Abstract: The neutron flux of the nTOF facility at CERN was measured, after installation of the new spallation target, with four different systems based on three neutron-converting reactions, which represent accepted cross sections standards in different energy regions. A careful comparison and combination of the different measurements allowed us to reach an unprecedented accuracy on the energy dependence of the neutron flux in the very wide range (thermal to 1 GeV) that characterizes the nTOF neutron beam. This is a pre-requisite for the high accuracy of cross section measurements at n_TOF. An unexpected anomaly in the neutron-induced fission cross section of U-235 is observed in the energy region between 10 and 30keV, hinting at a possible overestimation of this important cross section, well above currently assigned uncertainties.

Abstract: In this reviewwe will present the results of recent beta-decay studies using the total absorption technique that cover topics of interest for applications, nuclear structure and astrophysics. The decays studied were selected primarily because they have a large impact on the prediction of (a) the decay heat in reactors, important for the safety of present and future reactors and (b) the reactor electron anti-neutrino spectrum, of interest for particle/nuclear physics and reactor monitoring. For these studies the total absorption technique was chosen, since it is the only method that allows one to obtain beta-decay probabilities free from a systematic error called the Pandemonium effect. The total absorption technique is based on the detection of the. cascades that follow the initial beta decay. For this reason the technique requires the use of calorimeters with very high. detection efficiency. The measurements presented and discussed here were performed mainly at the IGISOL facility of the University of Jyvaskyla (Finland) using isotopically pure beams provided by the JYFLTRAP Penning trap. Examples are presented to show that the results of our measurements on selected nuclei have had a large impact on predictions of both the decay heat and the anti-neutrino spectrum from reactors. Some of the cases involve beta-delayed neutron emission thus one can study the competition between gamma – and neutron-emission from states above the neutron separation energy. The gamma-to-neutron emission ratios can be used to constrain neutron capture (n, gamma) cross sections for unstable nuclei of interest in astrophysics. The information obtained from the measurements can also be used to test nuclear model predictions of half-lives and Pn values for decays of interest in astrophysical network calculations. These comparisons also provide insights into aspects of nuclear structure in particular regions of the nuclear chart.

Abstract: We present transverse momentum spectra, rapidity distribution and multiplicity of Lambda-hyperons measured with the HADES spectrometer in the reaction Ar(1.76A GeV) + KCl. The yield of Xi(-) is calculated from our previously reported Xi(-)/(Lambda+Sigma(0)) ratio and compared to other strange particle multiplicities. Employing a strangeness balance equation the multiplicities of the yet unmeasured Sigma(+/-)-hyperons can be estimated. Finally a statistical hadronization model is used to fit the yields of pi(-), K+, K-s(0), K-, phi, Lambda and Xi(-). The resulting chemical freeze-out temperature of T = (76 +/- 2) MeV is compared to the measured slope parameters obtained from fits to the transverse mass distributions of the different particles.

Abstract: We evaluate the decay width for the processes f1(1285). p 0 a0(980) and f1(1285). p 0 f0(980) taking into account that all three resonances are dynamically generated from the meson- meson interaction, the f1(1285) from K* K – c. c. and the a0(980), f0(980) from p., K K and pp, K _ K, respectively. We use a triangular mechanism similar to that of.(1405). pp., which provides a decay width for f1(1285). p 0 a0(980) with a branching fraction of the order of 30%, in agreement with experiment. At the same time we evaluate the decay width for the isospin- forbidden f1(1285). p 0 f0(980), which appears when we consider different masses for the charged and neutral kaons, and show that it is much more suppressed than in the.(1405). pp. case, but gives rise to a narrow shape of the p + p- distribution similar to the one found in the eta(1405) -> pi pi eta decay.

Abstract: We investigate the combined finite-size and thermo-magnetic effects on the properties of the quark matter, in the context of the two-flavored Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. In particular, by using the mean-field approximation and the Schwinger proper time method in a toroidal topology with periodic or antiperiodic conditions, we evaluate the chiral phase transition, the constituent quark mass and the thermal and spatial susceptibilities under the change of the size, temperature and strength of external magnetic field. To take into account the inverse magnetic catalysis phenomenon, we make use of a recently proposed magnetized coupling constant. The findings suggest that the observables are strongly affected by the variation of the variables and also by the periodicity of the boundary conditions, with the final outcomes depending on the balance of these competing phenomena.