The ISOL (Isotope Separation On-Line) techniques [1], uses an ion source to produce a radioactive ion beam and further separate the unwanted by-products. The ion-sources dedicated to the production of Radioactive Ion Beams (RIB), necessary for the ISOL techniques, has to be highly efficient, selective (to reduce the isobar contamination) and fast (to limit the decay losses of short-lived...
Neutrons play a dominant role in the stellar nucleosynthesis of heavy elements. We review a scheme for the experimental determinations of neutron-induced reaction cross sections using a high-intensity neutron source based on the 18O(p,n)18F reaction with an 18O-water target at SARAF’s upcoming Phase II. The quasi-Maxwellian neutron spectrum with effective thermal energy kT ≈ 5 keV,...
This project aims to measure proton and $\alpha$ branching ratios of astrophysically relevant states in $^{30}$S to determine $^{26}$Si$(\alpha,p)^{29}$P and $^{29}$P$(p,\gamma)^{30}$S reaction rates in novae and Type I X-ray bursts (XRBs). These phenomena occur in binary star systems that include a hydrogen-rich, main-sequence star and a dense companion star (white dwarf in novae and neutron...
The question of whether atomic nuclei can have triaxial shapes at their ground states is still an ongoing subject of debate. In this study, we systematically analyze the ground-state bands of rotating even-even nuclei to identify the presence of triaxiality across the nuclear chart using experimental data. We apply the newly proposed Coriolis analysis method, which involves plotting $E_\gamma...
In this article we show how to perform a set of very interesting lessons based on measurements of the cosmic muon flux, by using a set of two small and cheap cosmic ray detectors (in a coincidence mode). In a simple way we show the principles of building directional telescopes of such type of radiation, the influence of the measurement direction, measurement time and applied filters on the...
Elemental abundances are excellent probes of classical novae (CN). Sensitivity studies show that $^{38}$K($p$,$\gamma$)$^{39}$Ca reaction-rate uncertainties under-predict the abundances of calcium by a factor of 60 in CN ejecta [1]. Existing direct [2] and indirect measurements [3,4] are in contradiction concerning the energies and strengths of important resonances in the...
Highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) structural changes caused by gallium (Ga) implantation at room temperature were investigated. Ga ions were implanted into HOPG at different energies (10, 20, and 30 keV) and fluences (ranging from 2×10^15 to 5×10^16 Ga+/cm²). To monitor structural changes in the samples post-implantation, Raman spectroscopy was employed. The Raman spectra of the...
The systematic study of octupole bands in rotating even-even nuclei represents an important area of study in nuclear structure physics. Specifically, it focuses on determining the role of nuclear rotation in influencing the rigidity or softness of octupole shapes. It also investigates how experimental results from gamma-ray spectroscopy are compared with theoretical predictions of octupole...
Rare-earth isotopes of the nuclear chart, particularly the even-even ones of Dysprosium and Hafnium, provide an excellent platform for understanding some key aspects of nuclear structure, such as nuclear deformation, collective excitations, and shape-phase transitions. These elements exhibit significant collective behavior, and the analytical solution of the confined β-soft (CBS) rotor model,...
The propagation of Ultra-High-energy cosmic rays (UHECR) in extragalactic space has gathered significant attention in the field of high-energy astrophysics. The motivation behind the PANDORA (Photo-Absorption of Nuclei and Decay Observation for Reactions in Astrophysics) project lies in investigating the photo-disintegration and energy loss processes experienced by UHECR particles lighter than...
