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The next years will see the completion of several new facilities at Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS) opening up new possibilities in the fields of nuclear structure, nuclear dynamics, nuclear astrophysics and applications. These include a new line for high-intensity cyclotron beams, a new facility for in-flight production of radioactive ion beams, the PANDORA plasma trap for multidisciplinary studies and a high-power laser for basic science and applied physics. The nuclear physics community has organized a workshop to discuss the new physics opportunities that will be possible in the middle term (5–7 years) by employing state-of-the-art detection systems. A detailed discussion of the outcome from the workshop is presented in this report., Postprint (published version)

The 8B+64Zn reaction at 38.5 MeV has been studied at HIE-ISOLDE CERN to investigate proton halo effect on the reaction dynamics. For the first time it was used the only existing post-accelerated 8B beam. The measured elastic scattering angular distribution showed a small suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference peak, opposite to what observed for the one-neutron halo nucleus 11Be on the same target where a large suppression was observed instead. Inclusive angular and energy distributions of breakup fragments were also measured showing that, both, elastic and non-elastic breakup contribute. The presence of the additional Coulomb interactions halo-core and halo-target in 8B makes the reaction dynamics in this proton-halo nucleus different than the neutron-halo case.

This paper reports on elastic scattering excitation functions for the reaction 9Li+4He measured at backward angles in the centre of mass energy range 5 MeV ≤ Ec.m. ≤ 9.5 MeV, with the aim of investigating the possible existence of molecular resonances which have been predicted to exist in the case of neutron-rich B-isotopes. Due to the short lifetime of 9Li, the experiment necessitated the use of inverse kinematics on a gaseous 4He target. The Thick Target Inverse Kinematics technique was used which allowed for the measurement of the full excitation function in a single 9Li run. Broad resonances were observed in the excitation region for 13B 15 MeV ≤ Ex ≤20 MeV. To understand the nature of such broad structures, various theoretical attempts are reported concerning possible reaction mechanisms for this neutron rich reaction. The most promising approach to interpret the data is within the orbiting reaction scenario.

Proton halo effects in the 8B+64Zn reaction at an energy around 1.5 times the Coulomb barrier have been studied at HIE-ISOLDE CERN using, for the first time, the only existing postaccelerated 8B beam. This, together with the use of a high granularity and large solid angle detection system, allowed for a careful mapping of the elastic angular distribution, especially in the Coulomb-nuclear interference region. Contrary to what is observed for the one-neutron halo nucleus 11Be on the same target in a similar energy range, the analysis of the elastic scattering angular distribution shows only a modest suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference peak, with no remarkable enhancement of the total reaction cross-section. Inclusive angular and energy distributions of 7Be produced in direct reaction processes have also been measured. The comparison of these data with the results of theoretical calculations for the elastic and non-elastic breakup contributions indicate that both processes are important. Overall, the experimental data suggest a 8B collision dynamics at the barrier very different from the one of neutron halo nuclei, showing only modest effects of coupling to continuum. This behaviour can be interpreted as due to the presence of the additional Coulomb interactions halo-core and halo-target together with the presence of the centrifugal barrier felt by the valence proton of 8B.

The spectroscopy of F is of interest for nuclear astrophysics and nuclear structure. In these proceedings we will focus on the astrophysical implications and on the perspectives of the use of elastic scattering for the investigation of reactions of astrophysical importance. In astrophysics, fluorine and the reactions producing and destroying it play a key role in constraining models of stars in different evolutionary stages, such as the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, responsible of the production of about half of the elements heavier than Fe. Indeed, s-nuclei are produced and brought to the surface thanks to mixing phenomena, together with fluorine that is produced in the same region from the same neutron source. Since the last stage in fluorine nucleosynthesis is the N(a, ?) F radiative capture, the study of the N + a elastic scattering may cast light on the fluorine synthesis. Also, F states are responsible of the appearance of resonances in the O(p,a) N reaction, leading to the production of N, later burnt to F in AGB stars through a-captures. Finally, the F spectroscopy may help constraining nuclear properties of the radioactive mirror nucleus Ne, whose states play a key role in novae modeling through the F(p,a) O reaction. In this work, the N-a elastic scattering is studied using the thick target inverse kinematics approach, allowing us to span a very large fluorine excitation energy range (~ 6-10 MeV). A R-matrix analysis of the measured differential cross sections was also carried out, making it possible to determine the spin-parity and widths of a number of F states, including some previously not reported in the literature.

We present preliminary data of elastic scattering and inclusive breakup cross sections for the 7Li+ 119Sn reaction, recently measured at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS-INFN) (Catania, Italy) at energies around the Coulomb barrier (E lab = 21.2 and 26.5 MeV). The experimental data have been analyzed under the Optical Model and Continuum-Discretized Coupled-Channels methods.

In the present paper it is described an analysis procedure suited for experiments where cross-sections strongly varying with energy are measured using beams having large energy dispersion. These cross-sections are typically the sub-barrier fusion excitation function of reactions induced by radioactive beams. The large beam energy dispersion, typical of these experiments, can lead to ambiguities in the association of the effective beam energy to the reaction product yields and consequently to an error in the determination of the excitation function. As a test case, the approach is applied to the experiments 6Li+120Sn and 7Li+119Sn measured in the energy range 14 MeV ≤ Ecm. ≤28 MeV. The complete fusion cross sections are deduced from activation measurements using the stacked target technique. The results of these experiments, that employ the two weakly-bound stable Li isotopes, show that the complete fusion cross sections above the barrier are suppressed of about 70% and 85% with respect to the Universal Fusion Function, used as a standard reference, in the 6Li and 7Li induced reactions respectively. Moreover, the excitation functions of the two systems at energies below the barrier, do not show significant differences, despite the two systems have different n-transfer Qvalue.

This paper presents values of complete fusion cross sections deduced from activation measurements for the reactions Li6+Sn120 and Li7+Sn119, 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 Li6 and Li7 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.

The experimental elastic scattering angular distributions of the collisions involving the weakly bound nuclei 6,7Li and the halo nucleus 6He on the same 64Zn target at several energies around the Coulomb barrier were measured at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS, Italy), and the Cyclotron Research Center, Louvain La Neuve (Belgium), respectively. The experimental elastic scattering angular distributions of the 6,7Li + 64Zn systems have been analyzed within the continuumdiscretized coupled-channels method, while the 6He + 64Zn data have been compared with both continuum-discretized coupled-channels and coupled-reaction-channels calculations

The reaction dynamics of collisions involving halo or weakly bound nuclei, at energies around the Coulomb barrier, can be strongly affected by the structure of such nuclei. Very strong entrance channel effects have been observed on various reaction pocess such as, elastic scattering, fusion and direct reactions when comparing collision induced by the 6He and 11Be halo nuclei with the ones induced by their cores 4He and 10Be. Collisions induced by the stable weakly bound nuclei 6Li, 7Li show also some peculiarities in comparison to the ones induced by well bound nuclei; coupling with the break-up channel is in fact very important in reproducing low energy data. In this contribution an overview of our present understanding of the discussed topic will be given along with the discussion of some new preliminary results.

The experimental elastic scattering angular distributions for the weakly bound nuclei 6,7Li and for the halo nucleus 6He on the same 64Zn target at several energies around the Coulomb barrier were measured at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (LNS, Italy) and at the Cyclotron Research Center, Louvain La Neuve (Belgium), respectively. The measured elastic scattering angular distributions of these three systems at the same center of mass energy have been compared. The experimental data of the 6,7Li+ 64Zn systems have been analyzed within the CDCC method, while the 6He+64Zn data have been compared with both both CDCC and CRC calculations.

The 7Be + p elastic cross section has been measured at the Centre de Recherches du Cyclotron RIB facility at Louvain-la-Neuve in the c.m. energy region from 0.3 to 0.75 MeV by bombarding a proton-rich target with a radioactive 7Be beam. The recoil protons have been detected in the angular range θc.m. = 120.2°-131.1° and θc.m. = 156.6°-170.2° using the LEDA system. From a R-matrix analysis of the cross section data, we obtain the energy and the width of the 1+ resonance (Ex = 0.77 MeV). The ℓ = 0 scattering lengths a01 = 25±9 fm (channel spin I = 1) and a02 =-7 ± 3 fm (channel spin I = 2) have been deduced. They are compared to values expected from charge-symmetry properties. Implications on the low energy S-factor of the 7Be(p,γ)8B reaction are discussed. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved., SCOPUS: re.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

info:eu-repo/semantics/published

info:eu-repo/semantics/published, Radioactive nuclear beams. Proceedings, 5th International Conference, Divonne, France, 3-8 April 2000

A new measurement of the 18F(p,α) reaction and the 18F(p,p) elastic scattering was performed at the Radioactive Ion Beam facility in Louvain-la-Neuve. Values were deduced for the resonance energy, total width, partial width, and resonance strength of the 7.07 MeV level in 19Ne, confirming and increasing the precision of a first result obtained several years ago in the same lab., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The reaction 13N+11B has been investigated at two 13N beam energies: 29.5 and 45 MeV. Charged particles and γ rays emitted in the reactions have been detected using a large array of silicon strip detectors and BaF2 scintillators, respectively. Several reaction channels have been analysed with different aims. The proton transfer reaction 11B(13N, 12C)12C to various excited states of 12C has been studied to obtain information on the 13Ng.s. structure. The excitation energy of the 24Mg compound nucleus was in the region where several resonances occur in the 12C+12C system. The six-α decay of the 24Mg intermediate system has been studied. Some of these events have been identified as coming from the break-up of two 12C* in the 3-1-3-1 and 3-1-0+2 states. The total fusion cross section has also been extracted from the data. In order to extract information on the isospin purity/mixing in 24Mg at high excitation energy (Ex∼47 MeV), the GDR γ emission from this self-conjugate nucleus has been studied. A comparison of γ spectra has been undertaken for the reactions 13N+11B and 14N+10B. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

The elastic scattering 4He(6He,6He)4He has been investigated at center-of-mass energies of 11.6 and 15.9 MeV. Differential cross sections are determined using a post-accelerated 6He (T1/2 = 0.807s) beam in the center-of-mass angular range between 50 and 140 degrees. The comparison of the measured data with calculations using a double folding potential shows evidence for the 2n-transfer process in the 4He(6He,6He)4 He elastic scattering. © 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved., info:eu-repo/semantics/published