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In this paper details of the experimental procedure and data analysis of the collision of 11 Be+64Zn around the Coulomb barrier are described and discussed in the framework of different theoretical approaches. In a previous work [A. Di Pietro et ai, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 022701 (2010).], the elastic scattering angular distribution of the collisions 9,10Be+64Zn as well as the angular distribution for the quasielastic scattering and transfer/breakup cross sections for the 11Be+64Zn reaction were briefly reported. The suppression of the quasielastic angular distribution in the Coulomb-nuclear interference angular region observed in the collision of the 11 Be halo nucleus with respect to the other two beryllium isotopes was interpreted as being caused by a long-range absorption owing to the long decay length of the uBe wave function. In this paper, new continuum-discretized coupledchannel calculations of the 11Be+64Zn reaction are reported in the attempt to interpret the effect of coupling with the breakup channels on the measured cross sections. The calculations show that the observed suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference peak is caused by a combined effect of Coulomb and nuclear couplings to the breakup channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusion and transfer + breakup channels have been studied in the collision induced by the two-neutron-halo 6He on a 64Zn target at energies from below to above the Coulomb barrier. For comparison, the reaction induced by the stable isotope 4He on the same target has been studied. The fusion cross section has been measured by using an activation technique, detecting off-line the delayed x-ray activity following the electron capture decay of the evaporation residues. New measurements of the 4He+I64Zn fusion cross section at sub-barrier energies have been performed in order to cover the same energy range of the 6He + 64Zn fusion cross section and to compare the excitation functions for the two systems down to the lowest energy data point measured for 6He. From the new comparison a sub-barrier fusion enhancement has been observed in the 6He case with respect to the 4He one whereas no effect on the 6He fusion cross section has been seen at energies above the barrier. It has been concluded that such enhancement seems to be due to the diffuse halo structure properties of the 6He nucleus. Moreover, the reactions induced by 6He have shown a strong yield of a particles coming from direct processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastic scattering angular distributions for the weakly bound nucleus 7Li on 64Zn have been measured in a wide angular range at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The present experimental data and our previously measured elastic scattering data for the system 6Li + 64Zn have been analyzed within the continuum-discretized coupled-channels method, where the resonant and nonresonant states of the projectile are taken into account. In this theoretical framework, we have also analyzed our previously measured excitation functions of elastic scattering at backward angles and the corresponding barrier distributions for the same systems. A good agreement between the experimental data and the calculations has been observed. The obtained results, besides confirming the importance of the coupling to the breakup channels in collisions with weakly bound nuclei, show that, in the case of 6Li, the inclusion of the resonant states of the projectile produces non-negligible effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-precision measurement of half-life and Qa value of neutral and highly charged a emitters is a major subject of investigation currently. In this framework, we recently pushed half-life measurements of neutral emitters to a precision of a few per mil. This result was achieved by using different techniques and apparatuses at Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (INFN-LNS) and GSI Darmstadt. Here we report on 213Fr half-life determination [T1/2(213Fr) =34.14 ± 0.06 s] at INFN-LNS, detailing the measurement protocol used. Direct comparison with the accepted value in the literature shows a discrepancy of more than three sigma. We propose this new value as a reference, discussing previous experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excitation functions for the production of heavy residues have been measured for the collisions 6,7Li + 64Zn at energies around and below the Coulomb barrier. The cross sections for heavy residue production have been measured using an activation technique, detecting off-line the characteristic atomic x-rays emitted in the electron capture decay of the reaction products. The experimental relative yields of the residues have been compared with statistical model calculations performed by using the code CASCADE. Such a comparison suggests that heavy residue production is dominated by complete fusion at above-barrier energies, whereas different processes like incomplete fusion and/or transfer become dominant in the sub-barrier energy region. The heavy residue excitation function ratio between the 6Li- and 7Li-induced collisions shows an increasing trend as the energy decreases below the barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excitation functions of quasielastic scattering at backward angles were measured for the weakly bound 6Li and 7Li projectiles on a 64Zn target at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The corresponding barrier distributions were derived from the experimental cross sections. The experimental data were analyzed within the coupled-channel model using a double-folding potential as the bare potential. Inelastic excitations of the target, the 7 Li first-excited state, and 6,7 Li resonant state(s), corresponding to sequential breakup, were included in the calculations. The comparison between the data and coupled-channel predictions shows that the effects of channels not included in the calculations, such as direct breakup and transfers, are much larger for 6Li than for 7Li. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of 9Be + α resonant scattering have been performed using the thick-target approach with a 4He gas volume and a large-area silicon strip detector. 9Be beam energies in the range 12 to 21.4 MeV were used to measure the 13C excitation energy spectrum between 13.2 and 16.2 MeV. An R-matrix analysis has been performed to characterize the spins and widths of 13C resonances, some of which have been proposed to be associated with a 3α + n molecular band. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10B + 10B reactions are measured with 50 and 72 MeV beams. The large spin of both beam and target nuclei (Jπ = 3+) is particularly suitable for the population of high spin states in the exit channels. Population and decay of different states in 12C are studied through sequential decay reactions. The 12C excitation energy spectrum obtained from the 10B (10B, 8Be) reaction shows a number of both known and new states. In particular, a new state at Ex = 24.4 MeV is observed to be strongly populated in the triple α-particle coincidences. The rarely seen state at Ex = 30.3 MeV is found to be strong in the d + 10B decay channel, reinforcing the previous suggestions that it has the exotic 2α + 2d molecular structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New experimental results for the elastic scattering of 6He on 64Zn at incident energies of 15.0 and 18.0 MeV and 4He at 17.5 MeV along with results already published at 10.0 and 13.6 MeV, are presented. Elastic and a experimental cross sections are compared with coupled-reaction-channel, continuum-discretized coupled-channel, and DWBA inclusive-breakup models. The large yield of a particles observed at all measured energies can be explained by considering a nonelastic breakup mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents values of complete fusion cross sections deduced from activation measurements for the reactions 6Li+120Sn and 7Li+119Sn, and for a projectile energy range from 17.5 to 28 MeV in the center-of-mass system. A new deconvolution analysis technique is used to link the basic activation data to the actual fusion excitation function. The complete fusion cross sections above the barrier are suppressed by about 70% and 85% with respect to the universal fusion function, used as a standard reference, in the 6Li and 7Li induced reactions, respectively. From a comparison of the excitation functions of the two systems at energies below the barrier, no significant differences can be observed, despite the two systems have different n-transfer Q values. This observation is supported by the results of coupled reaction channels (CRC) calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excitation function of 28Mg above the α-decay threshold has been measured for the first time using the resonant scattering of α particles with the technique of a thick target in inverse kinematics. Thirteen new states are reported between Ex=15.5 and Ex=20.5 MeV, and suggestions for spin-parity assignments are given for two of these. Calculations of the branching ratio to α decay for these states as well as comparison of the measured cross sections to calculations suggest that α+24Neg.s. clustering is not dominant in this energy regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nuclear reaction known as proton-boron fusion has been triggered by a subnanosecond laser system focused onto a thick boron nitride target at modest laser intensity (∼10^{16}W/cm^{2}), resulting in a record yield of generated α particles. The estimated value of α particles emitted per laser pulse is around 10^{11}, thus orders of magnitude higher than any other experimental result previously reported. The accelerated α-particle stream shows unique features in terms of kinetic energy (up to 10 MeV), pulse duration (∼10 ns), and peak current (∼2 A) at 1 m from the source, promising potential applications of such neutronless nuclear fusion reactions. We have used a beam-driven fusion scheme to explain the total number of α particles generated in the nuclear reaction. In this model, protons accelerated inside the plasma, moving forward into the bulk of the target, can interact with ^{11}B atoms, thus efficiently triggering fusion reactions. An overview of literature results obtained with different laser parameters, experimental setups, and target compositions is reported and discussed.

Angular distributions of the elastic, inelastic, and breakup cross sections of the halo nucleus ^{11}Be on ^{197}Au were measured at energies below (E_{lab}=31.9  MeV) and around (39.6 MeV) the Coulomb barrier. These three channels were unambiguously separated for the first time for reactions of ^{11}Be on a high-Z target at low energies. The experiment was performed at TRIUMF (Vancouver, Canada). The differential cross sections were compared with three different calculations: semiclassical, inert-core continuum-coupled-channels and continuum-coupled-channels ones with including core deformation. These results show conclusively that the elastic and inelastic differential cross sections can only be accounted for if core-excited admixtures are taken into account. The cross sections for these channels strongly depend on the B(E1) distribution in ^{11}Be, and the reaction mechanism is sensitive to the entanglement of core and halo degrees of freedom in ^{11}Be.

Collisions induced by (9,10,11)Be on a 64Zn target at the same c.m. energy were studied. For the first time, strong effects of the 11Be halo structure on elastic-scattering and reaction mechanisms at energies near the Coulomb barrier are evidenced experimentally. The elastic-scattering cross section of the 11Be halo nucleus shows unusual behavior in the Coulomb-nuclear interference peak angular region. The extracted total-reaction cross section for the 11Be collision is more than double the ones measured in the collisions induced by (9,10)Be. It is shown that such a strong enhancement of the total-reaction cross section with 11Be is due to transfer and breakup processes.