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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

Laboratory study of the O I /7990 A/ branching ratio

Branching ratios for several atomic oxygen 3p 3D transitions have been studied. A value of 0.0004 + or - 20% for the O I (7990 A) branching ratio was obtained, which is much smaller than the previously accepted value and in accord with recent calculations and interpretations of the auroral extreme-ultraviolet spectra. Measurements of the O I (7002 A) and O I (11,287 A) multiplets give branching ratios of 0.05 and 0.10, which are in better accord with calculations. As part of this experiment, results of a study of the highly structured O2 photoabsorption cross section in the neighborhood of the multiplets are also reported.

Christensen, A. B.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Decay branching ratios of excited Mg 24

Here, the nuclear reactions 12 C( 12 C, α) 20 Ne, 12 C( 12 C, p) 23 Na, and 12 C( 12 C, n) 23 Mg are the primary reactions in carbon burning, which occurs as part of several stellar processes. The Gamow window, which describes the energy range where most of these reactions take place, is typically around 1.5 MeV in the center-of-mass frame. Direct measurements of the cross sections at this energy are difficult due to the large Coulomb barrier present between the carbon nuclei; however, a successful surrogate measurement can provide the branching ratios between these reactions while avoiding the 12 C + 12 C Coulomb barrier. Finally, an experiment was performed using inelastic scattering of 40 MeV α particles on 24 Mg as a possible surrogate for the 12 C + 12 C compound nucleus.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of the branching ratio of B ¯ 0 → D * + τ - ν ¯ τ relative to B ¯ 0 → D * + ℓ - ν ¯ ℓ decays with a semileptonic tagging method

Here, we report a measurement of the ratio R ( D * ) = B ( B ¯ 0 → D * + τ - ν ¯ τ ) / B ( B ¯ 0 → D * + ℓ - ν ¯ ℓ ) , where ℓ denotes an electron or a muon. The results are based on a data sample containing 772 × 1 0 6 B B ¯ pairs recorded at the Υ ( 4 S ) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB e + e - collider. We select a sample of B 0 B ¯ 0 pairs by reconstructing both B mesons in semileptonic decays to D * ∓ ℓ ± . We measure R ( D * ) = 0.302 ± 0.030 ( stat ) ± 0.011 ( syst ) , which is within 1.6 σ of the Standard Model theoretical expectation, where the standard deviation σ includes systematic uncertainties. We use this measurement to constrain several scenarios of new physics in a model-independent technique.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A decay database of coincident γ–γ and γ–X -ray branching ratios for in-field spectroscopy applications

Current fieldable spectroscopy techniques often use single detector systems heavily impacted by interferences from intense background radiation fields. These effects result in low-confidence measurements that can lead to misinterpretation of the collected spectrum. To help improve interpretation of the fission products and short-lived radionuclides produced in a composite sample, a coincidence-database is being developed in support of a robust portable and X-ray coincidence detector system concurrently under development at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for in-field deployment. Hitherto, no database exists containing coincident γ–γ and γ–X-ray branching-ratio intensities on an absolute scale that will greatly enhance isotopic identification for in-field applications. As part of this project, software has been developed to parse all radioactive-decay data sets from the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) archive to enable translation into a more useful JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) formats that more readily supports query-based data manipulation. The coincident database described in this work is the first of its kind and contains coincidence γ–γ and γ–X-ray intensities and their corresponding uncertainties, together with auxiliary metadata associated with each decay data set. The new JSON format provides a convenient and portable means of data storage that can be imported into analysis frameworks with relatively low overhead allowing for meaningful comparison with measured data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of the 169 Tm(n,3n) 167 Tm cross section and the associated branching ratios in the decay of 167 Tm [Measurement of the 169 Tm(n,3n) 167 Tm cross section and the branching ratios in the decay of 167 Tm]

The cross section for the 169 Tm(n,3n) 167 Tm reaction was measured from 17 to 22 MeV using quasimonoenergetic neutrons produced by the 2 H(d,n) 3 He reaction. This energy range was studied to resolve the discrepancy between previous (n,3n) cross-section measurements. In addition, the absolute γ-ray branching ratios following the electron-capture decay of 167 Tm were measured. Furthermore, these results provide more reliable nuclear data for an important diagnostic that is used at the National Ignition Facility to estimate the yield of reaction-in-flight neutrons produced via the inertial-confinement-fusion plasma in deuterium-tritium capsules.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurement of the branching ratio of B ¯ → D ( * ) τ - ν ¯ τ relative to B ¯ → D ( * ) ℓ - ν ¯ ℓ decays with hadronic tagging at Belle

In this article we report a measurement of the branching fraction ratios R ( D ( * ) ) of B ¯ → D ( * ) τ - ν ¯ τ relative to B ¯ → D ( * ) ℓ - ν ¯ ℓ (where ℓ = e or μ ) using the full Belle data sample of 772 × 10 6 B B ¯ pairs collected at the Υ ( 4 S ) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e + e - collider. The measured values are R ( D ) = 0.375 ± 0.064 ( stat ) ± 0.026 ( syst ) and R ( D * ) = 0.293 ± 0.038 ( stat ) ± 0.015 ( syst ) . The analysis uses hadronic reconstruction of the tag-side B meson and purely leptonic τ decays. The results are consistent with earlier measurements and do not show a significant deviation from the standard model prediction.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Note on the definitions of branching ratios of overlapping resonances

Branching ratios for the decay of hadrons with large width or near thresholds depend on their definition. We test different definitions and show that rather different branching ratios can be obtained. For wide resonances and for sequential decays with wide intermediate resonances, integration over the spectral functions is mandatory. The tests are performed exploiting the latest solution of the Bonn-Gatchina multi-channel analysis and published values for residues of light scalar mesons. For a resonance overlapping with a threshold, in case its pole lies in a non-adjacent sheet, we show how the total width, needed for the branching ratios, does not correspond to the imaginary part of the pole position. We use the Madrid-Krakow dispersive parameterizations to illustrate this situation with the f 0 (980).

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Improved plutonium and americium photon branching ratios from microcalorimeter gamma spectroscopy

Photon branching ratios are critical input data for activities such as nuclear materials protection and accounting because they allow material compositions to be extracted from measurements of gamma-ray intensities. Uncertainties in these branching ratios are often a limiting source of uncertainty in composition determination. Here, we use high statistics, high resolution - (60–70 eV full-width-at-half-maximum at 100 keV) gamma-ray spectra acquired using microcalorimeter sensors to substantially reduce the uncertainties for 11 plutonium ( 238 Pu, 239 Pu, 241 Pu) and 241 Am branching ratios important for material control and accountability and nuclear forensics in the energy range of 125 keV to 208 keV. Lastly, we show a reduction in uncertainty of over a factor of three for one branching ratio and a factor of 2–3 for four branching ratios.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS1988

(1 + 1) resonant enhanced multiphoton ionization via the A2Sigma(+) state of NO - Ionic rotational branching ratios and their intensity dependence

Rotational branching ratios resulting from the (1 + 1) resonant enhanced multiphoton ionization spectroscopy of NO via the 0-0 transition of the A-X band for the four possible branches that can be assigned as R(21.5) are explored using calculation performed in the frozen-core approximation at the Hartree-Fock level. The four different branches, of which three are distinctly different in the perturbative limit, have rather different branching ratios. The mixed R12 + Q22(21.5) branch, which is not intense and has the lowest transition energy, appears to give the best agreement with experimental branching ratio for parallel detection. The agreement is less satisfactory for perpendicular detection. Neither the effect of finite-acceptance angle of the photoelectron detector nor high intensities can explain the discrepancy.

Rudolph, H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The sensitivity of gas-phase models of dense interstellar clouds to changes in dissociative recombination branching ratios

The approach of Bates to the determination of neutral product branching ratios in ion-electron dissociative recombination reactions has been utilized in conjunction with quantum chemical techniques to redetermine branching ratios for a wide variety of important reactions of this class in dense interstellar clouds. The branching ratios have then been used in a pseudo time-dependent model calculation of the gas phase chemistry of a dark cloud resembling TMC-1 and the results compared with an analogous model containing previously used branching ratios. In general, the changes in branching ratios lead to stronger effects on calculated molecular abundances at steady state than at earlier times and often lead to reductions in the calculated abundances of complex molecules. However, at the so-called 'early time' when complex molecule synthesis is most efficient, the abundances of complex molecules are hardly affected by the newly used branching ratios.

Millar, T. J.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Quantum-state dependence of product branching ratios in vacuum ultraviolet photodissociation of N{sub 2}

The branching ratios for the N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}D), N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}P), and N({sup 2}D) + N({sup 2}D) channels are measured for the photodissociation of N{sub 2}(X{sup 1}Σ{sub g}{sup +};v{sup ′′}=0,J{sup ′′}) in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region of 100,808–122,159 cm{sup −1} using the VUV–VUV pump-probe approach combined with velocity-map-imaging-photoion detection. No evidence of forming the ground-state N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 4}S) products is found. No potential barrier is observed for the N({sup 2}D) + N({sup 2}D) channel, but the N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}P) channel has a small potential barrier of ≈740 cm{sup −1}. The branching ratios are found to depend on the symmetry of predissociative N{sub 2} states instead of the total VUV excitation energy, indicating that N{sub 2} photodissociation is nonstatistical. When the branching ratios for N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}D) and N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}P) products are plotted as a function of the VUV excitation energy for the valence N{sub 2} {sup 1}Π{sub u} and {sup 1}Σ{sub u}{sup +} states, oscillations in these ratios are observed demonstrating how these channels are competing with each other. These data can be used to select both the velocity and internal states of the atomic products by picking the quantum state that is excited. High-level ab initio potential energy curves of the excited N{sub 2} states are calculated to provide insight into the mechanisms for the observed branching ratios. The calculations predict that the formation of both N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}D) and N({sup 4}S) + N({sup 2}P) channels involves potential energy barriers, in agreement with experimental observations. A discussion of the application of the present results to astronomy, planetary sciences, and comets is given.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Inertial-confinement fusion-plasma-based cross-calibration of the deuterium-tritium γ-to-neutron branching ratio

The deuterium-tritium (D-T) γ -to-neutron branching ratio [ H 3 ( d , γ ) He 5 / H 3 ( d , n ) He 4 ] has been determined previously under inertial-confinement fusion (ICF) conditions and in beam-target based experiments. In the former case, neutron-induced backgrounds are mitigated compared to the latter due to the short pulse nature of ICF implosions and the use of gas Cherenkov γ -ray detectors. Furthermore, an added benefit of ICF based measurements is the ability to achieve lower center-of-mass energies as compared to accelerators. Previous ICF based experiments however report a large uncertainty in the D-T γ -to-neutron branching ratio of ≈ 48 % , which arises from the necessity of an absolute detector calibration and/or a cross-calibration against the D- He 3 γ -to-proton branching ratio. A more precise value for the branching ratio based on data taken at the OMEGA laser facility is reported here, which relies on a cross-calibration against the better known C 12 neutron inelastic scattering cross section. A D-T branching ratio value of ( 4.6 ± 0.6 ) × 10 - 5 is determined by this method.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Branching ratios for the three most intense gamma rays in the decay of 47 Ca

A sample of 47 Ca produced through isotope harvesting at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory was used to measure branching ratios of 7.17(5)%, 7.11(5)%, and 75.0(5)% for the 489.2, 807.9, and 1297.1 keV characteristic gamma rays, respectively. Based on these updated branching ratios, the ground state to ground state 47 Ca to 47 Sc beta decay branching ratio has been indirectly measured as 17.7(5)% and the ground state to 1297.1 keV excited state as 82.2(5)%. Here these values represent a greatly increased precision for all five branching ratios compared to the currently accepted values. The measurements presented here were made relative to the ingrown 47Sc daughter in a 47 Ca sample and the well-established 159.4 keV gamma-ray branching ratio and the half-life for the decay of 47 Sc. These measurements were supported by verifying that the half-lives measured from characteristic gamma-ray peaks over multiple spectra for both 47 Ca and 47 Sc were consistent with previously reported values. Additionally, the half-lives of both 47 Ca and 47 Sc were independently measured with Liquid Scintillation Counting to reverify the previously reported values used in this study to find updated gamma-ray branching ratio values.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
NASA NTRS1979

Some implications of revised OI /7990 A/ and OI /11287 A/ branching ratios

Recent laboratory, geophysical, and theoretical determinations of the O I (7990 A) and O I (11,287 A) branching ratios indicate that the generally used values based on the NBS transition parameters need revision. The O I (7990 A) branching ratio is about 300 times smaller than the NBS value, and the O I (11,287 A) is about one-quarter as large. The transitions are important in the generation of permitted atomic oxygen spectra in several types of astronomical source, including the Orion Nebula (M42), the Seyfert galaxy NGC 4151, Arcturus, and comets. The absence of the O I (7990 A) emission in M42 and NGC 4151 is consistent with its very small branching ratio, and previous conclusions based on its absence, such as the rejection of starlight excitation in the Seyfert galaxy, require reinvestigation. The reduction of the O I (11,287 A) branching ratio is pertinent to hydrogen L-beta fluorescence excitation of O I (1304 A) and O I (8446 A) emission and requires an upward revision of oxygen production rates in comets.

Christensen, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1983

S II and S III branching ratios in the 600- to 1200-A interval

Branching ratios are presented of singly and doubly ionized sulfur EUV emissions. They are determined by measuring the relative photon intensities of each of the branching components. For several transitions in S II for which mean lifetimes have been measured with fast-beam spectroscopy, the data presented here are used to determine transition probabilities. The S II transitions originate from the 2P, 4s-prime 2D, and 4s 2P terms and terminate on the metastable states of the ion. The S III transitions originate from the 3d 3D0, 4s 3P0, 3p3 3S0, 4s 1P0, and 3s3p3 1P0 terms and terminate on the metastable and ground ionic states. The results for S III include branching ratios involving intercombination transitions that affect ongoing modeling of the energy budget of the Io plasma torus.

Morrison, M. D.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Determination of γ-ray branching ratios for ⁹⁵Zr and ¹⁴⁷Nd

For many fission products, the γ rays emitted following decay provide an easily-detectable signature that can be used to identify their quantities and distributions in a sample. As a result, γ-ray spectroscopy is often exploited to study fission-product yields (FPYs), provided sufficiently accurate information on the γ-ray branching ratio is available. However, in many cases, the uncertainties in the existing nuclear data are large enough that they compromise the precision achievable for modern experiments and applications. To address this need, we have developed a new experimental method that is well suited to precisely measure the γ-ray branching ratios in the decay of long-lived fission products. The approach involves the production of a radiopure sample by implantation of a mass-separated ion beam from the CAlifornium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility on a thin carbon foil. The emitted β -decay radiation is detected with a 4π gas proportional counter and a meticulously efficiency-calibrated high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. As a first measurement to demonstrate the approach, we studied the γ-ray branching ratios of the strongest transitions following the decay of ⁹⁵Zr and decay-daughter ⁹⁵Nb and determined these branching ratios to fractional precisions of 1%. We then applied this approach to determine the γ-ray branching ratios for the β decay of ¹⁴⁷Nd. The results for the γ-ray branching ratios are presented here and compared to previous results and evaluations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗