Non-perturbative measurement of low-intensity charged particle beams

Non-perturbative measurements of low-intensity charged particle beams are particularly challenging to beam diagnostics due to the low amplitude of the induced electromagnetic fields. In the low-energy antiproton decelerator (AD) and the future extra low energy antiproton rings at CERN, an absolute measurement of the beam intensity is essential to monitor the operation efficiency. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) based cryogenic current comparators (CCC) have been used for measuring slow charged beams in the nA range, showing a very good current resolution. But these were unable to measure fast bunched beams, due to the slew-rate limitation of SQUID devices and presented a strong susceptibility to external perturbations. Here, we present a CCC system developed for the AD machine, which was optimised in terms of its current resolution, system stability, ability to cope with short bunched beams, and immunity to mechanical vibrations. This paper presents the monitor design and the first results from measurements with a low energy antiproton beam obtained in the AD in 2015. These are the first CCC beam current measurements ever performed in a synchrotron machine with both coasting and short bunched beams. It is shown that the system is able to stably measure the AD beam throughout the entire cycle, with a current resolution of $30\,\mathrm{nA}$

Calibration of the ISOLDE acceleration voltage using a high-precision voltage divider and applying collinear fast beam laser spectroscopy

A high-voltage divider with accuracy at the ppm level and collinear laser spectroscopy were used to calibrate the highvoltage installation at the radioactive ion beam facility ISOLDE at CERN. The accurate knowledge of this voltage is particularly important for collinear laser spectroscopy measurements. Beam velocity measurements using frequencycomb based collinear laser spectroscopy agree with the new calibration. Applying this, one obtains consistent results for isotope shifts of stable magnesium isotopes measured using collinear spectroscopy and laser spectroscopy on laser-cooled ions in a trap. The long-term stability and the transient behavior during recovery from a voltage dropout were investigated for the different power supplies currently applied at ISOLDE.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Magneto-optical trapping of bosonic and fermionic neon isotopes and their mixtures: isotope shift of the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3 transition and hyperfine constants of the ^3D_3 state of Ne-21

We have magneto-optically trapped all three stable neon isotopes, including the rare Ne-21, and all two-isotope combinations. The atoms are prepared in the metastable ^3P_2 state and manipulated via laser interaction on the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3} transition at 640.2nm. These cold (T = 1mK) and environmentally decoupled atom samples present ideal objects for precision measurements and the investigation of interactions between cold and ultracold metastable atoms. In this work, we present accurate measurements of the isotope shift of the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3 transition and the hyperfine interaction constants of the ^3D_3 state of Ne-21. The determined isotope shifts are (1625.9\pm0.15)MHz for Ne-20 to Ne-22, (855.7\pm1.0)MHz for Ne-20 to Ne-21, and (770.3\pm1.0)MHz for Ne-21 to Ne-22. The obtained magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine interaction constants are A(^3D_3)= (-142.4\pm0.2)MHz and B(^3D_3)=(-107.7\pm1.1)MHz, respectively. All measurements give a reduction of uncertainty by about one order of magnitude over previous measurements

From Lever to Club?: conditionality in the European Union during the financial crisis

How did the European Union come to develop so many instruments of conditionality during the Eurozone debt crisis, despite the well-documented limitations of such measures in other contexts? This article argues that major EU actors–Council, Commission, and Central Bank–were influenced by their own recent and positive experiences with conditionality, especially in the EU’s enlargement in the early 2000s and the early phase of the global financial crisis. However, despite the promise of conditional instruments in these two earlier episodes, further EU reliance on conditional policies has not brought the positive outcomes the main European institutions had hoped for. As EU institutions turned to harder and harder forms of conditionality in the Euro crisis, they relearned many of the familiar negative lessons of conditionality and ultimately had to concede that the apparent success of its conditionality tools in the two earlier phases was exceptional. The article documents the evolution of conditionality over these periods, showing how EU conditionality instruments changed over time, beginning as a ‘lever’ to assist the accession of candidate states in the enlargement period, and evolving into a ‘club’ used to impose macroeconomic discipline in the late 2000s. It shows why this approach to the Euro crisis failed and was ultimately downgraded as Eurozone policy shifted in favour of monetary measures in which conditionality played only a marginal role

Theoretical study of the two-proton halo candidate 17^{17}Ne including contributions from resonant continuum and pairing correlations

With the relativistic Coulomb wave function boundary condition, the energies, widths and wave functions of the single proton resonant orbitals for $^{17}$Ne are studied by the analytical continuation of the coupling constant (ACCC) approach within the framework of the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory. Pairing correlations and contributions from the single-particle resonant orbitals in the continuum are taken into consideration by the resonant Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) approach, in which constant pairing strength is used. It can be seen that the fully self-consistent calculations with NL3 and NLSH effective interactions mostly agree with the latest experimental measurements, such as binding energies, matter radii, charge radii and densities. The energy of $\pi$2s$_{1/2}$ orbital is slightly higher than that of $\pi1d_{5/2}$ orbital, and the occupation probability of the $(\pi$2s$_{1/2})^2$ orbital is about 20%, which are in accordance with the shell model calculation and three-body model estimation

Recent results on neutron rich tin isotopes by laser spectroscopy

Laser spectroscopy measurements have been performed on neutron rich tin isotopes using the COMPLIS experimental setup. The nuclear charge radii of the even-even isotopes from A=108 to 132 are compared to the results of macroscopic and microscopic calculations. The improvements and optimizations needed to perform the isotope shift measurement on $^{134}$Sn are presented

TRIGA-SPEC: A setup for mass spectrometry and laser spectroscopy at the research reactor TRIGA Mainz

The research reactor TRIGA Mainz is an ideal facility to provide neutron-rich nuclides with production rates sufficiently large for mass spectrometric and laser spectroscopic studies. Within the TRIGA-SPEC project, a Penning trap as well as a beam line for collinear laser spectroscopy are being installed. Several new developments will ensure high sensitivity of the trap setup enabling mass measurements even on a single ion. Besides neutron-rich fission products produced in the reactor, also heavy nuclides such as 235-U or 252-Cf can be investigated for the first time with an off-line ion source. The data provided by the mass measurements will be of interest for astrophysical calculations on the rapid neutron-capture process as well as for tests of mass models in the heavy-mass region. The laser spectroscopic measurements will yield model-independent information on nuclear ground-state properties such as nuclear moments and charge radii of neutron-rich nuclei of refractory elements far from stability. This publication describes the experimental setup as well as its present status.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figure

Hearing with Secretary Timothy Geithner before the Congressional Oversight Panel

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION; S. HRG. 111– 70