543 research outputs found
Commissioning and operation of the Cherenkov detector for proton Flux Measurement of the UA9 Experiment
The UA9 Experiment at CERN-SPS investigates channeling processes in bent
silicon crystals with the aim to manipulate hadron beams. Monitoring and
characterization of channeled beams in the high energy accelerators environment
ideally requires in-vacuum and radiation hard detectors. For this purpose the
Cherenkov detector for proton Flux Measurement (CpFM) was designed and
developed. It is based on thin fused silica bars in the beam pipe vacuum which
intercept charged particles and generate Cherenkov light. The first version of
the CpFM is installed since 2015 in the crystal-assisted collimation setup of
the UA9 experiment. In this paper the procedures to make the detector
operational and fully integrated in the UA9 setup are described. The most
important standard operations of the detector are presented. They have been
used to commission and characterize the detector, providing moreover the
measurement of the integrated channeled beam profile and several functionality
tests as the determination of the crystal bending angle.
The calibration has been performed with Lead (Pb) and Xenon (Xe) beams and
the results are applied to the flux measurement discussed here in detail.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figure
Thermodynamic properties and structural stability of thorium dioxide
Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we have systematically
investigated the thermodynamic properties and structural stabilities of thorium
dioxide (ThO). Based on the calculated phonon dispersion curves, we
calculate the thermal expansion coefficient, bulk modulus, and heat capacities
at different temperatures for ThO under the quasi-harmonic approximation.
All the results are in good agreement with corresponding experiments proving
the validity of our methods. Our theoretical studies can help people more
clearly understand the thermodynamic behaviors of ThO at different
temperatures. In addition, we have also studied possible defect formations and
diffusion behaviors of helium in ThO, to discuss its structural stability.
It is found that in intrinsic ThO without any Fermi energy shifts, the
interstitial Th defect other than oxygen or thorium vacancies,
interstitial oxygen, and any kinds of Frenkel pairs, is most probable to form
with an energy release of 1.74 eV. However, after upshifting the Fermi energy,
the formation of the other defects also becomes possible. For helium diffusion,
we find that only through the thorium vacancy can it happen with the small
energy barrier of 0.52 eV. Otherwise, helium atoms can hardly incorporate or
diffuse in ThO. Our results indicate that people should prevent upshifts of
the Fermi energy of ThO to avoid the formation of thorium vacancies and so
as to prevent helium caused damages.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figure
Characteristics of a prototype matrix of Silicon PhotoMultipliers (SiPM)
International audienceThis work reports on the electrical (static and dynamic) as well as on the optical characteristics of a prototype matrix of Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM). The prototype matrix consists of 4 × 4 SiPM's on the same substrat fabricated at FBK-irst (Trento, Italy). Each SiPM of the matrix has an area of 1 × 1mm2 and it is composed of 625 microcells connected in parallel. Each microcell of the SiPM is a GM-APD (n+/p junction on P+ substrate) with an area of 40 × 40 μm2 connected in series with its integrated polysilicon quenching resistance. The static characteristics as breakdown voltage, quenching resistance, post-breakdown dark current as well as the dynamic characteristics as gain and dark count rate have been analysed. The photon detection efficiency as a function of wavelength and operation voltage has been also estimated
Coral larvae for restoration and research: a large-scale method for rearing Acropora millepora larvae, inducing settlement, and establishing symbiosis
Here we describe an efficient and effective technique for rearing sexually-derived coral propagules from spawning through larval settlement and symbiont uptake with minimal impact on natural coral populations. We sought to maximize larval survival while minimizing expense and daily husbandry maintenance by experimentally determining optimized conditions and protocols for gamete fertilization, larval cultivation, induction of larval settlement by crustose coralline algae, and inoculation of newly settled juveniles with their dinoflagellate symbiont Symbiodinium. Larval rearing densities at or below 0.2 larvae mL -1 were found to maximize larval survival and settlement success in culture tanks while minimizing maintenance effort. Induction of larval settlement via the addition of a ground mixture of diverse crustose coralline algae (CCA) is recommended, given the challenging nature of in situ CCA identification and our finding that non settlement-inducing CCA assemblages do not inhibit larval settlement if suitable assemblages are present. Although order of magnitude differences in infectivity were found between common Great Barrier Reef Symbiodinium clades C and D, no significant differences in Symbiodinium uptake were observed between laboratory-cultured and wild-harvested symbionts in each case. The technique presented here for Acropora millepora can be adapted for research and restoration efforts in a wide range of broadcast spawning coral species
Coral larvae for restoration and research: a large-scale method for rearing Acropora millepora larvae, inducing settlement, and establishing symbiosis
Here we describe an efficient and effective technique for rearing sexually-derived coral propagules from spawning through larval settlement and symbiont uptake with minimal impact on natural coral populations. We sought to maximize larval survival while minimizing expense and daily husbandry maintenance by experimentally determining optimized conditions and protocols for gamete fertilization, larval cultivation, induction of larval settlement by crustose coralline algae, and inoculation of newly settled juveniles with their dinoflagellate symbiont Symbiodinium. Larval rearing densities at or below 0.2 larvae mL -1 were found to maximize larval survival and settlement success in culture tanks while minimizing maintenance effort. Induction of larval settlement via the addition of a ground mixture of diverse crustose coralline algae (CCA) is recommended, given the challenging nature of in situ CCA identification and our finding that non settlement-inducing CCA assemblages do not inhibit larval settlement if suitable assemblages are present. Although order of magnitude differences in infectivity were found between common Great Barrier Reef Symbiodinium clades C and D, no significant differences in Symbiodinium uptake were observed between laboratory-cultured and wild-harvested symbionts in each case. The technique presented here for Acropora millepora can be adapted for research and restoration efforts in a wide range of broadcast spawning coral species
Coral larvae for restoration and research: A large-scale method for rearing Acropora millepora larvae, inducing settlement, and establishing symbiosis
© 2017 Pollock et al. Here we describe an efficient and effective technique for rearing sexually-derived coral propagules from spawning through larval settlement and symbiont uptake with minimal impact on natural coral populations. We sought to maximize larval survival while minimizing expense and daily husbandry maintenance by experimentally determining optimized conditions and protocols for gamete fertilization, larval cultivation, induction of larval settlement by crustose coralline algae, and inoculation of newly settled juveniles with their dinoflagellate symbiont Symbiodinium. Larval rearing densities at or below 0.2 larvae mL-1 were found to maximize larval survival and settlement success in culture tanks while minimizing maintenance effort. Induction of larval settlement via the addition of a ground mixture of diverse crustose coralline algae (CCA) is recommended, given the challenging nature of in situ CCA identification and our finding that non settlement-inducing CCA assemblages do not inhibit larval settlement if suitable assemblages are present. Although order of magnitude differences in infectivity were found between common Great Barrier Reef Symbiodinium clades C and D, no significant differences in Symbiodinium uptake were observed between laboratory-cultured and wild-harvested symbionts in each case. The technique presented here for Acropora millepora can be adapted for research and restoration efforts in a wide range of broadcast spawning coral species
Observation of channeling for 6500 GeV/c protons in the crystal assisted collimation setup for LHC
Two high-accuracy goniometers equipped with two bent silicon crystals were installed in the betatron cleaning insertion of the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during its long shutdown. First beam tests were recently performed at the LHC with 450 GeV/c and 6500 GeV/c stored proton beams to investigate the feasibility of beam halo collimation assisted by bent crystals. For the first time channeling of 6500 GeV/c protons was observed in a particle accelerator. A strong reduction of beam losses due to nuclear inelastic interactions in the aligned crystal in comparison with its amorphous orientation was detected. The loss reduction value was about 24. Thus, the results show that deflection of particles by a bent crystal due to channeling is effective for this record particle energy.peer-reviewe
Progress on development of the new FDIRC PID detector
International audienceWe present a progress status of a new concept of PID detector called FDIRC, intended to be used at the SuperB experiment, which requires π/K separation up to a few GeV/c. The new photon camera is made of the solid fused-silica optics with a volume 25× smaller and speed increased by a factor of 10 compared to the BaBar DIRC, and therefore will be much less sensitive to electromagnetic and neutron background
High-efficiency deflection of high energy protons due to channeling along the (110) axis of a bent silicon crystal
A deflection efficiency of about 61% was observed for 400 GeV/c protons due to channeling, most strongly along the 〈110〉 axis of a bent silicon crystal. It is comparable with the deflection efficiency in planar channeling and considerably larger than in the case of the 〈111〉 axis. The measured probability of inelastic nuclear interactions of protons in channeling along the 〈110〉 axis is only about 10% of its amorphous level whereas in channeling along the (110) planes it is about 25%. High efficiency deflection and small beam losses make this axial orientation of a silicon crystal a useful tool for the beam steering of high energy charged particles
An Indo-Pacific coral spawning database.
The discovery of multi-species synchronous spawning of scleractinian corals on the Great Barrier Reef in the 1980s stimulated an extraordinary effort to document spawning times in other parts of the globe. Unfortunately, most of these data remain unpublished which limits our understanding of regional and global reproductive patterns. The Coral Spawning Database (CSD) collates much of these disparate data into a single place. The CSD includes 6178 observations (3085 of which were unpublished) of the time or day of spawning for over 300 scleractinian species in 61 genera from 101 sites in the Indo-Pacific. The goal of the CSD is to provide open access to coral spawning data to accelerate our understanding of coral reproductive biology and to provide a baseline against which to evaluate any future changes in reproductive phenology
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