Guadilla, V. et al, Algora, A., Tain, J. L., Agramunt, J., Aysto, J., Jordan, D., et al. (2019). Large Impact of the Decay of Niobium Isomers on the Reactor (v)over-bar(e) Summation Calculations. Phys. Rev. Lett., 122(4), 042502–6pp.
Abstract: Even mass neutron-rich niobium isotopes are among the principal contributors to the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum. They are also among the most challenging to measure due to the refractory nature of niobium, and because they exhibit isomeric states lying very close in energy. The beta-intensity distributions of Nb-100gs,Nb-100m and Nb-102gs,Nb-02m beta decays have been determined using the total absorption.-ray spectroscopy technique. The measurements were performed at the upgraded Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility at the University of Jyvaskyla. Here, the double Penning trap system JYFLTRAP was employed to disentangle the beta decay of the isomeric states. The new data obtained in this challenging measurement have a large impact in antineutrino summation calculations. For the first time the discrepancy between the summation model and the reactor antineutrino measurements in the region of the shape distortion has been reduced.
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Estienne, M., Fallot, M., Algora, A., Briz-Monago, J., Bui, V. M., Cormon, S., et al. (2019). Updated Summation Model: An Improved Agreement with the Daya Bay Antineutrino Fluxes. Phys. Rev. Lett., 123(2), 022502–6pp.
Abstract: A new summation method model of the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum is presented. It is updated with the most recent evaluated decay databases and with our total absorption gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements performed during the last decade. For the first time, the spectral measurements from the Daya Bay experiment are compared with the antineutrino energy spectrum computed with the updated summation method without any renormalization. The results exhibit a better agreement than is obtained with the Huber-Mueller model in the 2-5 MeV range, the region that dominates the detected flux. A systematic trend is found in which the antineutrino flux computed with the summation model decreases with the inclusion of more pandemonium-free data. The calculated flux obtained now lies only 1.9% above that detected in the Daya Bay experiment, a value that may be reduced with forthcoming new pandemonium-free data, leaving less room for a reactor anomaly. Eventually, the new predictions of individual antineutrino spectra for the U-235, Pu-239, Pu-241, and U-238 are used to compute the dependence of the reactor antineutrino spectral shape on the fission fractions.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Guerrero, C. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2020). Neutron Capture on the s-Process Branching Point Tm-171 via Time-of-Flight and Activation. Phys. Rev. Lett., 125(14), 142701–8pp.
Abstract: The neutron capture cross sections of several unstable nuclides acting as branching points in the s process are crucial for stellar nucleosynthesis studies. The unstable Tm-171 (t(1/2) = 1.92 yr) is part of the branching around mass A similar to 170 but its neutron capture cross section as a function of the neutron energy is not known to date. In this work, following the production for the first time of more than 5 mg of Tm-171 at the high-flux reactor Institut Laue-Langevin in France, a sample was produced at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Two complementary experiments were carried out at the neutron time-of-flight facility (nTOF) at CERN in Switzerland and at the SARAF liquid lithium target facility at Soreq Nuclear Research Center in Israel by time of flight and activation, respectively. The result of the time -of-flight experiment consists of the first ever set of resonance parameters and the corresponding average resonance parameters, allowing us to make an estimation of the Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) by extrapolation. The activation measurement provides a direct and more precise measurement of the MACS at 30 keV: 384 (40) mb, with which the estimation from the nTOF data agree at the limit of 1 standard deviation. This value is 2.6 times lower than the JEFF-3.3 and ENDF/B-VIII evaluations, 25% lower than that of the Bao et al. compilation, and 1.6 times larger than the value recommended in the KAlloNiS (v1) database, based on the only previous experiment. Our result affects the nucleosynthesis at the A similar to 170 branching, namely, the Yb-171 abundance increases in the material lost by asymptotic giant branch stars, providing a better match to the available pre-solar SiC grain measurements compared to the calculations based on the current JEFF-3.3 model-based evaluation.
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Phong, V. H. et al, Agramunt, J., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Morales, A. I., Rubio, B., et al. (2022). Beta-Delayed One and Two Neutron Emission Probabilities South-East of Sn-132 and the Odd-Even Systematics in r-Process Nuclide Abundances. Phys. Rev. Lett., 129(18), 172701–7pp.
Abstract: The beta-delayed one- and two-neutron emission probabilities (P-1n and P-2n) of 20 neutron-rich nuclei with N >= 82 have been measured at the RIBF facility of the RIKEN Nishina Center. P-1n of Ag-130;131, Cd-133;134, In-135;136, and (138;13)9Sn were determined for the first time, and stringent upper limits were placed on P-2n for nearly all cases. beta-delayed two-neutron emission (beta 2n) was unambiguously identified in Cd-133 and In-135;136, and their P-2n were measured. Weak beta 2n was also detected from Sn-137;138. Our results highlight the effect of the N = 82 and Z = 50 shell closures on beta-delayed neutron emission probability and provide stringent benchmarks for newly developed macroscopic-microscopic and self-consistent global models with the inclusion of a statistical treatment of neutron and. emission. The impact of our measurements on r-process nucleosynthesis was studied in a neutron star merger scenario. Our P-1n and P-2n have a direct impact on the
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n_TOF Collaboration(Amaducci, S. et al), Babiano-Suarez, V., Caballero-Ontanaya, L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Ladarescu, I., Tain, J. L., et al. (2024). Measurement of the 140Ce(n,γ) Cross Section at n_TOF and Its Astrophysical Implications for the Chemical Evolution of the Universe. Phys. Rev. Lett., 132(12), 122701–8pp.
Abstract: 140Ce(n, gamma) is a key reaction for slow neutron -capture (s -process) nucleosynthesis due to being a bottleneck in the reaction flow. For this reason, it was measured with high accuracy (uncertainty approximate to 5%) at the n_TOF facility, with an unprecedented combination of a high purity sample and low neutron -sensitivity detectors. The measured Maxwellian averaged cross section is up to 40% higher than previously accepted values. Stellar model calculations indicate a reduction around 20% of the s -process contribution to the Galactic cerium abundance and smaller sizeable differences for most of the heavier elements. No variations are found in the nucleosynthesis from massive stars.
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Yeung, T. T. et al, Morales, A. I., Tain, J. L., Alcala, G., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., et al. (2024). First Exploration of Monopole-Driven Shell Evolution above the N=126 Shell Closure: New Millisecond Isomers in Tl-213 and Tl-215. Phys. Rev. Lett., 133(7), 072501–7pp.
Abstract: Isomer spectroscopy of heavy neutron-rich nuclei beyond the N = 126 closed shell has been performed for the first time at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory of the RIKEN Nishina Center. New millisecond isomers have been identified at low excitation energies, 985.3(19) keV in Tl-213 and 874(5) keV in Tl-215. The measured half-lives of 1.34(5) ms in Tl-213 and 3.0(3) ms in Tl-215 suggest spins and parities 11/2(-) with the single proton-hole configuration pi h(11/2) as leading component. They are populated via E1 transitions by the decay of higher-lying isomeric states with proposed spin and parity 17/2(+), interpreted as arising from a single pi s(1/2) proton hole coupled to the 8(+) seniority isomer in the PbA + 1 cores. The lowering of the 11/2(-) states is ascribed to an increase of the pi h(11/2) proton effective single-particle energy as the second nu g(9/2) orbital is filled by neutrons, owing to a significant reduction of the proton-neutron monopole interaction between the pi h(11/2) and nu g(9/2) orbitals. The new ms isomers provide the first experimental observation of shell evolution in the almost unexplored N > 126 nuclear region below doubly magic Pb-208.
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Casanovas-Hoste, A. et al, Domingo-Pardo, C., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Tarifeño-Saldivia, A., & Tain, J. L. (2024). Shedding Light on the Origin of Pb-204, the Heaviest s-Process-Only Isotope in the Solar System. Phys. Rev. Lett., 133(5), 052702–8pp.
Abstract: Asymptotic giant branch stars are responsible for the production of most of the heavy isotopes beyond Sr observed in the solar system. Among them, isotopes shielded from the r-process contribution by their stable isobars are defined as s-only nuclei. For a long time the abundance of (204) Pb, the heaviest s-only isotope, has been a topic of debate because state-of-the-art stellar models appeared to systematically underestimate its solar abundance. Besides the impact of uncertainties from stellar models and galactic chemical evolution simulations, this discrepancy was further obscured by rather divergent theoretical estimates for the neutron capture cross section of its radioactive precursor in the neutron-capture flow, 204 Tl ( t( 1/2)=2 1 / 4 3.78 . 78 yr), and by the lack of experimental data on this reaction. We present the first ever neutron capture measurement on (204) Tl, conducted at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF, employing a sample of only 9 mg of 204 Tl produced at the Institute Laue Langevin high flux reactor. By complementing our new results with semiempirical calculations we obtained, at the s-process temperatures of kT approximate to 8 keV and kT approximate to 30 keV, Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) of 580(168) mb and 260(90) mb, respectively. These figures are about 3% lower and 20% higher than the corresponding values widely used in astrophysical calculations, which were based only on theoretical calculations. By using the new Tl-204 MACS, the uncertainty arising from the( 204) Tl ( n ; gamma) cross section on the s-process abundance of Pb-204 has been reduced from similar to 30% down to & thorn;8%= = – 6% , and the s-process calculations are in agreement with the latest solar system abundance of Pb-204 reported by K. Lodders in 2021.
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Tolosa-Delgado, A. et al, Tain, J. L., Agramunt, J., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Morales, A. I., et al. (2025). Impact of Newly Measured β-Delayed Neutron Emitters around 78Ni on Light Element Nucleosynthesis in the Neutrino Wind Following a Neutron Star Merger. Phys. Rev. Lett., 134(17), 172701–11pp.
Abstract: Neutron emission probabilities and half-lives of 37 /3-delayed neutron emitters from 75Ni to 92Br were measured at the RIKEN Nishina Center in Japan, including 11 one-neutron and 13 two-neutron emission probabilities and six half-lives for the first time that supersede theoretical estimates. These nuclei lie in the path of the weak r process occurring in neutrino-driven winds from the accretion disk formed after the merger of two neutron stars synthesizing elements in the A 80 abundance peak. The presence of such elements dominates the accompanying kilonova emission over the first few days and have been identified in the AT2017gfo event, associated to the gravitational wave detection GW170817. Abundance calculations based on over 17 000 simulated trajectories describing the evolution of matter properties in the merger outflows show that the new data lead to an increase of 50%-70% in the abundance of Y, Zr, Nb, and Mo. This enhancement is large compared to the scatter of relative abundances observed in old very metal poor stars and thus is significant in the comparison with other possible astrophysical processes contributing to the light-element production. These results underline the importance of including experimental decay data for very neutron-rich /3-delayed neutron emitters into r-process models.
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Grieger, M., Hensel, T., Agramunt, J., Bemmerer, D., Degering, D., Dillmann, I., et al. (2020). Neutron flux and spectrum in the Dresden Felsenkeller underground facility studied by moderated He-3 counters. Phys. Rev. D, 101(12), 123027–15pp.
Abstract: Ambient neutrons may cause significant background for underground experiments. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate their flux and energy spectrum in order to devise a proper shielding. Here, two sets of altogether ten moderated He-3 neutron counters are used for a detailed study of the ambient neutron background in tunnel IV of the Felsenkeller facility, underground below 45 m of rock in Dresden/Germany. One of the moderators is lined with lead and thus sensitive to neutrons of energies higher than 10 MeV. For each He-3 counter moderator assembly, the energy-dependent neutron sensitivity was calculated with the FLUKA code. The count rates of the ten detectors were then fitted with the MAXED and GRAVEL packages. As a result, both the neutron energy spectrum from 10(-9) to 300 MeV and the flux integrated over the same energy range were determined experimentally. The data show that at a given depth, both the flux and the spectrum vary significantly depending on local conditions. Energy-integrated fluxes of (0.61 +/- 0.05), (1.96 +/- 0.15), and (4.6 +/- 0.4) x 10(-4) cm(-2) s(-1), respectively, are measured for three sites within Felsenkeller tunnel IV which have similar muon flux but different shielding wall configurations. The integrated neutron flux data and the obtained spectra for the three sites are matched reasonably well by FLUKA Monte Carlo calculations that are based on the known muon flux and composition of the measurement room walls.
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n_TOF Collaboration(Lederer, C. et al), Domingo-Pardo, C., & Tain, J. L. (2011). Au-197(n,gamma) cross section in the unresolved resonance region. Phys. Rev. C, 83(3), 034608–11pp.
Abstract: The cross section of the reaction Au-197(n,gamma) was measured with the time-of-flight technique at the n_TOF (neutron time-of-flight) facility in the unresolved resonance region between 5 and 400 keV using a pair of C6D6 (where D denotes H-2) liquid scintillators for the detection of prompt capture gamma rays. The results with a total uncertainty of 3.9%-6.7% for a resolution of 20 bins per energy decade show fair agreement with the Evaluated Nuclear Data File Version B-VII.0 (ENDF/B-VII.0), which contains the standard evaluation. The Maxwellian-averaged cross section (MACS) at 30 keV is in excellent agreement with the one according to the ENDF/B-VII.0 evaluation and 4.7% higher than the MACS measured independently by activation technique. Structures in the cross section, which had also been reported earlier, have been interpreted as being due to clusters of resonances.
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