This collection explores the fascinating world of instrumentation and detection within physics, focusing on the tools and sensors that allow scientists to measure the universe. From advanced particle trackers to sensitive gravitational wave detectors, these innovations form the backbone of modern discovery, turning abstract theories into observable data.

On Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this field as it appears on arXiv, ensuring you stay ahead of the curve. Each paper is accompanied by a clear, plain-language explanation alongside a detailed technical summary, bridging the gap between complex research and accessible knowledge.

Below are the latest papers in physics instrumentation and detection, offering fresh insights into how we observe the fundamental nature of reality.

Proton Computed Tomography Image Reconstruction Based on the Richardson-Lucy Algorithm

This paper proposes and validates a novel Richardson-Lucy-based iterative algorithm for proton computed tomography image reconstruction, demonstrating through Monte Carlo simulations that it achieves high spatial resolution and low relative stopping power uncertainty as a promising proof-of-concept for improving proton therapy accuracy.

Gábor Bíró, Ákos Sudár, Zsófia Jólesz, Gábor Papp, Gergely Gábor Barnaföldi2026-02-18🔬 physics

Real-time graph neural networks on FPGAs for the Belle II electromagnetic calorimeter

This paper presents the first implementation of a real-time Graph Neural Network on an FPGA for the Belle II electromagnetic calorimeter trigger, which achieves 8 MHz throughput with 3.168 μs latency while significantly improving position resolution, cluster purity, and efficiency compared to the baseline algorithm.

I. Haide, M. Neu, Y. Unno, T. Justinger, V. Dajaku, F. Baptist, T. Lobmaier, J. Becker, T. Ferber, H. Bae, A. Beaubien, J. Eppelt, R. Giordano, G. Heine, T. Koga, Y. -T. Lai, K. Miyabayashi, H. Nakaza (…)2026-02-18⚛️ hep-ex

GPS constellation search for exotic physics messengers coincident with the binary neutron star merger GW170817

This study utilizes archival GPS carrier phase data to conduct a retrospective search for exotic low-mass fields emitted by the GW170817 binary neutron star merger, finding no significant signal but establishing new 95% confidence-level constraints on the interaction energy scale of quadratic couplings that improve upon existing astrophysical limits.

Arko P. Sen, Geoffrey Blewitt, Andrey Sarantsev, Paul Ries, Andrei Derevianko2026-02-18🔬 physics.atom-ph

Identification and simulation of surface alpha events on passivated surfaces of germanium detectors and the influence of metalisation

This paper investigates alpha-induced surface events on passivated germanium detectors by analyzing charge trapping effects, verifying pulse-shape identification techniques, discovering a novel dependence on crystal axes, and introducing a simulation model within SolidStateDetectors.jl to better understand background contributions in neutrinoless double-beta decay searches.

Iris Abt, Christopher Gooch, Felix Hagemann, Lukas Hauertmann, Xiang Liu, Oliver Schulz, Martin Schuster, Anna Julia Zsigmond2026-02-17🔬 physics

Bayesian inference of high-purity germanium detector impurities based on capacitance measurements and machine-learning accelerated capacitance calculations

This paper presents a novel Bayesian inference method using a machine-learning surrogate model trained on GPU-accelerated simulations to accurately determine the spatially varying impurity density of high-purity germanium detectors from capacitance measurements, overcoming the limitations of traditional manufacturer data.

Iris Abt, Christopher Gooch, Felix Hagemann, Lukas Hauertmann, Xiang Liu, Oliver Schulz, Martin Schuster2026-02-17🔬 physics

Temperature Dependence of the Electron-Drift Anisotropy and Implications for the Electron-Drift Model

This study investigates the temperature dependence of electron-drift anisotropy in n-type germanium detectors, revealing that standard drift models yield unphysical predictions and proposing a modified model that better aligns with experimental data obtained from surface scans at varying temperatures.

Iris Abt, Chris Gooch, Felix Hagemann, Lukas Hauertmann, David Hervas Aguilar, Xiang Liu, Oliver Schulz, Martin Schuster, Anna Julia Zsigmond2026-02-17⚛️ nucl-ex