Search

We have performed a detailed γ-ray spectroscopy study of the nucleus, 49Mn, using the GRETINA tracking array and FMA recoil separator. With this powerful new setup, low-spin excited states, which are most relevant for astrophysical processes, have been identified for the first time, including four proton-unbound levels, corresponding to key astrophysical resonances in the 48Cr(p,γ)49Mn reaction. Of these four levels, two were found to dominate the 48Cr(p,γ)49Mn reaction for temperatures, T = 0.2 − 1.4 GK, and uncertainties in the rate have been reduced by more than 3 orders of magnitude. Specifically, γ decays were observed from 1/2+ and 3/2− excited states at Ex = 2570.9(26) keV and 2595.8(21) keV, corresponding to an ℓ = 0 and ℓ = 1 resonance in the 48Cr + p system at Er = 482.9(84) keV and 507.9(83) keV, respectively. Present simulations of Type-I X-ray burst nucleosynthesis indicate that the newly defined 48Cr(p,γ) reaction rate is sufficiently fast to drive the flow of material towards higher masses in such environments. Consequently, despite the relatively long half life of 48Cr, we now do not expect a strong waiting point in the rp process at A = 48.

The vortex photon beam induced nuclear reaction is studied. The interaction formalism of nuclei with vortex photons is developed and incorporated into the statistical reaction model to calculate reaction cross-sections. For 138 nuclei of high nuclear astrophysics and structure interest, the cross-sections of γ-ray emission and neutron production from the decay of the giant resonances (GR) populated by vortex photons, e.g., (γvo,γemit) and (γvo,nprod.), are computed. It is shown that for the (γvo,γemit) and (γvo,nprod.) cross-sections, the GR contribution of an individual L is either enhanced or suppressed depending on the parameters of vortex γ-rays, and the contribution from the GR of a specific L can be identified and deduced. To this end, a novel method to exclusively determine the γ-strength function (γSF) for the GR of a specific L is proposed considering the (γvo,γemit) and (γvo,nprod.) measurements, and the feasibility studies demonstrate that the γSF for the giant quadrupole resonance can be extracted. Furthermore, the astrophysical reaction rates of the vortex photon induced reactions in p-process are investigated. It is indicated that photo-nuclear reactions induced by vortex photons will bring new insights in nuclear physics and astrophysics research.

The flavor evolution of neutrinos in core collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers is a critically important unsolved problem in astrophysics. Following the electron flavor evolution of the neutrino system is essential for calculating the thermodynamics of compact objects as well as the chemical elements they produce. Accurately accounting for flavor transformation in these environments is challenging for a number of reasons, including the large number of neutrinos involved, the small spatial scale of the oscillation, and the nonlinearity of the system. We take a step in addressing these issues by presenting a method which describes the neutrino fields in terms of angular moments. We apply our moment method to neutron star merger conditions and show it simulates fast flavor neutrino transformation in a region where this phenomenon is expected to occur. By comparing with particle-in-cell calculations we show that the moment method is able to capture the three phases of growth, saturation, and decoherence, and correctly predicts the lengthscale of the fastest growing fluctuations in the neutrino field.

We have performed a detailed γ -ray spectroscopy study of the nucleus, 49Mn, using the GRETINA tracking array and FMA recoil separator. With this powerful new setup, low-spin excited states, which are most relevant for astrophysical processes, have been identified for the first time, including four proton-unbound levels, corresponding to key astrophysical resonances in the 48Cr(p , γ)49Mn reaction. Of these four levels, two were found to dominate the 48Cr(p , γ)49Mn reaction for temperatures, T = 0.2 − 1.4 GK, and uncertainties in the rate have been reduced by more than 3 orders of magnitude. Specifically, γ decays were observed from 1/2+ and 3/2− excited states at E x = 2570.9(26) keV and 2595.8(21) keV, corresponding to an ℓ = 0 and ℓ = 1 resonance in the 48Cr + p system at E r = 482.9(84) keV and 507.9(83) keV, respectively. Present simulations of Type-I X-ray burst nucleosynthesis indicate that the newly defined 48Cr(p , γ) reaction rate is sufficiently fast to drive the flow of material towards higher masses in such environments. Consequently, despite the relatively long half life of 48Cr, we now do not expect a strong waiting point in the rp process at A = 48. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the low-lying monopole strength in C12—the Hoyle state in particular—is crucial for our understanding of both the astrophysically important 3α reaction and of α-particle clustering. Multiple theoretical models have predicted a breathing mode of the Hoyle State at Ex≈9 MeV, corresponding to a radial in-phase oscillation of the underlying α clusters. The C12(α,α′)C12 and C14(p,t)C12 reactions were employed to populate states in 12C in order to search for this predicted breathing mode. A self-consistent, simultaneous analysis of the inclusive spectra with R-matrix lineshapes, together with angular distributions of charged-particle decay, yielded clear evidence for excess monopole strength at Ex≈9 MeV which is highly collective. Reproduction of the experimentally observed inclusive yields using a fit, with consistent population ratios for the various broad states, required an additional source of monopole strength. The interpretation of this additional monopole resonance as the breathing-mode excitation of the Hoyle state would provide evidence supporting a D3h symmetry for the Hoyle state itself. The excess monopole strength may complicate analysis of the properties of the Hoyle state, modifying the temperature dependence of the 3α rate at T9≳2 and ultimately, the predicted nucleosynthesis in explosive stars.

The 26Al abundance holds a special role in present-day astrophysics, since it is a probe of active nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy and a valuable constraint of Galactic core-collapse supernovae rate. It is estimated through the detection of the 1809-keV γ-line of the daughter 26Mg and from the superabundance of 26Mg in comparison with the most abundant 24Mg isotope in meteorites. Accurate knowledge of the reaction rates involving 26Al, its stable counterpart 27Al and 24Mg is then mandatory. Moreover, these nuclei enter the MgAl cycle playing an important role in the production of Al and Mg isotopes. Recently, high-resolution stellar surveys have shown that the Mg-Al anti-correlation in red giants of globular clusters may hide the existence of multiple stellar populations, and that the relative abundances of Mg isotopes may not show correlation with Al.The common thread running through these astrophysical scenarios is the 27Al(p,α)24Mg reaction, which is the main 27Al destruction channel and directly correlates its abundance with the 24Mg one. Since available reaction rates show an order of magnitude uncertainty owing to the vanishingly small cross section at astrophysical energies, we have applied the Trojan Horse Method to deduce the reaction rate with no need of extrapolation. The indirect measurement made it possible to assess the contribution of the 84-keV resonance and to lower the upper limits on the strength of nearby resonances, with potential important impact for astrophysics. In particular, modifications in the 27Al and 24Mg abundances up to ∼30% are predicted for intermediate mass stars.

The reaction Be(p7,γ)8B plays an important role in the Sun, where it determines the high energy component of the solar neutrino spectrum. The importance of this reaction triggered several experiments over the last decades. A combined analysis of their results produces an overall consistent picture for the energy dependence of the cross section, while an inflation of the quoted uncertainties is needed to accommodate the observed discrepancy in the absolute scale of the different data sets. The origin of this discrepancy needs to be understood for a reliable estimate of the astrophysical rate of Be(p7,γ)8B and its uncertainty. In addition, there is a question about possible common systematic effects, considering that all measurements performed so far share the same experimental approach, i.e. an intense proton beam impinging on a Be7 radioactive target. A direct measurement using a radioactive Be7 ion beam on a pure hydrogen gas target has been since long envisioned as a way to improve the situation. First attempts showed the feasibility of an experiment based on the use of a recoil mass separator to collect reaction products with high efficiency, but failed to reach a useful statistical significance because of the low beam intensity. Here we present the results obtained using the intense Be7 beam available at the Tandem Accelerator Laboratory at CIRCE, University of Campania, Italy coupled to the recoil mass separator ERNA in the energy range Ecm=367 to 812 keV. Our results are compatible only with a part of previous measurements, in particular those indicating a low value of the astrophysical S-factor at zero energy S17, thus exacerbating the discrepancy between existing measurements. The analysis of our data together with the results of previous data provides an estimate S17(0)=20.0±0.8 eV⋅b, where systematic uncertainties are inflated to obtain a statistically compatible data set.

The vortex photon beam induced nuclear reaction is studied. The interaction formalism of nuclei with vortex photons is developed and incorporated into the statistical reaction model to calculate reaction cross-sections. For 138 nuclei of high nuclear astrophysics and structure interest, the cross-sections of γ -ray emission and neutron production from the decay of the giant resonances (GR) populated by vortex photons, e.g. , (γ v o , γ e m i t) and (γ v o ,n p r o d.), are computed. It is shown that for the (γ v o , γ e m i t) and (γ v o ,n p r o d.) cross-sections, the GR contribution of an individual L is either enhanced or suppressed depending on the parameters of vortex γ -rays, and the contribution from the GR of a specific L can be identified and deduced. To this end, a novel method to exclusively determine the γ -strength function (γ SF) for the GR of a specific L is proposed considering the (γ v o , γ e m i t) and (γ v o , n p r o d.) measurements, and the feasibility studies demonstrate that the γ SF for the giant quadrupole resonance can be extracted. Furthermore, the astrophysical reaction rates of the vortex photon induced reactions in p-process are investigated. It is indicated that photo-nuclear reactions induced by vortex photons will bring new insights in nuclear physics and astrophysics research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first-forbidden transition of nuclear β decay is expected to play crucial roles in many aspects in nuclear physics, nuclear astrophysics and particle physics such as the stellar β -decay rates and the reactor anti-neutrino spectra. In this work we develop the projected shell model (PSM) for description of first-forbidden transition of nuclear β decay for the first time. Detailed theoretical framework and logics are provided, and 35 dominant first-forbidden transitions that are expected to be important for the reactor anti-neutrino spectra problems are calculated and compared systematically with the data to test the new development of the PSM. The corresponding experimental Log f 0 t values are described reasonably, and the quenching factors of nuclear matrix elements are found to affect the Log f 0 t values as well as the related shape factors, which may be helpful for better understanding of the reactor anti-neutrino spectra problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 92-keV resonance in the 25Mg(p,γ)26Al reaction plays a key role in the production of 26Al at astrophysical burning temperatures of ≈100 MK in the Mg-Al cycle. However, the state can decay to feed either the ground, 26gAl, or isomeric state, 26mAl. It is the ground state that is critical as the source of cosmic γ rays. It is therefore important to precisely determine the ground-state branching fraction f0 of this resonance. Here we report on the identification of four γ-ray transitions from the 92-keV resonance, and determine the spin of the state and its ground-state branching fraction f0=0.52(2)stat(6)syst. The f0 value is the most precise reported to date, and at the lower end of the range of previously adopted values, implying a lower production rate of 26gAl and its cosmic 1809-keV γ rays.

The detection of the neutrinos produced in the p−p chain and in the CNO cycle can be used to test the Standard Solar Model. The 3He(α,γ)7Be reaction is the first reaction of the 2nd and 3rd branch of the p−p chain, therefore, the uncertainty of its cross section sensitively influences the prediction of the 7Be and 8B neutrino fluxes. Despite its importance and the large number of experimental and theoretical works devoted to this reaction, the knowledge on the reaction cross section at energies characterizing the core of the Sun (15 keV - 30 keV) is limited and further experimental efforts are needed to reach the desired (≈ 3%) accuracy. The precise knowledge on the external capture contribution to the 3He(α,γ)7Be reaction cross section is crucial for the theoretical description of the reaction mechanism. In the present work the indirect measurement of this external capture contribution using the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient (ANC) technique is reported. To extract the ANC, the angular distributions of deuterons emitted in the 6Li(3He,d)7Be α-transfer reaction were measured with high precision at EH3e = 3.0 MeV and EH3e = 5.0 MeV. The ANCs were then extracted from comparison of DWBA calculations to the measured data and the zero energy astrophysical S-factor for 3He(α,γ)7Be reaction was found to be 0.534 ± 0.025 keVb.

The stellar reaction rates of radiative α-capture reactions on heavy isotopes are of crucial importance for the γ process network calculations. These rates are usually derived from statistical model calculations, which need to be validated, but the experimental database is very scarce. This paper presents the results of α-induced reaction cross section measurements on iridium isotopes carried out at first close to the astrophysically relevant energy region. Thick target yields of 191Ir(α,γ)195Au, 191Ir(α,n)194Au, 193Ir(α,n)196mAu, 193Ir(α,n)196Au reactions have been measured with the activation technique between Eα=13.4 MeV and 17 MeV. For the first time the thick target yield was determined with X-ray counting. This led to a previously unprecedented sensitivity. From the measured thick target yields, reaction cross sections are derived and compared with statistical model calculations. The recently suggested energy-dependent modification of the α+nucleus optical potential gives a good description of the experimental data.

Based on the structure input directly from the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc), we fully study reaction observables to search for halo evidence of 37Mg with the Glauber model. In this scheme, we evaluate the reaction cross sections of 20 – 37 Mg bombarding a C target at 240 MeV/nucleon and find that most of the results agree well with the experimental data within 1 σ uncertainty, especially good for the case of 37Mg. Our predicted doubling of the cross section change from 36Mg to 37Mg over that from 34Mg to 35Mg is consistent with a halo structure in 37Mg. Additionally, our calculated narrow longitudinal momentum distribution of 36Mg residues from 37Mg + 12C breakup agrees well with data and imply a nuclear size much larger than 35Mg. Furthermore, our study shows a dominant p -wave contribution to the longitudinal momentum distribution, supporting the conclusion that 37Mg is a p -wave halo nucleus. Our study provides the first unified description of the halo characteristics of 37Mg from nuclear structure to reaction dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiative neutron capture rates for isotopes of astrophysical interest are commonly calculated on the basis of the statistical Hauser Feshbach (HF) reaction model, leading to smooth and monotonically varying temperature-dependent Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS). The HF approximation is known to be valid if the number of resonances in the compound system is relatively high. However, such a condition is hardly fulfilled for keV neutrons captured on light or exotic neutron-rich nuclei. For this reason, a different procedure is proposed here, based on the generation of statistical resonances. This novel technique, called the “High Fidelity Resonance” (HFR) method is shown to provide similar results as the HF approach for nuclei with a high level density but to deviate and be more realistic than HF predictions for light and neutron-rich nuclei or at relatively low sub-keV energies. The MACS derived with the HFR method are systematically compared with the traditional HF calculations for some 3300 neutron-rich nuclei and shown to give rise to significantly larger predictions with respect to the HF approach at energies of astrophysical relevance. For this reason, the HF approach should not be applied to light or neutron-rich nuclei. The Doppler broadening of the generated resonances is also studied and found to have a negligible impact on the calculated MACS.

The NeNa and the MgAl cycles play a fundamental role in the nucleosynthesis of asymptotic giant branch stars undergoing hot bottom burning. The Na 23 (p , γ) 24 Mg reaction links these two cycles and a precise determination of its rate is required to correctly estimate the contribution of these stars to the chemical evolution of various isotopes of Na, Mg and Al. At temperatures of 50 ≲ T ≲ 110 MK , narrow resonances at E p = 140 and 251 keV are the main contributors to the reaction rate, in addition to the direct capture that dominates in the lower part of the temperature range. We present new measurements of the strengths of these resonances at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA). We have used two complementary detection approaches: high efficiency with a 4 π BGO detector for the 140 keV resonance, and high resolution with a HPGe detector for the 251 keV resonance. Thanks to the reduced cosmic ray background of LUNA, we were able to determine the resonance strength of the 251 keV resonance as ω γ = 482 (82) μ eV and observed new gamma ray transitions for the decay of the corresponding state in Mg 24 at E x = 11931 keV. With the highly efficient BGO detector, we observed a signal for the 140 keV resonance for the first time in a direct measurement, resulting in a strength of ω γ 140 = 1.46 − 0.53 + 0.58 neV (68% CL). Our measurement reduces the uncertainty of the Na 23 (p , γ) 24 Mg reaction rate in the temperature range from 0.05 to 0.1 GK to at most − 35 % + 50 % at 0.07 GK. Accordingly, our results imply a significant reduction of the uncertainties in the nucleosynthesis calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flavor evolution of neutrinos in core collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers is a critically important unsolved problem in astrophysics. Following the electron flavor evolution of the neutrino system is essential for calculating the thermodynamics of compact objects as well as the chemical elements they produce. Accurately accounting for flavor transformation in these environments is challenging for a number of reasons, including the large number of neutrinos involved, the small spatial scale of the oscillation, and the nonlinearity of the system. We take a step in addressing these issues by presenting a method which describes the neutrino fields in terms of angular moments. We apply our moment method to neutron star merger conditions and show it simulates fast flavor neutrino transformation in a region where this phenomenon is expected to occur. By comparing with particle-in-cell calculations we show that the moment method is able to capture the three phases of growth, saturation, and decoherence, and correctly predicts the lengthscale of the fastest growing fluctuations in the neutrino field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A big part in understanding the nucleosynthesis of heavy nuclei is a proper description of the effective interaction between an α-particle and a target nucleus. Information about the so-called α+nucleus optical-model potential is achieved by precise cross-section measurements at sub-Coulomb energies aiming to constrain the theoretical models for the nuclear physics input-parameters. The cross sections of the 108Cd(α,γ) and 108Cd(α,n) reaction have been measured for the first time close to the astrophysically relevant energy region via the in-beam method at the high-efficiency γ-ray spectrometer HORUS and via the activation technique at the Cologne Clover Counting Setup at the Institute for Nuclear Physics in Cologne, Germany. Comparisons between experimental results and theoretical predictions calculated in the scope of the Hauser–Feshbach statistical model confirm the need for a exponentially decreasing imaginary part of the potential. Moreover, it is shown that the results presented here together with already published data indicate that a systematic investigation of the real part of the potential could help to further improve the understanding of reactions involving α-particles.

We derive the finite-volume correction to the binding energy of an N -particle quantum bound state in a cubic periodic volume. Our results are applicable to bound states with arbitrary composition and total angular momentum, and in any number of spatial dimensions. The only assumptions are that the interactions have finite range. The finite-volume correction is a sum of contributions from all possible breakup channels. In the case where the separation is into two bound clusters, our result gives the leading volume dependence up to exponentially small corrections. If the separation is into three or more clusters, there is a power-law factor that is beyond the scope of this work, however our result again determines the leading exponential dependence. We also present two independent methods that use finite-volume data to determine asymptotic normalization coefficients. The coefficients are useful to determine low-energy capture reactions into weakly bound states relevant for nuclear astrophysics. Using the techniques introduced here, one can even extract the infinite-volume energy limit using data from a single-volume calculation. The derived relations are tested using several exactly solvable systems and numerical examples. We anticipate immediate applications to lattice calculations of hadronic, nuclear, and cold atomic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stellar reaction rates of radiative α -capture reactions on heavy isotopes are of crucial importance for the γ process network calculations. These rates are usually derived from statistical model calculations, which need to be validated, but the experimental database is very scarce. This paper presents the results of α -induced reaction cross section measurements on iridium isotopes carried out at first close to the astrophysically relevant energy region. Thick target yields of 191 Ir( α , γ ) 195 Au, 191 Ir( α ,n) 194 Au, 193 Ir( α ,n) 196 m Au, 193 Ir( α ,n) 196 Au reactions have been measured with the activation technique between E α = 13.4  MeV and 17 MeV. For the first time the thick target yield was determined with X-ray counting. This led to a previously unprecedented sensitivity. From the measured thick target yields, reaction cross sections are derived and compared with statistical model calculations. The recently suggested energy-dependent modification of the α + nucleus optical potential gives a good description of the experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the foundation of the Trojan Horse Method (THM) within the Inclusive Non-Elastic Breakup (INEB) theory. We demonstrate that the direct part of the INEB cross section, which is of two-step character, becomes, in the DWBA limit of the three-body theory with appropriate approximations and redefinitions, similar in structure to the one-step THM cross section. We also discuss the connection of the THM to the Surrogate Method (SM), which is a genuine two-step process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton–deuteron fusion reaction has been studied using a proton beam with an energy of 260 keV and a deuterium-implanted graphite target. The reaction product, 3 He, usually de-excites by γ -ray emission. However, instead of a γ ray, 3 He can emit an electron with a discrete energy of 5.6 MeV, due to electron screening in graphite. Such electrons were identified with the ΔE–E technique. The emission of fast electrons shows that electron screening causes the electrons to approach the nuclei during the reaction very closely. Different behavior of nuclear reactions at low and high energies was also demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The radiative neutron capture rates for isotopes of astrophysical interest are commonly calculated on the basis of the statistical Hauser Feshbach (HF) reaction model, leading to smooth and monotonically varying temperature-dependent Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS). The HF approximation is known to be valid if the number of resonances in the compound system is relatively high. However, such a condition is hardly fulfilled for keV neutrons captured on light or exotic neutron-rich nuclei. For this reason, a different procedure is proposed here, based on the generation of statistical resonances. This novel technique, called the “High Fidelity Resonance” (HFR) method is shown to provide similar results as the HF approach for nuclei with a high level density but to deviate and be more realistic than HF predictions for light and neutron-rich nuclei or at relatively low sub-keV energies. The MACS derived with the HFR method are systematically compared with the traditional HF calculations for some 3300 neutron-rich nuclei and shown to give rise to significantly larger predictions with respect to the HF approach at energies of astrophysical relevance. For this reason, the HF approach should not be applied to light or neutron-rich nuclei. The Doppler broadening of the generated resonances is also studied and found to have a negligible impact on the calculated MACS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A big part in understanding the nucleosynthesis of heavy nuclei is a proper description of the effective interaction between an α -particle and a target nucleus. Information about the so-called α + nucleus optical-model potential is achieved by precise cross-section measurements at sub-Coulomb energies aiming to constrain the theoretical models for the nuclear physics input-parameters. The cross sections of the 108 Cd( α , γ ) and 108 Cd( α , n ) reaction have been measured for the first time close to the astrophysically relevant energy region via the in-beam method at the high-efficiency γ -ray spectrometer HORUS and via the activation technique at the Cologne Clover Counting Setup at the Institute for Nuclear Physics in Cologne, Germany. Comparisons between experimental results and theoretical predictions calculated in the scope of the Hauser–Feshbach statistical model confirm the need for a exponentially decreasing imaginary part of the potential. Moreover, it is shown that the results presented here together with already published data indicate that a systematic investigation of the real part of the potential could help to further improve the understanding of reactions involving α -particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A resonance with a mass of approximately 750 GeV has recently been “observed” at the LHC in its diphoton decay. If this state is not simply a statistical fluctuation which will disappear with more data, it could have important implications not only for particle physics but also for cosmology. In this note, we analyze the implications of such a resonance for the dark matter (DM). Assuming a spin- 1 2 DM particle, we first verify that indeed the correct relic density can be obtained for a wide range of the particle mass and weak scale coupling, that are compatible with present data. We then show that the combination of near future direct and indirect detection experiments will allow to probe the CP-nature of the mediator resonance, i.e. discriminate whether it is a scalar or a pseudoscalar like particle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the possibility of interpreting the recently reported diphoton excess at 750 GeV as a spin-two massive particle (such as a Kaluza–Klein graviton in warped extra-dimensions) which serves as a mediator to Dark Matter via its gravitational couplings to the dark sector and to the Standard Model (SM). We model non-universal couplings of the resonance to gauge bosons in the SM and to Dark Matter as a function on their localization in the extra dimension. We find that scalar, fermion or vector dark matter can saturate the dark matter relic density by the annihilation of dark matter into a pair of the SM particles or heavy resonances, in agreement with the diphoton resonance signal strength. We check the compatibility of our hypothesis with other searches for the KK graviton. We show that the invisible decay rate of the resonance into a pair of dark matter is subdominant in the region of the correct relic density, hence leading to no constraints from the mono-jet bound at 8 TeV via the gluon coupling. We also discuss the kinematic features of the decay products of a KK graviton to distinguish the KK graviton from the SM backgrounds or a scalar particle interpretation of the diphoton resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a four-loop induced radiative neutrino mass model inspired by the diphoton excess at 750 GeV recently reported by ATLAS and CMS, in which a sizable diphoton excess is obtained via photon fusion introducing multi doubly-charged scalar bosons. Also we discuss the muon anomalous magnetic moment, and a dark matter candidate. The main process to explain the observed relic density relies on the final state of the new particle at 750 GeV. Finally we show the numerical results and obtain allowed region of several physical values in our model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have shown that changes occur in a ( 2 + 1 ) -dimensional charged black hole by adding a charged probe. The particle increases the entropy of the black hole and guarantees the second law of thermodynamics. The first law of thermodynamics is derived from the change in the black hole mass. Using the particle absorption, we test the extremal black hole and find out that the mass of the extremal black hole increases more than the electric charge. Therefore, the outer horizon of the black hole still exists. However, the extremal condition becomes non-extremal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coupling between spin and torsion in the Einstein–Cartan–Sciama–Kibble theory of gravity generates gravitational repulsion at very high densities, which prevents a singularity in a black hole and may create there a new universe. We show that quantum particle production in such a universe near the last bounce, which represents the Big Bang, gives the dynamics that solves the horizon, flatness, and homogeneity problems in cosmology. For a particular range of the particle production coefficient, we obtain a nearly constant Hubble parameter that gives an exponential expansion of the universe with more than 60 e -folds, which lasts about ∼ 10 − 42 s . This scenario can thus explain cosmic inflation without requiring a fundamental scalar field and reheating. From the obtained time dependence of the scale factor, we follow the prescription of Ellis and Madsen to reconstruct in a non-parametric way a scalar field potential which gives the same dynamics of the early universe. This potential gives the slow-roll parameters of cosmic inflation, from which we calculate the tensor-to-scalar ratio, the scalar spectral index of density perturbations, and its running as functions of the production coefficient. We find that these quantities do not significantly depend on the scale factor at the Big Bounce. Our predictions for these quantities are consistent with the Planck 2015 observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SO ( 10 ) grand unified theories can ensure the stability of new particles in terms of the gauge group structure itself, and in this respect are well suited to accommodate dark matter (DM) candidates in the form of new stable massive particles. We introduce new fermions in two vector 10 representations. When SO ( 10 ) is broken into the standard model by a minimal 45 + 126 ‾ + 10 scalar sector with SU ( 3 ) C ⊗ SU ( 2 ) L ⊗ SU ( 2 ) R ⊗ U ( 1 ) B − L as intermediate symmetry group, the resulting lightest new states are two Dirac fermions corresponding to combinations of the neutral members of the SU ( 2 ) L doublets in the 10 s, which get split in mass by loop corrections involving W R . The resulting lighter mass eigenstate is stable, and has only non-diagonal Z L , R neutral current couplings to the heavier neutral state. Direct detection searches are evaded if the mass splitting is sufficiently large to suppress kinematically inelastic light-to-heavy scatterings. By requiring that this condition is satisfied, we obtain the upper limit M W R ≲ 25 TeV . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate light dark matter production associated with a heavy quarkonium at B factories in a model-independent way by adopting the effective field theory approach for the interaction of dark matter with standard model particles. We consider the effective operators for the dark matter–heavy quark interaction, which are relevant to the production of dark matter associated with a heavy quarkonium. We calculate the cross sections for dark matter production associated with a J / ψ or η c to compare with the standard model backgrounds. We set bounds on the energy scale of new physics for various effective operators and also obtain the corresponding limits for the dark matter–nucleon scattering cross sections for light dark matter with mass of the order of a few GeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In supersymmetric theories, topological defects can have nontrivial behaviors determined purely by whether or not supersymmetry is restored in the defect core. A well-known example of this is that some supersymmetric cosmic strings are automatically superconducting, leading to important cosmological effects and constraints. We investigate the impact of nontrivial kinetic interactions, present in a number of particle physics models of interest in cosmology, on the relationship between supersymmetry and supercurrents on strings. We find that in some cases it is possible for superconductivity to be disrupted by the extra interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum genesis of Hawking radiation is a long-standing puzzle in black hole physics. Semi-classically one can argue that the spectrum of radiation emitted by a black hole look very much sparse unlike what is expected from a thermal object. It was demonstrated through a simple quantum model that a quantum black hole will retain a discrete profile, at least in the weak energy regime. However, it was suggested that this discreteness might be an artifact of the simplicity of eigen-spectrum of the model considered. Different quantum theories can, in principle, give rise to different complicated spectra and make the radiation from black hole dense enough in transition lines, to make them look continuous in profile. We show that such a hope from a geometry-quantized black hole is not realized as long as large enough black holes are dubbed with a classical mass area relation in any gravity theory ranging from GR, Lanczos–Lovelock to f(R) gravity. We show that the smallest frequency of emission from black hole in any quantum description, is bounded from below, to be of the order of its inverse mass. That leaves the emission with only two possibilities. It can either be non-thermal, or it can be thermal only with the temperature being much larger than 1/M. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the Palatini formalism of the Born–Infeld gravity. In the Palatini formalism, the propagating mode is only graviton, whose situation is different from that in the metric formalism. We discuss the FRW cosmology by using an effective potential. Especially we consider the condition that the bouncing could occur. We also give some speculations about the black hole formation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study RN/CFT correspondence for four dimensional extremal Reissner–Nordstrom black hole. We uplift the 4d RN black hole to a 5d rotating black hole and make a geometric regularization of the 5d space–time. Both hands central charges are obtained correctly at the same time by Brown–Henneaux technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will analyze the effect of thermal fluctuations on the thermodynamics of a charged dilatonic black Saturn. These thermal fluctuations will correct the thermodynamics of the charged dilatonic black Saturn. We will analyze the corrections to the thermodynamics of this system by first relating the fluctuations in the entropy to the fluctuations in the energy. Then, we will use the relation between entropy and a conformal field theory to analyze the fluctuations in the entropy. We will demonstrate that similar physical results are obtained from both these approaches. We will also study the effect of thermal fluctuations on the phase transition in this charged dilatonic black Saturn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate measurements of nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest within, or close to, the Gamow peak show evidence of an unexpected effect attributed to the presence of atomic electrons in the target. The experiments need to include an effective “screening” potential to explain the enhancement of the cross sections at the lowest measurable energies. Despite various theoretical studies conducted over the past 20 years and numerous experimental measurements, a theory has not yet been found that can explain the cause of the exceedingly high values of the screening potential needed to explain the data. In this letter we show that instead of an atomic physics solution of the “electron screening puzzle”, the reason for the large screening potential values is in fact due to clusterization effects in nuclear reactions, in particular for reaction involving light nuclei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The well-known superradiant amplification mechanism allows a charged scalar field of proper mass μ and electric charge q to extract the Coulomb energy of a charged Reissner–Nordström black hole. The rate of energy extraction can grow exponentially in time if the system is placed inside a reflecting cavity which prevents the charged scalar field from escaping to infinity. This composed black-hole-charged-scalar-field-mirror system is known as the charged black-hole bomb . Previous numerical studies of this composed physical system have shown that, in the linearized regime, the inequality q / μ > 1 provides a necessary condition for the development of the superradiant instability. In the present paper we use analytical techniques to study the instability properties of the charged black-hole bomb in the regime of linearized scalar fields. In particular, we prove that the lower bound q μ > r m / r − − 1 r m / r + − 1 provides a necessary condition for the development of the superradiant instability in this composed physical system (here r ± are the horizon radii of the charged Reissner–Nordström black hole and r m is the radius of the confining mirror). This analytically derived lower bound on the superradiant instability regime of the composed black-hole-charged-scalar-field-mirror system is shown to agree with direct numerical computations of the instability spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An anomaly-free U(1) gauge extension of the standard model (SM) is presented. Only one Higgs doublet with a nonzero vacuum expectation is required as in the SM. New fermions and scalars as well as all SM particles transform nontrivially under this U(1), resulting in a model of three active neutrinos and one sterile neutrino, all acquiring radiative masses. Charged-lepton masses are also radiative as well as the mixing between active and sterile neutrinos. At the same time, a residual Z 2 symmetry of the U(1) gauge symmetry remains exact, allowing for the existence of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the C 12 ( α , γ ) 16 O reaction plays a central role in nuclear astrophysics, the cross section at energies relevant to hydrostatic helium burning is too small to be directly measured in the laboratory. The β -delayed α spectrum of 16 N can be used to constrain the extrapolation of the E1 component of the S -factor; however, with this approach the resulting S -factor becomes strongly correlated with the assumed βα branching ratio. We have remeasured the βα branching ratio by implanting 16 N ions in a segmented Si detector and counting the number of βα decays relative to the number of implantations. Our result, 1.49 ( 5 ) × 10 − 5 , represents a 24 % increase compared to the accepted value and implies an increase of ≈ 10 % in the extrapolated S -factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 19 F(p,  α 0 ) 16 O reaction at low energies plays an important role in fundamental physics. In particular in nuclear astrophysics it represents, together with the 19 F(p,  γ ) 20 Ne reaction, the crossing point between the CNO and the NeNa cycles in stars. Further, in hydrogen-rich stellar environments, it is the most important fluorine destruction channel. In this paper we report new measurements on the 19 F(p,  α 0 ) 16 O reaction at deeply sub-Coulomb energies (0.2–0.6 MeV), a region where, despite the key role of this reaction, very few and old data are reported. The deduced astrophysical S -factor is ≈ 1.5 – 2 times larger than currently adopted extrapolations with possibly important astrophysical consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial cross sections of the Y 89 ( p , γ ) Zr 90 reaction have been measured to investigate the γ -ray strength function in the neutron–magic nucleus 90 Zr. For five proton energies between E p = 3.65 MeV and E p = 4.70 MeV , partial cross sections for the population of seven discrete states in 90 Zr have been determined by means of in-beam γ -ray spectroscopy. Since these γ -ray transitions are dominantly of E 1 character, the present measurement allows an access to the low-lying dipole strength in 90 Zr. A γ -ray strength function based on the experimental data could be extracted, which is used to describe the total and partial cross sections of this reaction by Hauser–Feshbach calculations successfully. Significant differences with respect to previously measured strength functions from photoabsorption data point towards deviations from the Brink–Axel hypothesis relating the photo-excitation and de-excitation strength functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the first results of DarkSide-50, a direct search for dark matter operating in the underground Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) and searching for the rare nuclear recoils possibly induced by weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The dark matter detector is a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber with a ( 46.4 ± 0.7 ) kg active mass, operated inside a 30 t organic liquid scintillator neutron veto, which is in turn installed at the center of a 1 kt water Cherenkov veto for the residual flux of cosmic rays. We report here the null results of a dark matter search for a ( 1422 ± 67 ) kg d exposure with an atmospheric argon fill. This is the most sensitive dark matter search performed with an argon target, corresponding to a 90% CL upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section of 6.1 × 10 − 44 cm 2 for a WIMP mass of 100 Gev / c 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross sections of the Er162(α,γ)Yb166 and Er162(α,n)Yb165 reactions have been measured for the first time. The radiative alpha capture reaction cross section was measured from Ec.m.=16.09 MeV down to Ec.m.=11.21 MeV, close to the astrophysically relevant region (which lies between 7.8 and 11.48 MeV at 3 GK stellar temperature). The Er162(α,n)Yb165 reaction was studied above the reaction threshold between Ec.m.=12.19 and 16.09 MeV. The fact that the Er162(α,γ)Yb166 cross sections were measured below the (α,n) threshold at first time in this mass region opens the opportunity to study directly the α-widths required for the determination of astrophysical reaction rates. The data clearly show that compound nucleus formation in this reaction proceeds differently than previously predicted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge of the low-lying monopole strength in C 12 —the Hoyle state in particular—is crucial for our understanding of both the astrophysically important 3 α reaction and of α -particle clustering. Multiple theoretical models have predicted a breathing mode of the Hoyle State at E x ≈ 9 MeV, corresponding to a radial in-phase oscillation of the underlying α clusters. The C 12 (α , α ′) C 12 and C 14 (p , t) C 12 reactions were employed to populate states in 12C in order to search for this predicted breathing mode. A self-consistent, simultaneous analysis of the inclusive spectra with R -matrix lineshapes, together with angular distributions of charged-particle decay, yielded clear evidence for excess monopole strength at E x ≈ 9 MeV which is highly collective. Reproduction of the experimentally observed inclusive yields using a fit, with consistent population ratios for the various broad states, required an additional source of monopole strength. The interpretation of this additional monopole resonance as the breathing-mode excitation of the Hoyle state would provide evidence supporting a D 3 h symmetry for the Hoyle state itself. The excess monopole strength may complicate analysis of the properties of the Hoyle state, modifying the temperature dependence of the 3 α rate at T 9 ≳ 2 and ultimately, the predicted nucleosynthesis in explosive stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new indirect measurement of the 27Al(p, α)24Mg has been carried out down to astrophysical energies. • The strength of the 84.3 keV resonance has been measured, and more stringent upper limits of nearby resonances have been set. • A new recommended reaction rate has been established, leading to a factor of 3 lower 27Al destruction rate. • Preliminary nucleosynthesis calculations have shown ∼30% changes in 27Al and 24Mg abundances for intermediate mass stars. The 26Al abundance holds a special role in present-day astrophysics, since it is a probe of active nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy and a valuable constraint of Galactic core-collapse supernovae rate. It is estimated through the detection of the 1809-keV γ -line of the daughter 26Mg and from the superabundance of 26Mg in comparison with the most abundant 24Mg isotope in meteorites. Accurate knowledge of the reaction rates involving 26Al, its stable counterpart 27Al and 24Mg is then mandatory. Moreover, these nuclei enter the MgAl cycle playing an important role in the production of Al and Mg isotopes. Recently, high-resolution stellar surveys have shown that the Mg-Al anti-correlation in red giants of globular clusters may hide the existence of multiple stellar populations, and that the relative abundances of Mg isotopes may not show correlation with Al. The common thread running through these astrophysical scenarios is the 27Al(p, α)24Mg reaction, which is the main 27Al destruction channel and directly correlates its abundance with the 24Mg one. Since available reaction rates show an order of magnitude uncertainty owing to the vanishingly small cross section at astrophysical energies, we have applied the Trojan Horse Method to deduce the reaction rate with no need of extrapolation. The indirect measurement made it possible to assess the contribution of the 84-keV resonance and to lower the upper limits on the strength of nearby resonances, with potential important impact for astrophysics. In particular, modifications in the 27Al and 24Mg abundances up to ∼ 30 % are predicted for intermediate mass stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Under astrophysical conditions of high temperature and density, such as for example found in X-ray bursts, breakout can occur from the hot CNO cycles into the rapid proton capture process. A key breakout route is via the sequence . The reaction rate is expected to be dominated by a single resonance at 457(3) keV. The identity of the resonance has been under discussion for a long time, with and assignments suggested. In this study of the β-delayed proton decay of 20Mg we report a new, significantly more stringent, upper limit on the β-decay branch to this state of 0.02% with a confidence level of 90%. This makes a assignment highly unlikely and favours a assignment for which no branch is expected to be observed. The state is predicted to have a significantly higher resonance strength, and to produce a proportionately higher reaction rate in X-ray burst conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Stellar models show an exceptional sensitivity on the cross section of 12C()16O and a precision of about 10% is required to provide adequate constraints on stellar evolution. A measurement at the astrophysical energy, , is unfeasible due to the extremely low cross section. Furthermore, the extrapolation of existing high-energy data is complicated by a complex reaction scheme. Besides direct measurements of 12C()16O, the β-delayed α-decay of 16N and 12C + 4He elastic scattering provide additional information for the relevant 16O levels. In this Letter we present a new R-matrix analysis, where systematic uncertainties of the included data sets, in particular the absolute normalization, were treated in the fitting procedure. The data were selected according to rigorous criteria in order to reduce uncontrolled systematic effects and, finally, a Monte Carlo approach was used to evaluate the uncertainty at astrophysical energy. The resulting S factor, , is, for the first time, close to the required precision. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the present work we report on a new measurement of resonance strengths ωγ in the reaction 25Mg(p, γ)26Al at and 189 keV. This study was performed at the LUNA facility in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory using a 4π BGO summing crystal. For the first time the 92 keV resonance was directly observed and a resonance strength was determined. Additionally, the γ-ray branchings and strength of the 189 keV resonance were studied with a high resolution HPGe detector yielding an ωγ value in agreement with the BGO measurement, but 20% larger compared to previous works. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]