IAEA activities for the production and utilization of isotopes: Some examples of recent work

The paper gives a brief overview of typical IAEA activities which contribute to the production of isotopes in nuclear reactors and accelerators, as well as their use. The areas touched upon include (1) isotope production in research reactors and accelerators, (2) quality control and quality assurance in radioanalytical measurements, (3) neutron activation analysis, (4) nuclear methods for land mine detection, (5) radiopharmaceuticals and nuclear medicine, (6) isotope techniques of water resource management and (7) soil management and crop nutrition.     

An efficient one‐pot synthesis of 2‐benzylpyrroles and 3‐benzylindoles

One‐pot regioselective benzylation of pyrroles and indoles using zirconium tetrachloride is discussed. This has been achieved by in‐situ generation of di(1H‐pyrrol‐1‐yl)zirconium(IV) chloride and di(1H‐indol‐1‐yl)zirconium(IV) chloride. It was observed that benzylation reactions of these complexes using n‐BuLi occurred at C‐2 position for pyrrole and C‐3 for indole. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gelation of aqueous pectin solutions: a dynamic light scattering study

We report the dynamic light scattering study of the gelation of aqueous solutions of the biopolymer, pectin, induced by the addition of calcium chloride. The time correlation function data are analyzed under the framework of the coupling model. As the solution enters the semidilute regime where gelation sets in, the relaxation process shows a stretched exponential behavior. The stretching exponent decreases and the characteristic time of the stretched exponential diverges as the system evolves to a gel. Aqueous pectin solutions in the presence of 0.1 M NaCl show similar behavior. Thus, the molecular relaxation modes of pectin solutions can be well described by the coupling model.     

Microscopic structures of parity doublets in the151Pm,153Eu and155Eu nuclei

Microscopic structures of the proposed parity doublet bands in the odd-proton Z=61¹⁵¹Pm and Z=63^{153, 155}Eu nuclei are examined using the quasiparticle phonon nuclear model Hamiltonian including the residual pairing and multipole-multipole interactions. Octupole correlations between intrinsic nonrotational states are studied to check the suggested assignments of parity doublet partners in these nuclei. We conclude significant octupole correlations between a pair ofK ^π = 1/2^± doublets in each of these nuclei, with somewhat weaker correlations betweenK ^π = 3/2^± bands in both the Eu isotopes. No octupole connection between the lowestK ^π = 5/2^± bands is found; however, significant octupole collectivity, built on the low-lying 5/2^? bands, is predicted in the higher-lying 5/2⁺ bands which contain the 5/2⁺ [402] fragmented strength.     

A Brillouin study of the temperature-dependence of the acoustic modes across the insulator-metal transitions in V2O3 and Cr-doped V2O3

Brillouin scattering studies have been carried out on high-quality single crystals of undoped and 0.9% Cr-doped V₂O₃. The observed modes in both the samples at ∼12 and ∼60 GHz are associated with the surface Rayleigh wave (SRW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW), respectively. In the undoped sample, the mode frequencies of the SRW and BAW modes decrease as the temperature is lowered from room temperature to the insulator-metal transition temperature (T_IM=T_N=∼130 K). Below the transition, the modes show hardening. In the doped sample, the SRW mode shows a similar temperature-dependence as the undoped one, but the BAW mode shows hardening from room temperature down to the lowest temperature (50 K). This is the first measurement of the sound velocity below T_IM in the V₂O₃ system. The softening of the SRW frequency from 330 K to T_IM can be qualitatively understood on the basis of the temperature-dependence of C₄₄, which, in turn, is related to the orbital fluctuations in the paramagnetic metallic phase. The hardening of the mode frequencies below T_IM suggests that C₄₄ must increase in the antiferromagnetic insulating phase, possibly due to the orbital ordering.     

Evolutionary dynamics on degree-heterogeneous graphs

The evolution of two species with different fitness is investigated on degree-heterogeneous graphs. The population evolves either by one individual dying and being replaced by the offspring of a random neighbor (voter model dynamics) or by an individual giving birth to an offspring that takes over a random neighbor node (invasion process dynamics). The fixation probability for one species to take over a population of N individuals depends crucially on the dynamics and on the local environment. Starting with a single fitter mutant at a node of degree k, the fixation probability is proportional to k for voter model dynamics and to 1/k for invasion process dynamics.     

K-forbidden allowed $ \beta$ transitions in heavy nuclei

The role of the band quantum number K in influencing the character of allowed transitions in heavy deformed nuclei is examined. The conditions for the occurrence of K -forbidden decays in this region are explored. Specific cases of “allowed” decays proceeding via K = 2 to K = 6 channels are presented to illustrate the phenomenon. The listed K = 2 transitions, which by themselves contribute over 10% of all the presently known allowed transitions for A 228 nuclei, are seen to have an average , which is clearly outside the normal range for allowed transitions. It is concluded that, wherever the -connected states can be confidently labelled using the quantum numbers, the K -forbiddenness is in general as significant as that involving the other two (spin and parity) quantum numbers.     

Electronic and vibrational Raman spectroscopy of Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 through the phase transitions

Raman scattering experiments have been carried out on single crystals of Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ as a function of temperature in the range of 320–50 K, covering the paramagnetic insulator-ferromagnetic metal transition at 250 K and the charge-ordering antiferromagnetic transition at 150 K. The diffusive electronic Raman scattering response is seen in the paramagnetic phase which continue to exist even in the ferromagnetic phase, eventually disappearing below 150 K. We understand the existence of diffusive response in the ferromagnetic phase to the coexistence of the different electronic phases. The frequency and linewidth of the phonons across the transitions show significant changes, which cannot be accounted for only by anharmonic interactions.     

Flow-driven voltage generation in carbon nanotubes

The flow of various liquids and gases over single-walled carbon nanotube bundles induces an electrical signal (voltage/current) in the sample along the direction of the flow. The electrical response generated by the flow of liquids is found to be logarithmic in the flow speed over a wide range. In contrast, voltage generated by the flow of gas is quadratically dependent on the gas flow velocity. It was found that the underlying physics for the generation of electrical signals by liquids and gases are different. For the liquid, the Coulombic interaction between the ions in the liquid and the charge carriers in the nanotube plays a key role while electrical signal generation due to gas flow is due to an interplay of Bernoulli’s principle and Seebeck effect. Unlike the liquid case which is specific to the nanotubes, the gas flow effect can be seen for a variety of solids ranging from single and multi-walled carbon nanotubes, graphite and doped semiconductors.     

Structure of nuclear transition matrix elements for neutrinoless double-<Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis> decay

The structure of nuclear transition matrix elements (NTMEs) required for the study of neutrinoless double-β decay within light Majorana neutrino mass mechanism is disassembled in the PHFB model. The NTMEs are calculated using a set of HFB intrinsic wave functions, the reliability of which has been previously established by obtaining an overall agreement between the theoretically calculated spectroscopic properties and the available experimental data. Presently, we study the role of short-range correlations, radial evolution of NTMEs and deformation effects due to quadrupolar correlations. In addition, limits on effective light neutrino mass 〈m _ν 〉 are extracted from the observed limits on half-lives T ₁^2/0ν of neutrinoless double-β decay.