A Comparison of Neural Networks and Center of Gravity in Muon Hit Position Estimation.

The performance of cosmic-ray tomography systems is largely determined by their tracking accuracy. With conventional scintillation detector technology, good precision can be achieved with a small pitch between the elements of the detector array. Improving the resolution implies increasing the number of read-out channels, which in turn increases the complexity and cost of the tracking detectors.

Point scintillator dosimetry in ultra-high dose rate electron "FLASH" radiation therapy: A first characterization.

FLASH radiation therapy is a novel technique combining ultra-high dose rates (UHDR) with very short treatment times to strongly decrease normal tissue toxicity while preserving the anti-tumoral effect. However, the radiobiological mechanisms and exact conditions for obtaining the FLASH-effect are still under investigation. There are strong indications that parameters defining the beam structure, such as dose per pulse, instantaneous dose rate and pulse repetition frequency (PRF) are of importance.

Modulating ultrasound contrast generation from injectable nanodroplets for proton range verification by varying the degree of superheat.

Purpose: Despite the physical benefits of protons over conventional photon radiation in cancer treatment, range uncertainties impede the ability to harness the full potential of proton therapy. While monitoring the proton range in vivo could reduce the currently adopted safety margins, a routinely applicable range verification technique is still lacking. Recently, phase-change nanodroplets were proposed for proton range verification, demonstrating a reproducible relationship between the proton range and generated ultrasound contrast after radiation-induced vaporization at 25°C.

Searching for New Long-Lived Particles in Heavy-Ion Collisions at the LHC.

We show that heavy-ion collisions at the LHC provide a promising environment to search for new long-lived particles in well-motivated new physics scenarios. One advantage lies in the possibility to operate the main detectors with looser triggers, which can increase the number of observable events by orders of magnitude if the long-lived particles are produced with low transverse momentum. In addition, the absence of pileup in heavy-ion collisions can avoid systematic nuisances that will be present in future proton runs, such as the problem of vertex misidentification.

A portable muon telescope based on small and gas-tight resistive plate chambers.

We report on the first steps in the development of a small-size muon telescope based on glass resistive plate chambers with small active area (16 × 16 cm). The long-term goal of this project is to focus on applications of muography where the telescope may have to be operated underground and/or inside small rooms, and in challenging logistic situations. Driving principles in our design are therefore compact size, light weight, gas tightness and robustness.