First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon between 100 and 800 MeV

CAPTAIN Collaboration

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.042502

First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon between 100 and 800 MeV

CAPTAIN Collaboration

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

We report the first measurement of the neutron cross section on argon in the energy range of 100-800 MeV. The measurement was obtained with a 4.3-h exposure of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector to the WNR/LANSCE beam at LANL. The total cross section is measured from the attenuation coefficient of the neutron flux as it traverses the liquid argon volume. A set of 2631 candidate interactions is divided in bins of the neutron kinetic energy calculated from time-of-flight measurements. These interactions are reconstructed with custom-made algorithms specifically designed for the data in a time projection chamber the size of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector. The energy averaged cross section is 0.91±0.10(stat)±0.09(syst) b. A comparison of the measured cross section is made to the GEANT4 and FLUKA event generator packages, where the energy averaged cross sections in this range are 0.60 and 0.68 b, respectively.

Original language	English
Article number	042502
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	123
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.042502
State	Published - Jul 26 2019
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Research presented in this Letter was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program of Los Alamos National Laboratory under Projects No. 20120101DR and No. 20150577ER. This work benefited from the use of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396 and we would like to thank Nik Fotiadis, Hye Young Lee, and Steve Wender for assistance with the 4FP15R beam line. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mark Makela and the P-25 neutron team. We further acknowledge the support of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of High Energy Physics and the University of Pennsylvania.

Funders	Funder number
U.S. Department of Energy
High Energy Physics
University of Pennsylvania
Laboratory Directed Research and Development
Los Alamos National Laboratory	20120101DR, 20150577ER

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10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.042502

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@article{c0c224431f38478ba8fa87a522ae7e6c,

title = "First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon between 100 and 800 MeV",

abstract = "We report the first measurement of the neutron cross section on argon in the energy range of 100-800 MeV. The measurement was obtained with a 4.3-h exposure of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector to the WNR/LANSCE beam at LANL. The total cross section is measured from the attenuation coefficient of the neutron flux as it traverses the liquid argon volume. A set of 2631 candidate interactions is divided in bins of the neutron kinetic energy calculated from time-of-flight measurements. These interactions are reconstructed with custom-made algorithms specifically designed for the data in a time projection chamber the size of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector. The energy averaged cross section is 0.91±0.10(stat)±0.09(syst) b. A comparison of the measured cross section is made to the GEANT4 and FLUKA event generator packages, where the energy averaged cross sections in this range are 0.60 and 0.68 b, respectively.",

author = "{CAPTAIN Collaboration} and B. Bhandari and J. Bian and K. Bilton and C. Callahan and J. Chaves and H. Chen and D. Cline and Cooper, {R. L.} and D. Danielson and J. Danielson and N. Dokania and S. Elliott and S. Fernandes and S. Gardiner and G. Garvey and V. Gehman and F. Giuliani and S. Glavin and M. Gold and C. Grant and E. Guardincerri and T. Haines and A. Higuera and Ji, {J. Y.} and R. Kadel and N. Kamp and A. Karlin and W. Ketchum and Koerner, {L. W.} and D. Lee and K. Lee and Q. Liu and S. Locke and Louis, {W. C.} and A. Manalaysay and J. Maricic and E. Martin and Martinez, {M. J.} and S. Martynenko and C. Mauger and C. McGrew and J. Medina and Medina, {P. J.} and A. Mills and G. Mills and J. Mirabal-Martinez and A. Olivier and E. Pantic and B. Philipbar and J. Ramsey",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.",

year = "2019",

month = jul,

day = "26",

doi = "10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.042502",

language = "English",

volume = "123",

journal = "Physical Review Letters",

issn = "0031-9007",

publisher = "American Physical Society",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon between 100 and 800 MeV

AU - CAPTAIN Collaboration

AU - Bhandari, B.

AU - Bian, J.

AU - Bilton, K.

AU - Callahan, C.

AU - Chaves, J.

AU - Chen, H.

AU - Cline, D.

AU - Cooper, R. L.

AU - Danielson, D.

AU - Danielson, J.

AU - Dokania, N.

AU - Elliott, S.

AU - Fernandes, S.

AU - Gardiner, S.

AU - Garvey, G.

AU - Gehman, V.

AU - Giuliani, F.

AU - Glavin, S.

AU - Gold, M.

AU - Grant, C.

AU - Guardincerri, E.

AU - Haines, T.

AU - Higuera, A.

AU - Ji, J. Y.

AU - Kadel, R.

AU - Kamp, N.

AU - Karlin, A.

AU - Ketchum, W.

AU - Koerner, L. W.

AU - Lee, D.

AU - Lee, K.

AU - Liu, Q.

AU - Locke, S.

AU - Louis, W. C.

AU - Manalaysay, A.

AU - Maricic, J.

AU - Martin, E.

AU - Martinez, M. J.

AU - Martynenko, S.

AU - Mauger, C.

AU - McGrew, C.

AU - Medina, J.

AU - Medina, P. J.

AU - Mills, A.

AU - Mills, G.

AU - Mirabal-Martinez, J.

AU - Olivier, A.

AU - Pantic, E.

AU - Philipbar, B.

AU - Ramsey, J.

PY - 2019/7/26

Y1 - 2019/7/26

N2 - We report the first measurement of the neutron cross section on argon in the energy range of 100-800 MeV. The measurement was obtained with a 4.3-h exposure of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector to the WNR/LANSCE beam at LANL. The total cross section is measured from the attenuation coefficient of the neutron flux as it traverses the liquid argon volume. A set of 2631 candidate interactions is divided in bins of the neutron kinetic energy calculated from time-of-flight measurements. These interactions are reconstructed with custom-made algorithms specifically designed for the data in a time projection chamber the size of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector. The energy averaged cross section is 0.91±0.10(stat)±0.09(syst) b. A comparison of the measured cross section is made to the GEANT4 and FLUKA event generator packages, where the energy averaged cross sections in this range are 0.60 and 0.68 b, respectively.

AB - We report the first measurement of the neutron cross section on argon in the energy range of 100-800 MeV. The measurement was obtained with a 4.3-h exposure of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector to the WNR/LANSCE beam at LANL. The total cross section is measured from the attenuation coefficient of the neutron flux as it traverses the liquid argon volume. A set of 2631 candidate interactions is divided in bins of the neutron kinetic energy calculated from time-of-flight measurements. These interactions are reconstructed with custom-made algorithms specifically designed for the data in a time projection chamber the size of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector. The energy averaged cross section is 0.91±0.10(stat)±0.09(syst) b. A comparison of the measured cross section is made to the GEANT4 and FLUKA event generator packages, where the energy averaged cross sections in this range are 0.60 and 0.68 b, respectively.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85069965208&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.042502

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.042502

M3 - Article

C2 - 31491269

AN - SCOPUS:85069965208

SN - 0031-9007

VL - 123

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 4

M1 - 042502

ER -

First Measurement of the Total Neutron Cross Section on Argon between 100 and 800 MeV

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