Iocco, F., Taoso, M., Leclercq, F., & Meynet, G. (2012). Main Sequence Stars with Asymmetric Dark Matter. Phys. Rev. Lett., 108(6), 061301–5pp.
Abstract: We study the effects of feebly or nonannihilating weakly interacting dark matter (DM) particles on stars that live in DM environments denser than that of our Sun. We find that the energy transport mechanism induced by DM particles can produce unusual conditions in the cores of main sequence stars, with effects which can potentially be used to probe DM properties. We find that solar mass stars placed in DM densities of rho(chi) >= 10(2) GeV/cm(3) are sensitive to spin-dependent scattering cross section sigma(SD) >= 10(-37) cm(2) and a DM particle mass as low as m(chi) = 5 GeV, accessing a parameter range weakly constrained by current direct detection experiments.
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Husek, T., Goudzovski, E., & Icampf, K. (2019). Precise Determination of the Branching Ratio of the Neutral-Pion Dalitz Decay. Phys. Rev. Lett., 122(2), 022003–6pp.
Abstract: We provide a new value for the ratio R = Gamma(pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)gamma(gamma))/Gamma(pi(0) -> gamma gamma) = 11.978(6) x 10(-3), which is by 2 orders of magnitude more precise than the current Particle Data Group average. It is obtained using the complete set of the next-to-leading-order radiative corrections in the QED sector, and incorporates up-to-date values of the pi(0)-transition-form-factor slope. The ratio R translates into the branching ratios of the two main pi(0) decay modes: B(pi(0) -> gamma gamma) = 98.8131(6)% and B(pi(0) -> e(+)e(-)gamma(gamma)) = 1.1836(6)%.
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Herrero-Garcia, J., Schwetz, T., & Zupan, J. (2012). Astrophysics independent bounds on the annual modulation of dark matter signals. Phys. Rev. Lett., 109(14), 141301–5pp.
Abstract: We show how constraints on the time integrated event rate from a given dark matter (DM) direct detection experiment can be used to bound the amplitude of the annual modulation signal in another experiment. The method requires only mild assumptions about the properties of the local DM distribution: that it is temporally stable on the scale of months and spatially homogeneous on the ecliptic. We apply the method to the annual modulation signal in DAMA/LIBRA, which we compare to the bounds derived from XENON10, XENON100, cryogenic DM search, and SIMPLE data. Assuming a DM mass of 10 GeV, we show that under the above assumptions about the DM halo, a DM interpretation of the DAMA/LIBRA signal is excluded for several classes of models: at 6.3 sigma (4.6 sigma) for elastic isospin conserving (violating) spin-independent interactions, and at 4.9 sigma for elastic spin-dependent interactions on protons.
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AGATA Collaboration(Hadynska-Klek, K. et al), & Gadea, A. (2016). Superdeformed and Triaxial States in Ca-42. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(6), 062501–7pp.
Abstract: Shape parameters of a weakly deformed ground-state band and highly deformed slightly triaxial sideband in Ca-42 were determined from E2 matrix elements measured in the first low-energy Coulomb excitation experiment performed with AGATA. The picture of two coexisting structures is well reproduced by new state-of-the-art large-scale shell model and beyond-mean-field calculations. Experimental evidence for superdeformation of the band built on 0(2)(+) has been obtained and the role of triaxiality in the A similar to 40 mass region is discussed. Furthermore, the potential of Coulomb excitation as a tool to study superdeformation has been demonstrated for the first time.
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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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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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Grodner, E. et al, Gadea, A., Algora, A., Agramunt, J., Domingo-Pardo, C., Molina, F., et al. (2014). Hindered Gamow-Teller Decay to the Odd-Odd N = Z Ga-62: Absence of Proton-Neutron T=0 Condensate in A=62. Phys. Rev. Lett., 113(9), 092501–5pp.
Abstract: Search for a new kind of superfluidity built on collective proton-neutron pairs with aligned spin is performed studying the Gamow-Teller decay of the T = 1, J(pi) = 0(+) ground state of Ge-62 into excited states of the odd-odd N = Z nucleus Ga-62. The experiment is performed at GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Shwerionenforshung with the Ge-62 ions selected by the fragment separator and implanted in a stack of Si-strip detectors, surrounded by the RISING Ge array. A half-life of T-1/2 = 2 82.9(14) ms is measured for the Ge-62 ground state. Six excited states of Ga-62, populated below 2.5 MeV through Gamow-Teller transitions, are identified. Individual Gamow-Teller transition strengths agree well with theoretical predictions of the interacting shell model and the quasiparticle random phase approximation. The absence of any sizable low-lying Gamow-Teller strength in the reported beta-decay experiment supports the hypothesis of a negligible role of coherent T = 0 proton-neutron correlations in Ga-62.
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Gottardo, A. et al, Gadea, A., & Algora, A. (2012). New Isomers in the Full Seniority Scheme of Neutron-Rich Lead Isotopes: The Role of Effective Three-Body Forces. Phys. Rev. Lett., 109(16), 162502–5pp.
Abstract: The neutron-rich lead isotopes, up to Pb-216, have been studied for the first time, exploiting the fragmentation of a primary uranium beam at the FRS-RISING setup at GSI. The observed isomeric states exhibit electromagnetic transition strengths which deviate from state-of-the-art shell-model calculations. It is shown that their complete description demands the introduction of effective three-body interactions and two-body transition operators in the conventional neutron valence space beyond Pb-208.
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Goigoux, T. et al, Algora, A., Guadilla, V., Montaner-Piza, A., Morales, A. I., Orrigo, S. E. A., et al. (2016). Two-Proton Radioactivity of Kr-67. Phys. Rev. Lett., 117(16), 162501–6pp.
Abstract: In an experiment with the BigRIPS separator at the RIKEN Nishina Center, we observed two-proton (2p) emission from Kr-67. At the same time, no evidence for 2p emission of Ge-59 and Se-63, two other potential candidates for this exotic radioactivity, could be observed. This observation is in line with Q value predictions which pointed to Kr-67 as being the best new candidate among the three for two-proton radioactivity. Kr-67 is only the fourth 2p ground-state emitter to be observed with a half-life of the order of a few milliseconds. The decay energy was determined to be 1690(17) keV, the 2p emission branching ratio is 37(14)%, and the half-life of Kr-67 is 7.4(30) ms.
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Gessner, M., & Smerzi, A. (2023). Hierarchies of Frequentist Bounds for Quantum Metrology: From Cramer-Rao to Barankin. Phys. Rev. Lett., 130(26), 260801–6pp.
Abstract: We derive lower bounds on the variance of estimators in quantum metrology by choosing test observables that define constraints on the unbiasedness of the estimator. The quantum bounds are obtained by analytical optimization over all possible quantum measurements and estimators that satisfy the given constraints. We obtain hierarchies of increasingly tight bounds that include the quantum Cramer-Rao bound at the lowest order. In the opposite limit, the quantum Barankin bound is the variance of the locally best unbiased estimator in quantum metrology. Our results reveal generalizations of the quantum Fisher information that are able to avoid regularity conditions and identify threshold behavior in quantum measurements with mixed states, caused by finite data.
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