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When the atomic physicist measures or computes, applications of their results may not be immediately obvious. However, atomic data form the basis of many mature and developing applications. Two of these applications and their dependence on data are reviewed here. In particular, the national standard for radiation exposure and the processing of the United States mail with radiation are discussed. © 2003 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simulation of 5 MeV-proton irradiation of different construction steels for nuclear installations was performed using the MCNPX code to support proton irradiation experiments aimed at studying accelerated radiation aging. The main goal of the simulations was to predict an induced activity of the studied samples during implantation experiments. The materials investigated were different types of Fe-Cr-based construction steels comprising ferritic/martensitic steels and its oxide dispersion strengthened variant. The paper presents calculation details specific for a couple of MeV-protons simulations comprising the information on the proton nuclear data and the physics models' usage in the MCNPX code. The reaction rates and the energy deposition were calculated to quantify the main interaction mechanisms, whereby the capability of the MCNPX code to track the secondary particles was used. Physics models were employed to determine the nuclides inventory produced during irradiation. The induced mass activity was calculated from the number of radioactive residuals and reached values between 15 and 67 kBq/g immediately after irradiation. The results from simulations will be compared with the activity of the samples determined by gamma spectroscopy measurements in our next paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new normal-conducting, CW, thermocathode RF gun has been developed and tested recently at Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics. Providing an average current of up to 100 mA, this device will be used to upgrade the injector of the Novosibirsk FEL facility. Simulation of beam dynamics in the RF gun and its beamline was performed, the space-charge forces taken into account. Comparison of the simulation results and experimental measurements is presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of neutrinoless double beta decay (DBD) has attracted much attention because it can provide valuable information about the mass and the nature of the neutrino. DBD itself is also of interest in nuclear physics. While DBD has been observed in about a dozen nuclei, the positron DBD (β+β+/EC-β +) continues to be elusive. An important signature for β +β + decay is the simultaneous emission of four 511 keV gamma rays, and the coincident detection of these gamma rays can improve the measurement sensitivity. This paper presents an estimation of sensitivity for EC-β+and β +β+, employing coincidence measurement with two high-purity Ge (HPGe) detectors. Simulations for coincident detection efficiency (εc) of 511 keV gamma rays with two HPGe detectors were carried out using GEANT4 for different source geometries to optimize the mass efficiency product (Mεc). A source of size 55 mm × 55 mm × 5 mm (thickness) sandwiched between the front faces of the detectors was found to be optimal for two pairs of 511 keV gamma rays in the present detector setup. The coincident background was estimated at sea level with moderate lead shielding. With this setup, the sensitivity for T1/2 measurement of EC-β+in 112Sn and β +β+ in 106Cd was estimated to be ∼1019–1020 years for one year of measurement time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subramanian “Ram” Raman, a distinguished nuclear physicist and senior staff member of the Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), died April 8, 2003. In June 1966, Raman joined the staff at ORNL working in the Nuclear Data Project. This position provided him insights into important open questions in nuclear structure physics, and the power of “horizontal” compilations of properties across a broad range of nuclei. These insights would guide Raman’s research interests throughout his 36-year career at ORNL. As shown by his great variety of publications, Raman’s research career was marked by an intense interest in all areas of nuclear physics. He published papers on topics ranging from detailed nuclear structure to giant resonances, to the search for superheavy nuclei, to the scattering of heavy ions. His research resulted in over 200 published papers and over 3000 citations of his work. It is however, his nuclear data evaluations, both horizontal and vertical, that we most often remember. His most often cited papers deal with the evaluation and systematics of nuclear data, and he helped establish many of the “rules” and guidelines for assignment of nuclear level properties. An overview of Raman’s work at ORNL is presented. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of programming interfaces like ROOT written by CERN group in Switzerland leads the way of analyzing spectroscopy mainly in nuclear physics applications. One of the topics is a signal processing in terms of currency, voltage or frequency of a radiation hitting the detector systems. Mathematical approaches finding the fit parameters in maximum Likelihood for the normal distribution and the effect of choosing the distinct methods in fitting settings will be presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SC200 is an isochronous cyclotron which generate 200 MeV, 500 nA proton for particle therapy. As an important component of the cyclotron, the ion source chimney needs to be tested and optimized. The simulation results and optimization of ion source in test bench for SC200 are described in this paper. The simulation results show that the extraction slit with different sizes and shapes has an influence on the emittance of the extraction beam. To verify the simulation results, the performance of the designed ion source chimney with optimized slits was measured, including the beam current intensity and the beam emittance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A next generation heavy ion accelerator complex HIAF (High Intensity heavy ion Accelerator Facility) was proposed by IMP and officially approved for nuclear physics and high energy density physics research. HIAF requests ion source that is able to deliver 50 pμA of 238U35+ pulsed beam and 25 pμA of 238U35+ CW beam for injector of a superconducting heavy ion linac. In order to meet the beam intensity requirements of highly charged heavy ions, a 45 GHz superconducting ECR ion source FECR (a Fourth generation ECR ion source) is under intense R&D at IMP. The effective power absorption form the microwaves to the plasma is key issue for increasing the beam intensity. Therefore, we introduced a 45 GHz gyrotron system which is capable for providing output power up to 20 kW in both CW and pulse modes as a microwave power source for FECR. Other than the gyrotron oscillator, the microwave power transmission coupling and ECR heating are critical issues for FECR. Since the wavelength of 45 GHz microwave is about 6.67 mm and the maximum power level is 20 kW, the quasi-optical transmission scheme is utilized for high power transmission. The technical details of transmission line and coupling system will be presented in this paper. After off-line tests of microwave transmission efficiency and mode purity, 45 GHz gyrotron microwave source will be commissioned with SECRAL II (a superconducting ECR ion source optimized for 28 GHz operation), and some preliminary results of ECR heating and intense beam production will be discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the ability of the SCALE system and the associated nuclear data to predict the VVER-440 spent fuel nuclide composition, the measured compositions of Novovoronezh NPP irradiated fuel assembly are compared to data calculated by TRITON sequence. The samples of fuel assembly with 3.6 wt. % 235U enrichment underwent 4-cycle campaign of totally 1109 days in the core and cooling period of 1-13 years. The simplified benchmark specification is based on operational history calculated by the Russian operational codes. Calculated concentrations are compared to measured values burdened with their experimental uncertainties for totally 47 nuclides. Calculated results show overall a good agreement for all nuclides, differences from measured are pointed out and discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manganese bath activation technique has been developed and actively used for neutron emission rate measurements at the laboratory of the Institute of Nuclear and Physical Engineering FEI STU since 2015. For this technique a spherical Plexiglas vessel with manganese sulfate solution and Pu-Be isotope neutron source is used, which is before and after the emission rate measurement transported using a special source loading mechanism. Since all activities involved in the work with sources of radiation must be in line with the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle, it is necessary to estimate the radiation situation during the source loading procedure and to optimize the measurement process. This paper focuses on the simulation of the radiation situation in case of these transportation process, based on Monte Carlo simulation using the detailed model of the experimental workspace developed in the SCALE6 system. The model consists of geometry configurations that can influence the attenuation of gamma and neutron radiation. To estimate the radiation situation 3D neutron and gamma mesh tallies and 5 point detectors, placed at specific positions, are used. The paper includes the achieved results of the dose rates as well as discussion on the optimization of the measurement process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date conventional use of dielectric-lined waveguides (DLWs) has mainly concerned high-gradient acceleration. In this paper we investigate an alternative use of such waveguides to impressed wakefield-induced energy correlations on non-ultra-relativistic beams. These correlations are shown to produce density modulations as the beam drifts in a free space. We explore several schemes with a single or multiple DLW structures which can lead to passive compressions and to the formation of sub-picosecond bunch trains. We finally suggest the possible use of multiple structures to bunch the beam at higher frequencies using a scheme similar to a two-stage echo enabled harmonic generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently it was proposed in [A. F. Lifschitz, et. al., J. Comp. Phys. 228, 1803 (2009)] that laser wakefield acceleration could be modeled efficiently using a particle-in-cell code in cylindrical coordinates if the fields and currents were expanded into Fourier modes in the azimuthal angle, φ. We have implemented this algorithm into OSIRIS, including a new rigorous charge conserving deposition routine applicable for it [A. Davidson, et. al., J. Comp. Phys. 281, 1063 (2014)]. This algorithm can be interpreted as a PIC description in r??z and a gridless description in φ in which the expansion into φ modes is truncated at a desired level. This new quasi-3D algorithm greatly reduces the computational load by describing important three-dimensional (3D) geometrical effects with nearly two-dimensional calculations. In this paper, we propose to combine this algorithm with the Lorentz boosted frame method for simulations of Laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA). We show preliminary results, including an investigation of the unstable numerical Cerenkov instability modes for this geometry, and discuss directions for future work. These preliminary results indicate that combining the quasi-3D method and the Lorentz boosted frame method together may provide unprecedented speed ups for LWFA simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systematic studies of cosmic rays in Japan were started when the Nishina Laboratory was established in Riken in 1931, after Nishina came back from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. He was already known as an author of Klein-Nishina formula. He spent a great deal of effort to spread modern physics in Japan, inviting Dirac and Heisenberg to give series of lectures at the university of Tokyo, which later established the strong group of theoretical physicists including Yukawa, Tomonaga, Sakata and others. He also spent a great deal of effort in comprehensive studies of cosmic-rays including the precise measurements of the mass of mesons, of the intensity at the deepest underground of 3000 m.w.e., and of other research to be discussed. It is to be noted that the encouragement by the theoretical group of Yukawa, Tomonaga and others stimulated the recovery of the research after World War II in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of collisions around the Coulomb barrier induced by halo and/or weakly bound nuclei has been the object of many publications in the last years, since the peculiar structure of such nuclei can strongly affect the reaction dynamics. In this paper we will summarize some results on the above topic obtained by our group at INFN-LNS Catania. Results concerning the study of elastic scattering and different reaction mechanisms in collisions induced by the halo nuclei 11Be and 6He and by the weakly bound stable nuclei 6,7Li on a 64Zn target, at energies around the Coulomb barrier, will be presented. The conclusions of our studies will be compared with the ones of other authors, in order to show if clear systematic conclusions can be drawn from the different papers published in the literature so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Vitam regit fortuna, non sapientia' ('Fortune, not wisdom, rules lives)' (Cicero). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), initiated in late 1970s at McMaster university based on the accelerator and detector technique, has long been applied in the studies on archaeology, geology, and cosmology, as a powerful tool for isotope dating. The advantages of AMS in the analysis of rare nuclides by direct counting of the atoms, small sample size and relatively free from the interferences of molecular ions have been well documented. This paper emphasizes that AMS can not only be used for archaeology, geology, environment, biology and so on, but also served as a unique tool for nuclear physics research. In this paper, the determination of the half-lives of 79Se, the measurements of the cross-sections of 93Nb(n,2n)92gNb and 238U(n,3n)236U reactions, the detection and determination of ultratrace impurities in neutrino detector materials, and the measurement of the fission product nuclide 126Sn, are to be introduced, as some of examples of AMS applications in nuclear research conducted in AMS lab of China Institute of Atomic Energy. Searching for superheavy nuclides by using AMS is being planned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper gives an overview of the work done so far to produce sufficient neutrino fluxes for neutrino oscillation physics using beta beams. The design study on a beta beam scenario, the EURISOL (European Isotope Separation On-Line Radioactive Ion Beam Facility) Design Study, a project funded by the European Commission (EC), is now ready to be published. The study is based on the acceleration of 6He and 18Ne ions to produce the (anti-)neutrino beam using the existing CERN infrastructure for acceleration of the ions. We will here briefly describe the work with emphasis on how potential showstoppers, in particular radiation safety and equipment damage, have been dealt with. New results for the production of 6He show very encouraging results. We are now confident that this ion is a good choice to produce antineutrinos. However, the ion production needed for the physics experiments could not, up to now, be reasonably satisfied for 18Ne. Therefore, studies of alternative beta emitters, 8Li and 8B, with properties interesting for physics reach, have been proposed. The production of these ions is studied within the EC funded EUROnu project, “A High Intensity Neutrino Oscillation Facility for Europe.” This project will end in 2012. A small storage ring, in which the beam traverses a target, creating the 8Li and 8B isotopes that will be collected and accelerated, is studied in this proposal. We present the latest developments for the production of these ions, including a production ring lattice. Extensive Geant4 simulations have been done with the aim of developing a model of the production target that can be used for simulations of the necessary cooling system. In this paper we present the status of the work performed and an overview of ongoing and planned activities to make the beta beam project a solid proposal for neutrino production within the EUROnu project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neutrino oscillation data are well explained by the tri-bimaximal pattern. Recently a paper appeared showing that also the bimaximal pattern could be a very good starting point in order to describe the lepton mixing. In this paper I review both the flavour structures and then I present an explicit model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I will present some numerical studies and parameter scans performed with the electromagnetic, rela-tivistic, fully-self consistent particle-in-cell (PIC) code ALaDyn (Acceleration by LAser and DYNamics of charged particles), concerning electron acceleration via plasma waves in the framework of the INFN-PLASMONX (PLASma acceleration and MONochromatic X-ray production) project. In particular I will focus on the modelling of the SITE (Self Injection Test Experiment) which will be a relevant part of the commissioning of the FLAME laser. Some issues related to the quality of the accelerated bunch will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the method of beam depolarization compensation during spin resonance crossing is developed. This method is based on the restoration of the spin adiabatic invariant after the spin resonance crossing. The case when the restoration of spin adiabatic invariant occurs due to multiple crossing of the resonance effective area is considered. At the same time it is necessary to provide the certain difference of spin phases between the moments of crossing of the resonance effective area. The conditions of beam polarization preservation when the resonance effective area is repeatedly crossed are obtained. Numerical examples are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circularly polarized photons are widely used for conducting experiments to study magnetic structures of matter. Based on coils developed at Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics (BINP) for a superconducting undulator with a period of 15.6 mm, a model of a superconducting undulator with variable polarization (SCUVP) and a period of 40 mm is proposed. SCUVP consists of two identical superconducting undulators placed mutually perpendicular and powered by currents independently. Depending on different current values in the windings of the undulator, it is possible to create an elliptical undulator with different elliptic coefficients or planar undulators with linear radiation polarization with a zero angle both horizontally and vertically. The paper presents numerical calculations of the undulator fields and its spectra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circularly polarized photons are widely used for conducting experiments to study magnetic structures of matter. On the basis of superconducting coils developed at Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics for a short-period superconducting planar undulator, a superconducting elliptical undulator with a period of ∼2.2 cm and an elliptic coefficient of∼0.7 is proposed. The poles of the upper and lower halves of the undulator are located at an angle of 45 degrees to each other in the horizontal plane, which creates periodic vertical and horizontal elliptical fields of up to 1 T vertically and 0.7 T horizontally. Fast switching of the electron orbit using correction magnets external to the cryostat (up to hundreds of Hz) enables fast switching of the left and right polarizations of the zero-angle radiation from two sequentially installed undulators. A short prototype of elliptical superconducting undulator was fabricated and magnetic measurements were made in a bath cryostat. The paper presents numerical calculations of the undulator fields, spectra, and experimentally measured field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear fusion is a process in which nuclei, having a total initial mass, combine to produce a single nucleus, having a final mass less than the total initial mass. Below a given atomic number the process is exothermic; that is, since the final mass is less than the combined initial mass and the mass deficit is converted into energy by the nuclear fusion. On Earth nuclear fusion does not happen spontaneously because electrostatic barriers prevent the phenomenon. To induce controlled, industrial scale, nuclear fusion, only a few methods have been discovered that look promising, but net positive energy production is not yet possible because of low overall efficiency of the systems. In this paper we propose that an intense burst of High Frequency Gravitational Waves (HFGWs) could be focused or beamed to a target mass composed of appropriate fuel or target material to efficiently rearrange the atomic or nuclear structure of the target material with consequent nuclear fusion. Provided that efficient generation of HFGW can be technically achieved, the proposed fusion reactor could become a viable solution for the energy needs of mankind and alternatively a process for beaming energy to produce a source of fusion energy remotely — even inside solid materials. © 2007 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the past, present and future status of recoil-isomer tagging at the University of Jyväskylä. The main focus of this research has been to access isomeric states at and beyond the mass ≈140 proton drip line. Recoil-isomer tagging was first used at the University of Jyväskylä in 1998 to establish the prompt rotational band built upon a Kπ = 8- isomeric state in 138Gd. Since that time a series of experiments have been performed which have studied isomeric states in the N = 77 isotones 63140Eu77, 65142Tb77 and 67144Ho77, and in the N = 74 K-isomer chain, 64138Gd74 and 66140Dy74. These experiments have revealed valuable first information about deformations, single-particle excitation energies and hindrance factors in nuclei at and beyond the proton drip line where little or no information previously existed. The results of the most-recent experiments were discussed. These experiments established new isomeric states in 66143Dy77, 61136Pm75, and 64137Gd73 and a further two isomers which are currently unplaced. The paper concludes with a discussion of the future prospects for this research including the increased efficiency of the recoil-isomer tagging technique with a new Multi-Wire Proportional Counter (MWPC) detector which was designed and built at the University of Manchester. The first results from this new setup were shown. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a collaborative effort between CEA of France and the DOE of the United States (in particular between le Laboratoire d’Etudes de Physique de Cadarache and the Nuclear Data Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory): In preparing input for analyses of differential nuclear data using multilevel multi-channel R-matrix theory, a sometimes daunting and often error-prone task is the generation of quantum-number information for all channels for each compound nuclear state (i.e., for each “spin group,” defined by quantum numbers Jπ). For many years, the code SAMQUA has been available to users of the R-matrix code SAMMY to assist in preparation of that input; the original SAMQUA code, however, was limited to single-channel spin group information. In this paper, an improved version of the SAMQUA code is described. The new SAMQUA permits inclusion of all open reaction channels in the low-energy interaction between one particle (neutron or charged particle) and a nuclear target, and considerably simplifies the determination of the quantum numbers needed for the definition of the reaction channels. SAMQUA, in addition to its primary function of preparing quantum numbers for the SAMMY input file, also provides the possibility to visualize immediately all open reaction channels. This paper gives two examples of the use of SAMQUA, with emphasis on the notions of reaction channels and penetrability. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the concept of Q-phonons and its connection to the concept of Qinvariants and the shape parameters of nuclei. It will also discuss some useful relations between Q-invariants and observables. These relations allow one to determine crucial nuclear observables such as the square of the quadrupole moment of the first 2[SUP+] state from lifetime data of the gammaand ground band which may have applications, in future measurements with tare isotopes beams. These concepts are discussed for the Barium, Xenon and Cerium nuclei with mass numbers around A = 130, because some of these concepts were either introduced or at least heavily used in the discussion of the nuclear structure of these nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cosmic rays physics is currently study with rather sophisticated detectors running in a variety of either experimental conditions or atmospheric depths in the world. In this paper we present some cosmic ray physics investigations at Chacaltaya Laboratory, (Bolivia, 5220 m a.s.l.) and we describe the main properties of the observed features of high-energy nuclear interaction phenomena of cosmic rays, with particular emphasis on some experimental observations by using the emulsion chamber technique. A discussion on the past and present achievements as well as the future prospects of the high altitude mountain laboratories for cosmic ray physics as Chacaltaya is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collisions of asymmetric nuclei (Cu+Au) differ essentially from the case of symmetric nuclei (Cu+Cu, Au+Au) collisions in the geometry of overlap region. This leads to a number of consequences, which provide more absolute and accurate information about fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions. Nuclear modification factors for π-mesons in Cu+Au interactions at 200 GeV were measured in PHENIX Experiment at RHIC. New experimental data on measurement of flows of different order (v1, v2) for light hadrons in Cu+Au interactions at 200 GeV will be discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The elastic scattering process Λp → Λp offers insights on multiple problems in nuclear physics. SU(3)F symmetry implies a close agreement between the Λp and pp scattering cross sections. The Λp elastic scattering cross section can also illuminate the structure of neutron stars. A data-mining project was started using multiple CLAS data sets taken for other purposes with photon beams on a long liquid hydrogen target. A Λ produced in a process such as γp → K+ Λ can interact with a second proton inside the target before either decaying or leaving the target. The good angular acceptance and momentum resolution of CLAS make it well-suited for this type of analysis, even though it was not designed for such a measurement. The scattered Λ can be identified from the π− p invariant mass. The four-vector of the initial Λ is then reconstructed in the process Xp → Λp, which shows a strong peak at the Λ mass with roughly twice the number of events as the existing world data sample. This observation opens up the possibility of other measurements using secondary beams of short-lived particles. This paper will discuss the current status of the analysis, and our plans for future work on this project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravitational waves from neutron-star mergers are expected to provide stringent constraints on the structure of neutron stars. At the same time, recent advances in nuclear theory have enabled reliable calculations of the low density equation of state using effective field theory based Hamiltonians and advanced techniques to solve the quantum many-body problem. In this paper, we address how the first observation of gravitational waves from GW170817 can be combined with modern calculations of the equation of state to extract useful insights about the equation of state of matter encountered inside neutron stars. We analyze the impact of various uncertainties and we show that the tidal deformability extracted from GW170817 is compatible, while less constraining, than modern nuclear physics knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an update on women and physics in Italy over the past five years. The numbers of women with physics degrees and the statistics on women with careers in universities or in the main Italian research institutions (National Institute for Nuclear Physics, National Institute of Astrophysics, and National Research Council) are given. Also, results are reported from European projects, such as Transforming Organisational Culture for Gender Equality in Research and Innovation and Gender Equality Network in the European Research Area in which Italy is involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laudatio in honor of Dr. Miguel Ángel Pérez Angón, co-recipient of the 2008 Medal of the Division of Particles and Fields of the Mexican Physical Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU) is a user facility for rare-isotope beams, produced by projectile fragmentation at high energies and separated in-flight. ReA is a post-accelerator that accelerates 'stopped' rare-isotope beams, thermalized in a helium-gas cell, to several MeV/u for nuclear-physics experiments. ReA employs an electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) charge breeder to convert singly charged ions to highly charged ions before transport to a linear accelerator. The EBIT started on-line operation in the fall of 2015. This paper presents results of charge-breeding efficiency measurements obtained over the past two years with rare-isotope beams. Additionally, the time spread of rare-isotope ion pulses ejected from the EBIT has been increased to reduce the instantaneous rate delivered to users. Efficiencies in single charge states of more than 20% were obtained with 47K17+ and 34Ar15+. For 34Ar15+, the pulse width was spread in time up to ~50 ms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simulation of PIXE (Particle Induced X-ray Emission) is discussed in the context of general-purpose Monte Carlo systems for particle transport. Dedicated PIXE codes are mainly concerned with the application of the technique to elemental analysis, but they lack the capability of dealing with complex experimental configurations. General-purpose Monte Carlo codes provide powerful tools to model the experimental environment in great detail, but so far they have provided limited functionality for PIXE simulation. This paper reviews recent developments that have endowed the Geant4 simulation toolkit with advanced capabilities for PIXE simulation, and related efforts for quantitative validation of cross sections and other physical parameters relevant to PIXE simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The women physicists whose work will be featured are Marietta Blau, Madelaine Forro Barnothy, Phyllis Freier, and Connie Dilworth. The "gluons" that connected their lives to each other (and to the author) included Georges Lemaitre, Manuel Sandoval Vallarta, Cecil Powell, Guiseppi Occhialini, Ken Greisen, Beatrice Tinsley, Hannelore Sexl, and perhaps Elizabeth Rona. Most of the stories are not entirely happy ones. For instance it was Sandoval Vallarta who offered Blau (and her mother) refuge in Mexico when they had to leave Vienna. Vallarta was also Lemaitre's collaborator in calculations of how cosmic rays got to us through the earth's magnetic field. The sad part there is that somehow Lemaitre was never disabused of the view that cosmic rays were direct remnants of his primordial atom and not primarily protons. The result was his gradual exile from main-stream scientific communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a brief historical review of the quest to find neutrinos of extraterrestrial origin. In the context of the Victor Hess centenary, it is interesting to consider how the development of detectors for neutrinos from space relates to developments in cosmic-ray and particle physics over the same time span. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent paper [1] the 1S0 pairing gap in isospin-symmetric nuclear matter and finite nuclei has been investigated starting from the chiral nucleon-nucleon potential at the N3LO order in the two-body sector and the N2LO order in the three-body sector. To include realistic nuclear forces in RHB (Relativistic Hartree Bolgoliubov) calculations we relied on a separable representation of the pairing interaction. In this paper we would like to show recent results concerning isotonic chains with N = 28,50,82. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The after-dinner talk has by now become a tradition of this Conference series on Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum. On this occasion, I have tried to combine a free-style and (hopefully) amusing presentation with deep questions of physics especially connected with the dynamics of strong interaction. To this end some masterpieces of classical music (by Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Stravinsky ...) and pop music (by Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton) were employed to illustrate certain aspects of physics. By no means was this presentation (neither this paper) intended as a comprehensive review of the different topics examined during the Conference, but rather as a call for further thinking on the sinergy of different branches of physics and the excitement of foreseen discoveries in a not too distant future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I first quickly summarize the history of the Magnetic Monopole leading to the quantum theory of magnetic charge that started with a 1931 paper by Paul Dirac who showed that the existence of magnetic monopoles was consistent with Maxwell's equations only if electric charges are quantized. Next I will briefly review the status of monopole searches. Last, but not least I discuss in more detail the MoEDAL experiment-the latest accelerator experiment designed to search for direct production of magnetic monopoles or dyons (particles with electric and magnetic charge) and other highly ionizing particles-such as heavy (pseudo-) stable particles with conventional electric charge-at the LHC. The MoEDAL experiment employs nuclear track-etch detectors deployed in the VELO vertex region of the LHCb experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present two Shell Model approaches for computing the two-body matrix elements involved in the neutrinoless double beta decay of 48Ca. One of the methods involves integration of the radial part over the momentum space, while the other only requires computations in the coordinate space. This has an influence in the complexity of the numerical approach and the necessary computation time. We will explain how this reflects into the obtained results, pointing out the advantages and the limitations of each method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the update of proton driven plasma wakefield acceleration (PDPWA) is given. After a brief introduction to the scheme of PDPWA, a future demonstration experiment is discussed. The particle-in-cell simulation results based on the realistic proton beams from the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) are presented, followed by a simulation study of proton bunch compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft computing approach is expected to play a major role in data assimilation in the field of computational nuclear physics so that multiple or competing model-based data such as nuclear reaction cross sections can be aggregated in the presence of both aleatory (random, stochastic) and epistemic (systematic, originating from lack of knowledge) uncertainties. The paper deals with the aggregation of multi-model generated nuclear data using the probability-box approach. Random set theory provides the fundamental guidelines for data aggregation in terms of probability bounds. High energy neutron induced production cross sections of radio-nuclides in different elements constitutes important nuclear data in the field of nuclear power production, transmutation of nuclear wastes and basic nuclear physics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent comparisons of independent and unrelated nuclear decay experiments have shown unexplained oscillations that appear to be common in frequency and phase. The most logical explanation for this fluctuation would be some common systematic or environmental factor. In this paper we provide detailed spectral analysis comparisons of several environmental factors with nuclear decay data from an experiment performed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. We demonstrate that, although none of the environmental factors investigated can be causal, comparisons with ACRIM solar irradiance measurements provide good agreement with the nuclear decay data. This analysis provides the first direct evidence that the cause of the fluctuations has a possible solar origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the status-of-the-art in the development of the off-line reconstruction of ionizing event in LAr-TPC. An overview, from “easy” to progressively more complicated topologies reconstruction is presented. Outcomes from the reconstruction of events collected during the exposure of the ICARUS T600 LAr-TPC to cosmic rays and the exposure of the ArgoNeuT LAr-TPC to low energy neutrinos provides the main subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of the neutrino charged-current deep inelastic scattering measurements published in the last five years. Results from NuTeV, CHORUS, MINOS and NOMAD are discussed. Total neutrino cross section and structure functions results are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the baseline Neutrino Factory muon front end, strong, closely spaced solenoid magnets are used to contain the high emittance muon beam. In addition, significant acceleration is required for bunching, phase rotation and cooling, requiring RF cavities operating near to their maximum achievable gradient. There are experimental indications that RF cavities may not be able to achieve these large gradients in the presence of such intense magnetic fields. In this paper, I discuss the design of a muon cooling channel that is designed with RF cavities removed from the intense magnetic fields, and examine the change in performance that results from this compromise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The initial commissioning of the beam line for the T2K long baseline neutrino experiment was carried out in April and May of 2009. This paper contains an overview of the beam line components and presents initial results from the beam line commissioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a surge of progress and published results in neutrino cross-section physics in recent years. In many cases, absolute differential cross-sections are being measured for the first time and can be compared to interaction models first developed decades ago. These measurements are important input for the next generation of accelerator-based neutrino oscillation experiments where precise understanding of both signal and background channels will be critical to the observation of sub-dominant oscillation effects. This paper discusses recent results from several experiments and describes new experiments currently under construction dedicated to making these measurements with unprecedented precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]