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A new proton-unbound isotope 204Ac was produced in the fusion-evaporation reaction Tm(40169Ca,5n)204Ac and identified via the recoil-α correlation at the gas-filled recoiled separators SHANS2 and SHANS. The excitation function for producing 204Ac was measured and the optimal beam energy was evaluated to be 212 MeV. Nineteen ER - α1 - α2 - α3 decay chains were observed for this isotope. Based on these chains, the α-particle energy and half-life of 204Ac were determined to be 7948(15) keV and 7.4−1.4+2.2 ms, respectively. Both are consistent with the theoretical prediction. The reduced α-decay width was deduced to be 49−15+10 keV, which indicates a favored α decay for 204Ac. In addition, more precise decay properties of Eα = 7883(15) keV and T1/2 = 7.7−1.6+2.7 ms were obtained for 205Ac.

The electric quadrupole moment of 49Sc was measured by collinear laser spectroscopy at CERN-ISOLDE to be Qs=−0.159(8) eb, and a nearly tenfold improvement in precision was reached for the electromagnetic moments of 47,49Sc. The single-particle behavior and nucleon-nucleon correlations are investigated with the electromagnetic moments of Z=21 isotopes and N=28 isotones as valence neutrons and protons fill the distinctive 0f7/2 orbit, respectively, located between magic numbers, 20 and 28. The experimental data are interpreted with shell-model calculations using an effective interaction, and ab-initio valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group calculations based on chiral interactions. These results highlight the sensitivity of nuclear electromagnetic moments to different types of nucleon-nucleon correlations, and establish an important benchmark for further developments of theoretical calculations.

The change of the shell structure in atomic nuclei, so-called “nuclear shell evolution”, occurs due to changes of major configurations through particle-hole excitations inside one nucleus, as well as due to variation of the number of constituent protons or neutrons. We have investigated how the shell evolution affects Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions that dominate the β decay in the region below 132Sn using the newly obtained experimental data on a long-lived isomer in 127Ag. The T1/2=67.5(9) ms isomer has been identified with a spin and parity of (27/2+) at an excitation energy of 1942−20+14 keV, and found to decay via an internal transition of an E3 character, which competes with the dominant β-decay branches towards the high-spin states in 127Cd. The underlying mechanism of a strong GT transition from the 127Ag isomer is discussed in terms of configuration-dependent optimization of the effective single-particle energies in the framework of a shell-model approach.

An overall reduction factor (ORF) is introduced for studying the quenching of single-particle strengths through nucleon transfer reactions. The ORF includes contributions of all the probed bound states of the residual nucleus in a transfer reaction and permits a proper comparison with results of inclusive knockout reactions. A systematic analysis is made with 103 sets of angular distribution data of (p,d) reactions on 21 even–even targets with atomic mass numbers from 8 to 56 using the consistent three-body model reaction methodology proposed in Lee et al. (2006) [25]. The extracted ORFs are found to be nearly independent on the proton–neutron asymmetry, which is different from the systematics of inclusive knockout reactions but is consistent with the recent measurement of (d,t), (d,He3), (p,2p), and (p,pn) reactions on nitrogen and oxygen isotopes and ab initio calculations. Keywords: (p,d) reactions, Spectroscopic factors, Quenching factors, Reduced single-particle strength

The mass of 27P is expected to impact the X-ray burst (XRB) model predictions of burst light curves and the composition of the burst ashes, but large uncertainties and inconsistencies still exist in the reported 27P masses. We have used the β-decay spectroscopy of 27S to determine the most precise mass excess of 27P to date to be −659(9) keV, which is 63 keV (2.3σ) higher and a factor of 3 more precise than the value recommended in the 2016 Atomic Mass Evaluation. Based on the new 27P mass, the Si26(p,γ)27P reaction rate and its uncertainty were recalculated using Monte Carlo techniques. We also estimated the previously unknown mass excess of 27S to be 17678(77) keV, based on the measured β-delayed two-proton energy and the Coulomb displacement energy relations. The impact of these well-constrained masses and reaction rates on the modeling of the explosive astrophysical scenarios has been investigated by post-processing XRB and hydrodynamic nova models. Compared to the model calculations based on the masses and rates from databases, the abundance of A=26 in the burst ashes is increased by a factor of 2.4, while no substantial change was found in the XRB energy generation rate or the light curve. Our calculation also suggests that 27S is not a significant waiting point in the rapid proton capture process, and the change of the Si26(p,γ)27P reaction rate is not sufficiently large to affect the conclusion previously drawn on the nova contribution to the synthesis of galactic 26Al. Keywords: Masses of 27P and 27S, Si26(p,γ)27P reaction, X-ray bursts, Nova outbursts

The decay of 218Pa was investigated by means of α and γ spectroscopy. The nucleus was produced in the fusion reaction 40Ar+182W and separated in flight by the gas-filled recoil separator SHANS (Spectrometer for Heavy Atoms and Nuclear Structure). The known α decays of 218Pa were measured with improved precision and newly assigned to be originating from the ground state, which clarified the ambiguities in their previous assignments. In addition, a new isomeric state in 218Pa decaying with α-particle energies of 9691(15) keV, 9595(21) keV and a half-life of 135−32+62 μs was identified. The spins and parities of the involved states were tentatively assigned on the basis of the systematic α-decay properties of the odd-proton N=127 isotones and shell model calculations. Keywords: Odd-proton N=127 isotones, Isomeric state, α-particle energy, Half-life, Shell model calculation, Spin and parity

A new 11Be(d,p)12Be transfer reaction experiment was carried out in inverse kinematics at 26.9A MeV, with special efforts devoted to the determination of the deuteron target thickness and of the required optical potentials from the present elastic scattering data. In addition a direct measurement of the cross section for the 02+ state was realized by applying an isomer-tagging technique. The s-wave spectroscopic factors of 0.20−0.04+0.03 and 0.41−0.11+0.11 were extracted for the 01+ and 02+ states, respectively, in 12Be. Using the ratio of these spectroscopic factors, together with the previously reported results for the p-wave components, the single-particle component intensities in the bound 0+ states of 12Be were deduced, allowing a direct comparison with the theoretical predictions. It is evidenced that the ground-state configuration of 12Be is dominated by the d-wave intruder, exhibiting a dramatic evolution of the intruding mechanism from 11Be to 12Be, with a persistence of the N=8 magic number broken. Keywords: Transfer reaction, 12Be, Intruder configuration

β-decay studies of neutron-rich nuclei in and around the “island of inversion” have been performed. With a systematic investigation of half-lives for the isotonic chains from N=19 to 22, conspicuous kinks observed at Z=13 provide a clear signature of a boundary on the northern (high-Z) side of the island. Based on the comparison with shell model calculations using Gogny D1S and SDPF-M interactions, a newly determined 22+ state in 34Si at 4519 keV presents an experimental evidence of triaxiality in this region and sheds more light on the structure of the transition across the northern boundary of the island.

The N=130 short-lived isotope 223Np was produced as evaporation residue (ER) in the fusion reaction 40Ar + 187Re at the gas-filled recoil separator Spectrometer for Heavy Atom and Nuclear Structure (SHANS). It was identified through temporal and spatial correlations with α decays of 215Ac and/or 211Fr, the third and fourth members of the α-decay chain starting from 223Np. The pileup signals of ER(223Np)–α(223Np)–α(219Pa) were resolved by using the digital pulse processing technique. An α decay with half-life of T1/2=2.15(52100) μs and energy of Eα=9477(44)keV was attributed to 223Np. Spin and parity of 9/2− were tentatively proposed for the ground state of 223Np by combining the reduced α-decay width and large-scale shell-model calculations. This assignment together with the proton separation energy disprove the existence of a Z=92 subshell closure. Keywords: New isotope, Short-lived α radioactivity, Proton separation energy, Subshell closure

The decay of the lightest nucleus with Tz=−3, 22Si, was studied by a silicon array. A charged-particle group at 5600 (70) keV in the decay-energy spectrum was identified experimentally as β-delayed two-proton emission from the isobaric analog state (IAS) of 22Al. Experimental results of the IAS fed by a superallowed Fermi transition were compared with our large-scale shell-model calculations. The ground-state mass of 22Si was obtained indirectly in the experiment for the first time. Two-proton separation energy for 22Si is deduced to be −108 (125) keV, which indicates that it is a very marginal candidate for two-proton ground-state emission.