Abstract
Understanding the evolution of the nuclear charge radius is one of the long-standing challenges for nuclear theory. Recently, density functional theory calculations utilizing Fayans ...functionals have successfully reproduced the charge radii of a variety of exotic isotopes. However, difficulties in the isotope production have hindered testing these models in the immediate region of the nuclear chart below the heaviest self-conjugate doubly-magic nucleus
100
Sn, where the near-equal number of protons (
Z
) and neutrons (
N
) lead to enhanced neutron-proton pairing. Here, we present an optical excursion into this region by crossing the
N
= 50 magic neutron number in the silver isotopic chain with the measurement of the charge radius of
96
Ag (
N
= 49). The results provide a challenge for nuclear theory: calculations are unable to reproduce the pronounced discontinuity in the charge radii as one moves below
N
= 50. The technical advancements in this work open the
N
=
Z
region below
100
Sn for further optical studies, which will lead to more comprehensive input for nuclear theory development.
We report on a set of high-precision measurements of nuclear binding and excitation energies, as well as nuclear spins, magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments of neutron-rich silver ...isotopes, 113−123Ag. The measurements were performed using the JYFLTRAP mass spectrometer and the collinear laser spectroscopy beamline at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line (IGISOL) facility. For the first time, we can firmly establish the ordering of the long-lived Iπ=1/2−,7/2+ states in these isotopes, and pin down the inversion of these two levels at either A=121(N=74) or A=123(N=76). We compare these findings to calculations performed with density functional theory (DFT), from which we establish the crucial role that the spin-orbit strength and time-odd mean fields play in the simultaneous description of electromagnetic moments and nuclear binding.
Precision mass measurements of 104Y, 106Zr, 104,104m,109Nb, and 111,112Mo have been performed with the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap mass spectrometer at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line ...facility. The order of the long-lived states in 104Nb was unambiguously established. The trend in two-neutron separation energies around the N=66 neutron midshell appeared to be steeper with respect to the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 extrapolations for the 39Y and 40Zr isotopic chains and less steep for the 41Nb chain, indicating a possible gap opening around Z=40. The experimental results were compared to the BSkG2 model calculations performed with and without vibrational and rotational corrections. All of them predict two low-lying minima for 106Zr. While the unaltered BSkG2 model fails to predict the trend in two-neutron separation energies, selecting the more deformed minima in calculations and removing the vibrational correction, the calculations are more in line with experimental data. The same is also true for the 21+ excitation energies and differences in charge radii in the Zr isotopes. The results stress the importance of improved treatment of collective corrections in large-scale models and further development of beyond-mean-field techniques.
Present-day laser-spectroscopy experiments increasingly rely on modern commercial devices to monitor, stabilize, and scan the wavelength of their probe laser. Recently, new techniques are capable of ...achieving unprecedented levels of precision on atomic and nuclear observables, pushing these devices to their performance limits. Considering the fact that these observables themselves are deduced from the frequency difference between specific atomic resonances, in the order of MHz–GHz, the uncertainty on the output of the device measuring the wavelength is often directly related to the final systematic uncertainty on the experimental results. Owing to its importance, the performance of several commercial wavelength meters was compared against different reference sources, including a Scanning Fabry–Pérot Interferometer (SFPI) and a frequency comb. Reproducible, wavelength- and device-dependent disagreements are observed, potentially skewing the experimental output at high precision. In this paper, a practical and relatively inexpensive wavelength meter characterization procedure is presented and validated. This method is capable of improving the precision on wavelength differences considerably depending on the device, while together with a second investigation that is published separately, (König et al., in Appl Phys B, 2020), it offers a full description of the expected wavelength meter performance for users.
A precise determination of the ground state 111In (9/2+) electron capture to ground state of 111Cd (1/2+) Q value has been performed utilizing the double Penning trap mass spectrometer, JYFLTRAP. A ...value of 857.63(17) keV was obtained, which is nearly a factor of 20 more precise than the value extracted from the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 (AME2020). The high-precision electron-capture Q value measurement along with the nuclear energy level data of 866.60(6) keV, 864.8(3) keV, 855.6(10) keV, and 853.94(7) keV for 111Cd was used to determine whether the four states are energetically allowed for a potential ultra-low Q-value β decay or electron-capture decay. Our results confirm that the excited states of 866.60(6) keV with spin-parity (Jπ) of 3/2+ and 864.8(3) keV with Jπ=3/2+ are ruled out due to their deduced electron-capture Q value being smaller than 0 keV at the level of around 20σ and 50σ, respectively. Electron-capture decays to the excited states at 853.94(7) keV (Jπ=7/2+) and 855.6(10) keV (Jπ=3/2+), are energetically allowed with Q values of 3.69(19) keV and 2.0(10) keV, respectively. The allowed decay transition 111In (9/2+) → 111Cd (7/2+), with a Q value of 3.69(19) keV, is a potential new candidate for neutrino-mass measurements by future EC experiments featuring new powerful detection technologies. The results show that the indium level 2p1/2 for this decay branch leads to a significant increase in the number of EC events in the energy region sensitive to the electron neutrino mass.
The impact of nuclear deformation can been seen in the systematics of nuclear charge radii, with radii generally expanding with increasing deformation. In this Letter, we present a detailed analysis ...of the precise relationship between nuclear quadrupole deformation and the nuclear size. Our approach combines the first measurements of the changes in the mean-square charge radii of well-deformed palladium isotopes between A=98 and A=118 with nuclear density functional calculations using Fayans functionals, specifically Fy(std) and Fy(Δr,HFB), and the UNEDF2 functional. The changes in mean-square charge radii are extracted from collinear laser spectroscopy measurements on the 4d^{9}5s ^{3}D_{3}→4d^{9}5p ^{3}P_{2} atomic transition. The analysis of the Fayans functional calculations reveals a clear link between a good reproduction of the charge radii for the neutron-rich Pd isotopes and the overestimated odd-even staggering: Both aspects can be attributed to the strength of the pairing correlations in the particular functional which we employ.
The ground-state-to-ground-state β−-decay 131I (7/2+) → 131Xe (3/2+) Q value was determined with high precision utilizing the double Penning trap mass spectrometer JYFLTRAP at the IGISOL facility. ...The Q value of this β−-decay was found to be Q = 972.25(19) keV through a cyclotron frequency ratio measurement with a relative precision of 1.6 × 10−9. This was realized using the phase-imaging ion-cyclotron-resonance technique. The new Q value is more than 3 times more precise and 2.3σ higher (1.45 keV) than the value extracted from the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020. Our measurement confirms that the β−-decay to the 9/2+ excited state at 971.22(13) keV in 131Xe is energetically allowed with a Q value of 1.03(23) keV while the decay to the 7/2+ state at 973.11(14) keV was found to be energetically forbidden. Nuclear shell-model calculations with established two-body interactions, alongside an accurate phase-space factor and a statistical analysis of the logft values of known allowed β decays, were used to estimate the partial half-life for the low-Q-value transition to the 9/2+ state. The half-life was found to be (1.97−0.89+2.24) ×107 years, which makes this candidate feasible for neutrino mass searches.
This letter reports on the first observation of an octupole band in the neutron-deficient (N=Z+2) nucleus 110Xe. The 110Xe nuclei were produced via the 54Fe(58Ni,2n) fusion-evaporation reaction. The ...emitted γ rays were detected using the jurogam 3γ-ray spectrometer, while the fusion-evaporation residues were separated with the MARA separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The experimental observation of the low-lying 3− and 5− states and inter-band E1 transitions between the ground-state band and the octupole band proves the importance of octupole correlations in this region. These new experimental data combined with theoretical calculations using the symmetry-conserving configuration-mixing method, based on a Gogny energy density functional, have been interpreted as an evidence of enhanced octupole correlations in neutron-deficient xenon isotopes.
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