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There is a large body of evidence that atomic nuclei can undergo octupole distortion and assume the shape of a pear. This phenomenon is important for measurements of electric-dipole moments of atoms, which would indicate CP violation and hence probe physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Isotopes of both radon and radium have been identified as candidates for such measurements. Here, we have observed the low-lying quantum states in 224Rn and 226Rn by accelerating beams of these radioactive nuclei. We show that radon isotopes undergo octupole vibrations but do not possess static pear-shapes in their ground states. We conclude that radon atoms provide less favourable conditions for the enhancement of a measurable atomic electric-dipole moment.

The multinucleon transfer reaction mechanism was employed to populate isotopes around the doubly-magic 208 Pb nucleus. We used an unstable 94 Rb beam on 208 Pb targets of different thickness. Transfer channels were studied via the fragment-γ and γ-γ coincidences, by using MINIBALL γ spectrometer coupled to a particle detector. Gamma transitions associated to the different Pb isotopes, populated by the neutron transfers, are discussed in terms of excitation energy and spin. Fragment angular distributions were extracted, andcompared with the reaction models.

A new Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility (SPES) is presently under construction at the Legnaro National Laboratories of INFN. The SPES facility is based on the ISOL method using an UCx Direct Target able to sustain a power of 8 kW. The primary proton beam is provided by a high current Cyclotron accelerator with energy of 35-70 MeV and a beam current of 0.2-0.7 mA. Neutron-rich radioactive ions are produced by proton induced fission on an Uranium target at an expected fission rate of the order of 1013 fissions per second. After ionization and selection the exotic isotopes are re-accelerated by the ALPI superconducting LINAC at energies of 10A MeV for masses in the region A=130 amu. The expected secondary beam rates are of the order of 107 - 109 pps. Aim of the SPES facility is to deliver high intensity radioactive ion beams of neutron rich nuclei for nuclear physics research as well as to be an interdisciplinary research centre for radio-isotopes production for medicine and for neutron beams.