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The calcium isotopes are an ideal system to investigate the evolution of shell structure and magic numbers. Although the properties of surface nucleons in calcium have been well studied, probing the structure of deeply bound nucleons remains a challenge. Here, we report on the first measurement of unbound states in 53Ca and 55Ca, populated from 54,56Ca(p,pn) reactions at a beam energy of around 216 MeV/nucleon at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotopes Beam Factory. The resonance properties, partial cross sections, and momentum distributions of these unbound states were analyzed. Orbital angular momentum l assignments were extracted from momentum distributions based on calculations using the distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA) reaction model. The resonances at excitation energies of 5516(41)keV in 53Ca and 6000(250)keV in 55Ca indicate a significant l =3 component, providing the first experimental evidence for the ν0f7/2 single-particle strength of unbound hole states in the neutron-rich Ca isotopes. The observed excitation energies and cross-sections point towards extremely localized and well separated strength distributions, with some fragmentation for the ν0f7/2 orbital in 55Ca. These results are in good agreement with predictions from shell-model calculations using the effective GXPF1Bs interaction and ab initio calculations and diverge markedly from the experimental distributions in the nickel isotones at Z=28.

Gamma decays were observed in 56Ca and 58Ca following quasi-free one-proton knockout reactions from 57,59Sc beams at ≈200 MeV/nucleon. For 56Ca, a γ ray transition was measured to be 1456(12) keV, while for 58Ca an indication for a transition was observed at 1115(34) keV. Both transitions were tentatively assigned as the 21+→0gs+ decays, and were compared to results from ab initio and conventional shell-model approaches. A shell-model calculation in a wide model space with a marginally modified effective nucleon-nucleon interaction depicts excellent agreement with experiment for 21+ level energies, two-neutron separation energies, and reaction cross sections, corroborating the formation of a new nuclear shell above the N = 34 shell. Its constituents, the 0f5/2 and 0g9/2 orbitals, are almost degenerate. This degeneracy precludes the possibility for a doubly magic 60Ca and potentially drives the dripline of Ca isotopes to 70Ca or even beyond.

States in the N=35 and 37 isotopes 55,57Ca have been populated by direct proton-induced nucleon removal reactions from 56,58Sc and 56Ca beams at the RIBF. In addition, the (p,2p) quasi-free single-proton removal reaction from 56Ca was studied. Excited states in 55K, 55Ca, and 57Ca were established for the first time via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. Results for the proton and neutron removal reactions from 56Ca to states in 55K and 55Ca for the level energies, excited state lifetimes, and exclusive cross sections agree well with state-of-the-art theoretical calculations using different approaches. The observation of a short-lived state in 57Ca suggests a transition in the calcium isotopic chain from single-particle dominated states at N=35 to collective excitations at N=37.

The nuclear structure of 51Ar, an uncharted territory so far, was studied by the (p,2p) reaction using γ-ray spectroscopy for the bound states and the invariant mass method for the unbound states. Two peaks were detected in the γ-ray spectrum and six peaks were observed in the 50Ar+n relative energy spectrum. Comparing the results to our shell-model calculations, two bound and six unbound states were established. Three of the unbound states could only be placed tentatively due to the low number of counts in the relative energy spectrum of events associated with the decay through the first excited state of 50Ar. The low cross sections populating the two bound states of 51Ar could be interpreted as a clear signature for the presence of significant subshell closures at neutron numbers 32 and 34 in argon isotopes. It was also revealed that due to the two valence holes, unbound collective states coexist with individual-particle states in 51Ar.

We report on the first γ-ray spectroscopy of 51,53K produced via the 52,54Ca(p,2p) reactions at ∼250 MeV/nucleon. Unambiguous final-state angular-momentum assignments were achieved for beam intensities down to few particles per second by using a new technique based on reaction vertex tracking combined with a thick liquid-hydrogen target. Through γ-ray spectroscopy and exclusive parallel momentum distribution analysis, 3/2+ ground states and 1/2+ first excited states in 51,53K were established quantifying the natural ordering of the 1d3/2 and 2s1/2 proton-hole states that are restored at N = 32 and 34. State-of-the-art ab initio calculations and shell-model calculations with improved phenomenological effective interactions reproduce the present data and predict consistently the increase of the E(1/21+) - E(3/21+) energy differences towards N = 40. Keywords: Spectroscopy, Shell evolution, 51K, 53K

Excited states in the N=40 isotone 62Ti were populated via the 63V(p,2p)62Ti reaction at ∼200 MeV/nucleon at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory and studied using γ-ray spectroscopy. The energies of the 21+→0gs+ and 41+→21+ transitions, observed here for the first time, indicate a deformed 62Ti ground state. These energies are increased compared to the neighboring 64Cr and 66Fe isotones, suggesting a small decrease of quadrupole collectivity. The present measurement is well reproduced by large-scale shell-model calculations based on effective interactions, while ab initio and beyond mean-field calculations do not yet reproduce our findings. The shell-model calculations for 62Ti show a dominant configuration with four neutrons excited across the N=40 gap. Likewise, they indicate that the N=40 island of inversion extends down to Z=20, disfavoring a possible doubly magic character of the elusive 60Ca. Keywords: Shell evolution, Radioactive beams, Gamma-ray spectroscopy

Excited states in 63,65,67Mn were studied via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy following knockout reactions from 68Fe. Similar level schemes, consisting of the 11/2−, 9/2−, 7/2− and 5/2g.s.− level sequence, connected by I→I−1 transitions, were established, the first time for 65,67Mn. Their level structures show features consistent with strongly-coupled rotational bands with K=5/2. State-of-the-art shell-model calculations with the modified LNPS effective interaction reproduce the observed levels remarkably well and suggest the dominance of 4-particle-4-hole neutron configurations for all the states. The data on the low-lying excited states of odd-mass 53−67Mn provide a textbook example of nuclear structure evolution from weak coupling through decoupling to strong coupling along a single isotopic chain on the n-rich side of the β stability line. These results help to deepen our understanding of the N=40 “island of inversion”. Keywords: In-beam γ-ray spectroscopy, “Island of inversion” around N=40, Strong coupling, Structure evolution

We report on the measurement of new low-lying states in the neutron-rich 81,82,83,84Zn nuclei via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. These include the 41+→21+ transition in 82Zn, the 21+→0g.s.+ and 41+→21+ transitions in 84Zn, and low-lying states in 81,83Zn were observed for the first time. The reduced E(21+) energies and increased E(41+)/E(2+1) ratios at N=52, 54 compared to those in 80Zn attest that the magicity is confined to the neutron number N=50 only. The deduced level schemes are compared to three state-of-the-art shell model calculations and a good agreement is observed with all three calculations. The newly observed 2+ and 4+ levels in 84Zn suggest the onset of deformation towards heavier Zn isotopes, which has been incorporated by taking into account the upper sdg orbitals in the Ni78-II and the PFSDG-U models.