A consolidated grant for Sheffield Astrophysics

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Professor C Tadhunter

Professor P Crowther, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor V Dhillon, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr S Goodwin, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr S Littlefair, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

The aim of this proposal is to support a programme of internationally excellent research in astrophysics at Sheffield, building on our recent research achievements, and tied to the exploitation of leading international facilities supported by STFC and UKSA.

Impact summary:
The main ways in which our research makes an impact outside the academic community is via our knowledge exchange and outreach activities. To summarise: 1. Knowledge exchange. This is primarily based on the building of the ULTRACAM instrument, which has led to the development of a new data acquisition system that is now used on a host of other instruments. 2. Outreach. Over the last three years members of the Sheffield astrophysics group have delivered more than 40 talks to schools and astronomical societies, 30 in-house master classes for school students, and several press releases, based on their research activities. Details are given in our pathways to impact statement that is included as an attachment.

A PATT Linked Grant for Sheffield Astrophysics

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Professor V Dhillon

We wish to apply for a renewal of our PATT Linked Grant to support the observational research programmes of the Sheffield Astrophysics Group.

Impact summary:

ATLAS Upgrade

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr E Paganis

Dr I Dawson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor D Tovey, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

See ATLAS Upgrade project as previously described

Impact summary:
See ATLAS Upgrade project as previously described.

Bridging funding for EDELWEISS/EURECA

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr V Kudryavtsev

The nature of the dark matter in the Universe is of scientific and general public interest. Understanding what the majority of the matter density is would advance mankind's knowledge and satisfy everyone's desire for understanding the world around us. This grant will allow us to participate in the upgrade of the EDELWEISS experiment, a dark matter search located in the Modane underground laboratory in a road tunnel between France and Italy.

Impact summary:
This grant allows UK researchers access to the EDELWE£SS experiment and its data.

FAST real time sine wave Locking And trackiNg devicEs (FASTSINE)

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr E Daw

Waves are a fundamental part of the physical world. In nature, they are emitted by oscillators such as a pendulum, and people deliberately generate and transmit waves to carry information. In both of these cases, the waves are not entirely static, but may have an amplitude, frequency, and phase that exhibit slow or rapid changes. Some of these characteristics are relatively easy to monitor, such as the wave amplitude. Others, particularly frequency and phase shifts, are more difficult to measure. In fact, methods for accurately locating frequency and phase shifts in a wave are a central enabling technology for many communications systems. An ordinary FM radio circuit is an early example of such a decoding algorithm. Nowadays, we are interested in transmitting digital data using waves, and we need fast, simple algorithms for determining the frequency and phase content of a digitised wave train embedded in a noisy background. In some cases, the wave trains may be natural - when we are studying a mechanical oscillator such as the suspended mirror of a gravitational wave detector, and the shifts in phase or frequency may be due to temperature fluctuations or strain releases in the suspension wire. Methods I have developed for the purpose of studying such oscillations have proved also particularly effective for monitoring the phase and frequency of wave trains having other purposes, including those generated and transmitted in the communications industry, and those entering oscilloscopes and other high-end pieces of test and measurement equipment. Furthermore, nature is a source of other waves that we may find useful and interesting, like brain waves measured by electroencephelographs or the confusing mixture of wave trains used for communications during conflicts. In these cases too, methods for rapidly interpreting the information encoded in the fluctuating phase and frequency of the waves may be useful and important. The proposed project takes the algorithms I have developed and applies them to real-world situations of practical importance both to commercial companies and to society. The algorithms I have developed, though mathematically quite sophisticated, are realised in iteration equations that utilise only simple mathematical operations like multiplies and divides, making them fast to implement digitally. The commercial potential of these algorithms is quite exciting, and we are certainly looking forward to continuing our exploration of these possibilities in the coming months.

Impact summary:

GridPP4 system administrator

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr D Costanzo

Professor D Tovey, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

This proposal, submitted in response to the 2009 invitation from STFC, aims to provide and operate a computing Grid for the exploitation of LHC data in the UK. The success of the current GridPP Collaboration will be built upon, and the UK's response to production of LHC data in the period April 2011 to March 2015 will be to ensure that there is a sustainable infrastructure providing 'Computing in the LHC era' We propose to operate a Grid as the main mechanism for delivering very large-scale computational resources to the UK particle physics community. This foundation will underpin the success and increase the discovery potential of UK physicists. We will operate a production-quality Grid, delivering robustness, scale and functionality. The proposal is fully integrated with international projects and we must exploit the opportunity to capitalise on the UK leadership already established in several areas. The Particle Physics Grid will form a central part of the UK National Grid Infrastructure (NGI) that will be integrated with the European Grid Initiative (EGI) and which will inter-operate with Grids in the United States and elsewhere. The project will be managed across various domains and will deliver the UK's commitment to the worldwide LHC Computing Grid (wLCG) and ensure that worldwide activities directly benefit the UK. By 2015, the UK Grid infrastructure will have expanded in size to 40,000 cores, with more than 60 PetaBytes of storage. This will enable the UK to exploit, in an internationally competitive way, the unique physics potential of the LHC. A total request is made for £27.8m for a four year GridPP4 project starting in April 2011.

Impact summary:

GridPP4 Tranche-II NorthGrid-Sheffield Staff Grant

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr D Costanzo

This proposal, submitted in response to the 2009 invitation from STFC, aims to provide and operate a computing Grid for the exploitation of LHC data in the UK. The success of the current GridPP Collaboration will be built upon, and the UK's response to production of LHC data in the period April 2011 to March 2015 will be to ensure that there is a sustainable infrastructure providing "Computing in the LHC era" We propose to operate a Grid as the main mechanism for delivering very large-scale computational resources to the UK particle physics community. This foundation will underpin the success and increase the discovery potential of UK physicists. We will operate a production-quality Grid, delivering robustness, scale and functionality. The proposal is fully integrated with international projects and we must exploit the opportunity to capitalise on the UK leadership already established in several areas. The Particle Physics Grid will form a central part of the UK National Grid Infrastructure (NGI) that will be integrated with the European Grid Initiative (EGI) and which will inter-operate with Grids in the United States and elsewhere. The project will be managed across various domains and will deliver the UK's commitment to the worldwide LHC Computing Grid (wLCG) and ensure that worldwide activities directly benefit the UK. By 2015, the UK Grid infrastructure will have expanded in size to 40,000 cores, with more than 60 PetaBytes of storage. This will enable the UK to exploit, in an internationally competitive way, the unique physics potential of the LHC. A total request is made for £27.8m for a four year GridPP4 project starting in April 2011.

Impact summary:
GridPP's knowledge exchange activities fall into two main areas: firstly, those aimed at other academic disciplines, and secondly, business and industry. GridPP has a strong outreach programme to a public and academic audience, and intends to continue this in GridPP4. The Dissemination Officer will organise GridPP's presence at conferences and events. This includes booking and manning booths, arranging backdrops, material, posters, screens, and rotas where appropriate. Examples of events that we have attended include The British Science Festival, The Royal Society Summer Exhibition, the British Science Association Science Communication Conference and Meet The Scientist at the Museum of Science and £ndustry in Manchester. £n the last 8 years GridPP has developed an extensive website that is central to project communications and won 'Best e-Science project website' at the 2004 All Hands Meeting. The Dissemination Officer will be responsible for producing news items for the website and drafting GridPP press releases. We have had broad coverage from these in the past, including many national newspapers and online publications. Additional activities will include producing GridPP material, such as leaflets, posters, t-shirts, bags and magic cubes. We have found these very valuable in raising GridPP's and LHC's profile at minimal cost. The Dissemination Officer will also promote outreach training for members of the collaboration, will identify GridPP staff who have specific expertise in this area and will arrange occasional GridPP events, such as the QMUL opening and the Tier-1 open day. On KE, our initial work has proved that GridPP's technology can be of use across a range of disciplines and sectors, and we plan to continue this work during GridPP4. The objectives of this program will be to improve awareness of the technologies developed by GridPP and its partners in academia and industry, and hence facilitate the increase in use of these technologies within new areas.

High-efficiency large-area neutron scintillation detectors for radiation portal monitors

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr J McMillan

Large area neutron detectors are used as a component of radiation portal monitors, intended to detect concealed fissionable material at international borders and at the gates of nuclear processing plants. A further application is in the ensuring that scrap metal is free from radioactive contamination before melting. Existing neutron detectors utilize helium-3 proportional tubes. Helium-3 is no longer available due to an international shortage followed by a ban on further usage for this application. The proposed detectors are intended as a low cost replacement for helium-3 proportional tubes. They use natural boron compounds in forms manufactured for other industrial uses. A general approach of using only materials easily and cheaply available has been taken with the intention that the design is immune from future market shortages or reliance on specific suppliers. Prototype detectors exist and it is the aim of this project to explore their operational characteristics in realistic harsh environments. The designs will be enlarged and considerable effort spent on developing and improving the fabrication of detector components. Pre-manufacturing prototypes will be assessed and calibrated by internationally approved validation laboratories. It is intended that at the end of the project, a mass produceable version of the design will be available for the partner to manufacture.

Impact summary:
Radiation portal monitors are used for the interdiction of Special Nuclear Materials at borders and elsewhere. Due to the shortage of helium-3, there is an urgent requirement for large area neutron detectors using a replacement technology. Further installation of portal monitors cannot continue unless a replacement technology is available. Many other areas of science can also benefit from the commercialization of new neutron detectors in the absence of helium-3. The neutron scattering (£S£S, ESS) and controlled fusion (£TER) communities are particularly vulnerable to the shortage. Other industrial applications include oil-well logging, moisture gauges, soil and concrete compaction gauges and detection of non-metallic landmines and £EDs. The nuclear new-build programme will require large numbers of efficient neutron detectors in many areas of activity, while civil and military nuclear decommissioning are also major users.

MICE support - supplement to Consolidated Grant ST/K001337/1

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr C Booth

Dr M Robinson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

Please refer to the Consolidated Grant ST/K001337/1

Impact summary:
Please refer to the Consolidated Grant ST/K001337/1

Muon tomography for geological repositories

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr V Kudryavtsev

The project addresses the key issue in the global environment challenge concerning geological repositories, namely monitoring the structure of and possible changes in the repositories due to various processes. One particular aspect to be studied is the monitoring of the carbon dioxide migration in the repository during injection and geological storage. Storage of supercritical CO2 under the surface is seen by geologists as currently the best way of preventing further increase of the gas emissions into the atmosphere. Recent pilot schemes have shown that the injection of CO2 in large quantities (>1 Mt/year) on industrial scale is viable and more projects in the UK and worldwide are in the planning stage. Monitoring migration of the supercritical CO2 and its further dissolution into the brine and precipitation is a crucial part of the process of CO2 storage. Current monitoring techniques, such as 4D seismic surveys, are episodic and expensive. An alternative novel technique involves cosmic-ray muons which can be observed at large depths underground with their flux depending on the density and composition of materials through which they pass. Measuring muon fluxes below the reservoir can provide a continuous and inexpensive monitoring technology. Measuring muon flux and its angular distribution underground is not a difficult task and has been done by many experiments at various depths. However, for geological repositories the muon detectors should be positioned in small boreholes (about 20 cm diameter) at a temperatures up to 50C. This imposes some constraints on the detector design and operational conditions. The aim of the current proposal is to investigate whether the proposed novel technique can be used for monitoring geological repositories, in particular CO2 migration. We plan to build a small prototype muon detector that will be capable of measuring the muon direction and, at the same time, be deployable in the harsh environment of a borehole. Such a detector should satisfy certain requirement for deployment: a) robust; b) resistant to high temperatures (up to 50C); c) operation should be temperature independent; d) it should have small cross-sectional area to fit into the borehole; e) it should measure the angles with a few degree accuracy or better; f) it should easily discriminate between muons and background gamma-rays and electrons from radioactivity. Our plan is to design and construct a detector made of scintillator rods viewed on both sides by photomultiplier tubes. We aim to test its angular resolution using cosmic-ray muons at the surface.

Impact summary:
This proposal is aiming to address key scientific and technological challenges in understanding the structure and evolution of geological repositories. £f successful, this project will deliver a relatively low-cost methodology for monitoring geological repositories over substantial time scales (hundreds of years) helping humankind deal with the important problems causing climate change and its effects on the life on the Earth. The programme and its potential impact extend far beyond the technological advances that the successful completion of the project can bring to science and society. Built on scientific and technological ideas developed in particle physics and particle astrophysics within STFC remits (muon detectors for cosmic rays and active veto systems for experiments for rare event searches such as dark matter W£MPs and neutrinos, detectors for particle tracking at colliders and neutrino physics), as well as on interdisciplinary projects run together with EPSRC (e.g. muon, gamma-ray and neutron detectors for nuclear security), NERC (e.g. SKY project at Boulby mine for climate change), our project has an opportunity to further advance the existing detector technology and expand it to new areas of science and industrial applications. Understanding the structure and evolution of geological repositories is a key task for a successful implementation of numerous plans for using them as a storage place for various types of waste, in particular for storage of carbon dioxide. Mapping the combined rock and interstitial fluid density continuously and inexpensively would provide a major breakthrough in our ability to develop and realise an essential technology for geological storage of waste, in particular carbon dioxide. Currently the only methods available to monitor such sites are time-lapse seismic acquisition and a small suit of similar technologies. These are very expensive, episodic in their application and do not exclusively measure density changes associated with dense phase CO2 injection and subsequent migration. The participants of the project together with a large group of scientists working on the muon tomography applications in various areas of science at Sheffield, Durham and Boulby have strong record in the knowledge transfer activity and are running or about to run a large variety of projects with government organisations, industry and businesses. A number of companies have already taken an interest in the muon tomography work for application as a monitoring technique in the emerging carbon storage industry. Through our established links with industry we plan to keep these companies informed about our activities and achievements. The representatives of these companies will be invited to some of our meetings and we plan to attend conferences and other events with the participation of industrial companies where we will present our results. The businesses dealing with the development of the carbon capture and storage technologies will be prime beneficiaries of our research. Bearing in mind an interdisciplinary character of the proposed research we will establish a programme of knowledge transfer between particle physics/astrophysics and geology/Earth science. Based on existing partnership within the muon tomography project between different departments in Sheffield and Durham we will further extend the knowledge exchange by giving seminars on topics linked to cosmic rays and particle detectors to geologists and Earth scientists, as well as seminars on carbon capture and storage and its monitoring to particle physicists and astrophysicists. We will work together with businesses on the improvement to existing scintillators, PMTs and electronics to make it more suitable, if necessary, for borehole deployment and track reconstruction. This, in return, will provide better instrumentation for future particle physics and particle astrophysics experiments.

Optimising the neutron environment of Radiation Portal Monitors

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr J McMillan

Radiation portal monitors (RPMs) are currently installed at traffic choke points at ports and airports with little regard to their operating environment. Simple analyses suggest that the signal-to-noise ratio of the neutron components of these systems can be improved by judicious shielding, collimation and modifications of the environment, and that these can be done while improving throughput. This proposal will provide a detailed analysis, quantification and costing of these improvements. In addition to the threat neutron flux which the RPMs are intended to detect, there is a background flux of neutrons, predominantly the result of cosmic ray induced reactions in the atmosphere, in the ground below the detectors and also in adjacent infrastructure, in vehicles and their cargos. This background flux has quite a different directional distribution to the expected threat flux, so by shielding and collimation, it is possible to significantly reduce the background counts, improving the overall signal-to-noise ratio. This will result directly in a reduction of the minimum detectable amounts of threat material. Alternatively, the improved statistics can be used to make the same diagnosis in reduced time.

Impact summary:
This work will be of significant benefit to National Security through the implementation of enhanced performance of existing and future Radiation Portal Monitors whose primary purpose is to detect the presence of radioactive material and so prevent the free transportation of this throughout the world.b This has become a more pressing problem over the past decade due to the fall of thee Soviet Union and the increase in Global Terrorism. Despite vast numbers of neutron sensitive RPMs being designed and installed, there are very few studies in the open literature of their response to the natural neutron environment. Those that have been published do not appear to be informed by any body of previous research and it thought probable that there is little additional classified research. The most detailed study available, by Frank*, is marred by incorrect cosmic ray neutron production mechanisms and spectra, uses completely unrealistic detector models and contains no attempt at experimental verification. The collaborators in this proposal from the Universities of Glasgow and Sheffield as well as the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy have prior experience in the modelling and build of instrumentation for neutron generation, detection and experimental design that can contribute to all of the aspects of the work contained in this proposal. This project will build on that experience and lead to improved performance and throughput of current and future RPM installations. * M.£. Frank. £mproving neutron-based detection of fissile materials in the presence of cosmogenic neutron background. PhD thesis, University of California, Berkeley, 2002. UM£ Number 3063368

Particle Physics Consolidated Grant from the University of Sheffield - ATLAS, ATLAS upgrade, T2K, FNE, MICE, EDELWEISS/EURECA, DMGS, SNO+, R&D, KE

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Professor N Spooner

Dr C Booth, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr S Cartwright, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr D Costanzo, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr E Daw, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr I Dawson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr T Donszelmann, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Mr C Drew, Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield
Mr R French, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr M Hodgkinson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr P Hodgson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr P Johansson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr V Kudryavtsev, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr J McMillan, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr E Paganis, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr M Robinson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr L Thompson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor D Tovey, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

We are living in an exceptional age for discoveries in particle physics and particle astrophysics with potential for producing step changes in understanding of the composition of matter and the structure of the Universe. The research we plan with this consolidated grant in particle physics and particle astrophysics at Sheffield is at the core of these discoveries. Firstly, we appear to be near answering the fundamental question of what gives particles mass. In this field Sheffield will continue to play a leading role in the ATLAS experiment that now looks to be on the verge of solving the mystery by detecting the famous Higgs Boson. Our ATLAS work, where we are currently the only UK group heavily involved in the flagship 4-lepton channel Higgs search, will aim to confirm the first evidence for excess reported in Dec. 2011. Simultaneously work will continue in the equally fundamental hunt to find supersymmetric particles and on radiation modeling and detector tests for the ATLAS upgrade anticipated as the next experiment. We currently provide the UK spokesman for ATLAS. A second recent major advance, made by the T2K experiment in 2011, reports evidence for a non-zero third neutrino mixing angle. This potentially unlocks progress to experiments in so-called charge-parity (CP) violation to answer the mystery of why the Universe contains matter and virtually no anti-matter. Our T2K and neutrino group will focus on contributing further analysis to confirm the new results but also, using our membership of the LBNO and LBNE collaborations, progress key new detector technology towards a next generation long baseline neutrino experiment to see CP violation. For this our focus will be with liquid argon technology, our pioneering work on electroluminescence light readout for that, and our simulation work on backgrounds from muons. The latter is key also to our on-going work towards an experiment to see if the proton decays, an issue at the core of understanding Grand Unified Theories of physics. Closely related and vital for our neutrino programme is continued participation in SNO+, aimed at understanding solar neutrinos, and the MICE experiment with its related R&D on high power particle beam targets for future neutrino beams. Technological developments recently led to significant improvement in sensitivity of detectors to WIMP dark matter with key contributions from the Sheffield group towards EDELWEISS and DRIFT. Exploiting our leadership in background mitigation strategy, calibration and data analysis, our future work will concentrate on EDELWEISS operation and data analysis, as well as on developments towards ton-scale cryogenic experiment EURECA. The group is also uniquely well positioned to contribute through new work aiming to see, or exclude, a definitive galactic signature for the claimed low mass WIMP events. Our pioneering work on directional WIMP detectors will see a new experiment installed at the UK's Boulby underground site, DRIFTIIe, while our continued analysis of data from DM-ICE17 at the Antarctic South Pole, for which we supplied the NaI detectors, will seek an annual modulation galactic signature and inform design of a new experiment there planned for 2013. Our generic detector R&D is vital to underpinning the group, closely related to a vigorous knowledge exchange programme that now includes funded projects involving 15 different companies. Highlight activity here will include development of particle tracking technology in liquid argon relevant to neutrino physics and astrophysics, new gas-based directional neutron programmes with relevance for homeland security, and new muon veto R&D. The latter links to our KE programme on CO2 underground storage technology. We plan first deployment of test detectors at 760m depth by 2013. This is part of the group's contribution to key social agendas in climate change and crime prevention.

Impact summary:
The Sheffield group has a strong record of outside impact through KE activity that since 2009 has roughly tripled to include funded projects with government, industry or medical priority areas, particularly in energy and environment. Currently 15 UK companies are involved, with other activity across several non-physics departments, other Universities and government organisations. Notable are: A major new funded programme on application of particle physics muon detector technology to carbon capture and sequestration (CCS). We are leading with Sheffield departments in geo-mechanics, engineering and law, in cooperation with Durham University and Petrofac Ltd., CO2DeepStore Ltd. and National Grid Carbon, a programme to develop deep bore hole muon tomography to monitor underground stored CO2. This has potential huge impact in the multi billion CCS industry. A strong effort to spin out dark matter work into sensitive fast neutron detection for homeland security and crime prevention includes: a major funded programme to produce large area (m2) next generation scintillator portal monitors for airborne cargo; a project developing neutron activation for detection of explosives; a project building hand-held neutron detectors for in-field monitoring of nuclear material and dirty bombs; a project to use cosmic rays in nuclear security; a project with Leverhulme, through the DR£FT DM programme, to build a gas-based directional fast neutron detector for security. These activities have potentially huge impact in the multi-billion security industry. New work for the medical industry has started with funded programmes spun out from T2K work with LabLogistic Ltd. and Southern Scientific Ltd. to develop new liquid scintillator and photo-sensor technology for in-blood tissue diagnostics, and a new programme with the Hallamshire Hospital to spin out our noise extraction data analysis techniques, developed in gravitational wave research (L£GO), for application to brain wave analysis. Our long-standing cooperation with Cleveland Potash Ltd. (CPL) has aided development of the deep underground Palmer laboratory into a new interdisciplinary low background E-futures laboratory. Here we have projects developing radio-assay and climate change including the SKY-££ project to study cosmic ray effects on climate change. There is impact across non-physics projects including biology and underground science and to provide the UK with a world-class facility. Linked to FNE we have a new programme with Alan Auld Engineering Ltd. to produce new rock engineering simulations transferred via joint supervision of undergraduate and PhD students. They received £350K EU funding as a direct result of our collaboration and also now sponsor a PhD student with us. Linked here is work also with Rhyal Engineering Ltd. for their expertise building massive tanks aiming to expand expertise and promote greater presence in European markets and with Technodyne Ltd. joint work on new cryogenic liquid pumps that can impact their market in LPG tank design. A major new success is a funded industrial programme to spin out our expertise from ATLAS engineering into the aerospace industry with VCB Group Ltd. This will allow creation of a prototype based on an existing high performance welding system. The principle objective is to transfer an advanced technique developed for automatic joining of ultra thin wall aerospace based metal alloy tube to the VBC group, a UK based SME. Finally, from our liquid argon work and generic detector R&D there are many worldwide, multi-disciplinary motivations to develop generic cheap liquid argon technology. Specifically we work with Electron Tubes Ltd. and Sensl Ltd. regarding SiPMTs, PMT and associated apparatus. Results of our tests of Sensl SiMPTs already feature in their marketing materials. £nvolvement with e2V Technologies Ltd. is also ongoing due to their need to develop new CCDs for cryogenic applications.

Proposal for continuation of UK participation in the International Muon Ionization Cooling Experiment

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr C Booth

Dr P Hodgson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr M Robinson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr P Smith, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

Neutrinos are three different but related particles; their ability to turn into each other has given physicists their first glimpse of the physics which they know must lay beyond the Standard Model. Investigation of the physics which underlies their properties will: deepen our understanding of how the Universe developed after the Big Bang; how the current asymmetry between matter and anti-matter developed from a situation where they were created in equal amounts in the Big Bang; and help us to understand what happens when a supernova explodes showering the cosmos with the heavy elements necessary for planets and life itself to form. In order to understand their properties, we must build an accelerator capable of creating neutrinos in immense numbers. They must have energy between well-defined limits and the mixture of different types must be very precisely known. Such a facility, known as the Neutrino Factory, would be revolutionary and to build one is a challenging project, both from the point of view of the particle detectors which must be built, and the engineering problems which must be overcome. This programme needs a world-wide collaboration, but it is one in which physicists and engineers from the UK are playing a leading role. Neutrinos are created from a beam of muons and the muons themselves are produced from the decay of pions produced by the collision of protons with a metal target. A machine to make an intense beam of neutrinos needs to take the beam of muons, which is large and diverges rapidly, and reduce its size and divergence. The resulting beam can be accelerated, stored and when it decays produces an intense beam of neutrinos. The muons only live for 2.2 microseconds when at rest, and even when they are accelerated and their lifetime is extended by the effect of relativity, there is little time to manipulate the muons so that they are in a state to be accelerated. MICE is an international collaboration based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, which uses a beam of muons created by the ISIS accelerator and aims to show that it is feasible to create such an intense beam. It will do this by creating a beam of muons of much lower intensity and tracking each one individually through one part of the system which has been designed to perform this beam compression at the Neutrino Factory. This process where the random sideways motions of the muons are reduced and we are left with the longitudinal motion is referred to as cooling the beam; the system which performs the cooling is known as the cooling channel. The first stage was to build a system capable of producing a muon beam whose size and divergence could be adjusted before it enters the cooling channel. This was completed last year and measurements have been made to show that the beam has the flexibility and intensity for MICE to perform the required measurements. The second stage is to finish construction of the cooling channel itself and to provide a system to measure very accurately the position and momentum of each muon before and after it has passed through the cooling channel. By looking at many muons produced in many different conditions, it will be possible to determine how much cooling has been produced by the channel. In the channel itself the muons will be slowed by passing through a suitable material, such as liquid hydrogen, liquid helium or lithium hydride. As they slow they lose momentum both longitudinally and transversely to the beam axis. Then they are accelerated with high field radio frequency cavities, replacing only the longitudinal momentum. This experiment which is pushing the boundaries of what is possible with materials, magnets and cooling technologies, represents a collaboration between particle physicists, and accelerator physicists and will demonstrate the UK's ability to host an experiment at the forefront of science and engineering.

Impact summary:
M£CE is a large, capital construction project. A significant part of the investment in the project has been used to source products and materials in British industry. For example, of the £4.50M non-staff spend in Phase £ of the project, approximately £4.09M was used to source materials and equipment in the UK. The UK is responsible for the procurement of the focus-coil modules that focus the muon beam at the centre of the liquid-hydrogen absorbers. Each focus-coil module contains two coils capable of producing a field of 5 T on axis. The coils will be kept cold using closed-cycle refrigerators (cryocoolers), a novel technique requiring considerable development. TESLA Engineering based in Surrey won the contract to provide the focus coils. Engineers and physicists from Technology Department at RAL and the University of Oxford are working with TESLA to ensure that the design and its implementation will yield a magnet fit for purpose in M£CE. The expertise gained by TESLA will be applicable in the construction of magnets for other applications. £n addition, the UK is responsible for the provision of liquid hydrogen to each of the three absorber-modules. The hydrogen delivery system uses state-of-the-art hydride-bed technology and liquefaction is performed with cryocoolers. The development of the systems for M£CE will be carried out in collaboration with industry to the benefit of the hydrogen economy. The M£CE programme is varied, encompassing the development of numerical methods and simulation techniques, the development of accelerator hardware (from conventional transfer lines to the development of novel superconducting magnets), the construction of a novel, pion-production target, the development of hydrogen-handling systems, the provision of RF power, and the construction of state of the art diagnostics. Further, the implementation of the large and complicated project has allowed members of the collaboration to develop project management and integration engineering skills. M£CE is an integral part of the Proton Accelerators for Science and £nnovation initiative, putting the UK firmly at the heart of the community that seeks to develop the technology required to produce high intensity muon beams suitable for use in the Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider. M£CE has created a UK community capable of delivering large and complex projects in an international environment. Substantial contributions to the experiment in equipment, personnel, and intellectual input are being made by the international collaboration. To date, the international collaboration has provided the muon decay solenoid, beam-line instrumentation (scintillators and scintillating-fibre based beam-position monitors), three time-of-flight hodoscopes, two Cherenkov detectors, a lead-scintillator pre-shower detector, a prototype of the Electron Muon Ranger, the tracker readout and cryogenic systems, three high-power RF amplifiers, and the data-acquisition system. Over the period of the award, the international collaboration will complete the time-of-flight and calorimeter systems and provide the spectrometer solenoids, the liquid-hydrogen absorbers, and the RF-cavity/coupling-coil modules. The total value of these contributions, through hard to estimate, is in excess of £25M. By making a success of the M£CE project, the UK has gained substantial influence in the international Neutrino Factory community. The leverage opportunity for the future will be to forge appropriate partnerships with those laboratories or collaborations wishing to develop the Neutrino Factory and Muon Collider as options for the field. This is being taken forward through the EC FP7 Preparatory Phase Project T£ARA in which funds have been secured to turn the infrastructure that supports the M£CE experiment into the £onization Cooling Test Facility (the £CTF).

Proposal for the continuation of generic high power target studies

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr C Booth

Dr G Skoro, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

Impact summary:

Quota Studentship 2011

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Professor D Mowbray

Impact summary:

Quota Studentship 2012

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Professor N Clarke

Professor D Mowbray, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

Impact summary:

Quota Studentships

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Professor D Mowbray

Impact summary:

Quota Studentships

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr C Booth

Dr S Cartwright, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr D Costanzo, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor P Crowther, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr E Daw, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor R de Grijs, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor V Dhillon, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr S Goodwin, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr V Kudryavtsev, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr E Paganis, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor L Roszkowski, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor N Spooner, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor C Tadhunter, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Dr L Thompson, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield
Professor D Tovey, Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield

Impact summary:

UK involvement in direct dark matter searches

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr V Kudryavtsev

Future direct dark matter searches will require instruments with improved sensitivity and complementary targets and techniques in order to claim a discovery, and then move to more detailed studies of the particle properties and astrophysical parameters. UK researchers are in an excellent position to participate in the world leading experiments, with significant progress in sensitivity achieved by ZEPLIN-III (liquid xenon target) and EDELWEISS-II (cryogenic germanium), experiments with established UK participation, and with a recent recruitment to the UK bringing a new involvement in DEAP/CLEAN (liquid argon). We anticipate a leading UK role in scale up to a tonne fiducial mass and beyond, probing the majority of the parameter space favoured by the most credible WIMP dark matter models. This proposal focuses on the technical development work necessary to design the EURECA and LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiments, to mitigate technical risks and improving sensitivity. Meeting these goals will also facilitate the positioning of the UK teams for leadership roles in the construction, operation and exploitation of EURECA and LZ.

Impact summary:
The technologies being developed are state-of-the-art in terms of particle detection and identification. The detection of W£MPs requires technology which can also detect fast neutrons and even neutrinos. These are of interest to many security-related issues and some developments in this direction to look for neutron production and coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering could follow on. The subject of dark matter scores highly in the public interest. So far the public have followed avidly all the evidence and efforts to make detections, in spite of no credible evidence for discovery yet, but a convincing positive announcement would re-invigorate the interest and doubtless attract young people into following science as a career. For the national funding agencies, a detection would allow a new planning regime with clear and more targeted goals for future studies.

UK Involvement in the Operation of Advanced LIGO

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Dr E Daw

Through the design and construction project 'Advanced LIGO UK,' the UK has succeeded in making fundamental contributions to the Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) detectors in the US by transfer of technology originally developed for GEO 600. As a direct result, UK groups are in a position to fully exploit the rich science data that will be produced over the coming decade. There is, therefore, a unique opportunity to ensure that UK scientists maintain leadership in gravitational wave science, by providing the support and infrastructure necessary for the UK to maintain full involvement in the operation of the aLIGO detectors and so to remain active partners in the user-community group, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC), through which data rights are earned and distributed. Of equal importance is the need to ensure that UK delivered equipment and facilities for the aLIGO detectors are fully exploited to maximise the science output. This is true both in terms of their implementation within aLIGO, and later when it is planned that reconfiguration or upgrading of aLIGO will be undertaken. It is envisaged that the UK equipment which has been designed to meet all long-term project goals, will remain in place even following such upgrades, and continued UK technical support will help to ensure that is the case. The UK membership of the LSC is considerable, and we have been able to leverage data access and science return for a relatively small investment in the total hardware investment (at the few percent level). Further we are in a position to maintain involvement at the highest level for very modest additional investment, as set out in detail in this proposal.

Impact summary:

Ultra Thin Advanced Aerospace Alloy Joining Using Automated Constricted Gas Tungsten Arc

University of Sheffield, Physics and Astronomy

Mr R French

The proposed knowledge exchange is to transfer R&D into automatically joining by welding ultra thin wall advanced aerospace alloy small diameter tubing. Sourced directly from STFC funded research into low mass cooling systems; the technique, processes and knowledge will enhance modern aerospace and hybrid vehicle turbine manufacture by facilitating the removal of heavy fuel and cooling line connectors currently adopted by manufacturers. Reliable high strength welded joints are only achievable on thin wall aerospace alloy tubes through automated processes, all currently very costly and do not allow for simple in-situ installation of components. Reduction in the use of connectors in turn will allow for more compact turbine design and higher reliability. Savings made by the enhanced reliability of light weight connector less fuel and cooling systems will allow the efficiency gains sought after by gas turbine market consumers.

Impact summary: