Effects of Δ-Isobars on Neutron Stars

We have investigated the possibility of the presence of the deltas in neutron star matter and their effects on neutron stars. Δ-meson couplings of the theoretical predictions are only restricted in a region where the deltas can be present and even a first-order phase transition may take place, making the EOS sorer and the maximum mass of neutron stars smaller. The presence of the deltas leads to the rapid decrease of neutrino mean free paths.     

Monte Carlo simulation of the property of a scintillation bar in the multi-neutron correlation spectrometer

To perform a kinematically complete measurement of the dissociation reaction for neutron-rich nuclei, a multi-neutron correlation spectrometer is proposed at Peking University. A Monte Carlo simulation code based on GEANT4 is developed for a single scintillation bar which processes not only the energy deposition but also the light propagation in the scintillator and the light collection and conversion to signal at the end of the bar in a realistic way. The simulating method is described in detail in this paper, and the timing and position resolutions and detector efficiency are studied based on the simulation and compared with the experimental results. A new method of crosstalk rejection has been demonstrated to be important for the design of the whole spectrometer.     

A pressure calibration method for a portable wide-access ＂panoramic＂ cell

A simple and convenient pressure calibration method is developed for a newly designed portable wide-access ＇panoramic＇ cell. This cell is adapted to angle-dispersive-mode high-pressure in situ neutron diffraction of reactor neutron sources. This pressure calibration method has established a relationship between the cell pressure and the anvil displace- ment （gasket compression） based on the fixed-point calibration technique. By employing TiZr gasket with a thickness of 3 mm and WC anvil with a culet of 4 mm diameter, the average anvil displacements are 1.31 mm and 2.22 mm for Bi phase transitions （2.55 GPa and 7.7 GPa）, and 1.85 mm for Ba phase transitions （5.5 GPa）, respectively. In this pressure range, the pressure increases quickly with decreasing gasket thickness, and undergoes a linear increase with the anvil displacement. By extrapolating the calibration curve, the cell pressure will achieve 10 GPa when the anvil displacement is around 2.5 ram.     

High efficiency event-counting thermal neutron imaging using a Gd-doped micro-channel plate

An event-counting thermal neutron imaging detector based on 3 mol % nattGd2O3-doped micro-channel plate （MCP） has been developed and tested. A thermal neutron imaging experiment was carried out with a low flux neutron beam. Detection efficiency of 33% was achieved with only one doped MCP. The spatial resolution of 72μ m RMS is currently limited by the readout anode. A detector with larger area and improved readout method is now being developed.     

Research on the prompt neutron multiplicity of fission fragments for 235U（n,f）

According to some experimental and evaluated data,the total excitation energy partitioning way between both of the fission fragments was given with a semi-empirical method. With the calculated energy partitioning way,the prompt neutron multiplicity as a function of fragment mass,（A） ,for neutron-induced fission of 235U at En=0.0253 eV,3 MeV,and 5 MeV was calculated. The results are checked with the total average prompt neutron multiplicities  and compared with the experimental and evaluated data.     

K^- Condensation in Neutron Star Matter with △ Quartet

In the framework of relativistic mean field theory, the condensations of K^- and K^0 in neutron star matter including baryon octet and △ quartet are studied. We find that in this case K^- and K^0 condensations can occur at relative shallow optical potential depth of K^ from -80 MeV to -160 MeV. Both K^- and K^0 condensations favor the appearances of △ resonances. With K^- condensations all the △ quartet can appear well inside the maximum mass stars. The appearances of △ resonances change the composition and distribution of particles at high densities. The populations of △ resonances can enhance K^- condensation. It is found that in the core of massive neutron stars, neutron star matter includes rich particle species, such as antikaons, baryon octet, and △ quartet. In the presence of △ resonances and K^- condensation, the EOS becomes softer and results in smaller maximum mass stars. Furthermore the impact of antikaon condensations, hyperons, and △ resonances on direct Urca process with nucleons is also discussed briefly.     

Effect of Strong Magnetic Field on Gamow-Teller Transition Electron Capture of Iron Group Nuclei at Crusts of Neutron Stars

The electron capture of Gamow--Teller transition on iron group nuclei is investigated in a strong magnetic. field at the crusts of neutron stars. The results show that the magnetic field has only a slight effect on the electron capture rates with the range of the magnetic fields （10^9 - 10^13 G） on surfaces of most neutron stars, whereas for some magnetars whose range of the magnetic field is 10^13 - 10^18 G, the electron capture rates of most iron group nuclei would be debased greatly and may be even decreased overrun 3 orders of magnitude by the strong magnetic field.     

Corrections on energy spectrum and scatterings for fast neutron radiography at NECTAR facility

Distortions caused by the neutron spectrum and scattered neutrons are major problems in fast neutron radiography and should be considered for improving the image quality. This paper puts emphasis on the removal of these image distortions and deviations for fast neutron radiography performed at the NECTAR facility of the research reactor FRM-II in Technische Universit/it Mfinchen （TUM）, Germany. The NECTAR energy spectrum is analyzed and established to modify the influence caused by the neutron spectrum, and the Point Scattered Function （PSeF） simulated by the Monte-Carlo program MCNPX is used to evaluate scattering effects from the object and improve image quality. Good analysis results prove the sound effects of the above two corrections.     

A higher-dimensional model of the nucleon-nucleon central potential

Based on a theory of extra dimensional confinement of quantum particles [E. R. Hedin, Physics Essays, 2012, 25（2）： 177], a simple model of a nucleon nucleon （NN） central potential is derived which quantitatively reproduces tile radial profile of other models, without adjusting any free pa- rameters. It is postulated that a higher-dimensional simple harmonic oscillator confining potential localizes particles into three-dimensional （3D） space, but allows for an ewmescent penetration of the particles into two higtmr spatial dimensions. Producing an effect identical with the relativistic quan- tum phenolnenon of zitterbewegung, the higher-dimensional oscillations of amplitude h（mc） call be alternatively viewed as a localized curvature of 3D space back and forth into the higher dimensions. The overall spatial curvature is proportional to the particle＇s extra-dimensional ground state wave function in tile higher-dimensional harmonic confining potential well. Minimizing the overlapping curvature （proportional to the energy） of two particles in proximity to each other, subject to the constraint that for the two particles to occupy the same spatial location one of them must be excited into the 1st excited state of the harmonic potential well, gives the desired NN potential. Specifying only the imcleon masses, the resulting potential well and repulsive core reproduces the radial profile of several published NN central potential models. In addition, the predicted height of the repulsive core, when used to estimate the maximum neutron star mass, matches well with the best estimates from relativistic theory incorporating standard nuclear matter equations of state. Nucleon spin, Coulomb interactions, and internal nucleon structure are not considered in the theory as presented in this article.     

Preliminary study on CAD-based method of characteristics for neutron transport calculation

Our new method makes use of a CAD-based automatic modeling tool, MCAM, for geometry modeling and ray tracing of particle transport in method of characteristics （MOC）. It was found that it could considerably enhance the capability of MOC to deal with more complicated models for neutron transport calculation. In our study, the diamond-difference scheme was applied to MOC to reduce the spatial discretization errors of the fiat flux approximation. Based on MCAM and MOC, a new 2D MOC code was developed and integrated into the SuperMC system, which is a Super Multi-function Computational system for neutronics and radiation simulation. The numerical results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the new method for neutron transport calculation in MOC.     

Diagnostic technique for measuring fusion reaction rate for inertial confinement fusion experiments at Shen Guang-Ⅲ prototype laser facility

A study is conducted using a two-dimensional simulation program （Lared-s） with the goal of developing a technique to evaluate the effect of Rayleigh-Taylor growth in a neutron fusion reaction region. Two peaks of fusion reaction rate are simulated by using a two-dimensional simulation program （Lared-s） and confirmed by the experimental results. A neutron temporal diagnostic （NTD） system is developed with a high temporal resolution of - 30 ps at the Shen Guang-Ⅲ （SG-Ⅲ） prototype laser facility in China, to measure the fusion reaction rate history. With the shape of neutron reaction rate curve and the spherical harmonic function in this paper, the degree of Rayleigh-Taylor growth and the main source of the neutron yield in our experiment can be estimated qualitatively. This technique, including the diagnostic system and the simulation program, may provide important information for obtaining a higher neutron yield in implosion experiments of inertial confinement fusion.     

Progress on the construction of the 100 MeV/100 kW electron linac for the NSC KIPT neutron source

IHEP, China is constructing a 100 MeV/100 kW electron Linac for NSC KIPT, Ukraine. This linac will be used as the driver of a neutron source based on a subcritical assembly. In 2012, the injector part of the accelerator was pre-installed as a testing facility in the experimental hall #2 of IHEP. The injector beam and key hardware testing results met the design goal. Recently, the injector testing facility was disassembled and all of the components for the whole accelerator have been shipped to Ukraine from China by the ocean shipping. The installation of the whole machine in KIPT will be started in June, 2013. The construction progress, the design and testing results of the injector beam and key hardware are presented.     

Study of neutron response for two hybrid RPC setups using the GEANT4 MC simulation approach

The present article describes a detailed neutron simulation study in the energy range 10^-10 MeV to 1.0 GeV for two different RPC configurations. The simulation studies were taken by using the GEANT4 MC code. Aluminum was utilized on the GND and readout strips for the （a） Bakelite-based and （b） glass-based RPCs. For the former type of RPC setup the neutron sensitivity for the isotropic source was Sn = 2.702 × 10^-2 at En = 1.0 GeV, while for the latter type of RPC, the neutron sensitivity for the same source was evaluated as Sn = 4.049 × 10^-2 at En = 1.0 GeV. These results were further compared with the previous RPC configuration in which copper was used for ground and pickup pads. Additionally A1 was employed at （GND＋strips） of the phosphate glass RPC setup and compared with the copper-based phosphate glass RPC. Good agreement with sensitivity values was obtained with the current and previous simulation results.     

Frame Dragging Effect on Properties of Rotating Neutron Stars with Strong Magnetic Field

The general relativistic frame dragging effect on the properties, such as the moments of inertia and the radii of gyration of fast rotating neutron stars with a uniform strong magnetic field, is calculated accurate to the first order in the uniform angular velocity. The results show that compared with the corresponding non-rotating static spherical symmetric neutron star with a weaker magnetic field, a fast rotating neutron star （millisecond pulsar） with a stronger magnetic field has a relative smaller moment of inertia and radius of gyration.     

Role of N/Z in Pre-scission Neutrons as an Observable of Nuclear Friction

A dynamical Langevin model is employed to evaluate the excess of the neutron emission in the fission of heavy nuclei ^240Cf, ^246 Cf, ^254Cf, ^240U relative to the standard statistical-model prediction at various saddle-to-scission friction strengths. It is shown that when the neutron-to-proton ratio N/Z of the system increases, the sensitivity of the excess to the friction decreases substantially, and it almost disappears for ^240U. We suggest that using those compound systems with low N/Z favors an accurate determination for the saddle-to-scission friction strength based on the measurement of the pre-scission neutron multiplicity.     

A new beam asymmetry measurement from pion photoproduction on the neutron using CLAS

We present a preliminary analysis of the photon beam asymmetry observable （Z） from the pho- toproduction reaction channel γn → pπ in the invariant mass range 1.6--2.3 GeV. The measurement was obtained using the near-4π CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer （CLAS） at Jefferson Laboratory, USA, employing a linearly polarised photon beam with an energy range 1.1 2.3 GeV, incident on a liquid deuterium target. The measurement will provide new data to address the poorly established neutron excitation spectrum and will greatly expand the sparse world data-set both in energy and angle.     

Design and construction of the first prototype ionization chamber for CSNS and PA beam loss monitor （BLM） system

Design and construction of the first prototype ionization chamber for CSNS and Proton Accelerator （PA） beam loss monitor （BLM） system is reported. The low leakage current （〈0.1 pA）, good plateau （≈800 V） and linearity range up to 200 Roentgen/h are obtained in the first prototype. All of these give us good experience for further improving the ionization chamber construction.     

Oxygen vacancy-induced room-temperature ferromagnetism in D-D neutron irradiated single-crystal TiO2 （001） rutile

Remarkable room temperature ferromagnetism in pure single-crystal rutile TiO2 （001） samples irradiated by D-D neutron has been investigated. By combining X-ray diffraction and positron annihilation lifetime, the contracted lattice has been clearly identified in irradiated TiO2, where Ti4＋ ions can be easily reduced to the state of Ti3＋. As there were no magnetic impurities that could contaminate the samples during the whole procedure, some Ti3＋ ions reside on interstitial or substituted sites accompanied by oxygen vacancies should be responsible for the ferromagnetism.     

Vacuum fluctuation effects on hyperonic neutron star matter

The vacuum fluctuation （VF） effects on the properties of the hyperonic neutron star matter are investigated in the framework of the relativistic mean field （RMF） theory. The VF corrections result in the density dependence of in-medium baryon and meson masses. We compare our results obtained by adopting three kinds of meson-hyperon couplings. The introduction of both hyperons and VF corrections softens the equation of state （EoS） for the hyperonic neutron star matter and hence reduces hyperonic neutron star masses. The presence of the δ field enlarges the masses and radii of hyperonic neutron stars. Taking into account the uncertainty of meson-hyperon couplings, the obtained maximum masses of hyperonic neutron stars are in the range of 1.33M⊙-1.55M⊙.     

Calculation of prompt fission neutron spectrum for 233U（n,f） reaction by the semi-empirical method

The prompt fission neutron spectra for the neutron-induced fission of 233U for low energy neutrons （below 6 MeV） are calculated using nuclear evaporation theory with a semi-empirical method, in which the partition of the total excitation energy between the fission fragments for the nth＋233U fission reactions is determined by the available experimental and evaluation data. The calculated prompt fission neutron spectra agree well with the experimental data. The proportions of high-energy neutrons of prompt fission neutron spectrum versus incident neutron energies are investigated with the theoretical spectra, and the results are consistent with the systematics. The semi-empirical method could be a useful tool for the prompt evaluation of fission neutron spectra.