Measurements of prompt γ rays in coincidence with isotopically-identified fission fragments, produced in collisions of 238U on a 9Be target, at an energy around the Coulomb barrier are reported. This ...technique provides simultaneous access to the spectroscopy of many nuclei, extending to very neutron-rich isotopes and fairly high angular momenta. The structural evolution of the neutron-rich zirconium isotopes is discussed in the light of the present measurements in Zr105,106 and in the context of the interacting boson model with a global parameterization that includes triaxiality but no shape coexistence.
The inverse kinematics technique, applied to radioactive beams and combined to the Coulomb excitation method, is a powerful tool to study low-energy fission. A novel experimental setup was developed ...within the R3B/SOFIA (Reactions with Relativistic Radioactive Beams/Studies On FIssion with Aladin) collaboration to identify in mass and atomic numbers both fission fragments in coincidence. These new data provide elemental, isobaric, and isotonic yields for the fission along the thorium isotopic chain. Results are also compared to previous measurements using either the same reaction mechanism or thermal-neutron induced fission. This latter comparison permits to probe the influence of the excitation energy in the fission process.
The low-lying structure of 15C has been investigated via the neutron-removal 16C(d,t) reaction. Along with the known bound neutron sd-shell states, unbound p-shell hole states have been observed. The ...excitation energies and the deduced spectroscopic factors of the cross-shell states are an important measure of the (p)−1(sd)2 neutron configurations in 15C. Our results show a very good agreement with shell-model calculations using the SFO-tls interaction for 15C. However, this same interaction predicted energies that were too low for the corresponding hole states in the N=9 isotone 17O and adjustment of the p-sd and sd-sd monopole terms was required to match the 17O energies. In addition, the excitation energies and spectroscopic factors have been compared to the first calculations of 15C with the ab initio self-consistent Green's function method employing the NNLOsat interaction. The results show the sensitivity to the size of the N=8 shell gap and highlight the need to go beyond the current truncation scheme.
The rotational response as a function of neutron–proton asymmetry for the very neutron-rich isotopes of Rh (116–119Rh) has been obtained from the measurement of prompt γ rays from isotopically ...identified fragments, produced in fission reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The measured energy “signature” splitting of the yrast bands, when compared with the Triaxial Projected Shell Model (TPSM) calculations, shows the need for large, nearly constant, triaxial deformations. The present results are compared with global predictions for the existence of non axial shapes in the periodic table in the case of very neutron-rich nuclei Rh isotopes. The predicted trend of a second local maximum for a triaxial shape around N∼74 is not found.
The properties of nuclei with extreme neutron–to–proton ratios, far from those naturally occurring on Earth, are key to understand nuclear forces and how nucleons hold together to form nuclei. 7H, ...with six neutrons and a single proton, is the nuclear system with the most unbalanced neutron–to–proton ratio known so far. However, its sheer existence and properties are still a challenge for experimental efforts and theoretical models. Here we report experimental evidences on the formation of 7H as a resonance, detected with independent observables, and the first measurement of the structure of its ground state. The resonance is found at ∼0.7 MeV above the 3H+4n mass, with a narrow width of ∼0.2 MeV and a 1/2+ spin and parity. These data are consistent with a 7H as a 3H core surrounded by an extended four-neutron halo, with a unique four-neutron decay and a relatively long half-life thanks to neutron pairing; a prime example of new phenomena occurring in what would be the most pure-neutron nuclear matter we can access in the laboratory.
Taking benefit of the R3B/SOFIA setup to measure the mass and the nuclear charge of both fission fragments in coincidence with the total prompt-neutron multiplicity, the scission configurations are ...inferred along the thorium chain, from the asymmetric fission in the heavier isotopes to the symmetric fission in the neutron-deficient thorium. Against all expectations, the symmetric scission in the light thorium isotopes shows a compact configuration, which is in total contrast to what is known in the fission of the heavier thorium isotopes and heavier actinides. This new main symmetric scission mode is characterized by a significant drop in deformation energy of the fission fragments of about 19 MeV, compared to the well-known symmetric scission in the uranium-plutonium region.
Low-lying high-spin yrast states in the exotic odd–odd isotopes 124–128Sb (Z=51) and 118–128In (Z=49), studied for the first time, show a striking difference in their observed γ-ray decay. With a ...single valence proton particle/hole occupying the g7/2/g9/2 spin-orbit partners, dominant electric quadrupole transitions occur in Sb as opposed to magnetic dipole transitions in In. The observed properties are explained on the basis of general principles of symmetry and with large-scale shell-model calculations, and reveal novel aspects of the competition between the neutron–proton interaction and the like-nucleon pairing interaction.
The first investigation of the single-particle structure of the bound states of 17C, via the d(16C,p) transfer reaction, has been undertaken. The measured angular distributions confirm the ...spin-parity assignments of 1/2+ and 5/2+ for the excited states located at 217 and 335 keV, respectively. The spectroscopic factors deduced for these states exhibit a marked single-particle character, in agreement with shell model and particle-core model calculations, and combined with their near degeneracy in energy provide clear evidence for the absence of the N=14 sub-shell closure. The very small spectroscopic factor found for the 3/2+ ground state is consistent with theoretical predictions and indicates that the ν1d3/2 strength is carried by unbound states. With a dominant ℓ=0 valence neutron configuration and a very low separation energy, the 1/2+ excited state is a one-neutron halo candidate.
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