Nuclear Corrections Research Articles

Nuclear deformation effects in the spectra of highly charged ions

With the increasing precision of spectroscopic measurements, there is a growing demand for more accurate theoretical predictions, which requires the estimation of various higher-order effects, such as the nuclear deformation effect. Here, we present the results for nuclear deformation correction for the widest range of nuclei. The effects are investigated in terms of electronic transition energies, g factors, and hyperfine splitting constants, by implementing the deformed Fermi nuclear model to the Dirac equation. Based on the improved methodology and appropriate data classification, we present the results for over 1100 nuclei on figures, showing the general trends and anomalies. Moreover, it can serve as a simple tool providing estimations for specific planned research. In addition, we examine the connections and significance of deformation effects in the search of new physics with singly charged ions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

High-energy neutrino deep inelastic scattering cross sections

We present a state-of-the-art prediction for cross sections of neutrino deep inelastic scattering (DIS) from nucleon at high neutrino energies, Eν, up to 1000 EeV (1012 GeV). Our calculations are based on the latest CT18 NNLO parton distribution functions (PDFs) and their associated uncertainties. To make predictions for the highest energies, we extrapolate the PDFs to small x according to several procedures and assumptions, thus affecting the uncertainties at ultrahigh Eν; we quantify the uncertainties corresponding to these choices. Similarly, we quantify the uncertainties introduced by the nuclear corrections that are required to evaluate neutrino-nuclear cross sections for the neutrino observatories. These results can be applied to currently running astrophysical neutrino observatories, such as IceCube and KM3NeT, as well as various future experiments that have been proposed. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

QCD analysis of valence structure functions using deep inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering

A new “” nonsinglet QCD analysis of the structure functions at the NNLO approximation is performed, utilizing the global fit of the data from various charged lepton scattering experiments. We extract the valence parton distribution functions (PDFs) and provide a parametrization of them, along with the correlated errors for a wide range of x and Q2. We compare valence PDFs and their uncertainties with those from different PDF sets provided by various groups. We also obtain valence PDFs and the strong coupling constant αs(MZ2), taking into account the nuclear correction concerning large x as well as the target mass correction (TMC) and higher twist (HT) effects at the NNLO. In the large x region, we extract the higher twist contributions of xF3(x,Q2), F2p(x,Q2), and F2d(x,Q2). We determine αs(MZ2) without and with considering the TMC and HT corrections and perform a comparison with the world average of αs(MZ2) and other reported results. The extracted results concerning valence PDFs with their uncertainties and αs(MZ2) value agree with available theoretical models. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Finite nuclear mass correction to the hyperfine splitting in hydrogenic systems

Finite nuclear mass correction to the hyperfine splitting in hydrogenic systems

Effects of nuclear interaction corrections and trichrome fragment spectra modelling on dose and linear energy transfer distributions in carbon ion radiotherapy

Background and PurposeNuclear interaction correction (NIC) and trichrome fragment spectra modelling improve relative biological effectiveness-weighted dose (DRBE) and dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LETd) calculation for carbon ions. The effect of those novel approaches on the clinical dose and LET distributions was investigated. Materials and MethodsThe effect of the NIC and trichrome algorithm was assessed, creating single beam plans for a virtual water phantom with standard settings and NIC + trichrome corrections. Reference DRBE and LETd distributions were simulated using FLUKA version 2021.2.9. Thirty clinically applied scanned carbon ion treatment plans were recalculated applying NIC, trichrome and NIC + trichrome corrections, using the LEM low dose approximation and compared to clinical plans (base RS). Four treatment sites were analysed: six prostate adenocarcinoma, ten head and neck, nine locally advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma and five sacral chordoma. The FLUKA and clinical plans were compared in terms of DRBE deviations for D98%, D50%, D2% for the clinical target volume (CTV) and D50% in ring-like dose regions retrieved from isodose curves in base RS plans. Additionally, region-based median LETd deviations and global gamma parameters were evaluated. ResultsDose deviations comparing baseRS and evaluation plans were within ± 1% supported by γ-pass rates over 97% for all cases. No significant LETd deviations were reported in the CTV, but significant median LETd deviations were up to 80% for very low dose regions. ConclusionOur results showed improved accuracy of the predicted DRBE and LETd. Considering clinically relevant constraints, no significant modifications of clinical protocols are expected with the introduction of NIC + trichrome.

Nuclear mass and size corrections to the magnetic shielding

Nuclear mass and size corrections to the magnetic shielding

Impact of nuclear rotation corrections on alpha decay half-lives of superheavy nuclei within 98 ≤ Z ≤ 120

The influence of nuclear rotation on the decay half-lives of superheavy nuclei within the range 98≤Z≤120 is investigated using the axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in the continuum (DRHBc) with the PC-PK1 parameter set. The deduced DRHBc decay energies (with and without the rotation effect) are compared with those calculated from the macroscopic-microscopic WS4 and the available experimental binding energies. Six semi-empirical formulae, such as the Viola-Seaborg formula (VSS), the modified Brown formula (mB1), the semi-empirical relationship based on fission theory (SemFIS2), the Royer formula (R), the Wang formula (Wang) and the modified YQZR formula (MYQZR) are employed to estimate the half-lives of α decay. Among these formulae, the half-live predictions of SemFIS2 are found to gradually deviate from the systematic trend beyond Nd=184, showing that the probability of undergoing spontaneous fission is less feasible beyond this point. A minimum is observed at Nd=184, reflecting its neutron shell closure for the mass region considered on the nuclear chart. The results further indicate that, for 98≤Z≤104, the predictions of all semi-empirical formulae are more closely matched to the available experimental data when the rotation effect is taken into account. However, we have demonstrated that the effect of nuclear rotation gradually reduces as the atomic nucleus becomes heavier.

Accurate determination of 6,7Li nuclear magnetic moments

We report an accurate determination of the nuclear magnetic dipole moments of 6,7Li from the measured ratio of the nuclear and the electron g-factors in atomic Li. The obtained results significantly improve upon the literature values and stress the importance of reliable theoretical calculations of the nuclear shielding corrections.

Impact of SeaQuest data on PDF fits at large x

We evaluate the impact of recent SeaQuest (FNAL-E906 experiment) data on dimuon production in proton-deuteron and proton-proton collisions on parton distribution functions (PDFs). We find these data in a good agreement with the QCD predictions based on PDFs fitted to the Tevatron and LHC data on forward production of W and Z bosons. As a basis for this study we use the ABMP16 PDF fits and show that they turn out to be compatible with the SeaQuest data, and that these data have constraining power, allowing to reduce the uncertainties on the isospin asymmetry of the light-sea-quark distribution at large longitudinal momentum fraction x. We discuss the nuclear corrections needed to describe the deuteron and show that they affect the theoretical description of the proton-deuteron Drell–Yan cross section at the level of mathcal {O}(0.5{-}1)%. We also comment on the compatibility of the SeaQuest results with other state-of-the-art PDF fits and show that these data are in clear disagreement with models proposing an SU(3)-flavor symmetric quark sea. Finally, we perform a comparison between the second Mellin moments of the light-quark PDFs and recent results from various lattice QCD computations, which demonstrates good compatibility, albeit limited by the uncertainties inherent in current lattice QCD simulations.

Searching for QGP droplets with high- pT hadrons and heavy flavor

The search for the smallest quark-gluon plasma (QGP) droplets in nature has motivated recent small collisions system programs at RHIC and LHC. Unambiguous identification of jet quenching due to final-state interactions is key to confirming QGP formation in these reactions. We compute the nuclear modification factors $R_{AA}$ and $R_{p(d)A}$ of charged hadrons and heavy flavor mesons in large (Au-Au, Xe-Xe, Pb-Pb) and small ($d$-Au, $p$-Pb, O-O) colliding systems, respectively. Our results include the Cronin effect and initial-state parton energy loss in cold nuclear matter. In the final state, hard partons undergo collisional energy loss and branching that was recently derived using Soft-Collinear-Effective-Theory with Glauber Gluon (SCET$_{\rm G}$). In large colliding systems, medium-modified QCD evolution of the fragmentation functions dominates the nuclear correction. As the system size decreases, we find that cold nuclear matter effects, collisional energy loss, and QGP-induced radiations can become equally important. A systematic scan over the medium size and mass/flavor dependence of $R_{AA}$ provides the opportunity to separate these individual contributions and identify QGP signatures in small systems. Predictions for $R_{AA}^{h}$, $R_{AA}^{D}$, $R_{AA}^{B}$ in O-O collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV are presented with and without the formation of a QGP and contrasted with the corresponding $R_{p(d)A}$ calculations. Upcoming single-hadron measurements at the LHC will not only test the O-O predictions for both light and heavy flavor production, but will shed light on the possibly very different dynamics of $p$-A and A-A reactions at similar soft particle production multiplicities.

Muonic x-ray spectroscopy on implanted targets

Muonic x-ray spectroscopy uses muons to obtain information about the structure of the atom and the nucleus. In muonic atoms, the energy levels of atomic orbitals are significantly more sensitive to the finite size correction. By probing these orbitals using x-ray spectroscopy, the nuclear size correction can be extracted, providing valuable input for laser spectroscopy in the form of absolute charge radii with a relative precision better than 10−3. Continuing on developments that allowed measurements on target quantities of about 5 μg, we showed the feasibility of using implanted targets. In the future, this will allow the measurement of absolute charge radii of long-lived radioactive isotopes that are not available in sufficient enrichment or large quantities. In this contribution, we shall report on the target preparation, involving high-fluence implantation, and on the preliminary results of the muX experimental campaign.

Nuclear polarizability effects in He+3 hyperfine splitting

The nuclear polarizability effects in hyperfine splitting of light atomic systems are not well known. The only system for which they were previously calculated is the hydrogen atom, where these effects were shown to contribute about 5\% of the total nuclear correction. One generally expects the polarizability effects to become more pronounced for composite nuclei. In the present work we determine the nuclear polarizability correction to the hyperfine splitting in He$^+$ by comparing the effective Zemach radius deduced from the experimental hyperfine splitting with the Zemach radius obtained from the electron scattering. We obtain a surprising result that the nuclear polarizability of the helion yields just 3\% of the total nuclear correction, which is smaller than for the proton.

PO-1975 effects of nuclear interaction correction and trichrome fragment spectra modelling in CIRT planning

PO-1975 effects of nuclear interaction correction and trichrome fragment spectra modelling in CIRT planning

First-principles calculation of the frequency-dependent dipole polarizability of argon

In this work we report state-of-the-art theoretical calculations of the dipole polarizability of the argon atom. Frequency dependence of the polarizability is taken into account by means of the dispersion coefficients (Cauchy coefficients), which is sufficient for experimentally relevant wavelengths below the first resonant frequency. In the proposed theoretical framework, all known physical effects including the relativistic, quantum electrodynamics, finite nuclear mass, and finite nuclear size corrections are accounted for. We obtained ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{0}=11.0775(19)$ for the static polarizability and ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{2}=27.976(15)$ and ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{4}=95.02(11)$ for the second and fourth dispersion coefficients, respectively. The result obtained for the static polarizability agrees (within the estimated uncertainty) with the most recent experimental data [C. Gaiser and B. Fellmuth, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 123203 (2018)] but is less accurate. The dispersion coefficients determined in this work appear to be the most accurate in the literature, improving by more than an order of magnitude upon previous estimates. By combining the experimentally determined value of the static polarizability with the dispersion coefficients from our calculations, the polarizability of argon can be calculated with accuracy of around $10\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ppm}$ for wavelengths above roughly $450\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}$. This result is important from the point of view of quantum metrology, especially for a new pressure standard based on thermophysical properties of gaseous argon. Additionally, in this work we calculate the static magnetic susceptibility of argon, which relates the refractive index of dilute argon gas with its pressure. While our results for this quantity are less accurate than in the case of the polarizability, they can provide, via the Lorenz-Lorentz formula, the best available theoretical estimate of the refractive index of argon.

Off-shell effects in bound nucleons and parton distributions from H1 , H2 , H3 , and He3 data

We report the results of a new global QCD analysis including deep-inelastic scattering data off $^{1}\mathrm{H}$, $^{2}\mathrm{H}$, $^{3}\mathrm{H}$, and $^{3}\mathrm{He}$ targets. Nuclear corrections are treated in terms of a nuclear convolution approach with off-shell bound nucleons. The off-shell (OS) corrections responsible for the modification of the structure functions (SFs) of bound nucleons are constrained in a global fit along with the proton parton distribution functions (PDFs) and the higher-twist (HT) terms. We investigate the proton-neutron difference for the OS correction and discuss our predictions for the SF ratio ${F}_{2}^{n}/{F}_{2}^{p}$ and the corresponding PDF ratio $d/u$ in the proton, as well as their correlations with the underlying treatment of the HT terms and of the OS corrections. In particular, we find that the recent MARATHON data are consistent with equal relative OS corrections for both the proton and the neutron.

Dispersive formalism for the nuclear structure correction δNS to the β decay rate

We analyze the axial $\gamma W$-box diagram for $I(J^P)=1(0^+)$ nuclei and provide a dispersion representation of the nuclear-structure correction $\delta_\text{NS}$ including its energy-dependent part. We also summarize useful isospin rotation formula and representations in nuclear theory that could facilitate the calculation of the parity-odd nuclear structure function $F_3(\nu,Q^2)$. They provide a rigorous theory framework for the future, high-precision calculation of the nuclear structure correction $\delta_\text{NS}$ necessary for the extraction of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $|V_{ud}|$ from superallowed nuclear $\beta$ decays.

Measurement of the axial vector form factor from antineutrino–proton scattering

Scattering of high energy particles from nucleons probes their structure, as was done in the experiments that established the non-zero size of the proton using electron beams1. The use of charged leptons as scattering probes enables measuring the distribution of electric charges, which is encoded in the vector form factors of the nucleon2. Scattering weakly interacting neutrinos gives the opportunity to measure both vector and axial vector form factors of the nucleon, providing an additional, complementary probe of their structure. The nucleon transition axial form factor, FA, can be measured from neutrino scattering from free nucleons, νμn → μ−p and {bar{nu }}_{mu }pto {mu }^{+}n, as a function of the negative four-momentum transfer squared (Q2). Up to now, FA(Q2) has been extracted from the bound nucleons in neutrino–deuterium scattering3–9, which requires uncertain nuclear corrections10. Here we report the first high-statistics measurement, to our knowledge, of the {bar{nu }}_{mu },pto {mu }^{+}n cross-section from the hydrogen atom, using the plastic scintillator target of the MINERvA11 experiment, extracting FA from free proton targets and measuring the nucleon axial charge radius, rA, to be 0.73 ± 0.17 fm. The antineutrino–hydrogen scattering presented here can access the axial form factor without the need for nuclear theory corrections, and enables direct comparisons with the increasingly precise lattice quantum chromodynamics computations12–15. Finally, the tools developed for this analysis and the result presented are substantial advancements in our capabilities to understand the nucleon structure in the weak sector, and also help the current and future neutrino oscillation experiments16–20 to better constrain neutrino interaction models.

Релятивистские расчеты энергий низко возбужденных состояний 1sns, 1snp, 1snd и вероятностей однофотонных переходов 1snl -> 1sn'l' в гелиеподобном ионе урана

For heliumlike uranium, the energies of the singly-excited 1sns, 1snp, and 1snd states with n ≤ 4 and the probabilities of the one-photon 1s3d -> 1s2p, 1s3p -> 1s2s, 1s3p -> 1s2p and 1s4d -> 1s2p transitions are evaluated. The calculations are performed within the Breit approximation using the configuration-interaction method in the basis of the Dirac-Fock-Sturm orbitals. The QED corrections to the energy levels are calculated employing the model-QED-operator approach. The nuclear recoil, frequency-dependent Breit-interaction, nuclear polarization, and nuclear deformation corrections are taken into account as well.

Testing standard-model extensions with isotope shifts in few-electron ions

When collecting spectroscopic data on at least four isotopes, nonlinearities in the King plot are a possible sign of physics beyond the standard model. In this work, an improved approach to the search for hypothetical new interactions with isotope-shift spectroscopy of few-electron ions is presented. Careful account is taken of the small nuclear corrections to the energy levels and the gyromagnetic factors, which cause deviations from King linearity within the standard model and are hence a possible source of confusion. In this approach, the experimental King nonlinearity is not compared to the vanishing prediction of the standard model at the leading order, but to the calculated full standard model contribution to King nonlinearity. This makes searching for beyond-the-standard-model physics with King linearity analysis possible in a high-precision experimental regime, avoiding confusion. The bounds which can be set on beyond-the-standard-model parameters remain limited by the uncertainties on the small standard model nuclear corrections which cause King nonlinearity. Direct comparison between theory and experiment on a single pair of isotopes is advocated as a more suitable approach for few-electron ions.

Theory of QED radiative corrections to neutrino scattering at accelerator energies

Control over quantum electrodynamics (QED) radiative corrections is critical for precise determination of neutrino oscillation probabilities from observed (anti)neutrino detection rates. It is particularly important to understand any difference between such corrections for different flavors of (anti)neutrinos in charged-current interactions. We provide theoretical foundations for calculating these corrections. Using effective field theory, the corrections are shown to factorize into soft, collinear, and hard functions. The soft and collinear functions contain large logarithms in perturbation theory but are computable from QED. The hard function parametrizes hadronic structure but is free from large logarithms. Using a simple model for the hard function, we investigate the numerical impact of QED corrections in charged-current (anti)neutrino-nucleon elastic cross sections and cross-section ratios at GeV energies. We consider the implications of mass singularity theorems that govern the lepton-mass dependence of cross sections for sufficiently inclusive observables and demonstrate the cancellation of leading hadronic and nuclear corrections in phenomenologically relevant observables.