Combinatorial Background Research Articles

Photon classification with Gradient Boosted Trees at CLAS12

Dihadron semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) of 10.6 GeV longitudinally polarized electrons off the proton has been measured using the CLAS12 detector at Jefferson Lab. Two separate channels, π + π 0 and π - π 0, were analyzed, requiring the reconstruction of diphoton pairs. In this analysis, we addressed the problem of false neutral particles being reconstructed by CLAS12's event builder, polluting the otherwise physical combinatorial background underneath the π 0 peak. A photon classifier using a Gradient Boosted Trees (GBTs) architecture was trained with Monte Carlo simulations to reduce the amount of background π 0's. We show that the nearest-neighbor features learned by the model lead to a substantial increase in signal vs. background discrimination compared to previous CLAS12 π^0 analyses. The machine learning approach recovers several times more dihadron statistics for the dataset.

Conserved Charge Fluctuations from RHIC BES and FXT

Cumulants up to the sixth-order of the net-particle multiplicity distributions were measured at RHIC for the Beam Energy Scan and fixed-target program, from which we obtained some interesting hints on the phase structure of the QCD matter. In this article, we present recent experimental results on (net-)proton cumulants and discuss current interpretations on the QCD critical point and the nature of the phase transition. We will also report recent results for measurements of the bayron-strangeness correlations, which were measured with the newly developed analysis technique to remove the effect from the combinatorial backgrounds for hyperon reconstruction.

Estimation of combinatoric background in seaquest using an event-mixing method

All experiments observing dilepton pairs (e.g. e + e -, μ + μ -) must confront the existence of a combinatoric background caused by the combining of tracks not arising from the same physics vertex. Some method must be devised to calculate and remove this background. In this document we describe a particular event-mixing method relying on many of the unique aspects of the SeaQuest spectrometer and data. The method described here calculates the combinatoric background with correct normalization; i.e., there is no need to assign a floating normalization factor that is then determined in a subsequent fitting procedure. Numerous tests are applied to demonstrate the reliability of the method.

Transition radiation detectors for hadron separation in the forward direction of LHC experiments

Studies in many areas of particle and astroparticle physics require a good knowledge of hadron spectra produced at small angles to the primary particle direction, e.g. in the TeV energy range at the LHC. The present work is dedicated to development of a particle identification technique based on the transition radiation produced by highly relativistic particles. Dedicated experimental studies were carried out and simulation models were developed to reproduce experimental data obtained with different prototypes. On the basis of these studies, the possibility of making detectors able to provide hadron composition measurement with high accuracy and identify particles with high efficiency in the forward experiments at the LHC was demonstrated. Two concepts of large scale TRDs are proposed: the straw TRD and the GaAs/straw TRD. They allow the reconstruction of hadron spectra with accuracy about or below 1% and to identify particles with high efficiency in individual events. As an example, suppression of the combinatorial background was demonstrated for the D0→K−π+ and D̄0→K+π− decays.

Prospects for ditauonium discovery at colliders

The feasibility of observing ditauonium, the bound state of two tau leptons, at e+e− colliders (BES III at s=3.78 GeV, Belle II at s=10.6 GeV, a future super tau-charm factory (STCF) at s≈2mτ, and the FCC-ee at s=91.2 GeV) as well as in hadronic and photon-photon collisions at the LHC, is studied. Cross sections and expected yields for spin-0 para- (T0) and spin-1 ortho- (T1) ditauonium are presented for nine different production and decay processes. Para-ditauonium can be observed at the FCC-ee via photon fusion in its diphoton decay (γγ→T0→γγ). Ortho-ditauonium can be observed at STCF via e+e−→T1→μ+μ−, where a threshold scan with monochromatized beams can also provide a very precise extraction of the tau lepton mass with O(25 keV) uncertainty. Observing pp →T1(μ+μ−)+X at the LHC is possible by identifying its displaced vertex with a good control of the combinatorial dimuon background. In addition, we compute the rare decay branching fractions of ditauonium into quarkonium plus a photon.

Deep learning particle identification in LHCb RICH

The use of Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors (RICH) offers a powerful technique for identifying the particle species in particle physics. These detectors produce 2D images formed by rings of individual photons superimposed on a background of photon rings from other particles.The RICH particle identification (PID) is essential to the LHCb experiment at CERN. While the current PID algorithm has performed well during LHC data-taking periods between 2010 to 2018, its complexity poses a challenge for LHCb computing infrastructure upgrades towards multi-core architectures. The high particle multiplicity environment of future LHC runs strongly motivates shifting towards high-throughput computing for the online event reconstruction.In this contribution, we introduce a convolutional neural network (CNN) approach to particle identification in LHCb RICH. The CNN takes binary input images from the two RICH detectors to classify particle species. The input images are polar-transformed sub-sections of the RICH photon-detection planes. The model is hyperparameter-optimised and trained on classification accuracy with simulated collision data for the upcoming LHC operation starting in 2022. The PID performance of the CNN is comparable to the conventional algorithm, and its simplicity renders it suitable for fast online reconstruction through parallel processing.We show that under conditions of reduced combinatorial background, as expected from the introduction of timing resolution to the RICH detectors in future upgrades, the network achieves a particle identification performance close to 100 %, with simultaneous misclassification of the most prevalent particle species approaching 0 %.

Searches for QCD instantons with forward proton tagging

We study the possibility to observe heavy (M_{textrm{inst}}> 60 GeV) QCD instantons at the LHC in events with one or two tagged leading protons including fast simulation of detector and pile-up effects. We show that the expected instanton signal in a single-tagged configuration is strongly affected by central detector and pile-up effects. For double-tagged approach, where larger integrated luminosities and hence larger pile-up contaminations need to be considered, the combinatorial background overwhelms the expected signal. We suggest that additional time information about tracks at central and forward rapidities would be crucial for potential improvements.

Triangle singularities waning in Heavy Ion Collisions: the case of [formula omitted

We have recently observed that hadron triangle singularities, that can mock new exotic hadrons, can be significanttly suppressed in relativistic heavy ion collisions, provided two conditions are met: these are, first, that the fireball lives long enough so that the triangle process has enough time to complete in the Norton-Coleman classical sense, and second, that the mass and/or width of the particles in the triangle diagram are sufficiently modified from their vacuum values. Here we add a very interesting example to the canon, which is Y(4260)→D1D→πD⁎D→π+J/ψπ. This reaction has been proposed as a mechanism to explain the appearance of Zc(3900) in the J/ψπ spectrum. If the two muons and two pions reconstructing the initial-state Y can be isolated from the combinatorial background, then the mechanism can provide a spectroscopy test: presence of Y(4260) but absence of Zc(3900) would be more indicative of such triangle mechanism, while presence of both would rather point out to Zc being an exotic hadron.

Purity correction for cumulants of hyperon number distribution

We propose a purity correction to subtract effects of combinatorial backgrounds from cumulants of hyperon number distributions. We argue that cumulants and mix-cumulants of sidebands can be used for the correction. The method is demonstrated in a simple toy model by introducing effects of reconstruction efficiencies and backgrounds. We show that topological cut parameters for hyperon reconstructions can be optimized to achieve the best statistical significance after purity and efficiency corrections. The method will enable us to measure cumulants of net-baryon, net-strangeness, net-charge, and their correlations with better figure of merit than the conventional approach.

A method to remove lower order contributions in multi-particle femtoscopic correlation functions

In recent years the femtoscopy technique has been used by the ALICE Collaboration in small colliding systems at the LHC to investigate the strong-interaction of hadron pairs in the low-energy regime. The extension of this technique to the study of many-body correlations aims to deliver in the next years the first experimental measurements of the genuine many-hadron interactions, provided that the contributions due to the lower order terms are properly accounted for. In this paper we present a method that allows to determine the residual lower order contributions to the three-body correlation functions, based on the cumulant decomposition approach and on kinematic transformations. A procedure to simulate genuine three-body correlations in three-baryon correlation functions is also developed. A qualitative study of the produced correlation signal is performed by varying the strength of the adopted three-body interaction model and comparisons with the expectations for the lower order contributions to the correlation function are shown. The method can be also applied to evaluate the combinatorial background in the two-body correlation functions, providing an improved statistical accuracy with respect to the standard techniques. The example of the contribution by the pK^+K^- channel to the recently measured pupphi correlation is discussed.

Multivariate cumulants in flow analyses: The next generation

We reconcile for the first time the strict mathematical formalism of multivariate cumulants with the use of cumulants in anisotropic flow analyses in high-energy nuclear collisions. This reconciliation yields to the next generation of estimators to be used in flow analyses. We review all fundamental properties of multivariate cumulants and use them as a foundation to establish two simple necessary conditions to determine whether some multivariate random variable is a multivariate cumulant in the basis they are expressed in. We argue that properties of cumulants are preserved only for the stochastic variables on which the cumulant expansion has been performed directly, and if there are no underlying symmetries due to which some terms in the cumulant expansion are identically zero. We illustrate one possibility of new multivariate cumulants of azimuthal angles by defining them event-by-event and by keeping all nonisotropic terms in the cumulant expansion. Furthermore, we introduce new cumulants of flow amplitudes named asymmetric cumulants, which generalize recently introduced symmetric cumulants for the case when flow amplitudes are raised to different powers. Finally, we present the new concept of cumulants of symmetry plane correlations and provide the first realization for the lowest orders. The new estimators can be used directly to constrain the multivariate probability density function of flow fluctuations, since its functional form can be reconstructed only from its true moments or cumulants. The new definition for cumulants of azimuthal angles enables separation of nonflow and flow contributions and offers first insights into how the combinatorial background contributes for small multiplicities to flow measurements with correlation techniques. All the presented results are supported by Monte Carlo studies using state-of-the-art models.

Inclusive approach to hunt for the beauty-charmed baryons Ξbc

With a distinctive internal structure from all established hadrons, the beauty-charmed baryons $\Xi_{bc}$ can provide us with new points of view to decipher the strong interaction. In this work, we point out that the inclusive $\Xi_{bc} \to \Xi_{cc}^{++}+X$ decay is a golden channel for the experimental discovery of $\Xi_{bc}$ at the LHC. A unique feature of this process is that the $\Xi_{cc}^{++}$ is displaced, which greatly reduces the combinatorial background. A feasibility analysis is performed on the $\Xi_{bc}^+$ search, which is expected to have a longer lifetime than $\Xi_{bc}^0$ and thus a better displacement resolution. The $\Xi_{bc}^+ \to \Xi_{cc}^{++}+X$ branching ratio is calculated within the heavy diquark effective theory. Combining the $\Xi_{bc}$ production rate and the $\Xi_{cc}^{++}$ detection efficiency, we anticipate that hundreds of signal events will be collected during LHCb Run 3.

Machine learning classification for D0 meson signal extraction in d+Au collisions

In heavy-ion collisions at large particle colliders, such as LHC or RHIC, heavy-flavour (charm and beauty) quarks are produced mainly through initial hard scatterings. Therefore, they can serve as the probes of properties of the hot medium created in such collisions. Additionally, in small collision systems, such as d/p+Au collisions, cold nuclear matter effects can also affect the charm quark production with respect to p+p collisions. Hadrons, that contain heavy-flavour quarks, could not be directly detected, thus they are measured via reconstruction of their decay products. However, due to a large number of particles produced in such collisions, separation of the decay products from combinatorial background is challenging and advanced statistical analysis is needed. In this article, we exploit D0 (D0)→K- π+ (K+ π-) decay in order to investigate performance of several machine learning algorithms with different implementation approaches to find the most effective way how to separate signal from random combinatorial background. For this study, we use HIJING and STAR detector simulation of d+Au collisions at √(sNN)=200 GeV embedded to the collisions recorded with the STAR. In this paper we compare deep neural network implemented using Keras with TensorFlow backend, random forest model implemented using scikit-learn and boosted decision trees implemented by means of the Toolkit for Multivariate Data Analysis with ROOT. Described methods might be applied on reconstruction of any two-body decay in high-energy physics experiments.

Event-by-event cumulants of azimuthal angles

We further develop the recently proposed event-by-event cumulants of azimuthal angles. The role of reflection symmetry, permutation symmetry, frame independence, and relabeling of particle indices in the cumulant expansion is discussed in detail. We argue that mathematical and statistical properties of cumulants are preserved if cumulants of azimuthal angles are defined event-by-event in terms of single-event averages of azimuthal angles, while they are violated in the traditional approach in which cumulants are defined in terms of all-event averages. We derive for the first time the example analytic solutions for the contribution of combinatorial background in the measured two- and three-particle correlations. We demonstrate that these solutions for the combinatorial background are universal, as they can be written generically in terms of multiplicity-dependent combinatorial weights and marginal probability density functions of starting multivariate distribution. The new general results between multiparticle azimuthal correlators and flow amplitudes and symmetry planes are presented.

First measurements of N-subjettiness in central Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt{s_{mathrm{NN}}} = 2.76 TeV

The ALICE Collaboration reports the first fully-corrected measurements of the N-subjettiness observable for track-based jets in heavy-ion collisions. This study is performed using data recorded in pp and Pb-Pb collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt{s} = 7 TeV and sqrt{s_{mathrm{NN}}} = 2.76 TeV, respectively. In particular the ratio of 2-subjettiness to 1-subjettiness, τ2/τ1, which is sensitive to the rate of two-pronged jet substructure, is presented. Energy loss of jets traversing the strongly interacting medium in heavy-ion collisions is expected to change the rate of two-pronged substructure relative to vacuum. The results are presented for jets with a resolution parameter of R = 0.4 and charged jet transverse momentum of 40 ≤ pT,jet ≤ 60 GeV/c, which constitute a larger jet resolution and lower jet transverse momentum interval than previous measurements in heavy-ion collisions. This has been achieved by utilising a semi-inclusive hadron-jet coincidence technique to suppress the larger jet combinatorial background in this kinematic region. No significant modification of the τ2/τ1 observable for track-based jets in Pb-Pb collisions is observed relative to vacuum PYTHIA6 and PYTHIA8 references at the same collision energy. The measurements of τ2/τ1, together with the splitting aperture angle ∆R, are also performed in pp collisions at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV for inclusive jets. These results are compared with PYTHIA calculations at sqrt{s} = 7 TeV, in order to validate the model as a vacuum reference for the Pb-Pb centre-of-mass energy. The PYTHIA references for τ2/τ1 are shifted to larger values compared to the measurement in pp collisions. This hints at a reduction in the rate of two-pronged jets in Pb-Pb collisions compared to pp collisions.

Correlated pion-proton pair emission off hot and dense QCD matter

In this letter we report the first multi-differential measurement of correlated pion-proton pairs from 2 billion Au+Au collisions at sNN=2.42 GeV collected with HADES. In this energy regime the population of Δ(1232) resonances plays an important role in the way energy is distributed between intrinsic excitation energy and kinetic energy of the hadrons in the fireball. The triple differential d3N/dMπ±pdpTdy distributions of correlated π±p pairs have been determined by subtracting the πp combinatorial background using an iterative method. The invariant-mass distributions in the Δ(1232) mass region show strong deviations from a Breit-Wigner function with vacuum width and mass. The yield of correlated pion-proton pairs exhibits a complex isospin, rapidity and transverse-momentum dependence. In the invariant mass range 1.1<Minv(GeV/c2)<1.4, the yield is found to be similar for π+p and π−p pairs, and to follow a power law 〈Apart〉α, where 〈Apart〉 is the mean number of participating nucleons. The exponent α depends strongly on the pair transverse momentum (pT) while its pT-integrated and charge-averaged value is α=1.5±0.08st±0.2sy.

Study of a background reconstruction method for the measurement of D-meson azimuthal angular correlations

We studied experimental background reconstruction methods for the measurement of the $$D-{\overline{D}}$$ correlation using PYTHIA simulation. The like-sign (LS) and side-band (SB) background methods, which are widely used in the experimental measurements of single D-meson production yields, were deployed for correlation study. It was found that the LS method, which describes the combinatorial background of single $$D^{0}$$ meson yields, fails to reproduce the correlated background in the $$D^{0}-\overline{D^{0}}$$ correlation measurement, while the SB background method yields a good description of the background for both single $$D^0$$ yields and the correlated background of the $$D^{0}-\overline{D^{0}}$$ correlation measurement. We further examined the validity of the correlation methods under different signal-to-background ratios, providing direct references for experimental measurements.

Cardiolipin aids in lipopolysaccharide transport to the gram-negative outer membrane

In Escherichia coli, cardiolipin (CL) is the least abundant of the three major glycerophospholipids in the gram-negative cell envelope. However, E. coli harbors three distinct enzymes that synthesize CL: ClsA, ClsB, and ClsC. This redundancy suggests that CL is essential for bacterial fitness, yet CL-deficient bacteria are viable. Although multiple CL-protein interactions have been identified, the role of CL still remains unclear. To identify genes that impact fitness in the absence of CL, we analyzed high-density transposon (Tn) mutant libraries in combinatorial CL synthase mutant backgrounds. We found LpxM, which is the last enzyme in lipid A biosynthesis, the membrane anchor of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), to be critical for viability in the absence of clsA Here, we demonstrate that CL produced by ClsA enhances LPS transport. Suppressors of clsA and lpxM essentiality were identified in msbA, a gene that encodes the indispensable LPS ABC transporter. Depletion of ClsA in ∆lpxM mutants increased accumulation of LPS in the inner membrane, demonstrating that the synthetic lethal phenotype arises from improper LPS transport. Additionally, overexpression of ClsA alleviated ΔlpxM defects associated with impaired outer membrane asymmetry. Mutations that lower LPS levels, such as a YejM truncation or alteration in the fatty acid pool, were sufficient in overcoming the synthetically lethal ΔclsA ΔlpxM phenotype. Our results support a model in which CL aids in the transportation of LPS, a unique glycolipid, and adds to the growing repertoire of CL-protein interactions important for bacterial transport systems.

Measurements of dihadron correlations relative to the event plane in Au+Au collisions at GeV * *Supported in part by the Offices of NP and HEP within the U.S. DOE Office of Science, the U.S. NSF, the Sloan Foundation, the DFG cluster of excellence ‘Origin and Structure of the Universe’ of Germany, CNRS/IN2P3, STFC and EPSRC of the United Kingdom, FAPESP

Dihadron azimuthal correlations containing a high transverse momentum ( ) trigger particle are sensitive to the properties of the nuclear medium created at RHIC through the strong interactions occurring between the traversing parton and the medium, i.e. jet-quenching. Previous measurements revealed a strong modification to dihadron azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions with respect to p+p and d+Au collisions. The modification increases with the collision centrality, suggesting a path-length or energy density dependence to the jet-quenching effect. This paper reports STAR measurements of dihadron azimuthal correlations in mid-central (20%-60%) Au+Au collisions at GeV as a function of the trigger particle's azimuthal angle relative to the event plane, . The azimuthal correlation is studied as a function of both the trigger and associated particle . The subtractions of the combinatorial background and anisotropic flow, assuming Zero Yield At Minimum (ZYAM), are described. The correlation results are first discussed with subtraction of the even harmonic (elliptic and quadrangular) flow backgrounds. The away-side correlation is strongly modified, and the modification varies with , with a double-peak structure for out-of-plane trigger particles. The near-side ridge (long range pseudo-rapidity correlation) appears to drop with increasing while the jet-like component remains approximately constant. The correlation functions are further studied with the subtraction of odd harmonic triangular flow background arising from fluctuations. It is found that the triangular flow, while responsible for the majority of the amplitudes, is not sufficient to explain the -dependence of the ridge or the away-side double-peak structure. The dropping ridge with could be attributed to a -dependent elliptic anisotropy; however, the physics mechanism of the ridge remains an open question. Even with a -dependent elliptic flow, the away-side correlation structure is robust. These results, with extensive systematic studies of the dihadron correlations as a function of , trigger and associated particle , and the pseudo-rapidity range , should provide stringent inputs to help understand the underlying physics mechanisms of jet-medium interactions in high energy nuclear collisions.

Reconstruction of γγ mass spectra in Ag+Ag collisions at 1.23 and 1.58 AGeV beam energies with ECal detector of the HADES experiment

HADES is a high acceptance di-electron spectrometer operating at SIS18, GSI, Germany aimed at study of hadron-proton, hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at 1-4 AGeV beam energies. The new electromagnetic calorimeter (ECal) was added to the experimental setup in order to measure γ-quanta and thus extend its capabilities in study of π 0-, η-mesons, production of neutral hyperons and to improve electron-to-hadron separation for the partcles with momenta p > 300 MeV/c. The first data taking with the ECal detector was carried out in March 2019 when Ag+Ag collisions at 1.23 AGeV and 1.58 AGeV beam energies were studied. The methods of reconstruction of the γγ invariant mass spectra from these data are discussed. The analysis includes several steps: calibration of each module of the ECal detector, identification of γ-quanta, reconstruction of γγ invariant mass spectra and subtraction of combinatorial background. The obtained results show experimental capabilities of the new detector and, after efficiency corrections, will allow to normalize yields of other particles.