Excess 3H in the volcanic lakes: evidence for natural nuclear fusion

The excess ³H (tritium) have been observed in the volcanic lakes Nemrut (Turkey), Laacher (Germany) and Pavin (France). The ⁴He and ³He concentrations in Lakes Nemrut, Laacher, and Pavin were determined to be 25 and 190, 10 and 50, and 70 and 500 times larger than the atmospheric saturation value respectively. The isotopic ratio of the helium excess, ³He_ex/⁴He_ex, in Lakes Nemrut, Laacher and Pavin was (1.032±0.006)×10^－5, (7.42±0.03)×10^－6 and (9.09±0.01)×10^－6 respectively. The ³He/⁴He ratio of helium isotopes in the lake can help us to identify the origin of gas fluxes from the interior of the Earth. The ³He/⁴He ratios in the Lakes Nemrut, Laacher and Pavin clearly indicate that a large amount of helium isotopes were released to the lakes from mantle source. The excess ³H at the bottom of Lakes Nemrut, Laacher and Pavin have a good correlation with mantle ³He. We consider that the excess ³H might be also released from mantle source and both ³H and ³He might be produced by nuclear fusion (d-d reaction) in an environment rich in H atoms and (U+Th) at high temperature and high pressure condition in deep Earth.     

Study of the structure of borromean nucleus 17Ne

The ¹⁷Ne nucleus is a possible candidate with a two-proton borromean halo structure. Since the theoretical model is difficult to handle the three-body system, it is difficult to determine the two-proton halo structure in ¹⁷Ne. In the present research, we try to study the breakup reaction of ¹⁷Ne. For the Borromean nuclei, one-proton knockout results in an unstable nucleus which is decaying further by proton emission. This process will result in an angular correlation between the direction of the aligned recoiling unstable nucleus and its decay products. The angular correlations can give us information about the configuration of the valence proton in the ¹⁷Ne. Furthermore, theoretical calculations indicate that the momentum distributions of ¹⁶F c.m are sensitive to the structure of the halo in ¹⁷Ne. Thus the measurement of momentum distributions of ¹⁶F c.m may also give us conclusive information on the structure of ¹⁷Ne. The present experiment has been done at IMP in Lanzhou using the radioactive beam ¹⁷Ne at 30.8 MeV/u on a 43mg/cm^{2 12}C target. The data analysis is under procedure and the primary results are provided.     

β-delayed fission of 228Ac

The basic process of an exotic decay mode namely β-delayed fission is simply introduced. The progress status of the study in the world is essentialized. The observation of β-delayed fission of ²²⁸Ac is reported. The radium was radiochemically separated from natural thorium. Thin Ra sources in which ²²⁸Ac was got through ²²⁸Ra →β^－228Ac were prepared for observing fission fragments from β-delayed fission of ²²⁸Ac. They exposed to the mica fission track detectors, and measured by an HPGe γ-ray detector. The β-delayed fission events of ²²⁸Ac were observed and its β-delayed fission probability was found to be (5±2)×10^－12.     

AMS measurement of In-situ produced cosmogenic 10Be in Loess Quartz in Luochuan

Loess is the most important and the most typical continental classic sediments of Quaternary. So the measurement of In-situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be is expected to be used for the Loess stratigraphic age. But the production rate of In-situ produced cosmogenic ¹⁰Be in Loess quartz is very low. It requires very high sensitivity and accuracy of measurement. This work has measured the concentrations of ¹⁰Be of two layers in Loess section of Luochuan including L8, L9 and the concentrations of ¹⁰Be in (of) blank sample with the HI-13 AMS system at China Insitute of Atomic Energy(CIAE), then calculated the content of ¹⁰Be in loess quartz for each layer. The ratio of ¹⁰Be/⁹Be was found in the range of 10^－13. The background of ¹⁰Be/⁹Be was about 3×10^－14.     

Comparison of thermal neutron detection efficiency of 6Li scintillation glass and 3He gas proportional tube

We report on a comparison study of the ³He gas proportional tube and the ⁶Li incorporated scintillation glasses on thermal neutron detection efficiency. Both ³He and ⁶Li are used commonly for thermal neutron detection because of their high neutron capture absorption coefficient. By using a neutron source ²⁵²Cf and a paraffin moderator in an alignment system, we can get a small beam of thermal neutrons. A flash ADC is used to measure the thermal neutron spectrum of each detector, and the detected number of events is determined from the spectrum, then we can calculate the detection efficiency of different detectors. Meanwhile, the experiment has been modeled with GEANT4 to validate the results against the Monte Carlo simulation.     

g-factors measurement of magnetic rotation band in 85Zr

The magnetic-rotational band in ⁸⁵Zr was populated by the fusion-evaporation reaction ⁶⁰Ni(²⁸Si, 2pn)⁸⁵Zr with a 98 MeV Si beam from the HI-13 tandem accelerator at China Institute of Atomic Energy. The g-factors of the high spin states of this magnetic rotation band in ⁸⁵Zr were measured by the TMF-IMPAD method for the first time. The measured g-factors decrease with the increasing of spin. It implies that the valence neutron alignment is more rapid than that of the valence proton, which leads to a decrease of g-factors along the band.     

Theoretical investigation of the structure of 19N

We have employed the shell model and Skyrme-Hartree-Fock methods to investigate the structure of the neutron-rich nucleus ¹⁹N. The level scheme of ¹⁹N from the shell-model calculation with the WBT interaction is displayed. The potential-energy-surface calculation with the SGII interaction implies that ¹⁹N should be a deformed nucleus. The theoretical β-decay half life of ¹⁹N reproduces well the available experimental data.     

A Bragg curve detector and its application in AMS measurements for medium-weight nuclides

The schematic layout and principle of a Bragg curve detector were showed in this paper. A Bragg curve detector was systemically modified and its performance was improved. The total energy resolution of the detector is 0.9% for alpha particle at energy of 5.48 MeV from ²⁴¹Am source, and the Bragg Peak resolution is 1.6%. Measurement of medium-weight nuclides by using the Bragg curve detector were carried at CIAE-AMS system. series of ³⁶Cl and ⁴¹Ca standard samples were measured. The results showed that this Bragg curve detector could clearly identify isobars ³⁶Cl-³⁶S and ⁴¹Ca-⁴¹K. The results also showed that the ΔZ/Z of 1/47, corresponding to Bragg Peak resolution is 2.1% at ion atomic number of about 16. The Bragg curve detector can be successfully used for AMS measurement.     

Systematical law of β+-decay half-lives of nuclei far from β-stable line

Experimental data of nuclear β⁺-decay half-lives are systematically analyzed and investigated. We present an exponential law between the half-life of β⁺-decay with the same forbiddenness and the nucleon number (Z,N) of parent nucleus far from the β-stable line. A formula with four parameters is proposed to describe the β⁺-decay half-lives of nuclei far from stability. Experimental β⁺-decay half-lives of the first and second forbidden transitions are well reproduced by this simple formula. The physics of the exponential law is related to the statistical properties of β⁺-decay far from β-stable line.     

Structure change of 156Yb at high-spin states

High-spin states of ¹⁵⁶Yb have been studied via the ¹⁴⁴Sm(¹⁶O,4n)¹⁵⁶Yb fusion-evaporation reaction at beam energy 102~MeV. The positive-parity yrast band and negative-parity cascade have been extended up to higher-spin states, respectively. The characteristics of the negative-parity sequence above the 25^－ state may related to the excitation from the nucleon in the Z=64, N=82 core. The E-GOS curve for the positive-parity yrast sequence in ¹⁵⁶Yb indicate that this nucleus may undergo an evolution from quasivibrational to quasirotational structure with increasing angular momentum. The Cranked Woods-Saxon-Strutinsky calculations by means of Total-Routhian-Surface (TRS) methods has been made to understand this structure change.     

Recent progress in AMS measurement of 182Hf at the CIAE

In order to improve the accuracy of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement for ¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf, a series of measurements have been taken in the AMS laboratory at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE). The major ones include the instantaneous monitoring of ¹⁸⁰HfF₅^- current, testing the stability of transmission, the alternate measurements of an unknown sample and standard, and the origin identification and minimization of background ¹⁸²W. The experimental details and the improvement in the measurement accuracy, as well as some useful suggestions for better satisfying the requirements of certain practical applications, are presented in this paper.     

Proton alignment in 82Sr investigated by g-factor measurements

The proton alignment in ⁸²Sr has been investigated by the g-factor measurements of the ground state rotational band levels up to spin I=8⁺. The g-factors were measured by a transient-magnetic-field ion implantation perturbed angular distribution method. The obtained g-factors increase with the increasing of spin along the band and clearly show the g_9/2 proton alignment that starts at I=6⁺.     

Structure of β-emitting nuclei 29P

The extoic structure of ²⁹P was investigated by measuring its magnetic moment in the ground state with β-NMR method. We got the experimental value of 1.2346 μ_N after diamagnetism correction. It is very close to the calculated value of 1.1009 μ_N computed with shell model. The shell model calculation also gave a proton density distribution of ²⁹P with a long tail. The present results show that 2s_1/2 proton in the ²⁹P may lead to the proton-skin structure.     

Production cross-section of 230Ra in the reaction of 60 MeV/u 18O ions with 238U

A thick natural uranium target was bombarded with a 60 MeV/u ¹⁸O beam. The neutron-rich isotope ²³⁰Ra as the target residue was produced through the multinucleon transfer reaction(²³⁸U-4p-4n). The barium and radium fraction as BaCl₂ precipitate were radiochemically separated first from the mixture of uranium and reaction products. Then, the radium fraction was separated from BaCl₂ precipitate by using cation exchange technique. The γ-ray spectra of the Ra fraction were measured using an HPGe detector. The production cross sections of ²³⁰Ra were obtained by a combination of the radiochemical separation technique and off-line γ-ray spectroscopy. The cross section of ²³⁰Ra has been determined to be 66±20 μb.     

Dependence of the cross sections for Ir isotopes on the values of Qgg in the heavy ion collision

¹⁹⁷Au were irradiated with 47 MeV/u ¹²C ions. Iridium was produced via the multinucleon transfer reactions in bombardments of ¹⁹⁷Au with ¹²C. and was separated radiochemically from Au and the mixture of the reaction products. The γ radioactivities of Ir isotopes were measured by using a HPGe detector. The production cross sections of Ir isotopes were determined from activities of Ir isotopes at the end of bombardment and the other relative data. It has been found that the cross sections for neutron-rich isotopes of iridium show an exponential dependence on the values of Q_gg. Our experimental results also demonstrate lack of correlation between the cross sections and Q_gg in the case of neutron-deficient isotopes of iridium. The fact can be explained from that neutron-rich isotopes of iridium were produced in the deep inelastic transfer reactions.     

Discrimination of converted photons and neutral pions at high energies

In the LHC experiment, the H→γγ channel provides a clean nal state with an effective mass peak that is reconstructed with great precision, despite the small branching ratio. As a consequence, the H→γγ channel is one of the most promising channels for the Higgs discovery in the very low mass region. In order to increase the sensitivity of the Higgs search, background rejection rate is very important, so γ/π⁰ discrimination is one of the key points in the analysis. At least 40% of photons will convert with the experience of ATLAS and CMS. We constructed electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) in GEANT4 simulation, using 6 variables which have different shapes between converted γ and π⁰, with the TMVA (Toolkit for Multivariate Data Analysis) to do the separation. With this method we can get 30% to 60% π⁰ rejection efficiency when keeping 90% converted γ efficiency, in the region of transverse momentum 15 GeV to 75 GeV, not only in MC sumulation but also in real data.     

Measuring D0-D0 mixing in D→f0(980) K and more

We investigate the D⁰-D⁰ mixing through the doubly Cabibbo suppressed (DCS) channel D0→f₀(980)K^*0 and its charge conjugate channel, in which the K^*0 meson is reconstructed in both K⁺π^－ and K_Sπ⁰ final state. Although the decay D⁰→f₀(980)K^* has a small branching ratio, the final state mesons are relatively easy to identify. The f₀(980) meson can be replaced by the S-wave π⁺π^－ state, or a longitudinally polarized vector meson ρ⁰. All mixing parameters, including the mass difference and decay width difference, can be extracted by studying the time-dependent decay width of these channels. We show that the method is valid in all regions for mixing parameters and it does not depend on the strong phase difference.     

Developments in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) method for 182Hf

The present detection limit for ¹⁸²Hf at CIAE HI-13 AMS systems could not satisfy various applications (e. g. detection of a nearby supernovae signal). Therefore, techniques were developed in this work to improve the AMS measurement of ¹⁸²Hf mainly on building a new injector and using a method that based on solid-phase reaction for the preparation of HfF₄ samples from HfO₂. The experimental results show that mass resolution of the injector can reached 630, and the F^－/O－ and beam current of ¹⁸⁰HfF₅^－ for HfF₄ samples produced by dry method is about 2—3 times and 1.5 times of that by previously method, respectively.