Lorenzo Viliani

Muography (or muon radiography) is a technique that exploits the penetration capability of muons, elementary particles similar to electrons but with a mass about 200 times larger. High energy muons are naturally produced in the interactions of cosmic rays with the Earth atmosphere. The measurement of their absorption in matter allows the imaging of the inner structure of large bodies. The technological developments in the detection of elementary particles have opened the way to its application in various fields, such as archaeology, studies of geological structures, civil engineering and security issues. We have developed a new approach to the three-dimensional muography of underground structures, capable of directly localising hidden cavities and of reconstructing their shape in space. Our measurements at Mt. Echia, the site of the earliest settlement of the city of Naples in the 8th century BC, have led us to the discovery of a hidden underground cavity, whose existence was not evident with the usual two-dimensional muography graphs. We demonstrate here that our original approach definitely enhances muography discovery potential, especially in case of complex underground systems.

Muon Radiography allows to map the density of a volcanic cone. It is based on the measurement of the attenuation of the flux of muons present in the cosmic radiation on the ground. The MU-RAY project has developed an innovative detector designed for the muon radiography. The main features are the low electric power consumption, robustness and transportability, good spatial resolution and muon time of flight measurement. A 1 m2 detector prototype has been constructed. and collected data at Mt. Vesuvius for approximately 1 month in spring 2013. A second campaign of measurement has been performed at the Puy de Dôme, France, in the last four months of 2013. In this article the principles of muon radiography, the MU-RAY detector and the first results from the collected data will be described.

The Muon Imaging for Mining and Archaeology (MIMA) project aims at the development of a non-invasive technique for imaging dense structures or cavities, hidden in the underground or anyway surrounded by huge volumes of matter, based on Muon Absorption Radiography. Given its natural multidisciplinary, the final purpose is the validation of this methodology for applications in different fields, like Archaeology, Geology, mining, Civil Engineering and Civil Protection, in close cooperation with team in these fields. In this paper we report on the design, construction and performance of a compact and lightweight muon telescope designed mainly for archaeological investigation and geophysical prospections in general. The MIMA detector is also used currently as a test instrument to study different hardware solutions to optimize the global performance in these types of applications.

Muon absorption radiography is an imaging technique based on the measurement of the absorption of cosmic ray muons. This technique has recently been used successfully to investigate the presence of unknown cavities in the Bourbon Gallery in Naples and in the Chephren Pyramid at Cairo. The MIMA detector (Muon Imaging for Mining and Archaeology) is a prototype muon tracker for muon radiography for application in the fields of archaelogy and mining. It is made of three pairs of X-Y planes each consisting of 21 scintillator bars with a silicon photomultiplier readout. The detector is compact, robust, easily transportable, and has a low power consumption: all of which makes the detector ideal for measurements in confined and isolated environments. With this detector, a measurement from inside the Temperino mine in the San Silvestro archaeo-mining park in Tuscany was performed. The park includes about 25 km of mining tunnels arranged on several levels that have been exploited from the Etruscan time. The measured muon absorption was compared to the simulated one, obtained from the information provided by 3D laser scanner measurements and cartographic maps of the mountain above the mine, in order to obtain information about the average density of the rock. This allowed one to confirm the presence of a partially accessible exploitation opening and provided some hints regarding the presence of a high-density body within the rock.

Muon radiography is a fast growing field in applied scientific research. In recent years, many detector technologies and imaging techniques using the Coulomb scattering and absorption properties of cosmic-ray muons have been developed for the non-destructive assay of various structures across a wide range of applications. This work presents the first results that assess the feasibility of using muon radiography to interrogate waste silos within the U.K. Nuclear Industry. Two such approaches, using different techniques that exploit each of these properties, have previously been published, and show promising results from both simulation and experimental data for the detection of shielded high-Z materials and density variations from volcanic assay. Both detection systems used are based on scintillator and photomultiplier technologies.

Muon absorption radiography is an imaging technique based on the analysis of the attenuation of the cosmic-ray muon flux after traversing an object under examination. While this technique is now reaching maturity in the field of volcanology for the imaging of the innermost parts of the volcanic cones, its applicability to other fields of research has not yet been proved. In this paper we present a study concerning the application of the muon absorption radiography technique to the field of archaeology, and we propose a method for the search of underground cavities and structures hidden a few metres deep in the soil (patent [1]). An original geometric treatment of the reconstructed muon tracks, based on the comparison of the measured flux with a reference simulated flux, and the preliminary results of specific simulations are discussed in details.

Muon radiography is a technique based on the measurement of absorption profiles of muons as they pass through matter. This measurement allows to obtain an image of the inner structure of large volume objects and is suitable to be applied in several fields, such as volcanology, archaeology and civil engeneering. One of the main applications concerns the study of volcanic structures; indeed it is possible to use this technique to measure the mass distribution inside the edifice of a volcano providing useful information to better understand the possible eruption mechanisms. The MURAVES (MUon RAdiography of VESuvius) project aims to the study of the summital cone of Mt. Vesuvius near Naples in Italy, one of the most dangerous active volcanoes in the world. The MURAVES apparatus is a modular, robust muon hodoscope system with a low power consumption, optimized to be used in inhospitable environments like the surroundings of volcanoes. The complete detection system is an array of identical tracking modules, each with an area of 1 m2, based on the use of plasic scintillators. The technologies, the status and the data analysis strategy of the experiment will be presented in this paper.

Animal burrows in a river's earthen levee leads to water piping phenomena causing structural damage and eventual collapse during floods. Currently, the state of the art comprises case studies that deal with management and maintenance, while very few documents attempt at assessing possible animal-induced failure mechanisms. For the latter, detection and characterisation of the animal burrows is crucial and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) and Ground Penetrating Radar are the most employed geophysical techniques. Between 2017 and 2018 a team of physicists, engineering geologists, and geophysicists has for the first time probed the possibility of exploiting the Muon Transmission Radiography (MTR) to verify the internal conservation status of levees that were visibly damaged by animal activities. The technique is a non-invasive method, currently under development, based on the detection of muons, a highly penetrating component of atmospheric cosmic rays. MTR is capable of providing angular maps of the average density of the material present in front of the detector. A test site measurement campaign was carried out with a prototype instrument placed at the side of the levee. This new survey methodology was compared to a more traditional ERT measurement, performed with a pole-dipole and dipole-dipole configuration. Moreover, the actual burrows' distribution was mapped during the demolition works using Terrestrial Laser Scanner measurements to validate and constrain results. The comparison between ERT and MTR maps shows that, in spite of some limitations, the latter is a suitable and promising technique that could successfully complement a program of geological risk assessment.

Abstract The BLEMAB European project (BLast furnace stack density Estimation through online Muon ABsorption measurements), the evolution of the previous Mu-Blast European project, is designed to investigate in detail the capability of muon radiography techniques applied to the imaging of the inner zone of a blast furnace. In particular, the goal of this collaboration is to characterize the internal region (so-called cohesive zone) where the slowly downward-moving material begins to soften and melt, which plays an important role in the performance of the blast furnace itself. In this contribution, we describe the state-of-the-art of the muon tracking system which is currently being developed and installed at a blast furnace on the ArcelorMittal site in Bremen (Germany). Moreover, we will present the GEANT4 simulation framework devised for this application together with the simulation results. Finally, we will show the possible contribution of multiple scattering effects to such peculiar applications.

Cosmic-ray muon radiography (muography), an imaging technique that can provide measurements of rock densities within the top few 100 m of a volcanic cone, has now achieved a spatial resolution of the order of 10 m in optimal detection conditions. Muography provides images of the top region of a volcano edifice with a resolution that is considerably better than that typically achieved with other conventional methods (i.e. gravimetric). We expect such precise measurements, to provide us with information on anomalies in the rock density distribution, which can be affected by dense lava conduits, low-density magma supply paths or the compression with the depth of the overlying soil. The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project is now in its final phase of construction and deployment. Up to four muon hodoscopes, each with a surface of roughly 1 m2, will be installed on the slope of Vesuvius and take data for at least 12 months. We will use the muographic profiles, combined with data from gravimetric and seismic measurement campaigns, to determine the stratigraphy of the lava plug at the bottom of the Vesuvius crater, in order to infer potential eruption pathways. While the MURAVES project unfolds, others are using emulsion detectors on Stromboli to study the lava conduits at the top of the volcano. These measurements are ongoing: they have completed two measurement campaigns and are now performing the first data analysis.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.

Results of an extensive R&D program aiming at radiation hard, small pitch, 3D pixel sensors are reported. The CMS experiment is supporting this R&D in the scope of the Inner Tracker upgrade for the High Luminosity phase of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). In the HL-LHC the Inner Tracker will have to withstand an integrated fluence up to 2.3×1016neq/cm2. A small number of 3D sensors were interconnected with the RD53A readout chip, which is the first prototype of 65 nm CMOS pixel readout chip designed for the HL-LHC pixel trackers. In this paper results obtained in beam tests before and after irradiation are reported. The irradiation of a single chip module was performed up to a maximum equivalent fluence of about 1×1016neq/cm2. The analysis of the collected data shows excellent performance: the spatial resolution in not irradiated sensors can reach about 3 to 5 μm, for inclined tracks, depending on the pixel pitch. The measured hit detection efficiencies are close to 99% measured both before and after the above mentioned irradiation fluence.

The MIMA muon tracker, developed by the INFN Unit of Florence and the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Florence, has been designed to test the application of muon radiography (or muography) to multidisciplinary case studies, to demonstrate its validity as an imaging tool in different fields and to develop dedicated data analysis strategies. The MIMA detector is a scaled-down version of the muon trackers developed for the "Mu-Ray" INFN R&D project and the MURAVES (MUon RAdiography of VESuvius) "Progetto Premiale", financed by the Italian government. Thanks to its compactness, MIMA allowed the use of slightly different technical solutions with respect to the other detectors. Its construction was completed in the first half of 2017 and since then it has been used for several different measurements. In the second half of 2017 the detector was installed in the Bourbon Gallery inside Mount Echia, a hill in the center of Naples containing a complicated system of tunnels and cavities that have been dug over many centuries. The installation of the MIMA tracker was required to validate with an independent detector the results obtained in two previous measurements by the Mu-Ray tracker. After this measurement, the detector has been used in the Tuscany region, mainly for investigating two possible fields of application: geo-hydrological risk assessment and mining activity. The preliminary results of these tests and the future perspectives are shortly presented in this paper.

A novel algorithm developed within muon radiography to localize objects or cavities hidden inside large material volumes was recently proposed by some of the authors (Bonechi et al. 2015 J. Instrum.10, P02003 (doi:10.1088/1748-0221/10/02/P02003)). The algorithm, based on muon back projection, helps to estimate the three-dimensional position and the transverse extension of detected objects without the need for measurements from different points of view, which would be required to make a triangulation. This algorithm can now be tested owing to the availability of real data collected both in laboratory tests and from real-world measurements. The methodology and some test results are presented in this paper.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Cosmic-ray muography'.

A flexible and adaptive simulation framework based on Geant4 is presented. The framework has been developed in order to speed up the deployment of full-featured Monte Carlo simulation codes for small/medium sized particle detection experiments with generic geometries. Specific components related to atmospheric muon experiments have been developed and are presented as well.

The High Luminosity upgrade of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) calls for new high radiation-tolerant solid-state pixel sensors, capable of surviving irradiation fluences up to a few 1016 neq/cm2 at ∼3 cm from the interaction point. The INFN ATLAS-CMS joint research activity, in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler, is aiming at the development of thin n+ on p type pixel sensors to be operated at the HL-LHC. The R&D covers both planar and 3D pixel devices made on substrates obtained by the Direct Wafer Bonding technique. The active thickness of the planar sensors studied in this paper is 100μm or 130μm, that of 3D sensors 130μm. First prototypes of hybrid modules, bump-bonded to the present CMS readout chips (PSI46 digital), have been characterized in beam tests. First results on their performance before and after irradiation up to a maximum fluence of ∼5×1015 neq/cm2 are reported in this article.

Legacy storage sites for nuclear waste can pose a serious environmental problem. In fact, since certain sites date from the middle of the last century when safety protocols had not been properly established and strict bookkeeping was not enforced, a situation has evolved where the content of storage silos is basically known only with a large uncertainty both on quantity and quality. At the same time maintenance work on old storage structures is becoming ever more urgent and yet this work requires exactly that information which is now lacking on the type of waste that was stored inside. Because of the difficulty in accessing the storage silos and the near impossibility of making visual inspections inside, techniques have to be developed which can determine the presence or absence of heavy elements (i.e. uranium) within the structures. Muography is a very promising technique which could allow the survey of previously inaccessible structures. We have begun an evaluation performing feasibility studies using simulations based on real case scenarios. This paper will outline the storage site scenarios and then present some of the results obtained from the Monte Carlo simulations.

Several on-going activities exploiting the potential of the muon-absorption radiography technique are focusing on the study of large volcanic structures located in different geographical regions. Nonetheless, the possible application of this non-destructive surveying method to other fields is also under consideration by different groups. Looking backward to the history of muon radiography, we can learn how the first important success of this technique was achieved in the archaeological field by the physicist Luis W. Alvarez in the 1960s. Further examples of possible applications can be found concerning geological and mining applications. In this paper a possible application of muon absorption radiography in the context of the archaeological research is proposed. Results of a simulation of a simplified case study are presented.

Abstract The BLEMAB European project (BLast furnace stack density Estimation through on-line Muon ABsorption measurements), evolution of the previous Mu-Blast European project, is designed to investigate in detail the capability of muon radiography techniques applied to the imaging of a blast furnace’s inner zone. In particular, the geometry and size of the so called “cohesive zone”, i.e. the spatial zone where the slowly downward moving material begins to soften and melt, that plays an important role in the performance of the blast furnace itself. Thanks to the high penetration power of the natural cosmic ray muon radiation, muon transmission radiography represents an appropriate non-invasive methodology for imaging large high-density structures such as blast furnaces, whose linear size can be up to a few tens of meters. A state-of-the-art muon tracking system, whose design profits from the long experience of our collaboration in this field, is currently under development and will be installed in 2022 at a blast furnace on the ArcelorMittal site in Bremen (Germany) for many months. Collected data will be exploited to monitor temporal variations of the average density distribution inside the furnace. Muon radiography results will also be compared with measurements obtained through an enhanced multipoint probe and standard blast furnace models.

Atmospheric muons represent the primary component of cosmic radiation detected at sea level. Their specific characteristics - natural abundance, energy-based ability to penetrate objects, harmlessness - make them an essential tool for performing non-destructive imaging of the internal structure of objects by means of muon transmission radiography (MTR), a 2D technique optimized for studying large objects such as mountains and volcanoes, and multiple scattering muon tomography (MSMT), a 3D technique exploited for relatively small objects. On the other hand, the considerable presence of atmospheric muons and secondary particles produced by them influences the measurements of low background experiments, designed to reveal dark matter and neutrinos signals. In all cases, the need to have a reliable model that accurately describes the energy spectrum and the angular distribution of the flux of atmospheric muons at sea level is evident. This contribution will describe the development of a parametric analytical model built by fitting a selected set of empirical models developed in the last decades to the data measured by ADAMO (Florence, Italy, 2004) and other experiments. The developed model was subsequently used as a generator tool for Monte Carlo simulations in some applications of the MTR technique and the results will be presented and discussed.

The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project aims at the study of Mt. Vesuvius, an active and hazardous volcano near Naples, Italy, with the use of muons freely and abundantly produced by cosmic rays. In particular, the MURAVES experiment intends to perform muographic imaging of the internal structure of the summit of Mt. Vesuvius. The challenging measurement of the rock density distribution in its summit by muography, in conjunction with data from other geophysical techniques, can help model possible eruption dynamics. The MURAVES apparatus consists of an array of three independent and identical muon trackers, with a total sensitive area of 3 square meters. In each tracker, a sequence of 4 XY tracking planes made of plastic scintillators is complemented by a 60 cm thick lead wall inserted between the two downstream planes to improve rejection of background from low energy muons. The apparatus is currently acquiring data. This paper presents preliminary results from the analysis of the first data samples acquired with trackers pointing towards Mt. Vesuvius, including the first relative measurement of the density projection of two flanks of the volcano at three different altitudes; we also present the workflow of the simulation chain of the MURAVES experiment and its ongoing developments.

Simplified Template Cross Sections (STXS) have been adopted by the LHC experiments as a common framework for Higgs measurements. Their purpose is to reduce the theoretical uncertainties that are directly folded into the measurements as much as possible, while at the same time allowing for the combination of the measurements between different decay channels as well as between experiments. We report the complete, revised definition of the STXS kinematic bins (stage 1.1), which are to be used for the upcoming measurements by the ATLAS and CMS experiments using the full LHC Run 2 datasets. The main focus is on the three dominant Higgs production processes, namely gluon-fusion, vector-boson fusion, and in association with a vector boson. We also comment briefly on the treatment of other production modes.

Muon radiography is a well-established technique which is widely used in investigating the internal density structure of targets of different size and composition. Some examples of successful applications are the search for hidden chambers in archaeological sites and the monitoring of geological structures like volcanoes. The two main approaches to muon radiography are based on the effects of multiple Coulomb scattering and on absorption inside the target of atmospheric muons. The results of a Monte Carlo feasibility study of using muon radiography to investigate the presence of high-Z material (e.g. uranium) inside nuclear waste storage facilities using both the above mentioned techniques are presented. Albeit muon radiography has already been successfully applied to this kind of investigation in the past, this is the first time that it is benchmarked against the detection of cm-sized, high-Z samples inside building-sized storage facilities. For both multiple scattering and absorption approaches, preliminary results show that uranium samples of typical size greater than 5 cm can be detected inside a storage silo with a size of some meter filled with concrete, with a data taking period of several weeks. Smaller samples with size 2 cm are not detectable due to multiple scattering within the concrete matrix. The dependence of these results on the position of the samples and on the duration of data acquisition have been investigated and are reported as well, together with an estimate of the detection probability for fake signals.

The High Luminosity upgrade of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (HL–LHC) calls for an upgrade of the CMS tracker detector to cope with the increased radiation levels while maintaining the excellent performance of the existing detector. Specifically, new high-radiation tolerant solid-state pixel sensors, capable of surviving irradiation fluences up to 1.9×1016neq/cm2 at 3 cm from the interaction point, need to be developed. For this purpose an R&D program involving different vendors have been pursued, aiming at the development of thin n-in-p type pixel sensors. The R&D covers both planar (manufactured by Fondazione Bruno Kessler, FBK; Hamamatsu Photonics, HPK and LFoundry) and single-sided 3D columnar (manufactured by FBK and Centro Nacional de Microelectronica, CNM) pixel devices. The target active thickness is 150μm while two different pixel cell dimensions are currently investigated (25 × 100 and 50×50μm2). Sensors presented in this article have been bump-bonded to the RD53A readout chip (ROC), the first prototype towards the development of a ROC to be employed during HL–LHC operation. Test beam studies, both of thin planar and 3D devices, have been performed by the CMS collaboration at the CERN, DESY and Fermilab test beam facilities. Results of modules performance before and after irradiation (up to 2.4×1016neq/cm2) are presented in this article.

In the context of recent developments in volcanic muography, we describe an experiment at Vesuvius, the volcano near Naples that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum (Italy) in 79 CE. This volcano is about 1,200 m high with a typical summit caldera formed by Mount Somma. Vesuvius is among the highest-risk volcanoes in the world due to its highly explosive eruptive style and the high population density of the area where it is located. Volcanoes are generally fragile geological structures, prone to produce partial collapse and large landslides that can affect the style of eruptions. Moreover, the knowledge of the internal structure is fundamental for understanding past eruption activity and for constraining eruption models. For these reasons, studying the internal structure of the “Gran Cono” (great cone) of Vesuvius and the physical characteristics of its rock is important and led us to design a muography experiment at Vesuvius. This experiment, which is currently in progress, is based on three scintillator detectors with a surface of 1 m 2 each. These detector features have been implemented to overcome the problems related to the large thickness of rock that form the “Gran Cono” of Vesuvius and the effects that can be a source of error in data processing. These aspects represent an open challenge for the muography of large volcanoes, which today constitutes the frontier of research in the field of volcanic muography.

The aim of the BLEMAB project (BLast furnace stack density Estimation through online Muons ABsorption measurements) is the application of muon radiography techniques, to image a blast furnace's inner zone.In particular, the goal of the study is to characterize the geometry and size of the so-called "cohesive zone", i.e., the spatial region where the slowly downward-moving material begins to soften and melt, which plays such an important role in the performance of the blast furnace itself.Thanks to the high penetration power of natural cosmic-ray muon radiation, muon transmission radiography could be an appropriate non invasive methodology for the imaging of large high-density structures such as a blast furnace, whose linear dimensions can be up to a few tens of meters.A state-of-the-art muon tracking system is currently in development and will be installed at a blast furnace on the ArcelorMittal site in Bremen (Germany), where it will collect data for a period of various months.In this paper, the status of the project and the expectations based on preliminary simulations are presented and briefly discussed.

With the ever growing amount of data collected by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN LHC, fiducial and differential measurements of the Higgs boson production cross section have become important tools to test the standard model predictions with an unprecedented level of precision, as well as seeking deviations that can manifest the presence of physics beyond the standard model. These measurements are in general designed for being easily comparable to any present or future theoretical prediction, and to achieve this goal it is important to keep the model dependence to a minimum. Nevertheless, the reduction of the model dependence usually comes at the expense of the measurement precision, preventing to exploit the full potential of the signal extraction procedure. In this paper a novel methodology based on the machine learning concept of domain adaptation is proposed, which allows using a complex deep neural network in the signal extraction procedure while ensuring a minimal dependence of the measurements on the theoretical modelling of the signal.

Muon Radiography or muography is based on the measurement of the absorption or scattering of cosmic muons, as they pass through the interior of large scale bodies, In particular, absorption muography has been applied to investigate the presence of hidden cavities inside the pyramids or underground, as well as the interior of volcanoes’ edifices. The MURAVES project has the challenging aim of investigating the density distribution inside the summit of Mt. Vesuvius. The information, together with that coming from gravimetric measurements, is useful as input to models, to predict how an eruption may develop. The MURAVES apparatus is a robust and low power consumption muon telescope consisting of an array of three identical and independent muon trackers, which provide in a modular way a total sensitive area of three square meters. Each tracker consists of four doublets of planes of plastic scintillator bars with orthogonal orientation, optically coupled to Silicon photomultipliers for the readout of the signal. The muon telescope has been installed on the slope of the volcano and has collected a first set of data, which are being analyzed.

This paper reports on the INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy) research activity in collaboration with FBK foundry, which is aiming at the development of new pixel detectors for the LHC Phase-2 upgrades. The R&D covers both planar pixel devices and 3D detectors built using columnar technology. All sensors are low thickness n-in-p type, as this is the general direction envisaged for the High Luminosity LHC pixel detector upgrades. Hybrid modules with 100 $$\upmu $$ m and 130 $$\upmu $$ m active thickness, connected to the PSI46dig readout chip, have been tested on beam test experiments. Selected preliminary results from test beams are described for both planar and 3D devices. The results on the 3D pixel sensors before irradiation are very satisfactory and support the conclusion that columnar devices are very good candidates for the inner layers of the upgrade pixel detectors.

This paper describes the development of new 3D and planar silicon pixel sensors designed for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Phase-2 Upgrade at High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC).The project is funded by INFN and sensors are produced in collaboration with the FBK foundry.The HL-LHC will operate at an instantaneous luminosity approximately 5 times larger than the original LHC design, significantly increasing the number of concurrent collisions per bunch crossing, the integrated luminosity delivered to the experiments and, as a consequence, the radiation dose that the detectors will have to sustain.In order to cope with these future conditions, upgrades to the detectors are required.This is necessary for the pixel tracker that is the closest to the interaction point and will be replaced.In this paper, the results, from beam tests performed at Fermilab Test Beam Facility, of thin (100 µm and 130 µm thick) n-in-p type sensors, assembled into hybrid single chip modules bump bonded to the PSI46dig readout chip, will be presented.A comparison of the performances obtained with planar sensors before and after proton irradiation up to 3 × 10 15 n eq /cm 2 will be also discussed.The paper will also report the results obtained with the first 3D pixel sensors 130 µm thick with columnar electrodes for different pixel cell prototypes.The novelty of the 3D prototypes is their small pixel cell size, ranging form the standard 100 µm × 150 µm, down to 50 µm × 50 µm and 25 µm × 100 µm, which are the preferred dimensions in the high pile-up environment of the HL-LHC.

The High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) at CERN is expected to collide protons at a centre-of-mass energy of $14\,{\rm TeV}$ and to reach an unprecedented peak instantaneous luminosity of $5 \times 10^{34}\,{\rm cm}^{-2} {\rm s}^{-1}$ with an average number of pileup events of $140$. This will allow the ATLAS and CMS experiments to collect integrated luminosities of up to $3000\,{\rm fb}^{-1}$ during the project lifetime. To cope with this extreme scenario the CMS detector will be substantially upgraded before starting the HL-LHC, a plan known as CMS Phase-2 Upgrade. In the upgrade the entire CMS silicon pixel detector will be replaced and the new detector will feature increased radiation hardness, higher granularity and capability to handle higher data rate and longer trigger latency. In this report the Phase-2 Upgrade of the CMS silicon pixel detector will be reviewed, focusing on the features of the detector layout and on the development of new pixel devices.

Simplified Template Cross Sections (STXS) have been adopted by the LHC experiments as a common framework for Higgs measurements. Their purpose is to reduce the theoretical uncertainties that are directly folded into the measurements as much as possible, while at the same time allowing for the combination of the measurements between different decay channels as well as between experiments. We report the complete, revised definition of the STXS kinematic bins (stage 1.1), which are to be used for the upcoming measurements by the ATLAS and CMS experiments using the full LHC Run 2 datasets. The main focus is on the three dominant Higgs production processes, namely gluon-fusion, vector-boson fusion, and in association with a vector boson. We also comment briefly on the treatment of other production modes.

The High Luminosity upgrade of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) calls for new highly radiation tolerant silicon pixel sensors, capable of withstanding fluences up to 2.3 × 1016 neq/cm2 (1 MeV equivalent neutrons). In this paper results obtained in beam test experiments with 3D and planar pixel sensors interconnected with the RD53A readout chip are reported. RD53A is the first prototype in 65 nm technology issued by the RD53 collaboration for the future readout chip to be used in the upgraded pixel detectors. The interconnected modules have been tested in an electron beam at DESY, before and after irradiation, which was performed at the CERN IRRAD facility for the 3D sensors or at the KIT Irradiation Center for the planar sensors, up to an equivalent fluence of 1 × 1016 neq/cm2. The sensors were made by FBK foundry in Trento, Italy, and their development was done in collaboration with INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Italy). The analysis of the collected data shows hit detection efficiencies around 99% measured after irradiation. All results are obtained in the framework of the CMS R&D activities.

The CMS tracker performance during LHC Run I is reviewed. The latest results of both pixel and strip detectors following the first LHC Long Shutdown (LS1) are then presented. Results from detector calibration and commissioning, together with a description of operations and repairs done during LS1, will be shown.

Differential and integrated fiducial cross sections measured using the Higgs to W + W -leptonic decays are presented as a function of the Higgs boson production.The measurements are performed using proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.4 fb -1 .The Higgs boson transverse momentum is reconstructed using the lepton pair transverse momentum and missing transverse momentum, which originates from the presence of two neutrinos in the final state.The differential cross section is measured as a function of the Higgs boson transverse momentum in a fiducial phase space defined to match the experimental acceptance in terms of the lepton kinematics and event topology.The measurements are compared to theoretical calculations.

Muon radiography is a fast growing field in applied scientific research. In recent years, many detector technologies and imaging techniques using the Coulomb scattering and absorption properties of cosmic-ray muons have been developed for the non-destructive assay of various structures across a wide range of applications. This work presents the first results that assess the feasibility of using muons to interrogate waste silos within the UK Nuclear Industry. Two such approaches, using different techniques that exploit each of these properties, have previously been published, and show promising results from both simulation and experimental data for the detection of shielded high-Z materials and density variations from volcanic assay. Both detector systems are based on scintillator and photomultiplier technologies. Results from dedicated simulation studies using both these technologies and image reconstruction techniques are presented for an intermediate-sized nuclear waste storage facility filled with concrete and an array of uranium samples. Both results highlight the potential to identify uranium objects of varying thicknesses greater than 5cm within real-time durations of several weeks. Increased contributions from Coulomb scattering within the concrete of the structure hinder the ability of both approaches to resolve objects of 2cm dimensions even with increased statistics. These results are all dependent on both the position of the objects within the facility and the locations of the detectors. Results for differing thicknesses of concrete, which reflect the unknown composition of the structures under interrogation, are also presented alongside studies performed for a series of data collection durations. It is anticipated that with further research, muon radiography in one, or both of these forms, will play a key role in future industrial applications within the UK Nuclear Industry.

The High Luminosity upgrade of the CERN-LHC (HL-LHC) demands for a new high-radiation tolerant solid- state pixel sensor capable of surviving fluencies up to a few 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">16</sup> particles cm <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> at ∼3 cm from the interaction point. To this extent the INFN ATLAS-CMS joint research activity, in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler, is aiming at the development of thin n-in-p type pixel sensors for the HL-LHC. The R & D covers both planar and single-sided 3D columnar pixel devices made with the Si-Si Direct Wafer Bonding technique, which allows for the production of sensors with 100µm and 130µm active thickness for planar sensors, and 130µm for 3D sensors, the thinnest ones ever produced so far. First prototypes of hybrid modules bump-bonded to the present CMS readout chips have been tested in beam tests. Preliminary results on their performance before and after irradiation are presented.

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Muon radiography is a non-invasive imaging technique that allows, through cosmic muon absorption measurements, to obtain two-dimensional and three-dimensional images of the internal structure and average density of very large material volumes. Its applications currently range from many fields: geological, archaeological, industrial, civil and nuclear safety. The technique of muon radiography being non-invasive represents a valid alternative to the common survey techniques in these fields of applications. In this presentation I will show some results obtained with this technique in the geological field for the three-dimensional imaging of cavities and tunnels within the Temperino mine located in the San Silvestro Archaeological Mining Park near Campiglia Marittima in the province of Livorno in Tuscany (Italy). The Temperino mine has ancient etruscan origins and still has areas which are not mapped in the available documentation. The mining activities of the area have always been focused on the search for a hard and dense rock called skarn in which there are metallic sulphides of Cu, Ag, Pb, Zn, Fe. Currently only one of the most superficial levels of the mine is accessible to the public through a tourist route. The muographic measurements on this site therefore have a dual objective, on the one hand to test the imaging technique on known cavities, on the other hand to discover new cavities whose knowledge could be useful, for example, for important assessments concerning historical and safety aspect of the site. All measurements were carried out with the muon detector MIMA (Muon Imaging for Mining and Archaeology) designed and built at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Florence. MIMA is a cubic tracker of approximate dimensions (50x50x50) cm&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;3&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;and is equipped with a special protective aluminum mechanism that allows its altazimuth orientation. Various measurements were made within the tourist gallery located about 50 m below ground level for the observation of areas above.&amp;amp;#160;By comparing muon transmission measurements with simulations, it was possible to generate two-dimensional angular maps of average density of material observed in every direction within the detector's acceptance. The presence of some low-density anomalies associated with the presence of cavities was thus identified. Through algorithms based on the triangulation technique and on a track backprojection technique, the cavities were located in three-dimensions. For the known cavities it was also possible to compare the reconstructed development with their real profile that was acquired with the laser scanner technique, finding a good compatibility (average deviation below&amp;amp;#160;1 m for a 7 m high cavity located 20 m above the detector&amp;amp;#8217;s installation location).&amp;amp;#160;These measurements therefore validate the muon radiography technique in the geological field for the search for cavities inside mines. The technique can be applied to identify not only low-density anomalies or voids, but also high-density areas: the application of the muon imaging technique for the identification of dense ore bodies is being studied at Temperino mine.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span&amp;gt;In the last twenty years several applications of muography (or muon radiography) technique have been carried out for geological purposes. Among them, particular attention was given to underground ore bodies prospections. For thousands of years humans have been searching new methods to understand where to find underground ore bodies and how to localize it in the three-dimensional space. Often, economically useful minerals are bounded to other minerals, forming rocks of high density values that are hosted, usually, in rocks with lower density values. In literature gravimetry and magnetometry represent the most employed geophysical methods for imaging and detection of mineral-rich ore bodies. To verify the feasibility of muography as a non-invasive geophysical prospecting technique, our research group, composed by subnuclear physicists and geologists, carried out some underground measurement campaigns at the Temperino Mine (Campiglia Marittima, Italy). Here it is located a pliocenic metasomatic ore deposit, a Cu-Pb-Zn-Fe skarn complex composed by johannsenite, quartz, hedenbergite, ilvaite and accessory primary sulphides (chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, pyrite). These metalliferous bodies of skarn have tabular geometries with sub-vertical orientations. Currently, the first level of Temperino Mine has been equipped as a touristic path and belong to the Archeological Mining Park of San Silvestro. Along this gallery, carved both into the metamorphic and non-metamorphic rocks, it&amp;amp;#8217;s been installed the MIMA muon tracker (Muon Imaging for Mining and Archaeology), a small and rugged prototype (0.5 x 0.5. x 0.5 m&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;3&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;span&amp;gt;) developed by the physicists of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics (INFN), unit of Florence, and the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Florence. MIMA detector is able to measure the underground muon flux inside the mine gallery. Matching the simulated muon transmission rate with the experimentally measured one it&amp;amp;#8217;s possible to obtain a two dimensional average density angular map of the observed target. Also, using algorithms based on triangulation and back-projection techniques is possible to obtain a reconstruction of the 3D volume of high-density areas (and also low-density areas) inside the studied volume. The latter is the volume that falls within the detector&amp;amp;#8217;s acceptance. The aim of this research is to obtain a georeferenced 3D model of the Cu-Pb-Zn ore bodies hosted in the rocks between the top of the mine gallery and the surface of the Temperino Mine area. We want to confirm that muography technique could become a suitable and reliable tool for the mining prospections field.&amp;lt;/span&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;

With the ever growing amount of data collected by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the CERN LHC, fiducial and differential measurements of the Higgs boson production cross section have become important tools to test the standard model predictions with an unprecedented level of precision, as well as seeking deviations that can manifest the presence of physics beyond the standard model. These measurements are in general designed for being easily comparable to any present or future theoretical prediction, and to achieve this goal it is important to keep the model dependence to a minimum. Nevertheless, the reduction of the model dependence usually comes at the expense of the measurement precision, preventing to exploit the full potential of the signal extraction procedure. In this paper a novel methodology based on the machine learning concept of domain adaptation is proposed, which allows using a complex deep neural network in the signal extraction procedure while ensuring a minimal dependence of the measurements on the theoretical modelling of the signal.

Recent measurements of the production of the Higgs boson with subsequent decay to a W boson pair are discussed.Leptonic decays of the W bosons are sought, selecting events with a pair of leptons with opposite charge and missing transverse momentum.Jet activity associated with the Higgs boson production, together with event topology, are used to classify events in categories sensitive to different Higgs boson production mechanisms.The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb -1 , collected by the CMS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at √ s = 13 TeV.The combination of all categories lead to an observed signal strength of 1.28 +0.18 -0.17 , compared to the standard model prediction for a Higgs boson with a mass of 125.09GeV.With an observed signal significance of 9.1σ , this is the first observation of the Higgs boson decay to a W boson pair with CMS.

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Recent measurements from the CMS Collaboration on Higgs boson fiducial and differential cross sections are presented.Results from W + W -, ZZ, γ γ and bb Higgs boson decay channels are briefly discussed, corresponding to data samples with an integrated luminosity varying from 35.9 fb -1 to 137.1 fb -1 , collected by the CMS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at √ s = 13 TeV.

Muon radiography is an imaging technique based on the measurement of the absorption of cosmic ray muons. This technique has recently been used successfully to investigate the presence of unknown cavities in the Bourbon Gallery in Naples and in the Cheops Pyramid at Cairo. The MIMA detector (Muon Imaging for Mining and Archaeology) is a muon tracker prototype for the application of muon radiography in the Archaeological and Mining fields. It is made of three couples of X-Y planes each consisting of 21 scintillator bars with silicon photomultiplier read-out. The detector is compact, robust, easily transportable and has a low power consumption: all of that makes the detector ideal for measurements in narrow and isolated environments. With this detector we have performed a measurement from inside the Temperino mine in the San Silvestro archaeo-mining park in Tuscany. The park includes about 25 km of mining tunnels arranged on several levels that have been excavated since the Etruscan time. The measured muon absorption was compared to the simulated one, obtained from the information provided by 3D laser scanner measurements and the cartographic maps of the mountain above the mine, in order to obtain information on the average density of the rock. This allowed to confirm the presence of a partially accessible exploitation opening and gave some hints on the presence of a high density body within the rock.

The High Luminosity upgrade of the CERN LHC collider (HL-LHC) demands for a new, highradiation tolerant solid-state pixel sensor capable of surviving fluencies up to a few 10 16 n eq /cm 2 at ∼ 3 cm from the interaction point.To this extent the INFN ATLAS-CMS joint research activity, in collaboration with Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK), is aiming at the development of thin n-in-p type pixel sensors for the HL-LHC.The R&D covers both planar and single-sided 3D columnar pixel devices made with the Si-Si Direct Wafer Bonding technique, which allows for the production of sensors with 100 µm and 130 µm active thickness for planar sensors, and 130 µm for 3D sensors, the thinnest ones ever produced so far.Prototypes of hybrid modules, bumpbonded to the RD53A readout chip, have been tested on beam.First results on their performance before and after irradiation are presented.