Effect of double nuclear scattering on nuclear-magnetic interference in experiment with small-angle diffraction of polarized neutrons

An experiment on small-angle polarized-neutron diffraction by a two-dimensional spatially ordered array of nickel nanowires embedded in a porous anodic alumina matrix is discussed. The contributions of nonmagnetic (nuclear) structures and nuclear magnetic interference indicating the correlation between magnetic and nuclear structures are discussed. Magnetic scattering is two orders of magnitude smaller than nuclear scattering and, hence, turns out to be weakly distinguishable. The ordered magnetic composite nanostructure of a sample leads to strong interaction between the neutron wave and the structure itself, which, in turn, implies a twofold (miltiple scattering) nuclear scattering process. Nuclear magnetic interference scattering must be analyzed allowing for twofold scattering conditions, which substantially distorts the intensity distribution of the interference contribution of first-order diffraction peaks.     

General properties of nuclear resonant scattering

The process of nuclear resonant scattering resonant scattering is considered on the basis of an optical model. The coherent properties coherent properties of the radiation and scattering mechanism are described. The complementary pictures of γ-ray resonant scattering in energy and time domains are presented. Special attention is paid to scattering of a γ quantum by an ensemble of nuclei. The central concept of the theory of nuclear resonant scattering, the nuclear exciton, nuclear exciton as a delocalized nuclear excitation, is described in detail. It is shown that both temporal and spatial aspects of coherence play a crucial role in the evolution of the nuclear exciton. A large place is given to the analysis of resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation by nuclear ensembles.

     

CONUSS and PHOENIX: Evaluation of nuclear resonant scattering data

Evaluation methods for data obtained by nuclear resonant scattering techniques are discussed. The CONUSS software package for the interpretation of time or energy spectra from coherent elastic nuclear resonant scattering, i.e., forward scattering and Bragg/Laue scattering, is presented. The analysis of phonon spectra obtained by incoherent nuclear resonant scattering is demonstrated using the PHOENIX software.     

Studies of nuclear resonant scattering at TRISTAN-AR

Studies of nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation undertaken with the X-ray undulator installed in the TRISTAN Accumulation Ring at the National Laboratory for High Energy Physics, KEK, are reported. These studies have evaluated the effect of fast magnetic switching on the nuclear collective decay in an FeBO₃ crystal, the change in the polarization state of nuclear Bragg scattering by fast magnetic switching, and the influence of this switching on the time evolution of the nuclear forward scattering. The phenomenon of interferometric nuclear forward scattering has also been studied.     

Correlation between quarter-point angle and nuclear radius

The correlation between quarter-point angle of elastic scattering and nuclear matter radius is studied systematically.Various phenomenological formulae with parameters for nuclear radius are adopted and compared by fitting the experimental data of quarter point angle extracted from nuclear elastic scattering reaction systems.A parameterized formula related to binding energy is recommended,which gives a good reproduction of nuclear matter radii of halo nuclei.It indicates that the quarter-point angle of elastic scattering is quite sensitive to the nuclear matter radius and can be used to extract the nuclear matter radius.     

Combined nuclear-molecular resonance inelastic scattering of x rays

We report on theoretical and experimental studies of nuclear inelastic scattering in a molecular crystal, whose atoms experience both molecular and lattice vibrations. In this case scattering proceeds as combined nuclear-molecular resonance inelastic scattering. The lattice vibrations give rise to inelastic scattering around the molecular resonances with an energy dependence identical to that around the nuclear resonance. The incoherent nature of the scattering in the molecular resonances results in a proper balance of elastic and inelastic components, which has important implications for studies of heterogeneous systems.     

Elastic scattering of heavy ions — The simplest interpretation?

Elastic scattering of heavy ions with incident energies well above the Coulomb barrier is predicted from a simple extension of the Glauber theory for high energy particle-nucleus scattering. The only parameters needed are the “measured” nuclear density distribution function and the measured forward amplitude for free nucleon-nucleon scattering. An extensive comparison between theory and experiment is presented. It is demonstrated that the nuclear absorption needed to reproduce the measured differential cross section for elastic scattering can be well reproduced by means of the measured free nucleon-nucleon total cross section and the nuclear density distribution as “measured” for instance by electron scattering. Remarkable agreement between theory and experiment is demonstrated.     

Low-energy theorems for nuclear compton and raman scattering and 0+ → 0+ two-photon decays in nuclei

Low-energy theorems for elastic photon scattering (nuclear Compton scattering) from a nucleus of arbitrary spin are derived in the nonrelativistic approximation through terms quadratic in the photon frequency. The same derivation is made for the special case of 0⁺ → 0⁺ nuclear excitation by inelastic photon scattering (nuclear Raman scattering). Use is made of the general principle of gauge invariance, which bypasses the need to specify the form of the current operator explicitly. A general discussion of the contribution of mesonic exchanges is made and their effect is isolated. The center-of-mass correction to the nuclear diamagnetic susceptibility is calculated. The 0⁺ → 0⁺ two-photon decay amplitude is obtained from the nuclear Raman amplitude and the transition rate is calculated.     

Nuclear Resonant Inelastic and Forward Scattering of Synchrotron Radiation by 40K

We achieved excitation of the first excited state of ⁴⁰K and confirmed both energy and lifetime. Furthermore, we observed nuclear resonant inelastic scattering by ⁴⁰K in a powdered KCl sample at room temperature using a high-resolution monochromator. The time spectrum of the nuclear resonant forward scattering was measured at 50 K. Our observations of nuclear resonant inelastic and forward scattering by ⁴⁰K make electronic and dynamic studies for potassium practical. The measurements of nuclear resonant scattering for the radioactive ⁴⁰K nuclide will enable and lead to further studies of other radioactive nuclides. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Nuclear Resonant scattering experiments with synchrotron radiation at KEK

Experiments of nuclear Resonant scattering carried out at PF and TRISTAN-AR of KEK are described, which include nuclear Bragg scattering in time domain as well as energy domain, time-resolved nuclear resonant forward scattering, and interferometric studies.     

Nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation by multilayer structures

Multilayer structures form a particular class of samples employed in nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation. Their specific properties lead to unusual energy and time characteristics of nuclear resonant scattering, which differ much from those of single crystals. The analysis of these distinctions is presented. Several approaches to achieve pure nuclear reflections with multilayers are discussed. Finally, we review the studies of multilayer structures with nuclear resonant scattering of synchrotron radiation.

     

Coulomb scattering in the eikonal approximation

We derive a new expression for the eikonal approximation of the nuclear Coulomb scattering amplitude. Our expression should be particularly useful for the treatment of Coulomb scattering in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus scattering at high and intermediate energies.     

Magnetic inverted photonic crystals: A polarized neutron scattering study

This work is devoted to a small-angle polarized neutron scattering study of the structure and magnetic properties of nickel inverted photonic crystals. Depending on the intensity of the small-angle scattering, diffraction maximums up to fourth-order reflections, which correspond to scattering from the highly ordered structures of the test samples, are observed. Several contributions to the scattering are analyzed: a nuclear contribution; a magnetic contribution; a contribution depending on an external magnetic field; and a nuclear magnetic interference, which shows a correlation between magnetic and nuclear structures. It is found that a magnetization reversal process, which was represented by a standard hysteresis curve, for weak fields was accompanied by both domain formation and coherent magnetization rotation from the field direction to directions caused by geometric structure peculiarities.     

Energy loss effect in high energy nuclear Drell-Yan process

The energy loss effect in nuclear matter, which is a nuclear effect apart from the nuclear effect on the parton distribution as in deep-inelastic scattering process, can be measured best by the nuclear dependence of the high energy nuclear Drell-Yan process. By means of the nuclear parton distribution studied only with lepton deep-inelastic scattering experimental data, the measured Drell-Yan production cross sections for 800 GeV proton incident on a variety of nuclear targets are analyzed within the Glauber framework which takes into account the energy loss of the beam proton. It is shown that the theoretical results with considering the energy loss effect are in good agreement with the FNAL E866 data.Arrival of the final proofs: 24 June 2003     

Angular dependence of electronically allowed nuclear bragg reflection of Mössbauer radiation

A typical angular integrated Mössbauer reflection spectrum of an electronically allowed nuclear Bragg reflection was analysed. Mössbauer reflection spectra were measured with high angular resolution. They reveal almost pure nuclear scattering far off Bragg and strong nuclear-electronic interference in the scattering near and at Bragg. The spectra show a pronounced asymmetry with respect to the Bragg position, which is caused by refraction and by interference of nuclear and electronic scattering.     

Time structure and atomic excltation spectra in heavy-ion collisions with nuclear contact

From a quantum mechanical model for quasielastic nuclear scattering, employing a pocket in the internuclear potential at close distances, a distribution of nuclear delay times is derived. The influence of this time structure on atomic excitation spectra is demonstrated using positron emission from supercritical collisions as an example. In a narrow regime of beam energies close to the Coulomb barrier, a considerable probability for collisions with long nuclear delay times is found, associated with a sharp peak in the positron spectrum which is due to enhanced spontaneous positron production. It is pointed out that quasielastic nuclear scattering alone cannot account for the absolute numbers of spontaneous positrons as extracted from recent experiments. A possible generalization of the theory to include inelastic nuclear processes is briefly discussed.     

Quantum mechanical treatment of electron-positron excitations in heavy ion collisions with nuclear contact

A general theory is formulated of electron-positron excitations in heavy ion collisions with nuclear contact, treating the nuclear relative motion quantum mechanically. A set of coupled channel equations for the electronic occupation amplitudes is derived, which is formally very similar to the semiclassical theory based on a classical nuclear trajectory, and reduces to the latter in the JWKB approximation. The new coupled equations contain all the quantum mechanical information on the details of the nuclear scattering during nuclear contact. The importantce of this formulation for a quantitative theory of spontaneous positron creation in supercritical systems with nuclear time delay is pointed out. The possibility of line structures in the positron spectrum, as predicted semiclassically and recently discovered experimentally, is discussed in the framework of the DWBA approximation. For light-particle scattering off a nuclear resonance, the Blair formula for vacancy production is recovered in the same approximation.     

Computational improvements in phase shift calculations of elastic electron scattering

A method of calculating the scattering phase shifts from the Dirac radial equations containing a rather general potential is described. The method takes advantage of the fact that a system of linear differential equations can be solved with the help of power series. Application of the method is demonstrated for the case of low-energy scattering (uniformly distributed nuclear charge screened by the atomic electrons) and for the case of high-energy scattering (uniform or more complicated nuclear charge distribution without atomic screening).     

On the detection of nuclear spin waves by inelastic neutron scattering

The possibility of measuring nuclear spin waves (NSW) by inelastic neutron scattering is discussed. The differential cross section and scattered state polarization for the scattering of thermal neutrons from systems described by the Suhl-Nakamura Hamiltonian are developed in the Van Hove correlation function formalism; the relevant correlation functions for the Suhl-Nakamura system are computed. The implications of these calculations for the feasibility of detecting nuclear spin wave modes in neutron scattering experiments are discussed.