Description
Parallel session
We have recently performed a large-scale systematic study of the low-energy nuclear fission of actinides using a microscopic description based on finite-range effective nucleon-nucleon interactions of Gogny type. For each fissioning system, a self-consistent potential energy surface in the elongation-asymmetry deformation subspace has been produced for different nuclear interactions. These...
The calculation of many-body correlations in atomic nuclei using ab initio approaches requires accounting for virtual excitations, whose number grows factorially with the perturbative order.
Diagrammatic Monte Carlo (DiagMC) is a promising method that efficiently includes high-order excitations. It has been particularly successful in condensed matter physics [1, 2], where it enables the...
The Apparatus for Mesons and Baryon Experimental Research (AMBER, NA66) is a high-energy physics experiment at CERN’s M2 beam line, with a broad physics program extending beyond 2032. It includes studies on: antiproton production cross-sections on protons, helium and deuterium; the charge radius of the proton, and Kaon and Pion PDFs via the Drell-Yan process.
As part of medium- and long-term...
The production of a neutron beam with suitable energy and angular distributions is fundamental for different scientific applications and particularly for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). Nowadays, two accelerator based nuclear reactions are studied and used worldwide as BNCT neutron sources: $^7$Li(p,n) and $^9$Be(p,xn).
The former is commercially available but is affected by important...
The total beta-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei along magic neutron numbers remain largely unknown experimentally, while they are critical inputs for r-process simulations. In this talk, I will discuss our ab initio calculations for the half-lives of $N=50$ isotones. Starting from two- and three-nucleon interactions derived from chiral effective-field theory, we solve the many-body...
To advance our understanding of the universe, from physics beyond the Standard Model to cosmic events, a unified approach to nuclear structure and reactions is essential. This requires combining few-body techniques with ab initio many-body calculations of nuclear structure, supported by Effective Field Theory and Uncertainty Quantification. Reaction rates derived from first principles are...
Single-j calculations for $(j)^n$ configurations with n = 3,..,2j+1 can be performed using a semi-empirical approach, provided that the energies and absolute electromagnetic transition rates are known for the two-particle (hole) nucleus. This approach was already successfully applied in the case of protons in the $(\pi g_{9/2})^3$ nucleus $^{211}At$ [1]. At the Cologne Tandem Accelerator of...
GANIL facility was upgraded with a superconducting linear accelerator, which delivers highly intense stable beams. Light ions are used at the Neutron for Science (NFS) experimental hall [1] and heavier ions are essential to produce exotic nuclei, like heavy neutron-deficient isotopes and super heavy nuclei, in the Super Separator Spectrometer (S3) [2, 3].
By combining the intense heavy ion...
In recent decades, γ-ray spectroscopy has experienced a significant technological advancement through the technique of γ-ray tracking, achieving a sensitivity almost two orders of magnitude greater than previous Compton-shielded arrays. This leap forward rivals the milestones achieved since the beginning of γ-ray spectroscopy. Combining γ-ray spectrometers with detectors recording...
The primary objective of the ALICE physics program is to investigate the properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), the deconfined state of strongly interacting matter, and to understand how these properties emerge from the fundamental interactions governed by quantum chromodynamics (QCD). By colliding heavy nuclei, the LHC generates quark-gluon plasma with record-breaking temperature and...
Well-bound spherical nuclei can be considered as closed quantum systems that can be described by state-of-the-art versions of the shell model, where nucleons occupy well-localized single-particle states. However, when we move towards the dripline or inject enough excitation energy into the system, the coupling to the continuum and reaction channels becomes more important, forcing the nucleus...
Synthesis of neutron-rich nuclei is important for the study of Islands of Stability and r-process. However, to produce the neutron-rich nuclei in heavy mass regions will be limited by conventional fusion reactions. Therefore, in recent years, multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reactions have attracted attention as a method of producing neutron-rich nuclei [1]. However, the reaction mechanism is not...
The detection of antimatter is primarily based on its annihilation, thus the understanding of the antiproton-nucleus ($\bar{\mathrm{p}}\mathrm{A}$) interaction is crucial. Despite its significance, current models - compared mainly to experimental results from LEAR - show deviations from low-energy measurements by large factors, suggesting that the annihilation mechanism is not yet fully...
In recent years, significant advancements in CMOS silicon pixel detectors have led to their widespread adoption across various fields of physics, driving substantial progress in particle detection technologies. A notable example is the ALTAI chip, a CMOS Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor developed as part of the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) ITS sensor studies.
The ALTAI chip offers...
The combination of large arrays of high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors with auxiliary particle detection systems is among the most powerful methods for studying atomic nuclei. It is done through nuclear spectroscopy at radioactive ion beam facilities such as TRIUMF-ISAC [1] together with the use of high-efficiency gamma-ray spectrometers like GRIFFIN (The Gamma-Ray Infrastructure For...
The In-Gas Laser Ionization and Spectroscopy (IGLIS) technique is a powerful tool to study atomic and nuclear properties of short-lived actinides [1]. Such studies are important to understand the atomic level scheme of these heavy elements, strongly influenced by electron correlations and relativistic effects. Laser spectroscopy in a collimated and low-temperature supersonic gas jet produced...
The Equation of State (EoS) of nuclear matter is related to many topics in nuclear physics. In particular, it is crucial for understanding the structure of compact objects such as neutron stars. In the conservative hypothesis of a purely nucleonic composition of neutron star matter, the EoS is fully determined in terms of the so-called nuclear matter parameters (NMPs), which, in principle, can...
Bayesian optimization on FIFRELIN Monte-Carlo code to fit neutron and gamma multiplicities
Guillaume BAZELAIRE, Abdelhazize CHEBBOUBI, David BERNARD, Geoffrey DANIEL, Jean-Baptiste BLANCHARD*
CEA, DES, IRESNE, DER, SPRC, Cadarache, Physics Studies Laboratory, Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, 13108, France.
*Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, Service du Génie Logiciel pour la Simulation,...
Charmonium, a bound state of a charm and an anticharm quarks, represents a valuable tool to investigate the properties of the quantum chromo-dynamics (QCD). In particular, charmonium production mechanism involves both perturbative (heavy quark pair production) and non-perturbative (hadronization into the final quarkonium state) aspects, making it an important test ground for the theoretical...
Beta decay of fission products is at the origin of decay heat and antineutrino emission in nuclear reactors. Decay heat strongly impacts reactor safety since it is about 7% of the nominal reactor power during operation and the only power after reactor stop. Reactor antineutrino detection is used in several fundamental neutrino physics experiments and it can also be used for reactor monitoring...
Light nuclei are found in core-collapse supernova matter and in binary neutron star mergers. Their abundance can affect the dynamics and properties of supernovae [1-3] and binary neutron star mergers [4-8], both directly through their weak reactions with the surrounding medium, and indirectly through their competition with heavy nuclei [9], which can modify the proton fraction and the size of...
The fission process forms highly excited fragments carrying significant amounts of angular momentum. This formation is generally described via a shape evolution on the potential energy landscape of the fissioning system. Among the aspects that are still hard to describe in this process is the generation of the fragment angular momenta, highlighted by the work of Wilhelmy et al. in the early...
Fast neutron detection plays a critical role in nuclear science studies and in a range of nuclear technology applications, from hadron therapy in medicine to neutron monitoring in fusion and spallation technologies. Organic liquid scintillator detectors, such as those based on NE213, are widely used for neutron spectroscopy due to their excellent timing resolution and capability to...
Charm production measurements at fixed-target energies at the LHC offer unique opportunities for hadronisation studies sensitive to the beam remnants, constraints on parton distribution functions of the proton and the nucleus including intrinsic charm as well as studies sensitive to deconfinement in nucleus-nucleus collisions.
LHCb pionneered charm production measurements in proton-nucleus...
We investigate the occurrence of $\alpha$ clustered states in $^{16}$O at high excitation energies by analyzing $^3$He + $^{13}$C reactions in the 1.4 - 2.2 MeV energy range. We produce refined angular distributions of the differential cross section in absolute units, allowing us to investigate the competition between the $\alpha$ decays leading to $^{12}$C in the Hoyle state and those leading...
Neutron-induced reaction cross sections of short-lived nuclei are essential in nuclear astrophysics and for applications in nuclear technology. However, these cross sections are very difficult or impossible to measure due to the difficulty in producing and handling the necessary radioactive targets. We are developing a project that uses for the first time surrogate reactions in inverse...
As a Swedish in-kind contribution to FAIR, the storage ring CRYRING@ESR was delivered to GSI in 2014, assembled in the following years and commissioned in 2018. With a relatively compact circumference of 54 m and the maximal magnetic rigidity of 1.44 Tm, CRYRING is suitable for precision experiments with highly charged ion beams at low energies. It consists out of 12 sections, including...
Stretched resonances are rather simple nuclear excitations, even though in light nuclei they appear in the continuum energy region. The structures of these states are dominated by a single particle-hole component for which the excited particle and the residual hole couple to the maximal possible spin value available on their respective shells. The simplicity of their configurations results...
Proton therapy is widely recognized for its superior dose conformity and enhanced protection of healthy tissues compared to conventional photon-based radiotherapy, making it an increasingly valuable modality for treating complex cancers. However, fully realizing its potential is constrained by the computational demands of high-fidelity dose calculation and plan optimization. Although Monte...
Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) are probability functions describing spatial and momentum distributions of partons in nucleon structure studies. They are crucial for understanding the correlation between the longitudinal momentum and the transverse position of partons inside the nucleon. The Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) is a privileged channel for GPD studies, as...
A key step toward a better understanding of the nucleon structure is the study of Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs). GPDs are nowadays the object of an intense effort of research since they convey an image of the nucleon structure where the longitudinal momentum and the transverse spatial position of the partons inside the nucleon are correlated. Moreover, GPDs give access, via Ji's sum...
Fission is one of the most complex nuclear physics phenomenon whose modeling requires a priori the introduction of collective, individual and dynamical degrees of freedom. In the context of TDGCM, the adiabatic approximation is widely common as it simplifies greatly the description with the limitation that the scission area is hardly reachable with standard constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov...
Facilities that provide bright thermal neutron beams are crucial for a wide range of research areas, including condensed matter experiments, neutron imaging, and medical applications. Currently, these beams are primarily generated by spallation sources and nuclear research reactors. However, many of these facilities are aging, and the current political climate does not favor the construction...
Studies of few-nucleon systems form the basis for understanding nuclear interactions and properties of nuclei. The very accurate theoretical calculations for three-nucleon systems should be confronted with a rich set of precise experimental data.
For this purpose, the BINA (Big Instrument for Nuclear-polarization Analysis) detection system has been installed at CCB (Cyclotron Center...
Multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reactions between heavy ions at energies close to the Coulomb barrier have been identified as a powerful tool to populate neutron-rich nuclei in the regions of the nuclear chart close to $^{208}$Pb and in the actinides [1,2]. The same kind of reactions, but employing neutron-deficient projectiles, can also be envisaged to populate the region of static octupole...
Carbon burning is the third stage of stellar evolution, influencing the fate of both massive stars and low-mass stars in binary systems.
Stellar carbon burning primarily occurs through the 12C(12C, α)20Ne and 12C(12C, p)23Na reactions. While these reactions have been studied over a wide energy range, direct measurements below 2.1 MeV (the astrophysical range) are lacking. Indirect data, such...
We report the preliminary results from a direct cross‐section measurement of the $^{59}$Cu(p, $\alpha$) $^{56}$Ni reaction, performed in inverse kinematics using the high-efficiency MUSIC active-target detector at the ReA6 facility at FRIB. This reaction is critical in explosive astrophysical environments. In type I X-ray bursts, where rapid proton capture and $\alpha$-induced processes drive...
Only a handful of the most energetic reactions involving the most abundant elements are driving the evolution and chemical structure of massive stars. Among these, the fusion of two carbon nuclei is a key process during the late stages of the evolution such stars, in explosive nucleosynthesis in Type 1a supernovae and superbursts in x-ray binary systems [1]. The precise measurement of the...
Direct measurement of the 7Li(p, α)4He reaction at astrophysical energies using the ELISSA array has been performed at IFIN-HH with the 3 MV Tandem. This reaction is intimately linked with the so-called “Cosmological Lithium Problem”. The existing 7Li(p, α)4He direct measurement data suffer from large uncertainty, particularly at energies below 500 keV (in the center-of-mass system). Thus, a...
Introduction
Conventional radiotherapy (CONV) delivers a radiation treatment dose in order of minutes, resulting in dose rate of about 2 Gy/min. However, multiple recent preclinical studies demonstrated substantial healthy tissue sparing effect if the ultra-high dose rate, FLASH (> 40 Gy/s), is employed instead. At the same time, radiobiological effect on tumor remains unchanged. However,...
The study of the Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) is a focal point of hadron physics since they provide rich information about the inner structure of nucleons. Experimentally, measurements of the Compton Form Factors (CFFs) via the Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) process is the simplest approach to access GPDs.
The DVCS experiment in Hall C at the Jefferson Lab was conducted...
We investigate the finite-temperature equation of state (EOS) within an effective Lagrangian framework, where a dilaton field accounts for the breaking of scale symmetry in QCD. We start by extending a previous investigation in the pure gauge $SU (3)_c$ sector [1], describing the dynamics of the gluon condensate in terms of a dilaton Lagrangian. Below the critical temperature, the condensate...
Astronomical observations of neutron stars provide data on the kilometer scale, while the nuclear interaction, fundamental for neutron stars, works on the femtometer scale. To describe physical processes across so many orders of magnitude, one needs effective models. The inner crust of a neutron star is a complex system, where a lattice of nuclei strongly interacts with superfluid neutrons. In...
The production of p-nuclei remains a significant open problem in nuclear astrophysics, representing one of the most challenging research frontiers in the field. The $\alpha$-nuclear potential serves as a critical parameter for modulating p-nuclei synthesis, being known as one of the key parameters to reduce uncertainties in the high atomic mass region of the p-process network. [1,2]
In...
In nuclear reactions induced by low-energy charged particles, atomic electrons can participate in the process by screening the nuclear charge and so, effectively reducing the repulsive Coulomb barrier. Consequently, the measured cross section is enhanced by an effect called electron screening. There are several theoretical models, based on a static approach, describing this effect. However, in...
Nuclear fragmentation cross section measurements hold significant importance in both hadrontherapy and space radioprotection. Hadrontherapy is an external radiation therapy that employs beams of protons and heavier ions to target deep-seated tumors. These particles exhibit a favorable depth-dose distribution in tissues, featuring a low dose at the entrance and a maximum release at the end of...
The advent of novel cryogenic sensors is opening up new paths in the search for Beyond Standard Model physics, promising to shed light on open questions such as the neutrino mass scale and even fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics. Searches in nuclear beta decays are at the forefront of new physics searches in the electroweak sector, and several efforts are currently ongoing to take...
A self-consistent description of cluster emission processes in terms of nucleonic degrees of freedom is presented. The starting point is a Woods-Saxon mean field with spin-orbit and Coulomb terms where pairing is treated through standard Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer quasiparticles. A residual two-body interaction is introduced in terms of a density-dependent Wigner force having a Gaussian shape...
Conventional accelerators, which use radio-frequency fields, can only reach maximum acceleration field strengths on the order of 1 MV/cm [1], resulting in large footprints and high associated costs, especially for low-energy (MeV range) applications. In contrast, laser-driven accelerators have consistently reached acceleration field gradients on the order of GV/cm to TV/cm, rendering them a...
A new generation of 4H-SiC detectors has demonstrated the capability to operate at temperatures up to 450°C, offering excellent spectroscopic response and energy resolution (≲2%) [1]. This advancement paves the way for the development of silicon carbide detectors designed to measure suprathermal ions (He++ at 3.5 MeV) in extreme radiation and temperature environments, such as those expected in...
The GANIL (Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds) facility plays a crucial role in nuclear physics, astrophysics, and materials science by providing high-quality ion beams for cutting-edge research. A key component of these experiments is the production of high-quality targets, which are essential for obtaining accurate and reproducible results. With the development of the SPIRAL2...
Due to its low excitation energy around 8.4 eV, the unique $^{229}$Th isomer is the ideal candidate for developing a nuclear clock [1]. Such a clock would be particularly suited for fundamental physics studies [1]. In the past, measuring the isomer’s radiative decay from a large-bandgap crystal doped with $^{229\mathrm{m}}$Th, has proven difficult: the commonly used population of the isomer...
In the last few years, we continued to study light multineutron systems [1] in bound states that were predicted by Migdal [2]. Such possibility, for at least the dineutron, is based on the theoretical substantiation that in the outgoing channel as the product of the nuclear reaction a bound system of two identical nucleons exists beyond the volume of the heavy core of the other nucleons of the...
The pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) is commonly associated with an excess $E1$ strength on top of the low-energy tail of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) close to the neutron-separation energy in stable and unstable heavy nuclei. While its detailed structure, properties, and origin remain a matter of ongoing debates and research, the neutron-skin oscillation picture of this feature still prevails...
Shell evolution in nuclei far from stability, such as those in the region of $N\geq28$ and $Z<20$, is understood to arise from the complex interplay of orbital interactions, with different interactions accessible in unstable nuclei compared to stability. Experimental studies of these exotic regions provide stringent tests of modern shell model interactions, but are difficult to access...
The FALSTAFF spectrometer [1], designed to detect fission fragments produced in direct kinematics, is a key tool in advancing the understanding of neutron-induced fission, particularly in the MeV energy range. Fission models, both phenomenological and microscopic, have seen significant development over the past decade. However, their ability to accurately predict fission observables such as...
Scattering in three-nucleon systems at intermediate energies atracts attention due to sensitivity of the observables to subtle effects of the dynamics beyond the pairwise nucleon-nucleon force, so-called three nucleon force (3NF). Recently, the data for nucleon-deuteron collisions have also been considered as a tool for fine-tuning of the 3N Hamiltonian parameters in Chiral EFT. Deuteron...
Nuclear shape coexistence is essential for exploring the microscopic origins of nuclear deformation [1-4].
The Ca isotopic chain between the two shell closures at N=20 and N=28 is an optimal test
area that can provide key insights into this phenomenon [5-7].
The aim of this work is to perform complete low-spin spectroscopy of even-even $^{42,44}$Ca and odd-even $^{43,45}$Ca isotopes,...
The region around $^{32}$Mg has become a focus of nuclear structure studies due to the disappearance of the $N = 20$ shell closure, giving rise to a so-called island of inversion. As a result of multi-nucleon correlations, the isotopes in this region exhibit ground states dominated by $2p - 2h$ excitations into the $fp$ shell, deviating from the predictions of a harmonic oscillator potential...
Multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reactions are a promising method for producing neutron-rich heavy exotic nuclei. Many facilities around the world are studying this process to better understand the reaction mechanisms involved, as well as the competing mechanisms using specific projectile/target combinations [1].
The gas-filled recoil separator RITU [2] at the Jyväskylä Accelerator Laboratory...
Since the advent of radioactive ion beam facilities, excited states in exotic neutron-rich carbon isotopes have been an interesting object of study. In the late 90’s, three $^{17}$C resonant states above the $^{16}$C+n threshold were observed using the beta-delayed neutron decay of $^{17}$B [Raimann96]. More resonances were observed in later works using transfer [Bohlen07], proton inelastic...
The so-called ab initio approach to nuclear structure allows to describe atomic nuclei with controlled and systematically improvable approximations.
Such nuclear structure calculations employing interactions derived from chiral effective field theory are nowadays routinely performed in heavy or open-shell systems.
But describing nuclei that are at the same time both heavy and open-shell is...
J. Stricker(1, 2), K. Gaul(1,2), L. M. Arndt(1), Ch. E. Duellmann(1, 2, 3), D. Renisch(1,2), J. Velten(1) and the TACTICa Collaboration(1, 2, 3). (1) Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany. (2) Helmholtz Institute Mainz, 55099 Mainz, Germany. (3) GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany.
Trapped atomic and molecular actinide ions are...
The main goal of FOOT is to measure double differential fragmentation cross sections of light elements (Z $\le$ 10) in the energy range of 100–1000 MeV/nucleon, of interest both in medical and space-related fields. Particle Therapy is a medical treatment that uses charged particles with a tuned Bragg Peak to maximize the dose to tumors while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. However, ion...
On behalf of the GBAR collaboration
The properties of antimatter with respect to matter have been explored with utmost accuracy, except for its gravitational behaviour. The GBAR experiment, based at CERN’s AD/ELENA facility, is designed to investigate the weak equivalence principle by measuring the free-fall acceleration of antihydrogen in the Earth gravitational field.
To achieve...
A. Sharma$^1$, G. D'Amen$^2$, F. Bouyjou$^3$, O. Brand-Foissac$^1$, V. Chaumat$^1$, W. Chen$^2$, S. Conforti$^4$, T. Cornet$^1$, F. Dulucq$^4$, S. Extier$^4$, G. Giacomini$^2$, K. Hara$^5$, A. Ikbal$^6$, T. Imamura$^5$, M. Idzik$^7$, A. Jentsch$^2$, S. Kita$^5$, B.-Y. Ky$^1$, D. Marchand$^1$, J. Moron$^7$, K. Nakamura$^8$, S. Paul$^2$, P. Shanmuganathan$^2$, N. Seguin-Moreau$^4$, L. Serin$^1$,...
The (n,alpha) cross-sections on oxygen 16 and fluorine 19 are of great interest for the improvement and/or development of the nuclear reactors. Significant differences have been observed for those nuclei regarding the (n,alpha) channel:
- on oxygen 16, discrepancies up to 30% between experimental data and/or evaluation are observed and are responsible for an uncertainty of 100 pcm on...
The pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) refers to a low-lying strength in the dipole response of nuclei, located around the neutron separation energy [1] and associated with neutron excess in nuclei. As of today, the available experimental data do not provide an accurate picture of the fine structure of the PDR. These open questions on its structure and its potential implications on neutron...
The fission process is strongly determined by both the nuclear structure and the nuclear dynamics, which drives the system from its initial state to final break-up through various stages of extreme deformation. The resultant fission fragments, along with the neutron evaporation emerge as promising parameters for elucidating the underlying mechanisms governing the fission process. The VAMOS++...
Fission reactions induced by relativistic heavy nuclei, in combination with a large acceptance dipole magnet and advance tracking and time-of-flight detectors (SOFIA detection setup at GSI), have recently allowed, for the first time, the complete identification of both fission fragments in atomic and mass number [1].
By using different target materials, one could also favour fission reactions...
A series of recent experiments to perform high resolution gamma ray spectroscopy of nuclear fission have been carried out with the ν-Ball2 spectrometer [1]. Nu-Ball2 is a state-of-the-art hybrid gamma-ray spectrometer that was developed and constructed at the ALTO facility of IJC Lab in Orsay. Several open questions are currently being addressed such as the evolution of evolution of fragment...
Heavy-ion collisions in the few-GeV energy range allow the creation of strongly interacting matter under extreme net-baryon densities, conditions which are comparable to the ones in neutron star mergers. The precise investigation of the Equation-of-State (EoS) of this kind of matter is therefore of high relevance for the understanding of neutron stars.
In this contribution, we present new...
Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the fundamental theory of the strong interaction, predicts that at sufficiently high energy densities, nuclear matter undergoes a phase transition into a deconfined state known as the quark–gluon plasma (QGP). Ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions provide ideal conditions to explore the QCD phase diagram and investigate the properties of the QGP as a function of...
Recent experiments [Duer et al., Nature 606 (2022)] suggest a resonance-like structure in the $^8\text{He(p,p}\alpha\text{)4n}$ reaction. To investigate this, we analyze four-neutron point-creation using pionless effective field theory (EFT) within the Faddeev-Yakubovsky formalism, which enables a decomposition into the 2+2 and 3+1 channel. This is particularly relevant given that...
One of the best-known divergences from the independent-particle shell model description of the atomic nucleus is the existence of islands of inversion (IoI) [1]. The N=40 IoI draws particular interest, as 40 was postulated as a non-traditional “magic” number, however, later experimental measurements of B(E2) values and E(2+) energies indicated enhanced collectivity through the N= 40 shell gap,...
The problem to discriminate between gamma-rays and neutrons is a long standing one and it was faced in the past using Time of Flight or PSD techniques as the charge difference technique.
The CLYC (Cs2LiYCl6:Ce) scintillator can easily discriminate between gamma-rays and neutrons induced events but, unfortunately, it has a too low density (only 3.3 g/cm3) and the decay time constant of the...
The Carbon-11 nucleus plays an important role in first start nucleosynthesis patterns [1] as a composite of the reaction $^{10}\mathrm{B}(p,\alpha)^{7}\mathrm{Be}$, which act in the hot pp-chains [2] by back processing material branching across the mass $A = 5$ and $A = 8$ mass gap towards $^{10}\mathrm{B}$. The $^{11}\mathrm{C}$ resonances $J^\pi = 5/2^+_2$ and $J^\pi = 7/2^+_1$, 10 keV above...
The Pandya relation connects the interaction between two particles (or two holes) with the interaction between a particle and a hole [1], and follows from the action of the particle-hole conjugation operator in the context of the shell model [2]. The relation has been used extensively to correlate spectra of pairs of nuclei, for example 40K and 38Cl [3]. Many other examples are known...
The Chromium isotopic chain sits half-way in between the magic Ca and Ni isotopic chains and displays the highest level of collectivity of the region [1]. Going from the N = 28 shell closure to the center of the N = 40 Island of Inversion 64Cr, drastic structural changes are observed along the Cr isotopic chain, driven by a complex interplay of single particle and collective behaviors that...
Most of the known hadrons in the low-energy QCD spectrum are resonances observed in multiparticle scattering processes. First-principles determination of the properties of these unstable hadrons is a major goal of lattice QCD calculations. Significant progress has been made in the development, implementation and application of theoretical tools that relate finite-volume lattice QCD quantities...
Studying hadronization - the process by which quarks and gluons transition into hadrons -is fundamental to understanding the strong interaction dynamics within quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Using the CLAS12 detector at Jefferson Lab, the Run Group E (RGE) experiment offers unprecedented insights into hadronization in the nuclear medium. This talk will present preliminary results from the...
S. Szilner1, L. Corradi2, T. Mijatović1, F. Galtarossa3, G. Pollarolo4, E. Fioretto2, A. Goasduff2, G. Montagnoli3, A. M. Stefanini2, G. Colucci5, J. Diklić1, A. Gottardo2, J. Grebosz6, A. Illana7, G. Jaworski5, T. Marchi2, D. Mengoni3, M. Milin8, D. Nurkić8, M. Siciliano9, N. Soić1, J. J. Valiente-Dobón2, N. Vukman1
1Ruđer Bošković Institute, Croatia
2Istituto Nazionale di Fisica...
Neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) is a rare nuclear process predicted by beyond-Standard Model theories, offering crucial insights into the nature of neutrinos and lepton number violation. A confirmed observation of 0νββ would establish the Majorana nature of neutrinos and provide constraints on their absolute mass scale. Among candidate isotopes, the decay of $^{136}\text{Xe}$ to...
Ion therapy employs protons and heavier ions (e.g., helium, carbon, oxygen) for cancer treatment due to their advantageous physical and biological properties, particularly effective against radio-resistant tumors. However, precise modeling of nuclear fragmentation processes, which critically influence dose distributions, biological effectiveness, and overall treatment accuracy—especially with...
Neutron stars are the most compact objects in the Universe. The core of these extremely compact objects has such high densities that it reaches regions of the QCD phase diagram that are still unknown. In this work we explore the possibility of deconfined quark matter inside neutron stars. For this purpose, we generated eight sets of hybrid equations of state. For the hadron phase, we used the...
Facilitation of development and promotion of nuclear applications for peaceful purposes and related capacity building are among the IAEA missions where Physics Section contributes most [1]. The relevant activities fall under the IAEA's program on nuclear science and cover three main thematic areas: research and applications with particle accelerators and neutron sources (incl. research...
To comprehensively understand nuclear astrophysical network calculations, especially in the context of processes like the r-process, it is crucial to consider astrophysical reaction rates at a fixed temperature which requires Maxwellian-averaged cross-sections across a wide range of energies for radiative neutron capture processes. Determining these cross-sections and reaction rates within a...
Atoms of different chemical elements possess spectra that serve as their unique fingerprints. Our knowledge of their spectra has allowed the identification of heavy elements in extragalactic stars, and even in neutron star mergers where half of the elements are thought to be produced.
Till date, very little is known about the atomic structure of the heaviest elements, which can only be...
In the non-perturbative regime of Quantum Chromodynamics, the quark and gluon dynamics in a nuclear medium can be studied through the hadronization process. The deep inelastic electron scattering experiments are a clean way to liberate a bound quark from a nucleon in the medium and study the hadronization process. The E02-104 experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility...
Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the theoretical framework to study hadrons by means of their fundamental degrees of freedom, i.e. quarks and gluons, collectively referred to as partons. QCD defines many types of distributions describing a given hadron in terms of partons. For the purposes of this talk, we are interested in the so-called generalized parton distributions (GPDs) which are...
As experimental measurements and industrial applications of nuclear fission continue to develop, there is an increasing demand for theoretical models to simulate fission processes with high precision, including both reactions commonly used in applications today and exotic processes involving superheavy nuclei which have not yet been observed. The construction of such a model remains a...
The amount of fluorine in stars is a crucial indicator of the internal physical conditions and of the processes taking place within them, such as extra mixing in asymptotic giant branch stars. Also, it is a branching point in proton induced nucleosynthesis, since its proton radiative capture may lead to the synthesis of heavier nuclei (such as Ca in early stars). Recent extrapolated findings...
Exceptional points (EPs) are universal features of non-Hermitian systems, where at least two eigenvalues of an operator coalesce into a single eigenvalue, leading to several non-trivial effects like high sensitivity to parameter changes, unconventional behavior of resonances [1], unconventional time behavior [2], among others[3] . Though long studied in mathematical literature, EPs manifest...
I will present part of the results recently obtained by studying the radiative decay of fission fragments populated in 252Cf(sf). Fission fragments were detected and their kinetic energies measured using a twin Frisch grid ionization chamber. This compact detector was surrounded by an array of 54 large volume NaI detectors. For the particular event without neutron emission, the fragments' mass...
The region of neutron-rich nuclei around N = 60 has attracted much interest throughout the years for its unique features, such as the very sudden onset of deformation appearing in several isotopes, precisely at N = 60. Studies of this phenomenon are of great importance in our understanding of shape evolution and shape coexistence [1]. The sudden inversion of weakly and strongly deformed...
Investigating the boundaries of the nuclear chart and understanding the structure of the heaviest elements are at the forefront of nuclear physics. The existence of the superheavy nuclei is intimately linked to nuclear shell effects which counteract Coulomb repulsion and therefore hinder spontaneous fission. In the region of heavy deformed nuclei weak shell gaps arise around $Z$=100 and...
The FAMU collaboration aims to measure the hyperfine splitting (hfs) of the muonic hydrogen in the ground state, contributing to the understanding of the proton magnetic structure. The Zemach radius of the proton can be estimated from the hfs measurement with an accuracy better than 1%.
The experiment is conducted at the ISIS facility of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) at the RIKEN...
This work conducts a thorough Bayesian analysis of neutron star matter, incorporating $(\Delta)$-resonances alongside hyperons and nucleons within a density-dependent relativistic hadron (DDRH) model. By leveraging constraints from nuclear saturation properties, chiral effective field theory ($\chi$EFT), NICER radius measurements, and tidal deformability data from GW170817, we systematically...
Studying nuclear fission provides insight into the interplay between the dynamic evolution of the compound nucleus and microscopic effects such as shell structure and pairing correlations. Measuring fission fragment yields not only advances our understanding of nuclear structure but also has important applications in nuclear reactor physics.
This work focuses on the evolution of fission...
Quasi-fission (QF) and fusion fission (FF) are two competing processes that affects formation probability of Super Heavy Element (SHE). To optimize the exploration of the SHE landscape, it is important to understand the competition between QF and FF. Several experiments are being carried out by us [1-2] to understand the dynamics of QF and FF, particularly to understand the role of entrance...
A. Di Pietro$^1$, N. Szegedi$^1$, P. Figuera$^1$, S. Cherubini$^{1,2}$,M. La Cognata$^1$, L. Guardo$^1$, M. Gulino$^{1,3}$,L. Lamia$^{1,2}$, A. Oliva$^1$, G. Pizzone$^{1,2}$, G. Rapisarda$^{1,2}$, R. Sparta'$^{1,3}$, M.L. Sergi$^{1,2}$, D. Torresi$^1$, A. Tumino$^{1,2}$, T. Davinson$^4$, N. Duy$^5$, J.P. Fernandez Garcia$^6$, S. Heinitz$^7$, S. Hayakawa$^8$, E.A. Maugeri$^7$, M. Milin$^9$, H....
On behalf of the IDS collaboration.
The ISOLDE Decay Station (IDS) [1] is one of the permanent experiments at CERN’s ISOLDE facility. The device provides a versatile and flexible tool for studying the decays of the wide range of radioactive beams available at the laboratory. The current system consists of a recently upgraded array of HPGe clover detectors arrange around a movable Mylar...
In this contribution recent results obtained at the ISOLDE DECAY STATION (IDS) are discussed, together with an insight on future perspectives.
In addition, the new physics opportunities opening up at the upcoming SPES ISOL facility at LNL (Italy) will also be presented, underlying the complementarity of the two facilities.
Exploring the heavy neutron-rich region around and beyond N=126 is one of the major aims of nuclear facilities worldwide. The foremost reason is understanding the nucleosynthesis of the actinides existing in nature, formed only by the rapid neutron-capture process. At the third waiting point, the only observable measured systematically up to date -some beta-decay half-lives near stability-...
The neutron-rich region of the nuclear chart, around mass numbers A∼180−190, is of great interest for investigating nuclear shape transitions and isomerism in deformed nuclei. Isotopes like $^{183,184}$Hf are predicted to host long lived isomeric states and approach a prolate-to-oblate shape/phase transition, which is expected to result in prolate high-K isomers decaying to oblate low-K...
A general description of the fission mechanism considers both microscopical quantities, such as nuclear structure of the fission fragments, and macroscopic effects, like the Coulomb repulsion between the nuclei. The interplay between both quantities prevents, so far, from a fully microscopical description of the interaction. Despite the development of different theoretical models [1] and...
The ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is preparing for an upgrade during Long Shutdown 3 (LS3, 2026-2030), which includes replacing the three innermost layers of the Inner Tracking System (ITS2). The new ITS3 detector will introduce an innovative design featuring wafer-scale monolithic pixel sensors in 65 nm CMOS technology, thinned to 50 $\mu$m and bent into truly...
The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is the first bolometric experiment searching for 0νββ decay that has successfully reached the one-tonne mass scale. The detector, located at the LNGS in Italy, consists of an array of 988 TeO$_2$ crystals arranged in a compact cylindrical structure of 19 towers. CUORE has been collecting data continuously at ~10 mK since 2017,...
Due to high Q-values and low neutron separation energies, β-decay of neutron-rich nuclei can often populate neutron unbound states in the daughter nuclei, and close to the dripline, β-delayed multi-neutron emission becomes possible. Decay schemes are commonly studied via neutron time-of-flight (TOF) spectroscopy using modular arrays based on organic scintillators.
In principle, the use of...
Neutron-rich oxygen isotopes provide a unique probe to test state-of-the-art shell-model interactions such as SFO-tls [1] and YSOX [2]. In particular, 19O and 20O isotopes can be further employed to constrain shell evolution near the drip-lines, a crucial step towards a universal interaction. In this regard, single-nucleon transfer reactions are suitable tools to study the single-particle...
The low energy fission in the actinide region is known to be mainly asymmetric, driven by structure effects of the nascent fragments. Moreover, we know that there is a transition from asymmetric to symmetric splitting for Thorium isotopes. It was assumed that this latter split would be the main fission mode for lighter nuclei. However, unexpected asymmetric splits have been observed again in...
The neutron-deficient nuclides surrounding $^{100}$Sn, the heaviest doubly magic self-conjugate nucleus, presents a variety of fascinating nuclear structure phenomena. Key nuclear properties, such as atomic masses of exotic nuclei in this area, are crucial for assessing the stability of shell closures and the evolution of single-particle energy levels. Additionally, atomic masses also...
Neutron-induced reactions on Copper are of great relevance for both nuclear technologies and astrophysics. Copper is a key structural material in the TAPIRO research reactor, which plays a crucial role in validating nuclear data and materials for fast Generation IV reactors. Recent sensitivity and uncertainty studies on TAPIRO have highlighted the need for improved Copper cross section data...
The p-process was first proposed as a solution to the formation of proton-rich heavy nuclei between Se and Hg that cannot be produced via the r- and s-processes. The p-nuclei are typically 10-1000 times less abundant than isotopes formed through the r or s-processes, making the study of their reaction cross-sections fundamental for improving current nucleosynthesis models [1]. In this work, I...
The $^{197}$Au($\gamma$,n)$^{196}$Au reaction is commonly used as a reference process to measure the gamma beam intensity in photonuclear reaction experiments. However, at energies higher than 14.7 MeV, the cross-section values of the $^{197}$Au($\gamma$,n)$^{196}$Au reaction available in the literature (both from experiments and theory) exhibit conflicting values. Thus, we performed a new...
The neutron shielding properties of high-density concrete and magnetite aggregates have been evaluated through both experimental measurements and Monte Carlo simulations. These materials are used in the medical accelerator facilities, making it essential to characterize their behavior against neutron radiation to ensure shielding efficiency. Our experimental results show good agreement between...
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The synthesis of a p-nuclei...
The LHCb experiment at CERN employs a general-purpose forward spectrometer designed to study heavy flavour physics at the LHC. The acceptance of the spectrometer covers the pseudorapidity range 2 < η < 5 and provides full tracking and particle identification down to very small transverse momenta. This makes LHCb also ideal to study hadronic interactions similar to those that occur in extensive...
Neutron capture reactions play an important role in nuclear astrophysics as they are at the base of the s-process and the r-process, the two main mechanisms of nucleosynthesis beyond the iron peak.
Neutron capture cross sections are therefore important inputs of stellar models. Their accurate knowledge is crucial to predict reliable stellar yields and isotopic abundances that, compared with...
Helium burning is a crucial phase for stellar evolution, playing a key role in the production of elements like carbon, oxygen, and fluorine, which significantly impact the chemical evolution of the Universe.
Precise measurements of nuclear reaction rates at helium-burning astrophysical energies are challenging and essential for constraining stellar models and understanding nucleosynthesis...
The nuclear equation of state (EoS) plays a key role in many different aspects of modern physics, being fundamental for understanding the structure of nuclear matter, the properties of neutron stars, and the synthesis of heavy elements. While the properties of proton-neutron symmetric matter are relatively well known, the study of asymmetric matter via properties of neutron-rich nuclei became...
An important part of the physics programme of the COMPASS experiment at CERN consists in the measurement of transverse spin and transverse momentum effects in Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS) of high energy muons off unpolarised and transversely polarised nucleons.
In this talk, the most relevant new results on SIDIS off unpolarised protons and transversely polarised deuterons...
The Standard Model of particle physics is a widely accepted and well-established theory that is able to describe electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions using a common framework. However, phenomena such as masses of the neutrinos, the matter–antimatter asymmetry and the nature of dark matter and dark energy remain unexplained. At the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) we are setting up an...
The PANDORA (Plasmas for Astrophysics, Nuclear Decay Observation and Radiation for Archaeometry) facility aims to investigate the variation of nuclear and atomic properties inside a laboratory magnetoplasma emulating some aspects of the stellar interior [1]. The main goals of the facility are to use an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion trap to measure β-decay rates and optical opacities...
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in laser-driven ion accelerators as a potential alternative to conventional accelerators [1]. A particularly promising application is the production of radionuclides relevant for medical diagnosis, such as 11C for PET imaging. Typically, the production of these nuclides is centralised at cyclotrons, reducing the number of facilities required,...
The miniTRASGO is a compact, cost-effective secondary cosmic ray detector optimized for studies in solar activity, cosmic rays, and atmospheric physics. Based on Resistive Plate Chambers (RPCs), it provides stable detection rates and high sensitivity. This was demonstrated by its successful measurement of Forbush Decreases in March and May 2024 at the Madrid station, which, at the time, hosted...
Over the last decade, remarkable advances have been made in the theoretical description of electromagnetic properties of atomic nuclei, stimulated by a wealth of high-quality experimental data on short-lived radionuclides (see references [1-6]). In particular, nuclear charge radii have proven to be highly sensitive probes of phenomena such as pairing, deformation, or shell closures, and thus...
Motivated by possible industrial fusion applications of the $\gamma$-rays accompanying $d$-$t$ collisions I present the first model calculations of the minor branching ratio of the $d+t$ reaction, $d+t \rightarrow \alpha+n+\gamma$. The model exploits the most relevant physics feature -- spin conservation in electric dipole transitions -- which leads to a peculiar mechanism of this reaction: ...
Since the discovery of the neutron in 1932 [1], extensive experimental campaigns and calculations have been carried out to explore the possible existence of multineutron systems [2]. The dineutron being unbound, particular attention has been paid to the next even candidate, the tetraneutron, a system made up of four neutrons. Its few-body character and the absence of Coulomb interaction make...
Lanthanum ($Z = 57$) and lutetium ($Z = 71$) serve as ideal candidates to study proton-emission effects. Lutetium proton-emitting isotopes, showing oblate deformations, are positioned near the $N = 82$ shell closure while lanthanum proton-emitting isotopes, which exhibit significant prolate deformation, are located far from any shell closures. Comparing these two cases helps disentangle...
The International Axion Observatory (IAXO) is a planned gaseous detector helioscope designed to detect axions, theorised to be dark matter candidates. A baseline detector prototype, IAXO-D0, is at present undergoing tests in Zaragoza. This prototype is sensitive to background high-energy neutrons that could induce false positive axion detections.
A neutron monitor has been proposed as a way...
The neutron-induced reaction cross-sections for molybdenum, particularly the capture cross-sections, are relevant across various scientific fields, from nuclear astrophysics to nuclear technologies. Molybdenum isotopes are present as fission products in conventional nuclear reactors and its use is under study for potential applications in next-generation fission and fusion reactors....
Understanding the internal structure of nucleons remains one of the important challenges in hadronic physics. The measurement of Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) from the neutron provides unique information on Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs), offering a three-dimensional picture of the neutron’s partonic structure. This talk will detail the extraction of the neutron DVCS...
The crust of a neutron star is important for many astrophysical phenomena such as the cooling of the star and its transport properties. I will present calculations of the neutron-star crust within a compressible liquid drop model both at zero and finite temperature. I will also discuss results for neutron-star-crust elastic properties, such as the shear modulus, and their associated...
Researches on nuclear reactors, both for optimization of current generation or for study of next generations, require simulations. Indeed, reactor operation parameters, fuel burning, waste production, etc. can be studied by simulation with Monte Carlo or deterministic codes. These codes simulate the fundamental interaction of nucleons or ions with the matter and use as inputs nuclear data like...
The WASA-FRS HypHI Experiment focuses on the study of light hypernuclei by means of heavy-ion induced reactions in 6Li collisions with 12C at 1.96GeV/u. It is part of the WASA-FRS experimental campaign, and so is the eta-prime experiment [1]. The distinctive combination of the high-resolution spectrometer FRagment Separator (FRS) [2] and the high-acceptance detector system WASA [3] is used....
Neutron-rich, heavy, EXotic nuclei around the neutron shell closure at N=126 and in the transfermium region are accessible via multinucleon Transfer reactions which feature relatively high cross sections. The wide angular distributions of the multinucleon transfer products lead to experimental challenges in their separation and identification.
We will overcome these challenges with the new...
A long time operation of Multi-Gap Resistive Plate Chambers with gas mixtures based on C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$ and SF$_6$ leads to aging effects reflected in an increase of the dark current and dark counting rate, with impact on the chamber performance. Moreover, the higher noise rate leads to an artificial increase of the data volume in a free-streaming data acquisition operation used in high...
The world’s leading measurement of the neutron’s electric dipole moment (EDM) is currently ongoing at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI): the n2EDM experiment. n2EDM will deliver, at minimum, an order of magnitude better sensitivity as compared to current limits on the neutron EDM. This increased sensitivity on the neutron EDM will provide stringent constraints on time-reversal violating...
The $^{44}$Ti nucleosynthesis, alongside its characteristic gamma decay chain, is a good gamma tracer of Supernovae events. Specifically for Core Collapse Supernova (CCSN) explosions, the final process experienced by stars with initial mass greater than 8 M$_\odot$, where the nucleosynthesis takes place. Besides, the comparison between observations and models of the synthetized $^{44}$Ti in...
The nuclear electromagnetic moments provide an essential information about the structure of the state of interest. They are very stringent tests to the nuclear theory. The magnetic dipole moments are especially sensitive towards the single-particle properties of the nuclear wave functions while the electric quadrupole moments give an insight to the nuclear deformation and...
Tests of CKM unitarity are a rigorous tool for constraining possible extensions of the Standard Model. The top-row CKM unitarity test--at the current precision level, a simpler two-flavor Cabibbo unitarity--relies on a combination of kaon, neutron and superallowed nuclear decays. The latter presently give the most precise value of $V_{ud}$ and lead to an apparent 2-3$\sigma$ unitarity deficit....
Quantum computing has the potential to provide new algorithms to solve problems that are otherwise untractable classically. Among these problems, one can employ quantum computers to solve quantum many-body problem. In this talk, I will review two different algorithms to attempt and solve the nuclear shell model in quantum computers. One approach is based on variational quantum eigensolvers, a...
TRIUMF's Ion Trap for Atomic and Nuclear science (TITAN) specializes in high-precision measurements and isobaric separation of exotic nuclei using advanced electromagnetic traps. These precise mass measurements are crucial for investigating nuclear structure and studying astrophysical processes involving isotopes far from the valley of stability.
TITAN’s Multiple-Reflection Time-of-Flight...
Penning traps are widely used in high-precision mass spectrometry to determine atomic masses with exceptional precision and accuracy, playing a crucial role in atomic and nuclear physics research [1]. TRIGA-Trap is a high-precision, double Penning-trap mass spectrometer located in the reactor hall of the TRIGA (Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomic) research reactor in Mainz, Germany...
Heavy-ion collisions offer a unique opportunity to probe the equation of state (EoS) of baryonic matter across a range of densities. However, extracting quantitative constraints from comparisons with transport model predictions requires careful consideration of several factors, such as the choice of observables and ensuring comparable conditions between experimental and simulated data. In...
An experimental program has been approved at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility to measure the (ep,e’K+)Y reactions to study the spectrum and structure of excited nucleon states. New data from CLAS12 on πN, ππN, and KY electroproduction have been obtained using electron beams with energies of 6.5 and 7.5 impinging upon a liquid hydrogen target. Scattered electrons have been...
Octupole correlations near $N = Z = 56$ are unique in the sense that they occur between particles in the same orbitals for both neutrons and protons. In this region just above $^{100}$Sn, it is expected that enhanced octupole correlations will take place at low and medium spins in the light Te ($Z = 52$), I ($Z = 53$), and Xe ($Z = 54$) nuclei [1]. In this region of the nuclear chart, the...
PARIS is an advanced gamma calorimeter designed for high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy, particularly in the study of exotic nuclear properties. The detector system is based on a phoswitch architecture combining high-efficiency scintillators such as LaBr_3(Ce)/CeBr_3 and NaI(Tl), offering good energy and excelent time resolution. The primary goal of PARIS is to enhance the detection...
The JYFLTRAP double Penning trap mass spectrometer at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility offers excellent possibilities for high-precision mass measurements of radioactive ions. Using the new phase imaging technique (PI-ICR), ground and isomeric states can be separated, enabling independent measurements of their binding energies.
Accurate mass measurements of ground and...
In the last decade, SiC-based detectors have emerged as strong candidates for next-generation particle detection. This is due to several advantageous properties of the material, including its high breakdown field, high saturation velocity, wide band-gap, radiation hardness, strong mechanical resistance, and thermal stability [1–3]. Additionally, SiC has been proposed as a promising solution...
Chiral effective field theory ($\chi$EFT) promises a systematic approach to describe the force between nucleons as arising from the fundamental principles of quantum chromodynamics. A power counting (PC) quantifies the relative importance of different contributions in the $\chi$EFT expansion. The PC ensures that the EFT predictions of observables show order-by-order convergence, which in turn...
The response of atomic nuclei to external, harmonically oscillating electric fields, i.e., their photoresponse [1], is dominated by their isovector Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR). The existence of the GDR is known for almost a century [2]. Although it is often considered as the archetype of a collective nuclear mode, a variety of fundamental questions to its very nature is still unanswered: What...
Loosely bound nuclei are currently the focus of interest in low-energy nuclear physics. The deeper understanding of their properties, provided by the open-shell model for quantum systems, changes the understanding of many phenomena and opens new horizons for spectroscopic studies of nuclei from the drop lines to the $\beta$-stability valley, as well as for states near and above the particle...
More than 80 years after its discovery, a complete description of the fission process remains a challenge. It is a many-body dynamic problem involving both microscopic and macroscopic aspects of nuclear matter. To further understand the fission process, new experimental data on exotic fissioning systems that cannot be probed using direct neutron-induced fission are needed. Moreover,...
Around us we see an universe filled with galaxies, stars and planets like ours. But when we look back to the Big Bang and the processes that created the matter in it, at first we observe that there should have been created the same amount of matter and antimatter, thus the universe would be empty or different than it is. Sakharov suggested several conditions to explain the matter-antimatter...
Corrected transition rates ($Ƒt^{0^+ → 0^+}$ values) of superallowed $0^+ → 0^+$ beta decays have served as a benchmark for validating the conserved vector current (CVC) hypothesis in weak interactions. They now provide the most precise value of $V_{ud}$, the dominant top-row element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark mixing matrix. By imposing stringent constrains on the CKM...
On Behalf of ALPHA Collaboration
CPT symmetry is a fundamental principle in the Standard Model of particle physics. Antihydrogen, the simplest atom of antimatter, is ideal for testing CPT invariance by comparing its properties with those, very well known, of hydrogen. The ALPHA experiment at CERN focuses on producing, confining, and studying antihydrogen. Antihydrogen is synthesized by...
Understanding and predicting the evolution of nuclear structure and the novel phenomena in nuclei has long been a pursuit of scientific curiosity.
Conventional methods such as charged particle probes, $\beta$-decay, Coulombic-excitation, and heavy-ion fusion evaporation reactions have been employed so far in the phase space of Shell structure, magic numbers, angular momentum, and excitation...
The study of nuclear fission remains a critical area of research, not only for understanding fundamental nuclear properties but also for its implications in the production of heavy elements in astrophysical environments. In r-process nucleosynthesis, fission barriers play a crucial role as they ultimately limit the mass of nuclei that can be produced. Currently, very limited data on fission...
The nuclear energy-density-functional (EDF) is a successful theoretical tool to describe many properties of a fissioning nucleus up to the generation of the primary fragments [1]. A core ingredient in the EDF-based many-body approaches is the Bogoliubov vacuum wavefunction. Expectation values of observables such as total binding energies or primary fragments mass are widely computed on...
The isospin symmetry is a consequence of the charge-independence of the nucleon-nucleon nuclear interaction. However, the Coulomb interaction breaks the isospin symmetry. Despite the small size of the isospin breaking, it is fundamental to know its value in the best possible way to understand the properties of the isobaric analog state and its role in Fermi $\beta$ decay.
In the case of...
The Axial-Vector Form Factor (AVFF) is so far largely unknown compared to the other form factors of the nucleon. Only its normalisation at $Q^2=0$ is experimentally well known from $\beta$ decay.
Most AVFF experimental knowledge at $Q^2>0$ is owing to $\nu$ quasi-elastic scattering on nuclei, and is therefore strongly affected by the determination of $\nu$ beam energy; low statistics; also...
As unexpected as it may seem, the past few years revealed that it is possible to ascribe a well-defined meaning to the notion of proton internal pressure, to identify several associated observables that can be measured in contemporary experiments and from them to extract this internal pressure in a theoretically controlled manner. The conceptual breakthrough originates from the definition of...
Shape coexistence is a widespread phenomenon in the nuclide chart. Firstly identified in light nuclei, it has now been observed in several mass regions. Around the shell closure Z=50, shape coexistence has been clearly established in several isotopic chains, particularly in the tin and cadmium isotopes. Intruder states have also been identified in the palladium isotopes. Nevertheless, the...
Cadmium isotopes have been thought to be prime examples of nearly harmonic vibrational nuclei. However, recent studies have started depicting a much more complex picture of their structure, highlighting the possibility of multiple shape coexistence. In particular, advanced beyond-mean-field calculations performed for the 110,112Cd isotopes predict a prolate ground state coexisting with three...
Quantum computers offer the promise of efficiently solving problems which suffer exponential scaling with problem size on classical computers. In application to the simulation of physical systems, quantum computers may be able to overcome the explosion of Hilbert space size with particle number, and to deal efficiently with entangled states.
In this contribution, we show some...
Quarkonium production has long been recognized as a key probe for exploring the properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Among various observables, azimuthal anisotropies in quarkonium production offer valuable insights to investigate its collective behavior in a strongly interacting medium. In particular, the measurement of $\rm{J}/\psi$ elliptic flow ($v_2$) in Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC...
Quarkonia are bound states of a heavy quark and an antiquark of the same flavor. In pp collisions, such heavy quark masses require the quark pair to be produced in high-energy scatterings of partons in the colliding protons; once the quark and the antiquark are created, their binding into quarkonium states involves large spatial separations and low momentum scales. The whole production...
Neutron-induced fission reaction cross sections are crucial in various fields of nuclear science and technology. Experimental data from these reactions play a key role in understanding nuclear processes at high excitation energies, contributing to the development and refinement of models describing spallation, nuclear fragmentation, and binary fission. Moreover, accurate cross-section data are...
The SPIRAL2 facility of GANIL will significantly extend the capability to study short-lived nuclei by producing beams of rare isotopes at unprecedented intensities. The SPIRAL2-LINAC coupled with the Super Separator Spectrometer (S3) recoil separator will facilitate the production of neutron-deficient nuclei close to the proton dripline as well as super heavy nuclei via fusion-evaporation...
The astrophysical p-process is the crucial mechanism responsible for the synthesis of a sub-set of proton-rich isotopes, known as p-nuclei, which cannot be produced by the s- and r-processes. Despite the several astrophysical environments considered in the literature [1-3] photodisintegration reactions are identified as the dominant mechanism for the production of these rather weakly naturally...
The physics of neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay has important implications on particle physics, cosmology and fundamental physics. It is the most promising process to access the effective neutrino mass. To determine quantitative information from the possible measurement of the 0νββ decay half-lives, the knowledge of the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the transition is...
This talk will present two resonant elastic scattering experiments addressing questions in nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure. The first experiment focuses on the production of 18F in classical novae, critical for gamma-ray emissions from 𝛽+ decay. The reaction 18F( 𝑝, 𝛼)15O, which destroys 18F, remains uncertain due to limited spec-
troscopic data for 19Ne in the Gamow window. To...
N.S. Martorana1, G. D’Agata1,2, A. Barbon1,2, G. Cardella1, E. Geraci1,2,3, L. Acosta4,5,6, C. Altana6, A. Castoldi7, E. De Filippo 1, S. De Luca6, P. Figuera6, N. Giudice1,2, B. Gnoffo1,2, C. Guazzoni7, C. Maiolino6, E.V. Pagano6, S. Pirrone 1, G. Politi 1,2, L. Quattrocchi1,8, F. Risitano1,8, F. Rizzo2,3,6, P. Russotto6, G. Sapienza6, M. Trimarchi1,7, S. Tudisco6, C. Zagami...
The study of light hypernuclei, subatomic nuclei containing strange quarks, is an active area of research explored by multiple collaborations [1,2,3,4,5,6]. Recent investigations using high energy heavy ion collisions have yielded surprising insights into the three body hypernuclear state, Λ3H (hypertriton). Experimental measurements of its lifetime [1,2,3,7,8,9,10] and binding energy...
The advent of new facilities for radioactive ion beams mainly rich in neutrons, like SPES @ LNL, FRAISE @ LNS and FAIR @ GSI only to give some examples, imposes the joint detection and discrimination of neutrons and charged particles in Heavy radioactive Ion collisions, with high angular and energy resolution. The construction of novel detection systems suitable for this experimental task is...
This work explores the effects of dilution on the retention phenomena of radioactive atoms produced in the Szilard-Chalmers reaction, with a minimum level of gamma radiation coming from the Am-Be source. For the first time, we demonstrate that the 128-I extraction yield, after a sizable post-irradiation time, can be maximized with a suitable dilution. The origin of this curious effect is still...
The In-Gas Laser Ionization and Spectroscopy (IGLIS) technique is a powerful tool to study atomic and nuclear properties of short-lived actinides [2]. Such studies are important to understand the atomic level scheme of these heavy elements, strongly influenced by electron correlations and relativistic effects. Also, fundamental nuclear properties still unknown for most of these nuclei, such as...
The HADES (High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer) detector is a versatile device operating at SIS18 synchrotron at GSI Darmstadt with a vital list of results in the elementary and heavy ion collisions. It combines unique capability of dileptons and hadrons identification. HADES provides a unique platform for investigating elementary reactions, with a particular focus on the strangeness and...
The knowledge of absolute nuclear charge radii has a significant scientific impact, from testing nuclear theories to beyond standard model physics. The absolute charge radii of almost all stable isotopes were extracted till the late 1990s, using the muonic atom spectroscopy method. In this method, a negatively charged muon beam is shot on target, the muon stops and is captured at a high...
Ab initio calculations of atomic nuclei aim at describing their structure and reaction properties starting solely from the basic interactions between nucleons. In the past decade, thanks to developments in many-body theory and in the modelling of nuclear forces, ab initio techniques have steadily progressed and are now able to reach several tens of isotopes up to mass A~100, as well as...
The generation of the fission fragments spins is one of the least understood mechanism and its theoretical description has been subject to renewed interest following Wilson \textit{et al.} [Nature 590, 566 (2021)]. We report on a study of the radiative decay of fission fragments populated via neutronless fission of $^{252}$Cf(sf). In such rare events the fragments are populated below their...
Neutron dark decays have been suggested as a solution to the discrepancy between bottle and beam experiments, providing a dark matter candidate that can be searched for in halo nuclei. The free neutron in the final state following the decay of $^{6}$He into $^{4}$He + n + χ provides an exceptionally clean detection signature when combined with a high efficiency neutron detector. We will report...
Alpha decay is known for more than a century, however a global microscopic description of this process has only been successfully developed recently by Mercier et al. [1]. Within the framework of covariant energy density functional, using a least action principle, the half-life of medium and heavy nuclei agree within one order of magnitude with experimental value [2].
Moreover, a new type...
The search for Alpha-Cluster Condensate State (ACS) in always more heavy nuclei is one of the most intriguing puzzles of nuclear structure. In particular, in2021, Adachi et al. observed three states in $^{20}$Ne at 21.2, 21.8, and 23.6 MeV [1]. Such states have been suggested to be realistic candidates, being their decay well correlated with the underlying ACSs in lighter nuclei [2].In this...
Accurate modelling of nuclear fragmentation is essential in ion beam therapy, where secondary ions contribute significantly to dose deposition and biological effects. However, the predictive capabilities of current Monte Carlo models remain limited in the energy range of therapeutic beam, especially for light fragment production (Z = 1–6), due to a lack of experimental data.
Within the...
The seniority scheme assumes that the low lying states in a nucleus can be described considering one single orbital, and there is no seniority mixing. The aim of the present paper is to test the validity of this, by focusing on the reduced B(E2) transition strengths, considered to provide more stringent test of the wave function than the excitation energies.
The largest amount of...
In this presentation, I will expose some of the latest developments in microscopic nuclear structure calculations from mid-mass to superheavy elements. In a first part, I will present developments and applications for the diagonalisation of shell-model hamiltonians in a Discrete Non-Orthogonal Shell Model (DNO-SM)[1] and its latest implementation DNO-SM(VAP)[2]. The method is based on...
The formation of short-range correlated nucleon-nucleon pairs (SRCs), primarily composed of neutron-proton pairs [1], appears to be a universal feature in atomic nuclei [2]. Interestingly, measurements in electron scattering indicate that protons become significantly more correlated in asymmetric nuclei as a function of neutron excess. This has potential implications for the description of...
The stability of nuclei beyond the spherical double shell closure of $^{208}$Pb rapidly decreases because of the disappearance of the macroscopic fission barrier. This phenomenon is however compensated by quantum shell effects caused by alternating zones of high and low densities caused by deformation. The island of superheavy stability is foreseen as a doubly spherical gap whose position...
The third decadal review of solar fusion cross sections (SF-III) is based on a community consensus formed in a workshop in July 2022 in Berkeley with 50 participants representing many of the groups active in the field. It is now available online (https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.06470 , and Rev. Mod. Phys. in press).
I will present a nuclear physics based perspective on the SF-III recommended...
The study of the heaviest elements remains a compelling scientific endeavor. By investigation of nuclei in the trans-fermium region, we can learn about the quasi-particle structure, pairing correlations, and excitation modes in these nuclei. Berkeley Lab scientists have led several recent experiments to study the excited level structure of nuclei in this region through prompt and delayed...
The status of several CLAS12 semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering measurements sensitive to TMDs, including several new results from a 10.5 GeV longitudinally polarized electron beam incident on a longitudinally polarized target, will be discussed. These measurements will be placed into context of the global study of TMDs with a particular focus on areas where CLAS12 and other fixed target...
Stopping power (SP) refers to the rate at which a charged particle loses energy as it moves through a medium; however, it is substantially different between ordinary (cold) and plasma matter. As a consequence, a precise determination of SP in plasmas is essential for nuclear astrophysics [Ber04, ADGL99] and energy production [LP93, ZZZ+22], because it plays a central role in determining...
In-beam γ-ray spectroscopy and invariant/missing mass studies from quasi-free scattering or knockout reactions on secondary fragmentation beams are often the preferable techniques to give access to the most exotic nuclei and perform their first spectroscopy. Illustratively, such studies have recently enabled to quantify the magic character of 54Ca [1,2], 78Ni[3], but as importantly to...
The evolution of nuclear shell structure in exotic nuclei provides key insights into the fundamental nature of nuclear forces. In nuclei far from stability, conventional magic numbers can disappear, while new ones may emerge, a phenomenon known as shell evolution [1]. A well-known example is the evolution of the N=28 shell gap from $^{40}$Ca to $^{48}$Ca, which has been successfully explained...
The study of beta decay of neutron rich nuclei is particularly important for many fields in fundamental and applied physics [1]. In nuclear reactors, fission products, through their decays, produce an additional energy called decay heat [2]. The assesment of this energy is essential for nuclear safety since it represents around 7% of the power in an operating reactor and these decays continue...
Studying the structure of exotic nuclei near shell closures is a powerful tool to investigate the underlying nuclear forces. The regions around N=20N=20 and N=28N=28 are known to exhibit significant shape transitions arising from a subtle interplay between monopole evolution—such as the tensor force—and quadrupole excitations leading to deformation.
Previous studies have shown that the...
The appearance of a subshell closure in $^{56}$Cr (N=32) is confirmed by the high excitation energy of the 2$_{1}^{+}$ state and the B(E2;2$_1^+\rightarrow$0$_1^+$). Shell model calculations are able to reproduce the energy of the first 2$^+$ state but not the drop of collectivity at N=32 for the Cr isotopes.
The discrepancy between the experimental data and the theoretical calculations for...
The shape coexistence phenomenon was investigated in the Sn isotopes region around A=110, by means of $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy and lifetime measurements of low-spin states. Recent observations of prolate axially deformed $0^+$ states in $^{64,66}$Ni isotopes, with a strongly hindered decay to the first $2^+$ excited state of spherical nature (shape-isomer-like excitations), were reported ...
The study of superheavy nuclei has progressed in the last decade with new techniques. In addition to the findings of decay spectroscopy studies [1], the measurement of masses [2] and charge radii [3] have become possible in the fermium-nobelium region, providing new information necessary for the comprehension of the heaviest nuclei. In parallel, a strong international competition is ongoing to...
The Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ PAN) in Kraków is a proton therapy center built in the previous decade, where in addition to therapy, the proton beam is used for scientific research. One of the first measurements performed at the Cyclotron Centre Bronowice (CCB) were studies of collective excitations induced using...
L. Corradi1, S. Szilner3, G. Andreetta1,2, E.Fioretto1, A. Goasduff1, A. Gottardo1, A. M. Stefanini1, J. J. Valiente-Dobón1, F. Angelini1,2, M. Balogh1, D. Brugnara1, G. de Angelis1, A. Ertoprak1, B. Gongora Servin1, A. Gozzelino1, T. Marchi1, D.R. Napoli1, J. Pellumaj1, R.M. Pérez-Vidal1, M. Sedlak1, D. Stramaccioni1,2, L. Zago1,2, I. Zanon1, P. Aguilera4, J. Benito4, S. Carollo2,4, R....
At present, the research into the synthesis of superheavy elements is being pursued under two main goals. One goal is to synthesize elements with larger atomic numbers, and the other is to reach Island of Stability predicted as the next double magic nucleus. The periodic table is currently marked up to element 118, Oganesson (Og) [1], and experiments are being conducted with the aim of...
The construction of the DESIR facility at GANIL-SPIRAL2 is almost completed and soon the installation of the experimental setups will start. The experimental hall will feature state-of-the-art setups for decay and laser spectroscopy, as well as trap-based experiments. With the beams produced at SPIRAL1 and S3, DESIR will provide unique opportunities for high-precision low-energy nuclear...
NE PAS SUPPRIMER CET ABSTRACT QUI PERMET DE TESTER LES MAILS ;)
D'AVANCE MERCI
MARIE-LAURE
Decays of spin-polarised and quantum-entangled hyperon-antihyperon pairs have recently presented themselves as promising hunting grounds for processes that violate fundamental symmetries, such as charge conjugation (C) and charge conjugation and parity (CP). When hyperons are produced in electron-positron annihilations, the quantum numbers of the initial state are well-known. This enables a...
The international collaboration constituted based on the Total Absorption Gamma-ray Spectroscopy technique (TAGS) in Europe is aiming to build a Total Absorption Spectrometer (TAS) of the next generation. TAGS is a calorimetric technique using large monolithic or segmented scintillators that cover more than 80% of 4, but with limited energy resolution. It complements high-resolution...
ALTO (Accélérateur Linéaire et Tandem à Orsay) is the two-accelerator research platform of IJCLab (alto.ijclab.in2p3.fr). The first is a 15 MV Tandem accelerator which produces a wide range of heavy ion beams, from proton up to gold. ALTO is also unique in its capacity to provide high-flux naturally directional neutron beams with the LICORNE neutron converter in inverse kinematics. The second...
Enrico De Filippo (INFN Catania)
for the R3B Collaboration
Constraining the asymmetry term of the EoS is important, among other reasons, for its strict connection with multi-messenger astrophysics, such as compact stars and core collapse supernovae phenomena. By using as main observable the elliptic flow ratio of neutrons and charged particles [1,2], the ASY-EOS...
The four-body Schrödinger equations in momentum representation are solved to investigate the bound-state solutions for a system consisting of a phi-meson (ϕ) and three nucleons (NNN). The analysis uses a new spin-3/2 N−ϕ potential derived from lattice QCD simulations near the physical point and the realistic NN Malfliet-Tjon (MT) potential. Our numerical calculations for the ϕppn system in...
The Bellotti Ion Beam Facility (IBF) [1] is located in the deep underground site of Laboratori del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy. The facility is named in honor of Enrico Bellotti, the first director of the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy, who initiated the first installation of an underground accelerator for the study of nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest, following a...
The dual-radiator RICH (dRICH) detector of the ePIC experiment at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) will employ Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPMs) for Cherenkov light detection. The photodetector system will cover an area of approximately 3 m², using 3x3 mm² pixel sensors and exceeding 300,000 readout channels, marking the first use of SiPMs for single-photon detection in a high-energy...
The observation of neutrinoless double beta (0$\nu\beta\beta$) decay would have profound implications on the field of neutrino physics, giving key insights into multiple questions simultaneously. It would prove the existence of a lepton number violating process, determining if neutrinos are Majorana particles as well as constraining the overall mass hierarchy and the absolute mass scale of the...
n_TOF, at CERN, is the neutron time-of-flight facility dedicated to the study of neutron-induced reactions for fundamental and applied nuclear research. With high-precision neutron cross-section data, n_TOF plays a crucial role in addressing key questions in nuclear astrophysics and for innovation in advanced nuclear technologies. In nuclear astrophysics, experiments performed at n_TOF provide...
The new PID equipment of the Super-FRS [1], presently under construction at FAIR, was qualified using SIS18 beams (C, Ag, U) delivered at different energies 400-1000 MeV/nucleon.
The absence at GSI of a beam line suitable to be equipped with Super-FRS vacuum detectors, due the large acceptance in momentum of the Super-FRS, enforced to install the first equipped Super-FRS diagnostic chamber in...
The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) aims to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter at high baryon densities. It is designed to study heavy-ion collisions at beam energies of up to 11 AGeV using the SIS100 synchrotron. The CBM will explore collisions of high-intensity nuclear beams with thick fixed targets...
The production and abundances of neon and sodium isotopes in massive stars, novae and supernovae is strictly connected to the cross section of proton reactions with Ne isotopes. In particular, the 21Ne(p,γ)22Na reaction has a relevant role in the production of the radioactive isotope 22Na in novae and supernovae. At T~0.1-0.7GK, the main contributions to the stellar rate are provided by...
The interest in the correlation function is based in the use of the femtoscopy technique in experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to perform new high-precision studies of the low-energy interactions between hadrons. This experimental method exploits the production and emission of hadrons at relative distances of the order of a femtometer in $pp$ and $p$-nucleus collisions, to study...
Whether or not femto-scale droplets of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) are formed in so-called small systems at high-energy colliders is a pressing question in the phenomenology of the strong interaction. For proton-proton or proton-nucleus collisions the answer is inconclusive due to the large theoretical uncertainties plaguing the description of these processes. While upcoming data on collisions of...
The ISOLDE Superconducting Recoil Separator (ISRS) [1] is an innovative high-resolution recoil separator aiming to extend the physics program of HIE-ISOLDE by using gamma-particle correlations and decay spectroscopy at the focal plane detector. The objective of the ISRS´s theory group is to predict direct and compound-nuclei production for selected nuclear reactions, aiming to optimize the...
Over the past few years, there has been an increasing interest in exotic nuclear shapes and accompanying symmetries in low energy subatomic physics, both from theory and experimental points of view. We are going to address theoretical calculations employing realistic nuclear structure Hamiltonians to provide trustworthy predictions of the still unknown quantum mechanisms; new concepts are also...
The electromagnetic structure of baryons, parametrized in terms of electromagnetic form factors (EMFFs), provides a key to understanding quantum chromodynamics effects in bound states. While spacelike form factors for the proton and neutron are accessible through the elastic electron scattering, the most viable option for unstable hadrons is the timelike EMFFs. Recently, precise measurements...
The exploration of neutron-deficient isotopes in the vicinity of the Z = 100 shell gap, offers valuable insight into the nuclear structure and the boundaries of stability for nuclei with extreme neutron-to-proton ratios. To investigate the limits of stability and also the effects of the single-particle states on the decay modes of these nuclei, the neutron-deficient isotopes of mendelevium...
Most of the heaviest nuclei synthesized in recent decades have been obtained using fusion-evaporation reactions. Due to neutron evaporation and the limited choice of beam-target combinations, this mechanism tends to produce mainly neutron-deficient nuclei. In addition, the cross-sections are often small, e.g. 0.5 pb at most for the discovery of 294Og [1]. Multi-Nucleon Transfer (MNT) reactions...
The study of reactions involving weakly bound exotic nuclei is an active field due to advances in radioactive beam facilities. Many of these nuclei can be approximately described by a model consisting of an inert core and one or more valence nucleons. However to properly describe some of these nuclei within few-body models, additional effects must be considered, such as deformations and...
Neutron-neutron correlations, specifically in light exotic systems such as two-neutron halo nuclei, is a topic that has attracted a revived interest [1,2]. These correlations are known to play a key role in binding the Borromean system [3,4], thus shaping their properties and dynamics in nuclear collisions. The particular features of these nn correlations extend beyond the driplines and may...
We present the preliminary analysis of an experiment performed at INFN LNL in November 2023 aimed at studying the two-octupole phonon collectivity in $^{96}$Zr. The goal of the experiment was to perform a $\gamma$-decay branching ratio measurement from the $6^+$ to the $3^-$ state, so as to extract the B(E3; $6^+\rightarrow3^-$) value. If large, this parameter would indicate for the $6^+$...
The existence of the three flavours of neutrinos, electron, muon and tau neutrino, predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics has been experimentally proven decades ago. Contrary to the Standard Model however, neutrino oscillation experiments [1] have shown that they are massive particles, making neutrino mass measurements a gateway to physics beyond the Standard Model. As these...
The 25Al(p, γ)26Si reaction plays a crucial role in the production of the 26Al radioisotope in the Galaxy. To accurately model the thermonuclear reaction rates for the production of 26Al in astrophysical environments, spectroscopic information about the nature of the states (Iπ , Ex ,..) close to the proton threshold is needed. Theoretical calculations predict three resonances in 26Si with Iπ...
Nuclear isomers, which are longer-lived excited states of atomic nuclei, emerge due to structural peculiarities that impede their decay processes. Advances in measurement techniques are revealing exotic isomeric properties, leading to an ample amount of data on isomeric states. This information is crucial for both fundamental research and interdisciplinary applications across industry and...
Abstract: The accurate determination of reactor antineutrino spectra remains a very actual research topic for which interrogations have emerged in the past decade. Indeed, after the “reactor anomaly” (RAA) [1] – a deficit of measured antineutrinos at short baseline reactor experiments with respect to spectral predictions – the three international reactor neutrino experiments Double Chooz, Daya...
To meet the sustainable development goals of the United Nations we have to transform our global economy into energy-smart, sustainable, cyclic societies. The materials we nowadays employ for storage and conversion of energy but also for regulation of energy transport are commonly complex compound systems often containing light chemical elements such as hydrogen, lithium or oxygen, either...
The existence of $^{298}$Fl, the center of the island of stability, has been predicted [1]. To synthesize this nucleus, it is necessary to produce a more neutron-rich compound nucleus than $^{298}$Fl, since the excited compound nucleus cools down by emitting neutrons.
According to this paper [2], the compound nucleus $^{304}$Fl exhibits some interesting mechanisms. One of them is the effect...
Prompt neutrons are emitted by fission fragments during the nuclear fission process. These neutrons play a crucial role for applications as they drive the chain reaction in nuclear fuel by inducing new fissions. The measurement of Prompt Fission Neutron Spectra (PFNS), which are the energy distributions of these neutrons, need to be done with high precision. Neutron multiplicity and average...
The second $0_{2}^+$ state of $^{12}$C at an excitation energy of 7.654 MeV, known as the Hoyle state [1], is crucial for understanding how $^{12}$C is formed in stellar nucleosynthesis. Despite extensive studies, the Hoyle state characteristics remain a challenging topic for nuclear structure theories: many theoretical models predict very different radii and spatial arrangements of this state...
