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NEXT Collaboration(Henriques, C. A. O. et al), Benlloch-Rodriguez, J. M., Carcel, S., Carrion, J. V., Diaz, J., Felkai, R., et al. (2022). Neutral Bremsstrahlung Emission in Xenon Unveiled. Phys. Rev. X, 12(2), 021005–23pp.
Abstract: We present evidence of non-excimer-based secondary scintillation in gaseous xenon, obtained using both the NEXT-White time projection chamber (TPC) and a dedicated setup. Detailed comparison with first-principle calculations allows us to assign this scintillation mechanism to neutral bremsstrahlung (NBrS), a process that is postulated to exist in xenon that has been largely overlooked. For photon emission below 1000 nm, the NBrS yield increases from about 10(-2) photon/e(-) cm(-1) bar(-1) at pressure-reduced electric field values of 50 V cm(-1) bar(-1) to above 3 x 10(-1) photon/e(-) cm(-1) bar(-1) at 500 V cm(-1) bar(-1). Above 1.5 kV cm(-1) bar(-1), values that are typically employed for electroluminescence, it is estimated that NBrS is present with an intensity around 1 photon/e(-) cm(-1) bar(-1), which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than conventional, excimer-based electroluminescence. Despite being fainter than its excimeric counterpart, our calculations reveal that NBrS causes luminous backgrounds that can interfere, in either gas or liquid phase, with the ability to distinguish and/or to precisely measure low primary-scintillation signals (S1). In particular, we show this to be the case in the "buffer region, where keeping the electric field below the electroluminescence threshold does not suffice to extinguish secondary scintillation. The electric field leakage in this region should be mitigated to avoid intolerable levels of NBrS emission. Furthermore, we show that this new source of light emission opens up a viable path toward obtaining S2 signals for discrimination purposes in future single-phase liquid TPCs for neutrino and dark matter physics, with estimated yields up to 20-50 photons/e(-) cm(-1).
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Karuseichyk, I., Sorelli, G., Walschaers, M., Treps, N., & Gessner, M. (2022). Resolving mutually-coherent point sources of light with arbitrary statistics. Phys. Rev. Res., 4(4), 043010–11pp.
Abstract: We analyze the problem of resolving two mutually coherent point sources with arbitrary quantum statistics, mutual phase, and relative and absolute intensity. We use a sensitivity measure based on the method of moments and compare direct imaging with spatial-mode demultiplexing (SPADE), analytically proving advantage of the latter. We show that the moment-based sensitivity of SPADE saturates the quantum Fisher information for all known cases, even for non-Gaussian states of the sources.
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Lasa-Alonso, J., Olmos-Trigo, J., Devescovi, C., Hernandez, P., Garcia-Etxarri, A., & Molina-Terriza, G. (2023). Resonant helicity mixing of electromagnetic waves propagating through matter. Phys. Rev. Res., 5(2), 023116–8pp.
Abstract: Dual scatterers preserve the helicity of an incident field, whereas antidual scatterers flip it completely. In this setting of linear electromagnetic scattering theory, we provide a completely general proof on the nonexistence of passive antidual scatterers. However, we show that scatterers fulfilling the refractive index matching condition flip the helicity of the fields very efficiently without being in contradiction with the law of energy conservation. Moreover, we find that this condition is paired with the impedance matching condition in several contexts of electromagnetism and, in particular, within Fresnel's and Mie's scattering problems. Finally, we show that indexmatched media induce a resonant helicity mixing on the propagating electromagnetic waves. We reach this conclusion by identifying that the refractive index matching condition leads to the phenomenon of avoided crossing.
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Das, B. et al, & Algora, A. (2024). Broken seniority symmetry in the semimagic proton mid-shell nucleus 95Rh. Phys. Rev. Res., 6(2), L022038–7pp.
Abstract: Lifetime measurements of low-lying excited states in the semimagic ( N = 50) nucleus 95 Rh have been performed by means of the fast -timing technique. The experiment was carried out using gamma -ray detector arrays consisting of LaBr 3 (Ce) scintillators and germanium detectors integrated into the DESPEC experimental setup commissioned for the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research ( FAIR ) Phase -0, Darmstadt, Germany. The excited states in 95 Rh were populated primarily via the /3 decays of 95 Pd nuclei, produced in the projectile fragmentation of a 850 MeV / nucleon 124 Xe beam impinging on a 4 g / cm 2 9 Be target. The deduced electromagnetic E2 transition strengths for the gamma -ray cascade within the multiplet structure depopulating from the isomeric I pi = 21 / 2 + state are found to exhibit strong deviations from predictions of standard shell model calculations which feature approximately conserved seniority symmetry. In particular, the observation of a strongly suppressed E2 strength for the 13 / 2 + -> 9 / 2 + ground state transition cannot be explained by calculations employing standard interactions. This remarkable result may require revision of the nucleon-nucleon interactions employed in state-of-the-art theoretical model calculations, and might also point to the need for including three-body forces in the Hamiltonian.
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IGISOL Collaboration(Zakari-Issoufou, A. A. et al), Algora, A., Tain, J. L., Valencia, E., Agramunt, J., Estevez, E., et al. (2015). Total Absorption Spectroscopy Study of Rb-92 Decay: A Major Contributor to Reactor Antineutrino Spectrum Shape. Phys. Rev. Lett., 115(10), 102503–6pp.
Abstract: The antineutrino spectra measured in recent experiments at reactors are inconsistent with calculations based on the conversion of integral beta spectra recorded at the ILL reactor. Rb-92 makes the dominant contribution to the reactor antineutrino spectrum in the 5-8 MeV range but its decay properties are in question. We have studied Rb-92 decay with total absorption spectroscopy. Previously unobserved beta feeding was seen in the 4.5-5.5 region and the GS to GS feeding was found to be 87.5(25)%. The impact on the reactor antineutrino spectra calculated with the summation method is shown and discussed.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Barbagallo, M. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., Tain, J. L., & Tarifeño-Saldivia, A. (2016). Be-7(n,alpha)He-4 Reaction and the Cosmological Lithium Problem: Measurement of the Cross Section in a Wide Energy Range at n_TOF at CERN. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(15), 152701–7pp.
Abstract: The energy-dependent cross section of the (7)Bed(n,alpha)He-4 reaction, of interest for the so-called cosmological lithium problem in big bang nucleosynthesis, has been measured for the first time from 10 meV to 10 keV neutron energy. The challenges posed by the short half-life of Be-7 and by the low reaction cross section have been overcome at nTOF thanks to an unprecedented combination of the extremely high luminosity and good resolution of the neutron beam in the new experimental area (EAR2) of the nTOF facility at CERN, the availability of a sufficient amount of chemically pure Be-7, and a specifically designed experimental setup. Coincidences between the two alpha particles have been recorded in two Si-Be-7-Si arrays placed directly in the neutron beam. The present results are consistent, at thermal neutron energy, with the only previous measurement performed in the 1960s at a nuclear reactor. The energy dependence reported here clearly indicates the inadequacy of the cross section estimates currently used in BBN calculations. Although new measurements at higher neutron energy may still be needed, the n_TOF results hint at a minor role of this reaction in BBN, leaving the long-standing cosmological lithium problem unsolved.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., et al. (2017). Observation of B-c(+) -> (DK+)-K-0 Decays. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(11), 111803–9pp.
Abstract: Using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb(-1), recorded by the LHCb detector at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, the B-c(+) -> (DK+)-K-0 decay is observed with a statistical significance of 5.1 standard deviations. By normalizing to B-c(+) -> (D) over bar (0)pi(+) decays, a measurement of the branching fraction multiplied by the production rates for B-c(+) relative to B+ mesons in the LHCb acceptance is obtained, R-D0K = (f(c)/f(u)) x B(B-c(+) -> (DK+)-K-0) = (9.3(-2.5)(+2.8) +/- 0.6) x 10(-7), where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This decay is expected to proceed predominantly through weak annihilation and penguin amplitudes, and is the first B-c(+) decay of this nature to be observed.
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Agullo, I., del Rio, A., & Navarro-Salas, J. (2017). Electromagnetic Duality Anomaly in Curved Spacetimes. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(11), 111301–5pp.
Abstract: The source-free Maxwell action is invariant under electric-magnetic duality rotations in arbitrary spacetimes. This leads to a conserved classical Noether charge. We show that this conservation law is broken at the quantum level in the presence of a background classical gravitational field with a nontrivial Chern-Pontryagin invariant, in parallel with the chiral anomaly for massless Dirac fermions. Among the physical consequences, the net polarization of the quantum electromagnetic field is not conserved.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., et al. (2017). Observation of the Annihilation Decay Mode B-0 -> K+K-. Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(8), 081801–9pp.
Abstract: A search for the B-0 -> K+K- decay is performed using pp-collision data collected by LHCb. The data set corresponds to integrated luminosities of 1.0 and 2.0 fb(-1) at center-of-mass energies of 7 and 8 TeV, respectively. This decay is observed for the first time, with a significance of more than 5 standard deviations. The analysis also results in an improved measurement of the branching fraction for the B-s(0) -> pi(+)pi(-) decay. The measured branching fractions are B(B-0 -> K+K-) = (7.80 +/- 1.27 +/- 0.81 +/- 0.21) x 10(-8) and B(B-s(0) -> pi(+)p(-)) = (6.91 +/- 0.54 +/- 0.63 +/- 0.19 +/- 0.40) x 10(-7). The first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, the third is due to the uncertainty on the B-0 -> K+pi(-) branching fraction used as a normalization. For the B-s(0) mode, the fourth accounts for the uncertainty on the ratio of the probabilities for b quarks to hadronize into B-s(0) and B-0 mesons.
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LHCb Collaboration(Aaij, R. et al), Garcia Martin, L. M., Martinez-Vidal, F., Oyanguren, A., Remon Alepuz, C., Ruiz Valls, P., et al. (2017). Observation of the Decay Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-). Phys. Rev. Lett., 118(7), 071801–11pp.
Abstract: Decays of the Xi(-)(b) and Omega(-)(b) baryons to the charmless final states ph(-)h'(-), where h((')) denotes a kaon or pion, are searched for with the LHCb detector. The analysis is based on a sample of proton-proton collision data collected at center-of-mass energies root s = 7 and 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb(-1). The decay Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-) is observed with a significance of 8.7 standard deviations, and evidence at the level of 3.4 standard deviations is found for the Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)pi(-) decay. Results are reported, relative to the B- -> K+K-K- normalization channel, for the products of branching fractions and b-hadron production fractions. The branching fractions of Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)pi(-) and Xi(-)(b) -> p pi(-)pi(-) relative to Xi(-)(b) -> pK(-)K(-) decays are also measured.
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