Digital pulse-shape discrimination of fast neutrons and gamma rays

Discrimination of the detection of fast neutrons and gamma rays in a liquid scintillator detector has been investigated using digital pulse-processing techniques. An experimental setup with a 252Cf source, a BC-501 liquid scintillator detector, and a BaF2 detector was used to collect waveforms with a 100 Ms/s, 14 bit sampling ADC. Three identical ADC's were combined to increase the sampling frequency to 300 Ms/s. Four different digital pulse-shape analysis algorithms were developed and compared to each other and to data obtained with an analogue neutron-gamma discrimination unit. Two of the digital algorithms were based on the charge comparison method, while the analogue unit and the other two digital algorithms were based on the zero-crossover method. Two different figure-of-merit parameters, which quantify the neutron-gamma discrimination properties, were evaluated for all four digital algorithms and for the analogue data set. All of the digital algorithms gave similar or better figure-of-merit values than what was obtained with the analogue setup. A detailed study of the discrimination properties as a function of sampling frequency and bit resolution of the ADC was performed. It was shown that a sampling ADC with a bit resolution of 12 bits and a sampling frequency of 100 Ms/s is adequate for achieving an optimal neutron-gamma discrimination for pulses having a dynamic range for deposited neutron energies of 0.3-12 MeV. An investigation of the influence of the sampling frequency on the time resolution was made. A FWHM of 1.7 ns was obtained at 100 Ms/s.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research

LNCS

We present two algorithmic approaches for synthesizing linear hybrid automata from experimental data. Unlike previous approaches, our algorithms work without a template and generate an automaton with nondeterministic guards and invariants, and with an arbitrary number and topology of modes. They thus construct a succinct model from the data and provide formal guarantees. In particular, (1) the generated automaton can reproduce the data up to a specified tolerance and (2) the automaton is tight, given the first guarantee. Our first approach encodes the synthesis problem as a logical formula in the theory of linear arithmetic, which can then be solved by an SMT solver. This approach minimizes the number of modes in the resulting model but is only feasible for limited data sets. To address scalability, we propose a second approach that does not enforce to find a minimal model. The algorithm constructs an initial automaton and then iteratively extends the automaton based on processing new data. Therefore the algorithm is well-suited for online and synthesis-in-the-loop applications. The core of the algorithm is a membership query that checks whether, within the specified tolerance, a given data set can result from the execution of a given automaton. We solve this membership problem for linear hybrid automata by repeated reachability computations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm on synthetic data sets and on cardiac-cell measurements

Transition rates and nuclear structure changes in mirror nuclei 47Cr and 47V

Lifetime measurements in the mirror nuclei 47Cr and 47V were performed by means of the Doppler-shift attenuation method using the multidetector array EUROBALL, in conjunction with the ancillary detectors ISIS and the Neutron Wall. The determined transition strengths in the yrast cascades are well described by full pf shell model calculations.Comment: Latex2e, 11 pages, 3 figure

Very high rotational frequencies and band termination in 73Br

Rotational bands in 73Br have been investigated up to spins of 65/2 using the EUROBALL III spectrometer. One of the negative-parity bands displays the highest rotational frequency 1.85 MeV reported to date in nuclei with mass number greater than 25. At high frequencies, the experimental dynamic moment of inertia for all bands decrease to very low values, indicating a loss of collectivity. The bands are described in the configuration-dependent cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky model. The calculations indicate that one of the negative-parity bands is observed up to its terminating single-particle state at spin 63/2. This result establishes the first band termination case in the A = 70 mass region.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. C as a Rapid Communicatio

Collective and broken pair states of 65,67Ga

Excited states of 65Ga and 67Ga nuclei were populated through the 12C(58Ni,αp) and 12C(58Ni,3p) reactions, respectively, and investigated by in-beam γ-ray spectroscopic methods. The NORDBALL array equipped with a charged particle ball and 11 neutron detectors was used to detect the evaporated particles and γ rays. The level schemes of 65,67Ga were constructed on the basis of γγ-coincidence relations up to 8.6 and 10 MeV excitation energy, and Iπ=27/2 and 33/2+ spin and parity, respectively. The structure of 65,67Ga nuclei was described in the interacting boson-fermion plus broken pair model, including quasiproton, quasiproton-two-quasineutron, and three-quasiproton fermion configurations in the boson-fermion basis states. Most of the states were assigned to quasiparticle + phonon and three quasiparticle configurations on the basis of their electromagnetic decay properties

REX-ISOLDE: post-accelerated radioactive BEAMS at CERN-ISOLDE

The ISOLDE RIB-facility at CERN has today been producing a vast range of radioactive beams since more than 30 years. The low-energy beams of ISOLDE will be complemented by a post-accelerator, REX-ISOLDE, currently being assembled. In order to convert the pseudo-DC, singly-charged beam from the ISOLDE mass separators into a cooled and bunched beam at higher charge states a novel scheme of trapping, cooling and charge-state breeding has been devised, using a linear Penning trap and an Electron Beam Ion Source (EBIS). This allows for subsequent acceleration by a short, cost-effective LINAC consisting of an RFQ, an IH-structure and three seven-gap resonators, reaching 0.8 - 2.2 MeV/u. The installation of REX-ISOLDE is well underway and the first post-accelerated radioactive beams are expected to be obtained during late 2000

Conceptual design of the early implementation of the NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) with AGATA

The NEutron Detector Array (NEDA) project aims at the construction of a new high-efficiency compact neutron detector array to be coupled with large (Formula presented.) -ray arrays such as AGATA. The application of NEDA ranges from its use as selective neutron multiplicity filter for fusion-evaporation reaction to a large solid angle neutron tagging device. In the present work, possible configurations for the NEDA coupled with the Neutron Wall for the early implementation with AGATA has been simulated, using Monte Carlo techniques, in order to evaluate their performance figures. The goal of this early NEDA implementation is to improve, with respect to previous instruments, efficiency and capability to select multiplicity for fusion-evaporation reaction channels in which 1, 2 or 3 neutrons are emitted. Each NEDA detector unit has the shape of a regular hexagonal prism with a volume of about 3.23l and it is filled with the EJ301 liquid scintillator, that presents good neutron- (Formula presented.) discrimination properties. The simulations have been performed using a fusion-evaporation event generator that has been validated with a set of experimental data obtained in the 58Ni + 56Fe reaction measured with the Neutron Wall detector array

Evidence for a spin-aligned neutron-proton paired phase from the level structure of 92^{92}Pd

The general phenomenon of shell structure in atomic nuclei has been understood since the pioneering work of Goeppert-Mayer, Haxel, Jensen and Suess.They realized that the experimental evidence for nuclear magic numbers could be explained by introducing a strong spin-orbit interaction in the nuclear shell model potential. However, our detailed knowledge of nuclear forces and the mechanisms governing the structure of nuclei, in particular far from stability, is still incomplete. In nuclei with equal neutron and proton numbers ($N = Z$), the unique nature of the atomic nucleus as an object composed of two distinct types of fermions can be expressed as enhanced correlations arising between neutrons and protons occupying orbitals with the same quantum numbers. Such correlations have been predicted to favor a new type of nuclear superfluidity; isoscalar neutron-proton pairing, in addition to normal isovector pairing (see Fig. 1). Despite many experimental efforts these predictions have not been confirmed. Here, we report on the first observation of excited states in $N = Z = 46$ nucleus $^{92}$Pd. Gamma rays emitted following the $^{58}$Ni($^{36}$Ar,2$n$)$^{92}$Pd fusion-evaporation reaction were identified using a combination of state-of-the-art high-resolution {\gamma}-ray, charged-particle and neutron detector systems. Our results reveal evidence for a spin-aligned, isoscalar neutron-proton coupling scheme, different from the previous prediction. We suggest that this coupling scheme replaces normal superfluidity (characterized by seniority coupling) in the ground and low-lying excited states of the heaviest N = Z nuclei. The strong isoscalar neutron- proton correlations in these $N = Z$ nuclei are predicted to have a considerable impact on their level structures, and to influence the dynamics of the stellar rapid proton capture nucleosynthesis process.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure