• Sudeshna Banerjee

Articles written in Pramana – Journal of Physics

• A search for charged massive long-lived particles at D0

Results are presented on a search for charged massive long-lived particles (CMLLPs), based on 5.2 fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron $p\bar{p}$ collider. This search selects events in which one or more particles are reconstructed as muons but their speed and ionization energy loss (d𝐸/d𝑥) are different from muons produced in beam–beam collisions. CMLLPs have been predicted by several theories of physics beyond the Standard Model. In this search we exclude pair-produced long-lived gaugino-like charginos with masses below 251 GeV and higgsino-like charginos with masses below 230 GeV at 95% CL, as well as long-lived stop quarks with masses below 265 GeV. We place cross-section limits on long-lived staus as 0.04 to 0.006 pb for stau masses in the range 100 to 300 GeV.

• Physics potential of the ICAL detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO)

The upcoming 50 kt magnetized iron calorimeter (ICAL) detector at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is designed to study the atmospheric neutrinos and antineutrinos separately over a wide range of energies andpath lengths. The primary focus of this experiment is to explore the Earth matter effects by observing the energy and zenith angle dependence of the atmospheric neutrinos in the multi-GeV range. This study will be crucial toaddress some of the outstanding issues in neutrino oscillation physics, including the fundamental issue of neutrino mass hierarchy. In this document, we present the physics potential of the detector as obtained from realistic detector simulations.We describe the simulation framework, the neutrino interactions in the detector, and the expected responseof the detector to particles traversing it. The ICAL detector can determine the energy and direction of the muons to a high precision, and in addition, its sensitivity to multi-GeV hadrons increases its physics reach substantially. Itscharge identification capability, and hence its ability to distinguish neutrinos from antineutrinos, makes it an efficient detector for determining the neutrino mass hierarchy. In this report, we outline the analyses carried out for the determination of neutrino mass hierarchy and precision measurements of atmospheric neutrino mixing parameters at ICAL, and give the expected physics reach of the detector with 10 years of runtime. We also explore the potential of ICAL for probing new physics scenarios like CPT violation and the presence of magnetic monopoles.

• # Pramana – Journal of Physics

Current Issue
Volume 93 | Issue 5
November 2019

• # Editorial Note on Continuous Article Publication

Posted on July 25, 2019