0000000000314155
AUTHOR
C. Agodi
The NUMEN project @ LNS: Status and perspectives
The NUMEN project aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by high-accuracy measurements of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reaction cross sections. In particular, the (18O,18Ne) and (20Ne,20O) reactions are used as tools for β+β+ and β−β− decays, respectively. In the experiments, performed at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, the beams are accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) and the reaction ejectiles are detected the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. The measured cross sections are challengingly low (a few nb), being the tota…
Recent results on heavy-ion induced reactions of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay at INFN-LNS
Abstract The NUMEN project aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ). In this view measurements of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reaction cross sections are performed with high-accuracy. In particular, the (18O,18Ne) and (20Ne,20O) reactions are used as tools for β+β+ and β-β- decays, respectively. In the experiments, performed at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, the beams are accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) and the reaction ejectiles are detected the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. The measured cross sections are challe…
Exploring the 10Li structure by the d(9Li,p)10Li transfer reaction
The 9Li + 2H reaction has been investigated at 11 AMeV incident energy at the ISAC II facility (TRIUMF). In the present paper we focus on the one-neutron transfer channel, which potentially holds spectroscopic information on the unbound nucleus 10Li. The TUDA setup has been used in order to detect and identify the outgoing 9Li at forward angles and the recoil protons at backward angles. This setup allows to study the 10Li emitted in the crucial region at forward angles in the center of mass.
Recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for 0νββ decay
An updated overview of recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay is reported in the framework of the NUMEN project. The NUMEN idea is to study heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions with the aim to get information on the nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. Moreover, to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half- life of 0νββ decay, the knowledge of the nuclear matrix elements is a crucial aspect. peerReviewed
The d(9Li,p)10Li reaction as a tool to explore the 10Li structure
The ground and low-lying states of the unbound nucleus 10Li were populated by the 9Li + 2H → 10Li + 1H reaction at 11 AMeV incident energy at the ISAC II facility (TRIUMF). In the experimental setup, the outgoing 9Li at forward angles and the recoil protons at backward angles were detected and identified. This setup allows to study the 10Li emitted in the crucial region at forward angles in the centre of mass.
Recent results on heavy-ion direct reactions of interest for 0νββ decay at INFN - LNS
Abstract Neutrinoless double beta decay of nuclei, if observed, would have important implications on fundamental physics. In particular it would give access to the effective neutrino mass. In order to extract such information from 0νββ decay half-life measurements, the knowledge of the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) is of utmost importance. In this context the NUMEN and the NURE projects aim to extract information on the NME by measuring cross sections of Double Charge Exchange reactions in selected systems which are expected to spontaneously decay via 0νββ. In this work an overview of the experimental challenges that NUMEN is facing in order to perform the experiments with accelerated beams…
New Results from the NUMEN Project
International audience; NUMEN aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by high-accuracy measurements of the cross sections of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions. First evidence about the possibility to get quantitative information about NME from experiments is found for the (^18O,^18Ne) and (^20Ne,^20O) reactions. Moreover, to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half-life of 0νββ decay, the knowledge of the NME is a crucial aspect. The key tools for this project are the high resolution Superconducting Cyclotron beam…
Carbon fragmentation measurements and validation of the GEANT4 nuclear reaction models for hadrontherapy
Nuclear fragmentation measurements are necessary when using heavy-ion beams in hadrontherapy to predict the effects of the ion nuclear interactions within the human body. Moreover, they are also fundamental to validate and improve the Monte Carlo codes for their use in planning tumor treatments. Nowadays, a very limited set of carbon fragmentation cross sections are being measured, and in particular, to our knowledge, no double-differential fragmentation cross sections at intermediate energies are available in the literature. In this work, we have measured the double-differential cross sections and the angular distributions of the secondary fragments produced in the (12)C fragmentation at 6…
Use of fragmentation beams at LNS with CHIMERA detector
The recent intensity upgrade of the LNS fragmentation beam is discussed. The available beams, the tagging procedures and details on the beam quality are reported. The experimental program started with the CHIMERA detector using such beams is also discussed with preliminary results and future perspectives. © Owned by the authors, 2012.
Effects of neutron richness on the behavior of nuclear systems at intermediate energies
We discuss results concerning the behavior of hot nuclear sources formed in 40 ,48Ca+40 ,48Ca reactions at 25 MeV/nucleon. A correlation between the neutron-to-proton ratio of the total systems and heavy residue production is found. This correlation underlines the strong role played by the neutron-to-proton ratio degree of freedom on the behavior of hot nuclei at intermediate energies. Comparisons of our data with Constrained Molecular Dynamics calculations confirm that a moderately stiff behavior of the symmetry potential must be used to reproduce experimental data. These findings open the way for future investigations with exotic beams at radioactive ion beam facilities. © 2012 American P…
Elastic scattering studies of 16C at 50 MeV/A on proton and deuteron targets with the CHIMERA multidetector at INFN-LNS
At the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania (Italy), light radioactive ion beams have been produced through the In Flight Fragmentation method, using 18O and 13C at 55 MeV/A as primary beams impinging on a 9Be production target. Elastic scattering angular distributions of 16C+p and 16C+d at 50 MeV/A, 10Be+p at 56 MeV/A and 13B+d at 52 MeV/A systems were measured by using the CHIMERA (Charge Heavy Ion Mass and Energy Resolving Array) multidetector and kinematical coincidence technique. The experimental data are fitted by using the optical model. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
10Li low-lying resonances populated by one-neutron transfer
The 9Li + 2H → 10Li + 1H one-neutron transfer reaction has been performed at 100 MeV incident energy at TRIUMF using a 9Li beam delivered by the ISAC-II facility. A setup based on double-sided silicon strip detectors has been used in order to detect and identify the outgoing 9Li produced by the 10Li breakup at forward angles and the recoil protons emitted at backward angles. The 10Li low-lying resonances, whose energies, widths and configurations are still unclear, have been populated with significant statistics.
Recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for 0νββ decay
An updated overview of recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay is reported in the framework of the NUMEN project. The NUMEN idea is to study heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions with the aim to get information on the nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. Moreover, to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half- life of 0νββ decay, the knowledge of the nuclear matrix elements is a crucial aspect. Uma visão geral atualizada dos resultados recentes sobre reações induzidas por íons pesados de interesse para o decaimento beta duplo sem neutrinos é relatada na es…
HADES experiment: di-lepton spectroscopy in p + p (2.2 GeV) and C+C (1 and 2 A GeV) collisions
The HADES (High Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer) is a tool designed for lepton pair (e+e−) spectroscopy in pion, proton and heavy ion induced reactions in the 1–2AGeV energy range. One of the goals of the HADES experiment is to study in-medium modifications of hadron properties like effective masses, decay widths, electromagnetic form factors etc. Such effects can be probed with vector mesons ( ρ,ω,ɸ ) decaying into e+e− channel. The identification of vector mesons by means of a HADES spectrometer is based on invariant mass reconstruction of e+e− pairs. The combined information from all spectrometer sub-detectors is used to reconstruct the di-lepton signal. The recent results from 2.2Ge…
Measuring nuclear reaction cross sections to extract information on neutrinoless double beta decay
Neutrinoless double beta decay (0v\b{eta}\b{eta}) is considered the best potential resource to access the absolute neutrino mass scale. Moreover, if observed, it will signal that neutrinos are their own anti-particles (Majorana particles). Presently, this physics case is one of the most important research "beyond Standard Model" and might guide the way towards a Grand Unified Theory of fundamental interactions. Since the 0v\b{eta}\b{eta} decay process involves nuclei, its analysis necessarily implies nuclear structure issues. In the NURE project, supported by a Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), nuclear reactions of double charge-exchange (DCE) are used as a tool to extr…
N/Z effects on evaporation residue emission near fragmentation threshold
We will discuss results concerning the fate of hot nuclear systems populated in 40,48 Ca+ 40,48 Ca reactions at 25 MeV/nucleon. Due to the complexity of events, we used the Chimera 4π device as detection system. By selecting central events of reaction, we found that the interplay between binary-like and evaporation residue emissions is strongly sensitive on the N/Z of the entrance channels. In particular, evaporation residue emission increases at increasing the neutron content of colliding system. By comparing or data with CoMD-II model calculations, we can extract information about the density depend part of Symmetry Potential in the Nuclear Equation of State at near-saturation densities.
The FIRST experiment at GSI
The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at the SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt has been designed for the measurement of ion fragmentation cross-sections at different angles and energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in several fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The start of the scientific program of the FIRST experiment was on summer 2011 and was focused on the measurement of 400 MeV/nucleon 12C beam fragmentation on thin (8 mm) graphite target. The detector is partly based on an alread…
N/Z effects on40,48Ca+40,48Ca reactions at 25 MeV/nucleon
Effects related to the neutron to proton ratio (N/Z) degree of freedom in 40, 48Ca+40, 48Ca reactions at 25 MeV/nucleon have been investigated. Isotopic effect and even-odd staggering characterize the emission of light fragments at forward angles. The study of isobaric ratio 7Li/7Be for quasi-projectile source in semi-peripheral event of reactions allows moreover to investigate isospin diffusion effects in heavy ion collisions. © Owned by the authors, 2012.
NURE: An ERC project to study nuclear reactions for neutrinoless double beta decay
Neutrinoless double beta decay (0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta}) is considered the best potential resource to determine the absolute neutrino mass scale. Moreover, if observed, it will signal that the total lepton number is not conserved and neutrinos are their own anti-particles. Presently, this physics case is one of the most important research beyond Standard Model and might guide the way towards a Grand Unified Theory of fundamental interactions. Since the \b{eta}\b{eta} decay process involves nuclei, its analysis necessarily implies nuclear structure issues. The 0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta} decay rate can be expressed as a product of independent factors: the phase-space factors, the nuclear matrix elemen…
Emission of fragments in Ca+Ca reaction at 25 MeV/nucleon
We discuss experimental data concerning 40,48Ca+ 40,48Ca reactions at 25 MeV/nucleon; the 4π multi-detector Chimera has been used as detection device. Effects that can be attributed to the neutron to proton ratios (N/Z) degree of freedom have been investigated. From the analysis of experimental data it seems that the neutron richness of the interacting system plays an important role on the evolution of fusion-like sources formed in semi-central collisions. In particular, it is observed that the larger is the neutron content and the larger is the emission of heavy residues. Experimental data have been compared with CoMD-II model calculations; a moderately stiff symmetry energy should be used…
FIRST experiment: Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy
International audience; Nuclear fragmentation processes are relevant in different fields of basic research and applied physics and are of particular interest for tumor therapy and for space radiation protection applications. The FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment at SIS accelerator of GSI laboratory in Darmstadt, has been designed for the measurement of different ions fragmentation cross sections at different energies between 100 and 1000 MeV/nucleon. The experiment is performed by an international collaboration made of institutions from Germany, France, Italy and Spain. The experimental apparatus is partly based on an already existing setup made of the …