[en] The SuperB complex project aims at the construction of a very high luminosity (10³⁶ cm^-2s^-1) asymmetric e⁺e^- B-factory and a few X-ray synchrotron beam lines (SR). The project has been recently approved by the Italian Government as part of the National Research Plan. The Tor Vergata University location has been chosen and a Consortium among INFN, University of Rome II Tor Vergata and the Research Ministry is being signed, allowing for the constitution of the 'Cabibbo Laboratory', where the SuperB project will be hosted. This paper presents and describes the status of the preliminary design of the site layout, related issues for the chosen site and the preliminary ground motion (GM) measurement results.

[en] An array of 2424 2.6- m-long, 15- mm-diameter mylar straw tubes, arranged in two axial and four stereo layers, has been assembled at National Laboratories of Frascati of INFN for the FINUDA experiment. The array covers a cylindrical tracking surface of 18 m² and provides coordinate measurement in the drift direction and along the wire with a resolution of the order of 100 and 300 μm, respectively. The array has finished the commissioning phase and tests with cosmic rays are underway. The status straw tubes array and a very preliminary result from cosmic rays test are summarized in this work

[en] A 9U VME like double threshold discriminator has been designed and constructed at Frascati INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) laboratories. Its aim is to process the signals arising from gas drift chambers, introducing a very small time walk (∼ 650 ps.). Each discriminator board houses 32 channels. Each channel is located on an independent printed circuit mounted on socket. This solution is very convenient for replacing faulty channels without loosing operation of the full board

[en] We present the measurement of negative ion drift velocities and mobilities for innovative particle tracking detectors using gas mixtures based on SF₆. This gas has recently received attention in the context of directional Dark Matter searches, thanks to its high Fluorine content, reduced diffusion and multiple species of charge carriers, which allow for full detector fiducialization. Our measurements, performed with a 5 cm drift distance Negative Ion Time Projection Chamber, show the possibility of negative ion operation in pure SF₆ between 75 and 150 Torr with triple thin GEM amplification, confirming the attractive potentialities of this gas. Above all, our results with the mixture He:CF₄:SF₆ 360:240:10 Torr demonstrate for the first time the feasibility of SF₆⁻ negative ion drift and gas gain in He at nearly atmospheric pressure, opening very interesting prospects for the next generation of directional Dark Matter detectors.

[en] Optical readout of GEM based devices by means of high granularity and low noise CMOS sensors allows to obtain very interesting tracking performance. Space resolution of the order of tens of μm were measured on the GEM plane along with an energy resolution of 20%÷30%. The main limitation of CMOS sensors is represented by their poor information about time structure of the event. In this paper, the use of a concurrent light readout by means of a suitable photomultiplier and the acquisition of the electric signal induced on the GEM electrode are exploited to provide the necessary timing informations. The analysis of the PMT waveform allows a 3D reconstruction of each single clusters with a resolution on z of 100 μm. Moreover, from the PMT signals it is possible to obtain a fast reconstruction of the energy released within the detector with a resolution of the order of 25% even in the tens of keV range useful, for example, for triggering purpose.

[en] New low emittance lattices have been designed for the asymmetric SuperB accelerator, aiming at a luminosity of 10³⁶ cm^-2 s^-1. Main optics features are two alternating arc cells with different horizontal phase advance, decreasing beam emittance and allowing at the same time for easy chromaticity correction in the arcs. Emittance can be further reduced by a factor of two for luminosity upgrade. Spin rotation schemes for the e^- beam have been studied to provide longitudinal polarization at the IP, and implementation into the lattice is in progress.

[en] SuperB aims at the construction of a very high luminosity (10³⁶ cm^-2 s^-1) asymmetric e⁺e^- Flavour Factory, with possible location at the campus of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, near the INFN Frascati National Laboratory. In this paper the basic principles of the design and details on the lattice are given. SuperB is a new machine that can exploit novel very promising design approaches: (1) large Piwinski angle scheme will allow for peak luminosity of the order of 10³⁶ cm^-2 s^-1, well beyond the current state-of-the-art, without a significant increase in beam currents or shorter bunch lengths; (2) 'crab waist' sextupoles will be used for suppression of dangerous resonances; (3) the low beam currents design presents reduced detector and background problems, and affordable operating costs; (4) a polarized electron beam can produce polarized τ leptons, opening an entirely new realm of exploration in lepton flavor physics. SuperB studies are already proving useful to the accelerator and particle physics communities. The principle of operation is being tested at DAFNE. The baseline lattice, based on the reuse of all PEP-II hardware, fits in the Tor Vergata University campus site, near Frascati. A CDR is being reviewed by an International Review Committee, chaired by J. Dainton (UK). A Technical Design Report will be prepared to be ready by beginning of 2010.

[en] Parameters have been studied for a high luminosity e⁺e^- collider operating at the Upsilon 4S that would deliver a luminosity of 1 to 4 x 10³⁶/cm²/s. This collider, called a Super-B Factory, would use a combination of linear collider and storage ring techniques. In this scheme an electron beam and a positron beam are stored in low-emittance damping rings similar to those designed for a Linear Collider (LC) or the next generation light source. A LC style interaction region is included in the ring to produce sub-millimeter vertical beta functions at the collision point. A large crossing angle (+/- 24 mrad) is used at the collision point to allow beam separation. A crab-waist scheme is used to reduce the hourglass effect and restore peak luminosity. Beam currents of 1.8 A at 4 x 7 GeV in 1251 bunches can produce a luminosity of 10³⁶/cm²/s with upgrade possibilities. Such a collider would produce an integrated luminosity of about 10,000 fb^-1 (10 ab^-1) in a running year (10⁷ sec) at the γ(4S) resonance. Further possibilities include having longitudinally polarized e- at the IR and operating at the J/Psi and Psi beam energies.

[en] We have searched for a deeply bound kaonic state by using the FINUDA spectrometer installed at the e⁺e^- collider DAΦNE. Almost monochromatic K^-'s produced through the decay of φ(1020) mesons are used to observe K^- absorption reactions stopped on very thin nuclear targets. Taking this unique advantage, we have succeeded to detect a kaon-bound state K^-pp through its two-body decay into a Λ hyperon and a proton. The binding energy and the decay width are determined from the invariant-mass distribution as 115_-5⁺⁶(stat)_-4⁺³(syst) MeV and 67_-11⁺¹⁴(stat)_-3⁺²(syst) MeV, respectively

[en] Optical readout of large Time Projection Chambers (TPCs) with multiple Gas Electron Multipliers (GEMs) amplification stages has shown to provide very interesting performances for high energy particle tracking. Proposed applications for low-energy and rare event studies, such as Dark Matter search, ask for demanding performance in the keV energy range. The performance of such a readout was studied in details as a function of the electric field configuration and GEM gain by using a ⁵⁵Fe source within a 7 litre sensitive volume detector developed as a part of the R and D for the CYGNUS project. Results reported in this paper show that the low noise level of the sensor allows to operate with a 2 keV threshold while keeping a rate of fake-events lesser than 10 per year. In this configuration, a detection efficiency well above 95% along with an energy resolution (σ) of 18% is obtained for the 5.9 keV photons demonstrating the very promising capabilities of this technique.