Light kaonic atoms spectroscopy is a unique tool for the investiga- tion of the low-energy quantum chromodynamics (QCD) in the strangeness sector. The precise measurements of the X-ray emission from light kaonic atoms provide information on the kaon-nucleus interaction at threshold without the need of an extrapolation as in the case of scattering experiments. In 2009, the SIDDHARTA Collaboration performed the most precise measurement of kaonic hydrogen (K-H) X-ray transition to the fundamental level. Nowadays, the SIDDHARTA-2 Collaboration is ready to perform the more challenging measurement of kaonic deuterium (K(-)d) 2p -> 1s transition. To achieve this unprecedented result, which is fundamental to extract the isospin-dependent antikaon-nucleon scattering lengths, an upgraded experimental apparatus with respect to the SIDDHARTA one was realized. This paper presents an overview on the SIDDHARTA-2 setup installed on the DA Phi NE collider of LNF-INFN and the first results obtained during the machine optimization phase, in preparation for the kaonic deuterium data taking campaign planned in 2021-2022.
A popular way to accelerate the sampling of rare events in molecular dynamics simulations is to introduce a potential that increases the fluctuations of selected collective variables. For this strategy to be successful, it is critical to choose appropriate variables. Here we review some recent developments in the data-driven design of collective variables, with a focus on the combination of Fisher's discriminant analysis and neural networks. This approach allows to compress the fluctuations of metastable states into a low-dimensional representation. We illustrate through several examples the effectiveness of this method in accelerating the sampling, while also identifying the physical descriptors that undergo the most significant changes in the process.
We use an all-atom model of the human nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 7 in a conductive conformation, to provide the first available mapping of the potential of mean force for the ion translocation across the channel. The modeling is based on MD simulations combined with the milestoning method with Voronoi tessellation. The quality of the protein model and description is confirmed by the agreement with experimental data for proteins of the same family. The specific mutation E-1'A at the cytoplasmatic filter is here shown to strongly affect both sodium and chloride permeation, leading to a complete inversion of selectivity.
This contribution reports on the recently held MEDAMI 2019 workshop in Valencia (15-17th May 2019). This workshop is about advanced molecular imaging and the main topic of this last edition was Imaging in Immunotherapy. Around 70 attenders met together during three days. This meeting made it possible to join medical doctors and instrumentalists. In MEDAMI 2019 it was exposed the new immunotherapies from a clinical and research point of view. It was shown the already observed improvements when using these therapies. At the same time, we heard about the difficulties and limitations of current molecular imaging in this particular field. It was clear that improvements in system sensitivity and resolution are demanded. Timing information can be utilized in different ways to improve the image quality in PET systems. Precise Coincidence Time Resolution (CTR) improves the signal-to-noise ratio and, therefore, the image contrast, allowing for instance to distinguish low uptake tumors, multicentric lesions, or tumor heterogeneity, to name but a few. Both high time resolution and angular coverage in a PET system can improve the effective sensitivity. An example of a system benchmarking the timing resolution is the Siemens Biograph Vision with 214 ps FWHM, enhancing the detectability. The Explorer total-body PET from UC Davis improves the system sensitivity by having a 2 meters long PET scanner. Deep investigations, from different research groups, are being carried out to further push the limits of timing resolution. This work also describes some of the projects on high timing performance that are being carried out at the Detector for Molecular Imaging Lab (DMIL) at the Institute for Instrumentation in Molecular Imaging (i3M) in Valencia. The DMIL group has extensively worked on detectors and implementation of PET systems enabling the use of accurate timing information. In this progress report we describe the results obtained at the DMIL regarding timing determination in gamma-ray detectors both based on monolithic and pixelated crystals. Although with 15 min thick LYSO blocks it was tough to obtain values of CTR below 500 ps when using analog SiPMs and ASIC-based readout, this was improved down to 250 ps if small 3 mm size and 6 mm height pixels under the one-to-one coupling approach were enabled. This type of approach, the one-to-one coupling, seems to benefit from the light collection in a single photosensor element and, therefore, to improve the timing properties. Monolithic blocks offer, on the contrary, advantages such as photon depth of interaction. In order to separate Compton and photoelectric events we have thought of a detector block design with a high aspect ratio, using LYSO crystals of 51 mm size vs. 3 mm thickness, read-out by the four lateral sides. We have demonstrated the possibility to reach below 2 mm FWHM spatial resolution with an energy resolution of 12%.
In case of Radiological and Nuclear (R/N) emergencies, the early knowledge on the individual radiation absorbed dose is of paramount importance for sorting out unaffected subjects from those requiring medical intervention. Retrospective dosimetry by using biological and physical methods aims to prioritize the selection of over-exposed individuals for a rapid triage-dose assessment. In this context, the BioPhyMeTRE project focuses on the validation of innovative biological and physical methods allowing a rapid screening/triage of potential victims, by using inexpensive and user-friendly analytical procedures and devices. The biological method combines the two most standardized biodosimetry methods into a single one and the physical technique concerns the use of a low-cost, portable mini photo-luminescence reader for the individual dose assessment by using personal objects that civilians wear or carry every day. Next to the experimental work, the project includes training for the transfer of knowledge and skills among the partners, inter-laboratory exercises for the validation of the analytical procedures and disseminations of the results. The preliminary results of these activities are here reported.
The Barrel DIRC of the PANDA experiment at FAIR will cleanly separate pions from kaons for the physics program of PANDA. Innovative solutions for key components of the detector sitting in the strong magnetic field of the compact PANDA target spectrometer as well as two reconstruction methods were developed in an extensive prototype program. The technical design and present results from the test beam campaigns at the CERN PS in 2017 and 2018 are discussed.
An IGISOL beamline that produces neutron-rich nuclei via photo-fission induced by a high-brilliance gamma beam is being developed at the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) facility. The core device will be a cryogenic stopping cell with an actinide target system in its center. We report on some of the latest simulation results for an optimal design of this gas cell.
The rapid neutron-capture process, or r-process, is known to be of fundamental importance for explaining the origin of approximately half of the A > 60 stable nuclei observed in nature. Recently, special attention has been paid to neutron star (NS) mergers following the confirmation by hydrodynamic simulations that a non-negligible amount of matter can be ejected and by nucleosynthesis calculations combined with the predicted astrophysical event rate that such a site can account for the majority of r-material in our Galaxy. We show here that the combined contribution of both the dynamical (prompt) ejecta expelled during binary NS or NS-black hole (BH) mergers and the neutrino and viscously driven outflows generated during the post-merger remnant evolution of relic BH-torus systems can lead to the production of r-process elements from mass number A ≳ 90 up to actinides. The corresponding abundance distribution is found to reproduce the solar distribution extremely well. It can also account for the elemental distributions observed in low-metallicity stars. However, major uncertainties still affect our understanding of the composition of the ejected matter. These concern (i) the β-interactions of electron (anti)neutrinos with free neutrons and protons, as well as their inverse reactions, which may affect the neutron-richness of the matter at the early phase of the ejection, and (ii) the nuclear physics of exotic neutron-rich nuclei, including nuclear structure as well as nuclear interaction properties, which impact the calculated abundance distribution. Both aspects are discussed in the light of recent hydrodynamical simulations of NS mergers and microscopic calculations of nuclear decay and reaction probabilities.
Nuclear-structure calculations are important inputs for solving problems of fundamental physics. Such problems are related with, e.g., neutrinos and dark-matter particles and their interactions with atomic nuclei. In this article the focus is directed to the important problem of the renormalization of the weak axial coupling g(A) and accurate treatment of beta spectrum shapes. As particular applications of the spectral shapes the spectrum-shape method (SSM) and the hot topic of "reactor antineutrino anomaly" are introduced.
We present a general EFT framework based in U(2)' flavour symmetry applied to the light generations of SM fermions to address the hints of Lepton Flavour Universality violation in B decays observed in the recent years. hi particular we analyse the constraints from the low energy observables in B and 7 physics. We show that a consistent picture can be achieved introducing a moderate fine tuning and additional dynamical assumptions which aim to the New Physics (NP) being coupled mostly to the third generation of SM fermions.
— Due to the limited number and high cost of large-scale neutron facilities, there has been a growing interest in compact accelerator-driven sources. In this context, several potential schemes of laser-driven neutron sources are being intensively studied employing laser-accelerated electron and ion beams. In addition to the potential of delivering neutron beams with high brilliance, directionality and ultra-short burst duration, a laser-driven neutron source would offer further advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness, compactness and radiation confinement by closed-coupled experiments. Some of the recent advances in this field are discussed, showing improvements in the directionality and flux of the laser-driven neutron beams.
An emerging focus of recent science education research advocates the benefits of using argumentation as an approach in which teachers can better engage students in a more authentic experience of the epistemic work of scientists (Bricker and Bell, 2008). Logical argument and critical thinking are considered essential skills for an effective and successful undertaking of scientific inquiry and analysis. Early research suggests the practise of encouraging students to engage in scientific discourse in the classroom (Kuhn, 2010) can provide rich experiences for students and teachers to hone their cognitive abilities. This paper explores the use of critical 'discussion problems' purposefully designed for pre-service physics teachers to investigate their own alternative conceptual understandings of key physics ideas. It also discusses how these problems are then used to generate classroom discourse which focuses on the importance of developing effective pedagogical content knowledge (See Shulman, 1986 for a detailed explanation of pedagogical content knowledge) rather than just mastery of scientific content and its mathematical applications. Further, the paper will detail a preliminary study in which pre-service physics teachers were introduced to a number of discussion problems via an online learning environment and asked to first consider the problem and post a solution in isolation from their peers. A considerable challenge was persuading the pre-service teachers to resist the common practice of "Googling the answer" via the internet before posting their solution attempt. Although most students initially appeared to believe that posting "the correct" answer was the main task objective, the vast majority eventually came to realise that discussing the range of unresearched solutions was much more beneficial for their conceptual understanding and professional practice. Over time, this approach generally encouraged students to post original ideas and to be less influenced by the arguments or analysis of other students. Following the completion of the online posts, the range of ideas included in the postings were then explored during a face to face workshop where the ideas were debated and frequently defended and the implications for pedagogy and their students learning discussed. The initial feedback from the pre-service teachers during this preliminary study is encouraging and suggests there is merit in exploring the benefits of argumentation for pre-service teachers and their students in a subsequent expanded study.
Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) is a powerful tool that can be used to gain information on the structure and dynamics of proteins and other biomolecules in solution. Improved methods for the calculation of WAXS patterns from available or putative protein models allow to better exploit the structural information contained in the experimental data. These methods, together with recent applications of static and time-resolved WAXS, are briefly reviewed.
A high-performance thermonuclear plasma is a strong source of nuclear radiation, which includes neutron emission from the main fusion reactions and gamma-rays born from the interaction of supra-thermal ions and plasma impurities. Spectroscopic measurements of both types of radiation are an indirect probe of the distribution function of the fast ions leading to nuclear emission. In this paper we present a selection of recent results obtained with neutron and gamma-ray spectroscopy as a means to study the energy distribution of supra-thermal particles in high-performance thermonuclear plasmas. We focus in particular on the advancements made possible by the combination of dedicated instrumentation and detailed models based on the nuclear physics behind the emission. Future developments are finally addressed, especially regarding the availability of compact detectors with spectroscopy capabilities, which open up to a full tomographic reconstruction of the fast-ion velocity space.
The recent results by the Fermilab Lattice and MILC collaborations on the hadronic matrix elements entering $B_{d,s}-\bar B_{d,s}$ mixing show a significant tension of the measured values of the mass differences $\Delta M_{d,s}$ with their SM predictions. We review the implications of these results in the context of Constrained Minimal Flavour Violation models. In these models, the CKM elements $\gamma$ and $|V_{ub}|/|V_{cb}|$ can be determined from $B_{d,s}-\bar B_{d,s}$ mixing observables, yielding a prediction for $\gamma$ below its tree-level value. Determining subsequently $|V_{cb}|$ from the measured value of either $\Delta M_s$ or $\varepsilon_K$ gives inconsistent results, with the tension being smallest in the Standard Model limit. This tension can be resolved if the flavour universality of new contributions to $\Delta F = 2$ observables is broken. We briefly discuss the case of $U(2)^3$ flavour models as an illustrative example.
The practice of scientists and engineers is today exerted within interdisciplinary contexts, placed at the intersections of different research fields, including nanoscale science. The development of the required competences is based on an effective science and engineering instruction, which should be able to drive the students towards a deeper understanding of quantum mechanics fundamental concepts and, at the same time, strengthen their reasoning skills and transversal abilities. In this study we report the results of an inquiry-driven learning path experienced by a sample of 12 electronic engineering undergraduates engaged to perform the Franck-Hertz experiment. Before being involved in this experimental activity, the students received a traditional lecture-based instruction on the fundamental concepts of quantum mechanics, but their answers to an open-ended questionnaire, administered at the beginning of the inquiry activity, demonstrated that the acquired knowledge was characterized by a strictly theoretical vision of quantum science, basically in terms of an artificial mathematical framework having very poor connections with the real world. The Franck Hertz experiment was introduced to the students by starting from the problem of finding an experimental confirmation of the Bohr's postulates asserting that atoms can absorb energy only in quantum portions. The whole activity has been videotaped and this allowed us to deeply analyse the student perception's change about the main concepts of quantum mechanics. We have found that the active participation to this learning experience favored the building of cognitive links among student theoretical perceptions of quantum mechanics and their vision of quantum phenomena, within an everyday context of knowledge. Furthermore, our findings confirm the benefits of integrating traditional lecture-based instruction on quantum mechanics with learning experiences driven by inquiry-based teaching strategies.
