In the past two decades, pions created in the high density regions of heavy ion collisions have been predicted to be sensitive at high densities to the symmetry energy term in the nuclear equation of ...state, a property that is key to our understanding of neutron stars. In a new experiment designed to study the symmetry energy, the multiplicities of negatively and positively charged pions have been measured with high accuracy for central 132Sn+124Sn, 112Sn+124Sn, and 108Sn+112Sn collisions at E/A=270 MeV with the SπRIT Time Projection Chamber. While individual pion multiplicities are measured to 4% accuracy, those of the charged pion multiplicity ratios are measured to 2% accuracy. We compare these data to predictions from seven major transport models. The calculations reproduce qualitatively the dependence of the multiplicities and their ratios on the total neutron and proton number in the colliding systems. However, the predictions of the transport models from different codes differ too much to allow extraction of reliable constraints on the symmetry energy from the data. This finding may explain previous contradictory conclusions on symmetry energy constraints obtained from pion data in Au+Au system. These new results call for still better understanding of the differences among transport codes, and new observables that are more sensitive to the density dependence of the symmetry energy.
The double-gamma (γγ)-decay of a quantum system in an excited state is a fundamental second-order process of quantum electrodynamics. In contrast to the well-known single-gamma (γ)-decay, the ...γγ-decay is characterized by the simultaneous emission of two γ quanta, each with a continuous energy spectrum. In nuclear physics, this exotic decay mode has only been observed for transitions between states with spin-parity quantum numbers J(π) = 0(+) (refs 1-3). Single-gamma decays-the main experimental obstacle to observing the γγ-decay-are strictly forbidden for these 0(+) → 0(+) transitions. Here we report the observation of the γγ-decay of an excited nuclear state (J(π) = 11/2(-)) that is directly competing with an allowed γ-decay (to ground state J(π) = 3/2(+)). The branching ratio of the competitive γγ-decay of the 11/2(-) isomer of (137)Ba to the ground state relative to its single γ-decay was determined to be (2.05 ± 0.37) × 10(-6). From the measured angular correlation and the shape of the energy spectra of the individual γ-rays, the contributing combinations of multipolarities of the γ radiation were determined. Transition matrix elements calculated using the quasiparticle-phonon model reproduce our measurements well. The γγ-decay rate gives access to so far unexplored important nuclear structure information, such as the generalized (off-diagonal) nuclear electric polarizabilities and magnetic susceptibilities.
Quasifree one-proton knockout reactions have been employed in inverse kinematics for a systematic study of the structure of stable and exotic oxygen isotopes at the R^{3}B/LAND setup with incident ...beam energies in the range of 300-450 MeV/u. The oxygen isotopic chain offers a large variation of separation energies that allows for a quantitative understanding of single-particle strength with changing isospin asymmetry. Quasifree knockout reactions provide a complementary approach to intermediate-energy one-nucleon removal reactions. Inclusive cross sections for quasifree knockout reactions of the type ^{A}O(p,2p)^{A-1}N have been determined and compared to calculations based on the eikonal reaction theory. The reduction factors for the single-particle strength with respect to the independent-particle model were obtained and compared to state-of-the-art ab initio predictions. The results do not show any significant dependence on proton-neutron asymmetry.
The recent observation of the competitive double-γ decay process is presented. It is a second-order electromagnetic decay mode. The 662-keV decay transition from the 11/2− isomer of 137Ba to its ...ground state has been studied. The emission of a single 662-keV γ quantum is a factor of 5 × 105 more likely than the simultaneous emission of two γ quanta instead of one. The observed angular correlation and energy distribution of these rare coincident double-γ quanta are well described by a dominant M2 - E2 and a sub-dominant E3 - M1 contribution to the double-γ decay branch.
Quasi-free scattering reactions of the type (p,2p) were measured for the first time exclusively in complete and inverse kinematics, using a 12C beam at an energy of ∼400 MeV/u as a benchmark. This ...new technique has been developed to study the single-particle structure of exotic nuclei in experiments with radioactive-ion beams. The outgoing pair of protons and the fragments were measured simultaneously, enabling an unambiguous identification of the reaction channels and a redundant measurement of the kinematic observables. Both valence and deeply-bound nucleon orbits are probed, including those leading to unbound states of the daughter nucleus. Exclusive (p,2p) cross sections of 15.8(18) mb, 1.9(2) mb and 1.5(2) mb to the low-lying 0p-hole states overlapping with the ground state (3/2−) and with the bound excited states of 11B at 2.125 MeV (1/2−) and 5.02 MeV (3/2−), respectively, were determined via γ-ray spectroscopy. Particle-unstable deep-hole states, corresponding to proton removal from the 0s-orbital, were studied via the invariant-mass technique. Cross sections and momentum distributions were extracted and compared to theoretical calculations employing the eikonal formalism. The obtained results are in a good agreement with this theory and with direct-kinematics experiments. The dependence of the proton–proton scattering kinematics on the internal momentum of the struck proton and on its separation energy was investigated for the first time in inverse kinematics employing a large-acceptance measurement.
Properties of the nuclear equation of state (EoS) can be probed by measuring the dynamical properties of nucleus-nucleus collisions. In this study, we present the directed flow (v1), elliptic flow ...(v2) and stopping (VarXZ) measured in fixed target Sn + Sn collisions at ▪ with the SπRIT Time Projection Chamber. We perform Bayesian analyses in which EoS parameters are varied simultaneously within the Improved Quantum Molecular Dynamics-Skyrme (ImQMD-Sky) transport code to obtain a multivariate correlated constraint. The varied parameters include symmetry energy, S0, and slope of the symmetry energy, L, at saturation density, isoscalar effective mass, ms⁎/mN, isovector effective mass, mv⁎/mN and the in-medium cross-section enhancement factor η. We find that the flow and VarXZ observables are sensitive to the splitting of proton and neutron effective masses and the in-medium cross-section. Comparisons of ImQMD-Sky predictions to the SπRIT data suggest a narrow range of preferred values for ms⁎/mN, mv⁎/mN and η.
Detailed γ-ray spectroscopy of the exotic neon isotope 28Ne has been performed for the first time using the one-neutron removal reaction from 29Ne on a liquid hydrogen target at 240 MeV/nucleon. ...Based on an analysis of parallel momentum distributions, a level scheme with spin-parity assignments has been constructed for 28Ne and the negative-parity states are identified for the first time. The measured partial cross sections and momentum distributions reveal a significant intruder p-wave strength providing evidence of the breakdown of the N=20 and N=28 shell gaps. Only a weak, possible f-wave strength was observed to bound final states. Large-scale shell-model calculations with different effective interactions do not reproduce the large p-wave and small f-wave strength observed experimentally, indicating an ongoing challenge for a complete theoretical description of the transition into the island of inversion along the Ne isotopic chain.
The proton drip-line nucleus 17Ne is investigated experimentally in order to determine its two-proton halo character. A fully exclusive measurement of the 17Ne(p,2p)16F→15⁎O+p quasi-free one-proton ...knockout reaction has been performed at GSI at around 500 MeV/nucleon beam energy. All particles resulting from the scattering process have been detected. The relevant reconstructed quantities are the angles of the two protons scattered in quasi-elastic kinematics, the decay of 16F into 15O (including γ decays from excited states) and a proton, as well as the 15O+p relative-energy spectrum and the 16F momentum distributions. The latter two quantities allow an independent and consistent determination of the fractions of l=0 and l=2 motion of the valence protons in 17Ne. With a resulting relatively small l=0 component of only around 35(3)%, it is concluded that 17Ne exhibits a rather modest halo character only. The quantitative agreement of the two values deduced from the energy spectrum and the momentum distributions supports the theoretical treatment of the calculation of momentum distributions after quasi-free knockout reactions at high energies by taking into account distortions based on the Glauber theory. Moreover, the experimental data allow the separation of valence-proton knockout and knockout from the 15O core. The latter process contributes with 11.8(3.1) mb around 40% to the total proton-knockout cross section of 30.3(2.3) mb, which explains previously reported contradicting conclusions derived from inclusive cross sections.
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