arXiv subjects

D. Price

Publications and source records attributed to D. Price.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

First Nuclear Ultra-Heavy Dark Matter Search in Argon Time Projection Chambers with the DarkSide-50 Experiment

We report the first search for nuclear ultra-heavy dark matter (UHDM) in a dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber using the DarkSide-50 experiment. Unlike conventional weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), nuclear UHDM candidates may be composed of many dark nucleons and scatter numerous times while passing through the detector. Accounting for energy loss through the Earth's overburden, we apply selection criteria optimized for multi-scatter event topologies using the 532-day low-radiation campaign of the DarkSide-50 detector. Excluded limits on the UHDM-nucleon scattering cross section for dark nucleon masses of $m_\chi = 10, 50, 100, 500 \, \mathrm{GeV/c^2}$ are presented.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Fermionic sub-GeV Dark Matter from evaporating Primordial Black Holes at DarkSide-50

We present a search for boosted dark matter from Primordial Black Holes (PBH) evaporation using the DarkSide-50 ionization-signal-only dataset corresponding to the experiment's ($12202\pm180$) ${\rm kg\: d}$ exposure. We focus on evaporation of PBHs with masses in the range [$10^{14},\,10^{16}$] g producing Dirac fermionic dark matter particles with sub-GeV kinetic energy. These relativistic particles, with energies up to hundreds of MeV, can generate detectable signals for masses below $\mathcal{O}(100)$ MeV. The absence of a signal enables setting complementary limits to those derived from cosmological observations and direct detection searches for cosmic ray-boosted dark matter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Planet-driven spirals in protoplanetary discs: limitations of the semi-analytical theory for observations

Detecting protoplanets during their formation stage is an important but elusive goal of modern astronomy. Kinematic detections via the spiral wakes in the gaseous disc are a promising avenue to achieve this goal. We aim to test the applicability to observations in the low and intermediate planet mass regimes of a commonly used semi-analytical model for planet induced spiral waves. In contrast with previous works which proposed to use the semi-analytical model to interpret observations, in this study we analyse for the first time both the structure of the velocity and density perturbations. We run a set of FARGO3D hydrodynamic simulations and compare them with the output of the semi-analytic model in the code wakeflow, which is obtained by solving Burgers' equation using the simulations as an initial condition. We find that the velocity field derived from the analytic theory is discontinuous at the interface between the linear and nonlinear regions. After 0.2 r$_p$ from the planet, the behaviour of the velocity field closely follows that of the density perturbations. In the low mass limit, the analytical model is in qualitative agreement with the simulations, although it underestimates the azimuthal width and the amplitude of the perturbations, predicting a stronger decay but a slower azimuthal advance of the shock fronts. In the intermediate regime, the discrepancy increases, resulting in a different pitch angle between the spirals of the simulations and the analytic model. The implementation of a fitting procedure based on the minimisation of intensity residuals is bound to fail due to the deviation in pitch angle between the analytic model and the simulations. In order to apply this model to observations, it needs to be revisited accounting also for higher planet masses.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2024

A commensal Fast Radio Burst search pipeline for the Murchison Widefield Array

We present a demonstration version of a commensal pipeline for Fast Radio Burst (FRB) searches using a real-time incoherent beam from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The main science target of the pipeline are bright nearby FRBs from the local Universe which are the best candidates to probe FRB progenitors and understand physical mechanisms powering these extremely energetic events. The new MWA beamformer, known as the "MWAX multibeam beamformer", can form multiple incoherent and coherent beams commensally to any on-going MWA observations. One of the beams is currently used for FRB searches (tested in 10 kHz frequency resolution and time resolutions between 0.1 and 100 ms). A second beam is used for a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). This paper focuses on the FRB search pipeline and its verification on selected known bright pulsars. The pipeline uses the FREDDA implementation of the Fast Dispersion Measure Transform algorithm (FDMT) for single pulse searches. Initially, it was tested during standard MWA observations, and more recently using dedicated observations of selected 11 bright pulsars. The pulsar PSR J0835-4510 (aka Vela) has been routinely used as the primary probe of the data quality because its folded profile was always detected in the frequency band 200 - 230 MHz with typical SNR >10. Similarly, the low DM pulsar PSR B0950+08 was always detected in folded profile in the frequency band 140 - 170 MHz, and so far has been the only object for which single pulses were detected. We present the estimated sensitivity of the search in the currently limited observing bandwidth of a single MWA coarse channel (1.28 MHz) and for the upgraded, future system with 12.8 MHz (10 channels) of bandwidth. Based on expected sensitivity and existing FRB rate measurements, we estimate an expected number of FRB detections to be between a few and a few tens per year.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

A Southern-Hemisphere all-sky radio transient monitor for SKA-Low prototype stations

We present the first southern-hemisphere all-sky imager and radio-transient monitoring system implemented on two prototype stations of the low-frequency component of the Square Kilometre Array. Since its deployment the system has been used for real-time monitoring of the recorded commissioning data. Additionally, a transient searching algorithm has been executed on the resulting all-sky images. It uses a difference imaging technique, and has enabled identification of a wide variety of transient classes, ranging from human-made radio-frequency interference to genuine astrophysical events. Observations at the frequency 159.4 MHz and higher in a single coarse channel (0.926 MHz) were made with 2s time resolution, and multiple nights were analysed. Despite having modest sensitivity (~few Jy/beam), using a single coarse channel and 2-s imaging, the system detected bright transients from PSR B0950+08, proving that it can be used to detect bright transients of an astrophysical origin. The unusual, extreme activity of the pulsar PSR B0950+08 (up to ~155 Jy/beam) was initially detected in a "blind" search in the 2020-04-10/11 data and later assigned to this specific pulsar. The limitations of our data, however, prevent use from making firm conclusions of the effect being due to a combination of refractive and diffractive scintillation or intrinsic emission mechanisms. The system can routinely collect data over many days without interruptions; the large amount of recorded data at 159.4 and 229.7 MHz allowed us to determine a preliminary transient surface density upper limit of $1.32 \times 10^{-9} \text{deg}^{-2}$ for a timescale and limiting flux density of 2s and 42 Jy, respectively. We plan to extend the observing bandwidth to tens of MHz and improve time resolution to tens of milliseconds in order to increase the sensitivity and enable detections of Fast Radio Bursts below 300 MHz.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

FORESAIL-1 cubesat mission to measure radiation belt losses and demonstrate de-orbiting

Today, the near-Earth space is facing a paradigm change as the number of new spacecraft is literally sky-rocketing. Increasing numbers of small satellites threaten the sustainable use of space, as without removal, space debris will eventually make certain critical orbits unusable. A central factor affecting small spacecraft health and leading to debris is the radiation environment, which is unpredictable due to an incomplete understanding of the near-Earth radiation environment itself and its variability driven by the solar wind and outer magnetosphere. This paper presents the FORESAIL-1 nanosatellite mission, having two scientific and one technological objectives. The first scientific objective is to measure the energy and flux of energetic particle loss to the atmosphere with a representative energy and pitch angle resolution over a wide range of magnetic local times. To pave the way to novel model - in situ data comparisons, we also show preliminary results on precipitating electron fluxes obtained with the new global hybrid-Vlasov simulation Vlasiator. The second scientific objective of the FORESAIL-1 mission is to measure energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) of solar origin. The solar ENA flux has the potential to contribute importantly to the knowledge of solar eruption energy budget estimations. The technological objective is to demonstrate a satellite de-orbiting technology, and for the first time, make an orbit manoeuvre with a propellantless nanosatellite. FORESAIL-1 will demonstrate the potential for nanosatellites to make important scientific contributions as well as promote the sustainable utilisation of space by using a cost-efficient de-orbiting technology.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2018

Vector boson scattering: Recent experimental and theory developments

This document summarises the talks and discussions happened during the VBSCan Split17 workshop, the first general meeting of the VBSCan COST Action network. This collaboration is aiming at a consistent and coordinated study of vector-boson scattering from the phenomenological and experimental point of view, for the best exploitation of the data that will be delivered by existing and future particle colliders.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2016

Bayesian constraints on the global 21-cm signal from the Cosmic Dawn

The birth of the first luminous sources and the ensuing epoch of reionization are best studied via the redshifted 21-cm emission line, the signature of the first two imprinting the last. In this work we present a fully-Bayesian method, \textsc{hibayes}, for extracting the faint, global (sky-averaged) 21-cm signal from the much brighter foreground emission. We show that a simplified (but plausible), Gaussian model of the 21-cm emission from the Cosmic Dawn epoch ($15 \lesssim z \lesssim 30$), parameterized by an amplitude $A_{\rm HI}$, a frequency peak $\nu_{\rm HI}$ and a width $\sigma_{\rm HI}$, can be extracted even in the presence of a structured foreground frequency spectrum (parameterized as a $7^{\rm th}$-order polynomial), provided sufficient signal-to-noise (400~hours of observation with a single dipole). We apply our method to an early, 19-minute long observation from the Large aperture Experiment to detect the Dark Ages, constraining the 21-cm signal amplitude and width to be $-890 < A_{\rm HI} < 0$ mK and $\sigma_{\rm HI} > 6.5$ MHz (corresponding to $\Delta z > 1.9$ at redshift $z \simeq 20$) respectively at the 95-per-cent confidence level in the range $13.2 < z < 27.4$ ($100 > \nu > 50$ MHz).

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Digital Signal Processing using Stream High Performance Computing: A 512-input Broadband Correlator for Radio Astronomy

A "large-N" correlator that makes use of Field Programmable Gate Arrays and Graphics Processing Units has been deployed as the digital signal processing system for the Long Wavelength Array station at Owens Valley Radio Observatory (LWA-OV), to enable the Large Aperture Experiment to Detect the Dark Ages (LEDA). The system samples a ~100MHz baseband and processes signals from 512 antennas (256 dual polarization) over a ~58MHz instantaneous sub-band, achieving 16.8Tops/s and 0.236 Tbit/s throughput in a 9kW envelope and single rack footprint. The output data rate is 260MB/s for 9 second time averaging of cross-power and 1 second averaging of total-power data. At deployment, the LWA-OV correlator was the largest in production in terms of N and is the third largest in terms of complex multiply accumulations, after the Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimeter Array. The correlator's comparatively fast development time and low cost establish a practical foundation for the scalability of a modular, heterogeneous, computing architecture.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

A Scalable Hybrid FPGA/GPU FX Correlator

Radio astronomical imaging arrays comprising large numbers of antennas, O(10^2-10^3) have posed a signal processing challenge because of the required O(N^2) cross correlation of signals from each antenna and requisite signal routing. This motivated the implementation of a Packetized Correlator architecture that applies Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to the O(N) "F-stage" transforming time domain to frequency domain data, and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) to the O(N^2) "X-stage" performing an outer product among spectra for each antenna. The design is readily scalable to at least O(10^3) antennas. Fringes, visibility amplitudes and sky image results obtained during field testing are presented.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2013

Structure of $^{13}$Be probed via secondary beam reactions

The low-lying level structure of the unbound neutron-rich nucleus $^{13}$Be has been investigated via breakup on a carbon target of secondary beams of $^{14,15}$B at 35 MeV/nucleon. The coincident detection of the beam velocity $^{12}$Be fragments and neutrons permitted the invariant mass of the $^{12}$Be+$n$ and $^{12}$Be+$n$+$n$ systems to be reconstructed. In the case of the breakup of $^{15}$B, a very narrow structure at threshold was observed in the $^{12}$Be+$n$ channel. Contrary to earlier stable beam fragmentation studies which identified this as a strongly interacting $s$-wave virtual state in $^{13}$Be, analysis here of the $^{12}$Be+$n$+$n$ events demonstrated that this was an artifact resulting from the sequential-decay of the $^{14}$Be(2$^+$) state. Single-proton removal from $^{14}$B was found to populate a broad low-lying structure some 0.70 MeV above the neutron-decay threshold in addition to a less prominent feature at around 2.4 MeV. Based on the selectivity of the reaction and a comparison with (0-3)$\hbar\omega$ shell-model calculations, the low-lying structure is concluded to most probably arise from closely spaced J$^\pi$=1/2$^+$ and 5/2$^+$ resonances (E$_r$=0.40$\pm$0.03 and 0.85$^{+0.15}_{-0.11}$ MeV), whilst the broad higher-lying feature is a second 5/2$^+$ level (E$_r$=2.35$\pm$0.14 MeV). Taken in conjunction with earlier studies, it would appear that the lowest 1/2$^+$ and 1/2$^-$ levels lie relatively close together below 1 MeV.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2011

Decision-Theoretic Planning with non-Markovian Rewards

A decision process in which rewards depend on history rather than merely on the current state is called a decision process with non-Markovian rewards (NMRDP). In decision-theoretic planning, where many desirable behaviours are more naturally expressed as properties of execution sequences rather than as properties of states, NMRDPs form a more natural model than the commonly adopted fully Markovian decision process (MDP) model. While the more tractable solution methods developed for MDPs do not directly apply in the presence of non-Markovian rewards, a number of solution methods for NMRDPs have been proposed in the literature. These all exploit a compact specification of the non-Markovian reward function in temporal logic, to automatically translate the NMRDP into an equivalent MDP which is solved using efficient MDP solution methods. This paper presents NMRDPP (Non-Markovian Reward Decision Process Planner), a software platform for the development and experimentation of methods for decision-theoretic planning with non-Markovian rewards. The current version of NMRDPP implements, under a single interface, a family of methods based on existing as well as new approaches which we describe in detail. These include dynamic programming, heuristic search, and structured methods. Using NMRDPP, we compare the methods and identify certain problem features that affect their performance. NMRDPPs treatment of non-Markovian rewards is inspired by the treatment of domain-specific search control knowledge in the TLPlan planner, which it incorporates as a special case. In the First International Probabilistic Planning Competition, NMRDPP was able to compete and perform well in both the domain-independent and hand-coded tracks, using search control knowledge in the latter.

cs.AI↗

arXiv2010

On the diffusive propagation of warps in thin accretion discs

In this paper we revisit the issue of the propagation of warps in thin and viscous accretion discs. In this regime warps are know to propagate diffusively, with a diffusion coefficient approximately inversely proportional to the disc viscosity. Previous numerical investigations of this problem (Lodato & Pringle 2007) did not find a good agreement between the numerical results and the predictions of the analytic theories of warp propagation, both in the linear and in the non-linear case. Here, we take advantage of a new, low-memory and highly efficient SPH code to run a large set of very high resolution simulations (up to 20 million SPH particles) of warp propagation, implementing an isotropic disc viscosity in different ways, to investigate the origin of the discrepancy between the theory and the numerical results. Our new and improved analysis now shows a remarkable agreement with the analytic theory both in the linear and in the non-linear regime, in terms of warp diffusion coefficient and precession rate. It is worth noting that the resulting diffusion coefficient is inversely proportional to the disc viscosity only for small amplitude warps and small values of the disc $\alpha$ coefficient ($\alpha < 0.1$). For non-linear warps, the diffusion coefficient is a function of both radius and time, and is significantly smaller than the standard value. Warped accretion discs are present in many contexts, from protostellar discs to accretion discs around supermassive black holes. In all such cases, the exact value of the warp diffusion coefficient may strongly affect the evolution of the system and therefore its careful evaluation is critical in order to correctly estimate the system dynamics (abridged).

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Proposal for generating and detecting multi-qubit GHZ states in circuit QED

We propose methods for the preparation and entanglement detection of multi-qubit GHZ states in circuit quantum electrodynamics. Using quantum trajectory simulations appropriate for the situation of a weak continuous measurement, we show that the joint dispersive readout of several qubits can be utilized for the probabilistic production of high-fidelity GHZ states. When employing a nonlinear filter on the recorded homodyne signal, the selected states are found to exhibit values of the Bell-Mermin operator exceeding 2 under realistic conditions. We discuss the potential of the dispersive readout to demonstrate a violation of the Mermin bound, and present a measurement scheme avoiding the necessity for full detector tomography.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Algorithmic comparisons of decaying, isothermal, supersonic turbulence

Contradicting results have been reported in the literature with respect to the performance of the numerical techniques employed for the study of supersonic turbulence. We aim at characterising the performance of different particle-based and grid-based techniques on the modelling of decaying supersonic turbulence. Four different grid codes (ENZO, FLASH, TVD, ZEUS) and three different SPH codes (GADGET, PHANTOM, VINE) are compared. We additionally analysed two calculations denoted as PHANTOM A and PHANTOM B using two different implementations of artificial viscosity. Our analysis indicates that grid codes tend to be less dissipative than SPH codes, though details of the techniques used can make large differences in both cases. For example, the Morris & Monaghan viscosity implementation for SPH results in less dissipation (PHANTOM B and VINE versus GADGET and PHANTOM A). For grid codes, using a smaller diffusion parameter leads to less dissipation, but results in a larger bottleneck effect (our ENZO versus FLASH runs). As a general result, we find that by using a similar number of resolution elements N for each spatial direction means that all codes (both grid-based and particle-based) show encouraging similarity of all statistical quantities for isotropic supersonic turbulence on spatial scales k<N/32 (all scales resolved by more than 32 grid cells), while scales smaller than that are significantly affected by the specific implementation of the algorithm for solving the equations of hydrodynamics. At comparable numerical resolution, the SPH runs were on average about ten times more computationally intensive than the grid runs, although with variations of up to a factor of ten between the different SPH runs and between the different grid runs. (abridged)

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Megasonic Enhanced Electrodeposition

A novel way of filling high aspect ratio vertical interconnection (microvias) with an aspect ratio of >2:1 is presented. High frequency acoustic streaming at megasonic frequencies enables the decrease of the Nernst-diffusion layer down to the sub-micron range, allowing thereby conformal electrodeposition in deep grooves. Higher throughput and better control over the deposition properties are possible for the manufacturing of interconnections and metal-based MEMS.

cs.OH↗

arXiv2007

Spreadsheet Risk - A New Direction for HMRC?

Her Majestys Revenue & Customs (HMRC) was born out of the need to create a UK tax authority by merging both the Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise into one department. HMRC encounters spreadsheets in tax-payers systems on a very regular basis as well as being a heavy user of spreadsheets internally. The approach to spreadsheet risk assessment and spreadsheet audit is by the use of trained computer auditors and data handlers. This, by definition, limits the use of our specialist spreadsheet audit tool to such trained staff. In order to tackle the growing use of spreadsheets, a new way of approaching the problem has been piloted. The aim is to issue all staff who come across spreadsheets with a simple to use analysis and risk assessment tool, based on the departmental software SpACE (Spreadsheet Audit & Compliance Examination).

cs.CY↗

arXiv2007

MAGMA: a 3D, Lagrangian magnetohydrodynamics code for merger applications

We present a new, completely Lagrangian magnetohydrodynamics code that is based on the SPH method. The equations of self-gravitating hydrodynamics are derived self-consistently from a Lagrangian and account for variable smoothing length (``grad-h''-) terms in both the hydrodynamic and the gravitational acceleration equations. The evolution of the magnetic field is formulated in terms of so-called Euler potentials which are advected with the fluid and thus guarantee the MHD flux-freezing condition. This formulation is equivalent to a vector potential approach and therefore fulfills the $\vec{\nabla}\cdot\vec{B}=0$-constraint by construction. Extensive tests in one, two and three dimensions are presented. The tests demonstrate the excellent conservation properties of the code and show the clear superiority of the Euler potentials over earlier magnetic SPH formulations.

astro-ph↗