Laser-Nucleus Interactions: The Quasiadiabatic Regime

The interaction between nuclei and a strong zeptosecond laser pulse with coherent MeV photons is investigated theoretically. We provide a first semi-quantitative study of the quasiadiabatic regime where the photon absorption rate is comparable to the nuclear equilibration rate. In that regime, multiple photon absorption leads to the formation of a compound nucleus in the so-far unexplored regime of excitation energies several hundred MeV above the yrast line. The temporal dynamics of the process is investigated by means of a set of master equations that account for dipole absorption, stimulated dipole emission, neutron decay and induced fission in a chain of nuclei. That set is solved numerically by means of state-of-the-art matrix exponential methods also used in nuclear fuel burnup and radioactivity transport calculations. Our quantitative estimates predict the excitation path and range of nuclei reached by neutron decay and provide relevant information for the layout of future experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures; v2 minor modifications in text, results unchange

Improving PWR core simulations by Monte Carlo uncertainty analysis and Bayesian inference

A Monte Carlo-based Bayesian inference model is applied to the prediction of reactor operation parameters of a PWR nuclear power plant. In this non-perturbative framework, high-dimensional covariance information describing the uncertainty of microscopic nuclear data is combined with measured reactor operation data in order to provide statistically sound, well founded uncertainty estimates of integral parameters, such as the boron letdown curve and the burnup-dependent reactor power distribution. The performance of this methodology is assessed in a blind test approach, where we use measurements of a given reactor cycle to improve the prediction of the subsequent cycle. As it turns out, the resulting improvement of the prediction quality is impressive. In particular, the prediction uncertainty of the boron letdown curve, which is of utmost importance for the planning of the reactor cycle length, can be reduced by one order of magnitude by including the boron concentration measurement information of the previous cycle in the analysis. Additionally, we present first results of non-perturbative nuclear-data updating and show that predictions obtained with the updated libraries are consistent with those induced by Bayesian inference applied directly to the integral observables.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

Signatures for Majorana neutrinos in e−γe^- \gamma collider

We study the possibilities to detect Majorana neutrinos in $e^- \gamma$ colliders for different center of mass energies. We study the $W^- W^- l_j^{+}(l_j^+\equiv e^+ ,\mu^+ ,\tau^+)$ final state which are, due to leptonic number violation, a clear signature for intermediate Majorana neutrino contribution. Such a signal (final lepton have the opposite charge of the initial lepton) is not possible if the heavy neutrinos are Dirac particles. In our calculation we use the helicity formalism to obtain analytic expressions for the amplitude and we have considered that the intermediate neutrinos can be either on shell or off shell. Finally we present our results for the total cross-section and for the angular distribution of the final lepton. We also include a discussion on the expected events number as a function of the input parameters.Comment: Latex file with 12 pages and 6 figures. Submited to Phys. Rev.

Relations between lipoprotein(a) concentrations, LPA genetic variants, and the risk of mortality in patients with established coronary heart disease: a molecular and genetic association study

Background: Lipoprotein(a) concentrations in plasma are associated with cardiovascular risk in the general population. Whether lipoprotein(a) concentrations or LPA genetic variants predict long-term mortality in patients with established coronary heart disease remains less clear. Methods: We obtained data from 3313 patients with established coronary heart disease in the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health (LURIC) study. We tested associations of tertiles of lipoprotein(a) concentration in plasma and two LPA single-nucleotide polymorphisms ([SNPs] rs10455872 and rs3798220) with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality by Cox regression analysis and with severity of disease by generalised linear modelling, with and without adjustment for age, sex, diabetes diagnosis, systolic blood pressure, BMI, smoking status, estimated glomerular filtration rate, LDL-cholesterol concentration, and use of lipid-lowering therapy. Results for plasma lipoprotein(a) concentrations were validated in five independent studies involving 10 195 patients with established coronary heart disease. Results for genetic associations were replicated through large-scale collaborative analysis in the GENIUS-CHD consortium, comprising 106 353 patients with established coronary heart disease and 19 332 deaths in 22 studies or cohorts. Findings: The median follow-up was 9·9 years. Increased severity of coronary heart disease was associated with lipoprotein(a) concentrations in plasma in the highest tertile (adjusted hazard radio [HR] 1·44, 95% CI 1·14–1·83) and the presence of either LPA SNP (1·88, 1·40–2·53). No associations were found in LURIC with all-cause mortality (highest tertile of lipoprotein(a) concentration in plasma 0·95, 0·81–1·11 and either LPA SNP 1·10, 0·92–1·31) or cardiovascular mortality (0·99, 0·81–1·2 and 1·13, 0·90–1·40, respectively) or in the validation studies. Interpretation: In patients with prevalent coronary heart disease, lipoprotein(a) concentrations and genetic variants showed no associations with mortality. We conclude that these variables are not useful risk factors to measure to predict progression to death after coronary heart disease is established. Funding: Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technical Development (AtheroRemo and RiskyCAD), INTERREG IV Oberrhein Programme, Deutsche Nierenstiftung, Else-Kroener Fresenius Foundation, Deutsche Stiftung für Herzforschung, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Saarland University, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Willy Robert Pitzer Foundation, and Waldburg-Zeil Clinics Isny

Association of Factor V Leiden with Subsequent Atherothrombotic Events:A GENIUS-CHD Study of Individual Participant Data

BACKGROUND: Studies examining the role of factor V Leiden among patients at higher risk of atherothrombotic events, such as those with established coronary heart disease (CHD), are lacking. Given that coagulation is involved in the thrombus formation stage on atherosclerotic plaque rupture, we hypothesized that factor V Leiden may be a stronger risk factor for atherothrombotic events in patients with established CHD. METHODS: We performed an individual-level meta-analysis including 25 prospective studies (18 cohorts, 3 case-cohorts, 4 randomized trials) from the GENIUS-CHD (Genetics of Subsequent Coronary Heart Disease) consortium involving patients with established CHD at baseline. Participating studies genotyped factor V Leiden status and shared risk estimates for the outcomes of interest using a centrally developed statistical code with harmonized definitions across studies. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to obtain age- and sex-adjusted estimates. The obtained estimates were pooled using fixed-effect meta-analysis. The primary outcome was composite of myocardial infarction and CHD death. Secondary outcomes included any stroke, ischemic stroke, coronary revascularization, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality. RESULTS: The studies included 69 681 individuals of whom 3190 (4.6%) were either heterozygous or homozygous (n=47) carriers of factor V Leiden. Median follow-up per study ranged from 1.0 to 10.6 years. A total of 20 studies with 61 147 participants and 6849 events contributed to analyses of the primary outcome. Factor V Leiden was not associated with the combined outcome of myocardial infarction and CHD death (hazard ratio, 1.03 [95% CI, 0.92-1.16]; I2=28%; P-heterogeneity=0.12). Subgroup analysis according to baseline characteristics or strata of traditional cardiovascular risk factors did not show relevant differences. Similarly, risk estimates for the secondary outcomes including stroke, coronary revascularization, cardiovascular mortality, and all-cause mortality were also close to identity. CONCLUSIONS: Factor V Leiden was not associated with increased risk of subsequent atherothrombotic events and mortality in high-risk participants with established and treated CHD. Routine assessment of factor V Leiden status is unlikely to improve atherothrombotic events risk stratification in this population

Subsequent Event Risk in Individuals with Established Coronary Heart Disease:Design and Rationale of the GENIUS-CHD Consortium

BACKGROUND: The "GENetIcs of sUbSequent Coronary Heart Disease" (GENIUS-CHD) consortium was established to facilitate discovery and validation of genetic variants and biomarkers for risk of subsequent CHD events, in individuals with established CHD. METHODS: The consortium currently includes 57 studies from 18 countries, recruiting 185,614 participants with either acute coronary syndrome, stable CHD or a mixture of both at baseline. All studies collected biological samples and followed-up study participants prospectively for subsequent events. RESULTS: Enrollment into the individual studies took place between 1985 to present day with duration of follow up ranging from 9 months to 15 years. Within each study, participants with CHD are predominantly of self-reported European descent (38%-100%), mostly male (44%-91%) with mean ages at recruitment ranging from 40 to 75 years. Initial feasibility analyses, using a federated analysis approach, yielded expected associations between age (HR 1.15 95% CI 1.14-1.16) per 5-year increase, male sex (HR 1.17, 95% CI 1.13-1.21) and smoking (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.35-1.51) with risk of subsequent CHD death or myocardial infarction, and differing associations with other individual and composite cardiovascular endpoints. CONCLUSIONS: GENIUS-CHD is a global collaboration seeking to elucidate genetic and non-genetic determinants of subsequent event risk in individuals with established CHD, in order to improve residual risk prediction and identify novel drug targets for secondary prevention. Initial analyses demonstrate the feasibility and reliability of a federated analysis approach. The consortium now plans to initiate and test novel hypotheses as well as supporting replication and validation analyses for other investigators

Radiative corrections to hadron production in e+e- annihilations at DA(Phi)NE energies

Strahlungskorrekturen zur Hadronproduktion bei niedrigen Energien, wie man sie an den e+e- -Beschleunigern DAFNE und VEPP-2M misst, werden untersucht. Ziel dieser Arbeit ist es, die von QED--Korrekturen befreiten hadronischen Wirkungsquerschnitte aus den hadronischen Daten mit einer Praezision auf Promille-Niveau zu extrahieren. Hadronische Praezisionsdaten werden benoetigt, um den theoretischen Fehler zur laufenden Feinstrukturkonstanten alpha(s) und zum anomalen magnetischen Moment des Myons a(mu) zu senken und sie stellen daher einen Schluessel zur moeglichen Entdeckung ``neuer Physik'' dar. Insbesondere die Paarproduktion geladener Pionen e+e- -> pi+ pi- unterhalb einer Energie von 1 GeV ist von grosser Wichtigkeit. Zu diesem Prozess werden die vollstaendigen O(alpha)-QED-Korrekturen zum Anfangszustand, Endzustand sowie die Interferenzkorrekturen berechnet. Analytische Formeln zu den virtuellen und reellen photonischen Korrekturen werden angegeben. Der totale Wirkungsquerschnitt sigma, die Pion-Winkelverteilung dsigma/dcos(theta) und die Invariantemasseverteilung des Pionpaars dsigma/ds' werden fuer den Fall realistischer kinematischer Schnitte untersucht. Es wird gezeigt, dass zusaetzlich zu den vollstaendigen O(alpha)-Korrekturen zusaetzlich die photonischen Anfangszustandskorrekturen der Ordnung O(alpha^2) und fuehrende Photonbeitraege der Ordnung O(alpha^3) sowie Beitraege zur e+ e- -Paarabstrahlung vom Anfangszustand beruecksichtigt werden muessen wenn mindestens eine Genauigkeit auf Prozent-Niveau verlangt wird. Fuer die Datenanalyse wird der Schwerpunkt auf eine inklusive Behandlung aller Photonen gelegt. Die Messung sowohl des totalen Wirkungsquerschnitts als auch der pi+ pi- Invariantemasseverteilung betreffend wird der theoretische Fehler dieser Behandlung der Strahlungskorrekturen mit 2 Promille abgeschaetzt. Ausserdem wird die Modellunsicherheit als Folge der Pion-Substruktur diskutiert. Um den Formfaktor mit der gewuenschten Praezision aus den experimentellen Daten extrahieren zu koennen, wurde ein auf diese Fragestellung zugeschnittenes Fortran-Programm geschrieben, welches die Beruecksichtigung realistischer kinematischer Schnitte erlaubt. Insgesamt erfuellt die Genauigkeit der theoretischen Vorhersagen die Erfordernisse der Niedrigenergie- e+ e- -Experimente wie diejenigen bei DAFNE oder VEPP-2M.Radiative corrections to low energy hadron production as measured at the e+ e- colliders DAFNE and VEPP-2M are investigated. The goal of this work is to provide the theoretical condition for extracting hadronic cross sections undressed from QED corrections from the measured data with a precision of per mill level. High precision hadronic data are required to reduce the theoretical error of the running fine structure constant alpha(s) and the muon anomalous magnetic moment a(mu) and therefore represent a key to a possible discovery of ``new physics''. Especially the channel of charged pion pair production e+e- -> pi+ pi- below 1 GeV appears to be of great importance. To this process the complete O(alpha) QED initial state, final state and initial-final state interference corrections are calculated. Analytic formulae are given for the virtual and for the real photon corrections. The total cross section sigma, the pion angular distribution dsigma/dcos(theta) and the pi+ pi- invariant mass distribution dsigma/ds' are investigated in the regime of experimentally realistic kinematical cuts. It is shown that in addition to the full O(alpha) corrections also the O(alpha^2) and leading log O(alpha^3) photonic corrections as well as the contributions from IS e+ e- pair production have to be taken into account if at least per cent accuracy is required. For the data analysis I focus on an inclusive treatment of all photons. The theoretical error concerning this treatment of radiative corrections is then estimated to be 2 per mill for both the measurement of the total cross section and the pi+ pi- invariant mass distribution. In addition the model uncertainty due to the pion substructure is discussed. To be able to extract the pion form factor from the experimental data with the desired accuracy a dedicated Fortran program was written which allows to take into account experimentally realistic kinematical cuts. Altogether the precision of the theoretical prediction matches the requirements of low energy e+ e- experiments like the ones at DAFNE and VEPP-2M

Decay heat uncertainty quantification of MYRRHA

MYRRHA is a lead-bismuth cooled MOX-fueled accelerator driven system (ADS) currently in the design phase at SCK·CEN in Belgium. The correct evaluation of the decay heat and of its uncertainty level is very important for the safety demonstration of the reactor. In the first part of this work we assessed the decay heat released by the MYRRHA core using the ALEPH-2 burnup code. The second part of the study focused on the nuclear data uncertainty and covariance propagation to the MYRRHA decay heat. Radioactive decay data, independent fission yield and cross section uncertainties/covariances were propagated using two nuclear data sampling codes, namely NUDUNA and SANDY. According to the results, 238U cross sections and fission yield data are the largest contributors to the MYRRHA decay heat uncertainty. The calculated uncertainty values are deemed acceptable from the safety point of view as they are well within the available regulatory limits