Abstract: We have performed a calculation of the gamma(p) -> pi(+) p-p reaction, where the two pions have been separated in D-wave producing the f(2)(1270) resonance. We use elements of the local hidden gauge approach that provides the interaction of vector mesons in which the f(2)(1270) resonance appears as rho-rho. molecular state in L = 0 and spin 2. The vector meson dominance, incorporated in the local hidden gauge approach converts a photon into a rho(0) meson and the other meson connects the photon with the proton. The picture is simple and has no free parameters, since the parameters of the theory have been constrained in the previous study of the vector-vector states. In a second step we introduce new elements, not present in the local hidden gauge approach, adapting the rho propagator to Regge phenomenology and introducing the rho NN tensor coupling. We find that both the differential cross section as well as the t dependence of the cross section are in good agreement with the experimental results and provide support for the molecular picture of the f(2)(1270) resonance in the first baryonic reaction where it has been tested.

Abstract: In the present work, we use three-body interaction formalism to investigate the K-multi-rho interactions. First, we reproduce the resonances f(2)(1270) and K-1(1270) in the rho rho and rho K two-body interactions, respectively, as the clusters of the fixed-center approximation. Then, we study the three-body K-rho rho(f(2)) and rho-rho K(K-1) interactions with the fixed-center approximation of the Faddeev equations. Furthermore, we extrapolate the formalism to study the four-body, five-body, and six-body systems containing one K meson and multiple rho mesons. In our research, without introducing any free parameters, we generate the K-2(1770) state in the three-body interaction with the mass of 1707 MeV and a width about 113 MeV, which are consistent with the experiments. We also find a clear resonant structure in our results of the five-body interaction, with a mass 2505 MeV and a width about 32 MeV or more, which is associated with the K-4(2500) state, where we obtain consistent results with the experimental findings. Furthermore, we predict some new states in the other many-body interactions, K-3(2080), K-5(2670) (isospin I = 1/2), and K-4(2640) (isospin I = 3/2), with uncertainties.

Abstract: The low-background, VUV-sensitive 3-inch diameter photomultiplier tube R11410 has been developed by Hamamatsu for dark matter direct detection experiments using liquid xenon as the target material. We present the results from the joint effort between the XENON collaboration and the Hamamatsu company to produce a highly radio-pure photosensor (version R11410-21) for the XENON1T dark matter experiment. After introducing the photosensor and its components, we show the methods and results of the radioactive contamination measurements of the individual materials employed in the photomultiplier production. We then discuss the adopted strategies to reduce the radioactivity of the various PMT versions. Finally, we detail the results from screening 286 tubes with ultra-low background germanium detectors, as well as their implications for the expected electronic and nuclear recoil background of the XENON1T experiment.

Abstract: The MiniBooNE experiment has reported results from the analysis of v(e) and (v) over bar (e) appearance searches, which show an excess of signal-like events at low reconstructed neutrino energies, with respect to the expected background. A significant component of this background comes from photon emission induced by (anti) neutrino neutral current interactions with nucleons and nuclei. With an improved microscopic model for these reactions, we predict the number and distributions of photon events at the MiniBooNE detector. Our results are compared to the MiniBooNE in situ estimate and to other theoretical approaches. We find that, according to our model, neutral current photon emission from single-nucleon currents is insufficient to explain the events excess observed by MiniBooNE in both neutrino and antineutrino modes.

Abstract: Background: Multinucleon transfer reactions (MNT) are a competitive tool to populate exotic neutron-rich nuclei in a wide region of nuclei, where other production methods have severe limitations or cannot be used at all. Purpose: Experimental information on the yields of MNT reactions in comparison with theoretical calculations are necessary to make predictions for the production of neutron-rich heavy nuclei. It is crucial to determine the fraction of MNT reaction products which are surviving neutron emission or fission at the high excitation energy after the nucleon exchange. Method: Multinucleon transfer reactions in Xe-136 + U-238 have been measured in a high-resolution gamma-ray/particle coincidence experiment. The large solid-angle magnetic spectrometer PRISMA coupled to the high-resolution Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) has been employed. Beamlike reaction products after multinucleon transfer in the Xe region were identified and selected with the PRISMA spectrometer. Coincident particles were tagged by multichannel plate detectors placed at the grazing angle of the targetlike recoils inside the scattering chamber. Results: Mass yields have been extracted and compared with calculations based on the GRAZING model for MNT reactions. Kinematic coincidences between the binary reaction products, i.e., beamlike and targetlike nuclei, were exploited to obtain population yields for nuclei in the actinide region and compared to x-ray yields measured by AGATA. Conclusions: No sizable yield of actinide nuclei beyond Z = 93 is found to perform nuclear structure investigations. In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy is feasible for few-neutron transfer channels in U and the -2p channel populating Th isotopes.