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C. Field

Publications and source records attributed to C. Field.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2022

Searching for Prompt and Long-Lived Dark Photons in Electro-Produced $e^+e^-$ Pairs with the Heavy Photon Search Experiment at JLab

The Heavy Photon Search experiment (HPS) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility searches for electro-produced dark photons. We report results from the 2016 Engineering Run consisting of 10608/nb of data for both the prompt and displaced vertex searches. A search for a prompt resonance in the $e^+e^-$ invariant mass distribution between 39 and 179 MeV showed no evidence of dark photons above the large QED background, limiting the coupling of {\epsilon}^2 {\geq} 10^-5, in agreement with previous searches. The search for displaced vertices showed no evidence of excess signal over background in the masses between 60 and 150 MeV, but had insufficient luminosity to limit canonical heavy photon production. This is the first displaced vertex search result published by HPS. HPS has taken high-luminosity data runs in 2019 and 2021 that will explore new dark photon phase space.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2018

Search for a Dark Photon in Electro-Produced $e^{+}e^{-}$ Pairs with the Heavy Photon Search Experiment at JLab

The Heavy Photon Search experiment took its first data in a 2015 engineering run using a 1.056 GeV, 50 nA electron beam provided by CEBAF at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, searching for an electro-produced dark photon. Using 1.7 days (1170 nb$^{-1}$) of data, a search for a resonance in the $e^{+}e^{-}$ invariant mass distribution between 19 and 81 MeV/c$^2$ showed no evidence of dark photon decays above the large QED background, confirming earlier searches and demonstrating the full functionality of the experiment. Upper limits on the square of the coupling of the dark photon to the Standard Model photon are set at the level of 6$\times10^{-6}$. In addition, a search for displaced dark photon decays did not rule out any territory but resulted in a reliable analysis procedure that will probe hitherto unexplored parameter space with future, higher luminosity runs.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2018

Search for a Dark Photon in Electro-Produced $e^{+}e^{-}$ Pairs with the Heavy Photon Search Experiment at JLab

The Heavy Photon Search experiment took its first data in a 2015 engineering run at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, searching for a prompt, electro-produced dark photon with a mass between 19 and 81 MeV/$c^2$. A search for a resonance in the $e^{+}e^{-}$ invariant mass distribution, using 1.7 days (1170 nb$^{-1}$) of data, showed no evidence of dark photon decays above the large QED background, confirming earlier searches and demonstrating the full functionality of the experiment. Upper limits on the square of the coupling of the dark photon to the Standard Model photon are set at the level of 6$\times10^{-6}$. Future runs with higher luminosity will explore new territory.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2016

The Heavy Photon Search beamline and its performance

The Heavy Photon Search (HPS) is an experiment to search for a hidden sector photon, aka a heavy photon or dark photon, in fixed target electroproduction at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab). The HPS experiment searches for the e$^+$e$^-$ decay of the heavy photon with bump hunt and detached vertex strategies using a compact, large acceptance forward spectrometer, consisting of a silicon microstrip detector (SVT) for tracking and vertexing, and a PbWO$_4$ electromagnetic calorimeter for energy measurement and fast triggering. To achieve large acceptance and good vertexing resolution, the first layer of silicon detectors is placed just 10 cm downstream of the target with the sensor edges only 500 $\mu$m above and below the beam. Placing the SVT in such close proximity to the beam puts stringent requirements on the beam profile and beam position stability. As part of an approved engineering run, HPS took data in 2015 and 2016 at 1.05 GeV and 2.3 GeV beam energies, respectively. This paper describes the beam line and its performance during that data taking.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2011

Search for a new gauge boson in the $A'$ Experiment (APEX)

We present a search at Jefferson Laboratory for new forces mediated by sub-GeV vector bosons with weak coupling $\alpha'$ to electrons. Such a particle $A'$ can be produced in electron-nucleus fixed-target scattering and then decay to an $e^+e^-$ pair, producing a narrow resonance in the QED trident spectrum. Using APEX test run data, we searched in the mass range 175--250 MeV, found no evidence for an $A'\to e^+e^-$ reaction, and set an upper limit of $\alpha'/\alpha \simeq 10^{-6}$. Our findings demonstrate that fixed-target searches can explore a new, wide, and important range of masses and couplings for sub-GeV forces.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2007

Air fluorescence measurements in the spectral range 300-420 nm using a 28.5 GeV electron beam

Measurements are reported of the yield and spectrum of fluorescence, excited by a 28.5 GeV electron beam, in air at a range of pressures of interest to ultra-high energy cosmic ray detectors. The wavelength range was 300 - 420 nm. System calibration has been performed using Rayleigh scattering of a nitrogen laser beam. In atmospheric pressure dry air at 304 K the yield is 20.8 +/- 1.6 photons per MeV.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2001

Observation of Plasma Focusing of a 28.5 GeV Positron Beam

The observation of plasma focusing of a 28.5 GeV positron beam is reported. The plasma was formed by ionizing a nitrogen jet only 3 mm thick. Simultaneous focusing in both transverse dimensions was observed with effective focusing strengths of order Tesla per micron. The minimum area of the beam spot was reduced by a factor of 2.0 +/- 0.3 by the plasma. The longitudinal beam envelope was measured and compared with numerical calculations.

physics.acc-ph↗