arXiv subjects

A. Knezevic

Publications and source records attributed to A. Knezevic.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2014

Neutron skin of $^{208}$Pb from Coherent Pion Photoproduction

Information on the size and shape of the neutron skin on $^{208}$Pb has been extracted from coherent pion photoproduction cross sections measured using the Crystal Ball together with the Glasgow tagger at the MAMI electron beam facility. On exploitation of an interpolated fit of a theoretical model to the measured cross sections the half-height radius and diffuseness of the neutron distribution are found to be 6.70$\pm 0.03(stat)$ fm and 0.55$\pm 0.01(stat)$$^{+0.02}_{-0.03}(sys)$ fm respectively, corresponding to a neutron skin thickness $Δr_{np}$=0.15$\pm 0.03(stat)$$^{+0.01}_{-0.03}(sys)$ fm. The results give the first successful extraction of a neutron skin with an electromagnetic probe and indicate the skin of $^{208}$Pb has a halo character. The measurement provides valuable new constraints on both the structure of nuclei and the equation of state for neutron-rich matter.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2013

Double pion photoproduction off nuclei - are there effects beyond final-state interaction?

Photoproduction of $π^{0}π^{0}$ and $π^{0}π^{\pm}$ pairs from nuclei has been measured over a wide mass range ($^2$H, $^{7}$Li, $^{12}$C, $^{40}$Ca, and $^{\rm nat}$Pb) for photon energies from threshold to 600 MeV. The experiments were performed at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz, using the Glasgow photon tagging spectrometer and a 4$π$ electromagnetic calorimeter consisting of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. A shift of the pion-pion invariant mass spectra for heavy nuclei to small invariant masses has been observed for $π^0$ pairs but also for the mixed-charge pairs. The precise results allow for the first time a model-independent analysis of the influence of pion final-state interactions. The corresponding effects are found to be large and must be carefully considered in the search for possible in-medium modifications of the $σ$-meson. Results from a transport model calculation reproduce the shape of the invariant-mass distributions for the mixed-charge pairs better than for the neutral pairs, but also for the latter differences between model results and experiment are not large, leaving not much room for $σ$-in-medium modification.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2013

Coherent photoproduction of pi^0- and eta-mesons off 7Li

Coherent photoproduction of $π^0$-mesons from threshold ($E_{th} \approx$ 136 MeV) throughout the $Δ$-resonance region and of $η$-mesons close to the production threshold ($E_{th} \approx$ 570 MeV for $η$) has been measured for $^7$Li nuclei. The experiment was performed using the tagged-photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors combined to give an almost 4$π$ solid-angle electromagnetic calorimeter. The reactions were identified by a combined invariant-mass and missing-energy analysis. A comparison of the pion data to plane-wave impulse modelling tests the nuclear mass form factor. So far coherent $η$-production had been only identified for the lightest nuclear systems ($^2$H and $^3$He). For $^3$He a large enhancement of the cross section above plane-wave approximations had been reported, indicating the formation of a quasi-bound state. The present Li-data for $η$-production agree with a plane-wave approximation. Contrary to $^3$He, neither a threshold enhancement of the total cross section nor a deviation of the angular distributions from the expected form-factor dependence were observed.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2012

Photoproduction of pi0pi0 and pi0pi+-pairs off the proton from threshold to the second resonance region

Precise total cross-sections and invariant-mass distributions have been measured for photoproduction of pion pairs off the proton producing $pπ^0π^0$ and $nπ^+π^0$ final states from the threshold region up to 800 MeV incident photon energy. Additionally, beam helicity asymmetries have been measured in the second resonance region (550 MeV - 820 MeV). The experiment was performed at the tagged photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors combined to give an almost 4$π$ solid-angle electromagnetic calorimeter. The results are much more precise than any previous measurements and confirm the chiral perturbation theory predictions for the threshold behavior of these reactions. In the second resonance region, the invariant-mass distributions of meson-meson and meson-nucleon pairs are in reasonable agreement with model predictions, but none of the models reproduce the asymmetries for the mixed-charge channel.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2009

Photoproduction of pi^0 eta on protons and the Delta(1700)D_{33} resonance

Total and differential cross sections for the reaction gamma p -> pi^o eta p have been measured with the Crystal Ball/TAPS detector using the tagged photon facility at the MAMI C accelerator in Mainz. In the energy range E_gamma=0.95-1.4 GeV the reaction is dominated by the excitation and sequential decay of the Delta(1700)D33 resonance. Angular distributions measured with high statistics allow us to determine the ratio of hadronic decay widths Γ_{ηΔ}/Γ_{πS11} and the ratio of the helicity amplitudes A_{3/2}/A_{1/2} for this resonance.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2009

Beam-Helicity Asymmetries in Double Pion Photoproduction off the Proton

Beam-helicity asymmetries have been measured at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz in the three isospin channels $\vecγp\to π^{+}π^0n$, $\vecγp\to π^{0}π^0p$ and $\vecγp\to π^{+}π^{-}p$ . The circularly polarized photons, produced from bremsstrahlung of longitudinally polarized electrons, were tagged with the Glasgow magnetic spectrometer. Charged pions and the decay photons of $π^0$ mesons were detected in a $~4π$ electromagnetic calorimeter which combined the Crystal Ball detector with the TAPS detector. The precisely measured asymmetries are very sensitive to details of the production processes and are thus key observables in the modeling of the reaction dynamics.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2007

Incoherent pion photoproduction on $^{12}$C

We present the first detailed measurement of incoherent photoproduction of neutral pions to a discrete state of a residual nucleus. The $^{12}$C$(γ,π^{0})^{12}$C$^{*}_{4.4MeV}$ reaction has been studied with the Glasgow photon tagger at MAMI employing a new technique which uses the large solid angle Crystal Ball detector both as a $π^{0}$ spectrometer and to detect decay photons from the excited residual nucleus. The technique has potential applications to a broad range of future nuclear measurements with the Crystal Ball and similar detector systems elsewhere. The data are sensitive to the propagation of the $Δ$ in the nuclear medium and will give the first information on matter transition form factors from measurements with an electromagnetic probe. The incoherent cross sections are compared to two theoretical predictions including a $Δ$-hole model.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2003

Spectral Statistics of RR Intervals in ECG

The statistical properties (fluctuations) of heartbeat intervals (RR intervals) in ECG are studied and compared with the predictions of Random Matrix Theory (RMT). It is found that heartbeat intervals only locally exhibit the fluctuation patterns (universality) predicted by the RMT. This finding shows that heartbeat dynamics is of the mixed type where regular and irregular (chaotic) regimes coexist and the Berry-Robnik theory can be applied. It is also observed that the distribution of heartbeat intervals is well described by the one-parameter Brody distribution. The parameter $β$ of the Brody distribution is seen to be connected with the dynamical state of the heart.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2001

Non-Linear Dynamics In Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris

We investigate the clinical and prognostic significance of fractal dimension and detrended fluctuation analysis by comparing the group of patients with stable angina pectoris without previous myocardial infarction with the group of age-matched healthy controls. The fractal dimension of the R-R series was determined using the rescaled range (R/S) analysis technique. To quantify fractal longe-range-correlation properties of heart rate variability, the detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) technique was used. The heart rate variability was characterized by a scaling exponent $α$, separately for short-term ($<$ 11 beats), and for long-term ($>$ 11 beats) time scales. The results of data sets show the existence of crossover phenomena between short-time scales. The short-term fractal scaling exponent was significantly lower in patients with stable angina pectoris.

physics.med-ph↗