862 research outputs found
Conceptual design optimization study
The feasibility of applying multilevel functional decomposition and optimization techniques to conceptual design of advanced fighter aircraft was investigated. Applying the functional decomposition techniques to the conceptual design phase appears to be feasible. The initial implementation of the modified design process will optimize wing design variables. A hybrid approach, combining functional decomposition techniques for generation of aerodynamic and mass properties linear sensitivity derivatives with existing techniques for sizing mission performance and optimization, is proposed
Cryogenic light detectors with enhanced performance for rare events physics
We have developed and tested a new way of coupling bolometric light detectors
to scintillating crystal bolometers based upon simply resting the light
detector on the crystal surface, held in position only by gravity. This
straightforward mounting results in three important improvements: (1) it
decreases the amount of non-active materials needed to assemble the detector,
(2) it substantially increases the light collection efficiency by minimizing
the light losses induced by the mounting structure, and (3) it enhances the
thermal signal induced in the light detector thanks to the extremely weak
thermal link to the thermal bath. We tested this new technique with a 16 cm
Ge light detector with thermistor readout sitting on the surface of a large
TeO bolometer. The light collection efficiency was increased by greater
than 50\% compared to previously tested alternative mountings. We obtained a
baseline energy resolution on the light detector of 20~eV RMS that, together
with increased light collection, enabled us to obtain the best vs
discrimination ever obtained with massive TeO crystals. At
the same time we achieved rise and decay times of 0.8 and 1.6 ms, respectively.
This superb performance meets all of the requirements for the CUPID (CUORE
Upgrade with Particle IDentification) experiment, which is a 1-ton
scintillating bolometer follow up to CUORE.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Searches for axioelectric effect of solar axions with BGO-scintillator and BGO-bolometer detectors
A search for axioelectric absorption of 5.5 MeV solar axions produced in the
reaction has been
performed with a BGO detectors. A model-independent limit on the product of
axion-nucleon and axion-electron coupling constants has
been obtained: for 90\% C.L..Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 10th Patras Workshop on
Axions, WIMPs and WISP 29 June - 4 July 2014, CERN, Geneva, Switzerlan
Scintillating double beta decay bolometers
We present the results obtained in the development of scintillating Double
Beta Decay bolometers. Several Mo and Cd based crystals were tested with the
bolometric technique. The scintillation light was measured through a second
independent bolometer. A 140 g CdWO_4 crystal was run in a 417 h live time
measurement. Thanks to the scintillation light, the alpha background is easily
discriminated resulting in zero counts above the 2615 keV gamma line of
Thallium 208. These results, combined with an extremely easy light detector
operation, represent the first tangible proof demonstrating the feasibility of
this kind of technique.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
New experimental limits on the alpha decays of lead isotopes
For the first time a PbWO4 crystal was grown using ancient Roman lead and it
was run as a cryogenic detector. Thanks to the simultaneous and independent
read-out of heat and scintillation light, the detector was able to discriminate
beta/gamma interactions with respect to alpha particles down to low energies.
New more stringent limits on the alpha decays of the lead isotopes are
presented. In particular a limit of T_{1/2} > 1.4*10^20 y at a 90% C.L. was
evaluated for the alpha decay of 204Pb to 200Hg
Nuclear Spin-Lattice Relaxation in One-Dimensional Heisenberg Ferrimagnets: Three-Magnon versus Raman Processes
Nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in one-dimensional Heisenberg ferrimagnets is
studied by means of a modified spin-wave theory. We consider the second-order
process, where a nuclear spin flip induces virtual spin waves which are then
scattered thermally via the four-magnon exchange interaction, as well as the
first-order process, where a nuclear spin directly interacts with spin waves
via the hyperfine interaction. We point out a possibility of the three-magnon
relaxation process predominating over the Raman one and suggest model
experiments.Comment: to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 73, No. 6 (2004
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
Identification of Nuclear Relaxation Processes in a Gapped Quantum Magnet: Proton NMR in the S=1/2 Heisenberg Ladder Cu2(C5H12N2)2Cl4
The proton hyperfine shift K and NMR relaxation rate have been
measured as a function of temperature in the S=1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic
ladder Cu2(C5H12N2)2Cl4. The presence of a spin gap in this strongly coupled ladder ()
is supported by the K and results. By comparing at two
different proton sites, we infer the evolution of the spectral functions
and . When the gap is significantly
reduced by the magnetic field, two different channels of nuclear relaxation,
specific to gapped antiferromagnets, are identified and are in agreement with
theoretical predictions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Letter
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