α decay of 97249Bk and levels in 95245Am

α decay of 249Bk has been investigated by measuring its α and γ-ray spectra, both in singles and in coincidence modes. The α spectrum of a freshly purified 249Bk sample was measured with a high-resolution, double-focusing magnetic spectrometer. γ singles, γ-γ coincidence, and γ-α coincidence spectra were also recorded. The absolute intensity of the 327.45-keV γ ray has been determined to be (1.44±0.08)×10-5% per 249Bk decay. Assignments of previously known single-particle states were confirmed. A new rotational band was identified in the α singles spectrum and Am K x rays have been observed in its decay. This single-particle state, with an energy of 154 keV, has been assigned to the 3/2-[521] Nilsson state. This is the lowest excitation energy for this orbital in any Am nucleus. More precise energies and intensities of the 249Bk α groups and γ-ray transitions are provided

A muon-track reconstruction exploiting stochastic losses for large-scale Cherenkov detectors

IceCube is a cubic-kilometer Cherenkov telescope operating at the South Pole. The main goal of IceCube is the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and the identification of their sources. High-energy muon neutrinos are observed via the secondary muons produced in charge current interactions with nuclei in the ice. Currently, the best performing muon track directional reconstruction is based on a maximum likelihood method using the arrival time distribution of Cherenkov photons registered by the experiment\u27s photomultipliers. A known systematic shortcoming of the prevailing method is to assume a continuous energy loss along the muon track. However at energies >1 TeV the light yield from muons is dominated by stochastic showers. This paper discusses a generalized ansatz where the expected arrival time distribution is parametrized by a stochastic muon energy loss pattern. This more realistic parametrization of the loss profile leads to an improvement of the muon angular resolution of up to 20% for through-going tracks and up to a factor 2 for starting tracks over existing algorithms. Additionally, the procedure to estimate the directional reconstruction uncertainty has been improved to be more robust against numerical errors

Isomer-delayed gamma-ray spectroscopy of neutron-rich 166Tb

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