Search results for " database"
showing 10 items of 684 documents
Study of the background on a ZnS(Ag) alpha counter with a plastic veto detector
2006
Alpha counters based on the scintillation of ZnS(Ag) have been used widely to measure total alpha activity in environmental samples. The main difficulties for this kind of detectors consist of having a reasonable low background, i.e., around 10−3 counts/s. It is assumed that the background comes from natural sources (mainly radon) and there is no contribution from cosmic, beta or gamma rays since the efficiency for these sources is extremely low. However, the study of the background using a thin plastic veto detector shows that the cosmic ray contribution to the alpha background is about 5–50%, whereas the estimated gamma contribution is below 10%. Therefore, this anti-coincidence set-up ca…
Proposal for a Cosmic Axion Spin Precession Experiment (CASPEr)
2014
We propose an experiment to search for QCD axion and axionlike-particle dark matter. Nuclei that are interacting with the background axion dark matter acquire time-varying CP-odd nuclear moments such as an electric dipole moment. In analogy with nuclear magnetic resonance, these moments cause precession of nuclear spins in a material sample in the presence of an electric field. Precision magnetometry can be used to search for such precession. An initial phase of this experiment could cover many orders of magnitude in axionlike-particle parameter space beyond the current astrophysical and laboratory limits. And with established techniques, the proposed experimental scheme has sensitivity to …
The antares neutrino detector instrumentation
2012
ANTARES is actually the fully operational and the largest neutrino telescope in the Northern hemisphere. Located in the Mediterranean Sea, it consists of a 3D array of 885 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) arranged in 12 detection lines (25 storeys each), able to detect the Cherenkov light induced by upgoing relativistic muons produced in the interaction of high energy cosmic neutrinos with the detector surroundings. Among its physics goals, the search for neutrino astrophysical sources and the indirect detection of dark matter particles coming from the sun are of particular interest. To reach these goals, good accuracy in track reconstruction is mandatory, so several calibration systems for tim…
MeCaSDa and ECaSDa: Methane and ethene calculated spectroscopic databases for the virtual atomic and molecular data centre
2013
Abstract Two spectroscopic relational databases, denoted MeCaSDa and ECaSDa, have been implemented for methane and ethene, and included in VAMDC (Virtual Atomic and Molecular Data Centre, http://portal.vamdc.eu/vamdc_portal/home.seam ). These databases collect calculated spectroscopic data from the accurate analyses previously performed for the electronic ground state of methane, ethene, and some of their isotopologues: 12CH4, 13CH4, and 12C2H4. Both infrared absorption and Raman scattering lines are included. The polyad structures are reported and the transitions are precisely described by their energy, their intensity and the full description of the lower and upper states involved in the …
The X-ray gas scintillation spectrometer experiment on the first spacelab flight
1985
The First Spacelab mission, launched on Space ShuttleFlight STS-9 in November 1983 carried a multidisciplinary payload which was intended to demonstrate that valuable scientific results can be achieved from such short duration missions. The payload complement included a spectrometer to undertake observations of the brighter cosmic X-ray sources. The primary scientific objectives of this experiment were the study of detailed spectral features in cosmic X-ray sources and their associated temporal variations over a wide energy range from about 2 up to 30 keV. The instrument based on the gas scintillation proportional counter had an effective area of some 180 cm2 with an energy resolution of ∼9…
Intracluster Medium reheating by relativistic jets
2011
Galactic jets are powerful energy sources reheating the intra-cluster medium in galaxy clusters. Their crucial role in the cosmic puzzle, motivated by observations, has been established by a great number of numerical simulations missing the relativistic nature of these jets. We present the first relativistic simulations of the very long term evolution of realistic galactic jets. Unexpectedly, our results show no buoyant bubbles, but large cocoon regions compatible with the observed X-ray cavities. The reheating is more efficient and faster than in previous scenarios, and it is produced by the shock wave driven by the jet, that survives for several hundreds of Myrs. Therefore, the X-ray cavi…
Composition of Primary Cosmic-Ray Nuclei at High Energies
2008
The TRACER instrument (``Transition Radiation Array for Cosmic Energetic Radiation'') has been developed for direct measurements of the heavier primary cosmic-ray nuclei at high energies. The instrument had a successful long-duration balloon flight in Antarctica in 2003. The detector system and measurement process are described, details of the data analysis are discussed, and the individual energy spectra of the elements O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca, and Fe (nuclear charge Z=8 to 26) are presented. The large geometric factor of TRACER and the use of a transition radiation detector make it possible to determine the spectra up to energies in excess of 10$^{14}$ eV per particle. A power-law fit to…
Colloquium: Laboratory experiments on hydromagnetic dynamos
2002
Cosmic magnetic fields, including the fields of planets, stars, and galaxies, are believed to be caused by dynamo action in moving electrically conducting fluids. While the theory and numerics of hydromagnetic dynamos have flourished during recent decades, an experimental validation of the effect was missing until recently. We sketch the long history towards a working laboratory dynamo. We report on the first successful experiments at the sodium facilities in Riga and Karlsruhe, and on other experiments which are carried out or planned at various places in the world.
Scaling laws in the distribution of galaxies
2004
Research done during the previous century established our Standard Cosmological Model. There are many details still to be filled in, but few would seriously doubt the basic premise. Past surveys have revealed that the large-scale distribution of galaxies in the Universe is far from random: it is highly structured over a vast range of scales. To describe cosmic structures, we need to build mathematically quantifiable descriptions of structure. Identifying where scaling laws apply and the nature of those scaling laws is an important part of understanding which physical mechanisms have been responsible for the organization of clusters, superclusters of galaxies and the voids between them. Find…
The structure of cosmic voids in a LCDM Universe
2013
Eulerian cosmological codes are especially suited to properly describe the low density regions. This property makes this class of codes excellent tools to study the formation and evolution of cosmic voids. Following such ideas, we present the results of an Eulerian adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamical and N-body simulation, that contrary to the common practice, has been designed to refine the computational grid in the underdense regions of the simulated volume. Thus, the void regions are better described due to the combined effect of the Eulerian character of the numerical technique and the use of high numerical resolution from the AMR approach. To analyse the outcome of this simul…