Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2020 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 65, Number 12
Thursday–Sunday, October 29–November 1 2020; Time Zone: Central Time, USA
Session FH: Undergraduate Research II |
Hide Abstracts |
Chair: Shelly Lesher |
Friday, October 30, 2020 2:00PM - 2:12PM |
FH.00001: Comparison gamma spectrum between RIANIER and ENSDF for 55Mn and other nuclei Josselyn Velasquez, David Brown, Gustavo Nobre Neutron capture occurs when a neutron is absorbed by a target nucleus, the resulting nucleus is left in a highly excited state at or above the neutron separation energy. This compound nucleus decay by the emission of a high energy primary gamma-ray, followed by a secondary gamma cascade of much lower energy gamma rays. Each isotope emits a unique gamma-ray spectrum, providing a fingerprint that we can use to unambiguously identify the isotopic composition of a sample. This is the basis for Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA), a non-destructive elemental analysis, commonly used in oil well logging that will be adopted by NASA for the Dragonfly mission to Titan. At the annual Cross Section Evaluation Working Group meeting, and again at the WANDA2020 workshop, it was noted that there are serious deficiencies in evaluated capture gamma spectra caused by poor ENDF/B-VIII.0 data. Beginning with 55Mn, a gamma-ray decay simulator code RAINIER was used, and the results are compared to CapGam, ENSDF, and ENDF with the aim of developing an approach for evaluating capture gamma spectra. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 2:12PM - 2:24PM |
FH.00002: Selected Configuration Interaction using Reinforcement Learning Lihao Yan, Li Zhou, Mark A. Caprio, Weiguo Gao, Chao Yang Configuration interaction (CI) is a widely used method for solving quantum many-body problems. The challenge of CI is to solve a large sparse eigenvalue problem, which grows rapidly as the number of particles and the size of the Slater determinant basis increases. For many problems, the low-lying and ground state eigenfunctions exhibit localization, i.e., a small set of most important basis functions contains most of the information of the system. One approach, often referred to as the selected CI method, selects these important functions to construct a finite dimensional accurate approximation of the many-body Hamiltonian. Typical selected CI algorithms use physics intuitions to select a few functions as the starting point and then use perturbation theory to select more functions, but they are not globally optimal. In this work, we develop a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm approach. The RL algorithm starts from a set of many-body functions. Each action removes some functions and adds new functions into that set with a designated reward. We obtain an optimal set of selections through episodes of iterations. We calculate the error bounds and test the performance of our algorithm against several other selected CI algorithms. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 2:24PM - 2:36PM |
FH.00003: Applying Machine Learning Techniques in National Instruments' LabView to Identify NMR Signals Connor McClain, Dustin Keller National Instruments' LabView presents a unique opportunity for applying machine learning to Physics research because of its data-flow oriented programming. Dynamic nuclear polarized (DNP) targets in High-Energy and Nuclear scattering experiments require the use of a phase sensitive nuclear magnet resonance (NMR) detector to measure the polarization of the nucleons in the reaction. The NMR systems (Q-meters) are designed to operate within a well defined set of operational parameters which allows polarization measurements over the full dynamic range to within 3\% relative error. In this study we apply well established methods of machine learning in LabView to recover reliable polarization and reduced error even when operating outside the design specifications of the systems. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 2:36PM - 2:48PM |
FH.00004: Experimental and Computational Methods for the LEGEND Experiment Jose Colon Rivera The LEGEND Experiment aims to find evidence of a rare nuclear process known as neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) with significant implications for the Standard Model. The detection of $0\nu\beta\beta$ requires extremely low radiation backgrounds achievable by submerging high purity germanium-76 crystals in a depleted liquid argon (LAr) veto. The MAJORANA DEMONSTRATOR is an ongoing experiment located 4850 ft. underground in the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in Lead, South Dakota, with the purpose of determining whether a 1000 kg experiment such as LEGEND can be realized. We describe experimental methods for determining the rate of contamination of the depleted LAr with $^{42}$Ar radioisotopes and we create a Geant4-based simulation of a LEGEND cryostat to test the shielding properties of various detector geometries [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 2:48PM - 3:00PM |
FH.00005: Magneto-Ionization Spacecraft Shield For Interplanetary Travel Gavin Menning, David Atri, Justin Brutger, Keegan Finger, Luke Hofmann, Trace Johnson, Julie LaFranzo, Meredith Luttrell, Lorien MacEnulty, Molly McCord, Ethan Morton, Noah Peterson, Athanasios Petridis, Ajal RC, Will Thomas, Daniel Viscarra One of the main issues concerning manned interplanetary travel is intense radiation exposure from solar wind and cosmic rays. The purpose of this collaboration is to develop and test a conceptual design for radiation shielding via magnetic fields and the ionization of particles in a gas. The conceptual design seeks to absorb the energy of low energy particles and deflect higher energy particles, taking inspiration fromthe Earth's ionosphere and magnetic field. Since there are numerous factors that must be considered, subgroups have been created to more effectively work on various aspects of the project. The factors include the relativistic motion of charged particles in complex magnetic fields, energy loss due to ionization in gases, debris collisions with the craft, effective ways to generate artificial gravity, and the composition and spectrum of solar wind and cosmic rays. This collaboration is a student-led project involving students of all academic years, and a few disciplines, that meet weekly to exchange information, discuss progress, and assign tasks. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 3:00PM - 3:12PM |
FH.00006: Extracting a latent space representation of dijet measurement in p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions using Variational Autoencoders Stuti Raizada Small systems (proton-proton and proton-nucleus) displaying features that resemble those exhibited by the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) formed in heavy-ion (nucleus-nucleus) collisions have been observed. Dijet measurements capture information about the presence of Quark Gluon Plasma because jets interact with the medium and lose energy as they traverse it. Certain structures of deep neural network models, called Variational Autoencoders, are capable of learning a meaningful latent space which is a compressed representation of the features given as input to the neural networks. Such a latent space could be used to explore observables that lead to different results depending on the presence and absence of the QGP. The dependence of these latent observables on the originally measured observables is estimated. These latent observables are verified to work as discriminators of QGP activity by analyzing proton-Lead and Lead-Lead collision data produced at an energy scale of 5.02 TeV by the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) detector at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider). The implications of this work to explain system size dependence of measurements in the collision data is discussed. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 3:12PM - 3:24PM |
FH.00007: CEvNS reactor neutrino detection using recoil damage tracks in crystals Apurva Goel Recently it has been proposed by Baum et al. (Phys. Lett. B 803 (2020) 135325) to look for Dark Matter by identifying the damage tracks in crystals caused by nuclear recoil resulting from Dark Matter scattering. Here, we explore the feasibility of using this concept for the detection of reactor neutrinos via the CEvNS reaction since CEvNS, like Dark Matter scattering, leads to nuclear recoils in the keV-range. The obvious advantage of looking for CEvNS from reactor neutrinos is that this a well-known Standard Model reaction and the neutrino flux from a reactor is very high. Moreover, tailor-made materials can be employed. Apart from applications to basic science passive crystal detectors could be attractive for nuclear non-proliferation safeguards acting very much like a smart tag and fitting overall well into accepted IAEA operating procedures. We present an estimation of the track length distribution from CEvNS and compare it to the one of the most pernicious background source, cosmic ray neutrons. We find that even without shielding the CEvNS track number can exceed the neutron background track number by a factor of few for suitably chosen materials and a detection with gram-scale crystals appears possible. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 3:24PM - 3:36PM |
FH.00008: Fissile O.U.T. (Optimal Uranium Technology): A Conceptual Analysis Rexx Thomas Nuclear energy, while exceedingly dense, has two primary issues that prevent it from being widely accepted and utilized: 1) the waste from nuclear energy can persist for generations; and 2) errors can be catastrophic. A conceptual analysis is presented that addresses both of these issues. Fissile O.U.T. is designed to run on Uranium-238 (U-238). The significance of this is that U-238 is abundant, can be sourced from nuclear waste, and it does not sustain a chain reaction which limits the probability of severe core failure. Additionally, the core design combines atomic physics with the quantum wave/particle duality of nature in order to direct the neutrons to specific locations in the core that house small pockets of more energy dense fuel. Rather than the standard model of utilizing steam to convert thermal energy to mechanical energy, Fissile O.U.T. utilizes pressurization of gas into a solid for energy storage rather than batteries. Development and implementation could offer safer nuclear energy production while reducing current levels of nuclear waste. [Preview Abstract] |
Friday, October 30, 2020 3:36PM - 3:48PM |
FH.00009: Investigating Wobbling Motion in 135Ce Sariah Phipps, Nirupama Sensharma, Umesh Garg Due to the breakthrough identification of 135Pr as a wobbling nucleus, A\textasciitilde 130 region has emerged as a new region of interest to look for more such cases. Wobbling and chirality serve as two irrefutable signatures for the existence of triaxiality. Having already established chirality in 133Ce, the present study aims to look for wobbling in the neighboring 135Ce nucleus. A possible longitudinal wobbling band has been identified in this nucleus. Results of spectroscopic properties of the connecting transitions to conclusively establish the wobbling nature of the band will be presented. [Preview Abstract] |
Follow Us |
Engage
Become an APS Member |
My APS
Renew Membership |
Information for |
About APSThe American Physical Society (APS) is a non-profit membership organization working to advance the knowledge of physics. |
© 2024 American Physical Society
| All rights reserved | Terms of Use
| Contact Us
Headquarters
1 Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740-3844
(301) 209-3200
Editorial Office
100 Motor Pkwy, Suite 110, Hauppauge, NY 11788
(631) 591-4000
Office of Public Affairs
529 14th St NW, Suite 1050, Washington, D.C. 20045-2001
(202) 662-8700