The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) was founded in 1978 and was the first institution in Italy to promote post-graduate courses leading to a Doctor Philosophiae (or PhD) degree. A centre of excellence among Italian and international universities, the school has around 65 teachers, 100 post docs and 245 PhD students, and is located in Trieste, in a campus of more than 10 hectares with wonderful views over the Gulf of Trieste.
SISSA hosts a very high-ranking, large and multidisciplinary scientific research output. The scientific papers produced by its researchers are published in high impact factor, well-known international journals, and in many cases in the world's most prestigious scientific journals such as Nature and Science. Over 900 students have so far started their careers in the field of mathematics, physics and neuroscience research at SISSA.
The following article is Open access
A 4 tonne demonstrator for large-scale dual-phase liquid argon time projection chambers
B. Aimard9, Ch. Alt1, J. Asaadi20, M. Auger2, V. Aushev22, D. Autiero3, M.M. Badoi18, A. Balaceanu18, G. Balik9, L. Balleyguier3, E. Bechetoille3, D. Belver13, A.M. Blebea-Apostu18, S. Bolognesi4, S. Bordoni14, N. Bourgeois8, B. Bourguille14, J. Bremer8, G. Brown20, G. Brunetti21, L. Brunetti9, D. Caiulo3, M. Calin6, E. Calvo13, M. Campanelli12, K. Cankocak5, C. Cantini1, B. Carlus3, B.M. Cautisanu18, M. Chalifour8, A. Chappuis9, N. Charitonidis8, A. Chatterjee20, A. Chiriacescu6, P. Chiu1, S. Conforti19, P. Cotte4, P. Crivelli1, C. Cuesta13, J. Dawson11, I. De Bonis9, C. De La Taille19, A. Delbart4, D. Desforge4, S. Di Luise14, B.S. Dimitru18, F. Doizon3, C. Drancourt9, D. Duchesneau9, F. Dulucq19, J. Dumarchez10, F. Duval8, S. Emery4, A. Ereditato2, T. Esanu6, A. Falcone20, K. Fusshoeller1, A. Gallego-Ros13, V. Galymov3, N. Geffroy9, A. Gendotti1, M. Gherghel-Lascu18, C. Giganti10, I. Gil-Botella13, C. Girerd3, M.C. Gomoiu18, P. Gorodetzky11, E. Hamada15, R. Hanni2, T. Hasegawa15, A. Holin12, S. Horikawa1, M. Ikeno15, S. Jiménez13, A. Jipa6, M. Karolak4, Y. Karyotakis9, S. Kasai17, K. Kasami15, T. Kishishita15, I. Kreslo2, D. Kryn11, C. Lastoria13, I. Lazanu6, G. Lehmann-Miotto8, N. Lira20, K. Loo5, D. Lorca2, P. Lutz2, T. Lux14, J. Maalampi5, G. Maire8, M. Maki15, L. Manenti12, R.M. Margineanu18, J. Marteau3, G. Martin-Chassard19, H. Mathez3, E. Mazzucato4, G. Misitano5, B. Mitrica18, D. Mladenov8, L. Molina Bueno1, C. Moreno Martínez14, J.P. Mols4, T.S. Mosu18, W. Mu1, A. Munteanu18, S. Murphy1, K. Nakayoshi15, S. Narita16, D. Navas-Nicolás13, K. Negishi16, M. Nessi8, M. Niculescu-Oglinzanu18, L. Nita6, F. Noto8, A. Noury11, Y. Onishchuk22, C. Palomares13, M. Parvu6, T. Patzak11, Y. Pénichot4, E. Pennacchio3, L. Periale1, H. Pessard9, F. Pietropaolo8, Y. Piret4, B. Popov10, D. Pugnere3, B. Radics1, D. Redondo13, C. Regenfus1, A. Remoto9, F. Resnati8, Y.A. Rigaut1, C. Ristea6, A. Rubbia1, A. Saftoiu18, K. Sakashita15, F. Sanchez14, C. Santos11, A. Scarpelli11, C. Schloesser1, L. Scotto Lavina10, K. Sendai15, F. Sergiampietri8, S. Shahsavarani20, M. Shoji15, J. Sinclair2, J. Soto-Oton13, D.L. Stanca18, D. Stefan7, P. Stroescu18, R. Sulej7, M. Tanaka15, V. Toboaru18, A. Tonazzo11, W. Tromeur3, W.H. Trzaska5, T. Uchida15, F. Vannucci11, G. Vasseur4, A. Verdugo13, T. Viant1, S. Vihonen5, S. Vilalte9, M. Weber2, S. Wu1, J. Yu20, L. Zambelli9 and M. Zito4
A 10 kilo-tonne dual-phase liquid argon TPC is one of the detector options considered for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). The detector technology relies on amplification of the ionisation charge in ultra-pure argon vapour and offers several advantages compared to the traditional single-phase liquid argon TPCs. A 4.2 tonne dual-phase liquid argon TPC prototype, the largest of its kind, with an active volume of \three has been constructed and operated at CERN. In this paper we describe in detail the experimental setup and detector components as well as report on the operation experience. We also present the first results on the achieved charge amplification, prompt scintillation and electroluminescence detection, and purity of the liquid argon from analyses of a collected sample of cosmic ray muons.