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  • Better simulations of neutron scattering

    Better simulations of neutron scattering

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    Newswise — A new simulation approach named eTLE aims to improve the precision of a primary tool for estimating neutron behaviours in 3D space. This study examines the approach in detail – validating its reliability in predicting the scattering of neutrons in crystalline media.

    Tripoli-4® is a tool used by researchers to simulate the behaviours of interacting neutrons in 3D space. Recently, researchers developed a new ‘next-event estimator’ (NEE) for Tripoli-4®. Named eTLE, this approach aims to increase Tripoli-4®’s precision using Monte Carlo simulations: a class of algorithms which solve problems by repeatedly estimating the characteristics of a whole population of neutrons, by selecting random groups of individuals. Through new research published in EPJ Plus, a team led by Henri Hutinet at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission implement and validate eTLE’s reliability for the first time.

    Since the production of neutrons is a key element of nuclear fission reactions, this enhanced precision could ultimately help to improve the safety of nuclear reactors. The success of eTLE hinges on the principle that the transport and attenuation of neutrons through a medium is mathematically predictable. So far, the use of NEEs to predict this transport has been hindered by their treatment of neutrons as simple gases of interacting particles. In crystalline media, this causes the angles they follow as they scatter from each other to take on discrete values – forbidding certain angles which may be necessary to understanding the neutrons’ overall behaviour.

    In their study, Hutinet’s team examined the outcomes of eTLE’s Monte Carlo-based approach to estimating neutron behaviours. To validate their findings, they used a classical, unbiased NEE as a benchmark for studying several scattering neutrons inside crystalline media – including graphite and beryllium. Their results revealed a strong agreement between these classical estimators and eTLE: representing a huge improvement compared with previous NEE approaches for Tripoli-4®. By removing the need for discrete scattering angles, the team’s work could now pave the way for nuclear reactor operators to predict neutron behaviours far more accurately in the future.

    Reference: Hutinet, H., Le Loirec, C., Mancusi, D. et al. Neutron elastic scattering kernel for Monte Carlo next-event estimators in Tripoli-4®. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 138, 189 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-023-03787-8

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  • Citizen Science: From the cosmos to the classroom

    Citizen Science: From the cosmos to the classroom

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    Newswise — Citizen science projects offer the general public, or segments of that public such as school students, an opportunity to take part in scientific research. The Extreme Energy Events (EEE) Project in Italy is a cooperation between particle physicists studying cosmic rays and school students, and their teachers, throughout the country.

    This has the twin aims of bringing cosmic ray research into schools and setting up a country-wide ‘open laboratory’ of particle detectors. One of the lead researchers from the EEE Project consortium, Silvia Pisano of the Italian Centro Fermi and Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of INFN, Rome, Italy, has summarised the results from about 20 years of this project in a new paper in EPJ Plus.

    Cosmic rays are high-energy particles that travel through space at nearly the speed of light; when they come into contact with the earth’s atmosphere they produce a variety of secondary particles that can be detected when they reach ground level. One primary cosmic ray can produce a shower of such particles that completely covers a city the size of, for instance, Bologna. “There are still many open questions about these secondary particles, such as the full details of their energy spectra,” explains Pisano.

    The EEE network consists of about 60 detectors or “EEE telescopes” located across Italy, mostly in high schools. Students and their teachers are involved in all aspects of the project: installation and maintenance of the equipment, data collection and analysis, and disseminating the results. “The peculiarity of an experiment designed in this way is that it can look for correlations between events that are hundreds of kilometres apart,” adds Pisano. She and her collaborators are now planning to extend the network to include more schools, including some outside Italy.

    Another ongoing development is the design of a mixture of gases for the detectors to replace the powerful greenhouse gas tetrafluoroethane; school students are involved in this and other improvements. “This experiment provides a unique environment for educating future generations in the practice of science,” Pisano concludes.

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    Reference:

    S. Pisano on behalf of the EEE Collaboration. The extreme energy events project. Eur. Phys. J. Plus 137, 1190 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-03331-0

    Further information:

    This is the first paper of the EPJ Plus Focus Point Issue “Citizen science for physics: From Education and Outreach to Crowdsourcing Fundamental Research” which is open for submissions until 30th June 2023. Suitable papers will be published if and as soon as accepted. For further information see the Call for Papers.

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  • How advanced optical tweezers revolutionized cell manipulation

    How advanced optical tweezers revolutionized cell manipulation

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    Newswise — Optical tweezers (OTs), also known as optical traps, are highly focused laser beams that can be used to trap and manipulate microscopic objects with a noncontact force. Employed in a wide range of nano and micro-scale operations, OTs have become particularly useful in the manipulation of biological objects including human cells.

    A new review published in EPJ Plus conveys the latest achievements in OTs over recent decades. The review is authored by researchers from the College of Information Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China — Sheng Hu, Jun-yan Ye, Yong Zhao and Cheng-Liang Zhu .

    “It is well-known that the cell is the basic unit of human life. If we can understand mutation, proliferation, and necrosis of cells, diseases inside the human body would be discovered and solved in the level of the cell,” Hu says. “Thus, optical tweezers, are a can be thought of as a pioneer used to confine these molecules so that more precise bio-measurement could capture the changes in one cell, including protein, mitochondria, and DNA.”

    The authors begin by explaining the origins of OTs dating back to the work of James Clerk Maxwell and the fact that light, despite lacking mass, can possess momentum. Thus, the momentum of light could create a mechanical effect in matter. This concept would later be developed into the idea that small particles could be suspended by optical devices.

    The authors point out that the advent of laser instruments — the coherent light with both high intensity and good monochromatic characteristics— led to the optical manipulation of such micro-particles, with the stable trapping of micro-particles achieved in 1986.

    OTs have now developed to the stage at which they can be used to trap, sort, transport, and enrich various biological particles. For more complicated and delicate tasks, single optical beams are now bolstered by devices like acousto-optic modulators and electric vibrating mirrors. 

    The researchers add that OTs can now be used to accompany a new microscopy setup called “human bright eye” to manifest the microstructure composed of micro/nano-particles. This means OTs can act as a “human slender finger” holding onto these particles delicately while this faux human eye probes them.

    The team details the advantages that OTs offer over similar techniques, such as atomic force microscopes (AFM), magnetic tweezers (MT), and acoustic tweezers (AT. These advantages include providing a finer force strength, their non-invasive nature, and the fact they are made up of multiple optical components. 

    This means optical manipulation and OTs specifically have found uses in fields as diverse as biology, pharmacology, and clinical research fields gripping nano and micro particles from molecules through to cells. 

    “Considering the potential ‘real world’ applications of OTs there is still a long way to go,” Hu concluded. “For example, the problem of radiation exposure to cells or proteins needs to be improved. Moreover, achieving stability of optical patterns to submicro-scale particles is still tough, reflecting a complicated optical adjustment. Although this can lead to confusion and even sometimes frustration, the intriguing biological presentations motivate us to facilitate the progress of the technique.”

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