Introduction The Los Alamos Isotope Production Facility (IPF) is actively engaged in the development of isotope production technologies that can utilize its 100 MeV proton beam. Characterization of the proton beam energy and current is vital for optimizing isotope production and accurately conducting research at the IPF. Motivation In order to monitor beam intensity during research irradiations, aluminum foils are interspersed in experimental stacks. A theoretical yield of 22Na from 27Al(p,x)22Na reactions is cal-culated using MCNP6 (Monte Carlo N-Particle), TRIM (Transport of Ions in Matter), and Andersen & Ziegler (A&Z) [1] computational models. For some recent experiments, experimentally measured activities did not match computational predictions. This discrepancy motivated further experimental investigations including a direct time-of-flight measurement of the proton beam energy upstream of the target stack. The Isotope Production Program now tracks the beam energy and current by a complement of experimental and computational methods described below. Material and Methods A stacked-foil activation technique, utilizing aluminum monitor foils [2] in conjunction with a direct time-of-flight measurement helps define the current and energy of the proton beam. Theoretical yields of 22Na activity generated in the Al monitor foils are compared with experimental measurements. Additionally, MCNP, TRIM, and A&Z computational simulations are compared with one another and with experimental data. Experimental Approach Thin foils (0.254mm) of high purity aluminum are encapsulated in kapton tape and stacked with Tb foils in between aluminum degraders. Following irradiation, the Al foils are assayed using γ-spectroscopy on calibrated HPGe detectors in the Chemistry Division countroom at LANL. We use the well-characterized 27Al(p,x)22Na energy dependent production cross section [3] to calculate a predicted yield of 22Na in each foil. Details of the experimental activity determination and associated uncertainties have been addressed previously [4]. The nominally stated beam parameters are 100 MeV and 100–120 nA for the foil stack irradiation experiments. Time-of-flight measurements performed in the month of January 2014 revealed beam energy of 99.1 ± 0.5 MeV. Computational Simulations Andersen & Zeigler (A&Z) is a deterministic method and also the simplest of the three com-putational methods considered. While the mean energy degradation can be calculated using the A&Z formalism, the beam current attenuation cannot. Consequentially, A&Z will also lack the ability to account for a broadening in the beam energy that a stochastic method affords. Additionally, A&Z does not account for nuclear recoil or contributions from secondary interactions. TRIM uses a stochastic based method to calculate the stopping range of incident particles applying Bethe-Block formalisms. TRIM, like A&Z, does not include contributions from nuclear recoil or contributions from secondary interactions. Computationally, TRIM is a very expensive code to run. TRIM is able to calculate a broadening in the energy of the beam; however, beam attenuation predictions are much less reliable. TRIM determines the overall beam attenuation in the whole stack to be less than one percent, whereas 7–10 % is expected. MCNP6 is arguably the most sophisticated approach to modeling the physics of the experiment. It also uses a stochastic procedure for calculation, adopting the Cascade-Exciton Model (CEM03) to track particles. The physics card is enabled in the MCNP input to track light ion recoils. Contributions from neutron and proton secondary particle interactions are included, although their contribution is minimal. For both MCNP and TRIM, the proton beam is simulated as a pencil beam. To find the current, an F4 volumetric tally of proton flux from MCNP simulation is matched to the experimental current for the first foil in the stack. Subsequent foil currents are calculated relative to the first foil based on MCNP predictions for beam attenuation. The equation used for calculating the current from the experi-mental activity is [5]: where: is the cross section for the process, [mbarns] is the atomic mass of the target [amu] is the is the number of product nuclei pre-sent at End-of-Bombardment is the average beam current, [μA] is the density of the target material, [g/cc] is the target thickness, [cm] is the decay constant, [s−1] is the irradiation time, [s] For each foil in the experimental stack, we also have a statistically driven broadening of the incident energy. The beam energy is modeled as a Gaussian distribution, with the tallies for each energy bin determining the parameters of the fit. TABLE 1 and FIG. 3 summarize the mean energy and standard deviation of the energy for each aluminum monitor foil. To address the energy distribution, we calculate an effective or weighted cross-section. It is especially important to account for energy broadening in regions where the associated excitation function varies rapidly. In the excitation function, we see a strong variation in the energy range from 30–65 MeV, the energy region cov-ered by the last 3 foils in the stack. Cross section weighting also accounts for the mean energy variation within each foil. The excitation function will overlay the Gaussian shaped flux distribution, giving rise to a lateral distribution where incrementally weighted values of the cross section are determined by the flux tally of the corresponding energy bin. With the effective cross section and the current at each of the foils, it is straight-forward to calculate the number of 22Na atoms created and the activity of each foil using the previously stated equation. Results and Conclusion The general trend in the amount of activity produced follows the shape of the excitation func-tion for the 27Al(p,x)22Na reaction. Small shifts in the incident energy upstream trickle down to produce much more pronounced shifts in the energy range of foils towards the back of the foil stack. The characteristic “rolling over” of the activity seen in the experimental foils indicates that the 6th foil must be in the energy region below 45 MeV, where the peak of the excitation function occurs. Conservatively, computational simulations are able to accurately determine the proton beam’s energy for an energy range from 100 to 50 MeV. As the beam degrades below 50 MeV, computa-tional simulations diverge from experimentally observed energies by over-predicting the energy. This observation has been noted in past studies [6,7] that compare the stacked foil technique with stopping-power based calculations. A complement of experimental and computational predictions allows for energy determinations at several points within target stacks. While this study focuses on an Al-Tb foil stack, the analysis of a similar Al-Th foil stack resulted in the same conclusions. Although we do not have a concurrent time-of-flight energy measurement at the time of the foil stack experiments, it is reasonable to assume that the energy at the time of the stacked foil experiments was also lower than the assumed energy of 100 MeV. Computational simulations developed in this work firmly support this assumption. Various computational models are able to predict with good agreement the energy as a function of depth for complex foil stack geometries. Their predictions diverge as the beam energy distribution broadens and statistical uncertainties propagate. A careful inspection of the codes reveals that these discrepancies likely originate from minute differences between the cross sections and stopping power tables that MCNP and TRIM/A&Z use respectively.

>Magister Scientiae - MSc / The focus for this work is on 152Gd produced by the 150Sm( , 2n)152Gd reaction at a beam energy of 25 MeV. The nucleus has been previously studied for both low spin states and high spin states at di erent energies. The most recent work on 152Gd was done by S. P. Bvumbi using the 152Sm( , 4n)152Gd reaction at a beam energy of 45 MeV where she was able to populate low spin states and assign spins and parities to the levels as shown in Fig. 1.1. The nucleus 152Gd, with proton number Z=64 subshell closure, belongs to a set of isotones having N=88 in the transitional region with just 6 neutrons outside the N=82 closed shell and lies just before the N=90 permanently deformed region. The isotope 152Gd is in the transitional region, consequently its nuclear collective motion will quickly evolve from vibrational to rotational motion. The low lying K =0+2 bands in N=88 and 90 nuclei appear at low excitation energies and are poorly understood. Key to these studies is the crucial question about the legitimacy of the low lying K =0+2 bands being described as vibrations along the symmetry axis. The current work examines the K =0+2 band with the objective of providing more understanding. Previous studies of N=88 isotones saw consistent E1 transitions both from and to the K =0+2 bands and octupole bands, namely 144Ba, 146Ce, 148Nd, 150Sm and 154Dy nuclei. The experimental systematics of the low lying negative parity states in N=88 isotones are remarkably well reproduced by theoretical calculations of the quadrupole octupole coupling (QOC) modelas shown in Fig. 1.2.

No description available.

Introduction The Los Alamos Isotope Production Facility (IPF) is actively engaged in the development of isotope production technologies that can utilize its 100 MeV proton beam. Characterization of the proton beam energy and current is vital for optimizing isotope production and accurately conducting research at the IPF. Motivation In order to monitor beam intensity during research irradiations, aluminum foils are interspersed in experimental stacks. A theoretical yield of 22Na from 27Al(p,x)22Na reactions is cal-culated using MCNP6 (Monte Carlo N-Particle), TRIM (Transport of Ions in Matter), and Andersen & Ziegler (A&Z) [1] computational models. For some recent experiments, experimentally measured activities did not match computational predictions. This discrepancy motivated further experimental investigations including a direct time-of-flight measurement of the proton beam energy upstream of the target stack. The Isotope Production Program now tracks the beam energy and current by a complement of experimental and computational methods described below. Material and Methods A stacked-foil activation technique, utilizing aluminum monitor foils [2] in conjunction with a direct time-of-flight measurement helps define the current and energy of the proton beam. Theoretical yields of 22Na activity generated in the Al monitor foils are compared with experimental measurements. Additionally, MCNP, TRIM, and A&Z computational simulations are compared with one another and with experimental data. Experimental Approach Thin foils (0.254mm) of high purity aluminum are encapsulated in kapton tape and stacked with Tb foils in between aluminum degraders. Following irradiation, the Al foils are assayed using γ-spectroscopy on calibrated HPGe detectors in the Chemistry Division countroom at LANL. We use the well-characterized 27Al(p,x)22Na energy dependent production cross section [3] to calculate a predicted yield of 22Na in each foil. Details of the experimental activity determination and associated uncertainties have been addressed previously [4]. The nominally stated beam parameters are 100 MeV and 100–120 nA for the foil stack irradiation experiments. Time-of-flight measurements performed in the month of January 2014 revealed beam energy of 99.1 ± 0.5 MeV. Computational Simulations Andersen & Zeigler (A&Z) is a deterministic method and also the simplest of the three com-putational methods considered. While the mean energy degradation can be calculated using the A&Z formalism, the beam current attenuation cannot. Consequentially, A&Z will also lack the ability to account for a broadening in the beam energy that a stochastic method affords. Additionally, A&Z does not account for nuclear recoil or contributions from secondary interactions. TRIM uses a stochastic based method to calculate the stopping range of incident particles applying Bethe-Block formalisms. TRIM, like A&Z, does not include contributions from nuclear recoil or contributions from secondary interactions. Computationally, TRIM is a very expensive code to run. TRIM is able to calculate a broadening in the energy of the beam; however, beam attenuation predictions are much less reliable. TRIM determines the overall beam attenuation in the whole stack to be less than one percent, whereas 7–10 % is expected. MCNP6 is arguably the most sophisticated approach to modeling the physics of the experiment. It also uses a stochastic procedure for calculation, adopting the Cascade-Exciton Model (CEM03) to track particles. The physics card is enabled in the MCNP input to track light ion recoils. Contributions from neutron and proton secondary particle interactions are included, although their contribution is minimal. For both MCNP and TRIM, the proton beam is simulated as a pencil beam. To find the current, an F4 volumetric tally of proton flux from MCNP simulation is matched to the experimental current for the first foil in the stack. Subsequent foil currents are calculated relative to the first foil based on MCNP predictions for beam attenuation. The equation used for calculating the current from the experi-mental activity is [5]: where: is the cross section for the process, [mbarns] is the atomic mass of the target [amu] is the is the number of product nuclei pre-sent at End-of-Bombardment is the average beam current, [μA] is the density of the target material, [g/cc] is the target thickness, [cm] is the decay constant, [s−1] is the irradiation time, [s] For each foil in the experimental stack, we also have a statistically driven broadening of the incident energy. The beam energy is modeled as a Gaussian distribution, with the tallies for each energy bin determining the parameters of the fit. TABLE 1 and FIG. 3 summarize the mean energy and standard deviation of the energy for each aluminum monitor foil. To address the energy distribution, we calculate an effective or weighted cross-section. It is especially important to account for energy broadening in regions where the associated excitation function varies rapidly. In the excitation function, we see a strong variation in the energy range from 30–65 MeV, the energy region cov-ered by the last 3 foils in the stack. Cross section weighting also accounts for the mean energy variation within each foil. The excitation function will overlay the Gaussian shaped flux distribution, giving rise to a lateral distribution where incrementally weighted values of the cross section are determined by the flux tally of the corresponding energy bin. With the effective cross section and the current at each of the foils, it is straight-forward to calculate the number of 22Na atoms created and the activity of each foil using the previously stated equation. Results and Conclusion The general trend in the amount of activity produced follows the shape of the excitation func-tion for the 27Al(p,x)22Na reaction. Small shifts in the incident energy upstream trickle down to produce much more pronounced shifts in the energy range of foils towards the back of the foil stack. The characteristic “rolling over” of the activity seen in the experimental foils indicates that the 6th foil must be in the energy region below 45 MeV, where the peak of the excitation function occurs. Conservatively, computational simulations are able to accurately determine the proton beam’s energy for an energy range from 100 to 50 MeV. As the beam degrades below 50 MeV, computa-tional simulations diverge from experimentally observed energies by over-predicting the energy. This observation has been noted in past studies [6,7] that compare the stacked foil technique with stopping-power based calculations. A complement of experimental and computational predictions allows for energy determinations at several points within target stacks. While this study focuses on an Al-Tb foil stack, the analysis of a similar Al-Th foil stack resulted in the same conclusions. Although we do not have a concurrent time-of-flight energy measurement at the time of the foil stack experiments, it is reasonable to assume that the energy at the time of the stacked foil experiments was also lower than the assumed energy of 100 MeV. Computational simulations developed in this work firmly support this assumption. Various computational models are able to predict with good agreement the energy as a function of depth for complex foil stack geometries. Their predictions diverge as the beam energy distribution broadens and statistical uncertainties propagate. A careful inspection of the codes reveals that these discrepancies likely originate from minute differences between the cross sections and stopping power tables that MCNP and TRIM/A&Z use respectively.

No description available.

One of the goals of the LHC is to test the existence of the Higgs Boson. This thesis presents a study of the potential to discover the Standard Model Higgs boson in the vector boson fusion (VBF) channel for the Higgs mass range 120-200 GeV/c2. The decay of Higgs bosons into WW* final state with both W-bosons decaying leptonically is considered. The main backgrounds are tt_+j and W+W-jj. This study, based on a full simulation of the CMS detector at the LHC, shows that a 5(Sigma) discovery can be done with an integrated luminosity of 12-72 fb-1 for 130-200 GeV/c2 Higgs bosons. Due to the uncertainties in the backgrounds, it is important to measure the backgrounds from data. This study shows that the major background can be measured directly to 7% with 30 fb-1. After discovering the Higgs boson mass using transverse mass template distributions is investigated in the VBF channel. The performance of the combined CMS electromagnetic and hadronic calorimeters (EB+HB) was measured at the H2 test beam at the CERN SPS during 2006 with various partivles in a large momentum range, 1-350 GeV/c. Another major contribution of this thesis is developing the method to optimize the energy reconstruction for the combined EB+HB system with which the corrected responses become 100% with 6% fluctuation and the stochastic resolution is improved from 111% to 94%.

Der International Linear Collider (ILC) ist ein Elektron-Positron-Beschleuniger mit einer Schwerpunktsenergie zwischen 200 und 500 GeV und einer Spitzenluminositaet von $2\cdot 10^{34}\mbox{ cm}^{-2}\mbox{s}^{-1}$. Fuer das Physikprogramm dieser Maschine ist eine exzellente paketweise Messung der Strahlenergie von grundlegender Bedeutung. Um das zu erreichen, sind am ILC verschiedene Techniken vorgesehen. Insbesondere wurden Energiespektrometer vor und nach dem $e^+/e^-$-Wechselwirkungspunkt vorgeschlagen. Die gegenwaertige Standardoption fuer das Spektrometer vor dem Wechselwirkungspunkt ist ein auf Strahllagemonitoren basierendes Magnetspektrometer. In den Jahren 2006/2007 wurde ein Prototyp eines solchen Spektrometers in der End Station A am Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) aufgebaut, um die Leistungsfaehigkeit und Zuverlaessigkeit einer derartigen Anlage zu pruefen. Ausserdem wurde eine neue Methode zur Messung der Strahlenergie vorgeschlagen. Diese beruht auf Compton-Streuung von Laserlicht an den Strahlelektronen und erlaubt, die geforderte Energiegenauigkeit von $\Delta E_b / E_b = 10^{-4}$ zu erreichen. Erfahrungen von dem Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) und dem Stanford Linear Collider (SLC) zeigten, dass komplementaere Energiemessmethoden notwendig sind, um die Ergebnisse des BPM-Spektrometers zu ueberpruefen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit werden eine Uebersicht ueber das Experiment am SLAC und erste Ergebnisse praesentiert. Des Weiteren wird die neue Methode der Laser-Compton-Streuung beschrieben und wichtige Aspekte detailliert besprochen. / The International Linear Collider (ILC) is an electron-positron collider with a center-of-mass energy between 200 and 500 GeV and a peak luminosity of $2\cdot 10^{34}\mbox{cm}^{-2}\mbox{s}^{-1}$. For the physics program at this machine, an excellent bunch-by-bunch control of the beam energy is mandatory. Several techniques are foreseen to be implemented at the ILC in order to achieve this request. Energy spectrometers upstream and downstream of the electron/positron interaction point were proposed and the present default option for the upstream spectrometer is a beam position monitor based (BPM-based) spectrometer. In 2006/2007, a prototype of such a device was commissioned at the End Station A beam line at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) in order to study performance and reliability. In addition, a novel method based on laser Compton backscattering has been proposed, since as proved at the Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) and the Stanford Linear Collider (SLC), complementary methods are necessary to cross-check the results of the BPM-based spectrometer. In this thesis, an overview of the experiment at End Station A is given, with emphasis on the performance of the magnets in the chicane and first energy resolution estimations. Also, the novel Compton backscattering method is discussed in details and found to be very promising. It has the potential to bring the beam energy resolution well below the requirement of $\Delta E_b / E_b = 10^{-4}$.

Ce manuscrit présente une nouvelle formulation de l’Interaction Laser-Plasma (ILP) à l’échelle hydrodynamique, qui couple la dynamique du plasma avec les processus d’ILP linéaires et non-linéaires. Le modèle standard du tracé de rayon (Ray-Tracing), basé sur l’Optique Géométrique, est peu adapté pour modéliser l’ILP non-linéaire car la distribution de l’intensité laser dans le plasma n’est pas directement disponible. Nous proposons un modèle alternatif spécifiquement formulé pour un code hydrodynamique Lagrangien, basé sur l’Optique Géométrique Complexe Paraxiale qui décrit la propagation de faisceaux Gaussiens. Cette méthode est ensuite adaptée à la description de faisceaux laser non Gaussiens, et permet de reproduire la statistique d’intensité, l’enveloppe et le contraste de faisceaux lissés par une Lame de Phase. Nous proposons des modèles en ligne pour décrire l’échange d’énergie entre faisceaux croisés (CBET) et la génération d’électrons rapides par l’ILP non-linéaire, en utilisant PCGO. Le modèle en ligne de CBET est validé par comparaison avec un code de propagation d’une onde électromagnétique paraxial conventionnel dans le cas d’un plasma inhomogène en vitesse. Un bon accord est trouvé après une période transitoire de l’ordre de la picoseconde, notamment en ce qui concerne la distribution spatiale de l’intensité laser et des perturbations de densité du plasma. Ce modèle appliqué à une configuration d’attaque directe de Fusion par Confinement Inertiel (FCI) montre que le CBET réduit le couplage laser-cible, réduit le facteur de convergence, et amplifie les modes basse fréquence de déformation de la capsule. Le modèle de génération d’électrons rapides par l’ILP non-linéaire modélise les propriétés des faisceaux d’électrons rapides, i.e. leur flux, énergie moyenne, dispersions angulaire et direction, à partir de l’intensité laser prédite par PCGO et à partir d’expressions simplifiées, basées sur des modèles théoriques et des lois d’échelles obtenues à l’aide de simulations cinétiques. La propagation et le dépôt d’énergie par les électrons rapides est décrite à partir d’une approximation de diffusion angulaire adaptée en deux dimensions, pour des faisceaux de profil transverse d’intensité Gaussien, de distribution d’énergie exponentielle et d’ouverture angulaire arbitraire. Ce modèle couplé rend compte de (i) la compétition pour l’énergie laser entre les différentes instabilités et avec l’absorption collisionnelle, (ii) le couplage entre l’ILP non-linéaire et la dynamique du plasma à travers les faisceaux d’électrons rapides, et(iii) la perte de couplage laser-plasma due à la diffusion Raman arrière. Les performances de ce modèle sont évaluées par comparaisons avec des expériences d’allumage par choc conduites sur les installations laser Omega et Pals. Ce modèle multi-échelle est ensuite utilisé pour interpréter plusieurs expériences. On trouve notamment que les électrons générés par l’ILP non-linéaire augmentent la vitesse du choc et la pression en aval de ce dernier, tout en réduisant sa force et la pression d’ablation. Une application à la phase fortement non-linéaire de l’allumage par choc en FCI suggère que ces électrons sont néfastes pour l’implosion de la capsule en ce qui concerne les cibles conventionnelles : ceux-ci causent une augmentation de la masse du point chaud et des pertes radiatives. Ce modèle peut être appliqué à la modélisation hydrodynamique des expériences laser-cible de physique des hautes densités d’énergie pour les régimes d’interaction pertinents pour les instabilités évoquées ci dessus. / This manuscript presents a novel formulation of the Laser-Plasma Interaction (LPI) at hydrodynamical scales, that couples the plasma dynamics with linear and nonlinear LPI processes. The standard Ray Tracing model, based on Geometrical Optics, is not well suited for that purpose because it does not readily describe the laser intensity distribution in plasma. We propose an alternative model formulated for a Lagrangian hydrodynamic code. It is based on the ray-based Paraxial Complex Geometrical Optics (PCGO) that describes Gaussian optical beamlets. A method for modeling non-Gaussian laser beams smoothed by Phase Plates is presented, that allows to create intensity variations that reproduce the beam envelope, contrast and high-intensity statistics predicted by paraxial laser propagation codes. We propose inline reduced models for the non-linear laser-plasma interaction, in the case of the Cross-Beam Energy Transfer (CBET) and the generation of Hot Electrons (HE). The inline CBET model is validated against a time-dependent conventional paraxial electromagnetic wave propagation code, in a well-defined plasma configuration with density and velocity profiles corresponding to an inhomogeneous plasma. Good agreement is found past a transient period on the picosecond time scale, notably for the spatial distribution of density perturbations and laser intensities in the interaction region. Application of the model to a direct-drive Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) configuration shows that CBET significantly degrades the irradiation symmetry by amplifying low frequency modes and reducing the laser-capsule coupling efficiency, ultimately leading to large modulations of the shell areal density and lower convergence ratios. The LPI/HE model predicts the HE fluxes, temperatures, angular dispersion and direction from the laser intensity of PCGO beamlets from simplified expressions based on theoretical models and scaling laws obtained in kinetic simulations. The HE beams propagation and energy deposition in plasma is described in the angular scattering approximation, adapted to two-dimensional, transversally Gaussian, multigroup HE beams of arbitrary angular distribution. This model accounts for (i) competition for the laser energy between the various instabilities and with the linear collisional absorption, (ii) coupling between nonlinear LPIs and plasma dynamics via the high energy electron beams and(iii) loss of coupling due to backscattered Raman light. Its performance is confirmed by comparison with measurements of shock timing, laser absorption, HE fluxes and temperatures in experiments conducted on Omega and Pals laser facilities. This multiscale inline LPI-HE model is used to interpret several Shock Ignition experiments. It is found that HEs from parametric instabilities significantly increase the shock pressure and velocity in the target, while decreasing its strength and the overall ablation pressure. Applications to the high-intensity regime of shock ignition ICF suggest that HEs generated by the nonlinear LPI are nefarious to the capsule implosion in conventional target designs, as they lead to a dramatic increase in the hotspot mass and losses by Bremsstrahlung radiation. This model is readily applicable to hydrodynamic description of laser-target experiments of High Energy Density Physics, in the interaction regimes involving the above-mentioned non-linear LPI processes.

No description available.

科学研究費補助金 研究種目:基盤研究(C)(2) 課題番号:07680528 研究代表者:青山 隆彦 研究期間:1995-1996年度