Sean Finch

Two-neutrino double-beta decay of

Double-beta decay is a rare nuclear process in which two neutrons in the nucleus are converted to two protons with the emission of two electrons and two electron anti-neutrinos. We measured the half life of the two-neutrino double-beta decay of

^{150}

^{150}

Nd to excited final states in

Nd to excited final states of

^{150}

^{150}

Sm

Sm by detecting the de-excitation gamma rays of the daughter nucleus. This study yields the first detection of the coincidence gamma rays from the 0

Two-neutrino double- β decay of Nd 150 to excited final states in Sm 150

^+_1

Two-neutrino double-βdecay ofNd150to excited final states inSm150

excited state of

136Xe(n,2n)135Xe cross section between 9 and 15 MeV

^{150}

40Ar(n,p)40Cl reaction cross section between 9 and 15 MeV

Sm. These gamma rays have energies of 333.97 keV and 406.52 keV, and are emitted in coincidence through a 0

Photofission cross-section ratio measurement of 235 U/ 238 U using monoenergetic photons in the energy range of 9.0–16.6 MeV

^+_1\rightarrow