Percent-level Precision Research Articles

Development of the NUCLEUS Detector to Explore Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering

The NUCLEUS experiment, currently being commissioned at the Technical University of Munich, is designed to observe coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CEνNS) from reactor neutrinos and measure its cross-section with a percent-level precision at recoil energies below 100 eV. As a Standard Model process, CEνNS provides a unique probe into neutrino properties, potential new physics, and background suppression techniques relevant to dark matter experiments. The experiment utilizes gram-scale cryogenic calorimeters operating at 10 mK with an energy threshold of 20 eV. Situated at a shallow overburden of 3 m of water equivalent, the experimental site necessitates an advanced shielding strategy combining active vetoes and passive layers to reduce background rates to approximately 100counts/(kg·day·keV), as confirmed by full setup simulations. The commissioning phase has successfully demonstrated the stable operation of the cryogenic target detectors, achieving baseline resolutions below 10 eV, and the integration of the various shielding systems. Following this milestone, the experiment is set to transition to the EdF Chooz B nuclear reactor in France in 2025, where it will enable precise measurements of CEνNS, contributing to the understanding of neutrino interactions and advancing the field of astroparticle physics.

Power spectrum multipoles and clustering wedges during the Epoch of Reionization

Abstract We study the viability of using power spectrum clustering wedges as summary statistics of 21 cm surveys during the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). For observations in a wide redshift range z ∼ 7 − 9 corresponding to a line-of-sight scale of ∼500 Mpc, the power spectrum is subject to anisotropic effects due to the evolution along the light-of-sight. Information on the physics of reionization can be extracted from the anisotropy using the power spectrum multipoles. Signals of the power spectrum monopole are highly correlated at scales smaller than the typical ionization bubble, which can be disentangled by including higher-order multipoles. By simulating observations of the low frequency part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory, we find that the sampling of the cylindrical wavenumber k-space is highly non-uniform due to the baseline distribution, i.e. the distribution of antenna pairs sampling different transverse k⊥ scales. Measurements in clustering wedges partition the cylindrical k-space into different radial k∥ scales, and can be used for isolating parts of k-space with relatively uniform sampling, allowing for more precise parameter inference. Using Fisher Matrix forecasts, we find that the reionization model can be inferred with per-cent level precision with ∼120 hrs of integration time using SKA-Low. Compared to model inference using only the power spectrum monopole above the foreground wedge, model inference using multipole power spectra in clustering wedges yields a factor of ∼3 improvement on the marginalised 1D parameter constraints.

Revisiting the effects of baryon physics on small-scale redshift space distortions

Abstract Redshift space distortions are an important probe of the growth of large-scale structure and for constraining cosmological parameters in general. As galaxy redshift surveys approach percent level precision in their observations of the two point clustering statistics, it is timely to review what effects baryons and associated processes such as feedback may have on small-scale clustering in redshift space. Contrary to previous studies in the literature, we show using the large-volume Bahamas hydrodynamic simulations that the effect of baryons can be as much as 1 per cent in the k ∼ 0.1 h Mpc−1 range for the monopole and 5 per cent for quadrupole, and that this could rise to as much as 10 per cent at k ∼ 10 h Mpc−1 in both measurements. For the halo power spectra, this difference can be as much 3-4 per cent in the monopole on scales of 0.05 < k < 0.3 h Mpc−1 for 1013 h−1 M⊙ haloes. We find that these deviations can be mitigated to the sub-percent level in the both the monopole and quadrupole up to k ∼ 0.3 h Mpc−1 if the baryon corrected halo masses are used to calculate the redshift space power spectra. Finally, we use the cosmo-OWLS simulation suite to explore the changes in the redshift space power spectra with different feedback prescriptions, finding that there is a maximum of 15-20 per cent difference between the redshift space monopole and quadrupole with and without baryons at k ∼ 1–2 h Mpc−1 within these models.

Refractive index in the JUNO liquid scintillator

In the field of rare event physics, it is common to have huge masses of organic liquid scintillator as detection medium. In particular, they are widely used to study neutrino properties or astrophysical neutrinos. Thanks to its safety properties (such as low toxicity and high flash point) and easy scalability, linear alkyl benzene is the most common solvent used to produce liquid scintillators for large mass experiments. The knowledge of the refractive index is a pivotal point to understand the detector response, as this quantity (and its wavelength dependence) affects the Cherenkov radiation and photon propagation in the medium. In this paper, we report the measurement of the refractive index of the JUNO liquid scintillator between 260–1064 nm performed with two different methods to cover wide range of refractive index (an ellipsometer and a refractometer), with a sub percent level precision. In addition, we used an interferometer to measure the group velocity in the JUNO liquid scintillator and verify the expected value derived from the refractive index measurements.

Closer scrutiny of cosmic ray proton energy losses

The percent-level precision attained by modern cosmic ray (CR) observations motivates reaching a comparable or better control of theoretical uncertainties. Here we focus on energy-loss processes affecting low-energy CR protons (∼0.1–5 GeV), where the experimental errors are small and collisional effects play a comparatively larger role with respect to collisionless transport ones. We study three aspects of the problem: (i) We quantitatively assess the role of the nuclear elastic cross section, for the first time, providing analytical formulas for the stopping power and inelasticity; (ii) We discuss the error arising from treating both elastic and pion production inelastic interactions as continuous energy loss processes, as opposed to catastrophic ones. The former is the approximation used in virtually all modern numerical calculations; (iii) We consider subleading effects such as relativistic corrections, radiative and medium processes in ionization energy losses. Our analysis reveals that neglecting (i) leads to errors close to 1%, notably around and below 1 GeV, neglecting (ii) leads to errors reaching about 3% within the considered energy range, (iii) contributes to a minor effect, gauged at the level of 0.1%. Consequently, while (iii) can currently be neglected, (ii) warrants consideration, and we also recommend incorporating (i) into computations. We conclude with some perspectives on further steps to be taken towards a high-precision goal of theoretical CR predictions regarding the treatment of energy losses. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

High-precision Atmospheric Characterization of a Y Dwarf with JWST NIRSpec G395H Spectroscopy: Isotopologue, C/O Ratio, Metallicity, and the Abundances of Six Molecular Species

The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) marks a pivotal moment for precise atmospheric characterization of Y dwarfs, the coldest brown dwarf spectral type. In this study, we leverage moderate spectral resolution observations (R ∼ 2700) with the G395H grating of the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on board JWST to characterize the nearby (9.9 pc) Y dwarf WISEPA J182831.08+265037.8. With the NIRSpec G395H 2.88–5.12 μm spectrum, we measure the abundances of CO, CO2, CH4, H2S, NH3, and H2O, which are the major carbon-, nitrogen-, oxygen-, and sulfur-bearing species in the atmosphere. Based on the retrieved volume mixing ratios with the atmospheric retrieval framework CHIMERA, we report that the C/O ratio is 0.45 ± 0.01, close to the solar C/O value of 0.458, and the metallicity is +0.30 ± 0.02 dex. Comparison between the retrieval results and the forward modeling results suggests that the model bias for C/O and metallicity could be as high as 0.03 and 0.97 dex, respectively. We also report a lower limit of the 12CO/13CO ratio of >40, being consistent with the nominal solar value of 90. Our results highlight the potential for JWST to measure the C/O ratios down to percent-level precision and characterize isotopologues of cold planetary atmospheres similar to WISE 1828.

Third order QCD predictions for fiducial W-boson production

Measurements of W-boson production at the LHC have reached percent-level precision and impose challenging demands on theoretical predictions. Such predictions directly limit the precision of measurements of fundamental quantities such as the W-boson mass and the weak mixing angle. A dominant source of uncertainty in predictions is from higher-order QCD effects. We present a calculation of W-boson production at the level of αs3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {\\alpha}_s^3 $$\\end{document} at fixed order and including transverse-momentum resummation. We further show predictions for a direct comparison with low-pileup ATLAS transverse-momentum and fiducial cross-section measurements at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 5.02 TeV. We discuss in detail the impact of modern PDFs. Our calculation including the matching to W+jet production at NNLO will be publicly available the upcoming CuTe-MCFM release and allows for theory-data comparison at the state-of-the-art level.

Electron scattering and neutrino physics

A thorough understanding of neutrino–nucleus scattering physics is crucial for the successful execution of the entire US neutrino physics program. Neutrino–nucleus interaction constitutes one of the biggest systematic uncertainties in neutrino experiments—both at intermediate energies affecting long-baseline deep underground neutrino experiment, as well as at low energies affecting coherent scattering neutrino program—and could well be the difference between achieving or missing discovery level precision. To this end, electron–nucleus scattering experiments provide vital information to test, assess and validate different nuclear models and event generators intended to test, assess and validate different nuclear models and event generators intended to be used in neutrino experiments. Similarly, for the low-energy neutrino program revolving around the coherent elastic neutrino–nucleus scattering (CEvNS) physics at stopped pion sources, such as at ORNL, the main source of uncertainty in the evaluation of the CEvNS cross section is driven by the underlying nuclear structure, embedded in the weak form factor, of the target nucleus. To this end, parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) experiments, utilizing polarized electron beams, provide vital model-independent information in determining weak form factors. This information is vital in achieving a percent level precision needed to disentangle new physics signals from the standard model expected CEvNS rate. In this white paper, we highlight connections between electron- and neutrino–nucleus scattering physics at energies ranging from 10 s of MeV to a few GeV, review the status of ongoing and planned electron scattering experiments, identify gaps, and lay out a path forward that benefits the neutrino community. We also highlight the systemic challenges with respect to the divide between the nuclear and high-energy physics communities and funding that presents additional hurdles in mobilizing these connections to the benefit of neutrino programs.

Benchmarking Quantum Simulators Using Ergodic Quantum Dynamics.

We propose and analyze a sample-efficient protocol to estimate the fidelity between an experimentally prepared state and an ideal target state, applicable to a wide class of analog quantum simulators without advanced spatiotemporal control. Our protocol relies on universal fluctuations emerging from generic Hamiltonian dynamics, which we discover in the present work. It does not require fine-tuned control over state preparation, quantum evolution, or readout capability, while achieving near optimal sample complexity: a percent-level precision is obtained with ∼10^{3} measurements, independent of system size. Furthermore, the accuracy of our fidelity estimation improves exponentially with increasing system size. We numerically demonstrate our protocol in a variety of quantum simulator platforms, including quantum gas microscopes, trapped ions, and Rydberg atom arrays. We discuss applications of our method for tasks such as multiparameter estimation of quantum states and processes.

Generative networks for precision enthusiasts

Generative networks are opening new avenues in fast event generation for the LHC. We show how generative flow networks can reach percent-level precision for kinematic distributions, how they can be trained jointly with a discriminator, and how this discriminator improves the generation. Our joint training relies on a novel coupling of the two networks which does not require a Nash equilibrium. We then estimate the generation uncertainties through a Bayesian network setup and through conditional data augmentation, while the discriminator ensures that there are no systematic inconsistencies compared to the training data.

Electron Scattering for Neutrino Physics at MAMI and MESA

The groundbreaking discovery of neutrino oscillations represents a concrete indication of new physics and the measurement of the oscillation parameters has the potential to unlock new knowledge on the fundamental building blocks of matter. For measuring the neutrino properties to percent-level precision, an ambitious accelerator-based experimental program was started by two international collaborations: HyperK and DUNE. However, these experiments will only be able to achieve their unprecedented precision goal if our current knowledge of neutrino-nucleus interactions in the detectors is dramatically improved. In this contribution, we describe how experiments based on electron beams can provide key information to neutrino experiments, benchmarking theoretical models, improving simulations needed for a reliable extraction of the neutrino oscillation parameters, and decisively contribute to the success of next-generation neutrino experiments.

Probing dark matter interactions with 21cm observations

Similarly to warm dark matter which features a cut-off in the matter power spectrum due to free-streaming, many interacting dark matter models predict a suppression of the matter power spectrum on small length scales through collisional damping. Forecasts for 21cm line intensity mapping have shown that an instrument like the SKA will be able to probe a suppression of power in warm dark matter scenarios in a statistically significant way. Here we investigate the implications of these findings on interacting dark matter scenarios, particularly dark matter-neutrino interactions, which we use as an example. Using a suite of cosmological N-body simulations, we demonstrate that interacting scenarios show a suppression of the non-linear power spectrum similar to warm dark matter models. This implies that 21cm line intensity mapping will be able to set the strongest limits yet on dark matter-neutrino scattering, improving the constraints by two orders of magnitude over current Lyman-α bounds, and by four orders of magnitude over cosmic microwave background and baryon acoustic oscillations limits. However, to distinguish between warm dark matter and interacting scenarios, our simulations show that percent-level precision measurements of the matter power spectrum at redshifts z ≳ 15 are necessary, as the key features of interacting scenarios are washed out by non-linear evolution at later times.

Cosmological constraints from the power spectrum and bispectrum of 21cm intensity maps

The 21cm emission of neutral hydrogen is a potential probe of the matter distribution in the Universe after reionisation. Cosmological surveys of this line intensity will be conducted in the coming years by the SKAO and HIRAX experiments, complementary to upcoming galaxy surveys. We present the first forecasts of the cosmological constraints from the combination of the 21cm power spectrum and bispectrum. Fisher forecasts are computed for the constraining power of these surveys on cosmological parameters, the BAO distance functions and the growth function. We also estimate the constraining power on dynamical dark energy and modified gravity. Finally we investigate the constraints on the 21cm clustering bias, up to second order. We take into account the effects on the 21cm correlators of the telescope beam, instrumental noise and foreground avoidance, as well as the Alcock-Paczynski effect and the effects of theoretical errors in the modelling of the correlators. We find that, together with Planck priors, and marginalising over clustering bias and nuisance parameters, HIRAX achieves sub-percent precision on the ΛCDM parameters, with SKAO delivering slightly lower precision. The modified gravity parameter γ is constrained at 1% (HIRAX) and 5% (SKAO). For the dark energy parameters w 0, wa , HIRAX delivers percent-level precision while SKAO constraints are weaker. HIRAX achieves sub-percent precision on the BAO distance functions DA, H, while SKAO reaches 1 - 2% for 0.6 ≲ z ≲ 1. The growth rate f is constrained at a few-percent level for the whole redshift range of HIRAX and for 0.6 ≲ z ≲ 1 by SKAO. The different performances arise mainly since HIRAX is a packed inteferometer that is optimised for BAO measurements, while SKAO is not optimised for interferometer cosmology and operates better in single-dish mode, where the telescope beam limits access to the smaller scales that are covered by an interferometer.

Observing GW190521-like binary black holes and their environment with LISA

Binaries of relatively massive black holes like GW190521 have been proposed to form in dense gas environments, such as the disks of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), and they might be associated with transient electromagnetic counterparts. The interactions of this putative environment with the binary could leave a significant imprint at the low gravitational wave frequencies observable with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). We show that LISA will be able to detect up to ten GW190521-like black hole binaries, with sky position errors $\lesssim1$ deg$^2$. Moreover, it will measure directly various effects due to the orbital motion around the supermassive black hole at the center of the AGN, especially the Doppler modulation and the Shapiro time delay. Thanks to a careful treatment of their frequency domain signal, we were able to perform the full parameter estimation of Doppler and Shapiro-modulated binaries as seen by LISA. We find that the Doppler and Shapiro effects will allow for measuring the AGN parameters (radius and inclination of the orbit around the AGN, central black hole mass) with up to percent-level precision. Properly modeling these low-frequency environmental effects is crucial to determine the binary formation history, as well as to avoid biases in the reconstruction of the source parameters and in tests of general relativity with gravitational waves.

Physics from Photons at the LHC

LHC collisions can act as a source of photons in the initial state. This mechanism plays an important role in the production of particles with electroweak couplings, and a precise account of photon-initiated (PI) production at the LHC is a key ingredient in the LHC precision physics programme. I will discuss the possibility of modelling PI processes directly via the structure function approach. This can provide percent level precision in the production cross sections, and is therefore well positioned to account for LHC precision requirements. This formalism in addition allows one to make use of another useful feature of photons, namely that they are colour-singlet and can often be emitted elastically (or quasi-elastically) from the proton. I will discuss recent work on applications of the structure function approach to precision calculations of PI production in the inclusive mode, and to `exclusive' processes with rapidity gaps, which can provide a unique probe of the Standard Model and physics beyond it.

Precision measurement of a brown dwarf mass in a binary system in the microlensing event

Context. Brown dwarfs are transition objects between stars and planets that are still poorly understood, for which several competing mechanisms have been proposed to describe their formation. Mass measurements are generally difficult to carry out for isolated objects as well as for brown dwarfs orbiting low-mass stars, which are often too faint for a spectroscopic follow-up. Aims. Microlensing provides an alternative tool for the discovery and investigation of such faint systems. Here, we present an analysis of the microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0033/MOA-2019-BLG-035, which is caused by a binary system composed of a brown dwarf orbiting a red dwarf. Methods. Thanks to extensive ground observations and the availability of space observations from Spitzer, it has been possible to obtain accurate estimates of all microlensing parameters, including the parallax, source radius, and orbital motion of the binary lens. Results. Following an accurate modeling process, we found that the lens is composed of a red dwarf with a mass of M1 = 0.149 ± 0.010 M⊙ and a brown dwarf with a mass of M2 = 0.0463 ± 0.0031 M⊙ at a projected separation of a⊥ = 0.585 au. The system has a peculiar velocity that is typical of old metal-poor populations in the thick disk. A percent-level precision in the mass measurement of brown dwarfs has been achieved only in a few microlensing events up to now, but will likely become more common in the future thanks to the Roman space telescope.

Perturbation theory models for LSST-era galaxy clustering: Tests with subpercent mock catalog measurements in Fourier and configuration space

We analyze the clustering of galaxies using the z=1.006 snapshot of the CosmoDC2 simulation, a high-fidelity synthetic galaxy catalog designed to validate analysis methods for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). We present sub-percent measurements of the galaxy auto-correlation and galaxy-dark matter cross correlations in Fourier space and configuration space for a magnitude-limited galaxy sample. At these levels of precision, the statistical errors of the measurement are comparable to the systematic effects present in the simulation and measurement procedure; nevertheless, using a hybrid-PT model, we are able to model non-linear galaxy bias with 0.5% precision up to scales of $k_{\rm max}= 0.5 \ h/{\rm Mpc}$ and $r_{\rm min}= 4 \ {\rm Mpc}/h$. While the linear bias parameter is measured with 0.01% precision, other bias parameters are determined with considerably weaker constraints and sometimes bimodal posterior distributions. We compare our fiducial model with lower dimensional models where the higher-order bias parameters are fixed at their co-evolution values and find that leaving these parameters free provides significant improvements in our ability to model small scale information. We also compare bias parameters for galaxy samples defined using different magnitude bands and find agreement between samples containing equal numbers of galaxies. Finally, we compare bias parameters between Fourier space and configuration space and find moderate tension between the two approaches. Although our model is often unable to fit the CosmoDC2 galaxy samples within the 0.1% precision of our measurements, our results suggest that the hybrid-PT model used in this analysis is capable of modeling non-linear galaxy bias within the percent level precision needed for upcoming galaxy surveys.

Spectrum of digitized QCD: Glueballs in a S(1080) gauge theory

Quantum simulations of QCD require digitization of the infinite-dimensional gluon field. Schemes for doing this with the minimum amount of qubits are desirable. We present a practical digitization for $SU(3)$ gauge theories via its discrete subgroup $S(1080)$. Using a modified action that allows classical simulations down to $a\ensuremath{\approx}0.08\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{fm}$, the low-lying glueball spectrum is computed with percent-level precision at multiple lattice spacings and is shown to extrapolate to the continuum limit $SU(3)$ results. This suggests that this digitization scheme is sufficient for precision quantum simulations of QCD.

Impact of the interference between the resonance and continuum amplitudes on vector quarkonia decay branching fraction measurements

The measurement of the branching fraction of a heavy quarkonium decaying into light hadronic final state at $e^+e^-$ colliders is revisited. In $e^+e^-$ annihilation experiments, background contributions from the continuum amplitude and its interference with the resonance amplitude are irreducible. These effects become more and more significant as the precision of experimental measurements improves. While the former can be easily subtracted with data taken off the resonance peak, the latter depends on the relative size and phase between the resonance and continuum amplitudes. Two ratios are defined to estimate the size of these effects, $r_{R}^{f}$ for the ratio of the contribution of the interference term to the resonance term and $r_{c}^{f}$ for that to the continuum term. We find that $r_{R}^{f}$ could be as large as a few percent for narrow resonances, and both $r_{R}^{f}$ and $r_{c}^{f}$ could be large for broad resonances. This indicates that the interference effect is crucial for the measurements of the branching fractions aiming at the percent level or better precision and needs to be measured or estimated properly.

Extraction of low-energy constants of single- and double- β decays from lattice QCD: A sensitivity analysis

Lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) has the promise of constraining low-energy constants (LECs) of nuclear effective field theories (EFTs) from first-principles calculations that incorporate the dynamics of quarks and gluons. Given the Euclidean and finite-volume nature of LQCD outputs, complex mappings are developed in recent years to obtain the Minkowski and infinite-volume counterparts of LQCD observables. In particular, as LQCD is moving toward computing a set of important few-nucleon matrix elements at the physical values of the quark masses, it is important to investigate whether the anticipated precision of LQCD spectra and matrix elements will be sufficient to guarantee tighter constraints on the relevant LECs than those already obtained from phenomenology, considering the nontrivial mappings involved. With a focus on the leading-order LECs of the pionless EFT, ${L}_{1,A}$ and ${g}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{NN}$, which parametrize, respectively, the strength of the isovector axial two-body current in a single-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay (and other related processes such $pp$ fusion), and of the isotensor contact two-body operator in the neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay within the light neutrino exchange scenario, the expected uncertainty on future extractions of ${L}_{1,A}$ and ${g}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{NN}$ are examined using synthetic data at the physical values of the quark masses. It is observed that achieving small uncertainties in ${L}_{1,A}$ will be challenging, and (sub)percent-level precision in the two-nucleon spectra and matrix elements is essential in reducing the uncertainty on this LEC compared to the existing constraints. On the other hand, the short-distance coupling of the neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay, ${g}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}^{NN}$, is shown to be less sensitive to uncertainties on both LQCD energies and the matrix element, and can likely be constrained with percent-level precision in the upcoming LQCD calculations.