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We use coupled-cluster theory and nuclear interactions from chiral effective field theory to compute the nuclear matrix element for the neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay of $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$. Benchmarks with the no-core shell model in several light nuclei inform us about the accuracy of our approach. For $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ we find a relatively small matrix element. We also compute the nuclear matrix element for the two-neutrino double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay of $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ with a quenching factor deduced from two-body currents in recent ab initio calculation of the Ikeda sum rule in $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ [Gysbers et al., Nat. Phys. 15, 428 (2019)].

The generator coordinate method begins with the variational construction of a set of non-orthogonal mean-field states that span a subspace of the full many-body Hilbert space. These states are then often projected onto states with good quantum numbers to restore symmetries, leading to a set with members that can be similar to one another, and it is sometimes possible to reduce this set without greatly affecting results. Here we propose a greedy algorithm that we call the energy-transition-orthogonality procedure (ENTROP) to select subsets of important states. As applied here, the approach selects on the basis of diagonal energy, orthogonality, and contribution to the matrix element that governs neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay. We present both shell-model and preliminary ab initio calculations of this matrix element for the decay of $^{76}$Ge, with quadrupole deformation parameters and the isoscalar pairing strength as generator coordinates. ENTROP converges quickly, reducing significantly the number of basis states needed for an accurate calculation., Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, authors added, some details clarified

The $\ensuremath{\beta}$ decays of $^{103,104m}\mathrm{Nb}$ were studied with the Summing NaI(Tl) (SuN) detector at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay feeding intensity distribution ${I}_{\ensuremath{\beta}}(E)$ for each isotope was extracted by measuring $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays in coincidence with an emitted electron. The ${I}_{\ensuremath{\beta}}(E)$ was extracted via the total absorption spectroscopy technique. The ${I}_{\ensuremath{\beta}}(E)$ for each nucleus was compared to predictions made by the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA) model which is commonly used to calculate $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay properties for astrophysical applications. The main goal was to provide experimental data for neutron-rich nuclei, relevant to the astrophysical $r$ process. In addition, the extracted $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay feeding intensity distributions can lead to a better understanding of nuclear structure in a region of rapid structure changes around $A=100$. Finally, experimental data for $^{104m}\mathrm{Nb}$ are also of interest to antineutrino studies of nuclear reactors.

We develop a fully self-consistent subtracted second random-phase approximation for charge-exchange processes with Skyrme energy-density functionals. As a first application, we study Gamow-Teller excitations in the doubly magic nucleus $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$, the lightest double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ emitter that could be used in an experiment, and in $^{78}\mathrm{Ni}$, the single-beta-decay rate of which is known. The amount of Gamow-Teller strength below 20 or 30 MeV is considerably smaller than in other energy-density-functional calculations and agrees better with experiment in $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$, as does the beta-decay rate in $^{78}\mathrm{Ni}$. These important results, obtained without ad hoc quenching factors, are due to the presence of two-particle--two-hole configurations. Their density progressively increases with excitation energy, leading to a long high-energy tail in the spectrum, a fact that may have implications for the computation of nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay in the same framework.

We compute nuclear matrix elements of neutrinoless double-beta decay mediated by light Majorana-neutrino exchange in the A = 6 system. The goal is to benchmark two many-body approaches, the No-Core Shell Model and the Multi-Reference In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group. We use the SRG-evolved chiral N3LO-EM500 potential for the nuclear interaction, and make the approximation that isospin is conserved. We compare the results of the two approaches as a function of the cutoff on the many-body basis space. Although differences are seen in the predicted nuclear radii, the ground-state energies and neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements produced by the two approaches show significant agreement. We discuss the implications for calculations in heavier nuclei., 12 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables

Working with Hamiltonians from chiral effective field theory, we develop a novel framework for describing arbitrary deformed medium-mass nuclei by combining the in-medium similarity renormalization group with the generator coordinate method. The approach leverages the ability of the first method to capture dynamic correlations and the second to include collective correlations without violating symmetries. We use our scheme to compute the matrix element that governs the neutrinoless double beta decay of $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ to $^{48}\mathrm{Ti}$, and find it to have the value 0.61, near or below the predictions of most phenomenological methods. The result opens the door to ab initio calculations of the matrix elements for the decay of heavier nuclei such as $^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$, $^{130}\mathrm{Te}$, and $^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$.

We use the finite amplitude method (FAM), an efficient implementation of the quasiparticle random phase approximation, to compute beta-decay rates with Skyrme energy-density functionals for 3983 nuclei, essentially all the medium-mass and heavy isotopes on the neutron rich side of stability. We employ an extension of the FAM that treats odd-mass and odd-odd nuclear ground states in the equal filling approximation. Our rates are in reasonable agreement both with experimental data where available and with rates from other global calculations., 11 pages, 7 figures, supplemental material. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C

Reviews are integral to e-commerce services and products. They contain a wealth of information about the opinions and experiences of users, which can help better understand consumer decisions and improve user experience with products and services. Today, data scientists analyze reviews by developing rules and models to extract, aggregate, and understand information embedded in the review text. However, working with thousands of reviews, which are typically noisy incomplete text, can be daunting without proper tools. Here we first contribute results from an interview study that we conducted with fifteen data scientists who work with review text, providing insights into their practices and challenges. Results suggest data scientists need interactive systems for many review analysis tasks. In response we introduce Teddy, an interactive system that enables data scientists to quickly obtain insights from reviews and improve their extraction and modeling pipelines., CHI'20

Electron-capture reactions play important roles in the late evolution of core-collapse supernovae. The electron-capture rates used in astrophysical simulations rely on theoretical calculations which have to be tested against and guided by experimental data. We report on the measurement of the Gamow-Teller strength distribution of the odd-mass nucleus $^{93}\mathrm{Nb}$ via the ($t,^{3}\mathrm{He}$ + $\ensuremath{\gamma}$) charge-exchange reaction at a beam energy of 115 MeV/u. The Gamow-Teller strength distributions were extracted up to an excitation energy in $^{93}\mathrm{Zr}$ of 10 MeV. The results were compared with shell-model and quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA) calculations. The theoretical calculations fail to describe the details of the strength distribution, but estimate reasonably well the integrated Gamow-Teller transition strength. Electron-capture rates derived from the measured and theoretical strength distributions match reasonably well, especially at the higher stellar densities of importance for deleptonization during the collapse of the stellar core, since the electron-capture $Q$ value is close to zero and the Fermi energy sufficiently high to ensure that the details of the strength distribution do not have a strong impact on the derived rates. At stellar densities in excess of ${10}^{9}$ g/${\mathrm{cm}}^{3}$, the electron-capture rate based on a single-state approximation used in astrophysical simulations is slightly higher than the rates based on the data and the shell-model and QRPA calculations, likely due to the fact that the approximation includes temperature-dependent effects, which increase the rates. However, the difference is much smaller than that observed in recent studies of nuclei with $Zl40$ near $N=50$, suggesting that the single-state approximation does not account for Pauli-blocking effects for nuclei with $Zl40$ that are much stronger than those for $^{93}\mathrm{Nb}$ with $Z=41$.

Every day, information users struggle to find relevant documents and data needed to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently. This paper presents a strategic, practical approach to information architecture, focusing on developing and adding metadata to improve information retrieval. The review starts with a discussion of common information management problems and potential business benefits, and addresses the need for overarching principles and policies to be aligned with a comprehensive enterprise architecture. Next, the paper outlines a solution based on combining elements of information architecture – the hierarchy of a taxonomy, the synonyms from a thesaurus and the relationships in an ontology. It discusses how this hybrid structure can improve content classification, user navigation and enterprise search. The final sections will explain how taxonomy-generated rules can improve content classification and search, and present the results of a recent Proof of Concept (PoC) for automated content classification. The article also includes two sidebars – one offering taxonomy best practice guidelines and the other exploring an advanced classification weighting to improve search precision.

Author(s): Titus, R; Ney, EM; Zegers, RGT; Bazin, D; Belarge, J; Bender, PC; Brown, BA; Campbell, CM; Elman, B; Engel, J; Gade, A; Gao, B; Kwan, E; Lipschutz, S; Longfellow, B; Lunderberg, E; Mijatovic, T; Noji, S; Pereira, J; Schmitt, J; Sullivan, C; Weisshaar, D; Zamora, JC | Abstract: Background: In the late stages of stellar core collapse just prior to core bounce, electron captures on medium-heavy nuclei drive deleptonization. Therefore, simulations require the use of accurate reaction rates. Nuclei with neutron number near N=50 above atomic number Z=28 play an important role. Rates presently used in astrophysical simulations rely primarily on a relatively simple single-state approximation. In order to improve the accuracy of the astrophysical simulations, experimental data are needed to test the electron-capture rates and to guide the development of better theoretical models and astrophysical simulations. Purpose: The purpose of the present work was to measure the Gamow-Teller transition strength from Kr86 to Br86, to derive the stellar electron-capture rates based on the extracted strengths, and to compare the derived rates with rates based on shell-model and quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA) Gamow-Teller strengths calculations, as well as the single-state approximation. An additional purpose was to test the impact of using improved electron-capture rates on the late evolution of core-collapse supernovae. Method: The Gamow-Teller strengths from Kr86 were extracted from the Kr86(t,He3+γ) charge-exchange reaction at 115MeV/u. The electron-capture rates were calculated as a function of stellar density and temperature. Besides the case of Kr86, the electron-capture rates based on the QRPA calculations were calculated for 78 additional isotopes near N=50 above Z=28. The impact of using these rates instead of those based on the single-state approximation is studied in a spherically symmetrical simulation of core collapse just prior to bounce. Results: The derived electron-capture rates on Kr86 from the experimental Gamow-Teller strength distribution are much smaller than the rates estimated based on the single-state approximation. Rates based on Gamow-Teller strengths estimated in shell-model and QRPA calculations are more accurate. The core-collapse supernova simulation with electron-capture rates based on the QRPA calculations indicate a significant reduction in the deleptonization during the collapse phase. Conclusions: It is important to utilize microscopic theoretical models that are tested by experimental data to constrain and estimate Gamow-Teller strengths and derived electron-capture rates for nuclei near N=50 that are inputs for astrophysical simulations of core-collapse supernovae and their multimessenger signals, such as the emission of neutrinos and gravitational waves.

The Gamow-Teller strength distribution from ${}^{88}$Sr was extracted from a $(t,{}^{3}\text{He}+\gamma)$ experiment at 115 MeV/$u$ to constrain estimates for the electron-capture rates on nuclei around $N=50$, between and including $^{78}$Ni and $^{88}$Sr, which are important for the late evolution of core-collapse supernovae. The observed strength below an excitation energy of 8 MeV was consistent with zero and below 10 MeV amounted to $0.1\pm0.05$. Except for a very-weak transition that could come from the 2.231-MeV $1^{+}$ state, no $\gamma$ lines that could be associated with the decay of known $1^{+}$ states were identified. The derived electron-capture rate from the measured strength distribution is more than an order of magnitude smaller than rates based on the single-state approximation presently used in astrophysical simulations for most nuclei near $N=50$. Rates based on shell-model and quasiparticle random-phase approximation calculations that account for Pauli blocking and core-polarization effects provide better estimates than the single-state approximation, although a relatively strong transition to the first $1^{+}$ state in $^{88}$Rb is not observed in the data. Pauli unblocking effects due to high stellar temperatures could partially counter the low electron-capture rates. The new data serves as a zero-temperature benchmark for constraining models used to estimate such effects.

Background: The rapid neutron capture process is one of the main nucleosynthesis processes of elements heavier than Fe. Uncertainties in nuclear properties, such as masses, half-lives, and $\ensuremath{\beta}$-delayed neutron probabilities can cause orders of magnitude of variation within astrophysical $r$-process simulations. Presently, theoretical models are used to make global predictions of various nuclear properties for the thousands of nuclei required for these simulations, and measurements are required to benchmark these models, especially far from stability.Purpose: $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay strength distributions can be used to not only inform astrophysical $r$-process simulations, but also to provide a stringent test for theoretical calculations. The aim of this work is to provide accurate strength distributions for $^{69,71}\mathrm{Co}\phantom{\rule{4pt}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay.Method: The technique of total absorption spectroscopy was used to measure the $\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay of $^{69,71}\mathrm{Co}$ for the first time at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. The ions were implanted in a double-sided silicon strip detector at the center of the Summing NaI(Tl) detector and identified using standard particle identification methods. The response of the detection system to the $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay electron and subsequent $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray radiation was fit to the observed experimental data using a ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{2}$-minimization technique.Results: $\ensuremath{\beta}$-feeding intensities and Gamow-Teller strength distributions were extracted from the fits of the experimental data. The $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay intensities show that there is a large percentage of feeding to levels above 2 MeV, which have not been observed in previous studies. The resultant $\ensuremath{\beta}$-feeding intensities and Gamow-Teller strength distributions were compared to shell model and quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) calculations.Conclusions: Comparing experimentally determined $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay strength distributions provides a test of models, which are commonly used for global $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay properties for astrophysical calculations. This work highlights the importance of performing detailed comparisons of models to experimental data, particularly far from stability and as close to the $r$-process path as possible.

We use a reference state based on symmetry-restored states from deformed mean-field or generator-coordinate-method (GCM) calculations in conjunction with the in-medium similarity-renormalization group (IMSRG) to compute spectra and matrix elements for neutrinoless double-beta ($0\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\beta}$) decay. Because the decay involves ground states from two nuclei, we use evolved operators from the IMSRG in one nucleus in a subsequent GCM calculation in the other. We benchmark the resulting IMSRG+GCM method against complete shell-model diagonalization for both the energies of low-lying states in $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ and $^{48}\mathrm{Ti}$ and the $0\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\beta}$ matrix element for the decay of $^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$, all in a single valence shell. Our approach produces better spectra than either the IMSRG with a spherical-mean-field reference or GCM calculations with unevolved operators. For the $0\ensuremath{\nu}\ensuremath{\beta}\ensuremath{\beta}$ matrix element the improvement is slight.

We show that the measured intrinsic octupole moments of ^{220}Rn, ^{224}Ra, and ^{226}Ra constrain the intrinsic Schiff moments of ^{225}Ra, ^{221}Rn, ^{223}Rn, ^{223}Fr, ^{225}Ra, and ^{229}Pa. The result is a dramatically reduced uncertainty in intrinsic Schiff moments. Direct measurements of octupole moments in odd nuclei will reduce the uncertainty even more. The only significant source of nuclear-physics error in the laboratory Schiff moments will then be the intrinsic matrix elements of the time-reversal noninvariant interaction produced by CP-violating fundamental physics. Those matrix elements are also correlated with octupole moments, but with a larger systematic uncertainty.

We examine the leading effects of two-body weak currents from chiral effective field theory on the matrix elements governing neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay. In the closure approximation these effects are generated by the product of a one-body current with a two-body current, yielding both two- and three-body operators. When the three-body operators are considered without approximation, they quench matrix elements by about 10%, less than suggested by prior work, which neglected portions of the operators. The two-body operators, when treated in the standard way, can produce somewhat larger quenching. In a consistent effective field theory, however, these two-body effects become divergent and must be renormalized by a contact operator, the coefficient of which we cannot determine at present.

Efforts to describe nuclear structure and dynamics from first principles have advanced significantly in recent years. Exact methods for light nuclei are now able to include continuum degrees of freedom and treat structure and reactions on the same footing, and multiple approximate, computationally efficient many-body methods have been developed that can be routinely applied for medium-mass nuclei. This has made it possible to confront modern nuclear interactions from Chiral Effective Field Theory, that are rooted in Quantum Chromodynamics with a wealth of experimental data. Here, we discuss one of these efficient new many-body methods, the In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group (IMSRG), and its applications in modern nuclear structure theory. The IMSRG evolves the nuclear many-body Hamiltonian in second-quantized form through continuous unitary transformations that can be implemented with polynomial computational effort. Through suitably chosen generators, we drive the matrix representation of the Hamiltonian in configuration space to specific shapes, e.g., to implement a decoupling of low- and high-energy scales, or to extract energy eigenvalues for a given nucleus. We present selected results from Multireference IMSRG (MR-IMSRG) calculations of open-shell nuclei, as well as proof-of-principle applications for intrinsically deformed medium-mass nuclei. We discuss the successes and prospects of merging the (MR-)IMSRG with many-body methods ranging from Configuration Interaction to the Density Matrix Renormalization Group, with the goal of achieving an efficient simultaneous description of dynamic and static correlations in atomic nuclei., Invited contribution presented by H. H. at the 19th International Conference on Recent Progress in Many-Body Theories, June 25-30, 2017, APCTP, Pohang, Korea. Extended version: 30 pages, 14 figures

Four experiments have demonstrated new levels of sensitivity to neutrinoless double-beta decay, a process whose existence would prove that neutrinos are their own antiparticles.

We use the generator-coordinate method with realistic shell-model interactions to closely approximate full shell-model calculations of the matrix elements for the neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{48}$Ca, $^{76}$Ge, and $^{82}$Se. We work in one major shell for the first isotope, in the $f_{5/2}pg_{9/2}$ space for the second and third, and finally in two major shells for all three. Our coordinates include not only the usual axial deformation parameter $\beta$, but also the triaxiality angle $\gamma$ and neutron-proton pairing amplitudes. In the smaller model spaces our matrix elements agree well with those of full shell-model diagonalization, suggesting that our Hamiltonian-based GCM captures most of the important valence-space correlations. In two major shells, where exact diagonalization is not currently possible, our matrix elements are only slightly different from those in a single shell., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures

Nuclear-structure theory has advanced quickly in recent years. The field is now at the point at which an accurate calculation of the nuclear matrix elements governing neutrinoless double-beta decay should soon be possible. I describe some promising theoretical many-body methods and their application to double-beta decay.

Background: The interacting boson model (IBM) has been used extensively to calculate the matrix elements governing neutrinoless double-beta decay. Studies within other models indicate that a good description of neutron-proton pairing is essential for accurate calculations of those matrix elements. The usual interacting boson model is based only on like-particle pairs, however, and the extent to which it captures neutron-proton pairing is not clear. Purpose: To determine whether neutron-proton pairing should be explicitly included as neutron-proton bosons in IBM calculations of neutrinoless double-beta decay matrix elements. Method: An isospin-invariant version of the nucleon-pair shell model is applied to carry out shell-model calculations in a large space and in a collective subspace, and to define effective operators in the latter. A democratic mapping is then used to define corresponding boson operators for the IBM, with and without an isoscalar neutron-proton pair boson. Results: IBM calculations with and without the isoscalar boson are carried out for nuclei near the beginning of the $pf$ shell, with a realistic shell-model Hamiltonian and neutrinoless double-beta-decay operator as the starting point. Energy spectra and double-beta matrix elements are compared to those obtained in the underlying shell model. Conclusions: The isoscalar boson does not improve energy spectra but does improve double-beta matrix elements. To be useful at the level of precision we need, the mapping procedure must be further developed to better determine the dependence of the boson Hamiltonian and decay operator on particle number and isospin. But the benefits provided by the isoscalar boson suggest that through an appropriate combination of mappings and fitting, it would make IBM matrix elements more accurate for the heavier nuclei used in experiments., Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures

Ces dernieres annees, l’accumulation des donnees induite par l’archeologie preventive et la sensibilite accrue des archeologues ont permis la decouverte croissante de configurations remarquables de l’âge du Fer souvent percues comme les vestiges de rituels. La thematique du rituel est peu developpee pour le fosse rhenan de l’âge du Fer. Cela nous a incite a constituer un premier inventaire des vestiges potentiellement en lien avec une pratique rituelle inscrite dans l’habitat. Cette recherche s’est fondee sur l’examen de la documentation archeologique, a savoir les rapports de fouilles et les publications faisant etat d’un habitat de l’âge du Fer dans un troncon particulier du fosse rhenan. De tels gisements, alteres par l’erosion, se reduisent a des structures en creux du type fosse, silo, puits, fosse ou encore trous de poteaux, rarement associes a des plans de bâtiment. Cette realite nous contraint a restreindre le champ d’investigation a l’etude de quelques marqueurs pour proposer un etat des lieux sur les indices de pratiques rituelles a l’âge du Fer pour une partie du sillon rhenan.

The UNEDF project was a large-scale collaborative effort that applied high-performance computing to the nuclear quantum many-body problem. The primary focus of the project was on constructing, validating, and applying an optimized nuclear energy density functional, which entailed a wide range of pioneering developments in microscopic nuclear structure and reactions, algorithms, high-performance computing, and uncertainty quantification. UNEDF demonstrated that close associations among nuclear physicists, mathematicians, and computer scientists can lead to novel physics outcomes built on algorithmic innovations and computational developments. This review showcases a wide range of UNEDF science results to illustrate this interplay.

After identifying the nuclei in the $A\ensuremath{\simeq}80$ and $A\ensuremath{\simeq}160$ regions for which $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay rates have the greatest effect on weak and main $r$-process abundance patterns, we apply the finite-amplitude method (FAM) with Skyrme energy-density functionals (EDFs) to calculate $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay half-lives of those nuclei in the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA). We use the equal filling approximation to extend our implementation of the charge-changing FAM, which incorporates pairing correlations and allows axially symmetric deformation, to odd-$A$ and odd-odd nuclei. Repeated calculations with $A\ensuremath{\simeq}160$ nuclei and multiple EDFs show a spread of 1.9--3.3 in $\ensuremath{\beta}$-decay half-lives, with differences in calculated $Q$ values playing an important role. We compare our results with those of previous work and investigate their implications for $r$-process simulations.

The nuclear matrix elements that govern the rate of neutrinoless double beta decay must be accurately calculated if experiments are to reach their full potential. Theorists have been working on the problem for a long time but have recently stepped up their efforts as ton-scale experiments have begun to look feasible. Here we review past and recent work on the matrix elements in a wide variety of nuclear models and discuss work that will be done in the near future. Ab initio nuclear-structure theory, which is developing rapidly, holds out hope of more accurate matrix elements with quantifiable error bars., 35 pages, 14 figures

We present a generator-coordinate calculation, based on a relativistic energy-density functional, of the low-lying spectra in the isotopes $^{150}\mathrm{Nd}$ and $^{150}\mathrm{Sm}$ and of the nuclear matrix element that governs the neutrinoless double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay of the first isotope to the second. We carefully examine the impact of octupole correlations on both nuclear structure and the double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay matrix element. Octupole correlations turn out to reduce quadrupole collectivity in both nuclei. Shape fluctuations, however, dilute the effects of octupole deformation on the double-$\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay matrix element, so that the overall octupole-induced quenching is only about $7%$.