Carlos Mariñas Pardo, scientific head of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) at the Institute of Corpuscular Physics (IFIC), located in the scientific-academic area of the Science Park University of Valencia and joint centre of the CSIC and the University of Valencia, has been elected Deputy Spokesperson of the Belle II experiment. This large subatomic particle detector is located in the SuperKEKB accelerator in Japan, which holds the world record for collisions occurring inside it with those seeking new phenomena in the field of physics. The Spanish scientist will play a central role in the scientific and technical coordination of the collaboration operating the experiment, particularly in the improvement of the detector. The fee will extend until June 2027.
At the general meeting, held from 16 to 20 June in Japan, the Institutional Committee ratified the appointment of Carlos Mariñas, who joins Florian Bernlocher (University of Bonn, Germany) and Kodai Matsuoka (KEK, Japan) in the government team coordinating the Belle II Collaboration, made up of more than 1,000 researchers from 138 institutions in 28 countries. It is located in the SuperKEKB accelerator, the most intense of its kind in the world. In particle physics, this is determined by luminosity, the number of collisions between particles that occur over a period of time. SuperKEKB doubles the previous record held by its predecessor, the KEKB accelerator.
The goal of the Belle II experiment is to discover new physics not described by the Standard Model of particle physics, the theory that describes the matter we see in the universe. For example, it looks for the existence of hypothetical dark matter particles, which make up 25% of the universe but have not yet been detected; or also leptoquarks, which could explain the anomalies observed recently in the disintegration of B mesons.
This large subatomic particle detector is located in the SuperKEKB accelerator in Japan, which holds the world record for collisions occurring inside it with those seeking new phenomena in the field of physics. Carlos Mariñas, IFIC researcher, will play a central role in the scientific and technical coordination of the collaboration that operates the experiment, particularly in the improvement of the detector
The Belle II detector is designed for the precise characterization of mesons B, a type of heavy particle formed by quarks b or beauty, one of the bricks that make up visible matter. Identifying rare or forbidden disintegrations in the Standard Model of this particle would indicate 'new physics'. The research programme includes the study of exotic states and the precise measurement of important processes to understand the abnormal magnetic moment of the muon, another of the unsolved puzzles in Physics.
With a research background focused on the development of large-area DMAPS demonstrators for pixel detectors and their application to future experiments in particle physics, Carlos Mariñas has already played the role of deputy operations coordinator for Belle II since its launch in 2019. As the technical coordinator of the experiment, he also led the installation of a new pixel detector and the improvement of several sub-detectors during their shutdown between 2022 and 2023.
As Deputy Spokesperson, the PCUV scientist assumes a central role in the scientific and technical coordination of the collaboration, and in particular in the operation and improvement of the detector for its high luminosity phase planned for 2032. "We have entered a particularly interesting phase for the Belle II experiment, where we expect to operate with high efficiency at peak luminosities never reached before," says Mariñas. "With this high amount of data and given the good performance of the detector, Belle II goes into the search for new processes and particles that could transform our understanding of the fundamental components of matter," says the IFIC researcher.
We enter a particularly interesting phase for the Belle II experiment, where we plan to operate with high efficiency at peak luminosities never reached. With this high number of data and given the good performance of the detector, Belle II goes into the search for new processes and particles that could transform our understanding of the fundamental components of matter", Carlos Mariñas, researcher at IFIC
The Belle II experiment and the semiconductor technologies developed there also play a central role in the IFIC’s Severo Ochoa excellence project. In addition, the SuperKEKB accelerator is developing technologies essential for the construction and operation of the future Higgs factory at CERN, an installation to mass produce Higgs bosons, the particle responsible for the mass of the universe discovered in the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN in 2012.
Source: IFIC
Do not miss the day of Innotransfer "Microelectronics: The challenges of the new engine of the Valencian economy", in which participates Carlos Mariñas, IFIC (from 1:39:50)