We report results on the long-term variation of the neutron counting rate at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory, of importance for several low-background experiments installed there, including ...rare-event searches. The measurement campaign was performed employing the High Efficiency Neutron Spectrometry Array (HENSA) mounted in Hall A and lasted 412 live days. The present study is the first long-term measurement of the neutron rate with sensitivity over a wide range of neutron energies (from thermal up to 0.1 GeV and beyond) performed in any underground laboratory so far. Data on the environmental variables inside the experimental hall (radon concentration, air temperature, air pressure and humidity) were also acquired during all the measurement campaign. We have investigated for the first time the evolution of the neutron rate for different energies of the neutrons and its correlation with the ambient variables.
Even mass neutron-rich niobium isotopes are among the principal contributors to the reactor antineutrino energy spectrum. They are also among the most challenging to measure due to the refractory ...nature of niobium, and because they exhibit isomeric states lying very close in energy. The β-intensity distributions of 100gs,100mNb and 102gs,102mNb β decays have been determined using the total absorption γ-ray spectroscopy technique. The measurements were performed at the upgraded Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility at the University of Jyväskylä. Here, the double Penning trap system JYFLTRAP was employed to disentangle the β decay of the isomeric states. The new data obtained in this challenging measurement have a large impact in antineutrino summation calculations. As a result, for the first time the discrepancy between the summation model and the reactor antineutrino measurements in the region of the shape distortion has been reduced.
A particle identification technique for large acceptance spectrometers Cappuzzello, F.; Cavallaro, M.; Cunsolo, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
09/2010, Letnik:
621, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A technique to identify the heavy ions produced in nuclear reactions is presented. It is based on the use of a hybrid detector, which measures the energy loss, the residual energy, the position and ...angle of the ions at the focal plane of a magnetic spectrometer. The key point is the use of a powerful algorithm for the reconstruction of the ion trajectory, which makes the technique reliable even with large acceptance optical devices. Experimental results with the MAGNEX spectrometer show a remarkable resolution of about 1/160 in the mass parameter.
The XENON100 dark matter experiment Aprile, E.; Arisaka, K.; Arneodo, F. ...
Astroparticle physics,
April 2012, 2012-4-00, 20120401, Letnik:
35, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
► XENON100 is currently one of the most sensitive experiments to detect WIMP dark matter. ► Detector design and active/passive shielding reduce the radioactive background level. ► The event vertex of ...an interaction is reconstructed with a few mm precision. ► All position dependent signal corrections are presented in the paper. ► An energy scale exploiting the light-charge anti-correlation leads to an energy resolution competitive with NaI(Tl) crystals.
The XENON100 dark matter experiment uses liquid xenon (LXe) in a time projection chamber (TPC) to search for xenon nuclear recoils resulting from the scattering of dark matter Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). In this paper we present a detailed description of the detector design and present performance results, as established during the commissioning phase and during the first science runs.
The active target of XENON100 contains 62kg of LXe, surrounded by an LXe veto of 99kg, both instrumented with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) operating inside the liquid or in xenon gas. The LXe target and veto are contained in a low-radioactivity stainless steel vessel, embedded in a passive radiation shield and is installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy. The experiment has recently published results from a 100 live-days dark matter search. The ultimate design goal of XENON100 is to achieve a spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section sensitivity of σ=2×10−45cm2 for a 100GeV/c2 WIMP.
A systematic study of the β-decay of neutron-deficient nuclei has been carried out and has provided spectroscopic information of importance for both nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics. ...Following an overview of the most relevant achievements, we focus on the latest results on the β decay of
60
Ge and
62
Ge. We also summarise our results on the mass excesses in comparison with systematics and a recent measurement. Finally, we present updated half-life trends for
T
z
= -1/2, -1 and -2 neutron-deficient nuclides.
Abstract
Project Meitner is an outreach initiative aiming at raising awareness on the situation of women in Physics. To this purpose, a series of actions have been carried out at the Instituto de ...Física Corpuscular (IFIC, Spain) with a double purpose: help the pioneer women of radioactivity become known by the broad public, and demystify the current archetypal view of the scientist by presenting the diversity of women who work at our institute. Special attention is paid to stimulate the self-confidence in Physics, Engineering and Computer Science (PECS) subjects to secondary-education female students, as well as to other types of public usually overlooked in outreach activities, such as people with disabilities and elderly people.
The β decays of the proton-rich, Tz = −2 nuclei 48Fe, 52Ni and 56Zn were investigated by decay spectroscopy at GANIL. The decay schemes were determined, together with absolute Fermi and Gamow-Teller ...transition strengths. New interesting results were obtained, including the first observation of a new decay mode in the f p-shell, the exotic β- delayed γ-proton decay seen in 56Zn, and the first observation of the 2+ isomer in 52Co. These studies were complemented by Charge Exchange reactions on the stable mirror targets.