Search

The forward $\eta$ mesons production has been observed by the Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment in proton-proton collision at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV. This paper presents the measurement of the inclusive production rate of $\eta$ in $p_T<$ 1.1 GeV/c, expressed as a function of the Feynman-x variable. These results are compared with the predictions of several hadronic interaction models commonly used for the modelling of the air showers produced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. This is both the first measurement of $\eta$ mesons from LHCf and the first time a particle containing strange quarks has been observed in the forward region for high-energy collisions. These results will provide a powerful constraint on hadronic interaction models for the purpose of improving the understanding of the processes underlying the air showers produced in the Earth's atmosphere by ultra-energetic cosmic rays., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables

The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a balloon-borne experiment that aims to measure low-energy cosmic-ray antiparticles. GAPS has developed a new antiparticle identification technique based on exotic atom formation caused by incident particles, which is achieved by ten layers of Si(Li) detector tracker in GAPS. The conventional analysis uses the physical quantities of the reconstructed incident and secondary particles. In parallel with this, we have developed a complementary approach based on deep neural networks. This paper presents a new convolutional neural network (CNN) technique. A three-dimensional CNN takes energy depositions as three-dimensional inputs and learns to identify their positional/energy correlations. The combination of the physical quantities and the CNN technique is also investigated. The findings show that the new technique outperforms existing machine learning-based methods in particle identification., Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures

The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is an upcoming balloon mission to measure low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei during at least three ~35-day Antarctic flights. With its large geometric acceptance and novel exotic atom-based particle identification, GAPS will detect ~500 cosmic antiprotons per flight and produce a precision cosmic antiproton spectrum in the kinetic energy range of ~0.07-0.21 GeV/n at the top of the atmosphere. With these high statistics extending to lower energies than any previous experiment, and with complementary sources of experimental uncertainty compared to traditional magnetic spectrometers, the GAPS antiproton measurement will be sensitive to dark matter, primordial black holes, and cosmic ray propagation. The antiproton measurement will also validate the GAPS antinucleus identification technique for the antideuteron and antihelium rare-event searches. This analysis demonstrates the GAPS sensitivity to cosmic-ray antiprotons using a full instrument simulation and event reconstruction, and including solar and atmospheric effects., Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, revision updated with addition of Figure 5 and slight changes in the text to match the version accepted by Astroparticle Physics

This work evaluates the viability of polyimide and parylene-C for passivation of lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors. The passivated Si(Li) detectors will form the particle tracker and X-ray detector of the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment, a balloon-borne experiment optimized to detect cosmic antideuterons produced in dark matter annihilations or decays. Successful passivation coatings were achieved by thermally curing polyimides, and the optimized coatings form an excellent barrier against humidity and organic contamination. The passivated Si(Li) detectors deliver $\lesssim\,4$ keV energy resolution (FWHM) for 20$-$100 keV X-rays while operating at temperatures of $-$35 to $-45\,^{\circ}$C. This is the first reported successful passivation of Si(Li)-based X-ray detectors operated above cryogenic temperatures., Comment: Accepted for publication at Nuclear Instrumentation and Methods A, 19 pages, 8 figures

Large-area lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors, operable 150{\deg}C above liquid nitrogen temperature, have been developed for the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) balloon mission and will form the first such system to operate in space. These 10 cm-diameter, 2.5 mm-thick multi-strip detectors have been verified in the lab to provide <4 keV FWHM energy resolution for X-rays as well as tracking capability for charged particles, while operating in conditions (~-40{\deg}C and ~1 Pa) achievable on a long-duration balloon mission with a large detector payload. These characteristics enable the GAPS silicon tracker system to identify cosmic antinuclei via a novel technique based on exotic atom formation, de-excitation, and annihilation. Production and large-scale calibration of ~1000 detectors has begun for the first GAPS flight, scheduled for late 2021. The detectors developed for GAPS may also have other applications, for example in heavy nuclei identification.

The first lithium-drifted silicon (Si(Li)) detectors to satisfy the unique geometric, performance, and cost requirements of the General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS) experiment have been produced by Shimadzu Corporation. The GAPS Si(Li) detectors will form the first large-area, relatively high-temperature Si(Li) detector system with sensitivity to X-rays to operate at high altitude. These 10 cm-diameter, 2.5 mm-thick, 4- or 8-strip detectors provide the active area, X-ray absorption efficiency, energy resolution, and particle tracking capability necessary for the GAPS exotic-atom particle identification technique. In this paper, the detector performance is validated on the bases of X-ray energy resolution and reconstruction of cosmic minimum ionizing particle (MIP) signals. We use the established noise model for semiconductor detectors to distinguish sources of noise due to the detector from those due to signal processing electronics. We demonstrate that detectors with either 4 strips or 8 strips can provide the required $\lesssim$4 keV (FWHM) X-ray energy resolution at flight temperatures of $-35$ to $-45^{\circ}$C, given the proper choice of signal processing electronics. Approximately 1000 8-strip detectors will be used for the first GAPS Antarctic balloon flight, scheduled for late 2021., Comment: Accepted for publication at JINST, 16 pages, 8 figures

GAPS is an international balloon-borne project that contributes to solving the dark-matter mystery through a highly sensitive survey of cosmic-ray antiparticles, especially undiscovered antideuterons. To achieve a sufficient sensitivity to rare antideuterons, a novel particle identification method based on exotic atom capture and decay has been developed. In parallel to utilizing this unique event signature in a conventional likelihood-based event identification scheme, we have begun investigating a complementary approach using a machine learning technique. In this new approach, a deep-learning package is trained on a large amount of input data from simulated antiparticle events through a multi-layered neural network. By applying this unbiased approach, we expect to mine unknown patterns and give feedback to the conventional method. In this paper, we report results from exploratory investigations that illustrate the promise of this new approach.

Very recently, the LHCb collaboration has reported the new result about the hidden-charm pentaquarks: $P_c(4312)$ near the $\bar{D}\Sigma_c$ threshold, and $P_c(4440)$ and $P_c(4457)$ near $\bar{D}^*\Sigma_c$ threshold. We study the heavy quark spin (HQS) multiplet structures of these newly $P_c$ pentaquarks under the heavy quark spin symmetry based on the hadronic molecular picture. We point out that $P_c(4312)$ is the $J^P = 1/2^-$ member of an HQS triplet, and $P_c(4440)$ and $P_c(4457)$ are the $J^P = 3/2^-$ member of the HQS triplet and an HQS singlet with $J^P = 3/2^-$. Namely, the $P_c(4312)$ and one of $P_c(4440)$ and $P_c(4457)$ belong to an HQS triplet. The HQS multiplet structure predicts the existence of $J^P = 5/2^-$ state near $\bar{D}^\ast\Sigma_c^\ast$ threshold., Comment: 4 pages

We study the heavy quark spin (HQS) multiplet structure of P-wave $Q\bar{Q}qqq$-type pentaquarks treated as molecules of a heavy meson and a heavy baryon. We define the light-cloud spin (LCS) basis decomposing the meson-baryon spin wavefunction into the LCS and HQS parts. Introducing the LCS basis, we find HQS multiplets classified by the LCS; five HQS singlets, two HQS doublets, and three HQS triplets. We construct the one-pion exchange potential respecting the heavy quark spin and chiral symmetries to demonstrate which HQS multiplets are realized as a bound state. By solving the coupled channel Schr\"odinger equations, we study the heavy meson-baryon systems with $I=1/2$ and $J^P=(1/2^+, 3/2^+, 5/2^+, 7/2^+)$. The bound states which have same LCS structure are degenerate at the heavy quark limit, and the degeneracy is resolved for finite mass. This HQS multiplet structure will be measured in the future experiments., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures

Experiments aiming to directly detect dark matter (DM) particles have yet to make robust detections, thus underscoring the need for complementary approaches such as searches for new particles at colliders, and indirect DM searches in cosmic-ray spectra. Low energy (< 0.25 GeV/n) cosmic-ray antiparticles such as antideuterons are strong candidates for probing DM models, as the yield of these particles from DM processes can exceed the astrophysical background by more than two orders of magnitude. The General Antiparticle Spectrometer (GAPS), a balloon borne cosmic-ray detector, will perform an ultra-low background measurement of the cosmic antideuteron flux in the regime < 0.25 GeV/n, which will constrain a wide range of DM models. GAPS will also detect approximately 1000 antiprotons in an unexplored energy range throughout one long duration balloon (LDB) flight, which will constrain < 10 GeV DM models and validate the GAPS detection technique. Unlike magnetic spectrometers, GAPS relies on the formation of an exotic atom within the tracker in order to identify antiparticles. The GAPS tracker consists of ten layers of lithium-drifted silicon detectors which record dE/dx deposits from primary and nuclear annihilation product tracks, as well as measure the energy of the exotic atom deexcitation X-rays. A two-layer, plastic scintillator time of flight (TOF) system surrounds the tracker and measures the particle velocity, dE/dx deposits, and provides a fast trigger to the tracker. The nuclear annihilation product multiplicity, deexcitation X-ray energies, TOF, and stopping depth are all used together to discern between antiparticle species. This presentation provided an overview of the GAPS experiment, an update on the construction of the tracker and TOF systems, and a summary of the expected performance of GAPS in light of the upcoming LDB flight from McMurdo Station, Antarctica in 2020., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, The 39th International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP2018), Seoul, Korea

We study the structure of heavy quark spin (HQS) multiplets for heavy meson-baryon molecular states in a coupled system of $\bar{P}^{(*)}\Sigma_{Q}^{(*)}$, with constructing the one-pion exchange potential with S-wave orbital angular momentum. Using the light cloud spin basis, we find that there are four types of HQS multiplets classified by the structure of heavy quark spin and light cloud spin. The multiplets which have attractive potential are determined by the sign of the coupling constant for the heavy meson-pion interactions. Furthermore, the difference in the structure of light cloud spin gives the restrictions of the decay channel, which implies that the partial decay width has the information for the structure of HQS multiplets. This behavior is more likely to appear in hidden-bottom sector than in hidden-charm sector., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

We study hadronic molecular states in a coupled system of $J/\psi N - \Lambda_c\bar{D}^{(*)} - \Sigma_c^{(*)}\bar{D}^{(*)}$ in $I(J^P) = \frac{1}{2}(\frac{3}{2}^-)$ channel, using the complex scaling method combined with the Gaussian expansion method. We construct the potential including one pion exchange and one $D^{(*)}$ meson exchange with $S$-wave orbital angular momentum. We find that the both mass and width of the pentaquark $P_c(4380)$ can be reproduced within a reasonable parameter region, and that its main decay mode is $\Lambda_c\bar{D}^*$. We extend our analysis to a coupled system of $\Lambda_c D^{(*)} - \Sigma_c^{(*)}D^{(*)}$ in $I(J^P) = \frac{1}{2}(\frac{3}{2}^-)$ channel. We find that there exists a doubly charmed baryon of $ccqq\bar{q}$ type as a hadronic molecule, the mass and width of which are quite close to those of $P_c(4380)$., Comment: 6 pages

We construct a potential obtained by one-pion exchange for the coupled channel $\Sigma_c^\ast$$\bar{D}$-$\Sigma_c$$\bar{D}^\ast$, and solve the coupled Schr\"{o}dinger equations to determine the binding energy. We find that there exists one or two bound states with the binding energy of several MeV below the threshold of $\Sigma_c^\ast$ and $\bar{D}$, dominantly made from a $\Sigma_c^\ast$ baryon and a $\bar{D}$ meson, with the size of about $1.5$fm for wide parameter region. We also study the pentaquark states including a $b$ quark and/or an anti-$b$ quark. We show that there exist pentaquarks including $c\bar{b}$, $b\bar{c}$ and $b\bar{b}$, all of which lie at about $10$MeV below the corresponding threshold and have size of about $1.5$fm., Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures

The present paper treats the period T_N of the Hadamard walk on a cycle C_N with N vertices. Dukes (2014) considered the periodicity of more general quantum walks on C_N and showed T_2 =2, T_4=8, T_8=24 for the Hadamard walk case. We prove that the Hadamard walk does not have any period except for his case, i.e., N=2, 4, 8. Our method is based on a path counting and cyclotomic polynomials which is different from his approach based on the property of eigenvalues for unitary matrix that determines the evolution of the walk., Comment: 12 pages

We present NMR measurements of the layered nitride superconductor Li_xZrNCl. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate, 1/T_1, shows that the coherence peak is strongly suppressed in Li_xZrNCl in contrast to conventional BCS superconductors. In the lightly-doped region close to the insulating state, the system shows a gap-like behavior, i.e., pseudogap, that is characterized by a reduction in the magnitude of the Knight shift and 1/T_1T. A higher superconducting (SC) transition temperature, T_c, is achieved by coexisting with the pseudogap state. These unusual behaviors, which deviate from the ordinary BCS framework, are the key ingredients to understanding the SC mechanism of Li_xZrNCl., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures