192 research outputs found
Single- and double-beta decay Fermi-transitions in an exactly solvable model
An exactly solvable model suitable for the description of single and
double-beta decay processes of the Fermi-type is introduced. The model is
equivalent to the exact shell-model treatment of protons and neutrons in a
single j-shell. Exact eigenvalues and eigenvectors are compared to those
corresponding to the hamiltonian in the quasiparticle basis (qp) and with the
results of both the standard quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA)
and the renormalized one (RQRPA). The role of the scattering term of the
quasiparticle hamiltonian is analyzed. The presence of an exact eigenstate with
zero energy is shown to be related to the collapse of the QRPA. The RQRPA and
the qp solutions do not include this zero-energy eigenvalue in their spectra,
probably due to spurious correlations. The meaning of this result in terms of
symmetries is presented.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures included in a Postsript file. Submitted to
Physcal Review
Two prototypes for medium rotation forestry harvesting
Five years old poplar (Populus spp.) plantation represents an interesting model of productivity. The most attractive characteristics of this energy crop are the handling flexibility, the high yield of biomass per area unit and the good quality of the chips obtainable. The mechanical harvesting of five-years old poplar plantations requires the use of specialized forest machineries such as harvester, feller, forwarder and chipper. Usually, after felling, the working phases consist of extraction, stacking and chipping. Generally, the last one is carried out in a “static phase”, where the product is taken from staked logs by using a hydraulic arm having a gripper that feed the chipping machine. In order to introduce technological innovations for the medium rotation forestry harvesting, the Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura, Unità di ricerca per l’Ingegneria agraria (CRAING) of Monterotondo (Rome, Italy) has developed a five years poplar cutwindrower and a self-propelled chipper equipped with a pick up system. The prototype of cut-windrower is a semi-trailed machine powered by a 95 kW tractor (at least). It mounts a cutting system and a double pincer with variable positioning. During the cutting phase the plant is grasped by the double pincer which conveys and unloads the stem along the inter-row. The trees are placed parallel to the progress of the tractor, but oriented in the opposite direction. The biomass windrowed is then chipped in a dynamic phase directly from the inter row using the self-propelled chipper equipped with the pick-up head. In the first tests, the cut-windrower has reached an operative working capacity of 0.22 ha h-1, with an operative production of 44 t h-1. On the other hand, the self-propelled chipper has showed an operative working capacity equal to 0.18 ha h-1, and an operative production of 35 t h-1 about. Both machines have shown good quality of the work performed and the results obtained indicates that the work phases could be simplified in order to reduce both the time of use and the harvesting costs
Temperature dependent BCS equations with continuum coupling
The temperature dependent BCS equations are modified in order to include the
contribution of the continuum single particle states. The influence of the
continuum upon the critical temperature corresponding to the phase transition
from a superfluid to a normal state and upon the behaviour of the excitation
energy and of the entropy is discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Double Beta Decay, Majorana Neutrinos, and Neutrino Mass
The theoretical and experimental issues relevant to neutrinoless double-beta
decay are reviewed. The impact that a direct observation of this exotic process
would have on elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and
cosmology is profound. Now that neutrinos are known to have mass and
experiments are becoming more sensitive, even the non-observation of
neutrinoless double-beta decay will be useful. If the process is actually
observed, we will immediately learn much about the neutrino. The status and
discovery potential of proposed experiments are reviewed in this context, with
significant emphasis on proposals favored by recent panel reviews. The
importance of and challenges in the calculation of nuclear matrix elements that
govern the decay are considered in detail. The increasing sensitivity of
experiments and improvements in nuclear theory make the future exciting for
this field at the interface of nuclear and particle physics.Comment: invited submission to Reviews of Modern Physics, higher resolution
figures available upon request from authors, Version 2 has fixed typos and
some changes after referee report
Thermal Bogoliubov transformation in nuclear structure theory
Thermal Bogoliubov transformation is an essential ingredient of the thermo
field dynamics -- the real time formalism in quantum field and many-body
theories at finite temperatures developed by H. Umezawa and coworkers. The
approach to study properties of hot nuclei which is based on the extension of
the well-known Quasiparticle-Phonon Model to finite temperatures employing the
TFD formalism is presented. A distinctive feature of the QPM-TFD combination is
a possibility to go beyond the standard approximations like the thermal
Hartree-Fock or the thermal RPA ones.Comment: 8 pages, Proceedings of the International Bogolyubov Conference
"Problems of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics", August 23 -- 27, 2009,
Dubna, Russi
Phases of asymmetric nuclear matter with broken space symmetries
Isoscalar Cooper pairing in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter occurs between
states populating two distinct Fermi surfaces, each for neutrons and protons.
The transition from a BCS-like to the normal (unpaired) state, as the isospin
asymmetry is increased, is intervened by superconducting phases which
spontaneously break translational and rotational symmetries. One possibility is
the formation of a condensate with a periodic crystallinelike structure where
Cooper pairs carry net momentum (the nuclear
Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell-phase). Alternatively, perturbations of the
Fermi surfaces away from spherical symmetry allow for minima in the condensate
free energy which correspond to a states with quadrupole deformations of Fermi
surfaces and zero momentum of the Cooper pairs. In a combined treatment of
these phases we show that, although the Cooper pairing with finite momentum
might arise as a local minimum, the lowest energy state features are deformed
Fermi surfaces and Cooper pairs with vanishing total momentum.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, RevTex; v2: matches published version; v3:
changes in the frontmatter, content unchange
Nuclear matrix element for two neutrino double beta decay from 136Xe
The nuclear matrix element for the two neutrino double beta decay (DBD) of
136Xe was evaluated by FSQP (Fermi Surface Quasi Particle model), where
experimental GT strengths measured by the charge exchange reaction and those by
the beta decay rates were used. The 2 neutrino DBD matrix element is given by
the sum of products of the single beta matrix elements via low-lying (Fermi
Surface) quasi-particle states in the intermediate nucleus. 136Xe is the
semi-magic nucleus with the closed neutron-shell, and the beta + transitions
are almost blocked. Thus the 2 neutrino DBD is much suppressed. The evaluated 2
neutrino DBD matrix element is consistent with the observed value.Comment: 7 pages 6 figure
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