Annihilation In Flight Research Articles

Two-photon positron–electron annihilation in a strong magnetic field

We consider the two-photon positron and electron annihilation in flight, it means the annihilating particles exhibit the middly relativistic momenta in a super strong magnetic field. Such particles are present in the corona of pulsars and magnetars. The paper presents how the total emission rate for the two-photon process is affected not only by magnetic field but also by the relativistic momentum of the annihilating particles. We found that the momenta influence significantly the total emission rate and the directions of the emitted photons. Additionally, the total emission for the two-photon process is comparable to that for the one-photon process at the momentum of annihilating particles of about m0, where m0 is the electron mass, and the magnetic field close to the critical Schwinger value of 4.41×1013G. The latter is reported as a main annihilation channel in a super strong magnetic field. We calculated also the energetic spectra of annihilating photons emitted, which are also affected by the magnetic field and the momenta of the annihilating particles.

Coincidence Doppler Broadening of Positron Annihilation Radiation in Fe

We measured the Doppler broadening annihilation radiation spectrum in Fe, using 22NaCl as a positron source, and two Ge detectors in coincidence arrangement. The two-dimensional coincidence energy spectrum was fitted using a model function that included positron annihilation with the conduction band and 3d electrons, 3s and 3p electrons, and in-flight positron annihilation. Detectors response functions included backscattering and a combination of Compton and pulse pileup, ballistic deficit and shaping effects. The core electrons annihilation intensity was measured as 16.4(3) %, with almost all the remainder assigned to the less bound electrons. The obtained results are in agreement with published theoretical values.

First experimental detection of antiproton in-flight annihilation on nuclei at ∼ 130 keV

The existing data of antinucleon-nucleon and antinucleon-nuclei annihilation cross-sections are confined to energies above about 1MeV. Experimental limitations have prevented till now the lower energies data to be achieved in spite of the interest they represent for theoretical models. One of the unresolved question concerns the antiproton annihilation cross-section measured at LEAR on light nuclei in the MeV region, which show a saturation with the mass number of the target nucleus against any naive expectation. With regard to fundamental cosmology, the knowledge of the annihilation cross-sections at energies below 1MeV can contribute to understand the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Universe. We present here the experimental demonstration of the feasibility of the measurement of antiproton-nuclei annihilation cross-sections in the 100 keV region.

In-flight antiproton annihilation on nuclei at low energies

The results of the annihilation cross sections measurement of 5.3 MeV antiprotons on nickel, tin, platinum and Mylar targets performed by the ASACUSA Collaboration at CERN are presented and compared with the existing data and models. From the experimental point of view the presented data are the first measurement of antinucleon annihilation cross sections at low energies obtained with a pulsed beam. This results open the road for the next measurements at the very low energies of the order of 100 keV that are in progress by the ASACUSA Collaboration. The experimental method foreseen for the 100 keV measurement is illustrated.

Photoneutron Cross Sections for Au Revisited: Measurements with Laser Compton Scattering γ-Rays and Data Reduction by a Least-Squares Method

Photoneutron cross section measurements were made for Au in the entire energy range of the (γ,n) channel based on a direct neutron counting with quasi-monochromatic γ-rays produced in inverse Compton scattering of laser photons with relativistic electrons. The data were analyzed by a least-squares method to deduce photoneutron cross sections. The analysis significantly reduced experimental uncertainties compared with those resulting from the photon difference method. The result is compared with the previous data by direct neutron counting with γ-rays produced in positron annihilation in flight and by photoactivation with bremsstrahlung. The present data are in good agreement with the previous data near the neutron threshold, while there remain some discrepancies between the present and the previous data above 10 MeV.

Some indication for a missing chiral partnerη4around 2 GeV

The high-lying mesons in the light quark sector previously obtained from the partial wave analysis of the proton-antiproton annihilation in flight at 1.9--2.4 GeV region at CERN reveal a very high degree of degeneracy. This degeneracy can be explained as due to an effective restoration of both $SU(2{)}_{L}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2{)}_{R}$ and $U(1{)}_{A}$ symmetries combined with a principal quantum number $\ensuremath{\sim}n+J$. In this case there must be chiral partners for the highest spin states in the 2 and 2.3 GeV bands presently missing in the data. Here we reanalyze the Crystal Barrel data and show an indication for existence of the missing ${4}^{\ensuremath{-}+}$ state around 2 GeV. This result calls for further experimental search of the missing states both in the proton-antiproton annihilation and in the production reactions.

SU-GG-T-437: The Depth-Dose Curves of 126 MeV Antiprotons in Water Using MCNPX Simulation Code

Purpose: To simulate dose contributions from various annihilation products to the depth dose profile for the irradiation of 126 MeV antiprotons in water using the MCNPX simulation code. Methods and Materials: A cylindrical water phantom (100 cm long, 15 cm radius) was generated using MCNPX version 27‐b. Cylindrical detectors (0.5 mm depth, 1 cm radius) of water were positioned along the central axis of the beam. Antiprotons with 126 MeV and 5 cm × 5 cm field size were used. Particle and photon transport in the code included pions,kaons,muons, secondary protons, neutrons, gamma and other heavy and light ions. Tallies utilized within the cylindrical detector region included the “+F6” collision heating tally and individualized “F6” tallies for detailing the energy depositions for the particles averaged over detector elements. A total of 100,000 histories were run. The depth‐dose profile from antiprotons was compared to that of protons of identical energy and field size. The relative contributions from various annihilation products to the total antiproton depth‐dose were studied. Results: In shallow depth region, the dose levels for antiproton were slightly higher compared to proton due to antiproton's annihilations in flight. In Bragg peak region, the dose levels with antiproton were augmented by higher than 2 compared with proton, at iso‐fluence, mainly due to antiproton's annihilations at rest. At peak depth, the contributions from antiprotons (without annihilations) were about two and six times higher than that from secondary protons and annihilation pions, respectively. The remaining part of the total dose was attributed to contributions from muons,kaons, gamma, light and heavy ions. Conclusions: Our results are in excellent agreement with recent FLUKA simulation results. However, somewhat higher contributions from kaons to the total dose at the Bragg peak were observed compared to the previous study.

Restrictions on the injection energy of positrons annihilating near the Galactic Centre

The origin and properties of the source of positrons annihilating in the Galactic Center is still a mystery. One of the criterion, which may discriminate between different mechanisms of positron production there, is the positron energy injection. Beacom and Yueksel (2006) suggested a method to estimate this energy from the ratio of the 511 keV line to the MeV in-flight annihilation fluxes. From the COMPTEL data they derived that the maximum injection energy of positron should be about several MeV that cut down significantly a class of models of positron origin in the GC assuming that positrons lose their energy by Coulomb collisions only. However, observations show that the strength of magnetic field in the GC is much higher than in other parts of the Galaxy, and it may range there from 100 $\mu$G to several mG. In these conditions, synchrotron losses of positrons are significant that extends the range of acceptable values of positron injection energy. We show that if positrons injection in the GC is non-stationary and magnetic field is higher than 0.4 mG both radio and gamma-ray restrictions permit their energy to be higher than several GeV.

Statistical analysis of the Doppler broadening coincidence spectrum of electron–positron annihilation radiation in silicon

We report a statistical analysis of Doppler broadening coincidence data of electron–positron annihilation radiation in silicon using a 22Na source. The Doppler broadening coincidence spectrum was fit using a model function that included positron annihilation at rest with 1s, 2s, 2p, and valence band electrons. In-flight positron annihilation was also fit. The response functions of the detectors accounted for backscattering, combinations of Compton effects, pileup, ballistic deficit, and pulse-shaping problems. The procedure allows the quantitative determination of positron annihilation with core and valence electron intensities as well as their standard deviations directly from the experimental spectrum. The results obtained for the core and valence band electron annihilation intensities were 2.56(9)% and 97.44(9)%, respectively. These intensities are consistent with published experimental data treated by conventional analysis methods. This new procedure has the advantage of allowing one to distinguish additional effects from those associated with the detection system response function.

New Experimental Approach to the Detection of Positron Annihilation in Flight Process

Positron annihilation in flight, when mainly positron contributes to the energy and momentum of the annihilating pair, is rarely observed in condensed matter due to its small probability. Additionally, this process does not manifest itself by any characteristic features, which would help in observation. Hence, our knowledge about that process is poor. In the paper we propose the new experimental method which allows us to detect this process. We applied the conventional positron lifetime spectrometer, which after changing photon energy ranges and layout of detectors was suitable for that detection. The first measurements allow us to estimate that in pure aluminum almost 4.76% of all implanted positrons from isotope source Na annihilate in flight.

Is Kapton Really That Simple?

Age momentum correlation experiments in kapton has revealed the existence of two positron states corresponding to the trapping of positrons on the partially negatively charged O and/or N sites in the polymer chain. A young age broadening of the annihilation line shape is also observed and is attributed to the annihilation in flight of the positrons.

Is chiral symmetry restored in the excited meson spectrum?

The large degeneracy observed in the excited meson spectrum by the Cristal Barrel Collaboration in the experimental data on proton–antiproton annihilation in flight into mesons in the range 1.9–2.4 GeV has been interpreted as a signal of chiral symmetry restoration. In this work we suggest that such degeneracy may be an indication of the confinement potential modification by color screening. The experimental data can be fairly well reproduced in a constituent quark model with a screened linear confinement potential without changing the dynamical quark mass. Observables that could discriminate our model from those which explicitly restore the chiral symmetry are proposed.

Hydrogen molecule – antihydrogen scattering at very low energies

We consider the low-energy scattering of antihydrogen (H¯) by the simplest molecule, H2. This preliminary treatment applies a generalisation of the Kohn variational method to the calculation of total elastic cross section at low energies. The scattering wavefunction calculated by the generalised Kohn method is used to estimate the antiproton annihilation in flight using a delta function pseudo potential introduced in the treatment of antiproton annihilation in H–H¯ scattering.

Positron Annihilations at the Galactic Center: Generating More Questions Than Answers

The bulge of our Galaxy is illuminated by the 0.511 MeV gamma-ray line flux from annihilations of nonrelativistic positrons. The emission is strongly concentrated at the Galactic Center (GC), in contrast to gamma-ray maps tracing nucleosynthesis (e.g., the 1.809 MeV line from decaying 26 Al) or cosmic ray processes (e.g., the 1–30 MeV continuum), which reveal a bright disk with a much less prominent central region. If positrons are generated at relativistic energies, higher-energy gamma rays will also be produced from inflight annihilation of positrons on ambient electrons. The comparison of the gamma-ray spectrum from inflight annihilation to the observed diffuse Galactic gamma-ray data constrains the injection energies of Galactic positrons to be less than 3 MeV.

Diffuse gamma-ray emission from the Galactic center – a multiple energy injection model

We suggest that the energy source of the observed diffuse gamma-ray emission from the direction of the Galactic center is the Galactic black hole Sgr A*, which becomes active when a star is captured at a rate of $\sim 10^{-5} $ yr^{-1}. Subsequently the star is tidally disrupted and its matter is accreted into the black hole. During the active phase relativistic protons with a characteristic energy $\sim 6\times 10^{52}$ erg per capture are ejected. Over 90% of these relativistic protons disappear due to proton-proton collisions on a timescale $\tau_{pp} \sim 10^4$ years in the small central bulge region with radius $\sim 50$ pc within Sgr A*, where the density is $\ge 10^3$ cm^{-3}. The gamma-ray intensity, which results from the decay of neutral pions produced by proton-proton collisions, decreases according to $e^{-t/\tau_{pp}}$, where t is the time after last stellar capture. Less than 5% of relativistic protons escaped from the central bulge region can survive and maintain their energy for >10^7 years due to much lower gas density outside, where the gas density can drop to $\sim 1$ cm$^{-3}$. They can diffuse to a $\sim 500$ pc region before disappearing due to proton-proton collisions. The observed diffuse GeV gamma-rays resulting from the decay of neutral pions produced via collision between these escaped protons and the gas in this region is expected to be insensitive to time in the multi-injection model with the characteristic injection rate of 10^{-5} yr^{-1}. Our model calculated GeV and 511 keV gamma-ray intensities are consistent with the observed results of EGRET and INTEGRAL, however, our calculated inflight annihilation rate cannot produce sufficient intensity to explain the COMPTEL data.

Monte Carlo investigation of positron annihilation in medical positron emission tomography

A number of Monte Carlo codes are available for simulating positron emission tomography (PET), however, physics approximations differ. A number of radiation processes are deemed negligible, some without rigorous investigation. Some PET literature quantify approximations to be valid, without citing the data source. The radiation source is the first step in Monte Carlo simulations, for some codes this is 511 keV photons 180° apart, not polyenergetic positrons with radiation histories of their own. Without prior assumptions, we investigated electron–positron annihilation under clinical PET conditions. Just before annihilation, we tallied the positron energy and position. Right after annihilation, we tallied the energy and separation angle of photon pairs. When comparing PET textbooks with theory, PENELOPE and EGSnrc, only the latter three agreed. From 10 6 radiation histories, a positron source of 15O in a chest phantom annihilated at as high as 1.58 MeV, producing photons with energies 0.30–2.20 MeV, 79–180° apart. From 10 6 radiation histories, an 18F positron source in a head phantom annihilated at energies as high as 0.56 MeV, producing 0.33–1.18 MeV photons 109–180° apart. 2.5% and 0.8% annihilation events occurred inflight in the chest and the head phantoms, respectively. PET textbooks typically either do not mention any deviation from 180°, or state a deviation of 0.25° or 0.5°. Our findings are founded on the well-established Heitler cross-sections and relativistic kinematics, both adopted unanimously by PENELOPE, EGSnrc and GEANT4. Our results highlight the effects of annihilation in-flight, a process sometimes forgotten within the PET community.

High energy radiation from the direction of the galactic black hole Sgr A ∗

X-ray observations indicate that the Galactic black hole Sgr A ∗ is inactive now, however, we suggest that Sgr A ∗ can become active when a captured star is tidally disrupted and matter is accreted into the black hole. Consequently the Galactic black hole could be a powerful source of relativistic protons with a characteristic energy ∼10 52 erg per capture. The diffuse GeV and TeV γ-rays emitted in the direction of the Galactic Center (GC) are the direct consequences of p–p collisions of such relativistic protons ejected by very recent capture events occurred ⩽10 5 yr ago. On the other hand, the extended electron-positron annihilation line emission observed from GC is a phenomenon related to a large population of thermalized positrons, which are produced, cooled down and accumulated through hundreds of past capture events during a period of ∼10 7 yr. In addition to explaining GeV, TeV and 511 keV annihilation emissions we also estimate the photon flux of several MeV resulting from in-flight annihilation process.

Positron Annihilations at the Galactic Center: Stringent Constraint on Positron Injection Energies

The intense 0.511 MeV gamma-ray line emission from the Galactic Center observed by INTEGRAL requires a large annihilation rate of nonrelativistic positrons. The emission is strongly concentrated at the Galactic Center (GC), in contrast to gamma-ray maps tracing nucleosynthesis (e.g., the 1.809 MeV line from decaying 26Al) or cosmic ray processes (e.g., the 1-30 MeV continuum), which reveal a bright disk with a much less prominent central region. If positrons are generated at relativistic energies, higher-energy gamma rays will also be produced from inflight annihilation of positrons on ambient electrons. The comparison of the gamma-ray spectrum from inflight annihilation to the observed diffuse Galactic gamma-ray data constrains the injection energies of Galactic positrons to be less than 3 MeV.

Continuumγ-ray emission from light dark matter positrons and electrons

The annihilation of light dark matter was recently advocated as a possible explanation of the large positron injection rate at the Galactic center deduced from observations by the SPI spectrometer aboard INTEGRAL. The modelling of internal Bremsstrahlung and in-flight annihilation radiations associated to this process drastically reduced the mass range of this light dark matter particle. We estimate critically the various energy losses and radiations involved in the propagation of the positron before its annihilation---in-flight or at rest. Using a simple model with monoenergetic positrons injected and confined to the Galactic bulge, we compute energy losses and gamma-ray radiations caused by ionization, Bremsstrahlung interactions as well as in-flight and at rest annihilation and compare these predictions to the available observations, for various injection energies. Confronting the predictions with observations by the CGRO/EGRET, CGRO/COMPTEL, INTEGRAL/SPI, and INTEGRAL/IBIS/ISGRI instruments, we deduce a mass upper bound of 3 to $7.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}/{c}^{2}$ for the hypothetical light dark matter particle. The most restrictive limit is in agreement with the value previously found by Beacom and Y\uksel and was obtained under similar assumptions, while the $7.5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{MeV}/{c}^{2}$ value corresponds to more conservative choices and to a partially ionized propagation medium. We stress how the limit depends on the degree of ionization of the propagation medium and how its precision could be improved by a better appraisal of data uncertainties.

Stringent Constraint on Galactic Positron Production

The intense 0.511 MeV gamma-ray line emission from the Galactic Center observed by INTEGRAL requires a large annihilation rate of nonrelativistic positrons. If these positrons are injected at even mildly relativistic energies, higher-energy gamma rays will also be produced. We calculate the gamma-ray spectrum due to inflight annihilation and compare it with the observed diffuse Galactic gamma-ray data. Even with a simplified but conservative treatment, we find that the positron injection energies must be less than or similar to 3 MeV, which strongly constrains models for Galactic positron production.