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Luo, X. L. et al, Agramunt, J., Egea, F. J., Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2018). Pulse pile-up identification and reconstruction for liquid scintillator based neutron detectors. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 897, 59–65.
Abstract: The issue of pulse pile-up is frequently encountered in nuclear experiments involving high counting rates, which will distort the pulse shapes and the energy spectra. A digital method of off-line processing of pile-up pulses is presented. The pile-up pulses were firstly identified by detecting the downward-going zero-crossings in the first-order derivative of the original signal, and then the constituent pulses were reconstructed based on comparing the pile-up pulse with four models that are generated by combining pairs of neutron and.. standard pulses together with a controllable time interval. The accuracy of this method in resolving the pile-up events was investigated as a function of the time interval between two pulses constituting a pile-up event. The obtained results show that the method is capable of disentangling two pulses with a time interval among them down to 20 ns, as well as classifying them as neutrons or gamma rays. Furthermore, the error of reconstructing pile-up pulses could be kept below 6% when successive peaks were separated by more than 50 ns. By applying the method in a high counting rate of pile-up events measurement of the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA), it was empirically found that this method can reconstruct the pile-up pulses and perform neutron-gamma discrimination quite accurately. It can also significantly correct the distorted pulse height spectrum due to pile-up events.
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AGATA Collaboration(Kaya, L. et al), & Gadea, A. (2018). High-spin structure in the transitional nucleus Xe-131: Competitive neutron and proton alignment in the vicinity of the N=82 shell closure. Phys. Rev. C, 98(1), 014309–19pp.
Abstract: The transitional nucleus Xe-131 is investigated after multinucleon transfer in the Xe-136 + Pb-208 and Xe-136 +U-238 reactions employing the high-resolution Advanced gamma-Tracking Array (AGATA) coupled to the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, and as an elusive reaction product in the fusion-evaporation reaction Sn-124(B-11) ,p3n)Xe-131 employing the High-efficiency Observatory for gamma-Ray Unique Spectroscopy (HORUS) gamma-ray array coupled to a double-sided silicon strip detector at the University of Cologne, Germany. The level scheme of Xe-131 is extended to 5 MeV. A pronounced backbending is observed at (h) over bar omega approximate to 0.4 MeV along the negative-parity one-quasiparticle vh(11/12)(alpha = -1/2) band. The results are compared to the high-spin systematics of the Z = 54 isotopes and the N = 77 isotones. Large-scale shell-model calculations employing the PQM130, SN100PN, GCN50:82, SN100-KTH, and a realistic effective interaction reproduce the experimental findings and provide guidance to elucidate the structure of the high-spin states. Further calculations in Xe129-132 provide insight into the changing nuclear structure along the Xe chain towards the N = 82 shell closure. Proton occupancy in the pi 0h(11/2) orbital is found to be decisive for the description of the observed backbending phenomenon.
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Valiente-Dobon, J. J., Poves, A., Gadea, A., & Fernandez-Dominguez, B. (2018). Broken mirror symmetry in S-36 and Ca-36. Phys. Rev. C, 98(1), 011302–5pp.
Abstract: Shape coexistence is a ubiquitous phenomenon in the neutron-rich nuclei belonging to (or sitting at the shores of) the N = 20 island of inversion (IoI). Exact isospin symmetry predicts the same behavior for their mirrors and the existence of a proton-rich IoI around Z = 20, centered in the (surely unbound) nucleus Ca-32. In this article we show that in Ca-36 and S-36, Coulomb effects break dramatically the mirror symmetry in the excitation energies due to the different structures of the intruder and normal states. The mirror energy difference (MED) of their 2(+) states is known to be very large at – 246 keV. We reproduce this value and predict the first excited state in Ca-36 to be a 0(+) at 2.7 MeV, 250 keV below the first 2(+). In its mirror S-36 the 0(+) lies at 55keV above the 2(+) measured at 3.291 MeV. Our calculations predict a huge MED of -720 keV, that we dub the “colossal” mirror energy difference. A possible reaction mechanism to access the O-2(+) in Ca-36 will be discussed. In addition, we theoretically address the MEDs of the A = 34, T = 3 and A = 32, T = 4 mirrors.
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Boso, A. et al, Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2018). Neutron Skin Effects in Mirror Energy Differences: The Case of Mg-23-Na-23. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(3), 032502–5pp.
Abstract: Energy differences between analogue states in the T = 1/2 Mg-23-Na-23 mirror nuclei have been measured along the rotational yrast bands. This allows us to search for effects arising from isospin-symmetrybreaking interactions (ISB) and/or shape changes. Data are interpreted in the shell model framework following the method successfully applied to nuclei in the f(7/2) shell. It is shown that the introduction of a schematic ISB interaction of the same type of that used in the f(7/2) shell is needed to reproduce the data. An alternative novel description, applied here for the first time, relies on the use of an effective interaction deduced from a realistic charge-dependent chiral nucleon-nucleon potential. This analysis provides two important results: (i) The mirror energy differences give direct insight into the nuclear skin; (ii) the skin changes along the rotational bands are strongly correlated with the difference between the neutron and proton occupations of the s(1/2) “halo” orbit.
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Ertoprak, A. et al, Algora, A., Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2018). M1 and E2 transition rates from core-excited states in semi-magic Ru-94. Eur. Phys. J. A, 54(9), 145–9pp.
Abstract: Lifetimes of high-spin states have been measured in the semi-magic (N = 50) nucleus Ru-94. Excited states in Ru-94 were populated in the Ni-58(Ca-40, 4p)Ru-94* fusion-evaporation reaction at the Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL) accelerator complex. DSAM lifetime analysis was performed on the Doppler broadened line shapes in energy spectra obtained from gamma-rays emitted while the residual nuclei were slowing down in a thick 6 mg/cm(2) metallic Ni-58 target. In total eight excited-state lifetimes in the angular momentum range I = (13-20)h have been measured, five of which were determined for the first time. The corresponding B(M1) and B(E2) reduced transition strengths are discussed within the framework of large-scale shell model calculations to study the contribution of different particle-hole configurations, in particular for analyzing contributions from core-excited configurations.
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Delafosse, C. et al, Gadea, A., Perez-Vidal, R. M., & Domingo-Pardo, C. (2018). Pseudospin Symmetry and Microscopic Origin of Shape Coexistence in the Ni-78 Region: A Hint from Lifetime Measurements. Phys. Rev. Lett., 121(19), 192502–7pp.
Abstract: Lifetime measurements of excited states of the light N = 52 isotones Kr-88, Se-86, and Ge-84 have been performed, using the recoil distance Doppler shift method and VAMOS and AGATA spectrometers for particle identification and gamma spectroscopy, respectively. The reduced electric quadrupole transition probabilities B(E2; 2(+)-> 0(+)) and B(E2; 4(+)-> 2(+)) were obtained for the first time for the hard-to-reach 84Ge. While the B(E2; 2(+)-> 0(+) ) values of Kr-88, Se-86 saturate the maximum quadrupole collectivity offered by the natural valence (3s, 2d, 1g(7/2), 1h(11/2)) space of an inert Ni-78 core, the value obtained for Ge-84 largely exceeds it, suggesting that shape coexistence phenomena, previously reported at N less than or similar to 49, extend beyond N = 50. The onset of collectivity at Z = 32 is understood as due to a pseudo-SU(3) organization of the proton single-particle sequence reflecting a clear manifestation of pseudospin symmetry. It is realized that the latter provides actually reliable guidance for understanding the observed proton and neutron single particle structure in the whole medium-mass region, from Ni to Sn, pointing towards the important role of the isovector-vector rho field in shell-structure evolution.
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Kaya, L. et al, & Gadea, A. (2018). Millisecond 23/2(+) isomers in the N=79 isotones Xe-133 and Ba-135. Phys. Rev. C, 98(5), 054312–16pp.
Abstract: Detailed information on isomeric states in A approximate to 135 nuclei is exploited to shell-model calculations in the region northwest of doubly magic nucleus Sn-132. The N = 79 isotones Xe-133 and Ba-135 are studied after multinucleon transfer in the Xe-136 + Pb-208 reaction employing the high-resolution Advanced GAmma Array (AGATA) coupled to the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy and in a pulsed-beam experiment at the FN tandem accelerator of the University of Cologne Germany utilizing a Be-9 + Te-130 fusion-evaporation reaction at a beam energy of 40 MeV. Isomeric states are identified via delayed gamma-ray spectroscopy. Hitherto tentative excitation energy spin and parity assignments of the 2017-keV J(pi) = 23/2(+) isomer in Xe-133 are confirmed and a half-life of T-1/2 = 8.64(13) ms is measured. The 2388-keV state in Ba-135. is identified as a J(pi) = 23/2(+) isomer with a half-life of 1.06(4) ms. The new results show a smooth onset of isomeric J(pi) = 23/2(+) states along the N = 79 isotones and close a gap in the high-spin systematics towards the recently investigated J(pi) = 23/2(+) isomer in Nd-139. The resulting systematics of M2 reduced transition probabilities is discussed within the of the nuclear shell model. Latest large-scale shell-model calculations employing the SN100PN, GCN50:82, SN100-KTH and a realistic effective interaction reproduce the experimental findings generally well and give insight into the structure of the isomers.
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AGATA Collaboration(Kaya, L. et al), & Gadea, A. (2019). Identification of high-spin proton configurations in Ba-136 and Ba-137. Phys. Rev. C, 99(1), 014301–19pp.
Abstract: The high-spin structures of Ba-136 and Ba-137 are investigated after multinucleon-transfer (MNT) and fusion-evaporation reactions. Ba-136 is populated in a Xe-136 + U-238 MNT reaction employing the high-resolution Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) coupled to the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, and in two Be-9 + Te-130 fusion-evaporation reactions using the High-efficiency Observatory for gamma-Ray Unique Spectroscopy (HORUS) at the FN tandem accelerator of the University of Cologne, Germany. Furthermore, both isotopes are populated in an elusive reaction channel in the B-11 + Te-130 fusion-evaporation reaction utilizing the HORUS gamma-ray array. The level scheme above the J(pi) = 10(+) isomer in Ba-136 is revised and extended up to an excitation energy of approximately 5.5 MeV. From the results of angular-correlation measurements, the E-x = 3707- and E-x = 4920-keV states are identified as the bandheads of positive- and negative-parity cascades. While the high-spin regimes of both Te-132 and Xe-134 are characterized by high-energy 12(+) -> 10(+) transitions, the Ba-136 E2 ground-state band is interrupted by negative-parity states only a few hundred keV above the J(pi) = 10(+) isomer. Furthermore, spins are established for several hitherto unassigned high-spin states in Ba-137. The new results close a gap along the high-spin structure of N < 82 Ba isotopes. Experimental results are compared to large-scale shell-model calculations employing the GCN50:82, Realistic SM, PQM130, and SN100PN interactions. The calculations suggest that the bandheads of the positive-parity bands in both isotopes are predominantly of proton character.
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Soderstrom, P. A. et al, Agramunt, J., Egea, J., Gadea, A., & Huyuk, T. (2019). Neutron detection and gamma-ray suppression using artificial neural networks with the liquid scintillators BC-501A and BC-537. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 916, 238–245.
Abstract: In this work we present a comparison between the two liquid scintillators BC-501A and BC-537 in terms of their performance regarding the pulse-shape discrimination between neutrons and gamma rays. Special emphasis is put on the application of artificial neural networks. The results show a systematically higher gamma-ray rejection ratio for BC-501A compared to BC-537 applying the commonly used charge comparison method. Using the artificial neural network approach the discrimination quality was improved to more than 95% rejection efficiency of gamma rays over the energy range 150 to 1000 keV for both BC-501A and BC-537. However, due to the larger light output of BC-501A compared to BC-537, neutrons could be identified in BC-501A using artificial neural networks down to a recoil proton energy of 800 keV compared to a recoil deuteron energy of 1200 keV for BC-537. We conclude that using artificial neural networks it is possible to obtain the same gamma-ray rejection quality from both BC-501A and BC-537 for neutrons above a low-energy threshold. This threshold is, however, lower for BC-501A, which is important for nuclear structure spectroscopy experiments of rare reaction channels where low-energy interactions dominates.
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Valiente-Dobon, J. J. et al, Egea, J., Huyuk, T., Gadea, A., Aliaga, R., Jurado-Gomez, M. L., et al. (2019). NEDA-NEutron Detector Array. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 927, 81–86.
Abstract: The NEutron Detector Array, NEDA, will form the next generation neutron detection system that has been designed to be operated in conjunction with gamma-ray arrays, such as the tracking-array AGATA, to aid nuclear spectroscopy studies. NEDA has been designed to be a versatile device, with high-detection efficiency, excellent neutron-gamma discrimination, and high rate capabilities. It will be employed in physics campaigns in order to maximise the scientific output, making use of the different stable and radioactive ion beams available in Europe. The first implementation of the neutron detector array NEDA with AGATA 1 pi was realised at GANIL. This manuscript reviews the various aspects of NEDA.
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