Engineering topics

Bertulani, Carlos A.

Publications and source records attributed to Bertulani, Carlos A..

9 records

DOE OSTI2024

Primordial nucleosynthesis with non-extensive statistics

The conventional Big Bang model successfully anticipates the initial abundances of 2 H(D), 3 He, and 4 He, aligning remarkably well with observational data. However, a persistent challenge arises in the case of 7 Li, where the predicted abundance exceeds observations by a factor of approximately three. Despite numerous eﬀorts employing traditional nuclear physics to address this incongruity over the years, the enigma surrounding the lithium anomaly endures. In this context, we embark on an exploration of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) of light element abundances with the application of Tsallis non-extensive statistics. A comparison is made between the outcomes obtained by varying the non-extensive parameter q away from its unity value and both observational data and abundance predictions derived from the conventional big bang model. Here, a good agreement is found for the abundances of 4 He, 3 He and 7 Li, implying that the lithium abundance puzzle might be due to a subtle fine-tuning of the physics ingredients used to determine the BBN. However, the deuterium abundance deviates from observations.

Bertulani, Carlos A.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Unveiling the properties of the dimuonium at the energies available at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN

We study the production of dimuonium (also known as true muonium) in two- and three-photon fusion processes in nucleus–nucleus collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A new formalism is introduced for the production process, and valuable new information is extracted, which will be helpful in proposals of future experiments. We explore the phase space constraints, the reaction mechanisms, and how dimuonium decay observables might be jeopardized by other physical processes. Here, we show that the energies available at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN might lead to the first identification of dimuonium in a terrestrial laboratory.

Bertulani, Carlos A.↗

DOE OSTI2023

The case for an EIC Theory Alliance: Theoretical Challenges of the EIC

We outline the physics opportunities provided by the Electron Ion Collider (EIC). These include the study of the parton structure of the nucleon and nuclei, the onset of gluon saturation, the production of jets and heavy flavor, hadron spectroscopy and tests of fundamental symmetries. We review the present status and future challenges in EIC theory that have to be addressed in order to realize this ambitious and impactful physics program, including how to engage a diverse and inclusive workforce. In order to address these many-fold challenges, we propose a coordinated effort involving theory groups with differing expertise is needed. We discuss the scientific goals and scope of such an EIC Theory Alliance.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Bayesian Exploration of Phenomenological EoS of Neutron/Hybrid Stars with Recent Observations

The description of the stellar interior of compact stars remains as a big challenge for the nuclear astrophysics community. The consolidated knowledge is restricted to density regions around the saturation of hadronic matter ρ 0 =2.8 × 10 14 g cm -3 , regimes where our nuclear models are successfully applied. As one moves towards higher densities and extreme conditions up to the quark/gluons deconfinement, little can be said about the microphysics of the equation of state (EoS). Here, we employ a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) strategy to access the variability at high density regions of polytropic piecewise models for neutron star (NS) EoS or possible hybrid stars, i.e., a NS with a small quark-matter core. With a fixed description of the hadronic matter for low density, below the nuclear saturation density, we explore a variety of models for the high density regimes leading to stellar masses near to 2.5 M ⊙ , in accordance with the observations of massive pulsars. The models are constrained, including the observation of the merger of neutrons stars from VIRGO-LIGO and with the pulsar observed by NICER. In addition, we also discuss the possibility of the use of a Bayesian power regression model with heteroscedastic error. The set of EoS from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) was used as input and treated as the data set for the testing case.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Cluster Structures with Machine Learning Support in Neutron Star M-R relations

Neutron stars (NS) are compact objects with strong gravitational fields, and a matter composition subject to extreme physical conditions. The properties of strongly interacting matter at ultra-high densities and temperatures impose a big challenge to our understanding and modelling tools. Some difficulties are critical, since one cannot reproduce such conditions in our laboratories or assess them purely from astronomical observations. The information we have about neutron star interiors are often extracted indirectly, e.g., from the star mass-radius relation. The mass and radius are global quantities and still have a significant uncertainty, which leads to great variability in studying the micro-physics of the neutron star interior. This leaves open many questions in nuclear astrophysics and the suitable equation of state (EoS) of NS. Recently, new observations appear to constrain the mass-radius and consequently has helped to close some open questions. In this work, utilizing modern machine learning techniques, we analyze the NS mass-radius (M-R) relationship for a set of EoS containing a variety of physical models. Our objective is to determine patterns through the M-R data analysis and develop tools to understand the EoS of neutron stars in forthcoming works.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Nuclear spectroscopy with heavy ion nucleon knockout and (p,2p) reactions

Knockout reactions with heavy ion targets in inverse kinematics, as well as “quasifree” (p,2p) and (p,pn) reactions are useful tools for nuclear spectroscopy. We report calculations on ab initio many-body wave functions based on the no-core shell model to study the nucleon removal reactions in light nuclei, including beryllium, carbon, and oxygen isotopic chains, and explore the importance of using an ab initio method. Our study helps to clarify how the extraction of spectroscopic factors from the experiments depend on the details of the many-body wave functions being probed. We show that recent advances with the ab initio method can provide more insights on the spectroscopy information extracted from experiments.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

The Trojan Horse Method: A Nuclear Physics Tool for Astrophysics

The Trojan Horse Method (THM) represents an indirect path to determine the bare nucleus astrophysical S-factor for reactions among charged particles at astrophysical energies. This is achieved by measuring the quasi-free cross section of a suitable three-body process. The method is also suited to study neutron-induced reactions, especially in the case of radioactive ion beams. A comprehensive review of the theoretical as well as experimental features behind the THM is presented here. An overview is given of some recent applications to demonstrate the method's practical use for reactions that have a great impact on selected astrophysical scenarios.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2021

Neutron-neutron scattering length from the 6 He(p,pα)nn reaction

We propose a novel method to measure the neutron-neutron scattering length using the 6 He(p,pα)nn reaction in inverse kinematics at high energies. The method is based on the final-state interaction (FSI) between the neutrons after the sudden knockout of the α particle. We show that the details of the neutron-neutron relative-energy distribution allow for a precise extraction of the s-wave scattering length. Here, we present the state of the art in regard to the theory of this distribution. The distribution is calculated in two steps. First, we calculate the ground-state wave function of 6 He as a αnn three-body system. For this purpose we use Halo effective field theory, which also provides uncertainty estimates for the results. We compare our results at this stage to model calculations done with the computer code face. In a second step we determine the effects of the nn FSI using the nn t-matrix. We compare these FSI results to approximate FSI approaches based on standard FSI enhancement factors. While the final distribution is sensitive to the nn scattering length, it depends only weakly on the effective range. Throughout we emphasize the impact of theoretical uncertainties on the neutron-neutron relative-energy distribution, and discuss the extent to which those uncertainties limit the extraction of the neutron-neutron scattering length from the reaction 6 He(p,pα)nn.

6 ≤ A ≤ 19↗

DOE OSTI2021

Neutron Tunneling: A New Mechanism to Power Explosive Phenomena in Neutron Stars, Magnetars, and Neutron Star Mergers

Neutron tunneling between neutron-rich nuclei in inhomogeneous dense matter encountered in neutron star crusts can release enormous energy on a short timescale to power explosive phenomena in neutron stars. In this work, we clarify aspects of this process that can occur in the outer regions of neutron stars when oscillations or cataclysmic events increase the ambient density. We use a time-dependent Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov formalism to determine the rate of neutron diffusion and find that large amounts of energy can be released rapidly. The roles of nuclear binding, two-body interaction, and pairing in neutron diffusion times are investigated. We consider a one-dimensional quantum diffusion model and extend our analysis to study the impact of diffusion in three dimensions. Here, we find that these novel neutron transfer reactions can generate energy in the amount of ≃ 10 40 –10 44 erg under suitable conditions and assumptions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗