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In this short article we publish, with translations, a macaronic Hebrew cum Middle Greek religious poem, accompanied by a refrain in Ottoman Turkish, all written in Hebrew characters and fully vocalized. The text comes from a Karaite prayerbook printed in Venice in 1528 on behalf of the Constantinople Karaite community. This poem and its origins played a role in different manipulations of Karaite identities and history during the 19th and 20th centuries.

In the “Afghan Genizah,” a recently acquired collection of texts in Judeo-Persian, Early New-Persian, Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic from the tenth to thirteenth centuries, I recognized a Judeo-Persian fragment of a Jewish, anti-Christian polemic work. This fragment may be – or may not be – part of the Toledoth Yeshu literature. It contains a Gospel quotation in Syriac in Hebrew letters.

This article presents a unique trilingual (Hebrew, Turkic, and Slavic) religious literary work from the personal archive of Avraham Firkowicz (National Library of Russia, St. Petersburg). The text, containing 129 lines (verses) in Hebrew characters, is written in Firkowicz’s own hand. Its author has not been reliably identified, but it is assumed that he could be a Karaite Jew from Łuck / Lutsk (Wolhynia, present-day Ukraine) with a good speaking-level knowledge of Slavic and Turkish (e.g., Joseph-Solomon Lutski or Mordechai Sultanski). The language of the Turkic version is a variety of Crimean Judeo-Turkic with many Turkish (Oğuz) features; the language of the Slavic version is based on standard Russian of the early 19th century with Church Slavonic, Ukrainian, and Polish elements.

Daniel Chwolson (1819–1911) made a huge impact upon the research of Hebrew epigraphy from the Crimea and Caucasus. Despite that, his role in the more-than-a-century-long controversy regarding Crimean Hebrew tomb inscriptions has not been well studied. Chwolson, at first, adopted Abraham Firkowicz’s forgeries, and then quickly realized his mistake; however, he could not back up. Th e criticism by both Abraham Harkavy and German Hebraists questioned Chwolson’s scholarly qualifications and integrity. Consequently, the interference of political pressure into the academic argument resulted in the prevailing of the scholarly flawed opinion. We revisit the interpretation of these findings by Russian, Jewish, Karaite and Georgian historians in the 19th and 20th centuries. During the Soviet period, Jewish Studies in the USSR were in neglect and nobody seriously studied the whole complex of the inscriptions from the South of Russia / the Soviet Union. The remnants of the scholarly community were hypnotized by Chwolson’s authority, who was the teacher of their teachers’ teachers. At the same time, Western scholars did not have access to these materials and/or lacked the understanding of the broader context, and thus a number of erroneous Chwolson’s conclusion have entered academic literature for decades.

The Sepharadi prayer book, printed at Vilna in 1909 for the use of Mountain Jews, was mostly bilingual with spacious translation into their language defined in this publication as “Tati”. The language of this translation predates to Soviet engineering of the Literary Tati during 1920s-1930s; moreover, parts of the translation, especially of those portions of the Bible used in liturgy, may go back to the previous centuries. No study of the language of the Biblical translations to the language of the Mountain Jews was published yet. It’s the last call to turn efforts of all those who mind the linguistic heritage of the Mountain Jews to academic studies of this language, and especially of its vanishing dialects and the language of the Biblical translations found in this prayer book and elsewhere.

We present mass excesses (ME) of neutron-rich isotopes of Ar through Fe, obtained via TOF-$B\rho$ mass spectrometry at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. Our new results have significantly reduced systematic uncertainties relative to a prior analysis, enabling the first determination of ME for $^{58,59}{\rm Ti}$, $^{62}{\rm V}$, $^{65}{\rm Cr}$, $^{67,68}{\rm Mn}$, and $^{69,70}{\rm Fe}$. Our results show the $N=34$ subshell weaken at Sc and vanish at Ti, along with the absence of an $N=40$ subshell at Mn. This leads to a cooler accreted neutron star crust, highlighting the connection between the structure of nuclei and neutron stars., Comment: Accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication in Physical Review C

Reflecting recent innovations in heavy ion detection systems, this volume presents the state of the art in these systems and discusses plans and techniques for new instrumentation to explore the newest frontier of heavy ion science-relativistic heavy ions. Covers mass detectors, the GSI magnetic spectrometer, the Berkeley high resolution ball, and detectors for high energy heavy ion colliders.

Half of the elements heavier than iron are believed to be produced through the rapid neutron-capture process ($r$ process). The astrophysical environment(s) where the $r$ process occurs remains an open question, even after recent observations of neutron-star mergers and the associated kilonova. Features in the abundance pattern of $r$-process ashes may provide critical insight for distinguishing contributions from different possible sites, including neutron-star mergers and core-collapse supernovae. In particular, the largely unknown neutron-capture reaction rates on neutron-rich unstable nuclei near $^{132}\mathrm{Sn}$ could have a significant impact on the final $r$-process abundances. To better determine these neutron-capture rates, the $(d,p)$ reaction has been measured in inverse kinematics using radioactive ion beams of $^{126}\mathrm{Sn}$ and $^{128}\mathrm{Sn}$ and a stable beam of $^{124}\mathrm{Sn}$ interacting with a ${({\mathrm{CD}}_{2})}_{n}$ target. An array of position-sensitive silicon strip detectors, including the Super Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array, was used to detect light reaction products. In addition to the present measurements, previous measurements of $^{130,132}\mathrm{Sn}(d,p)$ were reanalyzed using state-of-the-art reaction theory to extract a consistent set of spectroscopic factors for $(d,p)$ reactions on even tin nuclei between the heaviest stable isotope $^{124}\mathrm{Sn}$ and doubly magic $^{132}\mathrm{Sn}$. The spectroscopic information was used to calculate direct-semidirect $(n,\ensuremath{\gamma})$ cross sections, which will serve as important input for $r$-process abundance calculations.

Spectroscopic information has been extracted on the hole-states of 55Ni, the least known of the quartet of nuclei (55Ni, 57Ni, 55Co and 57Co), one neutron away from 56Ni, the N=Z=28 double magic nucleus. Using the 1H(56Ni,d)55Ni transfer reaction in inverse kinematics, neutron spectroscopic factors, spins and parities have been extracted for the f7/2, p3/2 and the s1/2 hole-states of 55Ni. This new data provides a benchmark for large basis calculations that include nucleonic orbits in both the sd and pf shells. State of the art calculations have been performed to reproduce the excitation energies and spectroscopic factors of the s1/2 hole state below Fermi energy.

We demonstrate an approach to measure the total fusion cross-section for beams of low-intensity light nuclei. Fusion residues resulting from the fusion of 20,16 O+ 12 C are directly measured and distinguished from unreacted beam particles on the basis of their energy and time-of-flight. The time-of-flight is measured between a microchannel plate (MCP) detector, which serves as a start, and a segmented silicon detector, which provides a stop. The two main difficulties associated with the initial implementation of this approach are charge trapping in the silicon detector and slit scattering in the MCP detector. Both these obstacles have been characterized and overcome. To reduce atomic slit scattering in the measurement we have eliminated wires from the beam path by developing a gridless MCP detector. The total fusion cross-section for 16 O+ 12 C in the energy range E CM =8.0–12.0 MeV has been measured in agreement with established literature values (down to the 100 mb level).

Abstract This article is a philological study of literary motifs in the Middle Persian apocalyptic work of uncertain date, Zand ī Wahman Yašt. The author claims that the motifs under his consideration in the text of ZWY (=Zand ī Wahman ī Yašt) go back to Middle Persian version of several Avestan Yašts, especially, to the Middle Persian translation of the second part of Yašt 1 (known as Wahman Yašt), Yašt 11, and Yašt 8.

Atomic masses play an important role in nuclear physics and astrophysics. The need of experimental mass values for unstable nuclides has triggered the development of a wide range of mass measurement techniques, with devices installed at many laboratories around the world. We have implemented a time-of-flight–magnetic-rigidity ( TOF - B ρ ) technique at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) that includes a position measurement for magnetic rigidity corrections and uses the A1900 separator and the S800 spectrograph. We performed a successful first experiment measuring masses of neutron-rich isotopes in the region of Z ∼ 20–30, important for calculations of processes occurring in the crust of accreting neutron stars. The masses of 16 nuclei were determined, for 61V, 63Cr, 66Mn, and 74Ni for the first time, with atomic mass excesses of −30.510(890) MeV, −35.280(650) MeV, −36.900(790) MeV, and −49.210(990) MeV, respectively. The mass resolution achieved was 1.8×10−4.

In this study, the presence of neutron transfer channels with positive Q values can enhance sub-barrier fusion cross sections. Recent measurements of the fusion excitation functions for 58Ni+132,124Sn found that the fusion enhancement due to the influence of neutron transfer is smaller than that in 40Ca +132,124Sn although the Q values for multineutron transfer are comparable. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences observed between the fusion of Sn + Ni and Sn + Ca. Methods: Fusion excitation functions for 46,50Ti +124Sn have been measured at energies near the Coulomb barrier. As a result, a comparison of the barrier distributions for 46Ti+124Sn and 40Ca+124Sn shows that the 40Ca+124Sn system has a barrier strength resulting from the coupling to the very collective octupole state in 40Ca at an energy significantly lower than the uncoupled barrier. In conclusion, the large sub-barrier fusion enhancement in 40Ca induced reactions is attributed to both couplings to neutron transfer and inelastic excitation, with the octupole vibration of 40Ca playing a major role.

We present the mass excesses of 59-64Cr, obtained from recent time-of-flight nuclear mass measurements at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. The mass of 64Cr is determined for the first time, with an atomic mass excess of -33.48(44) MeV. We find a significantly different two-neutron separation energy S2n trend for neutron-rich isotopes of chromium, removing the previously observed enhancement in binding at N=38. Additionally, we extend the S2n trend for chromium to N=40, revealing behavior consistent with the previously identified island of inversion in this region. We compare our results to state-of-the-art shell-model calculations performed with a modified Lenzi-Nowacki-Poves-Sieja interaction in the fp shell, including the g9/2 and d5/2 orbits for the neutron valence space. We employ our result for the mass of 64Cr in accreted neutron star crust network calculations and find a reduction in the strength and depth of electron-capture heating from the A=64 isobaric chain, resulting in a cooler than expected accreted neutron star crust. This reduced heating is found to be due to the >1-MeV reduction in binding for 64Cr with respect to values from commonly used global mass models.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, political élites of some of the former Soviet republics, especially the Turkic-speaking ones, found themselves in ideological limbo. The first President of Turkmenistan, Saparmurat Niyazov (Saparmyrat Nyýazow), has trodden his way out from the vacuum of legitimacy in the most original and interesting manner. In 2001, Niyazov, known also as Turkmenbashi (Türkmenbaşy), made public his book, Ruhnama, which later has been translated into about fifty languages. The book, appealing to the Oğuz Turkic heritage of the Turkmen nation, to her remote Parthian past, and to vague Islamic cultural inheritance, was supposed to provide guidelines for nation-building and cohesiveness. Atatürk's Nutuk was one of the literary models of Niyazov's book. Having fixed the newly-invented national mythology in writing, Niyazov was not only shaping his society in the desirable manner, but also legitimising his own rule. This paper analyses fragments of different—and not identical—versions of the first part of the work in several languages, mostly in Turkmen, Turkish, Russian, and English. The author suggests that the text of the Ruhnama was updated several times, with different translations reflecting different stages of fixing the original; the English text was translated faithfully from the elaborated Turkish translation, not from the Turkmen.

Angular distributions of the Coulomb breakup of radioactive 17F were measured by impinging a 10 MeV/nucleon beam on 208Pb and on 58Ni to study the dynamic polarization effects. The breakup products, oxygen and a proton, were detected in coincidence. First-order perturbation theory significantly overpredicts the breakup cross section for the 208Pb target. Dynamical calculations with a dynamic polarization as the leading order correction were performed. The calculations reproduce the data for 17F on 58Ni but overpredict the breakup of 17F on 208Pb by a factor of two at forward angles.

In this paper we shall study an aggadic tradition from the Babylonian Talmud while trying to find traces of early Iranian mythological conceptions that were absorbed by the talmudic sages as a part of their own biblically enrooted knowledge. We shall also attempt to gain a better understanding of the talmudic text by presuming that it reflects ideas absorbed from the Iranian—or, rather, “Iraqian”—environment. Occasionally, however, early Iranian myths do not always survive in their original, complete forms, and sometimes only fragmentary remains in medieval Zoroastrian literature can be used for their reconstruction. The so-called ninth-century books in Pahlavi were edited by Zoroastrian priests at a rather late date, and in a quite tendentious manner. Significantly, the bulk of the numerous “pagan” strains were excised, probably because the editing work took place in a Muslim environment, and our knowledge of the actual popular religions of Sasanian—or, for our purpose, talmudic—western Iran and Mesopotamia/Iraq is far from adequate. Thus, every piece of secondary evidence regarding the popular Iranian beliefs is precious.

This paper is an unbiased investigation of two Jewish tomb inscriptions from Mc'xeta, Georgia, claimed to support the legends about the mission of St. Nino, into the broader context of the oldest Armenian and Georgian texts that mention Jews, with the emphasis on Armenian-Georgian ecclesiastical relations. The conclusion of the author is that it is impossible to use the two mentioned inscriptions as an evidence for a Georgian Jewish community in Mc'xeta in the 4th or 5th centuries.

The availability of accelerated fission fragments at HRIBF allows us to study fusion reactions where one of the reactants is a short-lived exotic nucleus. Most interesting in this respect are entrance channels involving neutron-rich target and projectile – where enhanced survival probability of the compound system may allow the synthesis of heavier system. Much depends though on the dynamic evolution of the captured nuclei into a compound nucleus and the ensuing competition between fission and evaporation residue decay modes. Our studies of fusion between heavy neutron-rich nuclei are aimed at acquiring data that will lead to the understanding and eventually the ability to predict the probabilities for these different processes.

We [Collaboration members include: F.J. Liang, D. Shapira, C.J. Gross, J.R. Beene, R.L. Varner, P.E. Mueller, A. Galindo-Uribarri, J. Gomez del Campo, D.W. Stracener, Physics Division ORNL, W. Loveland Oregon State Univ., H. Amro, J.J. Kolata Univ. of Notre Dame, J. Bierman Gonzaga Univ. A. L. Caraley State Univ. of New York at Oswego] have measured the formation of Evaporation Residues (ER) at near-barrier energies in collisions between several Te and Sn beams on 58 Ni and 64 Ni targets. The measured excitation functions are sparse but by measuring several systems we try to explore systematic trends in the sub-barrier cross section for ER formation. The data obtained show the expected enhancement in ER production (survival) with the addition of neutrons to the fused system. The overall cross sections, however, depend strongly on the capture cross sections that are the focus of this presentation An analysis of nucleus-nucleus capture in this mass region is attempted in the framework of a WKB formalism that incorporates neutron transfer/flow in a two-step process. The calculated capture cross sections are compared with the new, and other available data in this mass region. We use global potentials in our analysis and do not fit individual data sets but hope that these, or similar, calculations will provide a simple base for the prediction of trends in nucleus-nucleus capture cross sections.

We present the mass excesses of (52-57)Sc, obtained from recent time-of-flight nuclear mass measurements at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. The masses of 56Sc and 57Sc were determined for the first time with atomic mass excesses of -24.85(59)((-54)(+0)) MeV and -21.0(1.3) MeV, respectively, where the asymmetric uncertainty for 56Sc was included due to possible contamination from a long-lived isomer. The 56Sc mass indicates a small odd-even mass staggering in the A = 56 mass chain towards the neutron drip line, significantly deviating from trends predicted by the global FRDM mass model and favoring trends predicted by the UNEDF0 and UNEDF1 density functional calculations. Together with new shell-model calculations of the electron-capture strength function of 56Sc, our results strongly reduce uncertainties in model calculations of the heating and cooling at the 56Ti electron-capture layer in the outer crust of accreting neutron stars. We find that, in contrast to previous studies, neither strong neutrino cooling nor strong heating occurs in this layer. We conclude that Urca cooling in the outer crusts of accreting neutron stars that exhibit superbursts or high temperature steady-state burning, which are predicted to be rich in A≈56 nuclei, is considerably weaker than predicted. Urca cooling must instead be dominated by electron capture on the small amounts of adjacent odd-A nuclei contained in the superburst and high temperature steady-state burning ashes. This may explain the absence of strong crust Urca cooling inferred from the observed cooling light curve of the transiently accreting x-ray source MAXI J0556-332.

The Galactic 1.809-MeV $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray signature from the $\ensuremath{\beta}$ decay of $^{26g}\mathrm{Al}$ is a dominant target of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray astronomy, of which a significant component is understood to originate from massive stars. The $^{26g}\mathrm{Al}(p,\ensuremath{\gamma})^{27}\mathrm{Si}$ reaction is a major destruction pathway for $^{26g}\mathrm{Al}$ at stellar temperatures, but the reaction rate is poorly constrained due to uncertainties in the strengths of low-lying resonances in $^{27}\mathrm{Si}$. The $^{26g}\mathrm{Al}(d,p)^{27}\mathrm{Al}$ reaction has been employed in inverse kinematics to determine the spectroscopic factors, and hence resonance strengths, of proton resonances in $^{27}\mathrm{Si}$ via mirror symmetry. The strength of the 127-keV resonance is found to be a factor of 4 higher than the previously adopted upper limit, and the upper limit for the 68-keV resonance has been reduced by an order of magnitude, considerably constraining the $^{26g}\mathrm{Al}$ destruction rate at stellar temperatures.

We present results from recent time-of-flight nuclear mass measurements at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. We report the first mass measurements of 48Ar and 49Ar and find atomic mass excesses of -22.28(31) MeV and -17.8(1.1) MeV, respectively. These masses provide strong evidence for the closed shell nature of neutron number N=28 in argon, which is therefore the lowest even-Z element exhibiting the N=28 closed shell. The resulting trend in binding-energy differences, which probes the strength of the N=28 shell, compares favorably with shellmodel calculations in the sd-pf shell using SDPF-U and SDPF-MU Hamiltonians., Comment: Published in Physical Review Letters

In this paper, the author examines two contemporary Byzantine-Greek sources on one episode of the last Byzantine-Sasanian war (602-628), the siege of Tbilisi in 627 (?) CE by the combined forces of Heraclius, the Byzantine Emperor, and those of a West-Turkic (called “Khazar”) leader. Two of the sources are Byzantine-Greek, one by Theophanes the Confessor who wrote between 811-3 and based himself, for the siege of Tbilisi, on a source not later than ca. 720 CE, and one by Theophanes’ contemporary Nicephoros the Patriarch, whose source was different; another source is an Armenian chronicle from Caucasian Albania attributed to Movsēs Dasxuranc‘i/Kalankatuac‘i, who wrote between the first years of the eighth century (very close to the time of Theophanes’ source) and 958 CE and whose version of the events is the fullest, but badly arranged by a later editor; then come two Georgian versions, that of the “Life of Kartli” and that of the older “Conversion of Kartli”. The conclusion of the author is that the Albano-Armenian author worked, while describing the siege of Tbilisi and the role of the Western Turks, from more than one source.

T In the early 1840s several forgeries of Hebrew epigraphic material have been produced; these forgeries are associated with the name of Avraham Firkowicz/Firkovich, a Russian Jewish book collector and an amateur archaeologist. His discoveries were supposed to provide a revolutionising effect on the nascent Wissenschaft des Judenthums (Jewish Studies). On the margin of a re-edition of the Mejelis Document by the Finnish scholar Tapani Harviainen, this article makes justice to Firkowicz, analysing the cultural context in which the forgeries were made, such as the Haskalah movement, Orientalism, Christian missionary activity and Lost Tribes hunting.

A technique for measuring mass differences has been developed at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) that requires no specialized equipment. Mass differences are measured as position differences between known and unknown-mass isobars, dispersed at the image of the energy-analyzing magnet following the 25 MV tandem post-accelerator, and identified by an energy-loss measurement. The technique has been demonstrated on neutron-rich 77–79Cu and 83–86Ge isotopes produced using the isotope separator online (ISOL) method with the 238U(p,fission) reaction, where a mass accuracy of 500 keV was achieved. These nuclides are well suited to the measurement technique, as they readily migrate out of the production target and to the ion source and comprise the most neutron-rich elements of the isobarically mixed beam. Because modest precision mass values can be obtained with only a few tens of counts of the nuclide of interest among orders of magnitude more of the isobaric neighbors closer to stability, the sensitivity of this technique makes it appropriate for initial mass measurements far from stability.

Initial measurements are presented of the (d,p) reactions on neutron-rich N = 50 isotones along the r-process path of nucleosynthesis with radioactive ion beams of 82Ge and 84Se. Prospects for measurements with unstable 130,132Sn beams are discussed.

The paper examines a highly interesting workQirim Qarai Turkleri,published in Istanbul in 1928 by Seraya Sapsaloglu (Seraja Szapszal in Polish sources), the renowned Karaite communal leader, one of the leading Russian Turkologists of his time, a former Czarist diplomat and a Jewish Pan-Turkist. This popular and quasi-scientific work was typical of the Romantic Period of the “nation-building”stage in the history of many Eastern European minorities. It was, however, essential in the presentation of the Turkic-speaking Eastern European and Crimean Karaite Jews as remnants of some imagined ancient Turkic race, clandestinely preserving Altaic paganism. Written in an appealing style, this work made a deep impression on the Early Republican intellectuals. In the present paper some of Szapszal's assertions made in this work are analysed against their historical and linguistic background. The paper touches on intellectual trends current during the Early Republican period, the state of the European, Russian and Tur...

A setup for measuring cross-sections of evaporation residues produced in the collision of two heavy ions is described. The system, which detects all reaction products in a narrow angular range around the beam direction, is designed to work best with low-intensity beams ( ⩽ 10 5 ions / s ) and can be highly efficient for reactions studied in inverse kinematic conditions, i.e., heavy-mass beam on lighter-mass targets. The system as presented here has been optimized to study evaporation residues from reactions induced by radioactive ion beams with charges near Z ∼ 50 and energies near 4 MeV/nucleon. Continuous sampling of the beam velocity, energy loss and position allow for the measurement of accurate evaporation residue cross-sections also in situations where the beam contains a mixture nuclides.

Neutron-rich radioactive ion beams available from the HRIBF allow a variety of measurements around the 132Sn region, including Coulomb excitation and single-nucleon transfer. The B(E2;0+ → 2+) values for first 2+ excited states of even-even neutron-rich 132-136Te and 126-130Sn have been measured by Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics. Neutron transfer onto a 134Te beam from 9Be and 13C targets, to populate single-particle states in 135Te, has also been studied. Gamma rays from the 13C(134Te, 12C) reaction were used to identify the νi13/2 state in 135Te, at an energy of 2109 keV. These and other results, and plans for future experiments with these neutron-rich beams, are presented.

Single-neutron transfer reactions have been measured on two N = 50 isotones at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF). The single-particle-like states of 83Ge and 85Se have been populated using radioactive ion beams of 82Ge and 84Se and the (d, p) reaction in inverse kinematics. The properties of the lowest-lying states —including excitation energies, orbital angular momenta, and spectroscopic factors— have been determined for these N = 51 nuclei.

We describe an experiment optimized to determine the transition probabilities for excitation of the first excited 2+ state in 132Sn. The large excitation energy (4.04 MeV) and consequent small excitation cross-section, together with the modest beam intensity available makes this a challenging experiment. The preliminary result is B(E2; 0+ → 2+) = 0.11 ± 0.03e 2 b 2. The high efficiency and generalized nature of the setup enabled us to also measure the first 2+ state in the two-neutron nucleus 134Sn. We have determined a value of B(E2; 0+ → 2+) = 0.029 ± 0.005e 2 b 2 which shows no sign of the asymmetry with respect to the N = 82 shell closure exhibited by the Te isotopes.

The rates of the 18 F( p , α ) 15 O and 18 F( p , γ ) 19 Ne reactions in astrophysical environments depend on the properties of 19 Ne levels above the 18 F + p threshold. There are at least 8 levels in the mirror nucleus 19 F for which analogs have not been observed in 19 Ne in the excitation energy range E x = 6.4 – 7.6 MeV . These levels may significantly enhance the 18 F + p reaction rates, and thus we have made a search for these levels by measuring the 1 H( 18 F, p ) 18 F excitation function over the energy range E c . m . = 0.3 - 1.3 MeV . We have identified and measured the properties of a newly observed level at E x = 7.420 ± 0.014 MeV , which is most likely the mirror to the J π = 7 2 + 19 F level at 7.56 MeV. We have additionally found a significant discrepancy with a recent compilation for the properties of a 19 Ne state at E x = 7.5 MeV and set upper limits on the proton widths of missing levels.

The degree to which the (p, γ) and (p,α) reactions destroy 18F at temperatures ∼ 1 − 4 × 10 8 K is important for understanding the synthesis of nuclei in nova explosions and for using the long-lived radionuclide 18F, a target of gamma ray astronomy, as a diagnostic of nova mechanisms. The reactions are dominated by low-lying proton resonances near the 18F+p threshold ( E x = 6.411 MeV in 19Ne). To gain further information about these resonances, we have used the d(18F,p)19F neutron transfer reaction to selectively populate corresponding mirror states in 19F. The results would suggest 18F(p,γ)19Ne and 18F(p,α)15O reaction rates that are 2-3 times lower than reported previously.

Neutron-rich radioactive ion beams available from the HRIBF allow a variety of measurements around the 132Sn region, including Coulomb excitation, fusion-evaporation, and neutron transfer. The B ( E 2 ; 0 + → 2 + ) value for first 2+ excited states of even-even neutron-rich 132–136Te and 126–134Sn have been measured by Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics. The results are discussed in terms of the shell model and the quasiparticle random phase approximation. Neutron transfer onto a 134Te beam, from 9Be and 13C targets to populate single-particle states in 135Te, has also been studied. Gamma rays from the 13C(134Te, 12C) reaction were used to identify the ν i 13 / 2 state in 135Te, at an energy of 2109 keV. These and other results, and plans for future experiments with these neutron-rich beams, are presented.

The fusion of protons with radioactive nuclei is important in stellar explosions such as novae and X-ray bursts and for the production of neutrinos in the sun. The Daresbury Recoil Separator and a windowless gas target system have been installed at ORNL's Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) for measurements of proton capture reactions in inverse kinematics with radioactive ion beams. The performance of the system has been characterized with a number of experiments using stable ion beams. We report on results from these commissioning measurements and plans for measurements of the 1 H( 17 F, 18 Ne) and 1 H( 7 Be, 8 B) reactions.