Excitation of the GDR and the Compressional Isoscalar Dipole State by alpha scattering

The excitation of the isovector giant dipole resonance (GDR) by alpha scattering is investigated as a method of probing the neutron excess in exotic nuclei. DWBA calculations are presented for 28O and 70Ca and the interplay of Coulomb and nuclear excitation is discussed. Since the magnitude of the Coulomb excitation amplitude is strongly influenced by the Q-value, the neutron excess plays an important role, as it tends to lower the energy of the GDR. The excitation of the compressional isoscalar dipole state in 70Ca by alpha scattering is also investigated. It is shown that the population of this latter state may be an even more sensitive probe of the neutron skin than the isovector GDR.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Latex2

Patterns of Mesenchymal Condensation in a Multiscale, Discrete Stochastic Model

Cells of the embryonic vertebrate limb in high-density culture undergo chondrogenic pattern formation, which results in the production of regularly spaced “islands” of cartilage similar to the cartilage primordia of the developing limb skeleton. The first step in this process, in vitro and in vivo, is the generation of “cell condensations,” in which the precartilage cells become more tightly packed at the sites at which cartilage will form. In this paper we describe a discrete, stochastic model for the behavior of limb bud precartilage mesenchymal cells in vitro. The model uses a biologically motivated reaction–diffusion process and cell-matrix adhesion (haptotaxis) as the bases of chondrogenic pattern formation, whereby the biochemically distinct condensing cells, as well as the size, number, and arrangement of the multicellular condensations, are generated in a self-organizing fashion. Improving on an earlier lattice-gas representation of the same process, it is multiscale (i.e., cell and molecular dynamics occur on distinct scales), and the cells are represented as spatially extended objects that can change their shape. The authors calibrate the model using experimental data and study sensitivity to changes in key parameters. The simulations have disclosed two distinct dynamic regimes for pattern self-organization involving transient or stationary inductive patterns of morphogens. The authors discuss these modes of pattern formation in relation to available experimental evidence for the in vitro system, as well as their implications for understanding limb skeletal patterning during embryonic development

Excitation of Pygmy Dipole Resonance in neutron-rich nuclei via Coulomb and nuclear fields

We study the nature of the low-lying dipole strength in neutron-rich nuclei, often associated to the Pygmy Dipole Resonance. The states are described within the Hartree-Fock plus RPA formalism, using different parametrizations of the Skyrme interaction. We show how the information from combined reactions processes involving the Coulomb and different mixtures of isoscalar and isovector nuclear interactions can provide a clue to reveal the characteristic features of these states.Comment: 9 Pages, 8 figures, contribution to International Symposium On Nuclear Physics, December 8-12, 2009,Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Indi

Initial State Dependence of the Breakup of Weakly Bound Carbon Isotopes

The one-neutron nuclear breakup from the Carbon isotopes $^{19}$C and $^{17}$C, is calculated as an example of application of the theory of transfer to the continuum reactions in the formulation which includes spin coupling. The effect of the energy sharing between the parallel and transverse neutron momentum distributions is taken into account thus resulting in a theory which is more general than sudden eikonal approaches. Both effects are necessary to understand properly the breakup from not too weakly bound $l_i>1$ orbitals. Breakup which leaves the core into an excited state below particle threshold is also considered. The core-target interaction is treated in the smooth cut-off approximation. By comparing to presently available experimental data we show how to make some hypothesis on the quantum numbers and occupancy of the neutron initial state. Possible ambiguities in the interpretation of inclusive cross sections are discussed.Comment: 22 RevTeX pages,3 ps figures. Phys. Rev. C, accepte

Coulomb and nuclear breakup of 8^8B

The cross sections for the ($^8$B,$^7$Be-$p$) breakup reaction on $^{58}$Ni and $^{208}$Pb targets at the beam energies of 25.8 MeV and 415 MeV have been calculated within a one-step prior-form distorted-wave Born approximation. The relative contributions of Coulomb and nuclear breakup of dipole and quadrupole multipolarities as well as their interference have been determined. The nuclear breakup contributions are found to be substantial in the angular distributions of the $^7$Be fragment for angles in the range of 30$^\circ$ - 80$^\circ$ at 25.8 MeV beam energy. The Coulomb-nuclear interference terms make the dipole cross section larger than that of quadrupole even at this low beam energy. However, at the incident energy of 415 MeV, these effects are almost negligible in the angular distributions of the ($^7$Be-p) coincidence cross sections at angles below 4$^\circ$.Comment: Revised version, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Core excitation in Coulomb breakup reactions

Within the pure Coulomb breakup mechanism, we investigate the one-neutron removal reaction of the type A(a,b$\gamma$)X with $^{11}$Be and $^{19}$C projectiles on a heavy target nucleus $^{208}$Pb at the beam energy of 60 MeV/nucleon. Our intention is to examine the prospective of using these reactions to study the structure of neutron rich nuclei. Integrated partial cross sections and momentum distributions for the ground as well as excited bound states of core nuclei are calculated within the finite range distorted wave Born approximation as well as within the adiabatic model of the Coulomb breakup. Our results are compared with those obtained in the studies of the reactions on a light target where the breakup proceeds via the pure nuclear mechanism. We find that the transitions to excited states of the core are quite weak in the Coulomb dominated process as compared to the pure nuclear breakup.Comment: Revtex format, five postscript figures included, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Isospin Physics in Heavy-Ion Collisions at Intermediate Energies

In nuclear collisions induced by stable or radioactive neutron-rich nuclei a transient state of nuclear matter with an appreciable isospin asymmetry as well as thermal and compressional excitation can be created. This offers the possibility to study the properties of nuclear matter in the region between symmetric nuclear matter and pure neutron matter. In this review, we discuss recent theoretical studies of the equation of state of isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter and its relations to the properties of neutron stars and radioactive nuclei. Chemical and mechanical instabilities as well as the liquid-gas phase transition in asymmetric nuclear matter are investigated. The in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections at different isospin states are reviewed as they affect significantly the dynamics of heavy ion collisions induced by radioactive beams. We then discuss an isospin-dependent transport model, which includes different mean-field potentials and cross sections for the proton and neutron, and its application to these reactions. Furthermore, we review the comparisons between theoretical predictions and available experimental data. In particular, we discuss the study of nuclear stopping in terms of isospin equilibration, the dependence of nuclear collective flow and balance energy on the isospin-dependent nuclear equation of state and cross sections, the isospin dependence of total nuclear reaction cross sections, and the role of isospin in preequilibrium nucleon emissions and subthreshold pion production.Comment: 101 pages with embedded epsf figures, review article for "International Journal of Modern Physics E: Nuclear Physics". Send request for a hard copy to 1/author

Quantum Tunneling in Nuclear Fusion

Recent theoretical advances in the study of heavy ion fusion reactions below the Coulomb barrier are reviewed. Particular emphasis is given to new ways of analyzing data, such as studying barrier distributions; new approaches to channel coupling, such as the path integral and Green function formalisms; and alternative methods to describe nuclear structure effects, such as those using the Interacting Boson Model. The roles of nucleon transfer, asymmetry effects, higher-order couplings, and shape-phase transitions are elucidated. The current status of the fusion of unstable nuclei and very massive systems are briefly discussed.Comment: To appear in the January 1998 issue of Reviews of Modern Physics. 13 Figures (postscript file for Figure 6 is not available; a hard copy can be requested from the authors). Full text and figures are also available at http://nucth.physics.wisc.edu/preprints

Discovery of mating in the major African livestock pathogen Trypanosoma congolense

The protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma congolense, is one of the most economically important pathogens of livestock in Africa and, through its impact on cattle health and productivity, has a significant effect on human health and well being. Despite the importance of this parasite our knowledge of some of the fundamental biological processes is limited. For example, it is unknown whether mating takes place. In this paper we have taken a population genetics based approach to address this question. The availability of genome sequence of the parasite allowed us to identify polymorphic microsatellite markers, which were used to genotype T. congolense isolates from livestock in a discrete geographical area of The Gambia. The data showed a high level of diversity with a large number of distinct genotypes, but a deficit in heterozygotes. Further analysis identified cryptic genetic subdivision into four sub-populations. In one of these, parasite genotypic diversity could only be explained by the occurrence of frequent mating in T. congolense. These data are completely inconsistent with previous suggestions that the parasite expands asexually in the absence of mating. The discovery of mating in this species of trypanosome has significant consequences for the spread of critical traits, such as drug resistance, as well as for fundamental aspects of the biology and epidemiology of this neglected but economically important pathogen

Dynamical Patterns of Cattle Trade Movements

Despite their importance for the spread of zoonotic diseases, our understanding of the dynamical aspects characterizing the movements of farmed animal populations remains limited as these systems are traditionally studied as static objects and through simplified approximations. By leveraging on the network science approach, here we are able for the first time to fully analyze the longitudinal dataset of Italian cattle movements that reports the mobility of individual animals among farms on a daily basis. The complexity and inter-relations between topology, function and dynamical nature of the system are characterized at different spatial and time resolutions, in order to uncover patterns and vulnerabilities fundamental for the definition of targeted prevention and control measures for zoonotic diseases. Results show how the stationarity of statistical distributions coexists with a strong and non-trivial evolutionary dynamics at the node and link levels, on all timescales. Traditional static views of the displacement network hide important patterns of structural changes affecting nodes' centrality and farms' spreading potential, thus limiting the efficiency of interventions based on partial longitudinal information. By fully taking into account the longitudinal dimension, we propose a novel definition of dynamical motifs that is able to uncover the presence of a temporal arrow describing the evolution of the system and the causality patterns of its displacements, shedding light on mechanisms that may play a crucial role in the definition of preventive actions