Search results for "neutron"
showing 10 items of 2330 documents
Small-angle neutron scattering reveals an oxygen-dependent conformational change of the immunogen keyhole limpet hemocyanin type 1 (KLH1).
2001
The respiratory protein of the keyhole limpet, Megathura crenulata, the hemocyanin (KLH), commonly used as an immunogen, binds oxygen cooperatively, which implies the existence of different conformations. For the first time, two different conformations of KLH1 were detected upon oxygenation, a deoxy and an oxy state, using small-angle neutron scattering. Rearrangements in the quaternary structure of KLH1 were predicted from the different radii of gyration and the shifts of the minima and maxima in the scattering curves. Upon oxygenation, KLH1 becomes smaller and more compact. Model reconstruction of KLH1 indicates a hollow cylinder with two rings located close to both ends, which move sligh…
Evaluating the protecting effects of two consolidants applied on Pietra di Lecce limestone: A neutronographic study
2020
Abstract In this work a combined laboratory-based and neutronographic investigation was carried out on a type of limestone, known as Pietra di Lecce stone, widely used in Italian Baroque as construction material. The limestone was treated with two different commercially-available coatings, namely nanosilica and nanolime, and artificially weathered by salt crystallization and temperature/relative humidity jumps. The aim was to provide an experimental evidence of the protective and consolidating effectiveness of the two treatments by looking at the water absorption process occurring inside the pore network of the analyzed stones. The analysis of the wetting front position revealed significant…
Unitarity constraint for threshold coherent pion photoproduction on the deuteron
1997
The contribution of the two-step process {gamma}d{r_arrow}pn{r_arrow}{pi}{sup 0}d to the imaginary part of the amplitude for coherent pion production on the deuteron is calculated at threshold exploiting unitarity constraints. The result shows that this absorptive process is not negligible and has to be considered in an extraction of the elementary neutron production amplitude from the {gamma}d{r_arrow}{pi}{sup 0}d cross section at threshold. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
Study of a water-cooled convective divertor prototype for the DEMO fusion reactor
2000
The plasma facing components of a fusion power reactor have a large impact on the overall plant design, its performance and availability and on the cost of electricity. The present work concerns a study of feasibility for a water-cooled prototype of the convective divertor component of the DEMO fusion reactor. The study has been carried out in two steps. In the first one thermal-hydraulic and neutronic parametric analyses have been performed to find out the prototype optimized configuration. In the second step thermo-mechanical analyses have been carried out on the obtained configuration to investigate the potential and limits of the proposed prototype, with a particular reference to the ma…
Convective instability in proto-neutron stars
2000
The linear hydrodynamic stability of proto-neutron stars (PNSs) is considered taking into account dissipative processes such as neutrino transport and viscosity. We obtain the general instability criteria which differ essentially from the well-known Ledoux criterion used in previous studies. We apply the criteria to evolutive models of PNSs that, in general, can be subject to the various known regimes such as neutron fingers and convective instabilities. Our results indicate that the fingers instability arises in a more extended region of the stellar volume and lasts a longer time than expected.
Interaction strength and shape difference for the h9/2 and h11/2 configurations in163Tm
1991
The strongly shape driving πh9/2[541]l/2− configuration with α=+1/2 exhibits some anomalous, and so far unexplained, features concerning the crossing frequency, ħωc, the aligned angular momentum, ix, and interaction strength, at the alignment of the first pair of i13/2 quasineutrons in several odd-Z rare earth-nuclei. The h9/2[541]1/2− and h11/2[523]7/2− bands have been studied in the stably deformed rare-earth nucleus163Tm to investigate these features. A difference in band crossing frequency of ∼ 80 keV between the two bands is found. Rotational bands built on these two configurations have been found to cross in the spin range I=25/2–29/2 ħ. Theγ-decay pattern between the two bands is est…
THE MISSING LINK: MERGING NEUTRON STARS NATURALLY PRODUCE JET-LIKE STRUCTURES AND CAN POWER SHORT GAMMA-RAY BURSTS
2011
Short Gamma-Ray Bursts (SGRBs) are among the most luminous explosions in the universe, releasing in less than one second the energy emitted by our Galaxy over one year. Despite decades of observations, the nature of their "central-engine" remains unknown. Considering a binary of magnetized neutron stars and solving Einstein equations, we show that their merger results in a rapidly spinning black hole surrounded by a hot and highly magnetized torus. Lasting over 35 ms and much longer than previous simulations, our study reveals that magnetohydrodynamical instabilities amplify an initially turbulent magnetic field of ~ 10^{12} G to produce an ordered poloidal field of ~ 10^{15} G along the bl…
The transient gravitational-wave sky
2013
Interferometric detectors will very soon give us an unprecedented view of the gravitational-wave sky, and in particular of the explosive and transient Universe. Now is the time to challenge our theoretical understanding of short-duration gravitational-wave signatures from cataclysmic events, their connection to more traditional electromagnetic and particle astrophysics, and the data analysis techniques that will make the observations a reality. This paper summarizes the state of the art, future science opportunities, and current challenges in understanding gravitational-wave transients.
Radio signatures from encounters between Neutron Stars and QCD-Axion Minihalos around Primordial Black Holes
2021
Probing the QCD axion dark matter (DM) hypothesis is extremely challenging as the axion interacts very weakly with Standard Model particles. We propose a new avenue to test the QCD axion DM via transient radio signatures coming from encounters between neutron stars (NSs) and axion minihalos around primordial black holes (PBHs). We consider a general QCD axion scenario in which the PQ symmetry breaking occurs before (or during) inflation coexisting with a small fraction of DM in the form of PBHs. The PBHs will unavoidably acquire around them axion minihalos with the typical length scale of parsecs. The axion density in the minihalos may be much higher than the local DM density, and the prese…
Dynamical formation and stability of fermion-boson stars
2020
Gravitationally bound structures composed by fermions and scalar particles known as fermion-boson stars are regular and static configurations obtained by solving the coupled Einstein-Klein-Gordon-Euler (EKGE) system. In this work, we discuss one possible scenario through which these fermion-boson stars may form by solving numerically the EKGE system under the simplifying assumption of spherical symmetry. Our initial configurations assume an already existing neutron star surrounded by an accreting cloud of a massive and complex scalar field. The results of our simulations show that once part of the initial scalar field is expelled via gravitational cooling the system gradually oscillates aro…