n_TOF Collaboration, Kappeler, F., Mengoni, A., Mosconi, M., Fujii, K., Heil, M., et al. (2011). Neutron Studies for Dating the Universe. J. Korean Phys. Soc., 59(2), 2094–2099.
Abstract: The neutron capture cross sections of (186)Os and (187)Os are of key importance for defining the 8-process abundance of (187)Os at the formation of the solar system. This quantity can be used to determine the radiogenic abundance component of (187)Os from the decay of (187)Re (t(1/2) = 41.2 Gyr) and to infer the time-duration of the nucleosynthesis in our galaxy (Re/Os cosmochronometer). The neutron capture cross sections of (186)Os, (187)Os, and (188)Os have been measured at the CERN nTOF facility from 1 eV to 1 MeV, covering the entire energy range of astrophysical interest. From these data Maxwellian averaged capture cross sections have been calculated with uncertainties between 3.3 and 4.7%. Additional information was obtained by measuring the inelastic scattering cross section of (187)Os at the Karlsruhe 3.7 MV Van de Graaff accelerator and by neutron resonance analyses of the nTOF capture data to establish a comprehensive experimental basis for the Hauser-Feshbach statistical model. Consistent I-IF calculations for the capture and inelastic reaction channels were performed to determine the stellar enhancement factors, which are required to correct the Maxwellian averaged cross sections for the effect of thermally populated excited states. The consequences of this analysis for the s-process component of the (187)Os abundance and the related impact on the evaluation of the time-duration of Galactic nucleosynthesis via the Re/Os cosmo-chronometer are discussed.
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Guess, C. J. et al, Algora, A., Estevez, E., Molina, F., & Rubio, B. (2011). The Nd-150(He-3,t) and Sm-150(t,He-3) reactions with applications to beta beta decay of Nd-150. Phys. Rev. C, 83(6), 064318–17pp.
Abstract: The Nd-150(3He,t) reaction at 140 MeV/u and Sm-150(t,He-3) reaction at 115 MeV/u were measured, populating excited states in Pm-150. The transitions studied populate intermediate states of importance for the (neutrinoless) beta beta decay of Nd-150 to Sm-150. Monopole and dipole contributions to the measured excitation-energy spectra were extracted by using multipole decomposition analyses. The experimental results were compared with theoretical calculations obtained within the framework of the quasiparticle random-phase approximation, which is one of the main methods employed for estimating the half-life of the neutrinoless beta beta decay (0 nu beta beta) of Nd-150. The present results thus provide useful information on the neutrino responses for evaluating the 0 nu beta beta and 2 nu beta beta matrix elements. The 2 nu beta beta matrix element calculated from the Gamow-Teller transitions through the lowest 1(+) state in the intermediate nucleus is maximally about half that deduced from the half-life measured in 2 nu beta beta direct counting experiments, and at least several transitions through 1+ intermediate states in Pm-150 are required to explain the 2 nu beta beta half-life. Because Gamow-Teller transitions in the Sm-150(t,3He) experiment are strongly Pauli blocked, the extraction of Gamow-Teller strengths was complicated by the excitation of the 2 (h) over bar omega, Lambda L = 0, Delta S = 1 isovector spin-flip giant monopole resonance (IVSGMR). However, the near absence of Gamow-Teller transition strength made it possible to cleanly identify this resonance, and the strength observed is consistent with the full exhaustion of the non-energy-weighted sum rule for the IVSGMR.
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DELPHI Collaboration(Abdallah, J. et al), Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., Fuster, J., Garcia, C., Oyanguren, A., et al. (2011). A study of the b-quark fragmentation function with the DELPHI detector at LEP I and an averaged distribution obtained at the Z Pole. Eur. Phys. J. C, 71(2), 1557–29pp.
Abstract: The nature of b-quark jet hadronisation has been investigated using data taken at the Z peak by the DELPHI detector at LEP. Two complementary methods are used to reconstruct the energy of weakly decaying b-hadrons, E-B(weak). The average value of x(B)(weak) = E-B(weak)/E-beam is measured to be 0.699 +/- 0.011. The resulting x(B)(weak) distribution is then analysed in the framework of two choices for the perturbative contribution (parton shower and Next to Leading Log QCD calculation) in order to extract measurements of the non-perturbative contribution to be used in studies of b-hadron production in other experimental environments than LEP. In the parton shower framework, data favour the Lund model ansatz and corresponding values of its parameters have been determined within PYTHIA 6.156 from DELPHI data: a = 1.84(-0.21)(+0.23) and b = 0.642(-0.063)(+0.073) GeV-2, with a correlation factor rho = 92.2%. Combining the data on the b-quark fragmentation distributions with those obtained at the Z peak by ALEPH, OPAL and SLD, the average value of x(B)(weak) is found to be 0.7092 +/- 0.0025 and the non-perturbative fragmentation component is extracted. Using the combined distribution, a better determination of the Lund parameters is also obtained: a = 1.48(-0.10)(+0.11) and b = 0.509(-0.023)(+0.024) GeV-2, with a correlation factor rho = 92.6%.
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Guardiola, R., & Navarro, J. (2011). On the Lindemann Criterion for Quantum Clusters at Very Low Temperature. J. Phys. Chem. A, 115(25), 6843–6850.
Abstract: The Lindemann criterion to discern the solid-like or liquid-like nature of a quantum cluster at T = 0 is discussed. A critical analysis of current Lindemann parameters is presented and a new parameter is proposed that is appropriate to study quantum clusters made of identical particles. A simple model wave function is introduced to fix the range of variation of these parameters. The model presents two extreme limits that correspond to either a liquid-like or a solid-like system; besides, it fulfills the Bose symmetry and also permits evaluations without symmetrization. Variational and diffusion Monte Carlo calculations are also performed for clusters of spinless bosons interacting through Lennard-Jones potentials. It is shown that the liquid-like or solid-like character of quantum clusters at zero temperature cannot be simply established in terms of a single parameter.
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Menjo, H. et al, Faus-Golfe, A., & Velasco, J. (2011). Monte Carlo study of forward pi(0) production spectra to be measured by the LHCf experiment for the purpose of benchmarking hadron interaction models at 10(17) eV. Astropart Phys., 34(7), 513–520.
Abstract: The LHCf experiment aims to improve knowledge of forward neutral particle production spectra at the LHC energy which is relevant for the interpretation of air shower development of high energy cosmic rays. Two detectors, each composed of a pair of sampling and imaging calorimeters, have been installed at the forward region of IP1 to measure pi(0) energy spectra above 600 GeV. In this paper, we present a Monte Carlo study of the pi(0) measurements to be performed with one of the LHCf detectors for proton-proton collisions at root s = 14 TeV. In approximately 40 min of operation at luminosity 0.8 x 10(29) cm(-2) s(-1) during the beam commissioning phase of LHC, about 1.5 x 10(4) pi(0) events are expected to be obtained at two transverse positions of the detector. The backgrounds from interactions of secondary particles with beam pipes and interactions of beam particles with residual gas in the beam pipes are expected to be less than 0.1% of the signal from pi(0)s. We also discuss the capability of LHCf measurements to discriminate between the various hadron interaction models that are used for simulation of high energy air showers, such as DPMJET3.03, QGSJETII-03, SIBYLL2.1 and EPOS1.99.
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