Data Acquisition and Analysis of the 76Ge Double Beta Experiment in Gran Sasso 1990-2003

Data acquisition in a long running underground experiment has its specific experimental challenges, concerning data acquisition, stability of the experiment and background reduction. These problems are addressed here for the HEIDELBERG-MOSCOW experiment, which collected data in the period August 1990 - May 2003. The measurement and the analysis of the data is presented. The duty cycle of the experiment was ~80%, the collected statistics is 71.7 kgy. The background achieved in the energy region of the Q value for double beta decay is 0.11 events/kg y keV. The two-neutrino accompanied half-life is determined on the basis of more than 100 000 events. The confidence level for the neutrinoless signal has been improved to a 4 sigma level.Comment: Full version (50 pages, 36 figures, 9 tables), zipped ps file (size ~21MB or pdf format (size ~26MB), can be found in http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/non_acc/super.html (corrected typos) In press in NIM A, 200

Decay of Nb94 and Nb94m

Gamma rays in Mo94 following the decay of Nb94 have been studied using coincidence and directional correlation measurements. The 700 keV transition was found to be in coincidence with the 873 keV gamma ray. The intensity of the crossover transition of 1573 keV was found to be less than 0.1 % of the 873 keV gamma ray intensity. The directional correlation of the 700 keV - 873 keV cascade was measured and the corrected expansion coefficients were found to be A2 = 0.0965 +/- 0.0076 and A4 = 0.019 +/- 0.011. These data indicate spins of 4 and 2 for the 1573 keV and 873 keV levels, respectively. Gamma rays following the decay of Nb94m were studied with proportional and scintillation counters. The conversion coefficient [alpha]K of the 42 keV gamma ray in the decay of 6.6 min Nb94m was measured to be 1600 +/- 350 and the branching ratio of the transition from Nb94m to the 873 keV level of Mo94 was found to be 0.19 +/- 0.03 %. The intensity ratio of the 600 keV beta ray to the 1.3 MeV beta ray in the decay of Nb94m was determined to be 3.0 +/- 0.6 %. These measurements support a spin and parity of 3- for the isomeric state.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32305/1/0000373.pd

X(3): An Exactly Separable Gamma-Rigid Version of the X(5) Critical Point Symmetry

A gamma-rigid version (with gamma=0) of the X(5) critical point symmetry is constructed. The model, to be called X(3) since it is proved to contain three degrees of freedom, utilizes an infinite well potential, is based on exact separation of variables, and leads to parameter free (up to overall scale factors) predictions for spectra and B(E2) transition rates, which are in good agreement with existing experimental data for 172-Os and 186-Pt. An unexpected similarity of the first beta bands of the X(5) nuclei 150-Nd, 152-Sm, 154-Gd, and 156-Dy to the X(3) predictions is observed.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pagres, including 4 postscript figure

Discovery of Calcium, Indium, Tin, and Platinum Isotopes

Currently, twenty-four calcium, thirty-eight indium, thirty-eight tin and thirty-nine platinum isotopes have been observed and the discovery of these isotopes is discussed here. For each isotope a brief synopsis of the first refereed publication, including the production and identification method, is presented.Comment: to be published in At. Data Nuclear Data Tables, This updated paper combines manuscripts: 1004.4934 (Calcium), 1004.5266 (Indium), 1003.5127 (Tin), and 1006.4033 (Platinum

Double Beta Decay: Historical Review of 75 Years of Research

Main achievements during 75 years of research on double beta decay have been reviewed. The existing experimental data have been presented and the capabilities of the next-generation detectors have been demonstrated.Comment: 25 pages, typos adde

ZnWO_4 crystals as detectors for double beta decay and dark matter experiments

Energy resolution, alpha/beta ratio, and the pulse shape discrimination ability of the ZnWO_4 crystal scintillators were studied. The radioactive contamination of a ZnWO_4 crystal was investigated in the Solotvina Underground Laboratory. Possibilities to apply ZnWO_4 crystals for the dark matter and double beta decay searches are discussed. New improved half-life limits on double beta decay in zinc isotopes were established, in particular, for EC\beta^+ decay of 64-Zn as: T_1/2^2nu > 8.9 10^18 yr and T_1/2^0nu > 3.6 10^18 yr, both at 68% CL.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Analytical description of the Coherent State Model for near vibrational and well deformed nuclei

Analytical formulas for the excitation energies as well as for the electric quadrupole reduced transition probabilities in the ground, beta and gamma bands were derived within the coherent state model for the near vibrational and well deformed nuclei. Numerical calculations were performed for 42 nuclei exhibiting various symmetries and therefore with specific properties. Comparison of the calculation results with the corresponding experimental data shows a good agreement. The parameters involved in the proposed model satisfy evident regularities being interpolated by smooth curves. Few of them, which fall out of the curves, are interpreted as signatures for a critical point in a specific phase transition. This is actually supported also by the figures showing the excitation energy dependence on the angular momentum. The formulas provided for energies and B(E2) values are very simple, being written in a compact form, and therefore easy to be handled to explain the new experimental data.Comment: 9 figures, 50 page

Fine structure of the Gamow-Teller resonance revealed in the decay of Ho-150 2(-) isomer

The γ rays following the 72s 150Ho 2- Gamow-Teller β decay have been investigated with the CLUSTER CUBE setup, an array of six EUROBALL CLUSTER Ge detectors in close cubic geometry, providing a γ ray detection sensitivity of 2×10-5 per β-parent decay for γ-ray energies up to 5 MeV. The fine structure of the Gamow-Teller resonance at 4.4-MeV excitation in 150Dy has been studied. The resolved levels are compared with Shell Model predictions