1,421 research outputs found
The event generator DECAY4 for simulation of double beta processes and decay of radioactive nuclei
The computer code DECAY4 is developed to generate initial energy, time and
angular distributions of particles emitted in radioactive decays of nuclides
and nuclear (atomic) deexcitations. Data for description of nuclear and atomic
decay schemes are taken from the ENSDF and EADL database libraries. The
examples of use of the DECAY4 code in several underground experiments are
described.Comment: 8 pages, 1 fi
Local and global Fokker-Planck neoclassical calculations showing flow and bootstrap current modification in a pedestal
In transport barriers, particularly H-mode edge pedestals, radial scale
lengths can become comparable to the ion orbit width, causing neoclassical
physics to become radially nonlocal. In this work, the resulting changes to
neoclassical flow and current are examined both analytically and numerically.
Steep density gradients are considered, with scale lengths comparable to the
poloidal ion gyroradius, together with strong radial electric fields sufficient
to electrostatically confine the ions. Attention is restricted to relatively
weak ion temperature gradients (but permitting arbitrary electron temperature
gradients), since in this limit a delta-f (small departures from a Maxwellian
distribution) rather than full-f approach is justified. This assumption is in
fact consistent with measured inter-ELM H-Mode edge pedestal density and ion
temperature profiles in many present experiments, and is expected to be
increasingly valid in future lower collisionality experiments. In the numerical
analysis, the distribution function and Rosenbluth potentials are solved for
simultaneously, allowing use of the exact field term in the linearized
Fokker-Planck collision operator. In the pedestal, the parallel and poloidal
flows are found to deviate strongly from the best available conventional
neoclassical prediction, with large poloidal variation of a different form than
in the local theory. These predicted effects may be observable experimentally.
In the local limit, the Sauter bootstrap current formulae appear accurate at
low collisionality, but they can overestimate the bootstrap current near the
plateau regime. In the pedestal ordering, ion contributions to the bootstrap
and Pfirsch-Schluter currents are also modified
Improvement of radiopurity level of enriched CdWO and ZnWO crystal scintillators by recrystallization
As low as possible radioactive contamination of a detector plays a crucial
role to improve sensitivity of a double beta decay experiment. The radioactive
contamination of a sample of CdWO crystal scintillator by thorium
was reduced by a factor , down to the level 0.01 mBq/kg
(Th), by exploiting the recrystallization procedure. The total alpha
activity of uranium and thorium daughters was reduced by a factor ,
down to 1.6 mBq/kg. No change in the specific activity (the total
activity and Th) was observed in a sample of ZnWO crystal produced
by recrystallization after removing mm surface layer of the
crystal.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures and 2 table
The Locations of Gamma-Ray Bursts Measured by COMPTEL
The COMPTEL instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is used to
measure the locations of gamma-ray bursts through direct imaging of MeV
photons. In a comprehensive search, we have detected and localized 29 bursts
observed between 1991 April 19 and 1995 May 31. The average location accuracy
of these events is 1.25\arcdeg (1), including a systematic error of
\sim0.5\arcdeg, which is verified through comparison with Interplanetary
Network (IPN) timing annuli. The combination of COMPTEL and IPN measurements
results in locations for 26 of the bursts with an average ``error box'' area of
only 0.3 deg (1). We find that the angular distribution of
COMPTEL burst locations is consistent with large-scale isotropy and that there
is no statistically significant evidence of small-angle auto-correlations. We
conclude that there is no compelling evidence for burst repetition since no
more than two of the events (or 7% of the 29 bursts) could possibly have
come from the same source. We also find that there is no significant
correlation between the burst locations and either Abell clusters of galaxies
or radio-quiet quasars. Agreement between individual COMPTEL locations and IPN
annuli places a lower limit of 100~AU (95% confidence) on the distance to
the stronger bursts.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 1998 Jan. 1,
Vol. 492. 33 pages, 9 figures, 5 table
Radioactive contamination of ZnWO4 crystal scintillators
The radioactive contamination of ZnWO4 crystal scintillators has been
measured deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the
INFN in Italy with a total exposure 3197 kg x h. Monte Carlo simulation,
time-amplitude and pulse-shape analyses of the data have been applied to
estimate the radioactive contamination of the ZnWO4 samples. One of the ZnWO4
crystals has also been tested by ultra-low background gamma spectrometry. The
radioactive contaminations of the ZnWO4 samples do not exceed 0.002 -- 0.8
mBq/kg (depending on the radionuclide), the total alpha activity is in the
range: 0.2 - 2 mBq/kg. Particular radioactivity, beta active 65Zn and alpha
active 180W, has been detected. The effect of the re-crystallization on the
radiopurity of the ZnWO4 crystal has been studied. The radioactive
contamination of samples of the ceramic details of the set-ups used in the
crystals growth has been checked by low background gamma spectrometry. A
project scheme on further improvement of the radiopurity level of the ZnWO4
crystal scintillators is briefly addressed.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, submitted for publicatio
Measurements of ZnWO anisotropic response to nuclear recoils for the ADAMO project
Anisotropic scintillators can offer a unique possibility to exploit the
so-called directionality approach in order to investigate the presence of those
Dark Matter (DM) candidates inducing nuclear recoils. In fact, their use can
overcome the difficulty of detecting extremely short nuclear recoil traces. In
this paper we present recent measurements performed on the anisotropic response
of a ZnWO crystal scintillator to nuclear recoils, in the framework of the
ADAMO project. The anisotropic features of the ZnWO crystal scintillators
were initially measured with particles; those results have been also
confirmed by the additional measurements presented here. The experimental
nuclear recoil data were obtained by using a neutron generator at ENEA-CASACCIA
and neutron detectors to tag the scattered neutrons; in particular, the
quenching factor values for nuclear recoils along different crystallographic
axes have been determined for three different neutron scattering angles (i.e.
nuclear recoils energies). From these measurements, the anisotropy of the light
response for nuclear recoils in the ZnWO crystal scintillator has been
determined at 5.4 standard deviations.Comment: 22 pages; 12 figures. In press on Eur. Phys. J.
Developments and improvements of radiopure ZnWO anisotropic scintillators
The ZnWO is an anisotropic crystal scintillator; for its peculiar
characteristics, it is a very promising detector to exploit the so-called
directionality approach in the investigation of those Dark Matter (DM)
candidates inducing nuclear recoils. Recently, in the framework of the ADAMO
project, an R\&D to develop high quality and ultra-radiopure ZnWO crystal
scintillators has been carried out. In the present paper the measurements to
study the anisotropic response of a ZnWO to particles and to
nuclear recoils induced by neutron scattering are reported. Monochromatic
neutrons have been produced by a neutron generator at ENEA-CASACCIA. The
quenching factor values for nuclear recoils along different crystallographic
axes have been determined for three different nuclear recoils energies. These
results open the possibility to realize a pioneer experiment to investigate the
above mentioned DM candidates by means of the directionality.Comment: Proceedings of the IPRD 2019 Conference, 10 pages, 7 figures,
accepted for publication in JINS
PULEX: Influence of environment radiation background on biochemistry and biology of cultured cells and on their response to genotoxic agents
Some years ago we performed two experiments aimed at studying the influence of the background radiation on living matter by exploiting the low radiation background environment in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory of the INFN. Their results were consistent with the hypothesis that the “normal” background radiation determines an adaptive response, although they cannot be considered conclusive. PULEX-3 (the third experiment of the series) is aimed at comparing the effects of different background radiation environments on metabolism of cultured mammalian cells, with substantial improvements with respect to the preceding ones. The experiment was designed to minimize variabilities, by maintaining two cultures of Chinese hamster V79 cells in exponential growth for up to ten months
in the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS), while two other cultures were maintained in parallel in a biological laboratory installed at the LNGS outside the tunnel. Exposure due to γ-rays was reduced by a factor of about 10 in the underground laboratory while the Rn concentration was small in both cases. After ten months the cells grown in the underground laboratory, compared to those grown in the external one, exhibited: i) a significantly lower capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS), and ii) an increased sensitivity to the mutagenic effect of rays. Since the probability that this finding is due to casual induction of radiosensitive mutants is extremely low, it corroborates the hypothesis that cells grown in a “normal” background radiation environment exhibit an adaptive response when challenged with genotoxic agents, which is lost after many generations in a low background radiation environment
Searches for neutrinoless resonant double electron captures at LNGS
Several experiments were performed during last years at underground (3600 m
w.e.) Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) of the INFN (Italy) to search
for resonant 2 captures in 96Ru, 106Cd, 136Ce, 156Dy, 158Dy,
180W, 184Os, 190Pt with the help of HP Ge semiconductor detectors, and ZnWO4
and 106CdWO4 crystal scintillators. No evidence for r-2 decays
was found, and only T_{1/2} limits were established in the range of
10^{14}-10^{21} yr.Comment: Proceedings of TAUP 2011 Conferenc
Phenomenology of heterotic M-theory with five-branes
We analyze some phenomenological implications of heterotic M-theory with
five-branes. Recent results for the effective 4-dimensional action are used to
perform a systematic analysis of the parameter space, finding the restrictions
that result from requiring the volume of the Calabi-Yau to remain positive.
Then the different scales of the theory, namely, the 11-dimensional Planck
mass, the compactification scale and the orbifold scale, are evaluated.
The expressions for the soft supersymmetry-breaking terms are computed and
discussed in detail for the whole parameter space. With this information we
study the theoretical predictions for the supersymmetric contribution to the
muon anomalous magnetic moment, using the recent experimental result as a
constraint on the parameter space. We finally analyze the neutralino as a dark
matter candidate in this construction. In particular, the neutralino-nucleon
cross-section is computed and compared with the sensitivities explored by
present dark matter detectors.Comment: Final version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Some comments and references
added. 37 pages, 19 figure
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