X-ray spectra of the time evolution of emission from metastable electronic states of highly charged Ni-like ions

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/s10053-024-00872-0  

   Burke, Timothy; Takacs, Endre; Dipti; Hosier, Adam; O’Neil, Galen; Tan, Joseph; Staiger, Hunter; Naing, Aung; Marler, Joan; Ralchenko, Yuri (June 2024, The European Physical Journal D)

   AbstractMetastable levels of highly charged ions that can only decay via highly forbidden transitions can have a significant effect on the properties of high temperature plasmas. For example, the highly forbidden 3d$$^{10}$$ $_{}^{10}$ $$_{J=0}$$ $_{J=0}^{}$ - 3d$$^9$$ $_{}^9$ 4 s$$(\frac{5}{2},\frac{1}{2})_{J=3}$$ ${(\frac{5}{2},\frac{1}{2})}_{J=3}$ magnetic octupole (M3) transition in nickel-like ions can result in a large metastable population of its upper level which can then be ionized by electrons of energies below the ground state ionization potential. We present a method to study metastable electronic states in highly charged ions that decay by x-ray emission in electron beam ion traps (EBIT). The time evolution of the emission intensity can be used to study the parameters of ionization balance dynamics and the lifetime of metastable states. The temporal and energy resolution of a new transition-edge sensor microcalorimeter array enables these studies at the National Institute of Standards and Technology EBIT. Graphical abstractNOMAD calculated time evolution of the ratio of the Ni-like and Co-like lines in Nd at varying electron densities compared with measured ratios 

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3. Demonstration of event position reconstruction based on diffusion in the NEXT-white detector

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-12865-9  

   Haefner, J; Navarro, K E; Guenette, R; Jones, B_J P; Tripathi, A; Adams, C; Almazán, H; Álvarez, V; Aparicio, B; Aranburu, A I; et al (May 2024, The European Physical Journal C)

   Noble element time projection chambers are a leading technology for rare event detection in physics, such as for dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay searches. Time projection chambers typically assign event position in the drift direction using the relative timing of prompt scintillation and delayed charge collection signals, allowing for reconstruction of an absolute position in the drift direction. In this paper, alternate methods for assigning event drift distance via quantification of electron diffusion in a pure high pressure xenon gas time projection chamber are explored. Data from the NEXT-White detector demonstrate the ability to achieve good position assignment accuracy for both high- and low-energy events. Using point-like energy deposits from$$^{83\textrm{m}}$$ ${}^{83\text{m}}$ Kr calibration electron captures ($$E\sim 45$$ $E\sim 45$  keV), the position of origin of low-energy events is determined to 2 cm precision with bias$$< 1~$$ $<1$ mm. A convolutional neural network approach is then used to quantify diffusion for longer tracks ($$E\ge ~1.5$$ $E\ge 1.5$  MeV), from radiogenic electrons, yielding a precision of 3 cm on the event barycenter. The precision achieved with these methods indicates the feasibility energy calibrations of better than 1% FWHM at Q$$_{\beta \beta }$$ ${}_{\beta \beta }$ in pure xenon, as well as the potential for event fiducialization in large future detectors using an alternate method that does not rely on primary scintillation. 

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4. Investigating $D^0$ meson production in p-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV with a multi-phase transport model

   https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-024-13265-9  

   Zhang, Chao; Zheng, Liang; Shi, Shusu; Lin, Zi-Wei (September 2024, The European Physical Journal C)

   Abstract We study the production of$$D^0$$ $D^0$ meson inp+pandp-Pb collisions using the improved AMPT model considering both coalescence and independent fragmentation of charm quarks after the Cronin broadening is included. After a detailed discussion of the improvements implemented in the AMPT model for heavy quark production, we show that the modified AMPT model can provide a good description of$$D^0$$ $D^0$ meson spectra inp-Pb collisions, the$$Q_{\textrm{pPb}}$$ $Q_{\text{pPb}}$ data at different centralities and$$R_{\textrm{pPb}}$$ $R_{\text{pPb}}$ data in both mid- and forward (backward) rapidities. We also studied the effects of nuclear shadowing and parton cascade on the rapidity dependence of$$D^{0}$$ $D^0$ meson production and$$R_{\textrm{pPb}}$$ $R_{\text{pPb}}$ . Our results indicate that using the same strength of the Cronin effect (i.e$$\delta $$ $\delta$ value) as that obtained from the mid-rapidity data leads to a considerable overestimation of the$$D^0$$ $D^0$ meson spectra and$$R_{\textrm{pPb}}$$ $R_{\text{pPb}}$ data at high$$p_{\textrm{T}}$$ $p_{\text{T}}$ in the backward rapidity. As a result, the$$\delta $$ $\delta$ is determined via a$$\chi ^2$$ ${\chi }^2$ fitting of the$$R_{\textrm{pPb}}$$ $R_{\text{pPb}}$ data across various rapidities. This work lays the foundation for a better understanding of cold-nuclear-matter (CNM) effects in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. 

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5. Study of baryon number transport dynamics and strangeness conservation effects using Ω-hadron correlations

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s41365-024-01464-8  

   Dong, Wei-Jie; Yu, Xiao-Zhou; Ping, Si-Yuan; Wu, Xia-Tong; Wang, Gang; Huang, Huan-Zhong; Lin, Zi-Wei (July 2024, Nuclear Science and Techniques)

   Abstract In nuclear collisions at RHIC energies, an excess of$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ hyperons over$$\bar{\Omega }$$ $\overline{\Omega }$ is observed, indicating that$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ has a net baryon number despitesand$$\bar{s}$$ $\overline{s}$ quarks being produced in pairs. The baryon number in$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ may have been transported from the incident nuclei and/or produced in the baryon-pair production of$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ with other types of anti-hyperons such as$$\bar{\Xi }$$ $\overline{\Xi }$ . To investigate these two scenarios, we propose to measure the correlations between$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ andKand between$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ and anti-hyperons. We use two versions, the default and string-melting, of a multiphase transport (AMPT) model to illustrate the method for measuring the correlation and to demonstrate the general shape of the correlation. We present the$$\Omega$$ $\Omega$ -hadron correlations from simulated Au+Au collisions at$$\sqrt{s_\text{NN}} = 7.7$$ $\sqrt{s_{\text{NN}}}=7.7$ and$$14.6 \ \textrm{GeV}$$ $14.6\text{GeV}$ and discuss the dependence on the collision energy and on the hadronization scheme in these two AMPT versions. These correlations can be used to explore the mechanism of baryon number transport and the effects of baryon number and strangeness conservation on nuclear collisions. 

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