High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)

Abstract: The magnetised iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector proposed at the India-based Neutrino Observatory will be a 51 kton detector made up of 151 layers of 56 mm thick soft iron with 40 mm air gap in between where the RPCs, the active detectors, will be placed. The main goal of ICAL is to make precision measurements of the neutrino oscillation parameters using the atmospheric neutrinos as source. The charged current interactions of the atmospheric muon neutrinos and anti-neutrinos in the detector produce charged muons. The magnetic field, with a maximum value of $\sim$ 1.5 T in the central region of ICAL, is a critical component since it will be used to distinguish the charges and determine the momentum and direction of these muons. It is difficult to measure the magnetic field inside the iron. The existing methods can only estimate the internal field and hence will be prone to error. This paper presents the first simulations study of the effect of errors in the measurement of the magnetic field in ICAL on its physics potential, especially the neutrino mass ordering and precision measurement of oscillation parameters in the 2--3 sector. The study is a GEANT4-based analysis, using measurements of the magnetic field at the prototype ICAL detector. We find that there is only a small effect on the determination of the mass ordering. While local fluctuations in the magnetic field measurement are well-tolerated, calibration errors must remain well within 5\% to retain good precision determination of the parameters $\sin^2\theta_{23}$ and $\Delta m^2_{32}$.

Abstract: Subtle, but long-known, field-theoretical aspects require a more refined treatment of gauge theories involving a Brout-Englert-Higgs effect. This refinement can be done analytically using the Fr\"ohlich-Morchio-Strocchi mechanism. In the standard model, this leads to slight, but in principle detectable, quantitative changes in observables. This can have significant implications for current and future colliders, which are investigated for a few sample processes.

Abstract: We present an extraction of unpolarized transverse momentum dependent parton distributions functions and Collins-Soper kernel from the fit of Drell-Yan and weak-vector boson production data. The analysis is done at the N$^4$LL order of perturbative accuracy, using a flavor dependent non-perturbative ansatz. The estimation of uncertainties is done with the replica method and, for the first time, includes the propagation of uncertainties due to the collinear distributions.

Abstract: We report on recent result according to which the fermion-fermion interaction mediated by axions and axion-like particles can be revealed by means of neutron interferometry. We assume that the initial neutron beam is split in two beams which are affected by differently oriented magnetic fields, in order that the phase difference depends only by the axion-induced interaction. In this way, the phase difference is directly related to the presence of axions.