Novel Way to Search for Light Dark Matter in Lepton Beam-Dump Experiments

A novel mechanism to produce and detect light dark matter in experiments making use of GeV electrons (and positrons) impinging on a thick target (beam dump) is proposed. The positron-rich environment produced by the electromagnetic shower allows us to produce an A^{'} via nonresonant (e^{+}+e^{-}→γ+A^{'}) and resonant (e^{+}+e^{-}→A^{'}) annihilation on atomic electrons. The latter mechanism, for some selected kinematics, results in a larger sensitivity with respect to limits derived by the commonly used A^{'}-strahlung. This idea, applied to beam-dump experiments and active beam-dump experiments, pushes down the current limits by an order of magnitude.

Investigation of the ^{10}Li shell inversion by neutron continuum transfer reaction

This Letter reports a study of the highly debated ^{10}Li structure through the d(^{9}Li,p)^{10}Li one-neutron transfer reaction at 100 MeV. The ^{10}Li energy spectrum is measured up to 4.6 MeV and angular distributions corresponding to different excitation energy regions are reported for the first time. The comparison between data and theoretical predictions, including pairing correlation effects, shows the existence of a p_{1/2} resonance at 0.45±0.03  MeV excitation energy, while no evidence for a significant s-wave contribution close to the threshold energy is observed. Moreover, two high-lying structures are populated at 1.5 and 2.9 MeV. The corresponding angular distributions suggest a significant s_{1/2} partial-wave contribution for the 1.5 MeV structure and a mixing of configurations at higher energy, with the d_{5/2} partial-wave contributing the most to the cross section.

Nuclear reaction measurements on tissue-equivalent materials and GEANT4 Monte Carlo simulations for hadrontherapy

When a carbon beam interacts with human tissues, many secondary fragments are produced into the tumor region and the surrounding healthy tissues. Therefore, in hadrontherapy precise dose calculations require Monte Carlo tools equipped with complex nuclear reaction models. To get realistic predictions, however, simulation codes must be validated against experimental results; the wider the dataset is, the more the models are finely tuned.Since no fragmentation data for tissue-equivalent materials at Fermi energies are available in literature, we measured secondary fragments produced by the interaction of a 55.6 MeV u(-1) (12)C beam with thick muscle and cortical bone targets. Three reaction models used by the Geant4 Monte Carlo code, the Binary Light Ions Cascade, the Quantum Molecular Dynamic and the Liege Intranuclear Cascade, have been benchmarked against the collected data. In this work we present the experimental results and we discuss the predictive power of the above mentioned models.

Carbon fragmentation measurements and validation of the Geant4 nuclear reaction models for hadrontherapy

Nuclear fragmentation measurements are necessary when using heavy-ion beams in hadrontherapy to predict the effects of the ion nuclear interactions within the human body. Moreover, they are also fundamental to validate and improve the Monte Carlo codes for their use in planning tumor treatments. Nowadays, a very limited set of carbon fragmentation cross sections are being measured, and in particular, to our knowledge, no double-differential fragmentation cross sections at intermediate energies are available in the literature. In this work, we have measured the double-differential cross sections and the angular distributions of the secondary fragments produced in the (12)C fragmentation at 62 A MeV on a thin carbon target. The experimental data have been used to benchmark the prediction capability of the Geant4 Monte Carlo code at intermediate energies, where it was never tested before. In particular, we have compared the experimental data with the predictions of two Geant4 nuclear reaction models: the Binary Light Ions Cascade and the Quantum Molecular Dynamic. From the comparison, it has been observed that the Binary Light Ions Cascade approximates the angular distributions of the fragment production cross sections better than the Quantum Molecular Dynamic model. However, the discrepancies observed between the experimental data and the Monte Carlo simulations lead to the conclusion that the prediction capability of both models needs to be improved at intermediate energies.

Charged particle's flux measurement from PMMA irradiated by 80 MeV/u carbon ion beam

Hadrontherapy is an emerging technique in cancer therapy that uses beams of charged particles. To meet the improved capability of hadrontherapy in matching the dose release with the cancer position, new dose-monitoring techniques need to be developed and introduced into clinical use. The measurement of the fluxes of the secondary particles produced by the hadron beam is of fundamental importance in the design of any dose-monitoring device and is eagerly needed to tune Monte Carlo simulations. We report the measurements carried out with charged secondary particles produced from the interaction of a 80 MeV/u fully stripped carbon ion beam at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania, with a poly-methyl methacrylate target. Charged secondary particles, produced at 90° with respect to the beam axis, have been tracked with a drift chamber, while their energy and time of flight have been measured by means of a LYSO scintillator. Secondary protons have been identified exploiting the energy and time-of-flight information, and their emission region has been reconstructed backtracking from the drift chamber to the target. Moreover, a position scan of the target indicates that the reconstructed emission region follows the movement of the expected Bragg peak position. Exploiting the reconstruction of the emission region, an accuracy on the Bragg peak determination in the submillimeter range has been obtained. The measured differential production rate for protons produced with E(Prod)(kin) > 83 MeV and emitted at 90° with respect to the beam line is dN(P)/(dN(C)dΩ) (E(Prod)(kin) > 83 MeV, θ = 90°) = (2.69 ± 0.08(stat) ± 0.12(sys)) × 10⁻⁴ sr⁻¹.

Isotopic dependence of the nuclear caloric curve

The A/Z dependence of projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies has been studied with the ALADIN forward spectrometer at SIS. A stable beam of (124)Sn and radioactive beams of (124)La and (107)Sn at 600 MeV per nucleon have been used in order to explore a wide range of isotopic compositions. Chemical freeze-out temperatures are found to be nearly invariant with respect to the A/Z of the produced spectator sources, consistent with predictions for expanded systems. Small Coulomb effects (DeltaT approximately 0.6 MeV) appear for residue production near the onset of multifragmentation.

Experimental evidence of (2)He decay from (18)Ne excited states

Two-proton decay from (18)Ne excited states has been studied by complete kinematical reconstruction of the decay products. The (18)Ne nucleus has been produced as a radioactive beam by (20)Ne primary projectile fragmentation at 45 AMeV incident energy on a Be target. The (18)Ne at 33 AMeV incident energy has been excited via Coulomb excitation on a (nat)Pb target. The obtained results unambiguously show that the 6.15 MeV (18)Ne state two-proton decay proceeds through a (2)He diproton resonance (31%) and democratic or virtual sequential decay (69%). The quoted branching ratio has been deduced from relative angle and momentum correlations of the emitted proton pairs.

Biotransformation of sevoflurane in dogs and rats

Sevoflurane, 3% and 4% in oxygen was administered to four dogs for 3 hours. Sevoflurane was metabolized to inorganic fluoride and hexafluoroisopropanol. Serum fluoride concentrations reached peak values during 2 to 3 hours into anesthesia and averaged 18.5 micrometer/L (n = 2) and 20.0 +/- 4.8 (mean +/- SD) micrometer/L (n = 4) following 3% and 4% sevoflurane exposure, respectively. They returned to normal values within 24 hours after anesthesia. Hexafluoroisopropanol was excreted in the urine as glucuronide conjugate. Its elimination was essentially complete within 48 hours after the end of exposure to sevoflurane. During inhalation of 4% sevoflurane, blood concentration of the anesthetic reached an average apparent steady state of 0.765 +/- 0.10 micrometer/L (n = 4). No anesthetic was detected in blood 24 hours after this exposure. Rats were anesthetized with 2% sevoflurane for 2 and 4 hours. Immediately after anesthesia, observed mean (n = 6) serum fluoride concentrations were 2.9 +/- 0.5 micrometer/L and 2.5 +/- 0.6 micrometer/L, respectively. Hepatic microsomal enzyme induction produced by pretreatment with either phenobarbital or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) resulted in an approximately 5-fold increase in serum fluoride concentrations following anesthesia with sevoflurane when compared to noninduced rats exposed to sevoflurane. A comparison of serum fluoride concentrations between the rat and dog indicates that the amount of sevoflurane metabolized is lower in the rat than in the dog, and the fluoride concentrations observed in both animal species during sevoflurane anesthesia are not expected to produce nephrotoxicity.

Sevoflurane: a new inhalational anesthetic agent

Laboratory screening of a series of halogenated methyl isopropyl ethers revealed sevoflurane (fluoromethyl-1,1,1,3,3,3,-hexafluroro-2-propyl ether) as a potent nonexplosive inhalational anesthetic agent. Sevoflurance, a pleasant-smelling liquid, boils at 58.5 degrees C at 760 torr and has a vapor pressure of 200 torr at 25 degrees C. It is nonflammable in air and has lower flammability limits of 11 vols percent in O2 and 10 vols percent in N2O. Sevoflurane exhibits limited chemical reactivity in vitro; it is subject to slight but measurable hydrolysis, and reacts with soda lime to form traces of related ethers. It provides rapid anesthetic induction and recovery consistent with its low distribution coefficients (blood:gas, 0.6; corn oil:gas, 41.6; olive oil:gas, 53.4). In dogs, anesthetic concentrations of sevoflurane did not produce spontaneous cardiac arrhythmias and did not sensitize the heart to epinephrine. Electroencephalographic patterns were similar to those observed during anesthesia with halothane. In rats, small increases in the urinary excretion of inorganic fluoride ion occurred during the first 24 hours after anesthesia. Subacute studies in dogs and rats, using closed-circle absorption with soda lime, revealed no toxicologically significant changes in animals anesthetized frequently for 2 weeks. Sevoflurane appears to be a unique volatile anesthetic agent worthy of further study.