Transmutation prospect of long-lived nuclear waste induced by high-charge electron beam from laser plasma accelerator

Photo-transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste induced by high-charge relativistic electron beam (e-beam) from laser plasma accelerator is demonstrated. Collimated relativistic e-beam with a high charge of approximately 100 nC is produced from high-intensity laser interaction with near-critical-density (NCD) plasma. Such e-beam impinges on a high-Z convertor and then radiates energetic bremsstrahlung photons with flux approaching 10^{11} per laser shot. Taking long-lived radionuclide ^{126}Sn as an example, the resulting transmutation reaction yield is the order of 10^{9} per laser shot, which is two orders of magnitude higher than obtained from previous studies. It is found that at lower densities, tightly focused laser irradiating relatively longer NCD plasmas can effectively enhance the transmutation efficiency. Furthermore, the photo-transmutation is generalized by considering mixed-nuclide waste samples, which suggests that the laser-accelerated high-charge e-beam could be an efficient tool to transmute long-lived nuclear waste.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, it has been submitted to Physics of Plasm

Proximity and anomalous field-effect characteristics in double-wall carbon nanotubes

Proximity effect on field-effect characteristic (FEC) in double-wall carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) is investigated. In a semiconductor-metal (S-M) DWCNT, the penetration of electron wavefunctions in the metallic shell to the semiconducting shell turns the original semiconducting tube into a metal with a non-zero local density of states at the Fermi level. By using a two-band tight-binding model on a ladder of two legs, it is demonstrated that anomalous FEC observed in so-called S-M type DWCNTs can be fully understood by the proximity effect of metallic phases.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Intrinsic Parameters of GRB990123 from Its Prompt Optical Flash and Afterglow

We have constrained the intrinsic parameters, such as the magnetic energy density fraction ($\epsilon_{B}$), the electron energy density fraction ($\epsilon_e$), the initial Lorentz factor ($\Gamma_0$) and the Lorentz factor of the reverse external shock ($\Gamma_{rs}$), of GRB990123, in terms of the afterglow information (forward shock model) and the optical flash information (reverse shock model). Our result shows: 1) the inferred values of $\epsilon_e$ and $\epsilon_B$ are consistent with the suggestion that they may be universal parameters, comparing to those inferred for GRB970508; 2) the reverse external shock may have become relativistic before it passed through the ejecta shell. Other instrinsic parameters of GRB990123, such as energy contained in the forward shock $E$ and the ambient density $n$ are also determined and discussed in this paper.Comment: 5 pages, MN LaTeX style, a few changes made according to referee's suggestions, references up dated, MNRAS accepte