Engineering topics

Dai, X

Publications and source records attributed to Dai, X.

4 records

DOE OSTI2021

Development, characterisation, and deployment of the SNO+ liquid scintillator

A liquid scintillator consisting of linear alkylbenzene as the solvent and 2,5-diphenyloxazole as the fluor was developed for the SNO+ experiment. This mixture was chosen as it is compatible with acrylic and has a competitive light yield to pre-existing liquid scintillators while conferring other advantages including longer attenuation lengths, superior safety characteristics, chemical simplicity, ease of handling, and logistical availability. Its properties have been extensively characterized and are presented here. This liquid scintillator is now used in several neutrino physics experiments in addition to SNO+.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

SN 2002bu-ANOTHER SN 2008S-LIKE TRANSIENT

We observed supernova (SN) 2002bu in the near-IR with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the mid-IR with the Spitzer Space Telescope, and in X-rays with Swift 10 years after the explosion. If the faint L {sub H} {approx} 10{sup 2} L {sub Sun} HST near-IR source at the transient position is the near-IR counterpart of SN 2002bu, then the source has dramatically faded between 2004 and 2012, from L {approx_equal} 10{sup 6.0} L {sub Sun} to L {approx_equal} 10{sup 4.5} L {sub Sun }. It is still heavily obscured, {tau} {sub V} {approx_equal} 5 in graphitic dust models, with almost all the energy radiated in the mid-IR. The radius of the dust emission is increasing as R{proportional_to}t {sup 0.7{+-}0.4} and the optical depth is dropping as {tau} {sub V}{proportional_to}t {sup -1.3{+-}0.4}. The evolution expected for an expanding shell of material, {tau} {sub V}{proportional_to}t {sup -2}, is ruled out at approximately 2{sigma}, while the {tau} {sub V}{proportional_to}t {sup -0.8} to t {sup -1} optical depth scaling for a shock passing through a pre-existing wind is consistent with the data. If the near-IR source is a chance superposition, the present-day source can be moderately more luminous, significantly more obscured and evolving more slowly. While we failed to detect X-ray emission, the X-ray flux limits are consistent with the present-day emissions being powered by an expanding shock wave. SN 2002bu is clearly a member of the SN 2008S class of transients, but continued monitoring of the evolution of the spectral energy distribution is needed to conclusively determine the nature of the transient.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

ON ABSORPTION BY CIRCUMSTELLAR DUST, WITH THE PROGENITOR OF SN 2012aw AS A CASE STUDY

We use the progenitor of SN 2012aw to illustrate the consequences of modeling circumstellar dust using Galactic (interstellar) extinction laws that (1) ignore dust emission in the near-IR and beyond, (2) average over dust compositions, and (3) mischaracterize the optical/UV absorption by assuming that scattered photons are lost to the observer. The primary consequences for the progenitor of SN 2012aw are that both the luminosity and the absorption are significantly overestimated. In particular, the stellar luminosity is most likely in the range 10{sup 4.8} < L {sub *}/L {sub Sun} < 10{sup 5.0} and the star was not extremely massive for a Type IIP progenitor, with M {sub *} < 15 M {sub Sun }. Given the properties of the circumstellar dust and the early X-ray/radio detections of SN 2012aw, the star was probably obscured by an ongoing wind with M-dot {approx}10{sup -5.5} to 10{sup -5.0} M {sub Sun} yr{sup -1} at the time of the explosion, roughly consistent with the expected mass-loss rates for a star of its temperature (T{sub *} {approx_equal} 3600{sup +300} {sub -200} K) and luminosity. In the spirit of Galactic extinction laws, we supply simple interpolation formulae for circumstellar extinction by dusty graphitic and silicate shells as a function of wavelength ({lambda} {>=} 0.3 {mu}m) and total (absorption plus scattering) V-band optical depth ({tau}{sub V} {<=} 20). These do not include the contributions of dust emission, but provide a simple, physical alternative to incorrectly using interstellar extinction laws.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

The comprehensive phase evolution for Bi[subscript 2]Te[subscript 3] topological compound as function of pressure

The recently discovered three-dimensional topological insulator Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} is studied as function of pressure in terms of crystal structures, resistance, and Hall coefficient. The superconductivity is found in phase I (ambient phase) Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} with T{sub c}-3 K, which is related to the topological features. The evolution of crystal structure with pressure is investigated by high pressure synchrotron radiation experiments that reveal structural transitions occurring at about 8 GPa, 13 GPa, and 16 GPa, respectively. Furthermore, the high pressure phases of Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} are also superconducting but with much higher T{sub c}-8 K. The superconducting transitions are compared with those for Bi, Te elements. A global phase diagram of Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} as function of pressure up to 30 GPa is obtained.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗