The Simons Observatory: Pipeline comparison and validation for large-scale B-modes
Abstract:
Context. The upcoming Simons Observatory Small Aperture Telescopes aim at achieving a constraint on the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio r at the level of σ (r = 0)≤0.003, observing the polarized CMB in the presence of partial sky coverage, cosmic variance, inhomogeneous non-white noise, and Galactic foregrounds. Aims. We present three different analysis pipelines able to constrain r given the latest available instrument performance, and compare their predictions on a set of sky simulations that allow us to explore a number of Galactic foreground models and elements of instrumental noise, relevant for the Simons Observatory. Methods. The three pipelines employ different combinations of parametric and non-parametric component separation at the map and power spectrum levels, and use B-mode purification to estimate the CMB B-mode power spectrum. We applied them to a common set of simulated realistic frequency maps, and compared and validated them with focus on their ability to extract robust constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We evaluated their performance in terms of bias and statistical uncertainty on this parameter. Results. In most of the scenarios the three methodologies achieve similar performance. Nevertheless, several simulations with complex foreground signals lead to a > 2σ bias on r if analyzed with the default versions of these pipelines, highlighting the need for more sophisticated pipeline components that marginalize over foreground residuals. We show two such extensions, using power-spectrum-based and map-based methods, that are able to fully reduce the bias on r below the statistical uncertainties in all foreground models explored, at a moderate cost in terms of σ (r).The ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider: a description of the detector configuration for Run 3
Abstract:
The ATLAS detector is installed in its experimental cavern at Point 1 of the CERN Large Hadron Collider. During Run 2 of the LHC, a luminosity of ℒ = 2 × 1034 cm-2 s-1 was routinely achieved at the start of fills, twice the design luminosity. For Run 3, accelerator improvements, notably luminosity levelling, allow sustained running at an instantaneous luminosity of ℒ = 2 × 1034 cm-2 s-1, with an average of up to 60 interactions per bunch crossing. The ATLAS detector has been upgraded to recover Run 1 single-lepton trigger thresholds while operating comfortably under Run 3 sustained pileup conditions. A fourth pixel layer 3.3 cm from the beam axis was added before Run 2 to improve vertex reconstruction and b-tagging performance. New Liquid Argon Calorimeter digital trigger electronics, with corresponding upgrades to the Trigger and Data Acquisition system, take advantage of a factor of 10 finer granularity to improve triggering on electrons, photons, taus, and hadronic signatures through increased pileup rejection. The inner muon endcap wheels were replaced by New Small Wheels with Micromegas and small-strip Thin Gap Chamber detectors, providing both precision tracking and Level-1 Muon trigger functionality. Trigger coverage of the inner barrel muon layer near one endcap region was augmented with modules integrating new thin-gap resistive plate chambers and smaller-diameter drift-tube chambers. Tile Calorimeter scintillation counters were added to improve electron energy resolution and background rejection. Upgrades to Minimum Bias Trigger Scintillators and Forward Detectors improve luminosity monitoring and enable total proton-proton cross section, diffractive physics, and heavy ion measurements. These upgrades are all compatible with operation in the much harsher environment anticipated after the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC and are the first steps towards preparing ATLAS for the High-Luminosity upgrade of the LHC. This paper describes the Run 3 configuration of the ATLAS detector.Performance of the ATLAS forward proton Time-of-Flight detector in Run 2
Abstract:
We present performance studies of the Time-of-Flight (ToF) subdetector of the ATLAS Forward Proton (AFP) detector at the LHC. Efficiencies and resolutions are measured using high-statistics data samples collected at low and moderate pile-up in 2017, the first year when the detectors were installed on both sides of the interaction region. While low efficiencies are observed, of the order of a few percent, the resolutions of the two ToF detectors measured individually are 21 ps and 28 ps, yielding an expected resolution of the longitudinal position of the interaction, z vtx, in the central ATLAS detector of 5.3 ± 0.6 mm. This is in agreement with the observed width of the distribution of the difference between z vtx, measured independently by the central ATLAS tracker and by the ToF detector, of 6.0 ± 2.0 mm.Swift J1727.8-1613 has the Largest Resolved Continuous Jet Ever Seen in an X-ray Binary
Constraints on dark matter and astrophysics from tomographic γ-ray cross-correlations
Abstract:
We study the cross-correlation between maps of the unresolved 𝛾-ray background constructed from the 12-year data release of the Fermi Large-Area Telescope, and the overdensity of galaxies in the redshift range 𝑧≲0.4 as measured by the 2MASS photometric redshift survey and the WISE-SuperCOSMOS photometric survey. A signal is detected at the 8−10𝜎 level, which we interpret in terms of both astrophysical 𝛾-ray sources, and weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) dark matter decay and annihilation. The sensitivity achieved allows us to characterise the energy and redshift dependence of the signal, and we show that the latter is incompatible with a pure dark matter origin. We thus use our measurement to place an upper bound on the WIMP decay rate and the annihilation cross section, finding constraints that are competitive with those found in other analyses. Our analysis is based on the extraction of clean model-independent observables that can then be used to constrain arbitrary astrophysical and particle physics models. In this sense we produce measurements of the 𝛾-ray emissivity as a function of redshift and rest-frame energy 𝜖, and of a quantity 𝐹(𝜖) encapsulating all WIMP parameters relevant for dark matter decay or annihilation. We make these measurements, together with a full account of their statistical uncertainties, publicly available.