Search

Spin–isospin excitations in Nb 100 were studied via the Mo 100 ( t , He 3 ) charge-exchange reaction at 115 MeV/u with the goal to constrain theoretical models used to describe the isovector spin response of nuclei. The experiment was performed with a secondary beam of tritons, and 3He particles were analyzed in the S800 magnetic spectrometer. Decay by neutron emission from excited states in Nb 100 was observed by using plastic and liquid scintillator arrays. Differential cross sections were analyzed and monopole excitations were revealed by using a multipole decomposition analysis. The Gamow–Teller transition strength observed at low excitation energies, which is important for estimating the electron-capture rate in astrophysical scenarios, was strongly fragmented and reduced compared to single-particle and spherical mean-field models. The consideration of deformation in the theoretical estimates was found to be important to better describe the fragmentation and strengths. A strong excitation of the isovector spin giant monopole resonance was observed, and well reproduced by the mean-field models. Its presence makes the extraction of Gamow–Teller strengths at high excitation energies difficult. The branches for statistical and direct decay by neutron emission were identified in the spectra. The upper limit for the branching ratio by direct decay (integrated over all observed excitations) was determined to be 20 ± 6 % . Even though the statistical uncertainties in the neutron-coincident data were too large to perform detailed studies of the decay by neutron emission from individual states and resonances, the experiment demonstrates the feasibility of the method.

The Active Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) project at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) is a novel Active Target designed to study nuclear reactions induced by low-intensity exotic beams. The AT-TPC acts as a tracking medium and target at the same time, providing excellent angular (1 ° ) and energy resolution (3% FWHM) and high luminosity . The AT-TPC offers a broad range of applications within the low-energy nuclear physics domain. Resonant scattering and transfer reactions are typically performed with Active Targets using beams with energies spanning from 1 to 10 A MeV and with intensities as low as 100 pps. The AT-TPC is also a promising tool for experiments where the observables of interest require higher beam energies (above 100 A MeV ). In particular, inelastic scattering reactions on light targets, where the recoil particle has a very low kinetic energy (less than 1 MeV), can be performed with such a device. In this work, we discuss aspects of the AT-TPC experimental program, focusing on experiments that leverage the outstanding capabilities this detector offers. In addition, we introduce a conceptual design for a new Time Projection Chamber detector for specific measurements of reactions using special gases as targets.

A search for the K − p p bound state (the lightest kaonic nucleus) has been performed using the γ d → K + π − X reaction at E γ = 1.5 – 2.4 GeV at LEPS/SPring-8. The differential cross section of the K + π − photo-production off deuterium ( d 2 σ / d cos θ K + l a b / d cos θ π − l a b ) has been measured for the first time in this energy region. A peak structure was searched for in the inclusive missing mass spectrum. A statistically significant peak structure was not observed in the region from 2.22 to 2.36 GeV/c2. The upper limits of the differential cross section of the K − p p bound state production were determined to be (0.17–0.55), (0.55–1.7) and (1.1–2.9) μb at 95% confidence level with the assumed widths of 20 MeV, 60 MeV and 100 MeV.

A 71Ga(3He, t)71Ge charge-exchange experiment was performed to extract with high precision the Gamow–Teller (GT) transition strengths to the three lowest-lying states in 71Ge, i.e., the ground state ( 1 / 2 − ) , the 175 keV ( 5 / 2 − ) and the 500 keV ( 3 / 2 − ) excited states. These are the relevant states, which are populated via a charged-current reaction induced by neutrinos from reactor-produced 51Cr and 37Ar sources. A precise measurement of the GT transition strengths is an important input into the calibration of the SAGE and GALLEX solar neutrino detectors and addresses a long-standing discrepancy between the measured and evaluated capture rates from the 51Cr and 37Ar neutrino calibration sources, which has recently spawned new ideas about unconventional neutrino properties.

We report measurements of differential cross sections and decay asymmetries of incoherent ϕ-meson photoproduction from the deuteron at forward angles using linearly polarized photons at E γ = 1.5 – 2.4 GeV . The nuclear transparency ratio for the deuteron shows a large suppression, and is consistent with the A-dependence of the ratio observed in a previous measurement with nuclear targets. The reduction for the deuteron cannot be adequately explained in term of isospin asymmetry. The present results suggest the need of refining our understanding of the ϕ–N interaction within a nucleus.

Differential cross sections and decay asymmetries for coherent $\phi$-meson photoproduction from deuterons were measured for the first time at forward angles using linearly polarized photons at $E_{\gamma}$= 1.5-2.4 GeV. This reaction offers a unique way to directly access natural-parity Pomeron dynamics and gluon exchange at low energies. The cross sections at zero degrees increase with increasing photon energy. The decay asymmetries demonstrate a complete dominance of natural-parity exchange processes, showing that isovector unnatural-parity $\pi$-meson exchange is small. Nevertheless the deduced cross sections of $\phi$-mesons from nucleons contributed by isoscalar t-channel exchange processes are not well described by the conventional Pomeron model., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Final published version

Differential cross sections and photon beam asymmetries for π 0 photoproduction have been measured at E γ = 1.5 – 2.4 GeV and at the π 0 scattering angles, − 1 cos Θ c . m . − 0.6 . The energy-dependence of differential cross sections for u-channel π 0 production has been determined. An enhancement at backward angles is found above E γ = 1.9 GeV . This is likely to be due to u-channel diagrams. Photon beam asymmetries have been obtained for the first time at backward angles, showing a strong angular dependence at E γ > 2.0 GeV .

Ratios of equilibrium charge-state yields for singly to doubly ionized He-3 ions at an energy of 420 MeV were measured using the Grand Raiden magnetic spectrometer at RCNP. Targets with atomic numbers of 6, 12, 28, 40, 50 and 82 were used. It is found that theoretical calculations for atomic electron-capture and stripping cross sections, which have been successful in describing the data up to beam energies of 200 MeV, are also applicable at this higher energy. However, where at the lower energies the stripping cross sections were calculated with a combination of models by Bohr and Gillespie, the best description of the data at E(He-3) = 420 MeV is obtained when using only the model by Gillespie. The experimental results are also compared with calculations using the code CHARGE, originally developed for fast, heavy (Z > 29) projectiles, to test the extrapolation to low-Z projectiles. It is found that the code underestimates the production of singly-charged He-3 ions, in particular for heavier target nuclei. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The (t,3He) charge-exchange reaction has been developed as a tool to extract Gamow-Teller strengths on nuclei of importance for stellar evolution. A secondary triton beam of 115 MeV/nucleon is used, either produced from a primary α beam, or, since recently, from a primary 16O beam. Here, the (t,3He) reaction is used to study the Gamow-Teller strength distribution in 58Co via the 58Ni(t,3He) reaction. The experimental results are compared with calculations in large-scale shell models using the kb3g and gxpf1 interactions, as well as existing data from 58Ni(n, p) and 58Ni(d,2He) experiments. The differences between the data and theoretical models are studied in terms of electron-capture rates in the pre-collapse stages of core-collapse supernovae.

The ( t , 3 He) reaction at 115 MeV/nucleon has been developed as a tool to extract Gamow-Teller strengths. A secondary triton beam was used, initially produced from a primary α -beam, but since recently from a primary 16 O beam. An important advantage of the ( t , 3 He) probe is that the data can be combined with results from the ( 3 He, t ) reaction, so that studies in the Δ T z = − 1 and Δ T z = + 1 direction can be performed with similar probes and good resolutions. This is important for improving the understanding of the reaction mechanism and associated errors in the extraction of transition strengths.

The level structure of 30 S was studied at the NSCL by using neutron removal reactions with a radioactive 31 S beam. The γ -decay from excited states in 30 S was measured in a Ge-detector array. The results discussed for this work will reduce the uncertainties in the determination of the astrophysical 29 P(p, γ ) 30 S reaction rate under rp -process conditions.

Photon beam asymmetries for the γ → p → K + Λ and γ → p → K + Σ 0 reactions have been measured for the photon energy range from 1.5 GeV to 2.4 GeV and for the angular range of 0 ° Θ cm K + 60 ° at the SPring-8/LEPS facility. The observed asymmetries are found to be positive and increase with increasing the photon energy. Present theoretical calculations do not reproduce the data. To extend our knowledge on the K + photoproduction mechanism including the effect of nucleon resonances, further theoretical development is required to fit both the cross section and asymmetry data.

The photo-production of ϕ mesons from Li, C, Al, and Cu at forward angles has been measured at E γ = 1.5 – 2.4 GeV . The number of events for incoherent ϕ photo-production is found to have a target mass number dependence of A 0.72 ± 0.07 in the kinematical region of | t | ⩽ 0.6 GeV 2 / c 2 . The total cross section of the ϕ –nucleon interaction, σ ϕ N , has been estimated as 35 −11 +17 mb using the A -dependence of the ϕ photo-production yield and a Glauber-type multiple scattering theory. This value is much larger than σ ϕ N in free space, suggesting that the ϕ properties might change in the nuclear medium.

The excitation and subsequent decay by proton emission of the isovector spin-flip giant monopole resonance are studied via the Pb-208 (He-3, t) reaction at 410 MeV. In the tritonsingles spectrum 60 +/- 5% of the non-energy-weighted sum-rule strength for this 2hw resonance is found in the region 29

The γ A → π 0 π 0 X reactions is one of the tools to effectively investigate partial restoration of chiral symmetry. An experiment was performed at the LEPS/SPring-8 facility using various nuclear targets. In this experiment, a 2π calorimeter consisting of 252 Lead/SCIFI modules was used to detect the photons coming from the π 0 π 0 decay. A preliminary analysis shows that π 0 π 0 X events are observed.

The GeV photon beam at SPring-8 is produced by backward-Compton scattering of laser photons from 8 GeV electrons. Polarization of the photon beam is ∼100% at the maximum energy with fully polarized laser photons. We report the status of the new facility and the prospect of hadron physics study with this high quality beam. Preliminary results from the first physics run are presented.