arXiv subjects

S. Nath

Publications and source records attributed to S. Nath.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Determining the dynamic deformation of $^{140}$Ce by constraining coupled-channels parameters for fusion

We present a systematic study of the dynamic deformation of 140Ce using 16O and 36S projectiles in heavy-ion fusion reactions, combining experimental data, a Gaussian analytic-barrier framework and coupled-channels calculations. Fusion cross sections for 16O+140Ce are measured from ~17% above to ~12.4% below the Bass barrier. Fusion data for 36S+140Ce are obtained from the literature. Deformation parameters of 140Ce are extracted via chi-square minimization and Bayesian analysis, with independent Bayesian Model Averaging yielding beta_2 = 0.09 +/- 0.03 and beta_3 = 0.18 +/- 0.02, consistent across both systems. The extracted parameters are tested in the 28Si+140Ce system, where coupled-channels calculations including transfer of a pair of neutrons (2n) reproduce both the fusion excitation function and the barrier distribution. The positive Q-value 2n-pickup channel enhances fusion in this reaction, while the projectile's vibrational or rotational nature results in similar structure of the barrier distribution. This study demonstrates that the Gaussian analytic recipe is quite effective in deriving the fusion barrier distribution which proves to be a sensitive probe of intrinsic nuclear deformation. Further, coupled-channels analysis across multiple systems ensures robustness of the extracted deformation parameters.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2026

One- and two-nucleon transfer in $^{\mathbf{116}}$Sn+$^{\mathbf{60}}$Ni: A coupled reaction channel analysis

Recent studies of multi-nucleon transfer in heavy ion collisions have employed both macroscopic and microscopic models. Although macroscopic approaches offer useful insights, microscopic analyses of high-precision experimental data provide a more reliable framework for understanding the nucleon transfer mechanisms. The present study aims to carry out a comprehensive theoretical investigation of the $^{116}$Sn+$^{60}$Ni system using microscopic coupled reaction channel (CRC) calculations. The calculations employ microscopic double-folding S$\tilde{a}$o Paulo potentials, incorporating all relevant inelastic and transfer couplings guided by observed $\gamma$-ray transitions, wherever available. For the one-nucleon transfer channels, spectroscopic amplitudes are also obtained from large-scale shell-model calculations. In the case of two-nucleon transfer, sequential, microscopic cluster and extreme cluster mechanisms are considered to reproduce the data. Results for quasielastic scattering and one-neutron ($1n$) transfer show excellent agreement with experimental data. Measured one-proton ($1p$) transfer probabilities are best described by incorporating experimental spectroscopic amplitudes in the CRC calculations. For transfer of two-nucleons, the extreme cluster mechanism is found to best reproduce the data. This study highlights that microscopic description of one- and two-nucleon transfer between two heavy ions in the CRC framework, without taking recourse to arbitrary normalization of the cross sections, is quite feasible. Nonetheless, lack of experimental corroboration for all the transitions included in the calculations and practical limits of computational resources, affecting accuracy of shell-model results and causing a cap on the number of states, leave room for further refinement of the results.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2025

STGen: A Novel Lightweight IoT Testbed for Generating Sensor Traffic for the Experimentation of IoT Protocol and its Application in Hybrid Network

A Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) is a network that does not rely on a fixed infrastructure and consists of numerous sensors, such as temperature, humidity, GPS, and cameras, equipped with onboard processors that manage and monitor the environment in a specific area. As a result, building a real sensor network testbed for verifying, validating, or experimenting with a newly designed protocol presents considerable challenges in adapting a laboratory scenario due to the significant financial and logistical barriers, such as the need for specialized hardware and large-scale deployments. Additionally, WSN suffers from severe constraints such as restricted power supply, short communication range, limited bandwidth availability, and restricted memory storage. Addressing these challenges, this work presents a flexible testbed solution named STGen that enables researchers to experiment with IoT protocols in a hybrid environment that emulates WSN implementations with the physical Internet through a dedicated physical server named STGen core, which receives sensor traffic and processes it for further actions. The STGen testbed is lightweight in memory usage and easy to deploy. Most importantly, STGen supports large-scale distributed systems, facilitates experimentation with IoT protocols, and enables integration with back-end services for big data analytics and statistical insights. The key feature of STGen is the integration of real-world IoT protocols and their applications with WSN. Its modular and lightweight design makes STGen efficient and enables it to outperform other popular testbeds, such as Gotham and GothX, reducing memory usage by 89\%. While GothX takes approximately 26 minutes to establish a large topology with four VM nodes and 498 Docker nodes, STGen requires only 1.645 seconds to initialize the platform with 500 sensor nodes.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2024

Tuning superconductivity in nanosecond laser annealed boron doped $Si_{1-x}Ge_{x}$ epilayers

Superconductivity in ultra-doped $Si_{1-x}Ge_{x}:B$ epilayers is demonstrated by nanosecond laser doping, which allows introducing substitutional B concentrations well above the solubility limit and up to $7\,at.\%$. A Ge fraction $x$ ranging from 0 to 0.21 is incorporated in $Si:B$ : 1) through a precursor gas by Gas Immersion Laser Doping; 2) by ion implantation, followed by nanosecond laser annealing; 3) by UHV-CVD growth of a thin Ge layer, followed by nanosecond laser annealing. The 30 nm and 80 nm thick $Si_{1-x}Ge_{x}:B$ epilayers display superconducting critical temperatures $T_c$ tuned by B and Ge between 0 and 0.6 K. Within BCS weak-coupling theory, $T_c$ evolves exponentially with both the density of states and the electron-phonon potential. While B doping affects both, through the increase of the carrier density and the tensile strain, Ge incorporation allows addressing independently the lattice deformation influence on superconductivity. To estimate the lattice parameter modulation with B and Ge, Vegard's law is validated for the ternary $SiGeB$ bulk alloy by Density Functional Theory calculations. Its validity is furthermore confirmed experimentally by X-Ray Diffraction. We highlight a global linear dependence of $T_c$ vs. lattice parameter, common for both $Si:B$ and $Si_{1-x}Ge_{x}:B$, with $\delta T_c/T_c \sim 50\,\%$ for $\delta a/a \sim 1\,\%$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

First results of evaporation residue cross-section measurements of $^{32}$S+$^{208}$Pb system

The dynamics of heavy ion-induced reactions play a critical role in forming super heavy elements (SHE), and one clear signature of the SHE formation is the evaporation residue (ER). In our pursuit of SHE, we present the heaviest element populated in India for ER cross-section measurements. These are the first-ever measurements of the Evaporation Residue (ER) cross-sections for the nuclear reactions between $^{32}$S and $^{208}$Pb. These measurements were conducted above the Coulomb barrier at four distinct beam energies in the laboratory frame, ranging from 176 to 191 MeV at the pelletron Linac facility at the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC), New Delhi. The Hybrid Recoil Mass Analyzer (HYRA) in a gas-filled mode was employed for these experiments. The obtained range of ER cross-sections enriches our knowledge and helps advance the field of heavy ion-induced reactions, especially in the context of super heavy element formation.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2023

Measurements of evaporation residue cross-sections and evaporation residue-gated $\gamma$-ray fold distributions for $^{32}$S+$^{154}$Sm system

Evaporation Residue (ER) cross-sections and ER-gated $\gamma$-ray fold distributions are measured for the $^{32}$S + $^{154}$Sm nuclear reaction above the Coulomb barrier at six different beam energies from 148 to 191 MeV. $\gamma$-ray multiplicities and spin distributions are extracted from the ER-gated fold distributions. The ER cross-sections measured in the present work are found to be much higher than what was reported in a previous work using a very different target-projectile ($^{48}$Ti + $^{138}$Ba) combination, leading to the same compound nucleus $^{186}$Pt, with much less mass asymmetry in the entrance channel than the present reaction. This clearly demonstrates the effect of the entrance channel on ER production cross-section. The ER cross-sections measured in the present work are compared with the results of both the statistical model calculations and the dynamical model calculations. Statistical model calculations have been performed to generate a range of parameter space for both the barrier height and Kramers' viscosity parameter over which the ER cross-section data can be reproduced. The calculations performed using the dinuclear system (DNS) model reproduce the data considering both complete and incomplete fusion processes. DNS calculations indicate the need for the inclusion of incomplete fusion channel at higher energies to reproduce the ER cross-sections.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

Determination of $1p$ and $2p$ stripping excitation functions for $^{16}$O+$^{142}$Ce using a Recoil Mass Spectrometer

We report the first direct measurement of differential transfer cross sections using a Recoil Mass Spectrometer. Absolute differential $1p$ and $2p$-stripping cross sections at $\theta_\mathrm{c.m.}=180^\circ$ have been determined for the system $^{16}$O+$^{142}$Ce by detecting the heavier target-like ions at the focal plane of the Heavy Ion Reaction Analyzer. Focal plane spectra have been compared with the results of a semi-microscopic Monte-Carlo simulation to unambiguously identify the transfer channels. Transmission efficiency of the target-like ions through the spectrometer has also been estimated using the simulation. The methodology adopted in this work can be applied to other recoil separators. The measured excitation functions for the reactions $^{142}\mathrm{Ce(}^{16}\mathrm{O,}^{15}\mathrm{N)}^{143}\mathrm{Pr}$ and $^{142}\mathrm{Ce(}^{16}\mathrm{O,}^{14}\mathrm{C)}^{144}\mathrm{Nd}$ have been compared with coupled reaction channel calculations. An excellent matching between measurement and theory has been obtained. For $1p$-stripping, major contribution to the cross section has been found to be the transfer of a proton from $^{16}\mathrm{O}$ to the $2d_{\frac{5}{2}}$ excited state of $^{143}\mathrm{Pr}$, leaving behind $^{15}\mathrm{N}$ in the $1p_{\frac{1}{2}}$ ground state. Transfer of a cluster of two protons from $^{16}\mathrm{O}$ to the $2^{+}$ excited state of $^{144}\mathrm{Nd}$, resulting in $^{14}\mathrm{C}$ in the $0^{+}$ ground state, appears to be the most probable cause for $2p$-stripping. Measured transfer probabilities for $1p$ and $2p$ channels have been compared with Time-Dependent Hartree-Fock calculations. Proton stripping channels are found to be more favourable compared to neutron pick-up channels. However, the theory overpredicts measurement hinting at the need for extended approaches with explicit treatment of pairing correlations in the calculations.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2019

Role of Neutron Transfer in Sub-Barrier Fusion

Fusion excitation function of $^{35}$Cl + $^{130}$Te system is measured in the energy range around the Coulomb barrier and analyzed in the framework of the coupled-channels approach. The role of projectile deformation, nuclear structure, and the couplings of inelastic excitations and positive Q$-$value neutron transfer channels in sub-barrier fusion are investigated through the comparison of reduced fusion excitation functions of $^{35,37}$Cl +$^{130}$Te systems. The reduced fusion excitation function of $^{35}$Cl + $^{130}$Te system shows substantial enhancement over $^{37}$Cl + $^{130}$Te system in sub-barrier energy region which is attributed to the presence of positive Q-value neutron transfer channels in $^{35}$Cl + $^{130}$Te system. Findings of this work strongly suggest the importance of +2$n$ - transfer coupling in sub-barrier fusion apart from the simple inclusion of inelastic excitations of interacting partners, and are in stark contrast with the results presented by Kohley \textit{et al.}, [Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 202701 (2011)].

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2019

Search for stabilizing effects of $\bm{Z=82}$ shell closure against fission

Presence of closed proton and/or neutron shells causes deviation from macroscopic properties of nuclei which are understood in terms of the liquid drop model. It is important to investigate experimentally the stabilizing effects of shell closure, if any, against fission. This work aims to investigate probable effects of proton shell ($Z = 82$) closure in the compound nucleus, in enhancing survival probability of the evaporation residues formed in heavy ion-induced fusion-fission reactions. Evaporation residue cross sections have been measured for the reactions $^{19}$F+$^{180}$Hf, $^{19}$F+$^{181}$Ta and $^{19}$F+$^{182}$W from $\simeq9\%$ below to $\simeq42\%$ above the Coulomb barrier, leading to formation of compound nuclei with same number of neutrons ($N = 118$) but different number of protons across $Z = 82$. Measured excitation functions have been compared with statistical model calculation, in which reduced dissipation coefficient is the only adjustable parameter. Evaporation residue cross section, normalized by capture cross section, is found to decrease gradually with increasing fissility of the compound nucleus. Measured evaporation residue cross sections require inclusion of nuclear viscosity in the model calculations. Reduced dissipation coefficient in the range of 1\textendash3 $\times$ $10^{21}$ s$^{-1}$ reproduces the data quite well. No abrupt enhancement of evaporation residue cross sections has been observed in the reaction forming compound nucleus with $Z = 82$. Thus, this work does not find enhanced stabilizing effects of $Z = 82$ shell closure against fission in the compound nucleus. One may attempt to measure cross sections of individual exit channels for further confirmation of our observation.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2018

Alleviating the inconsistencies in modelling decay of fissile compound nuclei

This work attempts to overcome the existing inconsistencies in modelling decay of fissile nucleus by inclusion of important physical effects in the model and through a systematic analysis of a large set of data over a wide range of CN mass (ACN). The model includes shell effect in the level density (LD) parameter, shell correction in the fission barrier, effect of the orientation degree of freedom of the CN spin (Kor), collective enhancement of level density (CELD) and dissipation in fission. Input parameters are not tuned to reproduce observables from specific reaction(s) and the reduced dissipation coefficient is treated as the only adjustable parameter. Calculated evaporation residue (ER) cross sections, fission cross sections and particle, i.e. neutron, proton and alpha-particle, multiplicities are compared with data covering ACN = 156-248. The model produces reasonable fits to ER and fission excitation functions for all the reactions considered in this work. Pre-scission neutron multiplicities are underestimated by the calculation beyond ACN~200. An increasingly higher value of pre-saddle dissipation strength is required to reproduce the data with increasing ACN. Proton and alpha-particle multiplicities, measured in coincidence with both ERs and fission fragments, are in qualitative agreement with model predictions. The present work mitigates the existing inconsistencies in modelling statistical decay of the fissile CN to a large extent.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2018

Effect of direct reaction channels on deep sub-barrier fusion in asymmetric systems

A steeper fall of fusion excitation function, compared to the predictions of coupled-channels models, at energies below the lowest barrier between the reaction partners, is termed as deep sub-barrier fusion hindrance. This phenomenon has been observed in many symmetric and nearly-symmetric systems. Different physical origins of the hindrance have been proposed. This work aims to study the probable effects of direct reactions on deep sub-barrier fusion cross sections. Fusion (evaporation residue) cross sections have been measured for the system $^{19}$F+$^{181}$Ta, from above the barrier down to the energies where fusion hindrance is expected to come into play. Coupled-channels calculation with standard Woods-Saxon potential gives a fair description of the fusion excitation function down to energies $\simeq 14\%$ below the barrier for the present system. This is in contrast with the observation of increasing fusion hindrance in asymmetric reactions induced by increasingly heavier projectiles, \textit{viz.} $^{6,7}$Li, $^{11}$B, $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O. The asymmetric reactions, which have not shown any signature of fusion hindrance within the measured energy range, are found to be induced by projectiles with lower $α$ break-up threshold, compared to the reactions which have shown signatures of fusion hindrance. In addition, most of the $Q$-values for light particles pick-up channels are negative for the reactions which have exhibited strong signatures of fusion hindrance, \textit{viz.} $^{12}$C+$^{198}$Pt and $^{16}$O+$^{204,208}$Pb. Thus, break-up of projectile and particle transfer channels with positive $Q$-values seem to compensate for the hindrance in fusion deep below the barrier. Inclusion of break-up and transfer channels within the framework of coupled-channels calculation would be of interest.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2017

Quest for consistent modelling of statistical decay of the compound nucleus

A statistical model description of heavy ion induced fusion-fission reactions is presented where shell effects, collective enhancement of level density, tilting away effect of compound nuclear spin and dissipation are included. It is shown that the inclusion of all these effects provides a consistent picture of fission where fission hindrance is required to explain the experimental values of both pre-scission neutron multiplicities and evaporation residue cross-sections in contrast to some of the earlier works where a fission hindrance is required for pre-scission neutrons but a fission enhancement for evaporation residue cross-sections.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2013

Statistical Mechanics of DNA Rupture: Theory and Simulations

We study the effects of the shear force on the rupture mechanism on a double stranded DNA. Motivated by recent experiments, we perform the atomistic simulations with explicit solvent to obtain the distributions of extension in hydrogen and covalent bonds below the rupture force. We obtain a significant difference between the atomistic simulations and the existing results in the iterature based on the coarse-grained models (theory and simulations). We discuss the possible reasons and improve the coarse-grained model by incorporating the consequences of semi-microscopic details of the nucleotides in its description. The distributions obtained by the modified model (simulations and theoretical) are qualitatively similar to the one obtained using atomistic simulations.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2013

Linear Polarization Measurements for High-Spin States in 146Gd

A γ-ray linear polarization measurement has been performed to directly determine the parities for the levels in 146Gd nucleus. High-spin states in this nucleus were populated in a reaction 115In + 34S at 140 MeV incident energy. Linearly polarized γ - rays emitted from oriented states were measured using a Compton polarimeter consisting of an array of 8 Compton-suppressed Clover detectors. Unambiguous assignments of the spin and parity have been made for most of the observed levels and changes made in the previously reported spin-parity assignments for a few levels. Shell model calculations performed with judicious truncation over the π(gdsh) valence space interpret the structure of only the low-lying levels up to Jπ = 19+ and 9-. N = 82 neutron-core breaking is found to be essential for high spin states with excitation energies Ex > 7 MeV.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2006

Astrophysical S_{17}(0) factor from a measurement of d(7Be,8B)n reaction at E_{c.m.} = 4.5 MeV

Angular distribution measurements of $^2$H($^7$Be,$^7$Be)$^2$H and $^2$H($^7$Be,$^8$B)$n$ reactions at $E_{c.m.}\sim$~4.5 MeV were performed to extract the astrophysical $S_{17}(0)$ factor using the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) method. For this purpose a pure, low emittance $^7$Be beam was separated from the primary $^7$Li beam by a recoil mass spectrometer operated in a novel mode. A beam stopper at 0$^{\circ}$ allowed the use of a higher $^7$Be beam intensity. Measurement of the elastic scattering in the entrance channel using kinematic coincidence, facilitated the determination of the optical model parameters needed for the analysis of the transfer data. The present measurement significantly reduces errors in the extracted $^7$Be(p,$γ$) cross section using the ANC method. We get $S_{17}$~(0)~=~20.7~$\pm$~2.4 eV~b.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2005

Change of 7Be decay rate in exohedral and endohedral C60 fullerene compounds and its implications

The half-life of 7Be implanted in a C60 pellet and gold foil has been measured to be about the same within about 0.2%. Using a radiochemical technique, we also measured that the probability of formation of endohedral 7Be@C60 by nuclear implantation technique was (5.6+-0.45)%. It is known from earlier works that the half-life of endohedral 7Be@C60 is about 1.2% shorter than that of 7Be implanted in gold. An analysis of these results using linear muffin-tin orbital method calculations indicates that most of the implanted 7Be ions in fullerene C60 stay at a distance of about 5.3 Angstrom from the centers of nearest C60 molecules forming exohedral compounds and those who enter the fullerene cages go to the centers of the cages forming endohedral 7Be@C60 compounds.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2005

Absence of M2 Retardation in $^{35}Cl$: Evidence for Stronger Isospin-Mixing Effects in A=35 Mirror Nuclei

The lifetime of the 3163 keV, 7/2$^-$ isomeric state in $^{35}Cl$ that decays by a stretched M2 transition to the $3/2^+$ ground state, has been re-measured using the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method, by gating on the 1185 keV transition which directly feeds this state. This eliminates the uncertainties in the measurement arising from the direct feedings from the continuum. A mean life of 0.6$^{+0.5}_{-0.2}$ ps has been obtained from the present work. This is considerably smaller than the adopted value 45.3(6) ps. Implication of this major reduction in the lifetime has been pointed out.

nucl-ex↗