Search for inverse fission of uranium
There is a long-term interest in running the fission reaction backward, i.e., studying the 'inverse fission' of uranium. The recent availability of beams of n-rich fission fragments has stimulated interest in this endeavor. The purpose is to search for inverse fission in the reactions {sup 124,132}Sn + {sup 100}Mo. In the {sup 124}Sn + {sup 100}Mo reaction, evaporation residues were searched for using in-beam detection of evaporation residues, in-beam {alpha} spectroscopy, and post-irradiation {alpha} spectroscopy, while in the {sup 132}Sn + {sup 100}Mo reaction, the evaporation residue {sup 230}U was searched for using post-irradiation {alpha} spectroscopy. No evidence for the occurrence of the inverse fission reactions was found. The upper-limit cross section for the latter reaction is  nb. The intensity of suitable radioactive beams is not high enough at present to detect inverse fission. For the {sup 124}Sn + {sup 100}Mo reaction, the observed upper limits are below the estimates of current models for these reactions, probably due to fusion hindrance.

title: β -decay study of neutron-rich bromine and krypton isotopes
abstract: Short lived neutron rich nuclei including 93 Br, 93 Kr and 94 Kr were produced in proton induced fission of 238 U at the HRIBF in Oak Ridge. Their beta decay was studied by means of a high resolution on line mass separator and beta gamma spectroscopy methods. The half life of 93Br T1/2 = 152(8) ms and delayed branching ratio of Pn = 53-8+11 may be compared to the previously reported values of T1/2 = 102(10) ms and Pn = 68(7)%. At the same time the half life of 94Kr T1/2 = 227(14) ms and B delayed branching ratio of Pn = 1.9+0.6 0.2 % of 93Kr are in very good agreement with literature values. The decay properties of 93Br include four new gamma transitions following beta delayed neutron emission.

title: Lifetime Measurements of Normally Deformed and Superdeformed States in 82Sr
abstract: Lifetimes of a superdeformed band in Sr-82 were measured with the centroid shift method. The measured average quadrupole moment of this band corresponds to a quadrupole deformation of beta(2) approximate to 0.49, which is slightly smaller than both the theoretical prediction, and the measured deformation of the SD band in the neighboring isotone Zr-84. Lifetimes of high spin states of three normally deformed rotational bands in Sr-82 were also measured with the Doppler shift attenuation method technique. The quadrupole moments of these normally deformed bands show a decrease at the highest spins, supporting the predicted band terminations.

title: Evidence for a strongly deformed band in 80 Y using isomer decay tagging

title: Rotational Bands in 77Rb: Spectroscopy Near the Z=38 Deformed Shell Gap
abstract: The gamma decays of high spin states in Rb-77 populated in the reaction Ca-40(Ca-40,3p) Rb-77 were studied with the EUROGAM I gamma-ray spectrometer at Daresburp Laboratory, in conjunction with the recoil mass separator. The data were used to extend or establish three positive parity and five negative parity bands in Rb-77. Levei lifetimes and sidefeeding times were then measured with the NORDBALL gamma-ray spectrometer, using the Doppler shift attenuation method, A very detailed level scheme including many weakly populated states was established and the bands were observed over large spin ranges. The deduced lifetimes demonstrate the high collectivity of the excited states and are consistent with their having large prolate deformations. The structures of the bands and their crossings are discussed in relation to the large shell gap at prolate deformation beta(2) approximate to 0.4.

title: Deformation driving intruder orbitals in Kr-77
abstract: High-spin states in Kr-77 were identified via analysis of prompt gamma-gamma coincidences in the Ni-58(Si-29,2 alpha 2p) reaction at 128 MeV at the Gammasphere facility. Evaporation channel selecti ...

title: Flavorful hybrid anomaly-gravity mediation
abstract: We consider supersymmetric models where anomaly and gravity mediation give comparable contributions to the soft terms and discuss how this can be realized in a five-dimensional brane world. The gaugino mass pattern of anomaly mediation is preserved in such a hybrid setup. The flavorful gravity-mediated contribution cures the tachyonic slepton problem of anomaly mediation. The supersymmetric flavor puzzle is solved by alignment. We explicitly show how a working flavor-tachyon link can be realized with Abelian flavor symmetries and give the characteristic signatures of the framework, including O(1) slepton mass splittings between different generations and between doublets and singlets. This provides opportunities for same flavor dilepton edge measurements with missing energy at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Rare lepton decay rates could be close to their current experimental limit. Compared to pure gravity mediation, the hybrid model is advantageous because it features a heavy gravitino which can avoid the cosmological gravitino problem of gravity-mediated models combined with leptogenesis.

title: De Sitter vacua in no-scale supergravities and Calabi-Yau string models
abstract: We perform a general analysis on the possibility of obtaining metastable vacua with spontaneously broken N = 1 supersymmetry and non-negative cosmological constant in the moduli sector of string models. More specifically, we study the condition under which the scalar partners of the Goldstino are non-tachyonic, which depends only on the Kahler potential. This condition is not only necessary but also sufficient, in the sense that all of the other scalar fields can be given arbitrarily large positive square masses if the superpotential is suitably tuned. We consider both heterotic and orientifold string compactifications in the large-volume limit and show that the no-scale property shared by these models severely restricts the allowed values for the 'sGoldstino' masses in the superpotential parameter space. We find that a positive mass term may be achieved only for certain types of compactifications and specific Goldstino directions. Additionally, we show how subleading corrections to the Kahler potential which break the no-scale property may allow to lift these masses.

title: The ‘Higgs’ amplitude mode at the two-dimensional superfluid/Mott insulator transition
abstract: Spontaneous symmetry breaking plays a key role in our understanding of nature. In relativistic quantum field theory, a broken continuous symmetry leads to the emergence of two types of fundamental excitation: massless Nambu–Goldstone modes and a massive ‘Higgs’ amplitude mode. An excitation of Higgs type is of crucial importance in the standard model of elementary particle physics, and also appears as a fundamental collective mode in quantum many-body systems. Whether such a mode exists in low-dimensional systems as a resonance-like feature, or whether it becomes overdamped through coupling to Nambu–Goldstone modes, has been a subject of debate. Here we experimentally find and study a Higgs mode in a two-dimensional neutral superfluid close to a quantum phase transition to a Mott insulating phase. We unambiguously identify the mode by observing the expected reduction in frequency of the onset of spectral response when approaching the transition point. In this regime, our system is described by an effective relativistic field theory with a two-component quantum field, which constitutes a minimal model for spontaneous breaking of a continuous symmetry. Additionally, all microscopic parameters of our system are known from first principles and the resolution of our measurement allows us to detect excited states of the many-body system at the level of individual quasiparticles. This allows for an in-depth study of Higgs excitations that also addresses the consequences of the reduced dimensionality and confinement of the system. Our work constitutes a step towards exploring emergent relativistic models with ultracold atomic gases.

title: Constraints on modular inflation in supergravity and string theory
abstract: We perform a general algebraic analysis on the possibility of realising slow-roll inflation in the moduli sector of string models. This problem turns out to be very closely related to the characterisation of models admitting metastable vacua with non-negative cosmological constant. In fact, we show that the condition for the existence of viable inflationary trajectories is a deformation of the condition for the existence of metastable de Sitter vacua. This condition depends on the ratio between the scale of inflation and the gravitino mass and becomes stronger as this parameter grows. After performing a general study within arbitrary supergravity models, we analyse the implications of our results in several examples. More concretely, in the case of heterotic and orientifold string compactifications on a Calabi-Yau in the large volume limit we show that there may exist fully viable models, allowing both for inflation and stabilisation. Additionally, we show that subleading corrections breaking the no-scale property shared by these models always allow for slow-roll inflation but with an inflationary scale suppressed with respect to the gravitino scale. A scale of inflation larger than the gravitino scale can also be achieved under more restrictive circumstances and only for certain types of compactifications.

title: Hybrid anomaly-gravity mediation with flavor
abstract: We study models with contributions of similar size to the soft masses from anomaly-and gravity mediation, thereby curing the tachyonic slepton problem of anomaly mediation. A possible origin of this hybrid setup in a 5-dimensional brane world is briefly discussed. The absence of excessive flavor violation is explained by alignment. The gravitino can be heavy enough so that the gravitino problem of supersymmetric theories with leptogenesis is avoided. The model has a characteristic signature: It predicts the distinctive gaugino mass pattern of anomaly mediation and, at the same time, (1) slepton mass splittings.