arXiv subjects

J. Brown

Publications and source records attributed to J. Brown.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

MoNA -- The first 25 years

The Modular Neutron Array (MoNA) collaboration was initiated in 2000 at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU). Since then, the collaboration studied properties of nuclides at and beyond the neutron dripline discovering seven new isotopes between lithium to fluorine. The collaboration included liberal arts colleges, regional comprehensive universities, and major research universities with the focus of giving undergraduate students meaningful research experiences. Over the last 25 years, the combined efforts of hundreds of undergraduates, dozens of graduate students and research associates, and faculty from more than a dozen colleges and universities produced over fifty publications, won awards for research, and combined research and teaching in new and interesting ways.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2023

Characterization of a SiPM-based monolithic neutron scatter camera using dark counts

We report on the design and characterization of a prototype monolithic neutron scatter camera that is intended to significantly improve upon the geometrical shortcomings of conventional neutron cameras. The detector consists of a 50 mm $\times$ 56 mm $\times$ 60 mm monolithic block of EJ-204 plastic scintillator instrumented on two faces with arrays of 64 Hamamatsu S13360-6075PE silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs). The electronic crosstalk is limited to < 5% between adjacent channels and < 0.1% between all other channel pairs. SiPMs introduce a significantly elevated dark count rate over PMTs, as well as correlated noise from after-pulsing and optical crosstalk. In this article, we characterize the dark count rate and optical crosstalk and present a modified event reconstruction likelihood function that accounts for them. We find that the average dark count rate per SiPM is 4.3 MHz with a standard deviation of 1.5 MHz among devices. The analysis method we employ to measure internal optical crosstalk also naturally yields the mean and width of the single-electron pulse height. We calculate separate contributions to the width of the single-electron pulse-height from electronic noise and avalanche fluctuations. We demonstrate a timing resolution for a single-photon pulse to be 128 ($\pm$4) ps. Finally, coincidence analysis is employed to measure external (pixel-to-pixel) optical crosstalk. We present a map of the average external crosstalk probability between 2-by-4 groups of SiPMs, as well as the in-situ timing characteristics extracted from the coincidence analysis. Further work is needed to characterize the performance of the camera at reconstructing single- and double-site interactions, as well as image reconstruction.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

Phase Transitions in High Purity Zr Under Dynamic Compression

We present results from ramp compression experiments on high-purity Zr that show the $\alpha \rightarrow \omega$, $\omega \rightarrow \beta$, as well as reverse $\beta \rightarrow \omega$ phase transitions. Simulations with a multi-phase equation of state and phenomenological kinetic model match the experimental wave profiles well. While the dynamic $\alpha \rightarrow \omega$ transition occurs $\sim 9$ GPa above the equilibrium phase boundary, the $\omega \rightarrow \beta$ transition occurs within 0.9~GPa of equilibrium. We estimate that the dynamic compression path intersects the equilibrium $\omega - \beta$ line at $P= 29.2$ GPa, and $T = 490$ K. The thermodynamic path in the interior of the sample lies $\sim 100$ K above the isentrope at the point of the $\omega \rightarrow \beta$ transition. Approximately half of this dissipative temperature rise is due to plastic work, and half is due to the non-equilibrium $\alpha \rightarrow \omega$ transition. The inferred rate of the $\alpha \rightarrow \omega$ transition is several orders of magnitude higher than that measured in dynamic diamond anvil cell (DDAC) experiments in an overlapping pressure range. We discuss a model for the influence of shear stress on the nucleation rate. The small fractional volume change $\Delta V/V \approx 0.1$ at the $\alpha \rightarrow \omega$ transition amplifies the effect of shear stress, and we estimate that for this case shear stress is equivalent to a pressure increase in the range of several GPa. Correcting our transition rate to a hydrostatic rate brings it approximately into line with the DDAC results, suggesting that shear stress plays a significant role in the transformation rate.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

A WC/WO star exploding within an expanding carbon-oxygen-neon nebula

The final explosive fate of massive stars, and the nature of the compact remnants they leave behind (black holes and neutron stars), are major open questions in astrophysics. Many massive stars are stripped of their outer hydrogen envelopes as they evolve. Such Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars emit strong and rapidly expanding (v_wind>1000 km/s) winds indicating a high escape velocity from the stellar surface. A fraction of this population is also helium depleted, with spectra dominated by highly-ionized emission lines of carbon and oxygen (Types WC/WO). Evidence indicates that the most commonly-observed supernova (SN) explosions that lack hydrogen and helium (Types Ib/Ic) cannot result from massive WC/WO stars, leading some to suggest that most such stars collapse directly into black holes without a visible supernova explosions. Here, we present observations of supernova SN 2019hgp, discovered about a day after explosion. The short rise time and rapid decline place it among an emerging population of rapidly-evolving transients (RETs). Spectroscopy reveals a rich set of emission lines indicating that the explosion occurred within a nebula composed of carbon, oxygen, and neon. Narrow absorption features show that this material is expanding at relatively high velocities (>1500 km/s) requiring a compact progenitor. Our observations are consistent with an explosion of a massive WC/WO star, and suggest that massive W-R stars may be the progenitors of some rapidly evolving transients.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

LRP 2020 Whitepaper: The Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector (CHORD)

The Canadian Hydrogen Observatory and Radio-transient Detector (CHORD) is a next-generation radio telescope, proposed for construction to start immediately. CHORD is a pan-Canadian project, designed to work with and build on the success of the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). It is an ultra-wideband, "large-N, small-D" telescope, consisting of a central array of 512x6-m dishes, supported by a pair of distant outrigger stations, each equipped with CHIME-like cylinders and a 64-dish array. CHORD will measure the distribution of matter over a huge swath of the Universe, detect and localize tens of thousands of Fast RadioBursts (FRBs), and undertake cutting-edge measurements of fundamental physics.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Nebular Spectra of 111 Type Ia Supernovae Disfavor Single Degenerate Progenitors

We place statistical constraints on Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) progenitors using 227 nebular phase spectra of 111 SNe Ia. We find no evidence of stripped companion emission in any of the nebular phase spectra. Upper limits are placed on the amount of mass that could go undetected in each spectrum using recent hydrodynamic simulations. With these null detections, we place an observational $3\sigma$ upper limit on the fraction of SNe Ia that are produced through the classical H-rich non-degenerate companion scenario of < 5.5%. Additionally, we set a tentative $3\sigma$ upper limit on He star progenitor scenarios of < 6.4%, although further theoretical modelling is required. These limits refer to our most representative sample including normal, 91bg-like, 91T-like, and "Super Chandrasekhar" \sne but excluding SNe Iax and SNe Ia-CSM. As part of our analysis, we also derive a Nebular Phase Phillips Relation, which approximates the brightness of a SN Ia from $150-500$~days after maximum using the peak magnitude and decline rate parameter $\Delta m_{15} (B)$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

3-D Motion Correction for Volumetric Super-Resolution Ultrasound (SR-US) Imaging

Motion during image acquisition can cause image degradation in all medical imaging modalities. This is particularly relevant in 2-D ultrasound imaging, since out-of-plane motion can only be compensated for movements smaller than elevational beamwidth of the transducer. Localization based super-resolution imaging creates even a more challenging motion correction task due to the requirement of a high number of acquisitions to form a single super-resolved frame. In this study, an extension of two-stage motion correction method is proposed for 3-D motion correction. Motion estimation was performed on high volumetric rate ultrasound acquisitions with a handheld probe. The capability of the proposed method was demonstrated with a 3-D microvascular flow simulation to compensate for handheld probe motion. Results showed that two-stage motion correction method reduced the average localization error from 136 to 18 micrometres.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2019

3-D Super-Resolution Ultrasound (SR-US) Imaging using a 2-D Sparse Array with High Volumetric Imaging Rate

Super-resolution ultrasound imaging has been so far achieved in 3-D by mechanically scanning a volume with a linear probe, by co-aligning multiple linear probes, by using multiplexed 3-D clinical ultrasound systems, or by using 3-D ultrasound research systems. In this study, a 2-D sparse array was designed with 512 elements according to a density-tapered 2-D spiral layout and optimized to reduce the sidelobes of the transmitted beam profile. High frame rate volumetric imaging with compounded plane waves was performed using two synchronized ULA-OP 256 systems. Localization-based 3-D super-resolution images of two touching sub-wavelength tubes were generated from a 120 second acquisition.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2019

3-D Super-Resolution Ultrasound (SR-US) Imaging with a 2-D Sparse Array

High frame rate 3-D ultrasound imaging technology combined with super-resolution processing method can visualize 3-D microvascular structures by overcoming the diffraction limited resolution in every spatial direction. However, 3-D super-resolution ultrasound imaging using a full 2-D array requires a system with large number of independent channels, the design of which might be impractical due to the high cost, complexity, and volume of data produced. In this study, a 2-D sparse array was designed and fabricated with 512 elements chosen from a density-tapered 2-D spiral layout. High frame rate volumetric imaging was performed using two synchronized ULA-OP 256 research scanners. Volumetric images were constructed by coherently compounding 9-angle plane waves acquired in 3 milliseconds at a pulse repetition frequency of 3000 Hz. To allow microbubbles sufficient time to move between consequent compounded volumetric frames, a 7-millisecond delay was introduced after each volume acquisition. This reduced the effective volume acquisition speed to 100 Hz and the total acquired data size by 3.3-fold. Localization-based 3-D super-resolution images of two touching sub-wavelength tubes were generated from 6000 volumes acquired in 60 seconds. In conclusion, this work demonstrates the feasibility of 3D super-resolution imaging and super-resolved velocity mapping using a customized 2D sparse array transducer.

physics.med-ph↗

arXiv2018

Re-examining the transition into the N=20 island of inversion: structure of $^{30}$Mg

Intermediate energy single-neutron removal from $^{31}$Mg has been employed to investigate the transition into the N=20 island of inversion. Levels up to 5~MeV excitation energy in $^{30}$Mg were populated and spin-parity assignments were inferred from the corresponding longitudinal momentum distributions and $γ$-ray decay scheme. Comparison with eikonal-model calculations also permitted spectroscopic factors to be deduced. Surprisingly, the 0$^{+}_{2}$ level in $^{30}$Mg was found to have a strength much weaker than expected in the conventional picture of a predominantly $2p - 2h$ intruder configuration having a large overlap with the deformed $^{31}$Mg ground state. In addition, negative parity levels were identified for the first time in $^{30}$Mg, one of which is located at low excitation energy. The results are discussed in the light of shell-model calculations employing two newly developed approaches with markedly different descriptions of the structure of $^{30}$Mg. It is concluded that the cross-shell effects in the region of the island of inversion at Z=12 are considerably more complex than previously thought and that $np - nh$ configurations play a major role in the structure of $^{30}$Mg.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2017

Search for active-sterile neutrino mixing using neutral-current interactions in NOvA

We report results from the first search for sterile neutrinos mixing with active neutrinos through a reduction in the rate of neutral-current interactions over a baseline of 810\,km between the NOvA detectors. Analyzing a 14-kton detector equivalent exposure of 6.05$\times$10$^{20}$ protons-on-target in the NuMI beam at Fermilab, we observe 95 neutral-current candidates at the Far Detector compared with $83.5 \pm 9.7 \mbox{(stat.)} \pm 9.4 \mbox{(syst.)}$ events predicted assuming mixing only occurs between active neutrino species. No evidence for $ν_μ \rightarrow ν_{s}$ transitions is found. Interpreting these results within a 3+1 model, we place constraints on the mixing angles $θ_{24}<20.8^{\circ}$ and $θ_{34}<31.2^{\circ}$ at the 90% C.L. for $0.05~eV^2\leq Δm^2_{41}\leq 0.5~eV^2$, the range of mass splittings that produce no significant oscillations over the Near Detector baseline.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Constraints on Oscillation Parameters from $ν_e$ Appearance and $ν_μ$ Disappearance in NOvA

Results are reported from an improved measurement of $ν_μ\rightarrow ν_e$ transitions by the NOvA experiment. Using an exposure equivalent to $6.05\times10^{20}$ protons-on-target 33 $ν_e$ candidates were observed with a background of $8.2\pm0.8$ (syst.). Combined with the latest NOvA $ν_μ$ disappearance data and external constraints from reactor experiments on $\sin^22θ_{13}$, the hypothesis of inverted mass hierarchy with $θ_{23}$ in the lower octant is disfavored at greater than $93\%$ C.L. for all values of $δ_{CP}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Measurement of the neutrino mixing angle $θ_{23}$ in NOvA

This Letter reports new results on muon neutrino disappearance from NOvA, using a 14 kton detector equivalent exposure of $6.05\times10^{20}$ protons-on-target from the NuMI beam at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The measurement probes the muon-tau symmetry hypothesis that requires maximal mixing ($θ_{23} = π/4$). Assuming the normal mass hierarchy, we find $Δm^2 = (2.67 \pm 0.11)\times 10^{-3}$ eV$^2$ and $\sin^2 θ_{23}$ at the two statistically degenerate values $0.404^{+0.030}_{-0.022}$ and $0.624^{+0.022}_{-0.030}$, both at the 68% confidence level. Our data disfavor the maximal mixing scenario with 2.6 $σ$ significance.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2017

Landau Collision Integral Solver with Adaptive Mesh Refinement on Emerging Architectures

The Landau collision integral is an accurate model for the small-angle dominated Coulomb collisions in fusion plasmas. We investigate a high order accurate, fully conservative, finite element discretization of the nonlinear multi-species Landau integral with adaptive mesh refinement using the PETSc library (www.mcs.anl.gov/petsc). We develop algorithms and techniques to efficiently utilize emerging architectures with an approach that minimizes memory usage and movement and is suitable for vector processing. The Landau collision integral is vectorized with Intel AVX-512 intrinsics and the solver sustains as much as 22% of the theoretical peak flop rate of the Second Generation Intel Xeon Phi, Knights Landing, processor.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2016

Panchromatic Imaging of a Transitional Disk: The Disk of GM Aur in Optical and FUV Scattered Light

We have imaged GM Aur with HST, detected its disk in scattered light at 1400A and 1650A, and compared these with observations at 3300A, 5550A, 1.1 microns, and 1.6 microns. The scattered light increases at shorter wavelengths. The radial surface brightness profile at 3300A shows no evidence of the 24AU radius cavity that has been previously observed in sub-mm observations. Comparison with dust grain opacity models indicates the surface of the entire disk is populated with sub-micron grains. We have compiled an SED from 0.1 microns to 1 mm, and used it to constrain a model of the star+disk system that includes the sub-mm cavity using the Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer code by Barbara Whitney. The best-fit model image indicates that the cavity should be detectable in the F330W bandpass if the cavity has been cleared of both large and small dust grains, but we do not detect it. The lack of an observed cavity can be explained by the presence of sub-microns grains interior to the sub-mm cavity wall. We suggest one explanation for this which could be due to a planet of mass <9 Jupiter masses interior to 24 AU. A unique cylindrical structure is detected in the FUV data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys/Solar Blind Channel. It is aligned along the system semi-minor axis, but does not resemble an accretion-driven jet. The structure is limb-brightened and extends 190 +/- 35 AU above the disk midplane. The inner radius of the limb-brightening is 40 +/- 10 AU, just beyond the sub-millimeter cavity wall.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Population of 13Be in a Nucleon Exchange Reaction

The neutron-unbound nucleus 13Be was populated with a nucleon-exchange reaction from a 71 MeV/u secondary 13B beam. The decay energy spectrum was reconstructed using invariant mass spectroscopy based on 12Be fragments in coincidence with neutrons. The data could be described with an s-wave resonance at E = 0.73(9) MeV with a width of Gamma = 1.98(34) MeV and a d-wave resonance at E = 2.56(13) MeV with a width of Gamma = 2.29(73) MeV. The observed spectral shape is consistent with previous one-proton removal reaction measurements from 14B.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2015

On The Evolution Of User Support Topics in Computational Science and Engineering Software

We investigate ten years of user support emails in the large-scale solver library PETSc in order to identify changes in user requests. For this purpose we assign each email thread to one or several categories describing the type of support request. We find that despite several changes in hardware architecture as well programming models, the relative share of emails for the individual categories does not show a notable change over time. This is particularly remarkable as the total communication volume has increased four-fold in the considered time frame, indicating a considerable growth of the user base. Our data also demonstrates that user support cannot be substituted with what is often referred to as 'better documentation' and that the involvement of core developers in user support is essential.

cs.OH↗

arXiv2015

Excitation of gravity waves by fingering convection, and the formation of compositional staircases in stellar interiors

Fingering convection (or thermohaline convection) is a weak yet important kind of mixing that occurs in stably-stratified stellar radiation zones in the presence of an inverse mean-molecular-weight gradient. Brown et al. (2013) recently proposed a new model for mixing by fingering convection, which contains no free parameter, and was found to fit the results of direct numerical simulations in almost all cases. Notably, however, they found that mixing was substantially enhanced above their predicted values in the few cases where large-scale gravity waves, followed by thermo-compositional layering, grew spontaneously from the fingering convection. This effect is well-known in the oceanographic context, and is attributed to the excitation of the so-called "collective instability". In this work, we build on the results of Brown et al. (2013) and of Traxler et al. (2011b) to determine the conditions under which the collective instability may be expected. We find that it is only relevant in stellar regions which have a relatively large Prandtl number (the ratio of the kinematic viscosity to the thermal diffusivity), $O(10^{-3})$ or larger. This implies that the collective instability cannot occur in main sequence stars, where the Prandtl number is always much smaller than this (except in the outer layers of surface convection zones where fingering is irrelevant anyway). It could in principle be excited in regions of high electron degeneracy, during He core flash, or in the interiors of white dwarfs. We discuss the implications of our findings for these objects, both from a theoretical and from an observational point of view.

astro-ph.SR↗