Spreading widths of giant resonances in spherical nuclei: damped transient response

We propose the universal approach to describe spreading widths of monopole, dipole and quadrupole giant resonances in heavy and superheavy spherical nuclei. Our approach is based on the ideas of the random matrix distribution of the coupling between one-phonon and two-phonon states generated in the random phase approximation. We use the Skyrme interaction SLy4 as our model Hamiltonian to create a single-particle spectrum and to analyze excited states of the doubly magic nuclei $^{132}$Sn, $^{208}$Pb and $^{310}$126. Our results demonstrate that the universal approach enables to describe gross structure of the spreading widths of the considered giant resonances.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Correlation studies of fission fragment neutron multiplicities

We calculate neutron multiplicities from fission fragments with specified mass numbers for events having a specified total fragment kinetic energy. The shape evolution from the initial compound nucleus to the scission configurations is obtained with the Metropolis walk method on the five-dimensional potential-energy landscape, calculated with the macroscopic-microscopic method for the three-quadratic-surface shape family. Shape-dependent microscopic level densities are used to guide the random walk, to partition the intrinsic excitation energy between the two proto-fragments at scission, and to determine the spectrum of the neutrons evaporated from the fragments. The contributions to the total excitation energy of the resulting fragments from statistical excitation and shape distortion at scission is studied. Good agreement is obtained with available experimental data on neutron multiplicities in correlation with fission fragments from $^{235}$U(n$_{\rm th}$,f). At higher neutron energies a superlong fission mode appears which affects the dependence of the observables on the total fragment kinetic energy.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Two-phonon structures for beta-decay theory

The $\beta$-decay rates of $^{60}$Ca have been studied within a microscopic model, which is based on the Skyrme interaction T45 to construct single-particle and phonon spaces. We observe a redistribution of the Gamow-Teller strength due to the phonon-phonon coupling, considered in the model. For $^{60}$Sc, the spin-parity of the ground state is found to be $1^+$. We predict that the half-life of $^{60}$Ca is 0.3 ms, while the total probability of the $\beta x n$ emission is 6.1%. Additionally, the random matrix theory has been applied to analyse the statistical properties of the $1^+$ spectrum populated in the $\beta$-decay to elucidate the obtained results.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of International Conference on Nuclear Structure and Related Topics (NSRT18), June 3-9 2018, Burgas, Bulgari

Origin of resolution enhancement by co-doping of scintillators: Insight from electronic structure calculations

It was recently shown that the energy resolution of Ce-doped LaBr$_3$ scintillator radiation detectors can be crucially improved by co-doping with Sr, Ca, or Ba. Here we outline a mechanism for this enhancement on the basis of electronic structure calculations. We show that (i) Br vacancies are the primary electron traps during the initial stage of thermalization of hot carriers, prior to hole capture by Ce dopants; (ii) isolated Br vacancies are associated with deep levels; (iii) Sr doping increases the Br vacancy concentration by several orders of magnitude; (iv) $\text{Sr}_\text{La}$ binds to $V_\text{Br}$ resulting in a stable neutral complex; and (v) association with Sr causes the deep vacancy level to move toward the conduction band edge. The latter is essential for reducing the effective carrier density available for Auger quenching during thermalization of hot carriers. Subsequent de-trapping of electrons from $\text{Sr}_\text{La}-V_\text{La}$ complexes then can activate Ce dopants that have previously captured a hole leading to luminescence. This mechanism implies an overall reduction of Auger quenching of free carriers, which is expected to improve the linearity of the photon light yield with respect to the energy of incident electron or photon

What do conferences do? What is academics’ intangible return on investment (ROI) from attending an academic tourism conference?

This is a submitted of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the JOURNAL OF TEACHING IN TRAVEL & TOURISM on December 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/15313220.2017.1407517Conferences are funny events. They are self-evident elements of our lives as academics: meetings that occur, often annually; take place in various locations; and involve (hopefully) like-minded people, aiming to share their latest research findings. Conferences are actually so self-evident that very little research exists analysing what takes place at conferences, why people attend them in the first place, and essentially what the conference does to delegates as participants. This article is, on one hand, a reflective report from an academic conference: TEFI 9—Celebrating the Disruptive Power of Caring in Tourism Education. But it is also simultaneously an analysis of the implicit and explicit rationale and return on investment for attending academic conferences, in the words of three, at that time, PhD candidate rapporteurs and one professor rapporteur, who acts as this article’s narrator.submittedVersio

Microscopic Origin of Quantum Chaos in Rotational Damping

The rotational spectrum of $^{168}$Yb is calculated diagonalizing different effective interactions within the basis of unperturbed rotational bands provided by the cranked shell model. A transition between order and chaos taking place in the energy region between 1 and 2 MeV above the yrast line is observed, associated with the onset of rotational damping. It can be related to the higher multipole components of the force acting among the unperturbed rotational bands.Comment: 7 pages, plain TEX, YITP/K-99

Quantum chaos and nuclear mass systematics

The presence of quantum chaos in nuclear mass systematics is analyzed by considering the differences between measured and calculated nuclear masses as a time series described by the power law 1/ f^alpha. While for the liquid droplet model plus shell corrections a quantum chaotic behavior alpha approx 1 is found, errors in the microscopic mass formula have alpha approx 0.5, closer to white noise. The chaotic behavior seems to arise from many body effects not included in the mass formula.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, replaced to match the published versio