Application of the medical linear accelerator ELEKTA AXESSE in the study of sorption properties of impurities and absorption coefficients of medium and heavy chemical elements

In this article, the authors propose a new technique for measuring linear attenuation coefficients on the medical linear accelerator Elekta Axesse. Linear attenuation coefficients were obtained for four samples at different concentrations of substances at a gamma-ray energy of 6 MeV. A unified ionization chamber was used as a detector to register the transmitted gamma-ray beam through the samples under study. Linear absorption coefficients were obtained for elements B, C, O, S, Fe, Ba taking into account their concentration, as well as taking into account the different mass inclusion of paraffin in the samples under study, which is acyclic hydrocarbons CnH2n+2. The measurement results showed that taking into account certain components in impurities leads to relatively small, but quite noticeable differences in the determination of the total absorption coefficients. This is especially important to take into account for determining the concentration of light elements in samples. To determine the content of medium and heavy chemical elements, taking into account the content of light elements can be neglected. The use of a 6 MeV gamma-ray beam made it possible to reduce the errors in determining the absorption coefficients, since their dependence on energy in the region of applicable gamma-ray energies is not so great in comparison with the low-energy region, in which the shell effects for heavy elements will introduce significant contribution.

Nuclear level densities away from line of β-stability

The variation of total nuclear level densities (NLDs) and level density parameters with proton number Z are studied around the β-stable isotope, Z0, for a given mass number. We perform our analysis for a mass range A=40 to 180 using the NLDs from popularly used databases obtained with the single-particle energies from two different microsopic mass-models. These NLDs which include microscopic structural effects such as collective enhancement, pairing and shell corrections, do not exhibit inverted parabolic trend with a strong peak at Z0 as predicted earlier. We also compute the NLDs using the single-particle energies from macroscopic-microscopic mass-model. Once the collective and pairing effects are ignored, the inverted parabolic trends of NLDs and the corresponding level density parameters become somewhat visible. Nevertheless, the factor that governs the (Z-Z0) dependence of the level density parameter, leading to the inverted parabolic trend, is found to be smaller by an order of magnitude. We further find that the (Z-Z0) dependence of NLDs is quite sensitive to the shell effects.

Shell-structure and asymmetry effects in level densities

Level density [Formula: see text] is derived for a nuclear system with a given energy [Formula: see text], neutron [Formula: see text], and proton [Formula: see text] particle numbers, within the semiclassical extended Thomas–Fermi and periodic-orbit theory beyond the Fermi-gas saddle-point method. We obtain [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the modified Bessel function of the entropy [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] is related to the number of integrals of motion, except for the energy [Formula: see text]. For small shell structure contribution one obtains within the micro–macroscopic approximation (MMA) the value of [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text]. In the opposite case of much larger shell structure contributions one finds a larger value of [Formula: see text]. The MMA level density [Formula: see text] reaches the well-known Fermi gas asymptote for large excitation energies, and the finite micro-canonical limit for low excitation energies. Fitting the MMA [Formula: see text] to experimental data on a long isotope chain for low excitation energies, due mainly to the shell effects, one obtains results for the inverse level density parameter [Formula: see text], which differs significantly from that of neutron resonances.

The impact of top-quark modelling on the exclusion limits in $$\varvec{t{\bar{t}}}+\text {DM}$$ searches at the LHC

New Physics searches at the LHC rely very heavily on the precision and accuracy of Standard Model background predictions. Applying the spin-0 s-channel mediator model, we assess the importance of properly modelling such backgrounds in $$t{\bar{t}}$$ t t ¯ associated Dark Matter production. Specifically, we discuss higher-order corrections and off-shell effects for the two dominant background processes $$t{\bar{t}}$$ t t ¯ and $$t{\bar{t}}Z$$ t t ¯ Z in the presence of extremely exclusive cuts. Exclusion limits are calculated for state-of-the-art NLO full off-shell $$t{\bar{t}}$$ t t ¯ and $$t{\bar{t}}Z$$ t t ¯ Z predictions and compared to those computed with backgrounds in the NWA and / or at LO. We perform the same comparison for several new-physics sensitive observables and evaluate which of them are affected by the top-quark modelling. Additionally, we make suggestions as to which observables should be used to obtain the most stringent limits assuming integrated luminosities of 300 fb$$^{-1}$$ - 1 and 3000 fb$$^{-1}$$ - 1 .

W+W− production at NNLO+PS with MINNLOPS

We consider W+W− production in hadronic collisions and present the computation of next-to-next-to-leading order accurate predictions consistently matched to parton showers (NNLO+PS) using the MiNNLOPS method. Spin correlations, interferences and off-shell effects are included by calculating the full process pp → e+νeμ−$$ \overline{\nu} $$ ν ¯ μ. This is the first NNLO+PS calculation for W+W− production that does not require an a-posteriori multi-differential reweighting. The evaluation time of the two-loop contribution has been reduced by more than one order of magnitude through a four-dimensional cubic spline interpolation. We find good agreement with the inclusive and fiducial cross sections measured by ATLAS and CMS. Both NNLO corrections and matching to parton showers are important for an accurate simulation of the W+W− signal, and their matching provides the best description of fully exclusive W+W− events to date.

Binary and Ternary Fragmentation Analysis of 252Cf Nucleus using Different Nuclear Radii

Pioneering study reveals that a radioactive nucleus may split into two or three fragments and the phenomena are known as binary fission and ternary fission respectively. In order to understand the nuclear stability and related structure aspects, it is of huge interest to explore the fragmentation behavior of a radioactive nucleus in binary and ternary decay modes. In view of this, Binary and ternary fission analysis of 252Cf nucleus is carried out using quantum mechanical fragmentation theory (QMFT). The nuclear potential and Coulomb potential are estimated using different versions of radius vector. The fragmentation structure is found to be independent to the choice of fragment radius for binary as wellas ternary decay paths. The deformation effect is included up to quadrupole (β2) with optimum cold orientations and their influence is explored within binary splitting mode. Moreover, the most probable fission channels explore the role of magic shell effects in binary and ternary fission modes.

$$ t\overline{t}b\overline{b} $$ at the LHC: on the size of corrections and b-jet definitions

We report on the calculation of the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to the production of a $$ t\overline{t} $$ t t ¯ pair in association with two heavy-flavour jets. We concentrate on the di-lepton $$ t\overline{t} $$ t t ¯ decay channel at the LHC with $$ \sqrt{s} $$ s = 13 TeV. The computation is based on pp → e+νeμ−$$ \overline{\nu} $$ ν ¯ μ$$ b\overline{b}b\overline{b} $$ b b ¯ b b ¯ matrix elements and includes all resonant and non-resonant diagrams, interferences and off-shell effects of the top quark and the W gauge boson. As it is customary for such studies, results are presented in the form of inclusive and differential fiducial cross sections. We extensively investigate the dependence of our results upon variation of renormalisation and factorisation scales and parton distribution functions in the quest for an accurate estimate of the theoretical uncertainties. We additionally study the impact of the contributions induced by the bottom-quark parton density. Results presented here are particularly relevant for measurements of $$ t\overline{t}H $$ t t ¯ H (H → $$ b\overline{b} $$ b b ¯ ) and the determination of the Higgs coupling to the top quark. In addition, they might be used for precise measurements of the top-quark fiducial cross sections and to investigate top-quark decay modelling at the LHC.

Advancing MıNNLOPS to diboson processes: Zγ production at NNLO+PS

We consider Zγ production in hadronic collisions and present the first computation of next-to-next-to-leading order accurate predictions consistently matched to parton showers (NNLO+PS). Spin correlations, interferences and off-shell effects are included by calculating the full process pp → ℓ+ℓ−γ. We extend the recently developed MiNNLOPS method to genuine 2 → 2 hard scattering processes at the LHC, which paves the way for NNLO+PS simulations of all diboson processes. This is the first 2 → 2 NNLO+PS calculation that does not require an a-posteriori multi-differential reweighting. We find that both NNLO corrections and matching to parton showers are crucial for an accurate simulation of the Zγ process. Our predictions are in very good agreement with recent ATLAS data.

Estimation Pre-Equilibrium Particle and Angular Distribution Spectra for the Neutrons Induce Nuclear Reactions on 90Zr Nuclei by using (FKK) Model

Particles pre - equilibrium spectra and angular distribution are calculated by usingFeshbach-Kerman- Koonin (FKK) model with PRECO-2006 code. The angular distribution of the nuclei of nuclear reactions between the nucleus of a target (90Zr) and the tapline of light particles wascalculated by using reactions of the multistep compound (MSC) and of multistep direct (MSD).Isospin, the finite well depth, and shell effects are considered. Byusing [(_40^90)〖Zr〗_50 ] as target material the cross section of [90Zr(n,n)90Zr], [90Zr(n,p)90Y], [90Zr(n,D)89Y], [90Zr(n,T)88Y], [90Zr(n,3He)88Sr] and [90Zr(n,4He)87Sr] reactions were estimated. Values of cross sections estimated are 550, 371, 16.3, 4.55, 0.271 and 2.35 mb/MeV respectively. Also the angular distribution of same nuclear reactions were estimated, and the values of angular distribution are 850, 392, 4.55, 4.55,0.27 and 2.35mb/sr.MeV respectively.

Ab Initio Metadynamics Calculations Reveal Complex Interfacial Effects in Acetic Acid Deprotonation Dynamics

Acid-base reactions play a central role in solution chemistry, with carboxylic acids being particularly important in atmospheric chemical processes. In this work, we harness metadynamics calculations with Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations to understand deprotonation dynamics of acetic acid (CH₃COOH) in both bulk and air-water interfacial environments. Collective variables are carefully chosen in our well-tempered metadynamics simulations to capture the deprotonation process in various aqueous configurations. Our findings show that the free energy barrier for deprotonation of acetic acid at the air-water interface is lower than in the bulk, in accordance with the available experimental data. Furthermore, our well-tempered metadynamics calculations suggest that the variations in free energy are primarily due to intricate solvation shell effects.