Nuclear Commons^™

Aligning Technology, Policy And Culture To Enhance Nuclear Security: A Comparative Analysis Of Nigeria And The U.S., Stephen Olumuyiwa Ariyo Dahunsi, John D. Auxier Ii, Joseph Ruric Stainback Iv, Howard Lewis Hall

International Journal of Nuclear Security

Around the world, current energy and climate change concerns have led to more nations adopting nuclear technology as an option for electricity generation. However, one of the challenges to the peaceful application of this technology is the possibility that it will be misused, or that terrorists with global reach may acquire nuclear materials. Nigeria is one country that has embraced the technology to solve its energy challenges, but the country is now faced with an upsurge in terrorism and uprisings staged by various ethnic groups. In addition, corruption is continually becoming a hindrance to national development. These challenges are critical …

Toward A Non-Nuclear World: The Npt Regime – Nuclear Disarmament And The Challenge Of A Wmdfz In The Middle East, Sameh Aboul-Enein

International Journal of Nuclear Security

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of various approaches for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation with the intention of determining how best to promote a Weapons of Mass Destruction Free Zone in the Middle East (MEWMDFZ). Using a qualitative approach, I investigate historical cases of agreements regarding nonproliferation zones and examine the causes for deadlock through both a perusal of historic successes and failures and a review of relevant literature. Particular focus is given to the failure of the NPT Review Conference of 2015. Furthermore, I discuss the importance of role-play simulations and their indications of the need for …

Lattice Calculation Of Nucleon Isovector Axial Charge With Improved Currents, Jian Liang, Yi-Bo Yang, Keh-Fei Liu, Andrei Alexandru, Terrence Draper, Raza Sabbir Sufian

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We employ dimension-4 operators to improve the local vector and axial-vector currents and calculate the nucleon isovector axial coupling g³_A with overlap valence on 2 + 1-flavor domain wall fermion (DWF) sea. Using the equality of g³_A from the spatial and temporal components of the axial-vector current as a normalization condition, we find that g³_A is increased by a few percent towards the experimental value. The excited-state contamination has been taken into account with three time separations between the source and sink. The improved axial charges g³_A(24I) = 1.22(4)(3) …

Measurement Of Jet Quenching With Semi-Inclusive Hadron+Jet Distributions In Au + Au Collisions At √SNn = 200 Gev, L. Adamczyk, James K. Adkins, G. Agakishiev, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, N. N. Ajitanand, I. Alekseev, D. M. Anderson, R. Aoyama, A. Aparin, D. Arkhipkin, E. C. Aschenauer, M. U. Ashraf, A. Attri, G. S. Averichev, X. Bai, V. Bairathi, A. Behera, R. Bellwied, A. Bhasin, A. K. Bhati, P. Bhattarai, J. Bielcik, J. Bielcikova, L. C. Bland, I. G. Bordyuzhin, J. Bouchet, J. D. Brandenburg, A. V. Brandin, D. Brown, Renee H. Fatemi, Suvarna Ramachandran

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The STAR Collaboration reports the measurement of semi-inclusive distributions of charged-particle jets recoiling from a high transverse momentum hadron trigger, in central and peripheral Au + Au collisions at √^s_NN = 200 GeV. Charged jets are reconstructed with the anti-k_T algorithm for jet radii R between 0.2 and 0.5 and with low infrared cutoff of track constituents (p_T > 0.2 GeV/c). A novel mixed-event technique is used to correct the large uncorrelated background present in heavy ion collisions. Corrected recoil jet distributions are reported at midrapidity, for charged-jet transverse momentum p^ch_T,jet < GeV/c. Comparison is made to similar measurements for Pb + Pb collisions at √s = …

Dijet Imbalance Measurements In Au + Au And Pp Collisions At √SNn = 200 Gev At Star, L. Adamczyk, James K. Adkins, G. Agakishiev, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, I. Alekseev, D. M. Anderson, R. Aoyama, A. Aparin, D. Arkhipkin, E. C. Aschenauer, M. U. Ashraf, A. Attri, G. S. Averichev, X. Bai, V. Bairathi, R. Bellwied, A. Bhasin, A. K. Bhati, P. Bhattarai, J. Bielcik, J. Bielcikova, L. C. Bland, I. G. Bordyuzhin, J. Bouchet, J. D. Brandenburg, A. V. Brandin, D. Brown, I. Bunzarov, J. Butterworth, Renee H. Fatemi, Suvarna Ramachandran

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report the first dijet transverse momentum asymmetry measurements from Au + Au and pp collisions at RHIC. The two highest-energy back-to-back jets reconstructed from fragments with transverse momenta above 2  GeV/c display a significantly higher momentum imbalance in heavy-ion collisions than in the pp reference. When reexamined with correlated soft particles included, we observe that these dijets then exhibit a unique new feature—momentum balance is restored to that observed in pp for a jet resolution parameter of R = 0.4, while rebalancing is not attained with a smaller value of R = 0.2.

Inverse Kinematics Proton Scattering Of P41, Benjamin R. Klybor

Physics and Astronomy Summer Fellows

We have measured the gamma-ray spectrum of P41 using proton scattering in inverse kinematics with the NSCL/Ursinus College liquid hydrogen target and the GRETINA gamma-ray tracking array. We present preliminary results, including gamma-ray intensities and branching ratios.

Level Lifetimes And The Structure Of 134Xe From Inelastic Neutron Scattering, Erin E. Peters, Anagha Chakraborty, Benjamin P. Crider, S. F. Ashley, E. Elhami, S. F. Hicks, A. Kumar, Marcus T. Mcellistrem, Sharmistha Mukhopadhyay, J. N. Orce, Francisco M. Prados-Estévez, Steven W. Yates

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The level structure of ¹³⁴Xe was studied with the inelastic neutron scattering reaction followed by γ-ray detection. A number of level lifetimes were determined for the first time with the Doppler-shift attenuation method and the low-lying excited states were characterized. From this new spectroscopic information, the third excited state, a 0⁺ level which had only been observed in a previous inelastic neutron scattering study, was verified. Reduced transition probabilities were calculated; comparisons were drawn with a vibrational description of the nucleus and found lacking. The 3⁻ octupole phonon has been confirmed, and the complete negative-parity multiplet …

Searching For Heavy Photons With Detached Vertices In The Heavy Photon Search Experiment, Holly Szumila-Vance

Physics Theses & Dissertations

The Jefferson Lab Heavy Photon Search (HPS) experiment is searching for a hypothetical massive particle called the heavy photon which could mediate a dark electromagnetic-type force. If heavy photons kinetically mix with Standard Model photons, they may be radiated by electrons scattering from a heavy nucleus and then decay to e+e- pairs. HPS uniquely searches for heavy photons that either decay at the target or a measurable distance after. The experiment utilizes a silicon vertex tracker (SVT) for momentum and vertex reconstruction, together with an electromagnetic calorimeter for measuring particle energies and triggering events. The HPS experiment took its first …

R&D Of A High-Performance Dirc Detector For A Future Electron-Ion Collider, Stacey Lee Allison

Physics Theses & Dissertations

An Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) is proposed as the next big scientific facility to be built in the United States, costing over $1 billion in design and construction. Each detector concept for the electron/ion beam interaction point is integrated into a large solenoidal magnet. The necessity for excellent hadronic particle identification (pion/kaon/proton) in the barrel region of the solenoid has pushed research and development (R&D) towards a new, high-performance Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light (DIRC) detector design. The passage of a high energy charged particle through a fused silica bar of the DIRC generates optical Cherenkov radiation. A large fraction …

Test Of New Readout Electronics For The Bonus12 Experiment, Mathieu Ehrhart

Physics Theses & Dissertations

For decades, electron-proton scattering experiments have been providing a large amount of data on the proton structure function. However, because of the instability of free neutrons, fewer experiments have been able to study the neutron structure function. The BONuS collaboration at Jefferson Laboratory addresses this challenge by scattering electrons off a deuterium target, using a RTPC capable of detecting the low-momentum spectator protons near the target. Events of electrons scattering on almost free neutrons are selected by constraining the spectator protons to very low momenta and very backward scattering angles. In 2005, BONuS successfully measured the neutron structure with scattering …

Instrument Design Optimization With Computational Methods, Michael H. Moore

Physics Theses & Dissertations

Using Finite Element Analysis to approximate the solution of differential equations, two different instruments in experimental Hall C at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are analyzed. The time dependence of density fluctuations from the liquid hydrogen (LH2) target used in the Q_weak experiment (2011-2012) are studied with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the simulation results compared to data from the experiment. The 2.5 kW liquid hydrogen target was the highest power LH2 target in the world and the first to be designed with CFD at Jefferson Lab. The first complete magnetic field simulation of the Super High Momentum …

Nuclear Chiral Axial Currents And Applications To Few-Nucleon Systems, Alessandro Baroni

Physics Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part discusses basic aspects of chiral effective field theory and the formalism, based on time ordered perturbation theory, used to to derive the nuclear potentials and currents from the chiral Lagrangians. The second part deals with the actual derivation, up to one loop, of the two-nucleon potential and one- and two-nucleon weak axial charge and current. In both derivations ultraviolet divergences generated by loop corrections are isolated using dimensional regularization. The resulting axial current is finite and conserved in the chiral limit, while the axial charge requires renormalization. A complete …

In-Beam Γ-Ray Spectroscopy Studies Of Medium-Spin States In The Odd-Odd Nucleus 186Re, David A. Matters, F. G. Kondev, N. Aoi, Y. Ayyad, A. P. Byrne, M. P. Carpenter, J. Carroll, C. J. Chiara, P. M. Davidson, G. D. Dracoulis, Y. D. Fang, C. R. Hoffmann, R. O. Hughes, E. Ideguchi, R. V. F. Janssens, S. Kanaya, B. P. Kay, T. Kibedi, G. J. Lane, T. Lauritsen, John W. Mcclory, P. Nieminen, S. Noji, A. Odahara, H. J. Ong, A. E. Stuchbery, D. T. Tran, H. Watanabe, A. N. Wilson, Y. Yamamoto, S. Zhu

Faculty Publications

Excited states in ¹⁸⁶Re with spins up to J=12ℏ were investigated in two separate experiments using 186W(d,2n) reactions at beam energies of 12.5 and 14.5 MeV. Two- and threefold γ-ray coincidence data were collected using the CAESAR and CAGRA spectrometers, respectively, each composed of Compton-suppressed high-purity germanium detectors. Analysis of the data revealed rotational bands built on several two-quasiparticle intrinsic states, including a long-lived K^π=(8⁺) isomer. Configuration assignments were supported by an analysis of in-band properties, such as |gK−gR| values. The excitation energies of the observed intrinsic states were compared with results from multi-quasiparticle blocking …

Lifetime Measurements Of Low-Spin Negative-Parity Levels In 160Gd, S. R. Lesher, C. Casarella, L. M. Robledo, Benjamin P. Crider, R. Ikeyama, I. R. Marsh, Marcus T. Mcellistrem, Erin E. Peters, Francisco M. Prados-Estévez, M. K. Smith, Z. R. Tully, J. R. Vanhoy, Steven W. Yates

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

¹⁶⁰Gd(n,n′γ) experiments were performed with accelerator-produced monoenergetic neutrons. Excitation functions at neutron energies from 1.5 to 2.8 MeV aided in the placement of γ rays in the level scheme and angular distributions at three neutron energies resulted in the determination of 28 excited-level lifetimes or limits in ¹⁶⁰Gd, including the lifetimes of several negative-parity levels attributed to octupole vibrations.

Neutron Scattering Cross Section Measurements For 56Fe, Anthony Paul D. Ramirez, J. Vanhoy, S. F. Hicks, Marcus T. Mcellistrem, Erin E. Peters, Sharmistha Mukhopadhyay, T. D. Harrison, T. J. Howard, D. T. Jackson, P. D. Lenzen, T. D. Nguyen, R. L. Pecha, B. G. Rice, B. K. Thompson, Steven W. Yates

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Elastic and inelastic differential cross sections for neutron scattering from ⁵⁶Fe have been measured for several incident energies from 1.30 to 7.96 MeV at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory. Scattered neutrons were detected using a C₆D₆ liquid scintillation detector using pulse-shape discrimination and time-of-flight techniques. The deduced cross sections have been compared with previously reported data, predictions from evaluation databases ENDF, JENDL, and JEFF, and theoretical calculations performed using different optical model potentials using the TALYS and EMPIRE nuclear reaction codes. The coupled-channel calculations based on the vibrational and soft-rotor models are found to describe …

Measurement Of Two-Photon Exchange Effect By Comparing Elastic E±P Cross Sections, P. Rimal, D. Adikaram, B. A. Raue, L. B. Weinstein, J. Arrington, W. K. Brooks, M. Ungaro, K. P. Adhikari, A. V. Afanasev, Z. Akbar, S. Anefalos Pereira, R. A. Badui, J. Ball, N. A. Baltzell, M. Battaglieri, V. Batourine, I. Bedlinskiy, A. S. Biselli, S. Boiarinov, W. J. Briscoe, S. Bültmann, V. D. Burkert, D. S. Carman, A. Celentano, T. Chetry, G. Ciullo, L. Clark, L. Colaneri, P. L. Cole, N. Compton, Wesley P. Gohn

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Background: The electromagnetic form factors of the proton measured by unpolarized and polarized electron scattering experiments show a significant disagreement that grows with the squared four-momentum transfer (Q²). Calculations have shown that the two measurements can be largely reconciled by accounting for the contributions of two-photon exchange (TPE). TPE effects are not typically included in the standard set of radiative corrections since theoretical calculations of the TPE effects are highly model dependent, and, until recently, no direct evidence of significant TPE effects has been observed.

Purpose: We measured the ratio of positron-proton to electron-proton elastic-scattering cross sections …

Working With Cuore In Search For The Neutrinoless-Double Beta Decay, Kevin H. Phung

Physics

The neutrino, if found to be its own anti-particle, will reshape the Standard Model of physics. This paper will give some background information regarding CUORE’s experiment to discover the radioactive process known as neutrinoless double-beta decay, how their experiment works, and my own involvement in their research during the installation phase of the project in the summer of 2017.

Rosenbluth Separation Of The Π0 Electroproduction Cross Section Off The Neutron, M. Mazouz, Z. Ahmed, H. Albataineh, K. Allada, K. A. Aniol, V. Bellini, M. Benali, W. Boeglin, P. Bertin, M. Canan, C. E. Hyde, S. Koirala, M. N. H. Rashad

Physics Faculty Publications

We report the first longitudinal-transverse separation of the deeply virtual exclusive π⁰ electroproduction cross section off the neutron and coherent deuteron. The corresponding four structure functions dσ_L/dt, dσ_T/dt, dσ_LT/dt, and dσ_TT/dt are extracted as a function of the momentum transfer to the recoil system at Q² = 1.75 GeV² and x_B = 0.36. The ed -> edπ⁰ cross sections are found compatible with the small values expected from theoretical models. The en -> enπ⁰ cross sections show a dominance from the response to transversely polarized …

Measurement Of D0 Azimuthal Anisotropy At Midrapidity In Au + Au Collisions At √SNn = 200 Gev, L. Adamczyk, James K. Adkins, G. Agakishiev, M. M. Aggarwal, Z. Ahammed, N. N. Ajitanand, I. Alekseev, D. M. Anderson, R. Aoyama, A. Aparin, D. Arkhipkin, E. C. Aschenauer, M. U. Ashraf, A. Attri, G. S. Averichev, X. Bai, V. Bairathi, A. Behera, R. Bellwied, A. Bhasin, A. K. Bhati, P. Bhattarai, J. Bielcik, J. Bielcikova, L. C. Bland, I. G. Bordyuzhin, J. Bouchet, J. D. Brandenburg, A. V. Brandin, D. Brown, Renee H. Fatemi, Suvarna Ramachandran

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We report the first measurement of the elliptic anisotropy (v²) of the charm meson D0 at midrapidity (|y| < 1) in Au+Au collisions at √s_NN = 200  GeV. The measurement was conducted by the STAR experiment at RHIC utilizing a new high-resolution silicon tracker. The measured D⁰ v₂ in 0%–80% centrality Au + Au collisions can be described by a viscous hydrodynamic calculation for a transverse momentum (p_T) of less than 4  GeV/c. The D⁰ v₂ as a function of transverse kinetic energy (m_T − m₀, where m …

The Chiral Magnetic Effect In Heavy Ion Collisions From Hydrodynamic Simulations, Elias Lilleskov

Macalester Journal of Physics and Astronomy

The quark-gluon plasma created in heavy ion collisions is an exotic state of matter in which many unusual phenomena are manifested. One such phenomenon is the "Chiral-Magnetic Effect" (CME), wherein the powerful magnetic fields generated by colliding ions spin-polarize chiral quarks, causing a net transport effect in the direction of the fields. The CME predicts specific charge-dependent correlation observables, for which experimental evidence was reported, although the evidence is subject to background contamination. Isobaric collision experiments have been planned for 2018 at RHIC, which will study this effect by comparing 96Ru-96Ru and 96Zr-96Zr collisions. The two colliding systems are expected …