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A. Sen

Publications and source records attributed to A. Sen.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

A new technique of linseed oil coating in bakelite RPC and the first test results

Single gap Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) is one of the very popular gaseous detectors used in high-energy physics experiments nowadays. It is a very fast detector having low cost of fabrication. The RPCs are usually built using glass or bakelite plates having high resistivity $\sim~10^{10}-10^{11}$ $Ω$~cm. Bakelite RPCs are generally fabricated with a linseed oil coating inside to make the inner electrode surface smoother which helps to reduce the micro discharge probability. Linseed oil coating also reduces the surface UV sensitivity dramatically and effectively protect the bakelite surfaces from the Hydrofluoric Acid (HF), produced by the interaction of fluorine with the water vapour. There is a conventional way to do this linseed oil coating after making the gas gap as done in experiments $e.g.$ ALICE, CMS etc. A new technique is introduced here to do the linseed oil coating on the bakelite plate before making the gas gap. 100\% Tetrafluoroethane (C$_2$H$_2$F$_4$) gas is used to test the RPC module in the avalanche mode with cosmic rays. Conventional NIM electronics is used for this study. The efficiency and noise rate are measured. In this article, the detailed method of fabrication and the first test results are presented.

physics.ins-det↗

Study of charging-up effect for a single mask triple GEM detector

With the advancement of the accelerator systems and the requirements of high luminosity particle beams to reach different physics goals, detectors with good position resolution and high rate handling capability have become essential for designing any High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. The Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors are widely used in many HEP experiments as a tracking device because of their good spatial resolution and rate handling capability. The presence of the dielectric medium inside the active volume of the GEM detector changes its behaviour when exposed to external radiation. This mechanism is commonly referred as the charging-up effect. In this article, the effect of the charging-up phenomenon and the initial polarisation effect of the dielectric on the gain of the chamber are reported for a single mask triple GEM chamber with Ar/CO2 gas mixture.

physics.ins-det↗

Thermodynamics and Self-organization of Strongly Coupled Coulomb Clusters: An Experimental Study

In this experimental work, the thermodynamics and self-organization of classical two-dimensional Coulomb clusters are studied as a function of the cluster size. The experiments are carried out in a DC glow discharge Argon plasma in the Dusty Plasma Experimental (DPEx) device for clusters with different number of particles. Hexagonal symmetry around each individual particle is quantified using the local orientational order parameter ($|{ψ_6}|$) for all the configurations. The screened Coulomb coupling parameter, which plays a key role in determining the thermodynamic nature of a Coulomb cluster, is estimated using Langevin dynamics and found to be sensitive to the number of particles present in the cluster. In addition, the process of self-organization and the dynamics of individual particles of the cluster as it changes from a metastable state to the ground state are examined through the estimation of dynamic entropy. Our findings suggest an intimate link between the configurational ordering and the thermodynamics of a strongly coupled Coulomb cluster system - an insight that might be of practical value in analysing and controlling the micro dynamics of a wider class of finite systems.

physics.plasm-ph↗

Initial-boundary value problem for 1D pressureless gas dynamics

The paper considers the system of pressureless gas dynamics in one space dimension. The question of solvability of the initial-boundary value problem is addressed. Using the method of generalized potentials and characteristic triangles, extended to the boundary value case, an explicit way of constructing measure-valued solutions is presented. The prescription of boundary data is shown to depend on the behavior of the generalized potentials at the boundary. We show that the constructed solution satisfies an entropy condition and it conserves mass, whereby mass may accumulate at the boundary. Conservation of momentum again depends on the behavior of the generalized boundary potentials. There is a large amount of literature where the initial value problem for the pressureless gas dynamics model has been studied. To our knowledge, this paper is the first one which considers the initial-boundary value problem.

math.AP↗

Nuclear level density and thermal properties of $^{115}$Sn from neutron evaporation

The nuclear level density of $^{115}$Sn has been measured in an excitation energy range of $\sim $2 - 9 MeV using the experimental neutron evaporation spectra from the $^{115}$In($p,n$)$^{115}$Sn reaction. The experimental level densities were compared with the microscopic Hartree-Fock BCS (HFBCS), Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov plus combinatorial (HFB+C), and an exact pairing plus independent particle model (EP+IPM) calculations. It is observed that the EP+IPM provides the most accurate description of the experimental data. The thermal properties (entropy and temperature) of $^{115}$Sn have been investigated from the measured level densities. The experimental temperature profile as well as the calculated heat capacity show distinct signatures of a transition from the strongly-paired nucleonic phase to the weakly paired one in this nucleus.

nucl-ex↗

Evidence for the reduction of nuclear level density away from the $β$-stability line

The isospin dependence of nuclear level density has been investigated by analyzing the spectra of evaporated neutrons from excited $^{116}$Sn and $^{116}$Te nuclei. These nuclei are populated via $p$ + $^{115}$In and $^{4}$He + $^{112}$Sn reactions in the excitation energy range of 18 - 26 MeV. Because of low excitation energy, the neutron spectra are predominantly contributed by the first-chance decay leading to the $β$-stable $^{115}$Sn and neutron-deficient $^{115}$Te as residues for the two cases. Theoretical analysis of the experimental spectra have been performed within the Hauser-Feshbach formalism by employing different models of the level density parameter. It is observed that the data could only be explained by the level density parameter that decreases monotonically when the proton number deviates from the $β$-stable value. This is also confirmed by performing a microscopic shell-model calculation with the Wood-Saxon mean field. The results have strong implication on the estimation of the level density of unstable nuclei, and calculation of astrophysical reaction rates relevant to $r$- and $rp$-processes.

nucl-ex↗

Excitation energy and angular momentum dependence of the nuclear level density parameter around A$\approx $110

Neutron kinetic energy spectra in coincidence with low-energy $γ$-ray multiplicities have been measured around $A\approx $ 110 in the $^{16}$O, $^{20}$Ne + $^{93}$Nb reactions in a compound nuclear excitation energy range of $\approx $ 90 - 140 MeV. The excitation energy (temperature) and angular momentum (spin) dependence of the inverse level density parameter $k$ has been investigated by comparing the experimental data with statistical Hauser-Feshbach calculation. In contrast to the available systematic in this mass region, the inverse level density parameter showed an appreciable increase as a function of the excitation energy. The extracted $k$-values at different angular momentum regions, corresponding to different $γ$-multiplicities also showed an overall increase with the average nuclear spins. The experimental results have been compared with a microscopic statistical-model calculation and found to be in reasonable agreement with the data. The results provide useful information to understand the variation of nuclear level density at high temperature and spins.

nucl-ex↗

Cosmic ray flux and lockdown due to COVID19 in Kolkata -- any correlation?

Cosmic ray muon flux is measured by the coincidence technique using plastic scintillation detectors in the High Energy Physics detector laboratory at Bose Institute, Kolkata. Due to the COVID19 outbreak and nationwide complete lockdown, the laboratory was closed from the end of March 2020 till the end of May 2020. After lockdown, although the city is not in its normal state, we still were able to take data on some days. The lockdown imposed a strict restriction on the transport service other than the emergency ones and also most of the industries were shut down in and around the city. This lockdown has significant effect on the atmospheric conditions in terms of change in the concentration of air pollutants. We have measured the cosmic ray flux before and after the lockdown to observe the apparent change if any due to change in the atmospheric conditions. In this article, we report the measured cosmic ray flux at Kolkata (22.58$^{\circ}$N 88.42$^{\circ}$E and 11~m Above Sea Level) along with the major air pollutants present in the atmosphere before and after the lockdown.

hep-ex↗

Stability study and time resolution measurement of Straw Tube detectors

Straw tube detectors are single wire proportional counters that are widely used as a tracking device. We have carried out R$\&$D with a straw tube detector prototype. The motivation of this work is to study the stability of the performance in terms of gain and energy resolution of the straw tube detectors under high rate radiation. Two different methods are incorporated to perform this study. The gain and energy resolution of the detector are studied along with its variation with ambient temperature and pressure. X-ray from a radioactive source is used to irradiate the detector and the same source is also used to monitor the energy spectra simultaneously for calculation of gain. Variation of the gain and energy resolution of the straw tube detector under X-ray irradiation in Ar/CO$_2$ gas mixture is discussed in this article. We have also estimated the time resolution of the straw tube detectors that can be best achieved with cosmic rays as trigger for the same gas mixture. The details of the measurement process and the experimental results are presented in this article.

physics.ins-det↗

Study of charging up effect in a triple GEM detector

The advancement of Micro Pattern Gaseous Detector technology offers us different kinds of detectors with good spatial resolution and high rate capability and the Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detector is one of them. Typically GEM is made up of a thin polyimide foil having a thickness of 50 micrometers with 5 micrometers copper cladding on top and bottom sides. The presence of polyimide changes the gain of the detector under the influence of external radiation and the phenomenon is referred to as the charging up effect. The charging up effect is investigated with a double mask triple GEM detector prototype with Ar/CO$_2$ gas mixture in 70/30 ratio under continuous irradiation from a strong Fe$^{55}$ X-ray source. The detailed method of measurements and the test results are presented in this article.

physics.ins-det↗

Excitation of dust acoustic shock waves in an inhomogeneous dusty plasma

An experimental investigation of the propagation characteristics of shock waves in an inhomogeneous dusty plasma is carried out in the Dusty Plasma Experimental (DPEx) device. A homogeneous dusty plasma, made up of poly-dispersive kaolin particles, is initially formed in a DC glow discharge Argon plasma by maintaining a dynamic equilibrium of the pumping speed and the gas feeding rate. Later, an equilibrium density inhomogeneity in the dust fluid is created by introducing an imbalance in the original dynamic equilibrium. Non-linear wave structures are then excited in this inhomogeneous dusty plasma by a sudden compression in the dust fluid. These structures are identified as shock waves and their amplitude and width profiles are measured spatially. The amplitude of a shock structure is seen to increase whereas the width broadens as it propagates down a decreasing dust density profile. A modified-KdV-Burger equation is derived and used to provide a theoretical explanation of the results including the power law scaling of the changes in the amplitude and width as a function of the background density.

physics.plasm-ph↗

On deformations of classical mechanics due to Planck-scale physics

Several quantum gravity and string theory thought experiments indicate that the Heisenberg uncertainty relations get modified at the Planck scale so that a minimal length do arises. This modification may imply a modification of the canonical commutation relations and hence quantum mechanics at the Planck scale. The corresponding modification of classical mechanics is usually considered by replacing modified quantum commutators by Poisson brackets suitably modified in such a way that they retain their main properties (antisymmetry, linearity, Leibniz rule and Jacobi identity). We indicate that there exists an alternative interesting possibility. Koopman-Von Neumann's Hilbert space formulation of classical mechanics allows, as Sudarshan remarked, to consider the classical mechanics as a hidden variable quantum system. Then the Planck scale modification of this quantum system naturally induces the corresponding modification of dynamics in the classical substrate. Interestingly, it seems this induced modification in fact destroys the classicality: classical position and momentum operators cease to be commuting and hidden variables do appear in their evolution equations.

physics.class-ph↗

Experimental observation of a first order phase transition in a complex plasma mono-layer crystal

The formation and melting of a mono-layered charged dust particle crystal in a DC glow discharge Argon plasma is studied. The nature of the melting/formation process is established as a first order phase transition from the nature of the variations in the Coulomb coupling parameter, the dust temperature, the structural order parameter and from the existence of a hysteresis behavior. Our experimental results are distinctly different from existing theoretical predictions for 2D crystals based on the KTHNY mechanism or the Grain boundary induced melting and indicate a novel mechanism that is akin to a fluctuation induced first order phase transition that has not been observed before in complex plasmas.

physics.plasm-ph↗

The determination of α-spectroscopic factors and ANC of 16O states using 12C(20Ne,16O)16O reaction at Elab=150 MeV incident energy

The 12C(20Ne,16O)16O α-transfer reaction at Elab=150 MeV is first time used to determine the ANC of the 6.92 MeV and 7.12 MeV states of 16O. The 20Ne+ 12C potential parameters are also obtained from elastic scattering. The direct reaction code FRESCO is used to determine the α-spectroscopy factor (Sα ) of the three states of 16O (6.92 MeV, 7.12 MeV and 11.52 MeV) and ANC of the two states (6.92 MeV and 7.12 MeV) of 16O. The extracted ANC and Sα are compareable to previous measurements.

nucl-ex↗

Effect of size and shape of a moving charged object on the propagation characteristics of precursor solitons

We report on experimental observations on the modifications in the propagation characteristics of precursor solitons due to the different shapes and sizes of the object over which the dust fluid flows. The experiments have been performed in a $Π$ shaped Dusty Plasma Experimental (DPEx) device where dusty plasma is created in a DC glow discharge Ar plasma using kaolin particles. A floating copper wire installed radially on the cathode, acts as a charged object in the plasma environment. The flow on the dust fluid is initiated by suddenly lowering the potential of the charged object from grounded potential to close to floating potential. The size (height and width) of the potential hill is then varied by drawing current from the wire through a variable resistance. With a decrease in the height of the potential hill, the amplitude, velocity and the number of exciting precursor solitons are found to decrease whereas the widths of the solitons are seen to increase. It is found that below a threshold value these solitary waves are not excited and the dust fluid simply flows over the hill. To examine the effect due to the shape of the potential profiles, the wire is replaced by a triangular object. Only trailing wakes are seen to be excited when the dust fluid faces the linearly increasing slope of the potential profile whereas both solitons and wakes get excited when the object is placed with the sharp edge facing the flow. All the experimental findings qualitatively agree with numerical solutions obtained with different source terms in the forced-Korteweg de Vries (f-KdV) model equation.

physics.plasm-ph↗

Kinetic particle simulations in a global toroidal geometry

The gyrokinetic toroidal code (GTC) has been upgraded for global simulations by coupling the core and scrape-off layer (SOL) regions across the separatrix with field-aligned particle-grid interpolations. A fully kinetic particle pusher for high frequency waves (ion cyclotron frequency and beyond) and a guiding center pusher for low frequency waves have been implemented using cylindrical coordinates in a global toroidal geometry. The two integrators correctly capture the particle orbits and agree well with each other, conserving energy and canonical angular momentum. As a verification and application of this new capability, ion guiding center simulations have been carried out to study ion orbit losses at the edge of the DIII-D tokamak for single null magnetic separatrix discharges. The ion loss conditions are examined as a function of the pitch angle for cases without and with a radial electric field. The simulations show good agreement with past theoretical results and with experimentally observed feature in which high energy ions flow out along the ion drift orbits and then hit the divertor plates. A measure of the ion direct orbit loss fraction shows that the loss fraction increases with the ion energy for DIII-D in the initial velocity space. Finally, as a further verification of the capability of the new code, self-consistent simulations of zonal flows in the core region of the DIII-D tokamak were carried out. All DIII-D simulations were perfomed in the absence of turbulence.

physics.plasm-ph↗

ChAKRA : The high resolution charged particle detector array at VECC

A large 4$π$ array of charged particle detectors has been developed at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre to facilitate high resolution charged particle reaction and spectroscopy studies by detecting event-by-event the charged reaction products emitted in heavy ion reactions at energy $\sim$ 10-60 MeV/A. The forward part ($θ\sim \pm $ $7^{0}$ - $\pm 45^{0}$) of the array consists of 24 highly granular, high resolution charged particle telescopes, each of which is made by three layers [single sided silicon strip($Δ$E) + double sided silicon strip (E/$Δ$E) + CsI(Tl)(E)]of detectors. The backward part of the array consists of 112 CsI(Tl) detectors which are capable of detecting primarily the light charged particles (Z $\le$ 2) emitted in the angular range of $θ\sim \pm $ $45^{0}$ - $\pm 175^{0}$. The extreme forward part of the array ($θ\sim \pm $ $3^{0}$ - $\pm 7^{0}$) is made up of 32 slow-fast plastic phoswich detectors that are capable of detecting light (Z $\le$2) and heavy charged particles (3 $\le$ Z $\lesssim$ 20) as well as handling high count rates. The design, construction and characterization of the array has been described.

physics.ins-det↗