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6 pages; International audience; Isomeric states in 253No have been investigated by conversion-electron and gamma-ray spectroscopy with the GABRIELA detection system. The 31 micro second isomer reported more than 30 years ago is found to decay to the ground state of 253No by the emission of a 167 keV M2 transition. The spin and parity of this low-lying isomeric state are established to be 5/2+. The presence of another longer-lived isomeric state is also discussed.

Fusion-fission and fusion-evaporation cross sections have been measured in a large energy range for the 4 8 Ca+ 1 6 8 Er, 1 5 4 Sm reactions. The comparison of the reduced evaporation data for such reactions and for collisions induced by light projectiles leading to the same compound nuclei 2 1 6 Ra* and 2 0 2 Pb* puts in evidence a fusion hindrance, which is particularly large for the first composite system. This fusion suppression is consistent with a noticeable contribution coming from quasi-fission events observed in the mass-energy distribution of fission fragments. The asymmetric shape of the quasi-fission component has been explained in terms of shell effects in the exit channel, favouring the population of closed shell fission fragments. The comparison of 4 8 Ca+ 1 5 4 Sm with preliminary data on 4 8 Ca+ 1 4 4 Sm seems to suggest that the target deformation plays a role in the onset of the quasi-fission mechanism.

M. G. Itkis,∗ ,a A. A. Bogatchev,a I. M. Itkis,a M. Jandel,a J. Kliman,a G. N. Kniajeva,a N. A. Kondratiev,a I. V. Korzyukov,a E. M. Kozulin,a L. Krupa,a Yu. Ts. Oganessian,a I. V. Pokrovski,a V. A. Ponomarenko,a E. V. Prokhorova,a A. Ya. Rusanov,a V. M. Voskresenski,a A. A. Goverdovski,b F. Hanappe,c T. Materna,c N. Rowley,d L. Stuttge,d G. Giardina,e and K. J. Moodyf Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Research, JINR, 141980 Dubna, Russia Institute for Physics & Power Engineering, 249020 Obninsk, Russia Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium Institut de Recherches Subatomiques, F-67037 Strasbourg Cedex, France Dipartimento di Fisica dell’ Universita di Messina, 98166 Messina, Italy University of California, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94551, USA

The phenomenon of fusion barrier distributions is discussed in the context of a problem already investigated in some detail with simple detection systems, but possessing avenues to studies with multi-detector arrays. The complementarity of research with simple and complex detectors, as well as with stable and radioactive beams, will be highlighted.

Experimental lifetimes and branching ratios for the -decay of even-even actinide nuclei can be fitted with wavefunctions at the nuclear surface which are practically nucleus independent. This suggests some common preformation process across the entire mass region. Our analysis is achieved without the introduction of a `knocking frequency' and within reasonably well defined limits, the amplitudes that we calculate can be directly related to the -particle preformation factor.

How can we explain that some Popular education militants are also referring to the Information Society and thus seem to join this plan, carried to a great extent by merchants and the authorities ? Which are the stakes at work in this “meeting” ? Popular education, in addition to a long and plural history, is not homogeneous. However, Popular education is marked by a common philosophy aiming at developing social, cultural and political people's emancipation. In the mean time, political and economic authorities need to get the support of social actors to carry out the Information Society. Within this framework, associations would be the relay of the development of this society ; the necessary social mediator of this plan. Meanwhile, Popular education movements are seeking ways to appropriate this concept in order to make it able to serve the interests of Popular education. But they also question the specific purposes of this model. Indeed, the reference to the Information Society allows the militants of Popular education to update their traditional matters, and also to come out of the crisis they are facing. Lastly, if this meeting seems, at first sight, to generate consensus, the inherent conflicts in the confrontation of the values and identities do not therefore disappear and question the real stakes at work.

The SEC13 gene was originally identified by temperature-sensitive mutations that block all protein transport from the ER to the Golgi. We have found that at a permissive temperature for growth, the sec13-1 mutation selectively blocks transport of the nitrogen-regulated amino acid permease, Gaplp, from the Golgi to the plasma membrane, but does not affect the activity of constitutive permeases such as Hip1p, Can1p, or Lyp1p. Different alleles of SEC13 exhibit different relative effects on protein transport from the ER to the Golgi, or on Gap1p activity, indicating distinct requirements for SEC13 function at two different steps in the secretory pathway. Three new genes, LST4, LST7, and LSTB, were identified that are also required for amino acid permease transport from the Golgi to the cell surface. Mutations in LST4 and LST7 reduce the activity of the nitrogen-regulated permeases Gap1p and Put4p, whereas mutations in LST8 impair the activities of a broader set of amino acid permeases. The LST8 gene encodes a protein composed of WD-repeats and has a close human homologue. The LST7 gene encodes a novel protein. Together, these data indicate that SEC13, LST4, LST7, and LST8 function in the regulated delivery of Gap1p to the cell surface, perhaps as components of a post-Golgi secretory-vesicle coat.

An experiment was performed with the EUROGAM II array to investigate the reaction channels that are open in the fusion of a beam on the actinide target at a series of energies around the Coulomb barrier. The symmetric fission products identified from the level structures seem to suggest that a proton and neutrons are emitted prior to fission.

In mammalian cells, extracellular signals can regulate the delivery of particular proteins to the plasma membrane. We have discovered a novel example of regulated protein sorting in the late secretory pathway of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In yeast cells grown on either ammonia or urea medium, the general amino acid permease (Gap1p) is transported from the Golgi complex to the plasma membrane, whereas, in cells grown on glutamate medium, Gap1p is transported from the Golgi to the vacuole. We have also found that sorting of Gap1p in the Golgi is controlled by SEC13, a gene previously shown to encode a component of the COPII vesicle coat. In sec13 mutants grown on ammonia, Gap1p is transported from the Golgi to the vacuole, instead of to the plasma membrane. Deletion of PEP12, a gene required for vesicular transport from the Golgi to the prevacuolar compartment, counteracts the effect of the sec13 mutation and partially restores Gap1p transport to the plasma membrane. Together, these studies demonstrate that both a nitrogen-sensing mechanism and Sec13p control Gap1p transport from the Golgi to the plasma membrane.

$\alpha-$decay through a deformed potential barrier produces significant mixing of angular momenta when mapped from the nuclear interior to the outside. Using experimental branching ratios and either semi-classical or coupled-channels transmission matrices, we have found that there is a set of internal amplitudes which are essentially constant for all even--even actinide nuclei. These same amplitudes also give good results for the known anisotropic $\alpha-$particle emission of the favored decays of odd nuclei in the same mass region. PACS numbers: 23.60.+e, 24.10.Eq, 27.90.+b

The rotational structure of ${}^{246}$Fm has been investigated using in-beam $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectroscopic techniques. The experiment was performed using the JUROGAMII germanium detector array coupled to the gas-filled recoil ion transport unit (RITU) and the gamma recoil electron alpha tagging (GREAT) focal plane detection system. Nuclei of ${}^{246}$Fm were produced using a 186 MeV beam of ${}^{40}$Ar impinging on a ${}^{208}$Pb target. The JUROGAMII array was fully instrumented with Tracking Numerical Treatment 2 Dubna (TNT2D) digital acquisition cards. The use of digital electronics and a rotating target allowed for unprecedented beam intensities of up to 71 particle-nanoamperes for prompt $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy at a level of approximately 11 nb. With all these major experimental advances a rotational band is observed in ${}^{246}$Fm.

International audience; The perceptive analysis of Rutherford, celebrated at this conference, turned the experiments of Geiger and Marsden into a measurement of the radius of the object that became known as the atomic "nucleus". We now know that the nucleus can have a range of radii that depend on its static and dynamical deformations. These deformations give rise to the distributions of reaction barriers that have been extensively studied over recent years. While fusion reactions are most often used for such studies, there are cases where, for physical or practical reasons, the scattering channels must be exploited. Despite the major advantages gained from modern experimental techniques, the resulting experiments are in spirit essentially the same as those performed over 100 years ago by Rutherford and his colleagues.

International audience; In the context of the creation of heavy evaporation residues, the interplay between capture, quasifission and true compound-nucleus fission is discussed. An approximate factorisation of the cross section into a compound nucleus term and an entrance-channel term is derived, with each of these terms being clearly defined.

Using the random matrix model, we discuss the effect of couplings to non-collective states on the penetrability of a one dimensional potential barrier. We show that these non-collective excitations hinder the penetrability and thus smear the barrier distribution at energies above the barrier, while they do not affect significantly the penetrability at deep subbarrier energies. The energy dependence of the Q-value distribution obtained with this model is also discussed., 4 pages, 2 figures. A talk given at the 10th international conference on nucleus-nucleus collisions (NN2009), Aug. 16-21, 2009, Beijing, China

The 'experimental barrier distribution' provides a parameter-free representation of experimental heavy-ion capture cross sections that highlights the effects of entrance-channel couplings. Its relation to the s-wave transmission is discussed, and in particular it is shown how the full capture cross section can be generated from an l=0 coupled-channels calculation. Furthermore, it is shown how this transmission can be simply exploited in calculations of quasifission and evaporation-residue cross sections. The system {sup 48}Ca+{sup 154}Sm is studied in detail. A calculation of the compound-nucleus spin distribution reveals a possible energy dependence of barrier weights due to polarization arising from target and projectile quadrupole phonon states; this effect also gives rise to an entrance-channel 'extra-push'.

Large-angle quasielastic scattering has been studied in a high- Z 1 Z 2 nuclear reaction of the type leading to superheavy-element production by cold fusion. We show that despite the presence of strongly dissipative channels, and the complete absence of fusion, the notion of an external barrier distribution, determined by strong coupling to collective excitations of target and projectile, is still valid. Furthermore, our method allows us to deduce some properties of the deep-inelastic processes in this system.

A new experiment to determine the thermonuclear cross section of the C-12(alpha,gamma)O-16 reaction has been performed in regular kinematics using an intense alpha-particle beam of up to 340 mu A from the Stuttgart DYNAMITRON. For the first time, a 4 pi-germanium-detector setup has been used to measure the angular distribution of the gamma rays at all angles simultaneously. It consisted of an array of nine EUROGAM high-purity Ge detectors in close geometry, actively shielded individually with bismuth germanate crystals. The C-12 targets were isotopically enriched by magnetic separation during implantation. The depth profiles of the implanted carbon in the C-12 targets were determined by Rutherford backscattering for purposes of cross-section normalization and absolute determination of the E1 and E2 S factors. Angular distributions of the gamma decay to the O-16 ground state were measured in the energy range E-c.m.=1.30-2.78 MeV and in the angular range (lab.) 30 degrees-130 degrees. From these distributions, astrophysical E1 and E2 S-factor functions vs energy were calculated, both of which are indispensable to the modeling of this reaction and the extrapolation toward lower energies. The separation of the E1 and E2 capture channels was done both by taking the phase value phi(12) as a free parameter and by fixing it using the results of elastic alpha-particle scattering on C-12 in the same energy range.

With the aid of the Geant4 Monte Carlo simulation package a new detection system has been designed for the focal plane of the recoil separator VASSILISSA situated at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, JINR, Dubna. GABRIELA (Gamma Alpha Beta Recoil Investigations with the Electromagnetic Analyser VASSILISSA) has been optimised to detect the arrival of reaction products and their subsequent radioactive decays involving the emission of alpha- and beta-particles, fission fragments, gamma- and X-rays, and conversion electrons. The new detector system is described and the results of the first commissioning experiments are presented., 24 pages, Submitted to NIM A

The fusion probability for heavy symmetric systems is known to show certain very specific features. Apart from the large variance of the fusion barrier distribution, it is found that the energy at which the s‐wave transmission is 0.5 is shifted to an energy significantly higher than the nominal (e.g. Bass) Coulomb barrier. This last feature is referred to in the literature as the ‘extra push’ effect. Many models have been devised to explain the origin of these findings. It is worth noting, however, that despite the extra push, the capture cross section is still greatly enhanced at the very lowest energies. This fact cannot be explained within the framework of macroscopic theories involving conditional saddle points or frictional forces. We have performed full coupled‐channel calculations for heavy, symmetric systems treating correctly the long‐range Coulomb excitations of the collective quadrupole‐ and octupole‐phonon states in the target and projectile. The results obtained show that the extra push and t...

Symmetric heavy-ion collisions are known to display an `extra-push' effect. That is, the energy at which the s-wave transmission is 0.5 lies significantly higher than the nominal Coulomb barrier. Despite this, however, the capture cross section is still greatly enhanced below the uncoupled barrier. It is shown that this phenomenon can be simply explained in terms of entrance-channel effects which account for long-range Coulomb excitations., 9 pages, 4 ps figures, uses elsart.cls

International audience; A breakthrough was recently obtained in the analysis of the so-called Hyper-Long-HyperDeformed (HLHD) experiment made at the EUROBALL-IV γ-detector array (EB). The 64Ni + 64Ni ⇒ 128Ba* fusion reaction was studied at Ebeam = 255 and 261 MeV, reaching the highest angular momentum that the compound nuclei can accommodate. To date no discrete HD rotational bands have been identified. However, rotational patterns in the form of ridge-structures in three-dimensional (3D) rotational mapped spectra are identified with dynamic moments of inertia J(2) ranging from 71 to 1112 MeV-1 in 12 different nuclei selected by charged particle- and/or γ-gating. The four nuclei, 118Te, 124Cs, 125Cs and 124Xe found with moment of inertia J(2)≥100 2 MeV-1, are most likely hyperdeformed, the remaining nuclei with smaller values of J(2), are considered to be superdeformed, in qualitative agreement with recent theoretical calculations.

Motivated by the extreme deformation parameters of the projectile, we have measured quasi-elastic scattering for 20 Ne + 118 Sn. In contrast to calculations based on known collective states, the experimental barrier distribution is structureless. A comparison with the system 22 Ne + 118 Sn shows that this smoothing is unlikely to be due to nucleon- or α -transfer channels, and is more likely to be due to coupling to many other weak channels.

A recent publication reports that heavy-ion fusion cross sections at extreme subbarrier energies show a continuous change of their logarithmic slope with decreasing energy, resulting in a much steeper excitation function compared with theoretical predictions. We show that the energy dependence of this slope is partly due to the asymmetric shape of the Coulomb barrier, that is its deviation from a harmonic shape. We also point out that the large low-energy slope is consistent with the surprisingly large surface diffusenesses required to fit recent high-precision fusion data., 9 pages, 3 eps figures

Just over a century after the discovery of radioactivity by Becquerel and of new elements by the Curies, we have begun to master the techniques of performing experiments with radioactive beams. And, of course, the search for other new elements goes on. At the same time the exploitation of γ-ray arrays of increasing power pushes observation limits lower and lower in the search for new phenomena at high spins. Ancillary devices, capable of giving cleaner channel selection, also permit the study of higher-mass systems and of more exotic charge-to-mass ratios even with stable beams.

Through precision measurements of fusion cross sections at energies close to the Coulomb barrier and through the application of the method of “experimental barrier distributions” which these permit, many recent advances have been made in our understanding of the dynamical processes occurring during a heavy-ion collision. It is now clear that the target and projectile reach one another in superpositions of states which correspond to different orientations for rotational nuclei or to different induced deformations for vibrational nuclei. The creation of a neck of neutron matter has also long been postulated and by studying the isotopic dependence of the fusion reaction, some recent results in the 10Ca+90,96Zr systems appear to confirm this result. For large Z1Z2 a type of extra-push effect can arise from the same inelastic entrance-channel effects which enhance the fusion of lighter systems, though this will be absent in cases where the enhancement arises from neutron transfers.

A fascinating challenge in nuclear structure physics is to find the maximum atomic numberZ— the number of protons — for which a relatively stable nucleus can exist. The question is, just how many stable elements is it possible to make?

The extraction of representations of the fusion barrier distribution from backward-angle, quasi-elastic, elastic and transfer excitation functions is discussed. Such excitation functions have been measured for , and projectiles incident on a variety of targets. The results are compared with representations obtained from fusion excitation functions. Varying in their sensitivity, all representations show evidence of the barrier structure. Differences between the scattering and the fusion representations can be related to the effects of coupling to residual, weak reaction channels.

Using the above-barrier fusion probabilities of Berriman and the appropriate extra-push energies, we re-investigate the quasi-fission dynamics of reactions leading to the compound nucleus 220 Th. A consistent description is obtained in terms of the entrance- channel barriers that are known to determine the initial capture process. The different dynamical deformations that give rise to these barriers significantly influence the potential- energy landscapes onto which the captured system is injected.

We study in detail the barrier distributions extracted from large-angle quasi-elastic scattering of heavy ions at energies near the Coulomb barrier. Using a closed-form expression for scattering from a single barrier, we compare the quasi-elastic barrier distribution with the corresponding test function for fusion. We examine the isocentrifugal approximation in coupled-channels calculations of quasi-elastic scattering and find that for backward angles, it works well, justifying the concept of a barrier distribution for scattering processes. This method offers an interesting tool for investigating unstable nuclei. We illustrate this for the $^{32}$Mg + $^{208}$Pb reaction, where the quadrupole collectivity of the neutron-rich $^{32}$Mg remains to be clarified experimentally., Comment: 26 pages, 10 eps figures

A great many physical processes are mediated by the penetration or surmounting of a potential barrier. Some notable examples are the thermionic emission of electrons, chemical reactions, tunnelling of Cooper pairs through Josephson junctions, nuclear ‘burning’ in stars etc. Often the potential in question is not simply a function of the position of the intruding particle, but is a complicated landscape determined by the static structure of the physical objects concerned as well as by their dynamical response to their mutual interactions. For example, in a Josephson junction, the penetration of the barrier is strongly influenced by the excitation of lattice vibrations while catalysed chemical reactions proceed via complex routes which present a series of lower activation energies. In a physical system with a well-defined temperature, the details of the potential landscape may be obscured by the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of energies. The fusion of heavy nuclei can, however, be achieved over a controlled range of well-defined beam energies to reveal fine details of some of these effects. To date the major new experimental work in this area has been performed at the ANU, Canberra and at the INFN, Legnaro. As well as yielding valuable information on nuclear structure (detailed information on nuclear shapes etc.) and some totally unexpected reaction dynamics (complexity of the induced surface oscillations, neutron flow), these experiments and their theoretical analysis give considerable insights into the general problem of ‘tunnelling in the presence of an environment’.

Fast Nuclear Rotation. By Zdzislaw Szymanski. Oxford University Press: 1983. Pp.250. £35, $39.