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Overview of TAO detector and its role for JUNO
Get PDFThe Taishan Antineutrino Observatory (TAO or JUNO-TAO) is
a satellite detector of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) and will provide a precise measurement of the non-oscillated reactor antineutrino spectra with unprecedented accuracy in energy resolution, improving the sensitivity of JUNO on mass hierarchy study. Furthermore, JUNO-TAO has an extensive research program in various fields: in nuclear databases, in searching the signature of a sterile neutrino, and in the verification of the detector technology for reactor monitoring and safeguard applications. TAO is a detector based on liquid scintillator technology and will be placed near one core of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in China, 53km away from the JUNO site. In this manuscript, TAO’s design, its physics potential, and the current status of the R&D will be presented
Towards a Timepix4 compact gamma camera for coded aperture 3D imaging
Get PDFThe Timepix4 readout circuit for hybrid pixel detector (448 × 512 pixels, 55 μm pitch) has been recently released by the Medipix4 Collaboration based at CERN. We have designed a compact gamma camera (CGC) based on a 1 mm thick CdTe semiconductor pixel detector for nuclear medicine tasks, e.g., sentinel lymph node imaging, with Tc-99 m radiotracers. The detector is coupled to a coded aperture collimator (modified uniformly redundant array with 0.25mm diameter round holes in 1 mm thick Tungsten plate). The real-time coded aperture image reconstruction is performed via autocorrelation deconvolution. The detector assembly
works in minification for a variable field of view. Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations showed that for a Tc-99 m source, at 50mm source-collimator distance, where the field is 88 × 88mm2, the collimator sensitivity is 290 times that of a single hole in the mask, and the spatial resolution is (1.67 ± 0.05) mm FWHM. Tests with a Silicon pixel detector bump-bonded to a Timepix4 chip with an Am-241 source showed
energy resolution capabilities
Fabrication and characterization of thin piezoelectric β-poly(vinylidene fluoride) films
Get PDFThe polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has four phases, each characterized by different molecular configurations of the polymer chains. In its β phase it arranges in an all-trans configuration with dipolar symmetry, exhibiting piezoelectric effects. During the production of thin PVDF films by spin-coating, the polymer chains are not aligned and the dipoles are not oriented. To achieve the desired piezoelectric behavior, it is necessary to optimize both the chain alignment and the dipole orientation processes. We here present an easy procedure to maxi- mize the percentage of the β phase in the polymer production. The efficiency and reliability of such method has been assessed through Fourier-Transform Infra-Red and Raman spectroscopies, while the morphological differences of the two phases have been analyzed through Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results confirm the efficiency of this method
Innovating physics teaching through teachers' learning communities and action research
Get PDFThe paper provides information, foundation and supporting evidence about a possible structure of a research-based in-service program for physics teachers aimed at improving their use of the laboratory. We present our model and we describe the CoLLabora project where the model was first implemented. The results suggest that the program actually produced positive changes in the participants’ ideas about the laboratory, its actual use in their teaching practice, and in students’ outcomes. We also present two case studies and we outline some research lines and the ‘teacher training cascade’ that have developed from the project
The World Heritage Convention turns 50 The protection, conservation and valorisation of the world heritage and future prospects for the management of UNESCO sites
Get PDFFor the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention on World Heritage (1972 - 2022), the Department of Human and Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage (DSU) of the National Research Council (CNR) organized the Workshop: THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION TURNS 50 YEARS (1972-2022) - The protection, conservation and enhancement of humanity's heritage and future prospects for the management of UNESCO sites in Italy. The event proposed a shared reflection on the role of institutions, scientific research and all the most relevant stakeholders in the fields of the protection, conservation and enhancement of Italian UNESCO heritage
I paralipomeni della Meteorologia ovvero Le parole dimenticate della meteorologia
Get PDFIl termine paralipomeni venne utilizzato da Giovanni Keplero, nel 1604, quando pubblicò un trattato di ottica geometrica "Ad vitellionem paralipomena", e in ambito filosofico-letterario da Arthur Schopenhauer, nel 1851, negli scritti "Parerga Paralipomena".
Vista la fortuna che hanno avuto le opere citate, abbiamo voluto utilizzare, nel titolo, questa parola poiché nel lavoro trattiamo argomenti che non trovano posto nei testi di meteorologia: o perché riferiti a tradizioni non comprovate scientificamente, o perché legati ad aspetti locali, o perché usati, impropriamente, in opere letterarie o, infine, perché collegate ad altre discipline come ad esempio quelle mediche.
In questo zibaldone abbiamo cercato di dare risalto all’etimologia delle parole della meteorologia, forse l’aspetto più trascurato anche dai meteorologi. Pochi sanno perché meteore, fenomeni fisici, strumenti hanno un determinato nome, che molto spesso ne sottolinea l’origine, la natura, il funzionamento. In un certo senso, lo sviluppo della scienza degli astri ha depurato, nel tempo, l’astrologia da credenze, miti, leggende, dando così origine all’astronomia, rigorosissima disciplina fisico-matematica. Ma i circa 500 anni di meteorologia scientifica non hanno ancora eliminato certe credenze e certi comportamenti che l’uomo continua a praticare. In altre parole, giocando sul titolo, abbiamo qui riportato le cose della meteorologia dimenticate; limitandoci ai paralipòmeni che nel tempo, col progredire degli studi, da cose tralasciate hanno acquisito importanza sufficiente a far scavalcare loro il confine che separa la tradizione e il folclore dalla scienza
Compact RF accelerators for nuclear waste characterization
Get PDFPart of the management of radioactive waste produced by industrial, research or medical processes passes through their characterization with nuclear techniques using neutron sources (typically a D-T tube produces 106 n/pulse, 10 us
100 Hz). On the basis of what has been developed by INFN for other applications (IFMIF, ESS, BNCT...) it is possible to build a much more intense neutron source (109 n/pulse), based on a relatively compact 5 MeV RF linear accelerator and a thick beryllium target, exploiting 9Be(p,n)9B. This talk will recall what was discussed between SOGIN and INFN in recent years (MUNES project) in the light of the most recent results obtained by INFN in the field of linear accelerators
Classification, characterization and management of radioactive waste in Italy
Get PDFRadioactive waste produced in Italy belongs to two main categories according to production routes. These are radioactive waste generated from the nuclear fuel cycle and those radioactive waste deriving from non-electronuclear activities, i.e., from nuclear medicine activities, industrial, and scientific research. The latter are responsibility of the Integrated Service for the management of radioactive waste: a group of authorized Operators supervised by ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development).
In this paper, the Italian regulatory framework, the classification of radioactive waste and the most used characterization techniques, both destructive and nondestructive, are outlined
The power of photons: Cavity-mediated energy transfer between quantum devices
Get PDFThe coherent energy transfer between a quantum charger and a
quantum battery is analyzed. In particular, we study how to improve the direct energy transfer by adding a photonic cavity as a mediator. We show that the additional degree of freedom given by the photons consistently improves the transfer performances, above all in the off-resonant case, where there is a mismatch in the energy levels. An experimental feasible way to switch-on and off the interaction between each part of the systems and the possibility of changing the energy levels mismatch will be described, in view of finding the best working setup