BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:From Nuclear Giant Resonances to Environmental Radiation Monitorin g: Recent Research Activities and Perspectives for Collaboration. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T095500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260624T075649Z UID:indico-contribution-650-3851@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Armand Bahini (University of Caen Normandie / Labora toire de Physique Corpusculaire Caen (LPC Caen))\nThe Isoscalar Giant Mono pole Resonance (ISGMR)\, often referred to as the nuclear "breathing mode\ ," provides essential constraints on the incompressibility of nuclear matt er and therefore on the nuclear equation of state. In this contribution\, recent investigations of the ISGMR strength distribution and its fine stru cture obtained through high-resolution inelastic scattering measurements w ill be presented. Particular emphasis will be placed on the extraction and interpretation of fine-structure features and their relation to underlyin g nuclear dynamics and decay mechanisms.\n\n\n\nThese studies were carried out within the framework of nuclear structure research activities at iThe mba LABS and contributed to a better understanding of collective excitatio ns in nuclei.\n\n\n\nIn addition\, a brief overview will be given of ongoi ng research directions at Laboratoire de Physique Corpusculaire de Caen re lated to environmental radiation measurements and the development of innov ative portable low-cost detector systems for environmental monitoring appl ications. Possible avenues for future collaboration between the South Afri can and French teams in this field will also be discussed.\n\nhttps://indi co.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3851/ LOCATION:NRF-iThemba LABS\, Old Faure Road\, Cape Town Auditorium URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3851/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Measurement of angular correlations in gamma-gamma cascades using coincidence detection and Monte Carlo simulation DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T105500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T111500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260624T075649Z UID:indico-contribution-650-3820@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mikayla Chaplin ()\nCoincidence counting techniques are widely used to determine correlated γ-ray emissions from nuclear deca ys. Measured singles and coincidence rates share common factors - i.e. abs olute efficiency - that can be divided out in analysis. However\, standard formulations often assume perfect isotropic correlation between emitted q uanta\, neglecting possible decay chain losses\, and ignore angular correl ations. In this work\, we use coincidence-based absolute activity measurem ents to show that the angular correlation function\, W (θ)\, modulates th e detection probability of cascade pairs. Using 60Co and 22Na as benchmark sources with differing cascade and correlation properties\, we demonstrat e that the true coincidence rate reflects detector efficiencies and angula r correlations\, which can be extracted from the observed measurands.\nA c ustom FLUKA Monte Carlo source routine was developed to implement angular distributions in γ − γ correlations to support these observations. A P ython proof-of-concept generated the normalised cumulative distribution fu nctions of W (θ)\, which were incorporated into FLUKA for multi-detector simulations. The Monte Carlo results successfully reproduce the experiment ally observed angular modulation\, confirming that coincidence counting co mbined with a tailored simulation framework can probe angular correlations .\nOur approach forms the groundwork for future studies of more complex de cay schemes with non-trivial cascade probabilities and for developing mult i-detector techniques for angular-correlation metrology.\n\nhttps://indico .tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3820/ LOCATION:NRF-iThemba LABS\, Old Faure Road\, Cape Town Auditorium URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3820/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nuclear structure studies relevant for 136Xe neutrinoless double b eta decay DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T103500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T105500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260624T075649Z UID:indico-contribution-650-3838@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jespere Calderone Nzobadila Ondze (University of the Western Cape)\nThe search for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay pr ovides a unique probe of the Majorana nature of neutrinos\, i.e whether ne utrinos are their own antiparticles. The observation of this process would imply the violation of lepton number conservation and signal new physics\ , beyond the Standard Model. However\, the interpretation of 0νββ exper imental searches relies critically on nuclear matrix element (NME) calcula tions\, which are sensitive to nuclear structure inputs and remain a signi ficant source of uncertainty. In this talk\, I will discuss nuclear struct ure properties relevant to the 136Xe 0νββ decay\, investigated via the 137Ba(d\,3He)136Cs single-nucleon transfer reaction. The results provide e xperimental constraints on single-proton occupancies and contribute to red ucing uncertainties in NME calculations.\n\nReferences\n[1] S. J. Freeman et al\, Experimental study of the rearrangements of valence protons and ne utrons amongst single-particle orbits during double β decay in 100Mo. Phy s. Rev. C\, 96:054325\, 2017.\n[2] J.P. Entwisle et al\, Change of nuclear configurations in the neutrinoless double-β decay of 130Te →130 Xe and 136Xe →136 Ba\, Phys. Rev. C\, 93:064312\, 2016..\n[3] B. P. Kay et al\ , Nuclear structure relevant to neutrinoless double β decay: The valence protons in 76Ge and 76Se. Phys. Rev. C\, 79:021301\, 2009\n\nhttps://indic o.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3838/ LOCATION:NRF-iThemba LABS\, Old Faure Road\, Cape Town Auditorium URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3838/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:K600 magnetic spectrometer and the NUMEN project DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T101500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T103500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260624T075649Z UID:indico-contribution-650-3829@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Thuthukile Khumalo (iThemba LABS)\nThe NUMEN (NUclea r Matrix Elements for Neutrinoless double-beta decay) project aims to obta in the nuclear matrix elements (NME) to be used as inputs in models to det ermine the lifetime of neutrinoless double-beta ($0\\nu\\beta\\beta$) deca y\, which is related to the absolute mass of the neutrino [1]. This will b e achieved by conducting heavy-ion double charge-exchange (DCE) reactions and measuring the cross sections of these reactions for all isotopes that have been identified to undergo $0\\nu\\beta\\beta$ decay [1]. The occurr ence of the $0\\nu\\beta\\beta$ decay will imply that the lepton number is violated [2]. It is\, therefore\, very important to determine the NMEs as they will assist in elucidating Physics beyond the Standard Model [2]. Th e transition operators of the $0\\nu\\beta\\beta$ decay and DCE reactions have a similar mathematical structure with a combination of short $0\\nu\\ beta\\beta$ decay range Fermi\, Gamow-Teller\, and rank-2 tensor component s [3]. The weights of such components are different\, being controlled by the axial and vector coupling constants in the weak sector and by the ener gy-dependent isospin\, spin-isospin\, and tensor coupling strengths for th e strong interaction [3]. Therefore\, more experimental data are required from a range of incident beam energies for DCE measurements. Additionally\ , to explore the candidate nuclei of $0\\nu\\beta\\beta$ decay in a system atic way\, more experimental data are required. Previous experiments for t he NUMEN project at Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - Laboratori Naz ionali del Sud (INFN-LNS) have suffered from high signal rate due to the i nteraction of the target and projectile\, which greatly outnumber any pote ntial DCE events. Additionally\, the limited energy resolution of the MAGN EX spectrometer for DCE measurements makes it a cumbersome task to decoupl e transitions of interest relevant to the NUMEN project. Particle-$\\gamma $ coincidence measurements are a plausible attempt at a solution for this problem. Thus\, a high-resolution magnetic spectrometer like the K600 at t he iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences (iThemba LABS)\, whic h is already used for coincidence measurements\, is a perfect candidate fo r baseline measurements especially given that the LNS facility is still un der upgrade. However\, in its current design\, the existing K600 detection system is limited in the detection of heavy ions (e.g. $^{6}\\mathrm{Li}\ , ^{12}\\mathrm{C}\, ^{18}\\mathrm{O}\, ^{18}\\mathrm{Ne}$) at moderate ki netic energies ($\\approx$ 10~MeV$/u$) and light ions at low energies ($\\ approx$ 5~MeV$/u$)[4]. The development of a new low-pressure detection sys tem for the K600 is currently underway to expand the spectrometer research program [4]. Thus\, an already existing detection system from the MAGNEX large-acceptance spectrometer at INFN-LNS has been coupled to the K600 to provide a baseline as to how the K600 will operate with a low-pressure det ection system. The coupling of the MAGNEX focal-plane detection system wit h the K600 is also beneficial for other nuclear-structure studies to be co nducted with the K600 spectrometer.\n\n1] F. Cappuzzello\, C. Agodi\, M. C avallaro\, et al. The NUMEN project: NUclear Matrix Elements for Neutrinol ess double\nbeta decay. The European Physical Journal A 54\, 1–46 (2018) .\n[2] M.J Dolinski\, A.W.P. Poon\, and W. Rodejohann. Neutrinoless Double -Beta Decay: Status and Prospects. Annual Review\nof Nuclear and Particle Science 69\, 219–251 (2019).\n[3] F. Cappuzzello\, L. Acosta\, C. Agodi\ , et al. The NUMEN Project: An Update of the Facility Toward the Future Ex peri-\nmental Campaigns. Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences 8\, 668 587 (2021).\n[4] T. Khumalo. “Low-Pressure Focal-plane detector for the K600: a design study\,” MA thesis. 2020.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/e vent/139/contributions/3829/ LOCATION:NRF-iThemba LABS\, Old Faure Road\, Cape Town Auditorium URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3829/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Extraction of Giant Monopole Resonance strength with Multipole Dec omposition Analysis DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T095500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260520T101500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260624T075649Z UID:indico-contribution-650-3839@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Lesedi Jafta (iThemba LABS)\nIt has been established that inelastic alpha scattering at a few hundreds MeV\, particularly at v ery forward scattering angles including 0◦\, is effective for probing th e Isoscalar Giant Monopole Resonance (ISGMR) strength distribution (E0) in atomic nuclei. Two previous studies on the evolution of the ISGMR in the even-even 40\,42\,44\,48Ca isotopes were conducted at two different facili ties: the Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) and the Texas A&M Uni versity Cyclotron Institute (TAMU). These studies produced conflicting res ults regarding the systematic trend of nuclear incompressibility across th e calcium isotopic chain under investigation.\n\nIn response\, the iThemba LABS group conducted an independent study of the same\nisotopes to invest igate the potential origins of these discrepancies. Measurements\nwere car ried out at 0◦ and 4◦ scattering angles\, and an energy-dependent vers ion of the difference-of-spectra (DoS) method was initially employed. Whil e this method offers high energy resolution\, it relies on the strength co ntributions of all L ≥ 0 multipolarity components published in the liter ature\, thereby compromising the independence of our results. To address t his\, Multipole Decomposition Analysis (MDA) was applied to extract the E0 strength distributions. Although the limited angular range may reduce the precision for higher multipolarity strengths\, it does allow for the accu rate extraction of the E0 component independently of other studies.\n\nTwo MDA methods were used in the analysis: the emcee Python code\, which empl oys the sophisticated Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling algorithm\, \nand a second MDA method is based on the MINUIT algorithm\, implemented w ithin\nthe ROOT data analysis framework. Selected results obtained using b oth methods\nwill be presented at the workshop.\n\nThis research work is s upported by the National Research Foundation (ref no:\nPMDS22062727817).\n \nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3839/ LOCATION:NRF-iThemba LABS\, Old Faure Road\, Cape Town Auditorium URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3839/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR