Search for scalar and pseudoscalar bosons emitted in nuclear decays via their interactions

A search for light penetrating scalar and pseudoscalar bosons has been performed at the Jülich nuclear-reactor FRJ-1 (Merlin). In nuclear deexcitation processes pseudoscalar particles should be emitted in magnetic transitions and scalar particles in electric transitions. The experiment relies on the detection of the interaction products from the conversion of bosons in the field of an electron or a nucleus with a rotatable multi-scintillator system. The geometrical arrangement of the scintillators allows to distinguish between scalar and pseudoscalar particles via the different angular distributions of the final state photons. We obtain as upper limits for the product of production ratio and interaction cross sectionW for pseudoscalar particles W}<6.9>^–40 cm², and for scalar particles W}<1.3>^–39 cm² with 90% confidence.We gratefully acknowledge the support of this experiment by the KFA Jülich and we are very grateful for most valuable discussions with H. Bechteler, H.R. Koch, O.W.B. Schult, H. Seyfarth and A. Zehnder. We would like to express our thanks to the personnel of the reactor Merlin. We also wish to acknowledge the excellent work of the technical staff of our institute in particular to E. Hermens and R. Pahlke. Thanks to H. Geller and C. Latsch who assisted with the runs.     

Hadron production inpBe interactions at 14.6 GeV/c

Invariant cross sections for the production of ^±,K ^±,p, andd inpBe interactions at 14.6 GeV/c are well reproduced by calculations carried out in the framework of the Rossendorf collision model.Communicated by: F. Lenz     

The theory and phenomenology of jets in nuclear collisions

We report selected results from a recent in-depth study of jet shapes and jet cross sections in ultra-relativistic reactions with heavy nuclei at the LHC. We demonstrate that at the highest collider energies these observables become feasible as a new, differential and accurate test of the underlying QCD theory. Our approach allows for detailed simulations of the experimental acceptance/cuts that help isolate jets emerging from a dense QGP. We show for the first time that the pattern of stimulated gluon emission can be correlated with a variable quenching of the jet rates and provide an approximately model-independent approach to determining the characteristics of the medium-induced bremsstrahlung spectrum. The connection between such cross section attenuation and the in-medium jet shapes is elucidated.     

On the competiting role of mean-field and residual interactions in flow observables

Theoretical analyses of heavy-ion reactions are performed in the framework of the semi-classical Landau-Vlasov approach. The incident energies are investigated in the range from intermediate to low energy regimes, where transverse collective motion has been experimentally evidenced. The influence of the equation of state (E.O.S.) parameters on various collective observables is studied in relation with the action of the residual interactions. From the sensitivity to both aspects, and taking into account the experimental biases limitations, our investigation indicates that E.O.S. signatures should be more expected at energies below 100 MeV per nucleon.     

A QCD motivated model for soft interactions at high energies

In this paper we develop an approach to soft scattering processes at high energies which is based on two elements: the Good–Walker mechanism for low mass diffraction and multi-pomeron interactions for high mass diffraction. The principal idea, which allows us to specify the theory for pomeron interactions, is that the so called soft processes occur at rather short distances (r ² ∝1/〈p _t 〉² ∝ α′_ℙ≈0.01 GeV⁻²), where perturbative QCD is valid. The value of the pomeron slope α′_ℙ is obtained from a fit to the experimental data. Using this theoretical approach, we suggest a model that fits all soft data in the ISR-Tevatron energy range: total, elastic, single and double diffractive cross sections, as well as the t dependence of the differential elastic cross section, and the mass dependence of single diffraction. In this model we calculate the survival probability of diffractive Higgs production, and we obtain a value for this observable that is smaller than 1% at the LHC energy range.     

Photon production in nucleon-nucleon collisions

We calculate the differential cross section for nucleonnucleon bremsstrahlung in covariant way based on a realistic meson-exchange approximation for the NN-scattering amplitude. The results are discussed in comparison to semiclassical approximations and with respect to the role of internal radiation diagrams. The influence of the anomalous magnetic moment on the proton-neutron bremsstrahlung is found to contribute up to 50% for specific kinematical conditions. Recent measurements on the elementary differential cross sectionpnpn are found to be quite accurately reproduced. Furthermore, for use in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions, we present a parametrization of thepn cross section within a broad kinematical range.Work supported by BMFT, GSI Darmstadt and a NATO science grant     

Charmonium dissociation and recombination at RHIC and LHC

Charmonium production at heavy-ion colliders is considered within the comovers-interaction model. The formalism is extended by including possible secondary J/ψ production through recombination and an estimate of recombination effects is made without adjusting the model parameters. The comovers-interaction model also includes a comprehensive treatment of initial-state nuclear effects, which are discussed in the context of such high energies. With these tools, the model properly describes the centrality and the rapidity dependence of experimental data at RHIC energy,  GeV, for both Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions. Predictions for LHC,  TeV, are presented and the assumptions and extrapolations involved are discussed.     

The influence of state dependent short range correlations on the depletion of the nuclear Fermi sea

The inlfuence of state dependent short range correlations on the occupation numbers of the single particle shell model orbits of the doubly closed shell nuclei¹⁶O and⁴⁰Ca is examined. The study shows that the effect of the state dependence of the short range correlations is rather small. The total depletion of the nuclear Fermi sea changes slightly compared with the one calculated by considering state independent short range correlations.     

Parton energy loss at strong coupling and the universal bound

The apparent universality of jet quenching observed in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC for light and heavy quarks, as well as for quarks and gluons, is very puzzling and calls for a theoretical explanation. Recently, it has been proposed that synchrotron-like radiation at strong coupling gives rise to a universal bound on the energy of a parton escaping from the medium. Since this bound appears to be quite low, almost all of the observed particles at high transverse momentum have to originate from the surface of the hot fireball. Here I make a first attempt of checking this scenario against the RHIC data and formulate a “universal-bound model” of jet quenching that can be further tested at RHIC and LHC.     

Observables in nuclear fragmentation

We study the method of moments correlations as a tool to discriminate between different fragmentation mechanisms. We show, using simple models, that the variance of the fragment distribution, the size of the heaviest residue and the scaling of these quantities with the size of the fragmenting system give significant insight into the nature of the fragmentation mechanism.Unité de Recherche des Universités Paris XI et Paris VI associée au CNRS     

Parity nonconservation and Brosa modes in nuclear fission

The parity nonconserving (PNC) asymmetry coefficient for the angular distribution of fragment emission from binary fission of²³³U irradiated by polarized thermal neutrons has been measured. Complementary fragments were detected by a double ionization chamber with high resolving power. The experiment was carried out at the high flux reactor of the ILL, Grenoble. Integrated over all masses and energies of light fragments from asymmetric fission of²³⁴U^h, the PNC asymmetry coefficient is found to be =(3.29±0.31) × 10^–4.The positive sign of indicates a preferential emission of light fragments parallel to the spin of neutrons inducing fission. Theory claims that PNC effects are sensitive to the properties of the fission barrier. On the other hand, one may wonder whether characteristics of eventual fragments are already specified at the barrier. The measurement of PNC asymmetries for distinct mass-energy ranges of fragments has been utilized to answer this question. Mass-energy distributions of fragments were analyzed along the lines of the Brosa model of fission as a superposition of individual modes. Within experimental uncertainty no mode dependence of asymmetric fission could be disclosed. The result is in keeping with the Brosa model where asymmetric modes bifurcate only once the standard fission barrier has been passed.     

Relativistic mean-field parametrization of effective interaction in nuclear matter

The results of the modern relativistic Dirac-Brueckner calculations of nuclear matter are parametrized in terms of the relativistic- mean-field theory with scalar and vector nonlinear selfinteractions. It is shown that the inclusion of the isoscalar vector-meson quartic selfinteraction is essential for obtaining a proper density dependence of the vector potential in the mean-field model. The obtained mean-field parameters represent a simple parametrization of effective interaction in nuclear matter. This interaction may be used in the mean-field studies of the structure of finite nuclei without the introduction of additional free parameters.This work was supported in part by the Grant Agency of the Slovak Academy of Sciences under Grant No. GA SAV-517/1991.     

On the role of secondary interactions in the production of bremsstrahlung spectra from a thick target

Bremsstrahlung emission, or radiation loss, is the dominant mechanism of energy dissipation of electrons at relativistic energies greater than a few MeV when it is subjected to acceleration in the field of the nucleus or of the electrons. In this study, the Monte Carlo calculations for bremsstrahlung spectra have been described for the case of a thick tungsten target with incident electron beams from 10 to 50 MeV, where secondary interactions induced by the electrons and photons in the target, such as energy loss, absorption, scattering, and (e ⁺, e ⁻)-pair production effects, were taken into account. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

An IC100 cyclotron based facility for producing nuclear filters and for scientific and applied research

The cyclotron IC-100 station, based on the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR, Dubna, Russia), provides the industrial construction of nuclear filters. During modernization, the cyclotron was equipped with a superconducting ECR-ion source and an axial injection system. The specialized beam channel with a two coordinate scanning system and equipment for irradiating polymer films was installed in the implantation part of the station. High intensity heavy ion beams of Ne, Ar, Fe, Kr, Xe, I, and W have been accelerated to 1 MeV/nucleon energy. The investigation into irradiated crystals features and irradiation of different polymer films is provided. Also, a few thousands square meters of track films with holes in the wide range of densities were produced. The cyclotron-based station is capable of solving different kinds of scientific and applied problems as well. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Photofission of235U and238U at intermediate energies: absolute cross sections and fragment mass distributions

The total photofission cross section _,F for²³⁵U and²³⁸U has been measured in the energy range 50E 800 MeV at the 855 MeV Mainz Microtron MAMI using energy and time tagged photons (Glasgow Tagger) and a 4 arrangement of position sensitive fragment detectors. Besides the absolute photofission cross section _F , which almost completely exhausts the total photon absorption cross section for these nuclei, fragment mass distributions in this energy domain were determined via time of flight techniques (TOF). The results for the total photofission cross sections _,F normalized to the atomic numberA for both isotopes coincide, and agree in the-resonance region, within the systematic errors, with the socalledUniversal Curve _,T /A of the total photon absorption cross section _,T . At higher energies the cross sections exhibit a smooth behaviour. In particular, it is shown for the first time that there isno resonance-like shape near the D₁₃ resonance (at 710 MeV) as observed for the free proton. This complete suppression of the D₁₃ resonance in complex nuclei is not yet understood on a microscopic level. The fragment mass distributions show a predominantly mass symmetric fission. However, contributions from mass asymmetric fission at some photon energies may give a hint of an increased mass asymmetric fission after the onset of the pion and two pion channels.Excerpt from D26 Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 201 Mainz     

Fast deuteron production from antiproton annihilation at rest on carbon and uranium targets

Deuteron yields from 20–350 MeV kinetic energy in antiproton annihilation at rest in¹²C and²³⁸U targets are compared with a coalescence model calculation. Agreement of the data with the model up to approximately 80 MeV is good. However, from 80 to 350 MeV the model increasingly underestimates the yield, by as much as on order of magnitude. These results, along with previously reported failures to explain proton spectra with first order rescattering of pions, suggest that other mechanisms are manifest in relatively rare, high energy light nucleus emission, e.g.B > 0 annihilations or possible six quark interactions.Work supported in part by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation     

Pion-source geometry deduced from soft-pion interferometry in heavy-ion collisions at 650 A MeV

We report transverse,R _T , and longitudinal,R _L , source sizes extracted from two-pion interferometry analysis in the Au+Au and Nb + Nb interactions at 650 A MeV. For the Nb+Nb interactions, both,R _T andR _L , do not exceed the niobium nucleus radius. In the case of Au+Au collisions, the transverse size is larger than the longitudinal one being about 12 fm for the selection ofP ⁺ < 120=" mev/c.=" we=" also=" corroborate=" the=" existence=" of=" the=" previously=" reported=" specific=" three-pion=">One of us (T.S.) wishes to thank Professor M.I. Podgoretsky and Professor R.M. Weiner for interesting discussions and comments. We also wish to acknowledge remarks of Dr. B. Lörstad.     

High density behaviour of nuclear symmetry energy

There exists profound discrepancy in the high density behaviour of the nuclear symmetry energy obtained in realistic variational many-body (VMB) calculations and in relativistic mean-field (RMF) calculations. While the symmetry energy decreases to negative values in the former approach it increases monotonically in the latter one. The origin of this discrepancy is discussed and it is argued that VMB prediction is more reliable. It is shown that vanishing of the symmetry energy implies proton-neutron separation instability in dense matter.This work was partially supported by KBN grants 2 0204 91 01 and 2 0054 91 01.     

Measurement of the stopping power of Au and MgF2 for slow muons

The spectral flux densityn(T) of ^– emerging from a Au or MgF₂ moderator has been measured at low energiesT using time-of-flight. Fromn(T) the stopping powerS(T) of Au was determined for 2 keVT22 keV, and of MgF₂ for 2 keVT12 keV. For Au,S(T) is smaller than calculated values obtained from proton atomic data practically in the wholeT range (Barkas effect); at lowT S(T) approaches the calculated values. For MgF₂,S(T) agrees fairly with the calculated values above 5 keV and then drops below these values. We ascribe this dropping to the large energy gap of the MgF₂ insulator.We wish to thank H. Angerer, H. Plendl, G. Schmidt, and C.A. Schug for help with the data taking, J. Homolka for computational help, H. Hagn, and H. Weiss for technical assistance and P. Maier-Komor and R. Scherrer for manufacturing the windows and targets. The hospitality of PSI and financial support by the German Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie are acknowledged.