1,444 research outputs found
Beta-delayed-neutron studies of Sb and I performed with trapped ions
Beta-delayed-neutron (n) spectroscopy was performed using the
Beta-decay Paul Trap and an array of radiation detectors. The n
branching ratios and energy spectra for Sb and I were
obtained by measuring the time of flight of recoil ions emerging from the
trapped ion cloud. These nuclei are located at the edge of an isotopic region
identified as having n branching ratios that impact the r-process
abundance pattern around the A~130 peak. For Sb and I,
n branching ratios of 14.6(11)%, 17.6(28)%, and 7.6(28)% were
determined, respectively. The n energy spectra obtained for Sb
and I are compared with results from direct neutron measurements, and
the n energy spectrum for Sb has been measured for the first
time
A qualitative study of stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment
Over two billion people are using the Internet at present, assisted by the mediating activities of software agents which deal with the diversity and complexity of information. There are, however, ethical issues due to the monitoring-and-surveillance, data mining and autonomous nature of software agents. Considering the context, this study aims to comprehend stakeholders' perspectives on the social network service environment in order to identify the main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services in the near future. Twenty-one stakeholders, belonging to three key stakeholder groups, were recruited using a purposive sampling strategy for unstandardised semi-structured e-mail interviews. The interview data were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. It was possible to identify three main considerations for the design of software agents in social network services, which were classified into the following categories: comprehensive understanding of users' perception of privacy, user type recognition algorithms for software agent development and existing software agents enhancement
Recoil-ion detection efficiency for complex β decays studied using the Beta-decay Paul Trap
Beta-delayed neutron emission is being studied by detecting the β particles and recoiling ions emerging from the Beta-decay Paul Trap. For β decays to the ground state or γ-emitting states of the daughter nucleus, the fraction of recoiling ions which reach the ion detector in coincidence with a β particle has been determined for 134, 135Sb, 137, 138, 140I, and 144, 145Cs. This value is needed for the determination of the β-delayed neutron emission branching ratio solely from the recoil-ion time-of-flight (TOF) spectrum. The β-particle energy and recoil-ion TOF spectra were used to constrain a simple decay model, which can be used to determine the detection efficiency. The method is compared to simulations to estimate the uncertainty introduced by incomplete knowledge of the decay pattern. By fitting the simulation results to several β-ion coincidence properties measured during the experiment, the fraction of ions which reach the microchannel plate detector can be determined to within ±4%. This result opens the possibility of using the recoil-ion TOF spectra for high precision β-delayed neutron branching-ratio measurements
Recoil ions from the β decay of Sb 134 confined in a Paul trap
The low-energy recoiling ions from the β decay of Sb134 were studied by using the Beta-decay Paul Trap. Using this apparatus, singly charged ions were suspended in vacuum at the center of a detector array used to detect emitted β particles, γ rays, and recoil ions in coincidence. The recoil ions emerge from the trap with negligible scattering, allowing β-decay properties and the charge-state distribution of the daughter ions to be determined from the β-ion coincidences. First-forbidden β-decay theory predicts a β-ν correlation coefficient of nearly unity for the 0- to 0+ transition from the ground state of Sb134 to the ground state of Te134. Although this transition was expected to have a nearly 100% branching ratio, an additional 17.2(52)% of the β-decay strength must populate high-lying excited states to obtain an angular correlation consistent with unity. The extracted charge-state distribution of the recoiling ions was compared with existing β-decay results and the average charge state was found to be consistent with the results from lighter nuclei
β-delayed neutron emission studies of i 137,138 and Cs 144,145 performed with trapped ions
A detailed study of the β-delayed neutron emission properties of I137,138 and Cs144,145 has been performed by confining ions in the Beta-decay Paul Trap. The daughter ions following β decay emerge from the trapped-ion cloud with negligible scattering allowing reconstruction of the recoil-ion energy from the time of flight. From this information, the neutron-emission branching ratios and neutron-energy spectra were deduced. The results for the I137 and Cs144,145 decays are in agreement with previous results performed using direct neutron-detection techniques. In the case of I138, a branching ratio of 6.18(50)% is obtained, yielding a value consistent with the more recent results, which are a factor of two larger than measurements made prior to 1978
The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Quasar Target Selection for Data Release Nine
The SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), a five-year
spectroscopic survey of 10,000 deg^2, achieved first light in late 2009. One of
the key goals of BOSS is to measure the signature of baryon acoustic
oscillations in the distribution of Ly-alpha absorption from the spectra of a
sample of ~150,000 z>2.2 quasars. Along with measuring the angular diameter
distance at z\approx2.5, BOSS will provide the first direct measurement of the
expansion rate of the Universe at z > 2. One of the biggest challenges in
achieving this goal is an efficient target selection algorithm for quasars over
2.2 < z < 3.5, where their colors overlap those of stars. During the first year
of the BOSS survey, quasar target selection methods were developed and tested
to meet the requirement of delivering at least 15 quasars deg^-2 in this
redshift range, out of 40 targets deg^-2. To achieve these surface densities,
the magnitude limit of the quasar targets was set at g <= 22.0 or r<=21.85.
While detection of the BAO signature in the Ly-alpha absorption in quasar
spectra does not require a uniform target selection, many other astrophysical
studies do. We therefore defined a uniformly-selected subsample of 20 targets
deg^-2, for which the selection efficiency is just over 50%. This "CORE"
subsample will be fixed for Years Two through Five of the survey. In this paper
we describe the evolution and implementation of the BOSS quasar target
selection algorithms during the first two years of BOSS operations. We analyze
the spectra obtained during the first year. 11,263 new z>2.2 quasars were
spectroscopically confirmed by BOSS. Our current algorithms select an average
of 15 z > 2.2 quasars deg^-2 from 40 targets deg^-2 using single-epoch SDSS
imaging. Multi-epoch optical data and data at other wavelengths can further
improve the efficiency and completeness of BOSS quasar target selection.
[Abridged]Comment: 33 pages, 26 figures, 12 tables and a whole bunch of quasars.
Submitted to Ap
Probing BFKL Dynamics in the Dijet Cross Section at Large Rapidity Intervals in ppbar Collisions at sqrt{s}=1800 and 630 GeV
Inclusive dijet production at large pseudorapidity intervals (delta_eta)
between the two jets has been suggested as a regime for observing BFKL
dynamics. We have measured the dijet cross section for large delta_eta in ppbar
collisions at sqrt{s}=1800 and 630 GeV using the DO detector. The partonic
cross section increases strongly with the size of delta_eta. The observed
growth is even stronger than expected on the basis of BFKL resummation in the
leading logarithmic approximation. The growth of the partonic cross section can
be accommodated with an effective BFKL intercept of
a_{BFKL}(20GeV)=1.65+/-0.07.Comment: Published in Physical Review Letter
Search for Electroweak Production of Single Top Quarks in ppbar Collisions
We present a search for electroweak production of single top quarks in the
electron+jets and muon+jets decay channels. The measurements use ~90 pb^-1 of
data from Run 1 of the Fermilab Tevatron collider, collected at 1.8 TeV with
the DZero detector between 1992 and 1995. We use events that include a tagging
muon, implying the presence of a b jet, to set an upper limit at the 95%
confidence level on the cross section for the s-channel process ppbar->tb+X of
39 pb. The upper limit for the t-channel process ppbar->tqb+X is 58 pb.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. This is the published versio
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