Search

We present precision Penning trap mass measurements of neutron-rich calcium and potassium isotopes in the vicinity of neutron number N = 32. Using the TITAN system, the mass of 51K was measured for the first time, and the precision of the 51,52Ca mass values were improved significantly. The new mass values show a dramatic increase of the binding energy compared to those reported in the atomic mass evaluation. In particular, 52Ca is more bound by 1.74 MeV, and the behavior with neutron number deviates substantially from the tabulated values. An increased binding was predicted recently based on calculations that include three-nucleon (3N) forces. We present a comparison to improved calculations, which agree remarkably with the evolution of masses with neutron number, making neutron-rich calcium isotopes an exciting region to probe 3N forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present Penning-trap mass measurements of neutron-rich 44.47-50K and 49.50Ca isotopes carried out at the TITAN facility at TRIUMF-ISAC. The 44K mass measurement was performed with a charge-bred 4+ ion utilizing the TITAN electron beam ion trap and agrees with the literature. The mass excesses obtained for 47K and 49-50Ca are more precise and agree with the values published in the 2003 Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME'03). The 48,49,50K mass excesses are more precise than the AME'03 values by more than 1 order of magnitude. For 48,49K, we find deviations of 7&rgr; and 10&rgr;, respectively. The new 49K mass excess lowers significantly the two-neutron separation energy at the neutron number N = 30 compared with the separation energy calculated from the AME'03 mass-excess values and thus increases the N = 28 neutron-shell gap energy at Z = 19 by approximately 1 MeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutron dark decays have been suggested as a solution to the discrepancy between bottle and beam experiments, providing a dark matter candidate that can be searched for in halo nuclei. The free neutron in the final state following the decay of ^{6}He into ^{4}He+n+χ provides an exceptionally clean detection signature when combined with a high efficiency neutron detector. Using a high-intensity ^{6}He^{+} beam at Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds, a search for a coincident neutron signal resulted in an upper limit on a dark decay branching ratio of Br_{χ}≤4.0×10^{-10} (95% C.L.). Using the dark neutron decay model proposed originally by Fornal and Grinstein, we translate this into an upper bound on a dark neutron branching ratio of O(10^{-5}), improving over global constraints by one to several orders of magnitude depending on m_{χ}.

The first conclusive evidence of a dipole resonance in ^{11}Li having isoscalar character observed from inelastic scattering with a novel solid deuteron target is reported. The experiment was performed at the newly commissioned IRIS facility at TRIUMF. The results show a resonance peak at an excitation energy of 1.03±0.03 MeV with a width of 0.51±0.11 MeV (FWHM). The angular distribution is consistent with a dipole excitation in the distorted-wave Born approximation framework. The observed resonance energy together with shell model calculations show the first signature that the monopole tensor interaction is important in ^{11}Li. The first ab initio calculations in the coupled cluster framework are also presented.

The isoscalar monopole response has been measured in the unstable nucleus (68)Ni using inelastic alpha scattering at 50A  MeV in inverse kinematics with the active target MAYA at GANIL. The isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) centroid was determined to be 21.1 ± 1.9 MeV and indications for a soft monopole mode are provided for the first time at 12.9 ± 1.0 MeV. Analysis of the corresponding angular distributions using distorted-wave-born approximation with random-phase approximation transition densities indicates that the L = 0 multipolarity dominates the cross section for the ISGMR and significantly contributes to the low-energy mode. The L=0 part of this low-energy mode, the soft monopole mode, is dominated by neutron excitations. This demonstrates the relevance of inelastic alpha scattering in inverse kinematics in order to probe both the ISGMR and isoscalar soft modes in neutron-rich nuclei.

We present precision Penning trap mass measurements of neutron-rich calcium and potassium isotopes in the vicinity of neutron number N=32. Using the TITAN system, the mass of 51K was measured for the first time, and the precision of the (51,52)Ca mass values were improved significantly. The new mass values show a dramatic increase of the binding energy compared to those reported in the atomic mass evaluation. In particular, 52Ca is more bound by 1.74 MeV, and the behavior with neutron number deviates substantially from the tabulated values. An increased binding was predicted recently based on calculations that include three-nucleon (3N) forces. We present a comparison to improved calculations, which agree remarkably with the evolution of masses with neutron number, making neutron-rich calcium isotopes an exciting region to probe 3N forces.

The transfer of neutrons onto 24Ne has been measured using a reaccelerated radioactive beam of 24Ne to study the (d,p) reaction in inverse kinematics. The unusual raising of the first 3/2+ level in 25Ne and its significance in terms of the migration of the neutron magic number from N=20 to N=16 is put on a firm footing by confirmation of this state's identity. The raised 3/2+ level is observed simultaneously with the intruder negative parity 7/2- and 3/2- levels, providing evidence for the reduction in the N=20 gap. The coincident gamma-ray decays allowed the assignment of spins as well as the transferred orbital angular momentum. The excitation energy of the 3/2+ state shows that the established USD shell model breaks down well within the sd model space and requires a revised treatment of the proton-neutron monopole interaction.

The branching ratio for the superallowed beta(+) decay of (38)K(m) was measured at TRIUMF's ISAC radioactive ion beam facility. The M3 internal transition between the isomer and the ground state of (38)K(m) was observed with a branching ratio of 330(43) ppm. A search for the nonanalogue beta-decay branch to the first excited 0(+) state in (38)Ar was also performed and yielded an upper limit of < or =12 ppm at 90% C.L. These measurements lead to a revised superallowed branching ratio for (38)K(m) of 99.967(4)%, and increase the (38)K(m) ft value by its entire quoted uncertainty to ft=3052.1(10) s. Implications for tests of the nuclear-structure dependent corrections in superallowed beta decays and the extraction of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element V(ud) are discussed.

The p((11)Li, (9)Li)t reaction has been studied for the first time at an incident energy of 3A MeV at the new ISAC-2 facility at TRIUMF. An active target detector MAYA, built at GANIL, was used for the measurement. The differential cross sections have been determined for transitions to the (9)Li ground and first excited states in a wide range of scattering angles. Multistep transfer calculations using different (11)Li model wave functions show that wave functions with strong correlations between the halo neutrons are the most successful in reproducing the observation.

The existence of the 7H nuclear system was investigated via a one-proton transfer reaction with a 8He beam at 15.4A MeV and a 12C gas target. The experimental setup was based on the active-target MAYA which allowed a complete reconstruction of the reaction kinematics. The existence of the 7H was confirmed with the identification of seven events where the system was formed with a resonance energy of 0.57(-0.21)(+0.42) MeV above the 3H+4n threshold and a resonance width of 0.09(-0.06)(+0.94) MeV. This study represents an unambiguous proof of the existence of the most neutron-proton unbalanced system presently found.

Experimental search for the superheavy 7H isotope was performed in the reaction p(8He,pp)7H with the 8He beam at 61.3A MeV. The evidence for existence of the 7H state near the t+4n threshold was obtained. In the same experiment, the p(8He,t) reaction populating the ground and excited 2(+) state of 6He was investigated. The obtained results argue on a specific structure of the 8He ground state containing the 6He subsystem in the excited 2(+) state with a large weight.

Experimental search for (5)H using a secondary beam of (6)He has been performed. The transfer reaction (1)H((6)He,(2)He)(5)H was studied by detecting two protons emitted from the decay of (2)He. A peak consistent with a (5)H resonance at 1.7+/-0.3 MeV above the n+n+t threshold was observed, with a width of 1.9+/-0.4 MeV. The angular distribution of the (1)H((6)He,(2)He)(5)H reaction was measured as well as the energy correlation of the two protons.

Radiative capture of protons is investigated as a probe of clustering in nuclei far from stability. The first such measurement on a halo nucleus is reported here for the reaction 6He(p,gamma) at 40 MeV. Capture into 7Li is observed as the strongest channel. In addition, events have been recorded that may be described by quasifree capture on a halo neutron, the alpha core, and 5He. The possibility of describing such events by capture into the continuum of 7Li is also discussed.

The masses of 31 neutron-rich nuclei in the range A = 29-47 have been measured. The precision of 19 masses has been significantly improved and 12 masses were measured for the first time. The neutron-rich Cl, S, and P isotopes are seen to exhibit a change in shell structure around N = 28. Comparison with shell model and relativistic mean field calculations demonstrate that the observed effects arise from deformed prolate ground state configurations associated with shape coexistence. Evidence for shape coexistence is provided by the observation of an isomer in 43S.

The ground state of the proton-rich, unbound nucleus 11N was observed, together with six excited states using the multinucleon transfer reaction 10B(14N,13B)11N at 30A MeV incident energy at Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds. Levels of 11N are observed as well defined resonances in the spectrum of the 13B ejectiles. They are localized at 1.63(5), 2.16(5), 3.06(8), 3.61(5), 4.33(5), 5.98(10), and 6.54(10) MeV above the 10C+p threshold. The ground-state resonance has a mass excess of 24.618(50) MeV; the experimental width is smaller than theoretical predictions.