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At least 487 records · Page 27

Evaluation of Attila and MCNP computational methods for dose and exposure estimation

Radiation transport calculations are often used to estimate dose or exposure to components and personnel surrounding a radiation source. The sources for these calculations are decaying radionuclides within various nuclear materials. Historically, dose calculations use MCNP (Monte Carlo N-Particle) transport code as the primary particle transport tool without a secondary computational tool to validate the results from the MCNP simulations [1]. The goal of this study is to make an independent check of the Monte Carlo solution from MCNP6 Version 6.2.1 with the discrete ordinates solution from Attila 10.2.0 Beta 3. As an example problem for this study, water-filled, stainless-steel vessels, modeled with an unstructured mesh (UM) with both MCNP and Attila [2], are exposed to 252Cf and 60Co point sources. This report also includes a discussion of the limitations of unstructured mesh in a MCNP calculation.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Study of $Z \rightarrow ll\gamma$ decays at $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a study of $Z \rightarrow ll\gamma$ decays with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis uses a proton–proton data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.2 fb -1 collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s}$ = 8 TeV. Integrated fiducial cross-sections together with normalised differential fiducial cross-sections, sensitive to the kinematics of final-state QED radiation, are obtained. The results are found to be in agreement with state-of-the-art predictions for final-state QED radiation. First measurements of $Z \rightarrow ll\gamma\gamma$ decays are also reported.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Measurement of the 136 Xe two-neutrino double-β-decay half-life via direct background subtraction in NEXT

Here, we report a measurement of the half-life of the 136 Xe two-neutrino double-β decay performed with a novel direct-background-subtraction technique. The analysis relies on the data collected with the NEXT-White detector operated with 136 Xe-enriched and 136 Xe-depleted xenon, as well as on the topology of double-electron tracks. With a fiducial mass of only 3.5 kg of Xe, a half-life of 2.34$_{-0.46}^{+0.80}$(stat)$_{-0.17}^{+0.30}$(sys)×10 21 yr is derived from the background-subtracted energy spectrum. The presented technique demonstrates the feasibility of unique background-model-independent neutrinoless double-β-decay searches.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Projected sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment to the two-neutrino and neutrinoless double $\beta$ decays of $^{134}$Xe

The projected sensitivity of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment to two-neutrino and neutrinoless double beta decay of 134 Xe is presented. LZ is a 10-tonne xenon time projection chamber optimized for the detection of dark matter particles, that is expected to start operating in 2021 at Sanford Underground Research Facility, USA. Its large mass of natural xenon provides an exceptional opportunity to search for the double beta decay of 134 Xe, for which xenon detectors enriched in 136 Xe are less effective. For the two-neutrino decay mode, LZ is predicted to exclude values of the half-life up to 1.7 x 10 24 years at 90% confidence level (CL), and has a three-sigma observation potential of 8.7 x 10 23 years, approaching the predictions of nuclear models. For the neutrinoless decay mode LZ, is projected to exclude values of the half-life up to 7.3 x 10 24 years at 90% CL.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Description of the Proton-Decaying 0 2 + Resonance of the α Particle

The recent precise experimental determination of the monopole transition form factor from the ground state of 4 He to its $0$$^{+}_{2}$ resonance via electron scattering has reinvigorated discussions about the nature of this first excited state of the α particle. The $0$$^{+}_{2}$ state has been traditionally interpreted in the literature as the isoscalar monopole resonance (breathing mode) or, alternatively, as a particle-hole shell-model excitation. To better understand the nature of this state, which lies only ~410 keV above the proton emission threshold, we employ the coupled-channel representation of the no-core Gamow shell model. By considering the [ 3 H + p], [ 3 He + n], and [ 2 H + 2 H] reaction channels, we explain the excitation energy and monopole form factor of the $0$$^{+}_{2}$ state. Furthermore, we argue that the continuum coupling strongly impacts the nature of this state, which carries characteristics of the proton decay threshold.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Half-Life and Precision Shape Measurement of the 2⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 Decay of 130 Te

Here, we present a new measurement of the 2⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 half-life of 130 Te (𝑇$^{2⁢𝜈}_{1/2}$) using the first complete model of the CUORE data, based on 1038 kg yr of collected exposure. Thanks to optimized data selection, we achieve a factor of two improvement in precision, obtaining 𝑇$^{2⁢𝜈}_{1/2}$ = (9.32⁢$^{+0.05}_{−0.04}$⁢stat⁢ $^{+0.07}_{−0.07}$⁢syst)×10 20 yr. The signal-to-background ratio is increased by 70% compared to our previous results, enabling the first application of the improved 2⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 formalism to 130 Te . Within this framework, we determine a credibility interval for the effective axial coupling in the nuclear medium as a function of nuclear matrix elements. We also extract values for the higher-order nuclear matrix element ratios: second-to-first and third-to-first. The second-to-first ratio agrees with nuclear model predictions, while the third-to-first ratio deviates from theoretical expectations. These findings provide essential tests of nuclear models and key inputs for future 0⁢𝜈⁢𝛽⁢𝛽 searches.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Exploring the keV-scale physics potential of CUORE

We present the analysis techniques developed to explore the keV-scale energy region of the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) experiment, based on more than 2 metric ton yr of data collected over five years. By prioritizing a stricter selection over a larger exposure, we are able to optimize data selection for thresholds at 10 keV and 3 keV with 691 kg yr and 11 kg yr of data, respectively. We study how the performance varies among the 988-detector array with different detector characteristics and data-taking conditions. We achieve an average baseline resolution of 2.54 ±0.14 keV FWHM and 1.18 ±0.02 keV FWHM for the data selection at 10 keV and 3 keV, respectively. The analysis methods employed reduce the overall background by about an order of magnitude, reaching 2.06±0.05 counts/(keV kg days) and 16±2 counts/(keV kg days) at the thresholds of 10 keV and 3 keV. We evaluate for the first time the near-threshold reconstruction efficiencies of the CUORE experiment, and find these to be 50 ±2% and 26 ±4% at 10 keV and 3 keV, respectively. This analysis provides crucial insights into rare decay studies, new physics searches, and keV-scale background modeling with CUORE. We demonstrate that ton-scale cryogenic calorimeters can operate across a wide energy range, from keV to MeV, establishing their scalability as versatile detectors for rare event and dark matter physics. These findings also inform the optimization of future large mass cryogenic calorimeters to enhance the sensitivity to low-energy phenomena.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Spin-trap isomers in deformed, odd-odd nuclei in the light rare-earth region near $N=98$

Masses of neutron-rich, odd-odd Pm, Eu, and Tb nuclei near N = 98 were measured using the Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer at the Californium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility. High-resolution mass measurements yielded the discovery of spin-trap isomers at N = 97 in Tb 162 , and in the N = 99 isotones of Pm 160 and Tb 164 . Furthermore, no evidence of long-lived isomers were observed at N = 95 in Eu 158 , at N = 97 in Pm 158 , nor at N = 101 in Eu 164 and Tb 166 . Here, these experimental observations are compared to results from multiquasiparticle blocking calculations.

150 ≤ A ≤ 189↗

Detailed analysis of excited-state systematics in a lattice QCD calculation of 𝑔 𝐴

Excited state contamination remains one of the most challenging sources of systematic uncertainty to control in lattice QCD calculations of nucleon matrix elements and form factors: early time separations are contaminated by excited states and late times suffer from an exponentially bad signal-to-noise problem. High-statistics calculations at large time separations ≳ 1 fm are commonly used to combat these issues. In this work, focusing on g A , we explore the alternative strategy of utilizing a large number of relatively low-statistics calculations at short to medium time separations (0.2–1 fm), combined with a multistate analysis. On an ensemble with a pion mass of approximately 310 MeV and a lattice spacing of approximately 0.09 fm, we find this provides a more robust and economical method of quantifying and controlling the excited state systematic uncertainty. A quantitative separation of various types of excited states enables the identification of the transition matrix elements as the dominant contamination. The excited state contamination of the Feynman-Hellmann correlation function is found to reduce to the 1% level at approximately 1 fm while, for the more standard three-point functions, this does not occur until after 2 fm. Critical to our findings is the use of a global minimization, rather than fixing the spectrum from the two-point functions and using them as input to the three-point analysis. We find that the ground state parameters determined in such a global analysis are stable against variations in the excited state model, the number of excited states, and the truncation of early-time or late-time numerical data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Successive neutron alignments in the yrast, negative-parity band of oblate-deformed Tl 199

The negative-parity band structure built on the proton h 9/2 state in 199 Tl has been established up to an excitation energy of 7 MeV and spin of (51/2) ℏ. The level scheme has been extended with the inclusion of fourteen new transitions de-exciting levels at high spin. The ΔI = 1 γ rays are found to be more prominently visible in the spectra when comparing to Δ I = 2 transitions. Rotation alignments are evident at frequencies of 0.22 and 0.30 MeV with both being attributed to the breaking of pairs of neutrons in the i 13/2 subshell. Since 199 Tl is expected to have weak oblate deformation, and lies in a transitional region where competing contributions to the spin are expected from collective rotation and the angular momentum of high-j nucleons, calculations using both the principal axis cranking (PAC) and tilted axis cranking (TAC) formalisms have been performed to understand its structure. Both the PAC and TAC calculations are found to provide a satisfactory description of the evolution of excitation energies with spin. The PAC calculations give a good account of the experimental crossing frequencies and associated spins. Furthermore, the structure of the yrast, negative-parity band in 199 Tl may be primarily understood in terms of the collective rotation of a moderately deformed oblate nucleus, along with contributions to the angular momentum from two pairs of rotation-aligned i 13/2 neutrons.

190 ≤ A ≤ 219↗

Densities and momentum distributions in A ≤ 12 nuclei from chiral effective field theory interactions

Current and future electron and neutrino scattering experiments will be greatly aided by a better understanding of the role played by short-range correlations in nuclei. Two-body physics, including nucleon-nucleon correlations and two-body electroweak currents, is required to explain the body of experimental data for both static and dynamical nuclear properties. In this work, we focus on examining nucleon-nucleon correlations from a chiral effective field theory perspective and provide a comprehensive set of new variational Monte Carlo calculations of one- and two-body densities and momentum distributions based on the Norfolk many-body nuclear Hamiltonians for A ≤ 12 systems. Here, online access to detailed tables and figures is available.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Effective field theory for radiative corrections to charged-current processes. II. Axial-vector coupling

Here we discuss the hadronic structure-dependent radiative corrections to the axial-vector coupling that controls single-nucleon weak charged-current processes—commonly denoted by 𝑔 𝐴 . We match the Standard Model at the GeV scale onto chiral perturbation theory at next-to-leading order in the one-nucleon sector, in the presence of electromagnetic and weak interactions. As a result, we provide a representation for the corrections to 𝑔 𝐴 in terms of infrared finite convolutions of simple kernels with the single-nucleon matrix elements of time-ordered products of two and three quark bilinears (vector, axial-vector, and pseudoscalar). We discuss strategies to determine the required nonperturbative input from data, lattice-QCD (+QED), and possibly hadronic models. This work paves the way for a precise comparison of the values of the ratio 𝑔 𝐴 ⁡/𝑔 𝑉 extracted from experiment and from lattice QCD, which constrain physics beyond the Standard Model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Observation of the p η ' Cusp in the New Precise Beam Asymmetry Σ Data for γ p → p η

Data on the beam asymmetry Σ in the photoproduction of η mesons off protons are reported for tagged photon energies from 1130 to 1790 MeV (mass range from W = 1748 MeV to W = 2045 MeV). The data cover the full solid angle that allows for a precise moment analysis. For the first time, a strong cusp effect in a polarization observable has been observed that is an effect of a branch-point singularity at the pη' threshold [E γ = 1447 MeV (W = 1896 MeV)]. Here, the latest BnGa partial wave analysis includes the new beam asymmetry data and yields a strong indication for the N(1895)1/2 – nucleon resonance, demonstrating the importance of including all singularities for a correct determination of partial waves and resonance parameters.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Role of Chiral Two-Body Currents in 6 Li Magnetic Properties in Light of a New Precision Measurement with the Relative Self-Absorption Technique

A direct measurement of the decay width of the excited $0^+_1$ state of 6 Li using the relative self-absorption technique is reported. Our value of $Γ_{γ,0^{+}_{1}} → 1^{+}_{1}$ = 8.17 (14) stat. (11) syst. eV provides sufficiently low experimental uncertainties to test modern theories of nuclear forces. The corresponding transition rate is compared to the results of ab initio calculations based on chiral effective field theory that take into account contributions to the magnetic dipole operator beyond leading order. This allows for a precision test of the impact of two-body currents that enter at next-to-leading order.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗