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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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Many-Body Collective Neutrino Oscillations: Recent Developments

Neutrino flavor transformations in core-collapse supernovae and binary neutron star mergers represent a complex and unsolved problem that is integral to our understanding of the dynamics and nucleosynthesis in these environments. The high number densities of neutrinos present in these environments can engender various collective effects in neutrino flavor transformations, driven either by neutrino-neutrino coherent scattering, or in some cases, through collisional (incoherent) interactions. An ensemble of neutrinos undergoing coherent scattering among themselves is an interacting quantum many-body system -- as such, there is a tantalising prospect of quantum entanglement developing between the neutrinos, which can leave imprints on their flavor evolution histories. Here, in this study, we seek to summarize recent progress that has been made towards understanding this phenomenon.

Hypernuclei↗

AI-assisted transport of radioactive ion beams

Beams of radioactive heavy ions allow researchers to study rare and unstable atomic nuclei, shedding light into the internal structure of exotic nuclei and on how chemical elements are formed in stars. However, the extraction and transport of radioactive beams rely on time-consuming expert-driven tuning methods, where hundreds of parameters are manually optimized. Here, in this study, we introduce a system that employs Artificial Intelligence (AI), specifically utilizing Bayesian Optimization, to assist in the transport process of radioactive beams. We apply our methodology to real-life scenarios showing advantages when compared with standard tuning methods. This AI-assisted approach can be extended to other radioactive beam facilities around the world to improve operational efficiency and enhance scientific output.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Single-nucleon knockout cross sections for reactions producing resonance states at or beyond the drip line

Single-nucleon knockout cross sections from fast secondary beams of the proton-drip-line nuclei 9 C, 13 O, and 17 Ne on a 9 Be target have been studied with emphasis on the production of resonance states. These states were identified by their invariant mass, and resonances with two-, three-, and five-body exit channels were examined. The measured cross sections for these states were compared with eikonal-model predictions using shell-model or variational Monte Carlo spectroscopic factors. The experimental yields were found to be suppressed relative to the model predictions, especially when a well-bound neutron or proton is removed. This suppression exceeds that found systematically in measured inclusive cross sections to particle-bound final states. In neutron knockout from 9 C and 13 O projectiles, this suppression of the unbound ground-state residuals yield is a factor of two to three times larger than that found in the bound final-state studies. Modifications to the structure of these systems due to coupling of the shell-model configurations to the continuum is expected to contribute to this extra suppression, especially when the final state is a near-threshold resonance. Furthermore, other considerations including the role of nuclear dynamics may be required to explain all the observed trends.

6 ≤ A ≤ 19↗

Laser spectroscopy for the study of exotic nuclei

Investigation into the properties and structure of unstable nuclei far from stability is a key avenue of research in modern nuclear physics. These efforts are motivated by the continual observation of unexpected structure phenomena in nuclei with unusual proton-to-neutron ratios. In recent decades, laser spectroscopy techniques have made significant contributions in our understanding of exotic nuclei in different mass regions encompassing almost the entire nuclear chart. This is achieved through determining multiple fundamental properties of nuclear ground and isomeric states, such as nuclear spins, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments and charge radii, via the measurement of hyperfine structures and isotope shifts in the atomic or ionic spectra of the nuclei of interest. These properties offer prominent tests of recently developed state-of-the-art nuclear theory and help to stimulate new developments in improving the many-body methods and nucleon–nucleon interactions at the core of these models. With the aim of exploring more exotic short-lived nuclei located ever closer to the proton and neutron driplines, laser spectroscopy techniques, with their continuous technological developments towards higher resolution and higher sensitivity, are extensively employed at current- and next-generation radioactive ion beam facilities worldwide. Ongoing efforts in parallel promise to improve the availability of these even more exotic species at next-generation facilities. Very recently, an innovative application of laser spectroscopy on molecules containing short-lived nuclei has been demonstrated offering additional opportunities for several fields of research, e.g. fundamental symmetry studies and astrophysics. Here, in this review, the basic nuclear properties measurable with laser spectroscopy will be introduced. How these observables are associated with nuclear structure and nucleon–nucleon interactions will be discussed. Following this, a general overview of different laser spectroscopy methods will be given with particular emphasis on technical advancements reported in recent years. The main focus of this article is to review the numerous highlights that have resulted from studying exotic nuclei in different mass regions with laser spectroscopy techniques since the last edition in this series. Finally, the challenges facing the field in addition to future opportunities will be discussed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Observation of new neutron-rich isotopes in the vicinity of Zr 110

Neutron-rich radioactive isotope (RI) beams in the vicinity of 110 Zr were produced using the in-flight fission of a 345-MeV/nucleon 238 U beam at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. Here, the RI beams were separated in flight by the large-acceptance two-stage fragment separator BigRIPS. Isotopes were clearly identified in a low-background particle-identification plot, which was obtained from the measurements of time of flight, magnetic rigidity, and energy loss using beam-line detectors placed in the BigRIPS separator and the ZeroDegree spectrometer. Nine new isotopes, 101 Br, 102 Kr, 105,106 Rb, 108 Sr, 110,111 Y, 114 Zr, and 117 Nb, are reported for the first time, with their measured production cross sections compared with the extrapolations of lighter isotopes down to the femtobarn regime.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗