295 research outputs found
Can Hyperfine Excitation explain the Observed Oscillation-Puzzle of Nuclear Orbital Electron Capture of Hydrogen-like Ions?
Modulated in time orbital electron capture (EC) decays have been observed
recently in stored H-like Pr and Pm ions.
Although, the experimental results are extensively discussed in literature, a
firm interpretation has still to be established. Periodic transitions between
the hyperfine states could possible lead to the observed effect. Both selected
nuclides decay to stable daughter nuclei via allowed Gamow-Teller transitions.
Due to the conservation of total angular momentum, the allowed EC decay can
only proceed from the hyperfine ground state of parent ions. In this work we
argue that periodic transitions to the excited hyperfine state (sterile) in
respect to the allowed EC decay ground state cannot explain the observed decay
pattern
Toward CP-even Neutrino Beam
The best method of measuring CP violating effect in neutrino oscillation
experiments is to construct and use a neutrino beam made of an ideal mixture of
and of monochromatic lines. The conceptual design of such
a beam is described, together with how to measure the CP-odd quantity. We
propose to exploit an accelerated unstable hydrogen-like heavy ion in a storage
ring, whose decay has both electron capture and bound beta decay with a
comparable fraction.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, Published versio
Effect of differences in proton and neutron density distributions on fission barriers
The neutron and proton density distributions obtained in constrained
Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov calculations with the Gogny force along the fission
paths of 232Th, 236U, 238U and 240Pu are analyzed.
Significant differences in the multipole deformations of neutron and proton
densities are found. The effect on potential energy surfaces and on barrier
heights of an additional constraint imposing similar spatial distributions to
neutrons and protons, as assumed in macroscopic-microscopic models, is studied.Comment: 5 pages in Latex, 4 figures in ep
Isospin Dependence in the Odd-Even Staggering of Nuclear Binding Energies
The FRS-ESR facility at GSI provides unique conditions for precision
measurements of large areas on the nuclear mass surface in a single experiment.
Values for masses of 604 neutron-deficient nuclides (30<=Z<=92) were obtained
with a typical uncertainty of 30 microunits. The masses of 114 nuclides were
determined for the first time. The odd-even staggering (OES) of nuclear masses
was systematically investigated for isotopic chains between the proton shell
closures at Z=50 and Z=82. The results were compared with predictions of modern
nuclear models. The comparison revealed that the measured trend of OES is not
reproduced by the theories fitted to masses only. The spectral pairing gaps
extracted from models adjusted to both masses, and density related observables
of nuclei agree better with the experimental data.Comment: Physics Review Letters 95 (2005) 042501
http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v95/e04250
Systematics of Fission Barriers in Superheavy Elements
We investigate the systematics of fission barriers in superheavy elements in
the range Z = 108-120 and N = 166-182. Results from two self-consistent models
for nuclear structure, the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model as well as the
non-relativistic Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach are compared and discussed. We
restrict ourselves to axially symmetric shapes, which provides an upper bound
on static fission barriers. We benchmark the predictive power of the models
examining the barriers and fission isomers of selected heavy actinide nuclei
for which data are available. For both actinides and superheavy nuclei, the RMF
model systematically predicts lower barriers than most Skyrme interactions. In
particular the fission isomers are predicted too low by the RMF, which casts
some doubt on recent predictions about superdeformed ground states of some
superheavy nuclei. For the superheavy nuclei under investigation, fission
barriers drop to small values around Z = 110, N = 180 and increase again for
heavier systems. For most of the forces, there is no fission isomer for
superheavy nuclei, as superdeformed states are in most cases found to be
unstable with respect to octupole distortions.Comment: 17 pages REVTEX, 12 embedded eps figures. corrected abstrac
Investigation of risk factors for introduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 infection among commercial turkey operations in the United States, 2022: a case-control study
Introduction: The 2022–2023 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreak in the United States (U.S.) is the largest and most costly animal health event in U.S. history. Approximately 70% of commercial farms affected during this outbreak have been turkey farms. Methods: We conducted a case-control study to identify potential risk factors for introduction of HPAI virus onto commercial meat turkey operations. Data were collected from 66 case farms and 59 control farms in 12 states. Univariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to compare management and biosecurity factors on case and control farms. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of infection included being in an existing control zone, having both brooders and growers, having toms, seeing wild waterfowl or shorebirds in the closest field, and using rendering for dead bird disposal. Protective factors included having a restroom facility, including portable, available to crews that visit the farm and workers having access and using a shower at least some of the time when entering a specified barn. Discussion: Study results provide a better understanding of risk factors for HPAI infection and can be used to inform prevention and control measures for HPAI on U.S. turkey farms
Shell structure of superheavy nuclei in self-consistent mean-field models
We study the extrapolation of nuclear shell structure to the region of
superheavy nuclei in self-consistent mean-field models -- the
Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach and the relativistic mean-field model -- using a
large number of parameterizations. Results obtained with the Folded-Yukawa
potential are shown for comparison. We focus on differences in the isospin
dependence of the spin-orbit interaction and the effective mass between the
models and their influence on single-particle spectra. While all relativistic
models give a reasonable description of spin-orbit splittings, all
non-relativistic models show a wrong trend with mass number. The spin-orbit
splitting of heavy nuclei might be overestimated by 40%-80%. Spherical
doubly-magic superheavy nuclei are found at (Z=114,N=184), (Z=120,N=172) or
(Z=126,N=184) depending on the parameterization. The Z=114 proton shell
closure, which is related to a large spin-orbit splitting of proton 2f states,
is predicted only by forces which by far overestimate the proton spin-orbit
splitting in Pb208. The Z=120 and N=172 shell closures predicted by the
relativistic models and some Skyrme interactions are found to be related to a
central depression of the nuclear density distribution. This effect cannot
appear in macroscopic-microscopic models which have a limited freedom for the
density distribution only. In summary, our findings give a strong argument for
(Z=120,N=172) to be the next spherical doubly-magic superheavy nucleus.Comment: 22 pages REVTeX, 16 eps figures, accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
Theoretical Aspects of Science with Radioactive Nuclear Beams
Physics of radioactive nuclear beams is one of the main frontiers of nuclear
science today. Experimentally, thanks to technological developments, we are on
the verge of invading the territory of extreme N/Z ratios in an unprecedented
way. Theoretically, nuclear exotica represent a formidable challenge for the
nuclear many-body theories and their power to predict nuclear properties in
nuclear terra incognita. It is important to remember that the lesson learned by
going to the limits of the nuclear binding is also important for normal nuclei
from the neighborhood of the beta stability valley. And, of course, radioactive
nuclei are crucial astrophysically; they pave the highway along which the
nuclear material is transported up in the proton and neutron numbers during the
complicated synthesis process in stars.Comment: 26 ReVTeX pages, 11 Postscript figures, uses epsf.sty, to be
published in: Theme Issue on Science with Beams of Radioactive Nuclei,
Philosophical Transactions, ed. by W. Gelletl
Mean field theory for global binding systematics
We review some possible improvements of mean field theory for application to
nuclear binding systematics. Up to now, microscopic theory has been less
successful than models starting from the liquid drop in describing accurately
the global binding systematics. We believe that there are good prospects to
develop a better global theory, using modern forms of energy density
functionals and treating correlation energies systematically by the RPA.Comment: RevTex, 17 pages, 5 eps figures. To be published in Yadernaya Fizika,
special edition for the 90th birthday of Professor A.B. Migda
Superheavy nuclei in selfconsistent nuclear calculations
The shell structure of superheavy nuclei is investigated within various
parametrizations of relativistic and nonrelativistic nuclear mean field models.
The heaviest known even-even nucleus 264Hs is used as a benchmark to estimate
the predictive value of the models. From that starting point, doubly magic
spherical nuclei are searched in the region Z=110-140 and N=134-298. They are
found at (Z=114, N=184), (Z=120, N=172), or at (Z=126, N=184), depending on the
parametrization.Comment: 16 pages RevTeX, 2 tables, 2 low resolution Gif figures (high
resolution PostScript versions are available at
http://www.th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~bender/nucl_struct_publications.html
or at ftp://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/pub/bender ), submitted to Phys. Rev.
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