Search

Using the Geant4 code, we have performed a full-scale simulation of the LSD response to the neutrino burst from SN1987A. The neutrino flux parameters were chosen according to one of the models: the standard collapse model or the rotational supernova explosion model. We showed that, depending on the chosen parameters, one can either obtain the required number of pulses in the detector or reproduce their energy spectrum, but not both together. The interaction of neutrino radiation both with LSD itself and with the material of the surrounding soil was taken into account in our simulation. We also explored the hypothesis that the entire unique LSD signal at 2:52 UT was produced by neutron fluxes from the surrounding granite. However, this hypothesis was not confirmed by our simulation. The results obtained provide a rich material for possible interpretations., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures

Sources of seasonal temperature variations in the average energy of the muon flux detected in the LVD experiment have been discussed. It has been shown that variations are due to the processes of generation of muons in upper layers of the atmosphere and the passage of muons through a thick rock layer., Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures

The Large Volume Detector (LVD), hosted in the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, is triggered by atmospheric muons at a rate of $\sim 0.1$~Hz. The data collected over almost a quarter of century are used to study the muon intensity underground. The 50-million muon series, the longest ever exploited by an underground instrument, allows for the accurate long-term monitoring of the muon intensity underground. This is relevant as a study of the background in the Gran Sasso Laboratory, which hosts a variety of long-duration, low-background detectors. We describe the procedure to select muon-like events as well as the method used to compute the exposure. We report the value of the average muon flux measured from 1994 to 2017: $\mathrm{I_{\mu}^0 = 3.35 \pm 0.0005^{stat}\pm 0.03^{sys} \cdot 10^{-4} ~m^{-2} s^{-1}}$. We show that the intensity is modulated around this average value due to temperature variations in the stratosphere. We quantify such a correlation by using temperature data from the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts: we find an effective temperature coefficient $\mathrm{\alpha_{T}} = 0.94\pm0.01^{stat} \pm0.01^{sys}$, in agreement with other measurements at the same depth. We scrutinise the spectral content of the time series of the muon intensity by means of the Lomb-Scargle analysis. This yields the evidence of a 1-year periodicity, as well as the indication of others, both shorter and longer, suggesting that the series is not a pure sinusoidal wave. Consequently, and for the first time, we characterise the observed modulation in terms of amplitude and position of maximum and minimum on a year-by-year basis., Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, 4 tables

A change in gravity law in some regimes is predicted in the modified gravity models that are actively discussed at present. In this paper, we consider a possibility that the signal recorded by the Geograv resonant gravitational-wave detector in 1987 during the explosion of SN 1987A was produced by an abrupt change in the metric during the passage of a strong neutrino flux through the detector. Such an impact on the detector is possible, in particular, in extended scalar-tensor theories in which the local matter density gradient affects the gravitational force. The first short neutrino pulse emitted at the initial stage of stellar core collapse before the onset of neutrino opacity could exert a major influence on the detector by exiting the detector response at the main resonance frequency. In contrast, the influence of the subsequent broad pulse (with a duration of several seconds) in the resonant detector is exponentially suppressed, despite the fact that the second pulse carries an order-of-magnitude more neutrino energy, and it could generate a signal in the LSD neutrino detector. This explains the time delay of 1.4s between the Geograv and LSD signals. The consequences of this effect of modified gravity for LIGO/Virgo observations are discussed., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, minor corrections in the text with respect to the published version

Direct Dark Matter searches are nowadays one of the most fervid research topics with many experimental efforts devoted to the search for nuclear recoils induced by the scattering of Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMPs). Detectors able to reconstruct the direction of the nucleus recoiling against the scattering WIMP are opening a new frontier to possibly extend Dark Matter searches beyond the neutrino background. Exploiting directionality would also prove the galactic origin of Dark Matter with an unambiguous signal-to-background separation. Indeed, the angular distribution of recoiled nuclei is centered around the direction of the Cygnus constellation, while the background distribution is expected to be isotropic. Current directional experiments are based on gas TPC whose sensitivity is limited by the small achievable detector mass. In this paper we present the discovery potential of a directional experiment based on the use of a solid target made of newly developed nuclear emulsions and of optical read-out systems reaching unprecedented nanometric resolution., Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures

The parameters of the seasonal modulations (variations) in the intensity of muons and cosmogenic neutrons generated by them at a mean muon energy of 280 GeV have been determined in the LVD (Large Volume Detector) experiment. The modulations of muons and neutrons are caused by a temperature effect, the seasonal temperature and density variations of the upper atmospheric layers. The analysis performed here leads to the conclusion that the variations in the mean energy of the muon flux are the main source of underground cosmogenic neutron variations, because the energy of muons is more sensitive to the temperature effect than their intensity. The parameters of the seasonal modulations in the mean energy of muons and the flux of cosmogenic neutrons at the LVD depth have been determined from the data obtained over seven years of LVD operation., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure

The Large Volume Detector (LVD) has been continuously taking data since 1992 at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory. LVD is sensitive to neutrino bursts from gravitational stellar collapses with full detection probability over the Galaxy. We have searched for neutrino bursts in LVD data taken in 7335 days of operation. No evidence of neutrino signals has been found between June 1992 and December 2013. The 90% C.L. upper limit on the rate of core-collapse and failed supernova explosions out to distances of 25 kpc is found to be 0.114/y., Comment: Published

The charge ratio ${k \equiv \mu^+/\mu^-}$ for atmospheric muons has been measured using Large Volume Detector (LVD) in the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy (minimal depth is 3000 m w.e.). To reach this depth muons should have the energy at the sea level greater than 1.3 TeV. The muon charge ratio was defined using the number of the decays of stopping positive muons in the LVD iron structure and the decays of positive and negative muons in scintillator. We have obtained the value of the muon charge ratio ${k}$ ${= 1.26 \pm 0.04(stat) \pm 0.11(sys)}$., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Version submitted for publication

The experimental data on the yield of muon-induced neutrons for liquid scintillator, iron and lead accumulated during 60 years of muon interaction underground study have been analyzed. A universal formula connecting the yield with muon energy loss in the matter and neutron production in hadronic and electromagnetic showers is presented., Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, 2 figures

The vertical muon spectrum up to 15 TeV obtained with the underground installation is presented. Recent experimental data dealing with horizontal and vertical cosmic ray muon spectra are analyzed and discussed.

A massive (90 tons) liquid scintillation detector (LSD) has been running since October 1984 in the Mont Blanc Laboratory at a depth of 5,200 hg/sq cm of standard rock. The research program of the experiment covers a variety of topics in particle physics and astrophysics. The performance of the detector, the main fields of research are presented and the preliminary results are discussed.