Etudes thermochimiques à haute température par spectrométrie de masse : emploi de dispositifs à caloducs pour le maintien isotherme de cellules d'effusion

Différentes solutions ont été testées pour résoudre le problème délicat du maintien isotherme de cellules d'effusion multiples couplées à un spectromètre de masse. Un dispositif constitué par un caloduc, dans lequel sont logées les cellules, permet d'obtenir d'une manière très sûre ce résultat en éliminant pratiquement les risques d'incertitudes dues aux gradients de températur

Fission in inverse kinematics

Fission is a unique tool to study nuclear properties. The SOFIA Collaboration takes advantage of the inverse kinematics technique to measure fission yields for a large range of systems, including exotic nuclei. Both fragments are fully identified in charge and mass, a unique feature. The use of Coulomb interaction as fission trigger results in a low excitation energy in the fissioning system, allowing to study the influence of nuclear structure on fission. Using samples of SOFIA results, this paper addresses some open questions about fission such as the evolution of elemental yields with mass and the transition between asymmetric and symmetric fission

Etudes thermochimiques à haute température par spectrométrie de masse : dispositif pour mesures au moyen de cellules d'effusion multiples

Le dispositif décrit a été réalisé dans le but d'effectuer des mesures comparatives directes de pressions de vapeur sur cellules d'effusion multiples, le détecteur de flux étant un spectromètre de masse. La reproductibilité des mesures a été étudiée notamment en fonction du positionnement mécanique des cellules et des conditions d'ionisation du jet moléculaire dans la source d'ions. Les essais présentés montrent que cette méthode peut être appliquée de manière satisfaisante à la détermination d'activités thermodynamiques dans des systèmes à haute température

Observation of two-proton radioactivity of Mg19 by tracking the decay products

We have observed the two-proton radioactivity of the previously unknown 19Mg ground state by tracking the decay products in-flight. For the first time, the trajectories of the 2p-decay products, 17Ne+p+p, have been measured by using tracking microstrip detectors which allowed us to reconstruct the 2p-decay vertices and fragment correlations. The half-life of 19Mg deduced from the measured vertex distribution is 4.0(15) ps in the system of 19Mg. The Q value of the 2p decay of the 19Mg ground state inferred from the measured p−p−17Ne correlations is 0.75(5) MeV.MEC FPA2003-05958 FPA2006-13807-C02-0

Energy measurement of prompt fission neutrons in 239Pu(n,f) for incident neutron energies from 1 to 200 MeV

Prompt fission neutron spectra in the neutron-induced fission of 239Pu have been measured for incident neutron energies from 1 to 200 MeV at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. Preliminary results are discussed and compared to theoretical model calculation

Coulomb excitation of exotic nuclei at the R3B-LAND setup

Exotic Ni isotopes have been measured at the R3B-LAND setup at GSI in Darmstadt, using Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics at beam energies around 500 MeV/u. As the experimental setup allows kinematically complete measurements, the excitation energy was reconstructed using the invariant mass method. The GDR and additional low-lying strength have been observed in 68Ni, the latter exhausting 4.1(1.9)% of the E1 energy-weighted sum rule. Also, the branching ratio for the non-statistical decay of the excited 68Ni nuclei was measured and amounts to 24(4)%.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Invited Talk given at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

New states in 18Na and 19Mg observed in the two-proton decay of 19Mg

Previously unknown states in 18Na and 19Mg have been studied by measuring the trajectories of their decay products with microstrip detectors. Analyzing angular correlations of the fragments provided information on decay energies and widths of the parent states. The ground state of 18Na has been detected and its one-proton decay energy of 1.23(15) MeV determined. Four previously unknown states in 19Mg at 2.1, 2.9, 3.6, and 5.2 MeV have been observed. The competition between simultaneous and sequential two-proton emission of states in 19Mg is discussed, and the conclusion of a direct mechanism of 2p radioactivity of the 19Mg ground state is confirmed.MEC EC-I3 FPA2006-13807-C02-01Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad FPA2009-0884

Spectroscopy of proton-unbound nuclei by tracking their decay products in-flight: One- and twoproton decays of 15F, 16Ne, and 19Na

A powerful method of investigating proton-unbound nuclear states by tracking their decay products in flight is discussed in detail. To verify the method, four known levels in 15F, 16Ne, and 19Na were investigated by measuring the angular correlations between protons and the respective heavy-ion fragments stemming from the precursor decays in flight. The parent nuclei of interest were produced in nuclear reactions of one-neutron removal from 17Ne and 20Mg projectiles at energies of 410-450 A MeV. The trajectories of the respective decay products, 14O+p+p and 18Ne+p+p, were measured by applying a tracking technique with microstrip detectors. These data were used to reconstruct the angular correlations of the fragments, which provided information on energies and widths of the parent states. In addition for reproducing properties of known states, evidence for hitherto unknown excited states in 15F and 16Ne was found. This tracking technique has an advantage in studies of exotic nuclei beyond the proton drip line measuring the resonance energies and widths with a high precision although by using low-intensity beams and very thick targets.EURONS EC-I3 FPA2006-13807-C02-01 FPA2007-6307

Light Propagation in a Background Field for Time-Space Noncommutativity and Axionic Noncommutative QED

We study the low-energy effects of space-time non-commutativity on light propagation in a background electromagnetic field. Contrary to some of the previous claims, we find no polarization rotation for vanishing time-space commutator $[\hat{x}^i,\hat{x}^0]= 0$, although dispersion relation is modified, allowing for propagation faster than the vacuum speed of light. For non-zero $[\hat{x}^i,\hat{x}^0]$, as allowed with a proper quantization, a naive rotation effect is found to be actually absent when physical fields are defined through Seiberg-Witten map. We also consider non-commutative QED weakly coupled to small mass particles such as axions. Non-commutativity is found to dominate the inverse oscillation length, compared to axion mass and QED effects, for mixing particle masses smaller than $10^{-12} eV$. Conventional constraints on axion coupling based on photon-axion transition rates are unmodified, however induced ellipticity is proportional to the non-commutativity squared length scale. This last effect is found to be too small to account for the ellipticity reported by the PVLAS experiment, yet unexplained by conventional QED or axion physics.Comment: 15 pages. References adde