182 research outputs found
On the possibility to search for double beta decay of initially unstable (alpha/beta radioactive) nuclei
Possibilities to search for double beta decay of alpha/beta unstable nuclei,
many of which have higher energy release than "conventional" (beta stable)
double beta decay candidates, are discussed. First experimental half-life
limits on double beta decay of radioactive nuclides from U and Th families
(trace contaminants of the CaWO_4, CdWO_4 and Gd_2SiO_5 scintillators) were
established by reanalyzing the data of low-background measurements in the
Solotvina Underground Laboratory with these detectors (1734 h with CaWO_4,
13316 h with CdWO_4, and 13949 h with Gd_2SiO_5 crystals).Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
TeO bolometers with Cherenkov signal tagging: towards next-generation neutrinoless double beta decay experiments
CUORE, an array of 988 TeO bolometers, is about to be one of the most
sensitive experiments searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Its
sensitivity could be further improved by removing the background from
radioactivity. A few years ago it has been pointed out that the signal from
s can be tagged by detecting the emitted Cherenkov light, which is not
produced by s. In this paper we confirm this possibility. For the first
time we measured the Cherenkov light emitted by a CUORE crystal, and found it
to be 100 eV at the -value of the decay. To completely reject the
background, we compute that one needs light detectors with baseline noise below
20 eV RMS, a value which is 3-4 times smaller than the average noise of the
bolometric light detectors we are using. We point out that an improved light
detector technology must be developed to obtain TeO bolometric experiments
able to probe the inverted hierarchy of neutrino masses.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Added referee correction
Development of a Li2MoO4 scintillating bolometer for low background physics
We present the performance of a 33 g Li2MoO4 crystal working as a
scintillating bolometer. The crystal was tested for more than 400 h in a
dilution refrigerator installed in the underground laboratory of Laboratori
Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy). This compound shows promising features in the
frame of neutron detection, dark matter search (solar axions) and neutrinoless
double-beta decay physics. Low temperature scintillating properties were
investigated by means of different alpha, beta/gamma and neutron sources, and
for the first time the Light Yield for different types of interacting particle
is estimated. The detector shows great ability of tagging fast neutron
interactions and high intrinsic radiopurity levels (< 90 \muBq/kg for 238-U and
< 110 \muBq/kg for 232-Th).Comment: revised versio
First bolometric measurement of the two neutrino double beta decay of Mo with a ZnMoO crystals array
The large statistics collected during the operation of a ZnMoO array, for
a total exposure of 1.3 kg day of Mo, allowed the first
bolometric observation of the two neutrino double beta decay of Mo. The
observed spectrum of each crystal was reconstructed taking into account the
different background contributions due to environmental radioactivity and
internal contamination. The analysis of coincidences between the crystals
allowed the assignment of constraints to the intensity of the different
background sources, resulting in a reconstruction of the measured spectrum down
to an energy of 300 keV. The half-life extracted from the data is
T= [7.15 0.37 (stat) 0.66 (syst)] 10
y.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure, Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics G:
Nuclear and Particle Physic
Cavity cooling of a single atom
All conventional methods to laser-cool atoms rely on repeated cycles of
optical pumping and spontaneous emission of a photon by the atom. Spontaneous
emission in a random direction is the dissipative mechanism required to remove
entropy from the atom. However, alternative cooling methods have been proposed
for a single atom strongly coupled to a high-finesse cavity; the role of
spontaneous emission is replaced by the escape of a photon from the cavity.
Application of such cooling schemes would improve the performance of atom
cavity systems for quantum information processing. Furthermore, as cavity
cooling does not rely on spontaneous emission, it can be applied to systems
that cannot be laser-cooled by conventional methods; these include molecules
(which do not have a closed transition) and collective excitations of Bose
condensates, which are destroyed by randomly directed recoil kicks. Here we
demonstrate cavity cooling of single rubidium atoms stored in an intracavity
dipole trap. The cooling mechanism results in extended storage times and
improved localization of atoms. We estimate that the observed cooling rate is
at least five times larger than that produced by free-space cooling methods,
for comparable excitation of the atom
Photon- and meson-induced reactions on the nucleon
In an unitary effective Lagrangian model we develop a unified description of
both meson scattering and photon-induced reactions on the nucleon. Adding the
photon to an already existing model for meson-nucleon scattering yields both
Compton and meson photoproduction amplitudes. In a simultaneous fit to all
available data involving the final states , , ,
and the parameters of the nucleon resonances are
extracted.Comment: 57 pages, 14 figures, LaTex (uses Revtex and graphicx). Submitted to
Phys. Rev. C. References updated, Fig. 14 change
First observation of alpha decay of 190-Pt to the first excited level (E_{exc}=137.2 keV) of 186-Os
The alpha decays of naturally occurring platinum isotopes, which are
accompanied by the emission of gamma quanta, have been searched for deep
underground (3600 m w.e.) in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories of the INFN
(Italy). A sample of Pt with mass of 42.5 g and a natural isotopic composition
has been measured with a low background HP Ge detector (468 cm^3) during 1815
h. The alpha decay of 190-Pt to the first excited level of 186-Os (J^\pi = 2^+,
E_{exc}=137.2 keV) has been observed for the first time, with the half-life
determined as: T_{1/2} = 2.6_{-0.3}^{+0.4} (stat.) \pm 0.6 (syst.) \times
10^{14} yr. The T_{1/2} limits for the alpha decays of other Pt isotopes have
been determined at level of T_{1/2} \simeq 10^{16}-10^{20} yr. These limits
have been set for the first time or they are better than those known from
earlier experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication on Phys. Rev.
First array of enriched ZnSe bolometers to search for double beta decay
The R&D activity performed during the last years proved the potential of ZnSe
scintillating bolometers to the search for neutrino-less double beta decay,
motivating the realization of the first large-mass experiment based on this
technology: CUPID-0. The isotopic enrichment in Se, the ZnSe
crystals growth, as well as the light detectors production have been
accomplished, and the experiment is now in construction at Laboratori Nazionali
del Gran Sasso (Italy). In this paper we present the results obtained testing
the first three ZnSe crystals operated as scintillating bolometers, and
we prove that their performance in terms of energy resolution, background
rejection capability and intrinsic radio-purity complies with the requirements
of CUPID-0
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