Measurement of neutron-induced activation cross-sections using spallation source at JINR and neutronic validation of the Dubna code

A beam of 1 GeV proton coming from Dubna Nuclotron colliding with a lead target surrounded by 6 cm paraffin produces spallation neutrons. A Th-foil was kept on lead target (neutron spallation source) in a direct stream of neutrons for activation and other samples of ¹⁹⁷Au, ²⁰⁹Bi, ⁵⁹Co, ¹¹⁵In and ¹⁸¹Ta were irradiated by moderated beam of neutrons passing through 6 cm paraffin moderator. The gamma spectra of irradiated samples were analyzed using gamma spectrometry and DEIMOS software to measure the neutron cross-section. For this purpose neutron fluence at the positions of samples is also estimated using PREPRO software. The results of cross-sections for reactions ²³²Th(n, γ), ²³²Th(n, 2n), ¹⁹⁷Au(n, γ), ¹⁹⁷Au(n, α), ¹⁹⁷Au(n, xn), ⁵⁹Co(n, α), ⁵⁹Co(n, xn), ¹⁸¹Ta(n, γ) and ¹⁸¹Ta(n, xn) are given in this paper. Neutronics validation of the Dubna Cascade Code is also done using cross-section data by other experiments.      

Spectroscopy of the Isotopes of Transfermium Elements in Dubna: Current Status and Prospects

Physics of Atomic Nuclei - A great many experimental studies devoted to exploring in detail the properties of radioactive decay of the isotopes of transfermium elements by means of alpha, beta, and...     

Azimuthal correlation and fractal study of compound hadrons (pions and protons) at Dubna and SPS energy

This paper presents an investigation of compound hadrons (pions and protons) distribution emitted from ²⁴Mg-AgBr and ¹²C-AgBr interactions both at 4.5 AGeV and ³²S-AgBr interactions at 200 AGeV. The study includes azimuthal correlations (two particle and three particle), azimuthal asymmetry and fractal behaviour. This paper reveals some interesting results.     

Epithermal Neutron Activation Analysis at the IBR-2 reactor of the Frank Laboratory of Neutron Physics at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna)

Experience of the Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) Department in employing epithermal activation in life sciences and materials science is summarized. The potential of a combination of epithermal activation and the suppression of Compton scattering and contributions from cascade-photon-emitting elements for raising NAA-based analytical studies up to a new level are discussed.     

Strain and texture measurements on geological samples using neutron diffraction at IBR-2, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research,Dubna (Russia)

Information on texture and residual stress in geological samples is very important for the calculation of physical properties connected with the evaluation of the geomechanical behavior of parts of the earths’s crust in connection with processes from human activities (mining, tunnelling) and natural processes of deformation (seismicity, earthquakes). Texture and stress are not independent of each other and in the general case should be analyzed together. Complications arise because geological samples are generally composed of several phases (minerals) whose elastic constants may be significantly different. Nevertheless, modern neutron diffractometers such as SKAT and EPSILON-MDS at the fast pulsed reactor IBR-2 at the FLNP of the JINR make it possible to obtain the needed diffraction patterns. This was shown especially for texture measurements on samples with quartz as the main component as well as for mica, feldspar, amphibole, and several other minerals. In order to extend strain measurements beyond samples composed of quartz, dolomite, and/or anhydrite to such frequently occurring minerals as feldspars and mica it would be necessary on the one hand to use Rietveld refinement with corrections due to texture and anisotropic peak broadening. With an increase in the number of mineral phases suitable for these diffractometers, it is in general necessary to improve the experimental conditions for SKAT and EPSILON-MDS, especially to significantly raise the flux of incident neutrons on the sample.     

2D molecular square grid of Cobalt(II) with tridentate phenylglycinate and mandelate: structure and magnetism

The hydrothermal synthesis, single crystal X-ray structures and magnetic properties of two layered cobalt-carboxylate complexes, _∞²[Co^II(O₂C^∗CH(OH)C₆H₅)₂] (1) and _∞²[Co^II(O₂C^∗CH(NH₂)C₆H₅)₂] (2), where O₂CCH(OH)C₆H₅ is mandalate and O₂CCH(NH₂)C₆H₅ is phenylglycinate, are described. Pale pink crystals of 1 and 2 were obtained by the reaction of cobalt nitrate and the enantiomer-pure acids at 120 °C. In each case, the structure consists of stacks of quasi square-grid polymeric sheets consisting of carboxylato- bridges, M-O-C-O-M, and the presence of both d- and l-enantiomers of the ligands segregated on each face of the layer. The ligands exhibit both chelating and bridging functions with the carboxylate group adopting an anti-anti mode. The magnetic properties are characteristic of weakly interacting paramagnets where the moments are elevated by an important orbital contribution via spin-orbit coupling.     

Mathematical investigation of a possibility of increase in power of the subcritical assembly in Dubna (SAD) up to 100 kW

Results of Monte Carlo modeling of the experimental accelerator-driven electronuclear system composed of the subcritical assembly and the phasotron of the Dzhelepov Laboratory of Nuclear Problems of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research are presented. The design thermal power of the subcritical assembly in Dubna (SAD) is equal to 30 kW. A possibility of increasing the assembly power without changing its design and basic components is considered. The proposed upgrade of the installation provides a power increase of up to 100 kW and is based on operations available both before and after the installation is brought to operation at the nominal power with partial fulfillment of the experimental program.     

U(2, 2) Symmetry as a Common Basis for Quantum Theory and Geometrodynamics

We formulated some criticisms of the Diracequation and its Clifford-algebraic philosophy; inparticular, we show that, within a general-relativisticcontext, they seem to contain hidden action-at-distance concepts. We suggest a new model based on thefour-component Klein-Gordon equation locally invariantunder the U(2,2) gauge group. The usual Dirac equationis then obtained as a certain approximation. The geometrodynamical sector shows reasonablecorrespondence with general relativity.     

JINR CICC in computational chemistry and nanotechnology problems: DL_POLY performance for different communication architectures

This report compares the performance of the DL_POLY general-purpose molecular dynamics simulation package on the LIT JINR computing cluster CICC with various communication systems. The comparison involved two cluster architectures: Gigabit Ethernet and InfiniBand technologies, respectively. The code performance tests include some comparison of the CICC cluster with the special-purpose computer MDGRAPE-3 developed at RIKEN for a high-speed acceleration of the MD (molecular dynamics) without a fixed cutoff. The DL_POLY benchmark covers a set of typical MD system simulations detailed below. The article is published in the original.     

Isotope fractionation in aqua-gas systems: Cl(2)-HCl-Cl(-), Br(2)-HBr-Br(-) and H(2)S-S(2-)

We report calculated values of isotope fractionation factors between chlorine, bromine and sulphide hydrated anions and respective gaseous compounds: hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, molecular chlorine and bromine and hydrogen sulphide. For the calculation of the reduced partition function ratios (β-factors) of hydrated Cl(-), Br(-) and S(2-) anions, we used a model of a cluster composed of the considered ion surrounded by two shells of H(2)O molecules. Only the electrostatic interaction between ion and water molecules treated as electric dipoles was taken into account. The β-factors for the gaseous compounds (HCl, Cl(2), HBr, Br(2) and H(2)S) were calculated from vibrational frequencies reported by Urey and Greiff [Isotopic Exchange Equilibria, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 57, 321 (1935)] and Schauble et al. [Theoretical Estimates Equilibrium Chlorine-Isotope Fractionation, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67, 3267 (2003)]. Low-temperature isotope fractionation between chlorine-hydrated anion and hydrogen chloride attains 1.55-1.68‰ (this work), which is in good agreement with experimental data (1.4-1.8‰) [Z.D. Sharp, J.D. Barnes, T.P. Fischer and M. Halick, An Experimental Determination of Chlorine Isotope Fractionation in Acid Systems and Applications to Volcanic Fumaroles, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 74, 264 (2010)]. The predicted isotope fractionations for hydrated bromine and HBr, Br(2) gases are very small, 1000?ln α, do not exceed 0.8‰; thus, the expected variations of bromine isotope composition in aqua-gas systems will require enhanced precision for their detection. In contrast, the sulphur isotope fractionation between H(2)S( gas ) and S(2-) attains 6.0‰ at room temperature and drops nearly linearly to 3.1‰ at 350°C.     

Properties and identification of oxygen sites at the V2O5(010) surface: theoretical cluster studies and photoemission experiments

Density functional theory cluster studies and angular resolved photoemission (ARUPS) measurements were performed to examine properties of differently coordinated surface oxygens at the V₂O₅(010) surface. Calculations on embedded clusters as large as V₁₆O₄₉H₁₈ confirm the ionic character of the oxide. The computed width of the O 2sp dominated valence band region of V₂O₅ and the work function value of V₂O₅ (010) are in good agreement with the present photoemission data for freshly cleaved V₂O₅(010) samples. Cluster derived total and partial densities of states (DOS, PDOS) can be used to identify differently coordinated surface oxygens. The PDOS referring to terminal (vanadyl) oxygens is localized near the center of the valence band whereas the PDOS’s of the different bridging oxygens yield a broad distribution covering the full energy range of the valence bands. The shape of the experimental ARUPS curves for V₂O₅(010) is well reproduced by the cluster DOS. Thus, the most prominent central peak in the experimental spectrum can be assigned to emission from terminal oxygen while the peripheral peaks at the top and bottom of the valence energy region are characterized as mixtures of vanadium with bridging oxygen induced contributions. This interpretation forms a basis to get insight into microscopic features at the real V₂O₅(010) surface such as imperfections and adsorbate binding. The present study suggests that the different O 2sp derived peaks observed in the photoemission experiment may be taken as monitors of the differently coordinated oxygens at the oxide surface and can be used to study details of catalytic surface reactions in which these oxygens participate.     

Bragg gratings in ternary SiO(2):SnO(2):Na(2)O optical glass fibers

Bragg gratings have been written in an optical fiber with a core made from ternary SiO(2): SnO(2): Na(2)O glass and a SiO(2) cladding. The presence of Na(2)O allows for higher concentrations of SnO>(2) , which are believed to be responsible for the photorefractive response of this composition. In these preliminary experiments significant refractive-index modulations, up to 6.2x10(-4) , have been achieved with a 248-nm excimer laser and a phase mask to write gratings for reflectivity at ~1.5microm . The induced refractive-index changes show enhanced temperature stability, and there is no sign of any erasure up to temperatures exceeding 600 degrees C.     

Vortex softening: origin of the second peak effect in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta)

Magnetic hysteresis and transverse ac permeability measurements in Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+delta) allow a comparative analysis of the critical current with the elastic response of vortex structures, in equilibrium with their pinning potential, in the field and temperature region where the second peak is detected. This study provides strong evidence that the second peak has its origin in changes of the elastic equilibrium properties of the vortex structures.     

The angleICI Bending Satellites in the Millimeter-Wave Rotational Spectra of CH(2)I(2) and CD(2)I(2)

Rotational transitions in the first four excited states of the low-frequency angleICI bending mode, nu(4), have been assigned in the mm-wave rotational spectra of CH(2)I(2) and of CD(2)I(2). Measurements of transition frequencies, made over the frequency region 167-326 GHz and for J" up to 190, allowed determination of sextic level spectroscopic constants for all states. The changes in spectroscopic constants with vibrational excitation show very small anharmonicity, in spite of the very low frequency of this mode (121 cm(-1)). Vibrational excitation affects the moments of inertia in such a way that the planar moment P(b), about the plane perpendicular to both angleICI and angleHCH, is practically invariant. Vibrational change in P(c), the moment along the principal axis in the HCH plane and perpendicular to the angleHCH bisector, has been successfully reproduced with an ab initio harmonic force field so that there is no discernible vibrational change in angleHCH on excitation of angleICI. Finally, the change in P(a) leads to estimated vibrational change of +0.12 degrees in the value of angleICI itself. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.     

Cs2XF6 (X=Si,Ge) compounds: Common and different features as uncovered by the first-principles calculations

Results of ab initio calculations of the electronic, optical and elastic constants for Cs₂GeF₆ and Cs₂SiF₆ are reported for the first time. Both compounds are the direct band gap dielectrics, with the calculated band gaps 6.926 eV (Cs₂SiF₆) and 6.417 eV (Cs₂GeF₆). Analysis of the calculated elastic constants and Cauchy condition shows both crystals as slightly covalent compounds. However, with increased pressure chemical bonds in Cs₂GeF₆ turn to be more ionic, whereas in Cs₂SiF₆ the covalent character of chemical bonds is enhanced. Pressure dependence of the chemical bond lengths and lattice constants was determined and represented as the second power functions of external pressure. Different trends in the values of the Mulliken charges for both compounds were found. The obtained results are applicable to the analysis of the luminescence properties of impurity ions at varying pressure or to the microscopic studies of crystal field effects in these crystals.     

Atomic structure of GaAs(001)-c(8×2) and adsorption sites of iodine atoms at low coverage

Atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy images observed by us correspond to the ζ model of GaAs(001)-c(8×2) atomic structure. At low coverage (θ < 0.1), iodine atoms occupy sites above vacation rows between arsenic atoms located in the upper layer.