Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPC) are particle imaging detectors recording 2D or 3D images of trajectories of charged particles. Identifying points of interest in these images, namely the initial and terminal points of track-like particle trajectories such as muons and protons, and the initial points of electromagnetic shower-like particle trajectories such as electrons and gamma rays, is a crucial step of identifying and analyzing these particles and impacts the inference of physics signals such as neutrino interaction. The Point Proposal Network is designed to discover these specific points of interest. The algorithm predicts with a sub-voxel precision their spatial location, and also determines the category of the identified points of interest. Using as a benchmark the PILArNet public LArTPC data sample in which the voxel resolution is 3mm/voxel, our algorithm successfully predicted 96.8% and 97.8% of 3D points within a distance of 3 and 10~voxels from the provided true point locations respectively. For the predicted 3D points within 3 voxels of the closest true point locations, the median distance is found to be 0.25 voxels, achieving the sub-voxel level precision. In addition, we report our analysis of the mistakes where our algorithm prediction differs from the provided true point positions by more than 10~voxels. Among 50 mistakes visually scanned, 25 were due to the definition of true position location, 15 were legitimate mistakes where a physicist cannot visually disagree with the algorithm's prediction, and 10 were genuine mistakes that we wish to improve in the future. Further, using these predicted points, we demonstrate a simple algorithm to cluster 3D voxels into individual track-like particle trajectories with a clustering efficiency, purity, and Adjusted Rand Index of 96%, 93%, and 91% respectively.
We describe in these GLA2011 proceedings the software package LArSoft, a toolkit to perform simulation, analysis and reconstruction with the Liquid Argon (LAr) Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) within the US program of proposed detectors. We demonstrate that LArSoft is a fast-maturing, sophisticated package which has taken on important analyses already, and which stands ready to be adopted by as many as five Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers.
By exploiting structural differences between electromagnetic and hadronic showers in a multivariate analysis we present an efficient Electron-Hadron discrimination algorithm for liquid argon time projection chambers, validated using Geant4 simulated data.
The dynamics of the positive ions created by particle interactions inside argon time projection chambers plays an important role in characterizing the next generation of massive detectors planned for the direct search for dark matter and the study of neutrino properties. We have constructed a 1 L liquid argon chamber (ARION: ARgon ION experiment) with a high voltage pulse generator capable of injecting, in a controlled manner, a sizeable ion current into the drift region. This chamber is capable of reproducing a volume charge similar to that found in large detectors, allowing its effects to be…
The liquid argon time projection chamber provides high resolution event images and excellent calorimetric resolution for studying neutrino physics and searching for beyond standard model physics. In this article, we review the main physics processes that affect the detector response, including the electronics and field responses, space charge effects, electron attachment to impurities, diffusion and recombination. We describe methods to measure those effects, which are used to calibrate the detector response and convert the measured raw ADC counts to the original energy deposition.
Large volume Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LAr-TPC) are used and proposed for neutrino physics and rare event search. Most of these detectors make use of the scintillation light of liquid argon for trigger purposes. Two different approaches can be adopted to provide these detectors with an effective trigger system, relying upon analog or digital processing of signal coming from photodetectors, like photomultiplier tubes or silicon photomultipliers. Each method presents advantages and drawbacks, so the implementation of a hybrid solution can benefit from both approaches. To this purpos…
MeV-scale energy depositions by low-energy photons produced in neutrino-argon interactions have been identified and reconstructed in ArgoNeuT liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) data. ArgoNeuT data collected on the NuMI beam at Fermilab were analyzed to select isolated low-energy depositions in the TPC volume. The total number, reconstructed energies and positions of these depositions have been compared to those from simulations of neutrino-argon interactions using the FLUKA Monte Carlo generator. Measured features are consistent with energy depositions from photons produced by de-ex…
We report the results of the analyses of the cosmic ray data collected with a 4 tonne (3$\times$1$\times$1~m$^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, pu…
In this paper we explore the potential improvements in neutrino event reconstruction that a 3D pixelated readout could offer over a 2D projective wire readout for liquid argon time projection chambers. We simulate and study events in two generic, idealized detector configurations for these two designs, classifying events in each sample with deep convolutional neural networks to compare the best 2D results to the best 3D results. In almost all cases we find that the 3D readout provides better reconstruction efficiency and purity than the 2D projective wire readout, with the advantages of 3D bei…
Warsaw University of Technology（华沙理工大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare（意大利国家核物理研究所）；National Center for Nuclear Research（国家核研究中心）
The Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr-TPC) detectors provide excellent imaging and particle identification ability for studying neutrinos. An efficient and automatic reconstruction procedures are required to exploit potential of this imaging technology. Herein, a novel method for segmentation of images from LAr-TPC detectors is presented. The proposed approach computes a feature descriptor for each pixel in the image, which characterizes amplitude distribution in pixel and its neighbourhood. The supervised classifier is employed to distinguish between pixels representing particle's tra…
Liquid Argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) is a promising detector technology for future neutrino experiments. MicroBooNE is an upcoming LArTPC neutrino experiment which will be located on-axis of Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) at Fermilab, USA. The R&D efforts on this detection method and related neutrino interaction measurements are discussed.
The amount and complexity of data recorded by high energy physics experiments are rapidly growing, and with these grow the difficulties in visualizing such data. To study the physics of neutrinos, a type of elementary particle, scientists use liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detectors, among other technologies. LArTPCs have a very high spatial resolution and resolve many of the elementary particles that come out of a neutrino interacting within the argon in the detector. Visualizing these neutrino interactions is of fundamental importance to understanding the properties of neutrin…
Using truth-level Monte Carlo simulations of particle interactions in a large volume of liquid argon, we demonstrate physics capabilities enabled by reconstruction of topologically compact and isolated low-energy features, or `blips,' in large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) events. These features are mostly produced by electron products of photon interactions depositing ionization energy. The blip identification capability of the LArTPC is enabled by its unique combination of size, position resolution precision, and low energy thresholds. We show that consideration of reconstruc…
The Argon Dark Matter (ArDM) experiment consists of a liquid argon (LAr) time projection chamber (TPC) sensitive to nuclear recoils resulting from scattering of hypothetical Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) on argon targets. With an active target of 850 kg, ArDM represents an important milestone in the quest for Dark Matter with LAr. We present the experimental apparatus currently installed underground at the Laboratorio Subterraneo de Canfranc (LSC), Spain. We show first data recorded during a single-phase commissioning run in 2015 (ArDM Run I), which overall confirm the good and …
Measurement of the two-photon absorption cross-section of liquid argon with a time projection chamber
本文报道了在时间投影室（LAr TPC）探测器中激光诱导266 nm液态氩的多光子电离。由激光束产生的电子信号是用于校准和监测下一代大质量LAr TPC的强大工具。我们设计和测试的探测器使我们能够以前所未有的准确度和精度测量LAr的双光子吸收截面：sigma_ex=（1.24 \pm 0.10 stat \pm 0.30 syst）10^{-56} cm ^4 s {-1}。
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) have been selected for the future long-baseline Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). To allow LArTPCs to operate in the high-multiplicity near detector environment of DUNE, a new charge readout technology is required. Traditional charge readout technologies introduce intrinsic ambiguities, combined with a slow detector response, these ambiguities have limited the performance of LArTPCs, until now. Here, we present a novel pixelated charge readout that enables the full 3D tracking capabilities of LArTPCs. We characterise the signal to nois…
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers are planned to comprise a central role in the future of the U.S. High Energy Physics neutrino program. In particular, this detector technology will form the basis for the 40 kton Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). In this paper we take as a starting point the dual phase far detector design proposed by the DUNE experiment and ask what changes are necessary to allow one of the four 10 kt modules to be sensitive to heavy Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter. We show that with control over backgrounds and the use of low radioactivit…
The detection of neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae may reveal important process features as well as neutrino properties. The detection of supernova neutrinos is one of the main science drivers for future kiloton-scale neutrino detectors based on liquid argon. Here we show that for such detectors the intrinsically 3D readout in Q-Pix offers numerous advantages relative to a wire-based readout, such as higher reconstruction efficiency, lower energy threshold, considerably lower data rates, and potential pointing information.
Liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) have been proposed as neutrino detectors that combine both large sizes to maximize the number of neutrino interactions and detailed recording of the interaction. The readout of thousands of channels at MHz sampling rates produce images of the neutrino-nucleus interaction with millimeter-scale resolution, enabling the identification of the resulting particles and offering multiple handles to measure their energies at the expense of large data rates. Continuous acquisition of the LArTPC data is required to enable the use of high-latency triggers fo…
The capabilities of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) to reconstruct the spatial and calorimetric information of neutrino events have made them the detectors of choice in a number of experiments, specifically those looking to observe electron neutrino ($ν_e$) appearance. The LArTPC promises excellent background rejection capabilities, especially in this "golden" channel for both short and long baseline neutrino oscillation experiments. We present the first experimental observation of electron neutrinos and anti-neutrinos in the ArgoNeut LArTPC, in the energy range relevant to DUN…
A workshop was held at Fermilab on March 20-21, 2013 to discuss the development of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPC) in the United States. The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Coordinating Panel for Advanced Detectors, a body that was initiated by the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields. All presentations at the workshop were made in plenary sessions organized into seven topical categories: $i)$ Argon Purity, $ii)$ Cryogenics, $iii)$ TPC and High Voltage, $iv)$ Electronics, Data Acquisition and Triggering, $v)$ Scintillation Light Detection, …
This manuscript describes the commissioning of the Mini-CAPTAIN liquid argon detector in a neutron beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), which led to a first measurement of high-energy neutron interactions in argon. The Mini-CAPTAIN detector consists of a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) with an accompanying photomultiplier tube (PMT) array sealed inside a liquid-argon-filled cryostat. The liquid argon is constantly purified and recirculated in a closed-loop cycle during operation. The specifications and assembly of the detector subsystems and an overview of their performance in…
In this paper, we show that a hybrid approach to generative modeling via combining the decoder from an autoencoder together with an explicit generative model for the latent space is a promising method for producing images of particle trajectories in a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). LArTPCs are a type of particle physics detector used by several current and future experiments focused on studies of the neutrino. We implement a Vector-Quantized Variational Autoencoder (VQ-VAE) and PixelCNN which produces images with LArTPC-like features and introduce a method to evaluate the quali…
The liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) detector technology has an excellent capability to measure properties of low-energy neutrinos produced by the sun and supernovae and to look for exotic physics at very low energies. In order to achieve those physics goals, it is crucial to identify and reconstruct signals in the waveforms recorded on each TPC wire. In this paper, we report on a novel algorithm based on a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (CNN) to look for the region-of-interest (ROI) in raw waveforms. We test this algorithm using data from the ArgoNeuT experiment in …
The second workshop to discuss the development of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) in the United States was held at Fermilab on July 8-9, 2014. The workshop was organized under the auspices of the Coordinating Panel for Advanced Detectors, a body that was initiated by the American Physical Society Division of Particles and Fields. All presentations at the workshop were made in six topical plenary sessions: $i)$ Argon Purity and Cryogenics, $ii)$ TPC and High Voltage, $iii)$ Electronics, Data Acquisition and Triggering, $iv)$ Scintillation Light Detection, $v)$ Calibration and Te…
A number of liquid argon time projection chambers (LAr TPC's) are being build or are proposed for neutrino experiments on long- and short baseline beams. For these detectors a distortion in the drift field due to geometrical or physics reasons can affect the reconstruction of the events. Depending on the TPC geometry and electric drift field intensity this distortion could be of the same magnitude as the drift field itself. Recently, we presented a method to calibrate the drift field and correct for these possible distortions. While straight cosmic ray muon tracks could be used for calibration…
We present a new technology for the shaping of the electric field in Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) using a carbon-loaded polyimide foil. This technology allows for the minimisation of passive material near the active volume of the TPC and thus is capable to reduce background events originating from radioactive decays or scattering on the material itself. Furthermore, the high and continuous electric resistivity of the foil limits the power dissipation per unit area and minimizes the risks of damages in the case of an electric field breakdown. Replacing the conventional field cage with a resi…
Ionization electron diffusion in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LArTPCs) has typically been considered at the detector design stage, but little attention has been given to its effects on calibration and particle identification. We use a GEANT4-based simulation to study how diffusion impacts these techniques, and give consideration to how this effect is simulated. We find that diffusion can cause a drift-dependent bias to both the median and Most Probable Value (MPV) of charge deposition per unit length distributions. The bias is estimated to be ~2.5% (median) and ~5.0% (MPV) for typica…
For current and future neutrino oscillation experiments using large Liquid Argon Time Projection Chambers (LAr-TPCs), a key challenge is identifying neutrino interactions from the pervading cosmic-ray background. Rejection of such background is often possible using traditional cut-based selections, but this typically requires the prior use of computationally expensive reconstruction algorithms. This work demonstrates an alternative approach of using a 3D Submanifold Sparse Convolutional Network trained on low-level information from the scintillation light signal of interactions inside LAr-TPCs…
When electrons with energies of $O(100)$ MeV pass through a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC), they deposit energy in the form of electromagnetic showers. Methods to reconstruct the energy of these showers in LArTPCs often rely on the combination of a clustering algorithm and a linear calibration between the shower energy and charge contained in the cluster. This reconstruction process could be improved through the use of a convolutional neural network (CNN). Here we discuss the performance of various CNN-based models on simulated LArTPC images, and then compare the best performing…
The Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) is an advanced neutrino detector technology widely used in recent and upcoming accelerator neutrino experiments. It features a low energy threshold and high spatial resolution that allow for comprehensive reconstruction of event topologies. In current-generation LArTPCs, the recorded data consist of digitized waveforms on wires produced by induced signal on wires of drifting ionization electrons, which can also be viewed as two-dimensional (2D) (time versus wire) projection images of charged-particle trajectories. For such an imaging detector, …
Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LAr TPC) detectors offer charged particle imaging capability with remarkable spatial resolution. Precise event reconstruction procedures are critical in order to fully exploit the potential of this technology. In this paper we present a new, general approach of three-dimensional reconstruction for the LAr TPC with a practical application to track reconstruction. The efficiency of the method is evaluated on a sample of simulated tracks. We present also the application of the method to the analysis of real data tracks collected during the ICARUS T600 detecto…
Dielectric breakdown strength is one of the critical performance metrics for gases and mixtures used in large, high pressure gas time projection chambers. In this paper we experimentally study dielectric breakdown strengths of several important time projection chamber working gases and gas-phase insulators over the pressure range 100 mbar to 10 bar, and gap sizes ranging from 0.1to 10 mm. Gases characterized include argon, xenon, CO2, CF4, and mixtures 90-10 argon-CH4,90-10 argon-CO2and 99-1 argon-CF4. We develop a theoretical model for high voltage breakdown based on microphysical simulations…
The sensitivity to New Physics of a low threshold scintillating argon bubble chamber measuring coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering in reactors is reported. Namely, light scalar mediators, sterile neutrino oscillations, unitarity violation, and non-standard interactions are studied. The results indicate that this detector could be able to set stronger constraints than current limits set by the recent COHERENT measurements. Considering the best scenario, a 100 kg detector located 30 m from a 2000 MW$_{th}$ reactor, a sterile neutrino search would cover most of the space parameter allowe…
We propose to measure the coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CE$ν$NS) using a dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber (TPC) with 200kg fiducial mass. The detector is expected to be adjacent to the JUNO-TAO experiment and to be about 35m from a reactor core with 4.6GW thermal power at Taishan. The antineutrino flux is approximately 6$\times10^{12}$cm$^{-1}$s$^{-1}$ at this location, leading to more than 11,000 coherent scattering events per day in the fiducial mass. However, the nuclear recoil energies concentrate in the sub-keV region, corresponding to less than ten ionisati…
We find that it is possible to increase sensitivity to low energy physics in a third or fourth DUNE-like module with careful controls over radiopurity and some modifications to a detector similar to the DUNE Far Detector design. In particular, sensitivity to supernova and solar neutrinos can be enhanced with improved MeV-scale reach. A neutrinoless double beta decay search with $^{136}$Xe loading appears feasible. Furthermore, sensitivity to Weakly-Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) Dark Matter (DM) becomes competitive with the planned world program in such a detector, offering a unique seaso…
In this paper we demonstrate the capability of high voltage varistors and gas discharge tube arrestors for use as surge protection devices in liquid argon time projection chamber detectors. The insulating and clamping behavior of each type of device is characterized in air (room temperature), and liquid argon (90~K), and their robustness under high voltage and high energy surges in cryogenic conditions is verified. The protection of vulnerable components in liquid argon during a 150 kV high voltage discharge is also demonstrated. Each device is tested for argon contamination and light emission…
This paper presents a graph neural network (GNN) technique for low-level reconstruction of neutrino interactions in a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC). GNNs are still a relatively novel technique, and have shown great promise for similar reconstruction tasks in the LHC. In this paper, a multihead attention message passing network is used to classify the relationship between detector hits by labelling graph edges, determining whether hits were produced by the same underlying particle, and if so, the particle type. The trained model is 84% accurate overall, and performs best on the …
The physics reach of a low threshold (100 eV) scintillating argon bubble chamber sensitive to Coherent Elastic neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CE$ν$NS) from reactor neutrinos is studied. The sensitivity to the weak mixing angle, neutrino magnetic moment, and a light $Z'$ gauge boson mediator are analyzed. A Monte Carlo simulation of the backgrounds is performed to assess their contribution to the signal. The analysis shows that world-leading sensitivities are achieved with a one-year exposure for a 10 kg chamber at 3 m from a 1 MW$_{th}$ research reactor or a 100 kg chamber at 30 m from a 2000 MW…
As noble liquid time projection chambers grow in size their high voltage requirements increase, and detailed, reproducible studies of dielectric breakdown and the onset of electroluminescence are needed to inform their design. The Xenon Breakdown Apparatus (XeBrA) is a 5-liter cryogenic chamber built to characterize the DC high voltage breakdown behavior of liquid xenon and liquid argon. Electrodes with areas up to 33~cm$^2$ were tested while varying the cathode-anode separation from 1 to 6~mm with a voltage difference up to 75~kV. A power-law relationship between breakdown field and electrode…
Liquid Argon (LAr) is one of the most widely used scintillators in particle detection, due to its low cost, high availability and excellent scintillation properties. A large number of experiments in the neutrino sector are based around using LAr in one or more Time Projection Chambers (TPCs), leading to high resolution three-dimensional particle reconstruction. In this paper, we review and summarise a number of these Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) experiments, and briefly describe the specific technologies that they currently employ. This includes single phase LAr experiments (I…
Stanford University（斯坦福大学）；SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory（SLAC国家加速器实验室）
Deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) show strong promise for analyzing scientific data in many domains including particle imaging detectors such as a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). Yet the high sparsity of LArTPC data challenges traditional CNNs which were designed for dense data such as photographs. A naive application of CNNs on LArTPC data results in inefficient computations and a poor scalability to large LArTPC detectors such as the Short Baseline Neutrino Program and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment. Recently Submanifold Sparse Convolutional Networks (SSCNs) have…
We report the demonstration of a low-power pixelated readout system designed for three-dimensional ionization charge detection and digital readout of liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs). Unambiguous 3D charge readout was achieved using a custom-designed system-on-a-chip ASIC (LArPix) to uniquely instrument each pad in a pixelated array of charge-collection pads. The LArPix ASIC, manufactured in 180 nm bulk CMOS, provides 32 channels of charge-sensitive amplification with self-triggered digitization and multiplexed readout at temperatures from 80 K to 300 K. Using an 832-channel LAr…
