arXiv subjects

Joseph Fowler

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph Fowler.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Broad-band High-Energy Resolution Hard X-ray Spectroscopy using Transition Edge Sensors at SPring-8

We have succeeded in operating a transition-edge sensor (TES) spectrometer and evaluating its performance at the SPring-8 synchrotron X-ray light source. The TES spectrometer consists of a 240 pixel National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) TES system, and 220 pixels are operated simultaneously with an energy resolution of $4$~eV at 6~keV at a rate of about 1~c/s/pixel. The tolerance for high count rates is evaluated in terms of energy resolution and live time fraction, leading to an empirical compromise of about 2 x 10^3 c/s/all pixels with an energy resolution of 5 eV at 6 keV. By utilizing the TES's wide-band spectroscopic capability, simultaneous multi-element analysis is demonstrated for a standard sample. We conducted X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analysis in fluorescence mode using the TES spectrometer. The excellent energy resolution of the TES enabled us to detect weak fluorescence lines from dilute samples and trace elements that have previously been difficult to resolve due to the nearly overlapping emission lines of other dominant elements. The neighboring lines of As K alpha and Pb L alpha2 of the standard sample were clearly resolved and the XANES of Pb L alpha2 was obtained. Moreover, the X-ray spectrum from the small amount of Fe in aerosols was distinguished from the spectrum of a blank target, which helps us to understand the targets and the environment. These results are the first important step for the application of high resolution TES-based spectroscopy at hard X-ray synchrotron facilities.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Impact of embedded $^{163}$Ho on the performance of the transition-edge sensor microcalorimeters of the HOLMES experiment

We present a detailed investigation of the performance of transition-edge sensor (TES) microcalorimeters with $^{163}$Ho atoms embedded by ion implantation, as part of the HOLMES experiment aimed at neutrino mass determination. The inclusion of $^{163}$Ho atoms introduces an excess heat capacity due to a pronounced Schottky anomaly, which can affect the detector's energy resolution, signal height, and response time. We fabricated TES arrays with varying levels of $^{163}$Ho activity and characterized their performance in terms of energy resolution, decay time constants, and heat capacity. The intrinsic energy resolution was found to degrade with increasing $^{163}$Ho activity, consistent with the expected scaling of heat capacity. From the analysis, we determined the specific heat capacity of $^{163}$Ho to be $(2.9 \pm 0.4 \mathrm{(stat)} \pm 0.7 \mathrm{(sys)})$ J/K/mol at $(94 \pm 1)$\,mK, close to the literature values for metallic holmium. No additional long decay time constants correlated with $^{163}$Ho activity were observed, indicating that the excess heat capacity does not introduce weakly coupled thermodynamic systems. These results suggest that our present TES microcalorimeters can tolerate $^{163}$Ho activities up to approximately 5 Bq without significant performance degradation. For higher activities, reducing the TES transition temperature is necessary to maintain energy resolution. These findings provide critical insights for optimizing TES microcalorimeters for future neutrino mass experiments and other applications requiring embedded radioactive sources. The study also highlights the robustness of TES technology in handling implanted radionuclides while maintaining high-resolution performance.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2025

Towards Precision Spectroscopy of Antiprotonic Atoms for Probing Strong-field QED

PAX (antiProtonic Atom X-ray spectroscopy) is a new experiment with the aim to test strong-field quantum electrodynamics (QED) effects by performing high-precision x-ray spectroscopy of antiprotonic atoms. By utilizing advanced microcalorimeter detection techniques and a low-energy antiproton beam provided by the ELENA ring at CERN, gaseous targets will be used for the creation of antiprotonic atoms, and the measurement of transitions between circular Rydberg states will be conducted with up to two orders of magnitude improved accuracy over previous studies using high-purity germanium detectors. Our approach eliminates the longstanding issue of nuclear uncertainties that have hindered prior studies using highly charged ions, thus enabling direct and purely QED-focused measurements. By precisely probing atomic systems with electric fields up to two orders of magnitude above the Schwinger limit, PAX will test vacuum polarization and second-order QED corrections, opening new frontiers in fundamental physics and uncovering potential pathways to physics beyond the Standard Model.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2024

Computed models of natural radiation backgrounds in qubits and superconducting detectors

Naturally occurring radiation backgrounds cause correlated decoherence events in superconducting qubits. These backgrounds include both gamma rays produced by terrestrial radioisotopes and cosmic rays. We use the particle-transport code Geant4 and the PARMA summary of the cosmic-ray spectrum to model both sources of natural radiation and to study their effects in the typical substrates used in superconducting electronics. We focus especially on three rates that summarize radiation's effect on substrates. We give analytic expressions for these rates, and how they depend upon parameters including laboratory elevation, substrate material, ceiling thickness, and wafer area and thickness. The modeled rates and the distribution of event energies are consistent with our earlier measurement of radiation backgrounds using a silicon thermal kinetic-inductance detector.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2023

ASCENT - A balloon-borne hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy telescope using transition edge sensor microcalorimeter detectors

Core collapse supernovae are thought to be one of the main sources in the galaxy of elements heavier than iron. Understanding the origin of the elements is thus tightly linked to our understanding of the explosion mechanism of supernovae and supernova nucleosynthesis. X-ray and gamma-ray observations of young supernova remnants, combined with improved theoretical modeling, have resulted in enormous improvements in our knowledge of these events. The isotope ${}^{44}$Ti is one of the most sensitive probes of the innermost regions of the core collapse engine, and its spatial and velocity distribution are key observables. Hard X-ray imaging spectroscopy with the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) has provided new insights into the structure of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A), establishing the convective nature of the supernova engine. However, many questions about the details of this engine remain. We present here the concept for a balloon-borne follow-up mission called ASCENT (A SuperConducting ENergetic x-ray Telescope). ASCENT uses transition edge sensor gamma-ray microcalorimeter detectors with a demonstrated 55 eV Full Width Half Maximum (FWHM) energy resolution at 97 keV. This 8--16-fold improvement in energy resolution over NuSTAR will allow high resolution imaging and spectroscopy of the ${}^{44}$Ti emission. This will allow a detailed reconstruction of gamma-ray line redshifts, widths, and shapes, allowing us to address questions such as: What is the source of the neutron star "kicks"? What is the dominant production pathway for ${}^{44}$Ti? Is the engine of Cas A unique?

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Dusty star-forming galaxies and active galactic nuclei in the equatorial survey

We present a catalog of 510 radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN, primarily blazars) and 287 dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) detected by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope at $>5\sigma$ significance in bands centered on 148 GHz (2 mm), 218 GHz (1.4 mm) and 277 GHz (1.1 mm), from a 480 square degrees strip on the celestial equator with additional (360 square degrees) shallower fields. Combining the deepest available 218 GHz wide-field imaging, 277 GHz data, and multi-band filtering yields the most sensitive wide-field millimeter-wave DSFG selection to date with rms noise referenced to 218 GHz reaching $<2$ mJy. We developed techniques to remove Galactic contamination from the extragalactic catalog, yielding 321 additional Galactic sources. We employ a new flux debiasing method that handles the heterogeneous sample selection due to Galactic cuts. We present spectral properties and source counts of the AGN and DSFGs. The DSFG spectra depart from an optically thin modified blackbody between 218 GHz and 277 GHz, consistent with optically thick emission or an additional cold dust component. For bright AGN, the inter-year RMS fractional deviation in flux density from source variability is $\sim40\%$. We report 8$-$2870 mJy source counts for AGN and 8$-$90 mJy source counts for DSFGs, the latter probing both the brighter, lensed population and the fainter, unlensed population. At 277 GHz we report the first source counts measurements at these flux densities, finding an excess above most model count predictions. Finally, we select thirty of the brightest DSFGs for multi-frequency study as candidate high-$z$ lensed systems.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: a measurement of the primordial power spectrum

We present constraints on the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic fluctuations using data from the 2008 Southern Survey of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). The angular resolution of ACT provides sensitivity to scales beyond \ell = 1000 for resolution of multiple peaks in the primordial temperature power spectrum, which enables us to probe the primordial power spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations with wavenumbers up to k \simeq 0.2 Mpc^{-1}. We find no evidence for deviation from power-law fluctuations over two decades in scale. Matter fluctuations inferred from the primordial temperature power spectrum evolve over cosmic time and can be used to predict the matter power spectrum at late times; we illustrate the overlap of the matter power inferred from CMB measurements (which probe the power spectrum in the linear regime) with existing probes of galaxy clustering, cluster abundances and weak lensing constraints on the primordial power. This highlights the range of scales probed by current measurements of the matter power spectrum.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Observing the Evolution of the Universe

How did the universe evolve? The fine angular scale (l>1000) temperature and polarization anisotropies in the CMB are a Rosetta stone for understanding the evolution of the universe. Through detailed measurements one may address everything from the physics of the birth of the universe to the history of star formation and the process by which galaxies formed. One may in addition track the evolution of the dark energy and discover the net neutrino mass. We are at the dawn of a new era in which hundreds of square degrees of sky can be mapped with arcminute resolution and sensitivities measured in microKelvin. Acquiring these data requires the use of special purpose telescopes such as the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), located in Chile, and the South Pole Telescope (SPT). These new telescopes are outfitted with a new generation of custom mm-wave kilo-pixel arrays. Additional instruments are in the planning stages.

astro-ph.CO↗