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Caballero, L., Albiol, F., Corbi Bellot, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Leganes Nieto, J. L., Agramunt Ros, J., et al. (2018). Gamma-ray imaging system for real-time measurements in nuclear waste characterisation. J. Instrum., 13, P03016–23pp.
Abstract: Acompact, portable and large field-of-viewgamma camera that is able to identify, locate and quantify gamma-ray emitting radioisotopes in real-time has been developed. The device delivers spectroscopic and imaging capabilities that enable its use it in a variety of nuclear waste characterisation scenarios, such as radioactivity monitoring in nuclear power plants and more specifically for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. The technical development of this apparatus and some examples of its application in field measurements are reported in this article. The performance of the presented gamma-camera is also benchmarked against other conventional techniques.
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Caballero-Folch, R. et al, Agramunt, J., Tain, J. L., Algora, A., Domingo-Pardo, C., Guadilla, V., et al. (2018). First determination of beta-delayed multiple neutron emission beyond A=100 through direct neutron measurement: The P-2n value of Sb-136. Phys. Rev. C, 98(3), 034310–10pp.
Abstract: Background: beta-delayed multiple neutron emission has been observed for some nuclei with A <= 100 being the Rb-100 the heaviest beta 2n emitter measured to date. So far only 25 P-2n values have been determined for the approximate to 300 nuclei that may decay in this way. Accordingly it is of interest to measure P-2n values for the other possible multiple neutron emitters throughout the chart of the nuclides. It is of particular interest to make such a measurement for nuclei with A > 100 to test the predictions of theoretical models and simulation tools for the decays of heavy nuclei in the region of very neutron-rich nuclei. In addition the decay properties of these nuclei are fundamental for the understanding of astrophysical nucleosynthesis processes such as the r-process and safety inputs for nuclear reactors. Purpose: To determine for the first time the two-neutron branching ratio the P-2n value for Sb-136 through a direct neutron measurement and to provide precise P-1n values for Sb-136 and Te-136. Method: A pure beam of each isotope of interest was provided by the JYFLTRAP Penning trap at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility of the University of Jyvaskyla Finland. The purified ions were implanted into a moving tape at the end of the beam line. The detection setup consisted of a plastic scintillator placed right behind the implantation point after the tape to register the beta decays and the BELEN detector based on neutron counters embedded in a polyethylene matrix. The analysis was based on the study of the beta- and neutron-growth-and-decay curves and the beta-one-neutron and beta-two-neutron time correlations which allowed us the determination of the neutron branching ratios. Results: The P-2n value of Sb-136 was found to be 0.14(3)% and the measured P-1n values for Sb-136 and Te-136 were found to be 32.2(15)% and 1.47(6)% respectively. Conclusions: The measured P-2n value is a factor 44 smaller than predicted by the finite-range droplet model plus the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (FRDM+QRPA) model used for r-process calculations.
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Campanario, F., Figy, T. M., Platzer, S., Rauch, M., Schichtel, P., & Sjodahl, M. (2018). Stress testing the vector-boson-fusion approximation in multijet final states. Phys. Rev. D, 98(3), 033003–7pp.
Abstract: We consider electroweak Higgs plus three jets production at NLO QCD beyond strict VBF acceptance cuts. We investigate, for the first time, how accurate the VBF approximation is in these regions and within perturbative uncertainties by a detailed comparison of full and approximate calculations. We find that a rapidity gap between the tagging jets guarantees a good approximation, while an invariant mass cut alone is not sufficient, which needs to be confronted with experimental choices. We also find that a significant part of the QCD corrections can be attributed to Higgs-Strahlungs-type topologies.
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Campanario, F., Kerner, M., & Zeppenfeld, D. (2018). Z gamma production in vector-boson scattering at next-to-leading order QCD. J. High Energy Phys., 01(1), 160–19pp.
Abstract: Cross sections and differential distributions for Z gamma production in association with two jets via vector boson fusion are presented at next-to-leading order in QCD. The leptonic decays of the Z boson with full off-shell effects and spin correlations are taken into account. The uncertainties due to different scale choices and pdf sets are studied. Furthermore, we analyze the effect of including anomalous quartic gauge couplings at NLO QCD.
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Caputo, A., Pena-Garay, C., & Witte, S. J. (2018). Looking for axion dark matter in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Phys. Rev. D, 98(8), 083024–6pp.
Abstract: We study the extent to which the decay of cold dark matter axions can be probed with forthcoming radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). In particular, we focus on signals arising from dwarf spheroidal galaxies, where astrophysical uncertainties are reduced and the expected magnetic field strengths are such that signals arising from axion decay may dominate over axion-photon conversion in a magnetic field. We show that with similar to 100 hr of observing time, SKA could improve current sensitivity by 2-3 orders of magnitude-potentially obtaining sufficient sensitivity to begin probing the decay of cold dark matter axions.
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