arXiv subjects

Sachie Kimura

Publications and source records attributed to Sachie Kimura.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2013

Gamow peak approximation near strong resonances

We discuss the most effective energy range for charged particle induced reactions in a plasma environment at a given plasma temperature. The correspondence between the plasma temperature and the most effective energy should be modified from the one given by the Gamow peak energy, in the presence of a significant incident-energy dependence in the astrophysical S-factor as in the case of resonant reactions. The suggested modification of the effective energy range is important not only in thermonuclear reactions at high temperature in the stellar environment, e.g., in advanced burning stages of massive stars and in explosive stellar environment, as it has been already claimed, but also in the application of the nuclear reactions driven by ultra-intense laser pulse irradiations.

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arXiv2012

Hydrodynamic Scaling Analysis of Nuclear Fusion driven by ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions

We discuss scaling laws of fusion yields generated by laser-plasma interactions. The yields are found to scale as a function of the laser power. The origin of the scaling law in the laser driven fusion yield is derived in terms of hydrodynamic scaling. We point out that the scaling properties can be attributed to the laser power dependence of three terms: the reaction rate, the density of the plasma and the projected range of the plasma particle in the target medium. The resulting scaling relations have a predictive power that enables estimating the fusion yield for a nuclear reaction which has not been investigated by means of the laser accelerated ion beams.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2011

Deuteron-induced reactions generated by intense Lasers for PET isotope production

We investigate the feasibility of using laser accelerated protons/deuterons for positron emission tomography (PET) isotope production by means of the nuclear reactions $^{11}$B($p,n$)$^{11}$C and $^{10}$B($d,n$)$^{11}$C. The second reaction has a positive Q-value and no energy threshold. One can, therefore, make use of the lower energy part of the laser-generated deuterons, which includes the majority of the accelerated deuterons. The $^{11}$C produced from the reaction $^{10}$B($d,n$)$^{11}$C is estimated to be 7.4 $\times$ 10$^{9}$ per laser-shot at the Titan laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Meanwhile a high-repetition table top laser irradiation is estimated to generate 3.5 $\times$ 10$^7$ $^{11}$C per shot from the same reaction. In terms of the $^{11}$C activity, it is about 2 $\times$ 10$^4$ Bq per shot. If this laser delivers kHz, the activity is integrated to 1 GBq after 3 minutes. The number is sufficient for the practical application in medical imaging for PET.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2009

Circumstantial evidence for a non-Maxwellian plasma from femtosecond laser-matter interaction

We study ion acceleration mechanisms in laser-plasma interactions using neutron spectroscopy. We consider different types of ion-collision mechanisms in the plasma, which cause the angular anisotropy of the observed neutron spectra. These include the collisions between an ion in the plasma and an ion in the target, and the collisions between two ions in the hot plasma. By analyzing the proton spectra, we suggest that the laser-generated plasma consists of at least two components, one of which collectively accelerated and can also produce anisotropy in the angular distribution of fusion neutrons.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2008

Application of the X-ray laser to muon-catalyzed d-t fusion

We discuss the alpha-muon sticking coefficient in the muon-catalysed d-t fusion in the framework of the Constrained Molecular Dynamics model. Especially the influence of muonic chaotic dynamics on the sticking coefficient is brought into focus. The chaotic motion of the muon affects not only the fusion cross section but also the muon-alpha sticking coefficient. Chaotic systems lead to lar ger enhancements with respect to regular systems because of the reduction of the tunneling region. Moreover they give smaller sticking probabilities than those of regular events. By utilizing a characteristic of the chaotic dynamics one can avoid losing the muon in the muCF cycle. W e propose that the application of the so-called microwave ionization of a Rydberg atom to the present case could lead to the enhancement of the reactivation process by using X-rays.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2007

Isospin Effects on Astrophysical S-Factors

We estimate the ratios of bare astrophysical S-factors at zero incident energy for proton and deuteron induced reactions in a model which assumes a compound nucleus formation probability plus a statistical decay. The obtained ratios agree well with available experimental values, as far as the reactions which have dominant s-wave entrance channel components are investigated. Due to its simplicity the model could be used as a guidance for predictions on reactions which have not been investigated yet.

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arXiv2007

Bound Electron Screening Corrections to Reactions in Hydrogen Burning Processes

How important would be a precise assessment of the electron screening effect, on determining the bare astrophysical $S$-factor ($S_b(E)$) from experimental data? We compare the $S_b(E)$ obtained using different screening potentials, (1) in the adiabatic limit, (2) without screening corrections, and (3) larger than the adiabatic screening potential in the PP-chain reactions. We employ two kinds of fitting procedures: the first is by the conventional polynomial expression and the second includes explicitly the contribution of the nuclear interaction and based on a statistical model. Comparing bare $S$-factors that are obtained by using different screening potentials, all $S_b(E)$ are found to be in accord within the standard errors for most of reactions investigated, as long as the same fitting procedure is employed. $S_b(E)$ is, practically, insensitive to the magnitude of the screening potential.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2006

Alpha-muon sticking and chaos in muon-catalysed "in flight" d-t fusion

We discuss the alpha-muon sticking coefficient in the muon-catalysed ``in flight" d-t fusion in the framework of the Constrained Molecular Dynamics model. Especially the influence of muonic chaotic dynamics on the sticking coefficient is brought into focus. The chaotic motion of the muon affects not only the fusion cross section but also the $μ-α$ sticking coefficient. Chaotic systems lead to larger enhancements with respect to regular systems because of the reduction of the tunneling region. Moreover they give smaller sticking probabilities than those of regular events. By utilizing a characteristic of the chaotic dynamics one can avoid losing the muon in the $μ$CF cycle. We propose the application of the so-called ``microwave ionization of a Rydberg atom" to the present case which could lead to the enhancement of the reactivation process by using X-rays.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2005

Influence of the Electronic Chaotic Motion on the Fusion Dynamics at Astrophysical Energies

We perform semi-classical molecular dynamics simulations of screening by bound electrons in low energy nuclear reactions. In our simulations quantum effects corresponding to the Pauli and Heisenberg principle are enforced by constraints. In addition to the well known adiabatic and sudden limits, we propose a new "dissipative limit" which is expected to be important not only at high energies but in the extremely low energy region. The dissipative limit is associated with the chaotic behavior of the electronic motion. It affects also the magnitude of the enhancement factor. We discuss also numerical experiments using polarized targets. The derived enhancement factors in our simulation are in agreement with those extracted within the $R$-matrix approach.

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arXiv2005

Constrained Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Atomic Ground-States

Constrained molecular dynamics(CoMD) model, previously introduced for nuclear dynamics, has been extended to the atomic structure and collision calculations. Quantum effects corresponding to the Pauli and Heisenberg principle are enforced by constraints, in a parameter-free way. Our calculations for small atomic system, H, He, Li, Be, F reproduce the ground-state binding energies within 3%, compared with the results of quantum mechanical Hartree-Fock calculations.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2004

Chaos driven fusion enhancement factor at astrophysical energies

We perform molecular dynamics simulations to assess the screening effects by bound target electrons in low energy nuclear reactions in laboratories. Quantum effects corresponding to the Pauli and Heisenberg principle are enforced by constraints. We show that the enhancement of the average cross section and of its variance is due to the perturbations induced by the electrons.This gives a correlation between the maximum amplitudes of the inter-nuclear oscillational motion and the enhancement factor. It suggests that the chaotic behavior of the electronic motion affects the magnitude of the enhancement factor.

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arXiv2004

Quantum effect in the diffusion along a potential barrier: Comments on the synthesis of superheavy elements

We discuss a quantum effect in the diffusion process by developing a theory, which takes the finite curvature of the potential field into account. The transport coefficients of our theory satisfy the well-known fluctuation-dissipation theorem in the limit of Markovian approximation in the cases of diffusion in a flat potential and in a potential well. For the diffusion along a potential barrier, the diffusion coefficient can be related to the friction coefficient by an analytic continuation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for the case of diffusion along a potential well in the asymptotic time, but contains strong non-Markovian effects at short times. By applying our theory to the case of realistic values of the temperature, the barrier curvature, and the friction coefficient, we show that the quantum effects will play significant roles in describing the synthesis of superheavy elements, i.e., the evolution from the fusion barrier to the conditional saddle, in terms of a diffusion process. We especially point out the importance of the memory effect, which increases at lower temperatures. It makes the net quantum effects enhance the probability of crossing the conditional saddle.

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arXiv2003

Influence of tunneling on electron screening in low energy nuclear reactions in laboratories

Using a semiclassical mean field theory, we show that the screening potential exhibits a characteristic radial variation in the tunneling region in sharp contrast to the assumption of the constant shift in all previous works. Also, we show that the explicit treatment of the tunneling region gives a larger screening energy than that in the conventional approach, which studies the time evolution only in the classical region and estimates the screening energy from the screening potential at the external classical turning point. This modification becomes important if the electronic state is not a single adiabatic state at the external turning point either by pre-tunneling transitions of the electronic state or by the symmetry of the system even if there is no essential change with the electronic state in the tunneling region.

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arXiv2002

Diffusion processes with Non-Markovian Transport Coefficients

Employing time-dependent projection formalism, a Fokker-Planck equation with non-Markovian transport coefficients is derived for large amplitude collective motion. Properties of transport coefficients for diffusion processes in a potential well and along a potential barrier are discussed, and their connection with the fluctuation-dissipation theorem is investigated. In the case of diffusion in a potential well, the formalism naturally leads to the generalization of the well known Einstein relation by including quantum fluctuations in addition to thermal fluctuations. Furthermore, it is shown that at low temperatures diffusion along potential barrier is significantly modified by quantum fluctuations. Explicit expressions for transport coefficients are presented for the case of the Caldeira-Leggett model.

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arXiv2002

Potential renormalization by tunneling induced intrinsic transition

The screening effects by bound target electrons in low energy nuclear reactions in laboratory experiments can be well represented in terms of a constant shift of the tunneling potential barrier as postulated in all previous analyses if the electronic cloud were static or structureless and lied outside the tunneling region. In this paper, using a semiclassical mean field analysis of a simple two-level coupled-channels problem, we suggest that there could occur a strong quantum transition of electrons from excited to the ground states in the tunneling region, leading to a spatially dependent screening potential. We thus show the necessity of the dynamical treatment of the tunneling region in order to properly assess the screening effects by bound target electrons in low energy nuclear reactions in laboratories.

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