EURICA is a project at RIKEN Nishina Center aimed at studying a wide range of exotic nuclei through β-decay measurements and high-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy. The setup is located behind the ...BigRIPS fragment separator and the ZeroDegree spectrometer at the RIBF. EURICA consists of the HPGe cluster detectors from the previous Euroball and RISING projects, together with double-sided silicon-strip detectors for β-decay counting and lifetime measurements. In total, this setup provides us with the possibility to study several aspects of the exotic nuclei produced at the RIBF.
The atomic masses of ^{55}Sc, ^{56,58}Ti, and ^{56-59}V have been determined using the high-precision multireflection time-of-flight technique. The radioisotopes have been produced at RIKEN's ...Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory (RIBF) and delivered to the novel designed gas cell and multireflection system, which has been recently commissioned downstream of the ZeroDegree spectrometer following the BigRIPS separator. For ^{56,58}Ti and ^{56-59}V, the mass uncertainties have been reduced down to the order of 10 keV, shedding new light on the N=34 shell effect in Ti and V isotopes by the first high-precision mass measurements of the critical species ^{58}Ti and ^{59}V. With the new precision achieved, we reveal the nonexistence of the N=34 empirical two-neutron shell gaps for Ti and V, and the enhanced energy gap above the occupied νp_{3/2} orbit is identified as a feature unique to Ca. We perform new Monte Carlo shell model calculations including the νd_{5/2} and νg_{9/2} orbits and compare the results with conventional shell model calculations, which exclude the νg_{9/2} and the νd_{5/2} orbits. The comparison indicates that the shell gap reduction in Ti is related to a partial occupation of the higher orbitals for the outer two valence neutrons at N=34.
Abstract
We derive a compact formula for the width of a multi-channel resonance state. To this end, we use a deformed square-well potential and solve the coupled-channels equations. We obtain the ...$S$-matrix in the Breit–Wigner form, from which partial widths can be extracted. We apply the resultant formula to a deformed nucleus and discuss the behavior of partial width for an $s$-wave channel.
The β-decay half-lives of 38 neutron-rich isotopes from (36)Kr to (43)Tc have been measured; the half-lives of (100)Kr, (103-105)Sr, (106-108)Y, (108-110)Zr, (111,112)Nb, (112-115)Mo, and (116,117)Tc ...are reported here. The results when compared with previous standard models indicate an overestimation in the predicted half-lives by a factor of 2 or more in the A≈110 region. A revised model based on the second generation gross theory of β decay better predicts the measured half-lives and suggests a more rapid flow of the rapid neutron-capture process (r-matter flow) through this region than previously predicted.
Structure of the neutron-rich N=86 isotope 140Xe, located northeast of a doubly-magic nucleus 132Sn, is investigated by β−γ spectroscopy. Two β-decay isomers in 140I are newly found in the study of ...two different β decays of 140I which were produced by two reactions (i) direct in-flight fission at a primary target and (ii) β decay of 140Te at an active stopper. Half-lives of the β decays of the ground state, the low-spin isomer, and the high-spin isomer are determined to be 0.38(2), 0.91(5), and 0.47(4) s, respectively. Decay schemes of the β decay of the high-spin isomer and of the mixed β decays of the ground state and the low-spin isomer in 140I to 140Xe are constructed using the information on γ-ray coincidence relation and γ-ray intensity. Nuclear structures of the low-lying states in 140Xe and 140I are discussed by comparing the experimental results to two theoretical calculations based on a large-scale shell model and the deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov plus deformed quasiparticle-random-phase approximation. Possible candidates for (quasi-)γ-band members of 2+ and 4+ states and the octupole collective 1− state are proposed in 140Xe. Increase of quadrupole, triaxial, and octupole collectivities is discussed with the increase of neutron and proton numbers.
The β-decay scheme of 138Te and the level structure of 138I is reported for the first time. The experiment was performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory of RIKEN, as one of the EUROBALL-RIKEN ...Cluster Array campaigns. Secondary radioactive ions, including 138Te and 138Sb, were produced by the in-flight fission of a 238U beam with the energy of 345 MeV per nucleon. From the β decay of 138Te, the level scheme of 138I was supplemented with new spin and parity assignments, such as the low-lying negative-parity states and a positive-parity 1+ state. This 1+ state can be interpreted as being associated with the π0h11/2⊗ν0h9/2 partner orbital configuration populated by the Gamow-Teller transition between a neutron in the 0h9/2 orbital and a proton in the 0h11/2 orbital. Details of the structure of 138I are discussed in terms of the proton-neutron interactions and Gamow-Teller transition strength within the theoretical context of shell-model calculations.
Neutron-rich Pm (Z=61) isotopes were studied by delayed γ-ray spectroscopy at RIBF, RIKEN Nishina Center using the in-flight fission of a 345 MeV/nucleon 238U beam. A cluster-type Ge detector array, ...EURICA, was used to measure the delayed γ rays from stopped ions. Isomeric γ decays were observed in 159Pm and 161Pm with half-lives of 4.97(12) μs and 0.79(4) μs, respectively. Level schemes for 159Pm and 161Pm were constructed in this study. The isomeric states of 159Pm and 161Pm could be interpreted as two quasiparticle excitations of neutrons with the configurations of ν(7/2633⊗5/2523) and ν(7/2633⊗1/2521), respectively. They are analogous to the isomers that have been observed systematically in other even-mass N=98 and N=100 isotones in this region. A projected shell model calculation was performed and it reproduced the order of three-quasiparticle states only if new Nilsson parameters with an N-dependent spin-orbit interaction were used. This work demonstrates that the strength of spin-orbit interactions in standard Nilsson parameters needs to be modified to study the properties of neutron-rich rare-earth nuclei around A=165, and provides new evidence supporting the existence of the deformed N=98 subshell gap in odd-mass nuclei for the first time.
The change of the shell structure in atomic nuclei, so-called “nuclear shell evolution”, occurs due to changes of major configurations through particle-hole excitations inside one nucleus, as well as ...due to variation of the number of constituent protons or neutrons. We have investigated how the shell evolution affects Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions that dominate the β decay in the region below 132Sn using the newly obtained experimental data on a long-lived isomer in 127Ag. The T1/2=67.5(9) ms isomer has been identified with a spin and parity of (27/2+) at an excitation energy of 1942−20+14 keV, and found to decay via an internal transition of an E3 character, which competes with the dominant β-decay branches towards the high-spin states in 127Cd. The underlying mechanism of a strong GT transition from the 127Ag isomer is discussed in terms of configuration-dependent optimization of the effective single-particle energies in the framework of a shell-model approach.
Isomeric states were observed in nuclei produced in an experiment at the RIKEN Nishina Center Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory following the in-flight fission of a 345 MeV/nucleon
238
U beam. Isomers ...reported in nuclei spanning a predicted prolate-oblate shape change boundary,
111
Zr (
E
=
283.1
keV;
τ
=
0.326
(
63
)
μ
s),
112
Nb (
E
=
44.2
keV;
τ
=
0.094
(
26
)
μ
s),
113
Nb (
E
=
135.4
keV;
τ
=
0.846
(
80
)
μ
s), and
115
Mo (
E
=
198.6
keV;
τ
=
63
(
4
)
μ
s), are compared to potential-energy surface calculations which gave a selection of low-lying configurations for each nucleus. Tentative assignments of ground and excited states were made based on energy similarities to the calculations, reduced transition probabilities of the decays, and constraints of transition multipolarities from
γ
-ray coincidence measurements. These assignments are suggestive of significant deformation being persistent for
N
>
70
in this region. In addition, isomers in
108
Nb,
109
Nb,
113
Tc,
117
Ru,
119
Ru,
120
Rh, and
122
Rh, not spanning the prolate-oblate transition discussed, are presented.
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