1. Structure of superheavy hydrogen 7H
- Author
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Caamaño M., Roger T., Moro A. M., Grinyer G. F., Pancin J., Bagchi S., Sambi S., Gibelin J., Itagaki N., Fernández–Domínguez B., Benlliure J., Cortina-Gil D., Farget F., Jacquot B., Pérez Loureiro D., Pietras B., Raabe R., Ramos D., Rodríguez–Tajes C., Savajols H., and Vandebrouck M.
- Subjects
Physics ,QC1-999 - Abstract
The properties of nuclei with extreme neutron–to–proton ratios reveal the limitations of state-ofthe-art nuclear models and are key to understand nuclear forces. 7H, with six neutrons and a single proton, is the nuclear system with the most unbalanced neutron–to–proton ratio ever known, but its sheer existence and properties are still a challenge for experimental efforts and theoretical models. We report here the first measurement of the basic characteristics and structure of the ground state of 7H; they depict a system with a triton core surrounded by an extended four-neutron halo, built by neutron pairing, that decays through a unique four–neutron emission with a relatively long half-life. These properties are a prime example of new phenomena occurring in almost pure-neutron nuclear matter, beyond the binding limits of the nuclear landscape, that are yet to be described within our current models.
- Published
- 2020
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