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Tortajada, S., Albiol, F., Caballero, L., Albiol, A., & Leganes-Nieto, J. L. (2023). A portable geometry-independent tomographic system for gamma-ray, a next generation of nuclear waste characterization. Sci Rep, 13(1), 12284–10pp.
Abstract: One of the main activities of the nuclear industry is the characterisation of radioactive waste based on the detection of gamma radiation. Large volumes of radioactive waste are classified according to their average activity, but often the radioactivity exceeds the maximum allowed by regulators in specific parts of the bulk. In addition, the detection of the radiation is currently based on static detection systems where the geometry of the bulk is fixed and well known. Furthermore, these systems are not portable and depend on the transport of waste to the places where the detection systems are located. However, there are situations where the geometry varies and where moving waste is complex. This is especially true in compromised situations.We present a new model for nuclear waste management based on a portable and geometry-independent tomographic system for three-dimensional image reconstruction for gamma radiation detection. The system relies on a combination of a gamma radiation camera and a visible camera that allows to visualise radioactivity using augmented reality and artificial computer vision techniques. This novel tomographic system has the potential to be a disruptive innovation in the nuclear industry for nuclear waste management.
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Muñoz, E., Ros, A., Borja-Lloret, M., Barrio, J., Dendooven, P., Oliver, J. F., et al. (2021). Proton range verification with MACACO II Compton camera enhanced by a neural network for event selection. Sci Rep, 11(1), 9325–12pp.
Abstract: The applicability extent of hadron therapy for tumor treatment is currently limited by the lack of reliable online monitoring techniques. An active topic of investigation is the research of monitoring systems based on the detection of secondary radiation produced during treatment. MACACO, a multi-layer Compton camera based on LaBr3 scintillator crystals and SiPMs, is being developed at IFIC-Valencia for this purpose. This work reports the results obtained from measurements of a 150 MeV proton beam impinging on a PMMA target. A neural network trained on Monte Carlo simulations is used for event selection, increasing the signal to background ratio before image reconstruction. Images of the measured prompt gamma distributions are reconstructed by means of a spectral reconstruction code, through which the 4.439 MeV spectral line is resolved. Images of the emission distribution at this energy are reconstructed, allowing calculation of the distal fall-off and identification of target displacements of 3 mm.
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Morfouace, P. et al, Benlliure, J., Cortina-Gil, D., & Nacher, E. (2025). An asymmetric fission island driven by shell effects in light fragments. Nature, 641, 339–344.
Abstract: Nuclear fission leads to the splitting of a nucleus into two fragments(1,2). Studying the distribution of the masses and charges of the fragments is essential for establishing the fission mechanisms and refining the theoretical models(3,4). It has value for our understanding of r-process nucleosynthesis(5,6), in which the fission of nuclei with extreme neutron-to-proton ratios is pivotal for determining astrophysical abundances and understanding the origin of the elements(7) and for energy applications(8,9). Although the asymmetric distribution of fragments is well understood for actinides (elements in the periodic table with atomic numbers from 89 to 103) based on shell effects(10), symmetric fission governs the scission process for lighter elements. However, unexpected asymmetric splits have been observed in neutron-deficient exotic nuclei(11), prompting extensive further investigations. Here we present measurements of the charge distributions of fission fragments for 100 exotic fissioning systems, 75 of which have never been measured, and establish a connection between the neutron-deficient sub-lead region and the well-understood actinide region. These new data comprehensively map the asymmetric fission island and provide clear evidence for the role played by the deformed Z = 36 proton shell of the light fragment in the fission of sub-lead nuclei. Our dataset will help constrain the fission models used to estimate the fission properties of nuclei with extreme neutron-to-proton ratios for which experimental data are unavailable.
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KM3NeT Collaboration(Aiello, S. et al), Alves Garre, S., Bariego-Quintana, A., Calvo, D., Carretero, V., Cecchini, V., et al. (2025). Observation of an ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrino with KM3NeT. Nature, 638(8050), 376–382.
Abstract: The detection of cosmic neutrinos with energies above a teraelectronvolt (TeV) offers a unique exploration into astrophysical phenomena(1-3). Electrically neutral and interacting only by means of the weak interaction, neutrinos are not deflected by magnetic fields and are rarely absorbed by interstellar matter: their direction indicates that their cosmic origin might be from the farthest reaches of the Universe. High-energy neutrinos can be produced when ultra-relativistic cosmic-ray protons or nuclei interact with other matter or photons, and their observation could be a signature of these processes. Here we report an exceptionally high-energy event observed by KM3NeT, the deep-sea neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea(4), which we associate with a cosmic neutrino detection. We detect a muon with an estimated energy of 120(-60)(+110) petaelectronvolts (PeV). In light of its enormous energy and near-horizontal direction, the muon most probably originated from the interaction of a neutrino of even higher energy in the vicinity of the detector. The cosmic neutrino energy spectrum measured up to now(5-7) falls steeply with energy. However, the energy of this event is much larger than that of any neutrino detected so far. This suggests that the neutrino may have originated in a different cosmic accelerator than the lower-energy neutrinos, or this may be the first detection of a cosmogenic neutrino(8), resulting from the interactions of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with background photons in the Universe.
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Khachatryan, M. et al, Coloma, P. (2021). Electron-beam energy reconstruction for neutrino oscillation measurements. Nature, 599(7886), 565–570.
Abstract: Neutrinos exist in one of three types or 'flavours'-electron, muon and tau neutrinos-and oscillate from one flavour to another when propagating through space. This phenomena is one of the few that cannot be described using the standard model of particle physics (reviewed in ref. (1)), and so its experimental study can provide new insight into the nature of our Universe (reviewed in ref. (2)). Neutrinos oscillate as a function of their propagation distance (L) divided by their energy (E). Therefore, experiments extract oscillation parameters by measuring their energy distribution at different locations. As accelerator-based oscillation experiments cannot directly measure E, the interpretation of these experiments relies heavily on phenomenological models of neutrino-nucleus interactions to infer E. Here we exploit the similarity of electron-nucleus and neutrino-nucleus interactions, and use electron scattering data with known beam energies to test energy reconstruction methods and interaction models. We find that even in simple interactions where no pions are detected, only a small fraction of events reconstruct to the correct incident energy. More importantly, widely used interaction models reproduce the reconstructed energy distribution only qualitatively and the quality of the reproduction varies strongly with beam energy. This shows both the need and the pathway to improve current models to meet the requirements of next-generation, high-precision experiments such as Hyper-Kamiokande (Japan)(3) and DUNE (USA)(4). Electron scattering measurements are shown to reproduce only qualitatively state-of-the-art lepton-nucleus energy reconstruction models, indicating that improvements to these particle-interaction models are required to ensure the accuracy of future high-precision neutrino oscillation experiments.
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Wilson, J. N. et al, & Algora, A. (2021). Angular momentum generation in nuclear fission. Nature, 590(7847), 566–570.
Abstract: When a heavy atomic nucleus splits (fission), the resulting fragments are observed to emerge spinning(1); this phenomenon has been a mystery in nuclear physics for over 40 years(2,3). The internal generation of typically six or seven units of angular momentum in each fragment is particularly puzzling for systems that start with zero, or almost zero, spin. There are currently no experimental observations that enable decisive discrimination between the many competing theories for the mechanism that generates the angular momentum(4-12). Nevertheless, the consensus is that excitation of collective vibrational modes generates the intrinsic spin before the nucleus splits (pre-scission). Here we show that there is no significant correlation between the spins of the fragment partners, which leads us to conclude that angular momentum in fission is actually generated after the nucleus splits (post-scission). We present comprehensive data showing that the average spin is strongly mass-dependent, varying in saw-tooth distributions. We observe no notable dependence of fragment spin on the mass or charge of the partner nucleus, confirming the uncorrelated post-scission nature of the spin mechanism. To explain these observations, we propose that the collective motion of nucleons in the ruptured neck of the fissioning system generates two independent torques, analogous to the snapping of an elastic band. A parameterization based on occupation of angular momentum states according to statistical theory describes the full range of experimental data well. This insight into the role of spin in nuclear fission is not only important for the fundamental understanding and theoretical description of fission, but also has consequences for the gamma-ray heating problem in nuclear reactors(13,14), for the study of the structure of neutron-rich isotopes(15,16), and for the synthesis and stability of super-heavy elements(17,18). gamma-ray spectroscopy experiments on the origin of spin in the products of nuclear fission of spin-zero nuclei suggest that the fission fragments acquire their spin after scission, rather than before.
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Conde, D., Castillo, F. L., Escobar, C., García, C., Garcia Navarro, J. E., Sanz, V., et al. (2023). Forecasting Geomagnetic Storm Disturbances and Their Uncertainties Using Deep Learning. Space Weather, 21(11), e2023SW003474–27pp.
Abstract: Severe space weather produced by disturbed conditions on the Sun results in harmful effects both for humans in space and in high-latitude flights, and for technological systems such as spacecraft or communications. Also, geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) flowing on long ground-based conductors, such as power networks, potentially threaten critical infrastructures on Earth. The first step in developing an alarm system against GICs is to forecast them. This is a challenging task given the highly non-linear dependencies of the response of the magnetosphere to these perturbations. In the last few years, modern machine-learning models have shown to be very good at predicting magnetic activity indices. However, such complex models are on the one hand difficult to tune, and on the other hand they are known to bring along potentially large prediction uncertainties which are generally difficult to estimate. In this work we aim at predicting the SYM-H index characterizing geomagnetic storms multiple-hour ahead, using public interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) data from the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrange point and SYM-H data. We implement a type of machine-learning model called long short-term memory (LSTM) network. Our scope is to estimate the prediction uncertainties coming from a deep-learning model in the context of forecasting the SYM-H index. These uncertainties will be essential to set reliable alarm thresholds. The resulting uncertainties turn out to be sizable at the critical stages of the geomagnetic storms. Our methodology includes as well an efficient optimization of important hyper-parameters of the LSTM network and robustness tests.
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Oliver, S., Gimenez-Alventosa, V., Berumen, F., Gimenez, V., Beaulieu, L., Ballester, F., et al. (2023). Benchmark of the PenRed Monte Carlo framework for HDR brachytherapy. Z. Med. Phys., 33(4), 511–528.
Abstract: Purpose: The purpose of this study is to validate the PenRed Monte Carlo framework for clinical applications in brachytherapy. PenRed is a C++ version of Penelope Monte Carlo code with additional tallies and utilities. Methods and materials: Six benchmarking scenarios are explored to validate the use of PenRed and its improved bachytherapy-oriented capabilities for HDR brachytherapy. A new tally allowing the evaluation of collisional kerma for any material using the track length kerma estimator and the possibility to obtain the seed positions, weights and directions processing directly the DICOM file are now implemented in the PenRed distribution. The four non-clinical test cases developed by the Joint AAPM-ESTRO-ABG-ABS WG-DCAB were evaluated by comparing local and global absorbed dose differences with respect to established reference datasets. A prostate and a palliative lung cases, were also studied. For them, absorbed dose ratios, global absorbed dose differences, and cumulative dose-volume histograms were obtained and discussed. Results: The air-kerma strength and the dose rate constant corresponding to the two sources agree with the reference datatests within 0.3% (Sk) and 0.1% (K). With respect to the first three WG-DCAB test cases, more than 99.8% of the voxels present local (global) differences within +/- 1%(+/- 0.1%) of the reference datasets. For test Case 4 reference dataset, more than 94.9%(97.5%) of voxels show an agreement within +/- 1%(+/- 0.1%), better than similar benchmarking calculations in the literature. The track length kerma estimator scorer implemented increases the numerical efficiency of brachytherapy calculations two orders of magnitude, while the specific brachytherapy source allows the user to avoid the use of error-prone intermediate steps to translate the DICOM information into the simulation. In both clinical cases, only minor absorbed dose differences arise in the low-dose isodoses. 99.8% and 100% of the voxels have a global absorbed dose difference ratio within +/- 0.2%for the prostate and lung cases, respectively. The role played by the different segmentation and composition material in the bone structures was discussed, obtaining negligible absorbed dose differ-ences. Dose-volume histograms were in agreement with the reference data.Conclusions: PenRed incorporates new tallies and utilities and has been validated for its use for detailed and precise high-dose-rate brachytherapy simulations.
Keywords: Monte Carlo; PenRed; Brachytherapy; DICOM; Medical physics
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Martin-Luna, P., Esperante, D., Casaña, J. V., Fernandez Prieto, A., Fuster-Martinez, N., Rivas, I. G., et al. (2025). Effects of the passive voltage divider in a photomultiplier tube: Analytical model, simulations and experimental validation. Sens. Actuator A-Phys., 381, 116057–11pp.
Abstract: The effects of the passive resistive voltage divider network in a photomultiplier tube (PMT) have been investigated by developing an in-house Monte Carlo simulation code and compared with experimental measurements and an analytical model. The simulation code follows an iterative procedure that takes into account the transport and amplification of the electrons within the device depending on the electrostatic fields produced by the electrode voltages. The PMT gain, dynode voltages, rise time and transit time have been studied as a function of the photocathode current and supply voltage. A good agreement between the analytical model, the simulations and numerous experimental measurements using a Hamamatsu R13408-100 PMT has been obtained. The simulation results endorse the use of logistic functions within the analytical model to account for the collection efficiency in the last dynode stages. This works deepens the understanding of passive voltage dividers and develops an advanced behavioral circuit model of photomultiplier tubes. Although validated fora single PMT, the proposed methodology is applicable to any PMT model. This aids in optimizing the design of fully active voltage dividers, to be applied in extremely pulsed applications with high count rates such as prompt gamma-ray imaging during proton therapy.
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Martin-Luna, P., Esperante, D., Prieto, A. F., Fuster-Martinez, N., Rivas, I. G., Gimeno, B., et al. (2024). Simulation of electron transport and secondary emission in a photomultiplier tube and validation. Sens. Actuator A-Phys., 365, 114859–10pp.
Abstract: The electron amplification and transport within a photomultiplier tube (PMT) has been investigated by developing an in-house Monte Carlo simulation code. The secondary electron emission in the dynodes is implemented via an effective electron model and the Modified Vaughan's model, whereas the transport is computed with the Boris leapfrog algorithm. The PMT gain, rise time and transit time have been studied as a function of supply voltage and external magnetostatic field. A good agreement with experimental measurements using a Hamamatsu R13408-100 PMT was obtained. The simulations have been conducted following different treatments of the underlying geometry: three-dimensional, two-dimensional and intermediate (2.5D). The validity of these approaches is compared. The developed framework will help in understanding the behavior of PMTs under highly intense and irregular illumination or varying external magnetic fields, as in the case of prompt gamma-ray measurements during pencil-beam proton therapy; and aid in optimizing the design of voltage dividers with behavioral circuit models.
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