Neutrino interaction physics in neutrino telescopes

Neutrino telescopes can observe neutrino interactions starting at GeV energies by sampling a small fraction of the Cherenkov radiation produced by charged secondary particles. These experiments instrument volumes massive enough to collect substantial samples of neutrinos up to the TeV scale as well as small samples at the PeV scale. This unique ability of neutrino telescopes has been exploited to study the properties of neutrino interactions across energies that cannot be accessed with man-made beams. Here, we present the methods and results obtained by IceCube, the most mature neutrino telescope in operation, and offer a glimpse of what the future holds in this field.

Monitoring Carbon Ion Beams Transverse Position Detecting Charged Secondary Fragments: Results From Patient Treatment Performed at CNAO

Particle therapy in which deep seated tumours are treated using 12C ions (Carbon Ions RadioTherapy or CIRT) exploits the high conformity in the dose release, the high relative biological effectiveness and low oxygen enhancement ratio of such projectiles. The advantages of CIRT are driving a rapid increase in the number of centres that are trying to implement such technique. To fully profit from the ballistic precision achievable in delivering the dose to the target volume an online range verification system would be needed, but currently missing. The 12C ions beams range could only be monitored by looking at the secondary radiation emitted by the primary beam interaction with the patient tissues and no technical solution capable of the needed precision has been adopted in the clinical centres yet. The detection of charged secondary fragments, mainly protons, emitted by the patient is a promising approach, and is currently being explored in clinical trials at CNAO. Charged particles are easy to detect and can be back-tracked to the emission point with high efficiency in an almost background-free environment. These fragments are the product of projectiles fragmentation, and are hence mainly produced along the beam path inside the patient. This experimental signature can be used to monitor the beam position in the plane orthogonal to its flight direction, providing an online feedback to the beam transverse position monitor chambers used in the clinical centres. This information could be used to cross-check, validate and calibrate, whenever needed, the information provided by the ion chambers already implemented in most clinical centres as beam control detectors. In this paper we study the feasibility of such strategy in the clinical routine, analysing the data collected during the clinical trial performed at the CNAO facility on patients treated using 12C ions and monitored using the Dose Profiler (DP) detector developed within the INSIDE project. On the basis of the data collected monitoring three patients, the technique potential and limitations will be discussed.

Inter-fractional monitoring of $$^{12}$$C ions treatments: results from a clinical trial at the CNAO facility

The high dose conformity and healthy tissue sparing achievable in Particle Therapy when using C ions calls for safety factors in treatment planning, to prevent the tumor under-dosage related to the possible occurrence of inter-fractional morphological changes during a treatment. This limitation could be overcome by a range monitor, still missing in clinical routine, capable of providing on-line feedback. The Dose Profiler (DP) is a detector developed within the INnovative Solution for In-beam Dosimetry in hadronthErapy (INSIDE) collaboration for the monitoring of carbon ion treatments at the CNAO facility (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) exploiting the detection of charged secondary fragments that escape from the patient. The DP capability to detect inter-fractional changes is demonstrated by comparing the obtained fragment emission maps in different fractions of the treatments enrolled in the first ever clinical trial of such a monitoring system, performed at CNAO. The case of a CNAO patient that underwent a significant morphological change is presented in detail, focusing on the implications that can be drawn for the achievable inter-fractional monitoring DP sensitivity in real clinical conditions. The results have been cross-checked against a simulation study.

The multiplicity characteristics of 7Li-Em interactions as a function of noninteracting projectile nucleons

In this work, the interactions of 7Li nuclei with emulsion at 3 A GeV/c were studied. Multiplicity of the charged secondary particles as well as the charge of the outgoing projectile fragments were measured, while correlations among them are discussed. The values of the total charge of the noninteracting projectile nucleons and the average number of interacting projectile nucleons are estimated. The dependence of the secondary particles on the number of heavily-ionized tracks is analyzed. The results show that interactions of 7Li nuclei with emulsion nuclei exhibit a number of regularities, which had been noted in experiments with lighter nuclei. The absorption of relativistic particles, while increasing the degree of target destruction, is observed. The average multiplicities of the secondary charged particles depend on the impact parameter, as their values increase, while decreasing the impact parameter. The number of secondary charged particles in the heavy-ion interactions depends on the degree of disintegration of the target nuclei. This dependence is not observed in the case of the interaction of hadron with emulsion. The experimental data of the interaction of 7Li are systematically compared with the other interactions at different energies. The results agree with the corresponding results at nearly the same energy.

KM3NeT Time Calibration

The KM3NeT detectors are large three-dimensional arrays of several thousands digital optical modules under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. The basic detection element of the neutrino telescope is the digital optical module containing 31 three-inch photomultiplier tubes. Each detection unit, composed of 18 digital optical modules, is a mechanical structure anchored to the sea floor, held vertical by a submerged buoy for the detection of Cherenkov light emitted by charged secondary particles emerging from neutrino interactions. Detector calibration, i.e. timing, positioning and sea-water properties, is overviewed in this talk and discussed in detail in this conference.

Neutrino Astronomy with IceCube

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic kilometer neutrino telescope located at the Geographic South Pole. Cherenkov radiation emitted by charged secondary particles from neutrino interactions is observed by IceCube using an array of 5160 photomultiplier tubes embedded between a depth of 1.5 km to 2.5 km in the Antarctic glacial ice. The detection of astrophysical neutrinos is a primary goal of IceCube and has now been realized with the discovery of a diffuse, high-energy flux consisting of neutrino events from tens of TeV up to several PeV. Many analyses have been performed to identify the source of these neutrinos: correlations with active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, and the galactic plane. IceCube also conducts multi-messenger campaigns to alert other observatories of possible neutrino transients in real-time. However, the source of these neutrinos remains elusive as no corresponding electromagnetic counterparts have been identified. This proceeding will give an overview of the detection principles of IceCube, the properties of the observed astrophysical neutrinos, the search for corresponding sources (including real-time searches), and plans for a next-generation neutrino detector, IceCube–Gen2.

MULTIFRACTAL STUDY OF SINGLY CHARGED PARTICLES PRODUCED IN 32S INDUCED Ag/Br INTERACTIONS AT CERN

In this contribution, we describe an investigation of the fractal nature of non-statistical fluctuations in the density distribution of singly charged secondary particles produced in 32 S - Ag / Br interactions in emulsion target at incident energy of 200A GeV. The experimental results have been compared with those obtained from an event sample simulated by the Lund Monte Carlo code FRITIOF. Besides obtaining the fractal dimensions and a smooth multifractal spectrum, show that the results can be used to determine universal parameters such as the Levy index, and the multifractal specific heat.

AZIMUTHAL CORRELATION OF SECONDARY PARTICLES FROM 24Mg-NUCLEI COLLISIONS WITH EMULSION AT 4.5A GeV/c

A systematic study and statistically significant results of the different types of correlations, for angles, rapidity and rapidity intervals, between various charged secondary particles and projectile fragments produced in the inelastic interactions of 24 Mg with emulsion at 4.5 A GeV/c have been investigated. All types of particles are found to be emitted asymmetrically in the azimuthal plane. This asymmetry increases with decreasing the impact parameter. The two-particle correlation function is found to be positive except in the extreme projectile fragmentation region. It has also been observed that the particles belonging to the different kinematical regions of the nucleus-nucleus interactions (intergroup correlation) have a tendency to be emitted from opposite sides of the azimuthal plane. The azimuthal angle correlations for pairs of charged secondary particles are also studied.