Nuclear Seminar - Pavel Povinec (29.3.2023)
Wednesday 29.3.2023 at 14:00, Lecture room F1/364
prof. RNDr. Pavel Povinec, DrSc.:
Quo Vadis, AMS?
Abstract:
Many scientific investigations from very different scientific fields have been crucially depending on the sensitivity, accuracy and precision of radionuclide measurements in various types of samples, and on possible contamination of instruments with natural radionuclides (e.g., K-40, and Th-232 and U-238 decay series products). We may mention, e.g., investigations of rare nuclear processes and decays in large-scale underground experiments searching for neutrinoless double beta-decays of nuclei with target masses of about one ton (e.g., for Ge-76 [1] and Xe-136 [2]), as well as searchers for dark matter represented by low mass (< 1 GeV/c2) or high mass particles [e.g., 3,4]. On the other hand, direct radionuclide analyses with high precision in very small samples have also been challenging processes requiring a very low instrumental background and high efficiency, which has been well demonstrated, e.g., in climate change studies using isotope archives (C-14 in tree rings, Be-10 and Cl-36 in ice cores [5, 6]). With development of the ultra-sensitive AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry), these investigations have been feasible. We shall review the past achievements of AMS, and discuss possible applications in the future, especially in connection with the recently installed AMS beam line at the CENTA laboratory.
1. Abgrall N et al., LEGEND Collaboration (2021). The large enriched germanium experiment for neutrinoless ββ decay. arXiv:2107.11462v1 [physics.ins-det].
2. Aprile E et al., XENON Collaboration (2022). Double-weak decays of 124Xe and 136Xe in the XENON1T and XENONnT experiments. arXiv:2205.04158v1 [hep-ex] 9.
3. Angloher G et al., CRESST collaboration (2022). Latest observations on the low energy excess in CRESST-III”. arXiv:2207.09375.
4. Aalbers J. et al., Xenon Collaboration (2023). A next-generation liquid xenon observatory for dark matter and neutrino physics. J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 50 013001.
5. Reimer P et al 2020. The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere radiocarbon age calibration curve (0–55 cal kBP). Radiocarbon 62: 725–757.
6. Kanzava K et al (2021) Dome Fuji Ice Core (∼100 Years Around 5480 BCE): An Unusual Grand Solar Minimum Occurrence? J. Geophys. Res. Space Phys. 126, e2021JA029378.