A new electro-magnetic (EM) calorimeter complex FOREST covering a solid angle of about 4π sr is under construction. It consists of three calorimeters: the EPS forward one made up of pure CsI crystals, the middle one of lead scintillating fiber (Lead/SciFi) modules, and the backward one of lead glass Cerenkov counters. We have reassembled the middle calorimeter, comprised of 252 Lead/SciFi modules, which used to be the LEPS Backward Gamma detector system utilized in a LEPS experiment at SPring-8. A performance test for the gamma detector system has been made with a photon beam in the GeV γ experimental hall. The π0 peak is clearly observed in the γγ invariant mass distribution.
We report results of NMR experiments on a single crystal of the quasi one-dimensional frustrated magnet LiCuVO_4. The NMR spectra of ^7Li and ^{51}V nuclei indicate a helical spin order in a magnetic field of 4 T with the helical spin plane perpendicular to the field and a spin-density-wave (SDW) order at 10 T with modulation in the magnitude of the moments aligned along the field, in agreement with earlier reports. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 at ^{51}V nuclei, which is selectively coupled to the transverse spin fluctuations perpendicular to the field, shows a pronounced peak near the helical ordering temperature in the field of 4 T applied along the a-axis. In the field of 10 T, however, such a peak is absent. Instead 1/T_1 at ^7Li nuclei probing longitudinal spin fluctuations shows divergent behavior towards the SDW ordering temperature. These results are qualitatively consistent with the theoretical description that the SDW correlation is due to bound magnon pairs, which produce an energy gap in the transverse spin excitation spectrum.
Differential and total cross sections of the D(γ,η)pn reaction have been measured for photon energies between 600 and 1150 MeV. The data provide the information of the γn →ηn reaction above Eγ ≥ 800 MeV. The total cross section shows a narrow resonance structure peaked at Eγ = 1020 MeV. The angular distribution coefficients together with the total cross section are compared with the calculation of the isobar model by using the impulse approximation. Although the spin and parity of the resonance cannot be determined unambiguously, a negative parity assignment gives better fit to the data.
The total cross sections were measured for coherent double neutral-pion photoproduction on the deuteron at incident energies below 0.9 GeV for the first time. No clear resonance-like behavior is observed in the excitation function for Wγd=2.38–2.61 GeV, where the d⁎(2380) dibaryon resonance observed at COSY is expected to appear. The measured excitation function is consistent with the existing theoretical calculation for this reaction. The upper limit of the total cross section is found to be 0.034μb for the dibaryon resonance at Wγd=2.37 GeV (90% confidence level) in the γd→π0π0d reaction.
To investigate the interaction between the nucleon $N$ and nucleon resonance $N(1535)1/2^-$, the $\eta d$ threshold structure, connected to the isoscalar $S$-wave $N$-$N(1535)1/2^-$ system, has been experimentally studied in the $\gamma{d}${$\to$}$\pi^0\eta{d}$ reaction at incident photon energies ranging from the reaction threshold to 1.15 GeV. A strong enhancement is observed near the $\eta d$ threshold over the three-body phase-space contribution in the $\eta d$ invariant-mass distribution. An analysis incorporating the known isovector resonance $\mathcal{D}_{12}$ with a spin-parity of $2^+$ in the $\pi^0d$ channel has revealed the existence of a narrow isoscalar resonance-like structure $\mathcal{D}_{\eta d}$ with $1^-$ in the $\eta d$ system. The Breit-Wigner mass of $\mathcal{D}_{\eta d}$ is found to be $2.425^{-0.006}_{+0.003}$ GeV, located just close to the $\eta d$ threshold, and the width is $0.034_{-0.003}^{+0.004}$ GeV. The $\mathcal{D}_{\eta d}$ would be a predicted isoscalar $1^-$ $\eta NN$ bound state from the $\eta NN$ and $\pi NN$ coupled-channel calculation, or $\eta d$ virtual state owing to strong $\eta d$ attraction.
We report a new Au-Ga-Ce 1/1 approximant crystal (AC) which possesses a significantly wide single-phase region of 53 - 70 at% Au and 13.6 - 15.1 at% Ce. Single crystal X-ray structural analyses reveal the existence of two types of structural degrees of freedom, i.e., the Au/Ga mixing sites and the fractional Ce occupancy site: the former enables a large variation in the electron concentration and the latter allows a variation in the occupancy of a magnetic impurity atom at the center of the Tsai-type cluster. Following these findings, the influences of two types of structural modifications on the magnetism are thoroughly investigated by means of magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements on the Au-Ga-Ce 1/1 AC. The spin-glass (SG) state is found to be the ground state over the entire single-phase region, showing a robust nature of the SG state against both structural modifications. In addition, a gigantic specific heat (C/T) is commonly observed at low temperatures for all the compositions, which is consistently explained as a consequence of the spin-freezing phenomenon, not of a heavy Fermion behavior as reported elsewhere. Moreover, the origin of the SG state in the 1/1 Au-Ga-Ce AC is attributed to the existence of non-magnetic atom disorder in the Au/Ga mixing sites. Furthermore, a Kondo behavior is observed in the electrical resistivity at low temperatures, which is enhanced by increasing the Ce concentration, verifying that a Ce atom introduced at the cluster center behaves as a Kondo impurity for the first time.
In a frustrated J1–J2 chain magnet with ferromagnetic nearest neighbor interactions J1 and antiferromagnetic next-nearest neighbor interactions J2, novel quantum states such as a spin nematic state are theoretically expected to be present. To detect the novel states experimentally, it is required to find a suitable model compound and to obtain its sizeable and high-quality single crystals. Here we report synthesis of a single-crystalline NaCuMoO4(OH), a model compound of frustrated J1–J2 chain magnet, by a hydrothermal method and discuss its magnetic properties. The temperature dependencies of magnetization are almost consistent with those of powder samples at high temperatures, while the peak in heat capacity divided by temperature associated with a magnetic transition becomes sharper and larger in the single crystal. This indicates the improved quality of the single-crystalline sample compared with the powder sample. Single-crystalline NaCuMoO4(OH) should give a new experimental approach to the novel spin-nematic states expected near 26 T.
