For about 20 years now, observations of 6Li in several old metal-poor stars inside the halo of our galaxy have been reported, which are largely independent of the stars’ metallicity, and which point to a possible primordial origin. The observations exceed the predictions of the Standard Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis model by a factor of 500. In the relevant energy range, no directly measured S-factors were available yet for the main production reaction 2H(α,γ)6Li, while different theoretical estimations have an uncertainty of up to two orders of magnitude. The very small cross section in the picobarn range has been measured with a deuterium gas target at the LUNA acceler- ator (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics), located deep underground inside Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. A beam-induced, neutron-caused background in the γ-detector occurred which had to be analyzed carefully and sub- tracted in an appropriate way, to finally infer the weak signal of the reaction. For this purpose, a method to parameterize the Compton background has been developed. The results are a contribution to the discussion about the accuracy of the recent 6Li observations, and to the question if it is necessary to include new physics into the Standard Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis model.

A position-sensitive microchannel plate (MCP) detector has been installed at the Canadian Penning Trap (CPT) mass spectrometer located at the CAlifornium Rare Isotope Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) facility at Argonne National Laboratory in order to carry out Phase-Imaging Ion Cyclotron Resonance (PI-ICR) measurements. With this new measurement method, proof-of-principle mass measurements of five nuclei were made to a precision of $\delta m/m \approx 10^{-7}$. The PI-ICR results are found to be consistent with previous Time-of-Flight Ion Cyclotron Resonance (ToF-ICR) measurements. The content of this thesis covers the entire mass measurement process beginning with beam production at CARIBU through to ion detection at the CPT and a comparison of the ToF-ICR and PI-ICR measurement methods. The future of mass measurements at the CPT with this new technique will also be discussed. / May 2016

Neste trabalho obtivemos o coeficiente de normalização da parte não ressonante da reação de captura 3H(alpha,gama)7Li (ou alternativamente, o fator S astrofísico) aplicando o método indireto ANC (Coeficientes de Normalização Assintótica) para a reação de transferência elástica do sistema 7Li + 4He. Essa reação de captura é de suma relevância na nucleosíntese de elementos leves no Universo primordial. Nesse método, o fator espectroscópico (ou alternativamente, o ANC) é obtido pela investigação de uma reação de transferência periférica que contenha como vértice a correspondente reação de captura. Reações de transferência têm normalmente dois vértices e um deles deve ser conhecido para que possamos obter o outro. No caso de uma transferência elástica, cuja característica é que o canal de saída elástico e de transferência são os mesmos, existe a vantagem da necessidade de consideração de apenas um vértice. Assim, uma análise combinada da distribuição angular para o espalhamento elástico 4He(7Li,7Li)4He, e para a reação de transferência 4He(7Li,4He)7Li, permitiu a extração do fator espectroscópico e consequentemente do ANC para o estado ligado <3He|4He>=7Li de uma forma única. As distribuições angulares para esses processos foram medidas no Laboratório Pelletron de São Paulo em duas energias de centro de massa 9.67 MeV e 10.62 MeV. Utilizamos nessas medidas feixes de 7Li obtidos no acelerador Pelletron com as energias de laboratório de 26.6 e 29.2 MeV. Empregamos um alvo gasoso de 4He e um sistema de colimadores de dupla-fenda na detecção. As partículas de 7Li espalhadas elasticamente e as partículas alfa da reação de transferência foram ambas detectadas em ângulos de laboratório diânteiros por um sistema de telescópios delta E - E com detectores de silício. Um código de simulação de Monte Carlo foi desenvolvido para calcular o ângulo sólido para esse sistema de fendas em ângulos próximos de zero grau. Um conjunto de parâmetros globais do Modelo Óptico foi obtido da análise das distribuições angulares do espalhamento elástico do sistema 7Li + 4He, juntamente com outras distribuições angulares obtidas da literatura em diferentes energias (~ 7-32 MeV). Os parâmetros do potencial óptico encontrados foram usados em uma análise de DWBA (Aproximação de Born de Ondas Distorcidas) para descrever a contribuição da reação de transferência de um tritio nas distribuições angulares. O fator espectroscópico obtido para o sistema ligado <3He|4He>=7Li foi S = 0.55+-0.03 e o coeficiente ANC C2 = 17.5 +- 1.0 fm-1. Com estes resultados, a seção de choque de captura para a reação 3H(alpha,gama)7Li e o respectivo fator S astrofísico foram calculados. / The normalization coefficient for the non-resonant part of the 3H(alpha,gama)7Li capture reaction (or alternately, the astrophysical S-factor) was obtained with the indirect method ANC (Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients). In this method the spectroscopic factor (or alternately, the ANC) is extracted from the investigation of a peripheral transfer reaction, which involves the same vertex as the corresponding capture reaction. Usually transfer reactions have two vertexes and the spectroscopic factor for one of them has to be known to obtain the other. In this work we investigate the 4He(7Li,4He)7Li elastic transfer reaction to obtain the spectroscopic factor and ANC for the 4He + t = 7Li bound system. The elastic transfer process, where the elastic and transfer exit channels are the same, has the advantage of having only one unknown vertex. Thus, the combined analysisof the angular distribution for elastic 4He(7Li,7Li)4He, and transfer process 4He(7Li,4He)7Li, allowed the extraction of the spectroscopic factor (and ANC) for the <3H|4He>=7Li bound system in an unique way. Angular distributions for these processes were measured at the Pelletron Laboratory at the center of mass energies of 9.67 MeV and 10.62 MeV. In these measurements, the 7Li beams with 26.6 MeV and 29.2 MeV were obtained from the Sao Paulo Pelletron accelerator. A 4He gas target and a double-slit collimator system were used. The 7Li scattered particles and alpha particles from transfer reaction were both detected at forward angles by a set of delta E - E silicon detectors telescopes. A Monte Carlo simulation code was developed to calculate the solid angle for the collimator system near the zero degree. A global optical potential parameters set for the 7Li + 4He system were defined using the measured elastic scattering angular distribution and other angular distributions obtained from the literature at different energies (from ~ 7-32 MeV). These optical potential parameters were used in the DWBA (Distorted Wave Born Approximation) analysis to describe the tritium transfer reaction contribution in the angular distributions. The obtained spectroscopic factor for the <3H,4He>=7Li bound system is S = 0.55+-0.03 and the ANC coefficient C2 = 17.5+-1.0 fm-1. With these results, the 3H(alpha,gama)7Li direct capture cross sections and astrophysical S-factor were calculated.

O conhecimento das reações nucleares que ocorrem no interior das estrelas permite estudar como será a evolução destes astros e as relações de abundância entre os isótopos de alguns elementos. Em alguns casos, a detecção de elementos traços pode ser útil para inferir a ocorrência de eventos explosivos, como novas e supernovas. Um destes elementos é o 22Na, cuja abundância depende da reação de captura de próton 22Na(p, ?)23Mg. Assim, o estudo dos estados de ressonância do 23Mg, é importante para compreender o mecanismo de reação e determinar a abundância do 22Na. O núcleo de 23Mg ainda participa do ciclo NeNa na fase AGB da evolução de estrelas de massa média. Com essa motivação propomos o estudo espectroscópico do núcleo 23Mg por meio da reação de transferência 24Mg(3He, 4He)23Mg, cujos dados experimentais foram obtidos no laboratório Tandem-Orsay (França), com o uso de um feixe de 3He de 25 MeV. As ressonâncias de interesse do núcleo 23Mg estudadas nesse trabalho estão compreendidas na faixa de energia de excitação 7.5 MeV a 9.5 MeV. Os estados de ressonância do 23Mg foram populados com a interação do feixe com o alvo de natMg, e as partículas de 4He foram analisadas com o espectrógrafo Split-pole. Os espectros de posição das partículas de 4He foram então calibrados em rigidez magnética, por meio de um polinômio de segunda ordem. Após a calibração os espectros de rigidez magnética foram transformados em espectros de energia de excitação. Nesses espectros pudemos identificar e estudar a presença de contaminantes. Vários estados abaixo e alguns estados acima do limiar de decaimento foram observados e identificados. Dentre os estados acima do limiar estão os estados: 7.586, 7.648, (7.782 e 7.786), 7.855, 8.076, 8.163, 8.420, 8.453, 8.943 e 8.990 MeV do 23Mg. Sendo que apenas os estados 7.586 e 8.163 tem o spin J=5/2+ estabelecido. Ao final apresentamos uma discussã / The knowledge of the nuclear reactions that take place inside the stars allows to study how the evolution of this star will be and the relations of abundance between the isotopes of some elements. In some cases the detection of trace elements can be useful to infer about the occurrence of explosive events, as novae and the supernovae. One of these elements is the 22Na, whose abundance depends on the proton capture reaction 22Na(p, ?)23Mg. The gamma radiation photon with energy 1.275 MeV emitted by 22Na may be a novae type event indicator. Thus, the study of the resonance states of 23Mg is important to understand the mechanism of reaction and determine the 22Na abundance. The nucleus of 23Mg still participate in the cycle NeNa in the AGB phase of the evolution of average stars. With this motivation, we propose to study the spectroscopy of the 23Mg by the 24Mg(3He, 4He)23Mg neutron transfer reaction, whose experimental data were obtained in the Tandem-Orsay facility (France), using the 3He beam of energy 25 MeV. The resonances of interest for this work are in the range of 7.5 MeV up to 9.5 MeV, above the decay threshold for protons. The resonance states of 23Mg were obtained with the interaction of the beam with the natMg target, and the 4He particles were analyzed in a Split-pole spectrograph. The position spectra were then calibrated in magnetic rigidity by means of a second-order polynomial function. The effects of the contaminants were analyzed by converting the spectra into excitation energy, in which it was possible to separate the states 7.586, 7.648, (7.782 e 7.786), 7.855, 8.076, 8.163, 8.420, 8.453, 8.943 e 8.990 MeV of 23Mg. Finally we present a qualitative discussion of the angular distribution for some states and we discuss the possibilities for the future.

Bibliography : leaves 1-6 of 2nd sequence

For many centuries, the study of the Sun has been an important testbed for understanding stars that are further away. One of the first astronomical observations Galileo Galilei made in 1612 with the newly invented telescope concerned the sunspots, and in 1814, Joseph von Fraunhofer employed his new spectroscope to discover the absorption lines in the solar spectrum that are now named after him. Even though more refined and new modes of observation are now available than in the days of Galileo and Fraunhofer, the study of the Sun is still high on the agenda of contemporary science, due to three guiding interests. The first is connected to the ages-old human striving to understand the structure of the larger world surrounding us. Modern telescopes, some of them even based outside the Earth’s atmosphere in space, have succeeded in observing astronomical objects that are billions of lightyears away. However, for practical reasons precision data that are important for understanding stars can still only be gained from the Sun. In a sense, the observations of far-away astronomical objects thus call for a more precise study of the closeby, of the Sun, for their interpretation. The second interest stems from the human desire to understand the essence of the world, in particular the elementary particles of which it consists. Large accelerators have been constructed to produce and collide these particles. However, man-made machines can never be as luminous as the Sun when it comes to producing particles. Solar neutrinos have thus served not only as an astronomical tool to understand the Sun’s inner workings, but their behavior on the way from the Sun to the Earth is also being studied with the aim to understand their nature and interactions. The third interest is strictly connected to life on Earth. A multitude of research has shown that even relatively slight changes in the Earth’s climate may strongly affect the living conditions in a number of densely populated areas, mainly near the ocean shore and in arid regions. Thus, great effort is expended on the study of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Also the Sun, via the solar irradiance and via the effects of the so-called solar wind of magnetic particles on the Earth’s atmosphere, may affect the climate. There is no proof linking solar effects to short-term changes in the Earth’s climate. However, such effects cannot be excluded, either, making it necessary to study the Sun. The experiments summarized in the present work contribute to the present-day study of our Sun by repeating, in the laboratory, some of the nuclear processes that take place in the core of the Sun. They aim to improve the precision of the nuclear cross section data that lay the foundation of the model of the nuclear reactions generating energy and producing neutrinos in the Sun. In order to reach this goal, low-energy nuclear physics experiments are performed. Wherever possible, the data are taken in a low-background, underground environment. There is only one underground accelerator facility in the world, the Laboratory Underground for Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA) 0.4MV accelerator in the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy. Much of the research described here is based on experiments at LUNA. Background and feasibility studies shown here lay the base for future, higher-energy underground accelerators. Finally, it is shown that such a device can even be placed in a shallow-underground facility such as the Dresden Felsenkeller without great loss of sensitivity.

In the present thesis, “Hydrodynamics of Binary Bose-Einstein Condensates and Hydro-elasticity of the Inner Crust of Neutron Stars”, the hydrodynamic effects, instabilities and superfluid turbulence in binary immiscible ultracold gases, and hydro-elastic macroscopic coupled modes and microscopic structure of the inner layers of the crust of neutron stars, are studied. The ultracold gas dynamics can be realized in the laboratory. The excitation modes of the inner crust determine a number of observable properties such as elasticity, thermal properties and mass transport properties. Here we focus on expanding the details, rather than repeating the results presented in the published articles. In the part of the thesis related to atomic ultracold gases, we utilize the physical parameters in the experimentally realizable parameter region. We numerically simulate the coupled non-linear Schrödinger equations, and calculate observable quantities, such as phase and modulus of the order parameter, conditions needed for observation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability and for turbulence generation. The numerical calculations are accompanied by analytical description of the processes. The dispersion relation for capillary-gravitational waves at the interface between two ultracold gases, is derived straightforwardly from the superfluid Lagrangian. The equations of motion for centre-of-mass of the superfluids are derived, and then used in our model of the quantum swapping of immiscible superfluids pressed by a strong external force. By numerical simulation, we find that the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability which occurs at the non-linear stage of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, can generate quantum turbulence with peculiar properties. We find that two-dimensional superfluid systems with weak inter-component repulsion are different from previously studied strongly repulsive binary superfluids, because the quantum Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in weakly repulsive superfluids rolls up the whole interface forming a vortex bundle, similarly to dynamics of the shear fluid layers in the classical hydrodynamics. Production of vortex bundles favours the Kolmogorov spectrum of turbulence, and we find that the Kolmogorov scaling indeed is present in a freely decaying turbulence. In the part of the thesis related to neutron stars, we study the inner crust of neutron stars, where the fully ionized atomic nuclei coexist with a superfluid of neutrons. The interaction between superfluid neutrons and the crystallized Coulomb plasma is due to the interaction between density perturbations (interaction of the scalar type), and between the current - the non-dissipative entrainment effect (interaction of the vector type). We calculate velocities of the collective modes of the crystal coupled to superfluid neutrons. As an input we use the results of microscopic nuclear calculations in the framework of the compressible liquid drop model (the Lattimer and Swesty equation of state), and more recent effective Thomas-Fermi calculations with shell corrections (N. Chamel, and the Brussels theoretical nuclear physics group). Knowledge of velocities as functions of the matter density in the inner crust is important for calculation of a number of dynamic and transport properties. The heat transport properties of the inner crust are directly observable in accreting binary systems (low-mass x-ray binaries). The mass transport properties of the inner crust are directly linked to the rotational evolution, being a key physical ingredient of the pulsar glitch phenomenon. The elastic properties are related to the vibrational modes of the star, and to the breaking stress of the crust. In the second part of our work on neutron stars we investigate the microscopic structure of the inner crust treating the structure as an anisotropic crystal coupled to s-wave superfluid neutron liquid. As we analyse dynamics of the elementary excitations at higher wavenumbers (smaller scales), we reach the edge of the first Brillouin zone. The Lattimer-Swesty data is applicable for wavenumbers much smaller than the edge of the first Brillouin zone. We extrapolate the data through the whole first Brillouin zone to calculate the fastest growth rate of the unstable modes. The crucial step is to calculate the mode velocities in anisotropic crystal incorporating both the induced neutron-proton interactions, and the electron screening properties. We find that the combined influence of these two effects leads to softening of the longitudinal phonon of the lattice above about the Thomas-Fermi screening wavenumber of the electrons. The critical wavenumber when the frequency becomes purely imaginary is about  1/5 - 2/3  of the reciprocal lattice vector, thus validating our assumption. The imaginary mode frequency implies instability at finite wavenumbers. Our calculations suggest that the mode at the first Brillouin zone edge is the most unstable, and thus the structure experiences a displacive phase transition when the central ion of a unit cell of the body-cubic-centred lattice, is displaced to the cube face. Thus, the electronic structure of matter at densities above the neutron drip [1], is richer than previously appreciated, and new microscopic calculations of nuclear structure are necessary which take into account the high-wavenumber physics. Such calculations will provide crucial input to models interpreting the quasi-periodic oscillations in Soft Gamma Repeaters as magnetar x-ray flares, and to the theory of glitches of neutron stars. [1] The neutron drip density is ~3×1011 g cm-3.

Bibliography : leaves 1-6 of 2nd sequence / vii, 104, [28] leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics and Mathematical Physics, 1993

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Physics and Mathematical Physics, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 1-6 of 2nd sequence).

Neste trabalho obtivemos o coeficiente de normalização da parte não ressonante da reação de captura 3H(alpha,gama)7Li (ou alternativamente, o fator S astrofísico) aplicando o método indireto ANC (Coeficientes de Normalização Assintótica) para a reação de transferência elástica do sistema 7Li + 4He. Essa reação de captura é de suma relevância na nucleosíntese de elementos leves no Universo primordial. Nesse método, o fator espectroscópico (ou alternativamente, o ANC) é obtido pela investigação de uma reação de transferência periférica que contenha como vértice a correspondente reação de captura. Reações de transferência têm normalmente dois vértices e um deles deve ser conhecido para que possamos obter o outro. No caso de uma transferência elástica, cuja característica é que o canal de saída elástico e de transferência são os mesmos, existe a vantagem da necessidade de consideração de apenas um vértice. Assim, uma análise combinada da distribuição angular para o espalhamento elástico 4He(7Li,7Li)4He, e para a reação de transferência 4He(7Li,4He)7Li, permitiu a extração do fator espectroscópico e consequentemente do ANC para o estado ligado <3He|4He>=7Li de uma forma única. As distribuições angulares para esses processos foram medidas no Laboratório Pelletron de São Paulo em duas energias de centro de massa 9.67 MeV e 10.62 MeV. Utilizamos nessas medidas feixes de 7Li obtidos no acelerador Pelletron com as energias de laboratório de 26.6 e 29.2 MeV. Empregamos um alvo gasoso de 4He e um sistema de colimadores de dupla-fenda na detecção. As partículas de 7Li espalhadas elasticamente e as partículas alfa da reação de transferência foram ambas detectadas em ângulos de laboratório diânteiros por um sistema de telescópios delta E - E com detectores de silício. Um código de simulação de Monte Carlo foi desenvolvido para calcular o ângulo sólido para esse sistema de fendas em ângulos próximos de zero grau. Um conjunto de parâmetros globais do Modelo Óptico foi obtido da análise das distribuições angulares do espalhamento elástico do sistema 7Li + 4He, juntamente com outras distribuições angulares obtidas da literatura em diferentes energias (~ 7-32 MeV). Os parâmetros do potencial óptico encontrados foram usados em uma análise de DWBA (Aproximação de Born de Ondas Distorcidas) para descrever a contribuição da reação de transferência de um tritio nas distribuições angulares. O fator espectroscópico obtido para o sistema ligado <3He|4He>=7Li foi S = 0.55+-0.03 e o coeficiente ANC C2 = 17.5 +- 1.0 fm-1. Com estes resultados, a seção de choque de captura para a reação 3H(alpha,gama)7Li e o respectivo fator S astrofísico foram calculados. / The normalization coefficient for the non-resonant part of the 3H(alpha,gama)7Li capture reaction (or alternately, the astrophysical S-factor) was obtained with the indirect method ANC (Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients). In this method the spectroscopic factor (or alternately, the ANC) is extracted from the investigation of a peripheral transfer reaction, which involves the same vertex as the corresponding capture reaction. Usually transfer reactions have two vertexes and the spectroscopic factor for one of them has to be known to obtain the other. In this work we investigate the 4He(7Li,4He)7Li elastic transfer reaction to obtain the spectroscopic factor and ANC for the 4He + t = 7Li bound system. The elastic transfer process, where the elastic and transfer exit channels are the same, has the advantage of having only one unknown vertex. Thus, the combined analysisof the angular distribution for elastic 4He(7Li,7Li)4He, and transfer process 4He(7Li,4He)7Li, allowed the extraction of the spectroscopic factor (and ANC) for the <3H|4He>=7Li bound system in an unique way. Angular distributions for these processes were measured at the Pelletron Laboratory at the center of mass energies of 9.67 MeV and 10.62 MeV. In these measurements, the 7Li beams with 26.6 MeV and 29.2 MeV were obtained from the Sao Paulo Pelletron accelerator. A 4He gas target and a double-slit collimator system were used. The 7Li scattered particles and alpha particles from transfer reaction were both detected at forward angles by a set of delta E - E silicon detectors telescopes. A Monte Carlo simulation code was developed to calculate the solid angle for the collimator system near the zero degree. A global optical potential parameters set for the 7Li + 4He system were defined using the measured elastic scattering angular distribution and other angular distributions obtained from the literature at different energies (from ~ 7-32 MeV). These optical potential parameters were used in the DWBA (Distorted Wave Born Approximation) analysis to describe the tritium transfer reaction contribution in the angular distributions. The obtained spectroscopic factor for the <3H,4He>=7Li bound system is S = 0.55+-0.03 and the ANC coefficient C2 = 17.5+-1.0 fm-1. With these results, the 3H(alpha,gama)7Li direct capture cross sections and astrophysical S-factor were calculated.