14865448
Performance of the RPCs for the ARGO detector operated at the YangBaJing laboratory (4300 m a.s.l.)
Bakelite RPCs, assembled according to the ARGO design, have been operated in the high altitude Laboratory of YBJ using dedicated electronics to pick-up the streamer signal. Here we report on the results concerning absorbed current, single counting rate, efficiency and time resolution. Environmental data concerning the operating temperature inside the ARGO experimental hall are also reported.
121671681
Particle dark matter signal in DAMA/LIBRA
The DAMA/LIBRA experiment, running at LNGS, has a sensitive mass of about 250 kg highly radiopure NaI(TI) and it is mainly devoted to the investigation of Dark Matter (DM) particles in the Galactic halo by exploiting the model independent DM annual modulation signature. The present DAMA/LIBRA experiment and the former DAMA/NaI one have released so far results corresponding to a total exposure of 1.17 ton x yr over 13 annual cycles. They provide a model independent evidence of the presence of DM particles in the galactic halo at 8.9 sigma C.L. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
123403021
Direct detection of dark-matter particles
In this conference the model-independent result on the presence of dark-matter paticles in the galactic halo obtained over seven annual cycles by the 100kg highly radiopure NaI(T1) DAMA/NaI has been presented and several corollary investigations have also been discussed. More recently the model-independent result obtaind over the first four annual cycles by the second generation 250kg highly radiopure NaI(T1) DAMA/LIBRA set-up at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the INFN has also been released. Both the experiments have the unique feature to effectively investigate the presence of dark-matter particles in the galactic halo by exploiting the model-independent annual modulation signature. The data collected by the two experiments over elevn annual cycles for a total exposure of 0.82ton x y have pointed out at 8.2 sigma CL a positive result; several corollary model-dependent quests for the candidate particle(s) and related astrophysical, nuclear and particle physics scenarios are under updating. The future experimental activity can give rise to many new interesting results.
53679369
Particle Dark Matter in DAMA/LIBRA
The present DAMA/LIBRA experiment and the former DAMA/NaI have cumulatively released so far the results obtained with the data collected over 13 annual cycles (total exposure: 1.17 ton $\times$ yr). They give a model independent evidence of the presence of DM particles in the galactic halo on the basis of the DM annual modulation signature at 8.9 $\sigma$ C.L. for the cumulative exposure.
121510906
Results from the ARGO-YBJ test experiment
Abstract A resistive plate counters (RPCs) carpet of ∼50 m 2 has been put in operation in the Yangbajing Laboratory (Tibet, P.R. China) at 4300 m a.s.l., in order to study the RPCs performance at high altitude and the detector capability of imaging the EAS disc. This test has been performed in view of an enlarged use of RPCs for the ARGO-YBJ experiment. This experiment will be devoted to a wide range of fundamental issues in cosmic rays and astroparticle physics, including in particular γ-ray astronomy and γ-ray bursts physics at energies ⩾100 GeV. In this paper we present and discuss the procedures adopted to calibrate the detector and reconstruct the shower direction. Results concerning many shower features as the angular distribution, the density spectrum, the time profile of the shower front, are found well consistent with the expectation.
53692455
Technical aspects and dark matter searches
A variety of detectors has been proposed for dark matter direct detection, but most of them -- by the fact -- are still at R&D stage. In many cases, it is claimed that the lack of an adequate detectors' radio-purity might be compensated through heavy uses of MonteCarlo simulations, subtractions and handlings of the measured counting rates, in order to claim higher sensitivity (just for a particular scenario). The relevance of a correct evaluation of systematic effects in the use of MonteCarlo simulations at very low energy (which has always been safely discouraged in the field so far) and of multiple subtractions and handling procedures applied to the measured counting rate is shortly addressed here at some extent. Many other aspects would also deserve suitably deep investigations.
120649134
YAP:Ce and CsI(Tl) detectors for dielectronic recombination experiment at the CSRm
Abstract The storage ring CSRm in Lanzhou provides good possibilities for electron-ion collision studies with cooled ion beams. To carry on the recombination experiment at the CSRm, a scintillation detector CsI(Tl) to detect the recombined ions was developed and tested. In addition, a YAP:Ce detector has been developed and installed at CSRm and capability of handling a high count rate of ∼107 s−1 has been obtained which is sufficient for the future dielectronic recombination experiment at the CSRm. The comparison of the characteristics of these two detectors is presented.
120411476
Measurement of the ratio of C3+ and O4+ ions produced by ECRIS to prepare a laser cooling experiment at storage rings
Abstract To prepare the upcoming laser cooling of relativistic C 3+ ion beams at the experimental Cooler Storage Ring (CSRe), a novel experiment was performed using a reaction microscope to determine the ratio of C 3+ ions in mixed ion beams of C 3+ and O 4+ that are produced by an Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ion Source (ECRIS). The mixed ion beams at an energy of 4 keV/u were directed to collide on a supersonic helium gas target. Using the single-electron capture channel and the coincidence technique, the fractions of C 3+ and O 4+ ions in the primary beam were obtained. Using different injection gases for ECRIS, including O 2 , CO, CO 2 , and CH 4 , at a fixed radio-frequency power of 300 W, the measured results showed that the fraction of C 3+ ions was greater than 70% for the injection gases of CO and CO 2 . These measured results are very important and helpful for the upcoming laser cooling experiments.
119214093
Test of detuning system for dielectronic recombination experiment at CSRm
The storage ring equipped with an electron cooler is an ideal platform for dielectronic recombination (DR) experiments. In order to fulfil the requirement of DR measurements at the main Cooler Storage Ring, a detuning system for the precision control of the relative energy between the ion beam and the electron beam has been installed on the electron cooler device. The test run using 7.0 MeV/u C6+ beam was performed to examine the influence of this system on the performance of the stored ion beam. The Schottky spectra and the ion beam currents were recorded to monitor the beam status. The influence of pulse heights and widths of the detuning voltage on the ion beam was investigated. For the small pulse height, the experimental results from the Schottky spectrum were in good agreement with the theoretical results. The frequency shift in the Schottky spectrum is significantly reduced for the short pulse width. For the large pulse height, an oscillation phenomenon was observed. From the Schottky spectrum, we found the oscillation amplitude is dependent on the pulse width of detuning and the ion beam intensity. The detailed description of the phenomenon and the theoretical model based on the plasma oscillation was discussed in this paper.
123784951
Beta decay of highly charged ions
Ion storage rings and ion traps provide the very first opportunity to address nuclear beta decay under conditions prevailing in hot stellar plasmas during nucleosynthesis, i.e. at high atomic charge states. Experiments are summarized that were performed in this field during the last decade at the ion storage-cooler ring ESR in Darmstadt. Special emphasis is given to the first observation of bound-state beta decay, where the created electron remains bound in an inner orbital of the daughter atom. The impact of this specific ‘stellar’ decay mode for s-process nucleosynthesis as well as for nuclear ‘eon clocks’ is outlined. Finally, a new technique, single-ion decay spectroscopy, is presented, where one observes two-body beta decay characteristics (i.e. orbital electron capture or bound-state beta decay) of highly charged, single ions for well-defined nuclear and atomic quantum states of both the mother – and the daughter – ion.
93891215
Gamma-ray spectra of methane in the positron–electron annihilationprocess
Abstract Bound electron contribution to the Doppler-shift of gamma-ray spectra in the positron–electron annihilation process of molecular methane has been studied in gas phase. Two accurate ab initio quantum mechanical schemes, i.e. the delocalised molecular orbital (MO) and the localised natural bond orbital (NBO) schemes, are applied to study the multi-centred methane molecule. The present ab initio calculations of methane indicate that the C–H bonds are polarised with the partial negative charge of −0.36 a.u on the carbon atom and the partial positive charge of +0.09 a.u. on each of the hydrogen atoms. The positively charged hydrogen atoms produce repulsive Coulomb potentials to a positron. Both the MO and NBO schemes further reveal that the 2a 1 electrons of methane, that is, the 2a 1 electron component of the CH bonds rather than the whole CH bonds of methane, predominates the positron–electron annihilation gamma-ray spectra of the molecule. Electrons of a molecule which are dominant the positron–electron annihilation processes are called “positrophilic” electrons in the present study. It is further shown that the negative electrostatic potential (ESP) of methane facilitates with the density of the “positrophilic” 2a 1 electrons of methane. Other valence electrons (e.g. 1t 2 ) in the CH bonds play a minor “spectator” role in the annihilation process of methane.