Spallation Neutron Production by 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6 GeV Protons on various Targets

Spallation neutron production in proton induced reactions on Al, Fe, Zr, W, Pb and Th targets at 1.2 GeV and on Fe and Pb at 0.8, and 1.6 GeV measured at the SATURNE accelerator in Saclay is reported. The experimental double-differential cross-sections are compared with calculations performed with different intra-nuclear cascade models implemented in high energy transport codes. The broad angular coverage also allowed the determination of average neutron multiplicities above 2 MeV. Deficiencies in some of the models commonly used for applications are pointed out.Comment: 20 pages, 32 figures, revised version, accepted fpr publication in Phys. Rev.

Spallation reactions. A successful interplay between modeling and applications

The spallation reactions are a type of nuclear reaction which occur in space by interaction of the cosmic rays with interstellar bodies. The first spallation reactions induced with an accelerator took place in 1947 at the Berkeley cyclotron (University of California) with 200 MeV deuterons and 400 MeV alpha beams. They highlighted the multiple emission of neutrons and charged particles and the production of a large number of residual nuclei far different from the target nuclei. The same year R. Serber describes the reaction in two steps: a first and fast one with high-energy particle emission leading to an excited remnant nucleus, and a second one, much slower, the de-excitation of the remnant. In 2010 IAEA organized a worskhop to present the results of the most widely used spallation codes within a benchmark of spallation models. If one of the goals was to understand the deficiencies, if any, in each code, one remarkable outcome points out the overall high-quality level of some models and so the great improvements achieved since Serber. Particle transport codes can then rely on such spallation models to treat the reactions between a light particle and an atomic nucleus with energies spanning from few tens of MeV up to some GeV. An overview of the spallation reactions modeling is presented in order to point out the incomparable contribution of models based on basic physics to numerous applications where such reactions occur. Validations or benchmarks, which are necessary steps in the improvement process, are also addressed, as well as the potential future domains of development. Spallation reactions modeling is a representative case of continuous studies aiming at understanding a reaction mechanism and which end up in a powerful tool.Comment: 59 pages, 54 figures, Revie

Measurement of aluminum activation cross section and gas production cross section for 0.4 and 3-GeV protons

To estimate the lifetime and the radiation dose of the proton beam window used in the spallation neutron source at J-PARC, it is necessary to understand the accuracy of the production cross section of 3-GeV protons. To obtain data on aluminum, the reaction cross section of aluminum was measured at the entrance of the beam dump placed in the 3-GeV proton synchrotron. Owing to the use of well-calibrated current transformers and a well-collimated beam, the present data has good accuracy. After irradiation, the cross sections of Al(p,x)7Be, Al(p,x)22Na-22 and Al(p,x)24Na were obtained by gamma-ray spectroscopy using a Ge detector. It was found that the evaluated data of JENDL/HE-2007 agree well with the current experimental data, whereas intra-nuclear cascade models (Bertini, INCL-4.6, and JAM) with the GEM statistical decay model underestimate by about 30% in general. Moreover, gas production, such as T and He, and the cross sections were measured for carbon, which was utilized as the muon production target in J-PARC. The experiment was performed with 3-GeV proton having beam power of 0.5 MW, and the gasses emitted in the process were observed using a quadrupole mass spectrometer in the vacuum line for beam transport to the mercury target. It was found that the JENDL/HE-2007 data agree well with the present experimental data

Evaluation of the performance of the event reconstruction algorithms in the JSNS2^2 experiment using a 252^{252}Cf calibration source

JSNS$^2$ searches for short baseline neutrino oscillations with a baseline of 24~meters and a target of 17~tonnes of the Gd-loaded liquid scintillator. The correct algorithm on the event reconstruction of events, which determines the position and energy of neutrino interactions in the detector, are essential for the physics analysis of the data from the experiment. Therefore, the performance of the event reconstruction is carefully checked with calibrations using $^{252}$Cf source. This manuscript describes the methodology and the performance of the event reconstruction

The acrylic vessel for JSNS2^{2}-II neutrino target

The JSNS$^{2}$ (J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) is an experiment designed for the search for sterile neutrinos. The experiment is currently at the stage of the second phase named JSNS$^{2}$-II with two detectors at near and far locations from the neutrino source. One of the key components of the experiment is an acrylic vessel, that is used for the target volume for the detection of the anti-neutrinos. The specifications, design, and measured properties of the acrylic vessel are described

Pulse Shape Discrimination in JSNS2^2

JSNS$^2$ (J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) is an experiment that is searching for sterile neutrinos via the observation of $\bar{\nu}_{\mu} \rightarrow \bar{\nu}_e$ appearance oscillations using neutrinos with muon decay-at-rest. For this search, rejecting cosmic-ray-induced neutron events by Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) is essential because the JSNS$^2$ detector is located above ground, on the third floor of the building. We have achieved 95$\%$ rejection of neutron events while keeping 90$\%$ of signal, electron-like events using a data driven likelihood method.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2111.07482, arXiv:2308.0272