China Institute of Atomic Energy

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment has measured a nonzero value for the neutrino mixing angle ${\ensuremath{\theta}}_{13}$ with a significance of 5.2 standard deviations. Antineutrinos from six 2.9 $\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{W}}_{\mathrm{th}}$ reactors were detected in six antineutrino detectors deployed in two near (flux-weighted baseline 470 m and 576 m) and one far (1648 m) underground experimental halls. With a $43\text{ }000\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{ton}--\mathrm{G}{\mathrm{W}}_{\mathrm{th}}--\mathrm{day}$ live-time exposure in 55 days, 10 416 (80 376) electron-antineutrino candidates were detected at the far hall (near halls). The ratio of the observed to expected number of antineutrinos at the far hall is $R=0.940\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}0.011(\mathrm{stat}.)\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.004(\mathrm{syst}.)$. A rate-only analysis finds ${sin}^{2}2{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{13}=0.092\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.016(\mathrm{stat}.)\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.005(\mathrm{syst}.)$ in a three-neutrino framework.

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to address the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors. The ALICE detector has been built by a collaboration including currently over 1000 physicists and engineers from 105 Institutes in 30 countries, Its overall dimensions are 16 x 16 x 26 m(3) with a total weight of approximately 10 000 t. The experiment consists of 18 different detector systems each with its own specific technology choice and design constraints, driven both by the physics requirements and the experimental conditions expected at LHC. The most stringent design constraint is to cope with the extreme particle multiplicity anticipated in central Pb-Pb collisions. The different subsystems were optimized to provide high-momentum resolution as well as excellent Particle Identification (PID) over a broad range in momentum, up to the highest multiplicities predicted for LHC. This will allow for comprehensive studies of hadrons, electrons, muons, and photons produced in the collision of heavy nuclei. Most detector systems are scheduled to be installed and ready for data taking by mid-2008 when the LHC is scheduled to start operation, with the exception of parts of the Photon Spectrometer (PHOS), Transition Radiation Detector (TRD) and Electro Magnetic Calorimeter (EMCal). These detectors will be completed for the high-luminosity ion run expected in 2010. This paper describes in detail the detector components as installed for the first data taking in the summer of 2008.

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), a 20 kton multi-purpose\nunderground liquid scintillator detector, was proposed with the determination\nof the neutrino mass hierarchy as a primary physics goal. It is also capable of\nobserving neutrinos from terrestrial and extra-terrestrial sources, including\nsupernova burst neutrinos, diffuse supernova neutrino background, geoneutrinos,\natmospheric neutrinos, solar neutrinos, as well as exotic searches such as\nnucleon decays, dark matter, sterile neutrinos, etc. We present the physics\nmotivations and the anticipated performance of the JUNO detector for various\nproposed measurements. By detecting reactor antineutrinos from two power plants\nat 53-km distance, JUNO will determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a 3-4\nsigma significance with six years of running. The measurement of antineutrino\nspectrum will also lead to the precise determination of three out of the six\noscillation parameters to an accuracy of better than 1\\%. Neutrino burst from a\ntypical core-collapse supernova at 10 kpc would lead to ~5000\ninverse-beta-decay events and ~2000 all-flavor neutrino-proton elastic\nscattering events in JUNO. Detection of DSNB would provide valuable information\non the cosmic star-formation rate and the average core-collapsed neutrino\nenergy spectrum. Geo-neutrinos can be detected in JUNO with a rate of ~400\nevents per year, significantly improving the statistics of existing geoneutrino\nsamples. The JUNO detector is sensitive to several exotic searches, e.g. proton\ndecay via the $p\\to K^++\\bar\\nu$ decay channel. The JUNO detector will provide\na unique facility to address many outstanding crucial questions in particle and\nastrophysics. It holds the great potential for further advancing our quest to\nunderstanding the fundamental properties of neutrinos, one of the building\nblocks of our Universe.

A Na3V2(PO4)3/C composite with 3.8 wt.% carbon, which was synthesized by a one-step solid state reaction, exhibits Na storage capacity of 107 mAh g−1 and high coulombic efficiency of 99.8% in a new NaFSI/PC electrolyte. In situ XRD results reveal its sodium storage mechanism as a typical two-phase reaction from the Na3V2(PO4)3 to NaV2(PO4)3 phases with 8.26% volume variation. These desired properties make it very promising for application in room-temperature sodium- ion batteries. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

We report the first measurement of charged particle elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[S(NN)] =2.76 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurement is performed in the central pseudorapidity region (|η|<0.8) and transverse momentum range 0.2<p t<5.0 GeV/c. The elliptic flow signal v₂, measured using the 4-particle correlation method, averaged over transverse momentum and pseudorapidity is 0.087 ± 0.002(stat) ± 0.003(syst) in the 40%-50% centrality class. The differential elliptic flow v₂ p t reaches a maximum of 0.2 near p t =3 GeV/c. Compared to RHIC Au-Au collisions at sqrt[S(NN)] 200 GeV, the elliptic flow increases by about 30%. Some hydrodynamic model predictions which include viscous corrections are in agreement with the observed increase.

The centrality dependence of transverse momentum distributions and yields for pi^+/-, K^+/-, p and p^bar in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV at mid-rapidity are measured by the PHENIX experiment at RHIC. We observe a clear particle mass dependence of the shapes of transverse momentum spectra in central collisions below ~ 2 GeV/c in p_T. Both mean transverse momenta and particle yields per participant pair increase from peripheral to mid-central and saturate at the most central collisions for all particle species. We also measure particle ratios of pi^-/pi^+, K^-/K^+, p^bar/p, K/pi, p/pi and p^bar/pi as a function of p_T and collision centrality. The ratios of equal mass particle yields are independent of p_T and centrality within the experimental uncertainties. In central collisions at intermediate transverse momenta ~ 1.5-4.5 GeV/c, proton and anti-proton yields constitute a significant fraction of the charged hadron production and show a scaling behavior different from that of pions.

The anisotropy parameter (${v}_{2}$), the second harmonic of the azimuthal particle distribution, has been measured with the PHENIX detector in $\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$ for identified and inclusive charged particle production at central rapidities ($|\ensuremath{\eta}|&lt;0.35$) with respect to the reaction plane defined at high rapidities ($|\ensuremath{\eta}|=3--4\text{ }$). We observe that the ${v}_{2}$ of mesons falls below that of (anti)baryons for ${p}_{T}&gt;2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/c$, in marked contrast to the predictions of a hydrodynamical model. A quark-coalescence model is also investigated.

Abstract At sufficiently high temperature and energy density, nuclear matter undergoes a transition to a phase in which quarks and gluons are not confined: the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) 1 . Such an exotic state of strongly interacting quantum chromodynamics matter is produced in the laboratory in heavy nuclei high-energy collisions, where an enhanced production of strange hadrons is observed 2,3,4,5,6 . Strangeness enhancement, originally proposed as a signature of QGP formation in nuclear collisions 7 , is more pronounced for multi-strange baryons. Several effects typical of heavy-ion phenomenology have been observed in high-multiplicity proton–proton (pp) collisions 8,9 , but the enhanced production of multi-strange particles has not been reported so far. Here we present the first observation of strangeness enhancement in high-multiplicity proton–proton collisions. We find that the integrated yields of strange and multi-strange particles, relative to pions, increases significantly with the event charged-particle multiplicity. The measurements are in remarkable agreement with the p–Pb collision results 10,11 , indicating that the phenomenon is related to the final system created in the collision. In high-multiplicity events strangeness production reaches values similar to those observed in Pb–Pb collisions, where a QGP is formed.

Collisions involving 112Sn and 124Sn nuclei have been simulated with the improved quantum molecular dynamics transport model. The results of the calculations reproduce isospin diffusion data from two different observables and the ratios of neutron and proton spectra. By comparing these data to calculations performed over a range of symmetry energies at saturation density and different representations of the density dependence of the symmetry energy, constraints on the density dependence of the symmetry energy at subnormal density are obtained. The results from the present work are compared to constraints put forward in other recent analyses.

The centrality dependence of the charged-particle multiplicity density at midrapidity in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=2.76 TeV is presented. The charged-particle density normalized per participating nucleon pair increases by about a factor of 2 from peripheral (70%-80%) to central (0%-5%) collisions. The centrality dependence is found to be similar to that observed at lower collision energies. The data are compared with models based on different mechanisms for particle production in nuclear collisions.

We report on the first measurement of the triangular v3, quadrangular v4, and pentagonal v5 charged particle flow in Pb-Pb collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV measured with the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We show that the triangular flow can be described in terms of the initial spatial anisotropy and its fluctuations, which provides strong constraints on its origin. In the most central events, where the elliptic flow v2 and v3 have similar magnitude, a double peaked structure in the two-particle azimuthal correlations is observed, which is often interpreted as a Mach cone response to fast partons. We show that this structure can be naturally explained from the measured anisotropic flow Fourier coefficients.

We report the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter search results using the first physics-run data of the PandaX-II 500 kg liquid xenon dual-phase time-projection chamber, operating at the China JinPing underground laboratory. No dark matter candidate is identified above background. In combination with the data set during the commissioning run, with a total exposure of 3.3×10^{4} kg day, the most stringent limit to the spin-independent interaction between the ordinary and WIMP dark matter is set for a range of dark matter mass between 5 and 1000 GeV/c^{2}. The best upper limit on the scattering cross section is found 2.5×10^{-46} cm^{2} for the WIMP mass 40 GeV/c^{2} at 90% confidence level.

Lower-cost thermoelectrics Thermoelectric materials convert heat to electricity, making them attractive for heat harvesting or cooling applications. However, many high-performance thermoelectrics are made of expensive or toxic materials. He et al. found that a material composed of primarily tin and sulfur could be optimized to have relatively good thermoelectric properties. Introducing about 10% selenium to tin sulfide helped tune these properties by electronic band manipulation. This material is a step toward more earth-abundant, less toxic, and lower-cost thermoelectrics than the telluride-based materials currently in use. Science , this issue p. 1418

The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) has measured electrons with $0.3&lt;{p}_{T}&lt;9\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}/c$ at midrapidity ($|y|&lt;0.35$) from heavy-flavor (charm and bottom) decays in $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{\mathrm{NN}}}=200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. The nuclear modification factor ${R}_{\mathrm{AA}}$ relative to $p+p$ collisions shows a strong suppression in central $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks in the medium produced at RHIC energies. A large azimuthal anisotropy ${v}_{2}$ with respect to the reaction plane is observed for $0.5&lt;{p}_{T}&lt;5\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}/c$ indicating substantial heavy-flavor elliptic flow. Both ${R}_{\mathrm{AA}}$ and ${v}_{2}$ show a ${p}_{T}$ dependence different from those of neutral pions. A comparison to transport models which simultaneously describe ${R}_{\mathrm{AA}}({p}_{T})$ and ${v}_{2}({p}_{T})$ suggests that the viscosity to entropy density ratio is close to the conjectured quantum lower bound, i.e., near a perfect fluid.

By taking into account the surface diffuseness correction for unstable nuclei, the accuracy of the macroscopic–microscopic mass formula is further improved. The rms deviation with respect to essentially all the available mass data falls to 298 keV, crossing the 0.3 MeV accuracy threshold for the first time within the mean-field framework. Considering the surface effect of the symmetry potential which plays an important role in the evolution of the “neutron skin” toward the “neutron halo” of nuclei approaching the neutron drip line, we obtain an optimal value of the symmetry energy coefficient J=30.16 MeV. With an accuracy of 258 keV for all the available neutron separation energies and of 237 keV for the α-decay Q-values of super-heavy nuclei, the proposed mass formula is particularly important not only for the reliable description of the r process of nucleosynthesis but also for the study of the synthesis of super-heavy nuclei.

The PHENIX experiment at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)has measured $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ production for rapidities $\ensuremath{-}2.2&lt;y&lt;2.2$ in $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$. The $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ invariant yield and nuclear modification factor ${R}_{AA}$ as a function of centrality,transverse momentum, and rapidity are reported. A suppression of $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ relative to binary collision scaling of proton-protonreaction yields is observed. Models which describe the lower energy $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ data at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron invoking only $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ destruction based on the local medium density predicta significantly larger suppression at RHIC and more suppression at midrapiditythan at forward rapidity. Both trends are contradicted by our data.

Abstract Forty-five years after the Apollo and Luna missions returned lunar samples, China's Chang’E-5 (CE-5) mission collected new samples from the mid-latitude region in the northeastern Oceanus Procellarum of the Moon. Our study shows that 95% of CE-5 lunar soil sizes are found to be within the range of 1.40–9.35 μm, while 95% of the soils by mass are within the size range of 4.84–432.27 μm. The bulk density, true density and specific surface area of CE-5 soils are 1.2387 g/cm3, 3.1952 g/cm3 and 0.56 m2/g, respectively. Fragments from the CE-5 regolith are classified into igneous clasts (mostly basalt), agglutinate and glass. A few breccias were also found. The minerals and compositions of CE-5 soils are consistent with mare basalts and can be classified as low-Ti/low-Al/low-K type with lower rare-earth-element contents than materials rich in potassium, rare earth element and phosphorus. CE-5 soils have high FeO and low Mg index, which could represent a new class of basalt.

In this work, we demonstrated the EG-assisted solvothermal synthesis of 3-D microspherical BiOBr architectures assembled by nanosheets. The morphology and compositional characteristics of the 3-D architectures were investigated by various microscopy techniques. The possible formation mechanism for the architectures was discussed. The band gap of the obtained BiOBr materials was estimated to be 2.54 eV by UV–vis. The specific surface area and porosity of the BiOBr 3-D architectures also were investigated by using nitrogen adsorption and desorption isotherms. Because of the narrow bandgap and the novel 3-D micro-/nanostructure, the BiOBr architectures show a more excellent photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation than the BiOBr bulk plates. Several possible reasons for the higher photocatalytic activity have been taken into consideration. In addition, the photocatalyst is stable during the reaction and can be used repeatedly.

Transverse momentum spectra of charged hadrons with ${p}_{T}&lt;8\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/c$ and neutral pions with ${p}_{T}&lt;10\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/c$ have been measured at midrapidity by the PHENIX experiment at BNL RHIC in $d+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$ collisions at $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}=200\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}$. The measured yields are compared to those in $p+p$ collisions at the same $\sqrt{{s}_{NN}}$ scaled up by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions in $d+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$. The yield ratio does not show the suppression observed in central $\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}+\mathrm{A}\mathrm{u}$ collisions at RHIC. Instead, there is a small enhancement in the yield of high momentum particles.

Co(3)O(4) with three different crystal plane structures - cubes bounded by {001}planes, truncated octahedra enclosed by {111} and {001} planes, and octahedra with exposed {111}planes - is synthesized using a very simple one-step hydrothermal method. The three kinds of Co(3)O(4) exhibit significantly different electrochemical performances and the effect of different exposed crystal planes on the electrochemical performance of Co(3)O(4) is comprehensively studied.