Pinch-based thermonuclear D<Superscript>3</Superscript>He fusion driven by a femtosecond laser

A new thermonuclear-fusion concept involving inertial-magnetic confinement on the basis of a high-current Z pinch and employing a powerful femtosecond laser is proposed. The possibility of implementing this scheme for the production of energy in a compressed liner consisting of a D³He fuel contained inside a ⁹Be shell is considered. It is shown that the concerted effect of the electric discharge along the liner and an ultrashort laser shot at one of the liner endfaces provides preconditions for an ultrafast ignition of a small portion of the fuel and for the onset of the propagation of a burn wave along a plasma filament. Under favorable conditions, this system provides an energy gain of about 50, the contribution of the neutron component here being only a few percent. Basic mechanisms of the heating and confinement of the D³He fuel are discussed along with the problem of convenient gamma-ray plasma diagnostics.     

Search for superheavy hydrogen isotopes <Superscript>6</Superscript>H and <Superscript>7</Superscript>H in stopped π-absorption reactions

Experimental search for superheavy hydrogen isotopes ⁶H and ⁷H was performed in the stopped pion absorption on ⁹Be and ¹¹B nuclei. The structures in the missing-mass spectra were observed in the reaction channels ⁹Be(π^-, pd )X and ¹¹B(π^-, p⁴He)X . Four states of ⁶H were proposed. Evidences for ⁷H formation were obtained in the reaction channels ⁹Be(π^-, pp)X and ¹¹B(π^-, p³He)X .     

<Superscript>4</Superscript>He<Superscript>3</Superscript>H<Superscript>2</Superscript>H three-body model of the <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be nucleus

Within the framework of the single-channel approximation, an {αtd} model of the ⁹ Be nucleus is presented. A comparative analysis of the t ⁶ Li wave functions describing relative motion of bound states constructed in {ααn} and {αtd} cluster representations is carried out on the example of calculations of the ⁹ Be(γ,t₀)⁶ Li process characteristics. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 85–89, January, 2008.     

1<Superscript>+</Superscript>(0<Superscript>+</Superscript>) state at 12.4 MeV in <Superscript>20</Superscript>Ne

Careful review of all the evidence makes it clear that at least three states are important at 12.4-MeV excitation in ²⁰Ne (four, if the broad (2⁺) at 12.5 MeV is included). The three states are 3 ^- , 0 ⁺ , and 1 ⁺ (0⁺). The latter, which is quite strong in ¹⁹F (³He, d) singles, is probably the state observed in coincidence with 6.13-MeV γ-rays in ¹⁹F(³He, dγ). Received: 19 August 2002 / Accepted: 28 October 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: fortune@physics.upenn.edu Communicated by D. Guerreau     

Multiple particle break-up study of low excited states in <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be: The ghost peak in the <Superscript>8</Superscript>Be excitation energy spectrum visited

The aim of this work is to find out the origin of the anomalous resonance in ⁸Be seen in the reactions through excited states in ⁹Be. We have populated the ⁹Be excited states by β-decay of ⁹Li. Energy and direction of the two α particles has been detected and the neutron spectra reconstructed. In our work we identified the “anomalous resonance" in ⁸Be observed in several reaction studies as coming from the decay of the 2.43 and 2.78 MeV states in ⁹Be. This anomalous resonance appears when the two detected α particles are assumed to form a resonance in ⁸Be. We argued that the main decaying channels for these two levels in ⁹Be do not involve ⁸Be.     

Study of the isobar configurations in the <Superscript>12</Superscript>C and <Superscript>16</Superscript>O ground states

Experimental research on positive-pion photoproduction on the oxygen nucleus in the ¹⁶O(γ, π⁺p) reaction at high recoil momenta of the residual nuclear system was performed. The yield for the ¹⁶O(γ, π⁺p) reaction was analyzed using a model that takes Δ-isobar configurations in nuclei ground states into account, together with the earlier-measured yield of the¹²C(γ, π⁺p) reaction. The estimated number of isobars per nucleon N _Δ = 0.012 ± 0.005 was obtained for the ¹²C nucleus, and ¹⁶O N _Δ = 0.018 ± 0.004 was obtained for the ¹⁶O nucleus.     

Observation of complete- and incomplete-fusion components in <Superscript>159</Superscript>Tb , <Superscript>169</Superscript>Tm ( <Superscript>16</Superscript>O,x) reactions: Measurement and analysis of forward recoil ranges at E/A ≈ 5-6 MeV

With a view to study complete- and incomplete-fusion components in ¹⁵⁹Tb , ¹⁶⁹Tm ( ¹⁶O , x reactions, experiments have been carried out at the Inter-University Accelerator Center, New Delhi, India using the 15UD Pelletron accelerator facilities. The forward mean recoil ranges for some radio-nuclides; ^168m Lu , ¹⁶⁷Lu , ¹⁶⁷Yb , ¹⁶⁶Tm produced in the ¹⁶O$ + $¹⁵⁹Tb system at ≈ 90 MeV, and ¹⁷⁹Re , ¹⁷⁷Re , ¹⁷⁷W , ¹⁷⁸Ta and ¹⁷⁷Hf produced in the ¹⁶O$ + $¹⁶⁹Tm system at ≈ 87 MeV have been measured. The recoil-catcher activation technique followed by off-line γ -spectrometry has been employed in the present work. The analysis of forward mean ranges for different radio-nuclides has been done in the framework of the degree of linear momentum transfer from projectile to target nucleus by adopting break-up fusion model considerations. Different complete- and incomplete-fusion components, which may be attributed to the fusion of ¹⁶O and/or ¹²C and ⁸Be transfer from the ¹⁶O projectile to the target nucleus have been observed. An attempt has also been made to separate out the relative percentage contributions of complete- and incomplete-fusion components using experimentally measured forward recoil ranges. The complete-fusion contributions deduced from recoil range distribution are found to be consistent with the prediction of the theoretical model code PACE. The analysis of data indicates the complete- and incomplete-fusion competition for both the systems at the given energies.     

Study of the Involvement of <Superscript>8</Superscript>Be and <Superscript>9</Superscript>B Nuclei in the Dissociation of Relativistic <Superscript>10</Superscript>C, <Superscript>10</Superscript>B,and <Superscript>12</Superscript>C Nuclei

The results obtained by estimating the contribution of 8Be and 9B nuclei to the coherent dissociation of ¹⁰C, ¹⁰B, and ¹²C relativistic nuclei in nuclear track emulsions (“white” stars) are presented. The selection of white stars accompanied by 9B leads to a distinct peak appearing in the distribution of the excitation energy of 2α2p ensembles and having a maximum at 4.1 ± 0.3 MeV. A 8Be nucleus manifests itself in the coherent-dissociation reaction ¹⁰B → ²He + H with a probability of (25 ± 5)%, (14 ± 3)% of it being due to 9B decays. The ratio of the branching fractions of the ⁹B + n and ⁹Be + p mirror channels is estimated at 6 ± 1. An analysis of the relativistic dissociation of ¹²C nuclei in a nuclear track emulsion revealed nine 3α events corresponding to the Hoyle state.     

Signature inversion in the yrare band of <Superscript>119</Superscript>Xe

Excited states of the ¹¹⁹Xe nucleus have been studied by using in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy with the ¹⁰⁷Ag ( ¹⁶O, p3n) ¹¹⁹Xe fusion-evaporation reaction at a beam energy of 85 MeV. The level scheme of ¹¹⁹Xe has been derived from γ-γ coincidence and γ-γ angular correlation analyses. We have, for the first time, established the second negative-parity favored and unfavored states built on the 11/2^- state, namely the yrare rotational bands in ¹¹⁹Xe. In contrast to the behavior of the yrast bands where the favored states are lying lower in energy, the yrare favored states were observed to lie above the unfavored band. Such a signature inversion in ¹¹⁹Xe is changed to be normal at I = 12?. Received: 8 January 2002 / Accepted: 18 April 2002     

High-lying excited states in <Superscript>10</Superscript>Be from the <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be(<Superscript>9</Superscript>Be,<Superscript>10</Superscript>Be)<Superscript>8</Superscript>Be reaction

A transfer-reaction experiment of ⁹Be(⁹Be, ¹⁰Be)⁸Be was performed at a beam energy of 45 MeV. Excited states in ¹⁰Be up to 18.80 MeV are produced using missing mass and invariant mass methods. Most of the observed high-lying resonant states, reconstructed from the α + ⁶He and t + ⁷Li decay channels, agree with the previously reported results. In addition, two new resonances at 15.6 and 18.8 MeV are identified from the present measurement. The 18.55 MeV state is found to decay into both the t + ⁷Li_g.s. and t + ⁷Li* (0.478 MeV) channels, with a relative branching ratio of 0.93 ± 0.33. Further theoretical investigations are encouraged to interpret this new information on cluster structure in neutron-rich light nuclei.     

Once more about gauge invariance in <Emphasis Type="Italic">ϕ</Emphasis> → <Emphasis Type="Italic">γπ</Emphasis><Superscript>0</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">π</Emphasis><Superscript>0</Superscript>

It is argued that the realization of gauge invariance condition as a consequent of cancellation between the ϕ → γf ₀ → γπ ⁰ π ⁰ resonance contribution and the ϕ → γπ ⁰ π ⁰ background one, suggested by A.V. Anisovich et al., Yad. Fiz. 68, 1614 (2005), is misleading. The text was submitted by the author in English.     

Three-body analysis of<Superscript>11</Superscript>Li and its<Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-decay to deuteron channel and to halo analog state<Superscript>11</Superscript>Be* (18.3 MeV)

The ground state wave function of¹¹Li obtained in a three-body model proposed earlier (S Kumar and V S Bhasin,Phys. Rev. C65, 034007 (2002)) has been employed to study the probability distributions, momentum distributions and n−n correlation. Complex scaling method has been used to find the energy positions and widths of the three resonant states of¹¹Li above the breakup threshold. The formalism is extended further to study the β-decay of¹¹Li to two channels. One is the β-transition of¹¹Li into a high lying excited state of¹¹Be at 18.3 MeV, i.e.,¹¹Be* and the second is the decay to deuteron +⁹Li channel. The¹¹Be* state has been considered as a halo analog state identified as a bound three-body (⁹Li + n + p) system. The n-⁹Li interaction incorporates both the virtual state and the p-wave resonance observed experimentally. For p-⁹Li interaction, a Coulomb corrected separable interaction is constructed using charge indepedendence for strong interaction part. The n-p interaction is operative only in³S₁ state corresponding to the isotopic spin T^h =0. As a result the¹¹Be* state has the same isotopic spin as that of⁹Li core, i.e.,T = 3/2. Using these realistic parameters as input and without invoking any other free parameter, the model has been used to predict the strength of the Gamow-Teller β-decay of¹¹Li to¹¹Be*, i.e.,Bgt = 1.5 and the value of the branching ratio to⁹Li + deuteron channel to be 1.3 × 10^-4. These results are found to be in rather good agreement with the recent experimental findings.     

Leading-order 2πγ exchange NN interaction: Central potentials proportional to g<Subscript>A</Subscript><Superscript>0</Superscript> and g<Subscript>A</Subscript><Superscript>2</Superscript>

We calculate at two-loop order in chiral perturbation theory the electromagnetic corrections to the leading-order 2π exchange NN interaction proportional to g _A ⁰ and g _A ². The resulting 2πγ exchange potential contains isospin-breaking components which reach up to about -2% of the corresponding isovector 2π exchange potential. With a value of only -17keV at r = m _π ^-1 = 1.4fm the charge-independence breaking central potential obtained here is negligibly small in comparison to the one generated by the isoscalar c₃ contact vertex. Our calculation confirms that the largest long-range isospin-violating NN potentials arise from the 2πγ exchange diagrams involving the large low-energy constants c ₄ ≃ - c ₃ ≃ 3.3GeV^-1 representing the important Δ(1232) dynamics.     

Tests of the final-state radiation model at DAFNE near <Emphasis Type="Italic">π</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">π</Emphasis><Superscript>-</Superscript> threshold

Effects due to the non-pointlike behaviour of pions in the process e ⁺ e ^-→π ⁺ π ^- γ can arise for hard photons in the final state. By means of a Monte Carlo event generator, which also includes the contribution of the direct decay φ→π ⁺ π ^- γ, we estimate these effects in the framework of the resonance perturbation theory. We consider angular cuts used in the KLOE analysis of the pion form factor at threshold. A method to reveal the effects of the non-pointlike behaviour of pions in a model-independent way is proposed.     

Manifestation of the cluster structure of the <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be nucleus in direct nuclear reactions

Specific features of ⁴He interaction with light ⁹Be nuclei are studied. The potential of ⁴He–⁹Be interaction is calculated within the framework of the double folding model using the wave function of the ground state of the ⁹Be nucleus constructed in the three-cluster α + α + n approximation. The differential cross sections of elastic and inelastic ⁴He–⁹Be scattering and single-nucleon transfer in the intermediate range of energies are calculated. Comparative analysis of experimental and calculated results demonstrate their good agreement, indicating that the model assumptions on the cluster structure of ⁹Be nucleus are valid.     

Covariant tensor formalism for partial-wave analyses of ψ decays into γB¯, γγV and ψ(2s)↦γχ<Subscript>c0,1,2</Subscript> with χ<Subscript>c0,1,2</Subscript>↦K¯πand 2π<Superscript>+</Superscript>2π<Superscript>-</Superscript>

With accumulation of high statistics data at BES and CLEO-c, many new interesting channels can get enough statistics for partial-wave analysis (PWA). Among them, ψ↦γpˉ,γΛˉ,γΣˉ,γΞˉ channels provide a good place for studying baryon-antibaryon interactions; the double radiative decays ψ↦γγV with V ≡ ρ,ω,φ have a potential to provide information on the flavor content of any meson resonances (R) with positive charge parity (C = +) and mass above 1 GeV through ψ↦γR↦γγV; ψ(2s)↦γχ_c0,1,2 with χ_c0,1,2↦Kˉπ⁺π^- and 2π⁺2π^- decays are good processes to study χ_cJ charmonium decays. Using the covariant tensor formalism, here we provide theoretical PWA formulae for these channels.     

A high-pressure polarized <Superscript>3</Superscript>He gas target for nuclear-physics experiments using a polarized photon beam

Following the first experiment on three-body photodisintegration of polarized ³He utilizing circularly polarized photons from High-Intensity Gamma Source (HIg \gamma S) at Duke Free Electron Laser Laboratory (DFELL), a new high-pressure polarized ³He target cell made of pyrex glass coated with a thin layer of sol-gel doped with aluminum nitrate nonahydrate has been built in order to reduce the photon beam-induced background. The target is based on the technique of spin exchange optical pumping of hybrid rubidium and potassium and the highest polarization achieved is ∼ 62% determined from both NMR-AFP and EPR polarimetries. The phenomenological parameter that reflects the additional unknown spin relaxation processes, X , is estimated to be ∼ 0.10 and the performance of the target is in good agreement with theoretical predictions. We also present beam test results from this new target cell and the comparison with the GE180 ³He target cell used previously at HIg \gamma S. This is the first time that the sol-gel coating technique has been used in a polarized ³He target for nuclear-physics experiments.     

Application of Boltzmann Equation on Spin Diffusion of Ferromagnetic Superfluid <Superscript>3</Superscript>He: Near Critical Temperature

Different scattering processes of quasiparticles containing a binary process, a coalescence process and a decay process in transition probabilities are taken into account. In the meantime, interaction between Bogoliubov quasiparticles as well as that between normal and superfluid components (spin up-spin down quasiparticles) of ferromagnetic superfluid ³He-A ₁ are considered. Pfitzner procedure is used in the calculation of triplet and singlet quasiparticle scattering amplitude existing in transition probabilities of the collision integral of standard Boltzmann equation at melting pressure. Pfitzner procedure is extended beyond s-p approximation by adding higher angular momentum components. Then, using the results of Boltzmann equation and considering smallness of the gap close to T _c↑, the change of the spin diffusion coefficients tensor of the A ₁-phase of superfluid ³He close to critical temperature and melting pressure is calculated. Temperature dependence of the spin diffusion coefficient change, i.e., δD _xyxy /D⌈=(3/2)(δD _xzxz /D)⌉, is −0.71(1−(T/T _c↑))^1/2. It is also shown that interaction between normal and Bogoliubov quasiparticles (normal-superfluid components interaction) is very important to transport properties such as spin diffusion close to critical temperature. Furthermore, using s-p approximation, the prefactor of δD _xyxy /D is plotted in terms of pressure; hence, the pressure dependence of δD _xyxy /D is also determined.     

Spectroscopy of the <Superscript>9</Superscript>Li isotope in stopped-pion absorption reactions

The origin of the ⁹Li isotope is sought in missing-mass spectra measured in ¹¹B(π⁻, d)X, ¹²C(π⁻, pd)X, and ¹⁴C(π⁻, dt)X stopped-pion absorption reactions. The parameters of the three observed low-lying excited states coincide with the literature data. A state with excitation energy E _x = 9.1 ± 0.1 MeV, lying above the threshold of ⁹Li decay into ⁶He + t, is observed for the first time.     

Decay of 1.643 h <Superscript>95</Superscript>Ru and its daughter's level structure

The decay of ⁹⁵Ru has been investigated by means of γ-ray spectroscopy. The ⁹⁵Ru nuclei were produced by the reaction ⁹²Mo( α, n) ⁹⁵Ru at a beam energy of 17MeV. High-purity Ge detectors have been used singly and in coincidence to study γ-rays in the decay of ⁹⁵Ru to ⁹⁵Tc. 132 γ-rays are reported, among them, energies and intensities for 127 transitions have been determined. A decay scheme of ⁹⁵Ru with 31 levels is proposed which accommodates 127 of these transitions. Spins and parities for three new levels are proposed from calculated log ft values, measured γ-ray branching ratios, and in-beam experiment results of the daughter nucleus ⁹⁵Tc. Combining with the high-spin states observed by in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy of previous decay works, the structure of the excited states of ⁹⁵Tc is discussed in the framework of the projected shell model.