Wed·Jul 16, 2025Wednesday·July 16, 2025

1. 01*

   Measurement of the ${}^{\text{nat}}$C(n,p) and ${}^{\text{nat}}$C(n,d) reactions from n_TOF at CERN

   P. Žugec🇭🇷 · N. Colonna🇮🇹 · D. Rochman🇨🇭 · M. Barbagallo🇮🇹 · J. Andrzejewski🇵🇱 · J. Perkowski🇵🇱 · A. Ventura🇮🇹 · D. Bosnar🇭🇷 · A. Gawlik-Ramiega🇵🇱 · M. Sabaté-Gilarte🇨🇭 · M. Bacak🇨🇭 · F. Mingrone🇨🇭 and 120 other authors

   The energy dependence of the cross section of the (n,p) and (n,d) reactions on ${}^{\text{nat}}$C has been studied for the first time at the n_TOF facility at CERN, from the particle detection threshold up to 25 MeV. The measurement was performed with two telescopes made of position-sensitive silicon $\Delta E$-$E$ detectors, covering the angular range from 20{\deg} to 140{\deg}. A detector efficiency has been determined by means of Monte Carlo simulations of the experimental setup. Various assumptions on the angular distributions and branching ratios of the excited levels of the residual ${}^{11}$B, ${}^{12}$B, ${}^{13}$B nuclei were considered. In particular, theoretical calculations based on the TALYS-2.0 code were used and the systematic uncertainties in the analysis results were determined from the variations in these distributions. The n_TOF data on the (n,p) and (n,d) reaction on carbon are characterized by a higher accuracy and wider energy range than currently available in literature. A comparison with current evaluations from different libraries reveals a rather significant disagreement with the n_TOF results, while a remarkable agreement is observed with the prediction of TALYS-2.0 for this light element.

   nucl-exPLB(2025)·3 citations
2. 02*

   Constraints on Kinetic Mixing of Dark Photons from Dilepton Spectra

   A. W. Romero Jorge🇩🇪 · E. Bratkovskaya🇩🇪 · T. Song🇩🇪 · L. Sagunski🇩🇪

   Dark photons, the hypothetical gauge bosons associated with an additional $U(1{)}^{\prime }$ symmetry, can couple to Standard Model particles through a small kinetic mixing parameter $\epsilon$ with the ordinary photon. This mechanism provides a portal between the dark sector and visible matter. In this study, we present a procedure to derive theoretical upper bounds on the kinetic mixing parameter ${\epsilon }^2(M_U)$ by analyzing dilepton spectra from heavy-ion collisions across a broad energy range, from SIS to LHC energies. Our analysis is based on the microscopic Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which successfully reproduces the measured dilepton spectra in $p+p$, $p+A$, and $A+A$ collisions across the same energy range. Besides the dilepton channels resulting from interactions and decays of Standard Model particles (such as mesons and baryons), the PHSD has been extended to include the decay of hypothetical dark photons into dileptons, $U\to e^{+}{e}^{-}$. The production of these dark photons occurs via Dalitz decays of ${\pi }^0$, $\eta$, $\omega$, ${\eta }^{\prime }$, and $\Delta$ resonances; direct decays of $\rho$, $\omega$, and $\varphi$; the kaon mode $K^{+}\to {\pi }^{+}U$; and thermal $q\bar{q}$ annihilation in the quark-gluon plasma. Our results show that high-precision measurements of dilepton spectra in heavy-ion collisions provide a sensitive and competitive probe of dark photons in the MeV to multi-GeV mass range. Furthermore, we quantify the experimental accuracy required to constrain the remaining viable parameter space of kinetic mixing in dark photon scenarios.

   ↳ hep-phhep-exnucl-exnucl-thPRC(2025)·1 citation
3. 03*

   Practical Software Approach to Digital Pulse Processing

   Jing Liu🇺🇸

   This paper presents a practical approach to digital pulse processing, emphasizing simplicity and efficiency. We advocate for a balanced software design, flat data structures, the use of the ROOT C++ interpreter, and a combination of command-line and graphical interfaces. By adopting these strategies, researchers can effectively apply digital pulse processing techniques to their specific domains without excessive theoretical concerns.

   ↳ physics.ins-dethep-exnucl-ex0 citations
4. 04*

   Measurement of photo- and radio-luminescence of thin ThF4 films

   Mikhail Osipenko🇮🇹 · Carlos de Almeida Carrapico · Dmytro Burdeinyi🇺🇦 · Roberto Caciuffo · Rachel Eloirdi · Mauro Giovannini · Alban Kellerbauer · Rikard Malmbeck · Marco Ripani🇮🇹 · Mauro Taiuti🇮🇹

   We conducted measurements on the photo- and radio-luminescence of thin ThF${}_4$ films in both the UV and visible ranges. In the UV range, we found that both luminescences are at a similar level as the internal dark counting noise of the photo-multiplier-tube (PMT). Our results suggest that thin ThF${}_4$ crystals could be used as a target for the search for ${}^{229m}$Th and as a medium for the future nuclear clock. The measurements indicate that using a small and thin ThF${}_4$ film can reduce background noise while maintaining the signal at the same level, achieved by increasing the ${}^{229}$Th enrichment. Our developed apparatus is now ready for direct measurements of ${}^{229m}$Th excitation and decay in ThF${}_4$.

   ↳ physics.ins-detnucl-exNucl.Instrum.Meth.A(2024)·1 citation

* Reconstructed cohort: no mailing for this day survives in the archive. Papers are grouped by their submission times and arXiv's announcement cut-off, assuming announcement without delay; positions follow identifier order. Validated at ~91% exact-day agreement against the archived era.