Abstract: The neutron capture cross sections of several unstable key isotopes acting as branching points in the s-process are crucial for stellar nucleosynthesis studies, but they are very challenging to measure directly due to the difficult production of sufficient sample material, the high activity of the resulting samples, and the actual (n, gamma) measurement, where high neutron fluxes and effective background rejection capabilities are required. At present there are about 21 relevant s-process branching point isotopes whose cross section could not be measured yet over the neutron energy range of interest for astrophysics. However, the situation is changing with some very recent developments and upcoming technologies. This work introduces three techniques that will change the current paradigm in the field: the use of gamma-ray imaging techniques in (n,gamma) experiments, the production of moderated neutron beams using high-power lasers, and double capture experiments in Maxwellian neutron beams.

Abstract: In an increasing number of high-gradient linear accelerator applications, accelerating structures must operate with both high surface electric fields and low breakdown rates. Understanding the statistical properties of breakdown occurrence in such a regime is of practical importance for optimizing accelerator conditioning and operation algorithms, as well as of interest for efforts to understand the physical processes which underlie the breakdown phenomenon. Experimental data of breakdown has been collected in two distinct high-gradient experimental set-ups: A prototype linear accelerating structure operated in the Compact Linear Collider Xbox 12GHz test stands, and a parallel plate electrode system operated with pulsed DC in the kV range. Collected data is presented, analyzed and compared. The two systems show similar, distinctive, two-part distributions of number of pulses between breakdowns, with each part corresponding to a specific, constant event rate. The correlation between distance and number of pulses between breakdown indicates that the two parts of the distribution, and their corresponding event rates, represent independent primary and induced follow-up breakdowns. The similarity of results from pulsed DCto 12GHz rf indicates a similar vacuum arc triggering mechanism over the range of conditions covered by the experiments.

Abstract: The T2K off-axis near detector, ND280, is used to make the first differential cross section measurements of muon neutrino charged current single positive pion production on a water target at energies similar to 0.8 GeV. The differential measurements are presented as a function of the muon and pion kinematics, in the restricted phase space defined by p(pi+) > 200 MeV/c, p(mu) > 200 MeV/c, cos(theta(pi+)) > 0.3 and cos(theta(mu)) > 0.3. The total flux integrated nu(mu) charged current single positive pion production cross section on water in the restricted phase space is measured to be <sigma >(phi) = 4.25 +/- 0.48(stat) +/- 1.56(syst) x 10(-40) cm(2)/nucleon. The total cross section is consistent with the NEUT prediction (5.03 x 10(-40) cm(2)/nucleon) and 2 sigma lower than the GENIE prediction (7.68 x 10(-40) cm(2)/nucleon). The differential cross sections are in good agreement with the NEUT generator. The GENIE simulation reproduces well the shapes of the distributions, but overestimates the overall cross section normalization.

Abstract: This work reports on accurate, high-resolution measurements of the Mg-25(n, gamma)Mg-26 and Mg-25(n, tot) cross sections in the neutron energy range from thermal to about 300 keV, leading to a significantly improved Mg-25(n, gamma)Mg-26 parametrization. The relevant resonances for n+Mg-25 were characterized from a combined R-matrix analysis of the experimental data. This resulted in an unambiguous spin/parity assignment of the corresponding excited states in Mg-26. With this information experimental upper limits of the reaction rates for Ne-22(alpha, n)Mg-25 and Ne-22(alpha, gamma)Mg-26 were established, potentially leading to a significantly higher (alpha, n)/(alpha, gamma) ratio than previously evaluated. The impact of these results has been studied for stellar models in the mass range 2 to 25 M-circle dot. (C) 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract: The XENON1T experiment aims for the direct detection of dark matter in a detector filled with 3.3 tons of liquid xenon. In order to achieve the desired sensitivity, the background induced by radioactive decays inside the detector has to be sufficiently low. One major contributor is the beta-emitter Kr-85 which is present in the xenon. For XENON1T a concentration of natural krypton in xenon Kr-nat/Xe < 200 ppq (parts per quadrillion, 1 ppq = 10(-15) mol/mol) is required. In this work, the design, construction and test of a novel cryogenic distillation column using the common McCabe-Thiele approach is described. The system demonstrated a krypton reduction factor of 6.4 . 10(5) with thermodynamic stability at process speeds above 3 kg/h. The resulting concentration of natKr/Xe < 26 ppq is the lowest ever achieved, almost one order of magnitude below the requirements for XENON1T and even sufficient for future dark matter experiments using liquid xenon, such as XENONnT and DARWIN.