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Open Access funded by SCOAP3 - Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics, One-neutron knockout reactions from Borromean nuclei are analyzed using a profile function analysis technique. The profile function, which is derived as the square root of the variance of the measured fragment + neutron momenta as a function of their relative energy, is shown to be very sensitive to the angular momentum of the knocked out neutron. Three cases are studied here: 7He, where the profile function analysis shows a presence of (s1/2)2 component in the 8He ground-state wave-function, 10Li, where the presence of a 11(2)% d-wave contribution to the relative energy spectrum above 1.5 MeV is found and, finally, the presence of a major s contribution around 0.5 MeV relative energy in the 13Be case and that the observed decay to the 12Be 2+ state originates in a d state in 13Be. © 2012 Elsevier Open access under CC BY license., Financial support from the Swedish Research Council and the Spanish Ministry through the research grant FPA2009-07387 is also acknowledged.

The unbound isotopes 10Li, 12Li and 13Li have been observed after nucleon-knockout reactions at relativistic energies with 11Li and 14Be beams impinging on a liquid hydrogen target. The channels , and were analysed in the ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI. The 10Li data confirm earlier findings, while the 12Li and 13Li nuclei were observed for the first time. The relative-energy spectrum shows that the ground state of 12Li can be described as a virtual s-state with a scattering length of -13.7(1.6) fm. A broad energy spectrum was found for the channel. Based on the assumption that the relative-energy spectrum is dominated by a correlated background presumably stemming from initial correlations in the 14Be ground-state, evidence for a 13Li resonance at 1.47(31) MeV above the threshold with a width around 2 MeV has been found.

The coupling between bound quantum states and those in the continuum is of high theoretical interest. Experimental studies of bound drip-line nuclei provide ideal testing grounds for such investigations since they, due to the feeble binding energy of their valence particles, are easy to excite into the continuum. In this Letter, continuum states in the heaviest particle-stable Be isotope, 14Be, are studied by employing the method of inelastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics. New continuum states are found at excitation energies E∗=3.54(16) MeV and E∗=5.25(19) MeV. The structure of the earlier known 2+1 state at 1.54(13) MeV was confirmed with a predominantly (0d5/2)2 configuration while there is very clear evidence that the 2+2 state has a predominant (1s1/2, 0d5/2) structure with a preferential three-body decay mechanism. The region at about 7 MeV excitation shows distinct features of sequential neutron decay via intermediate states in 13Be. This demonstrates that the increasing availability of energetic beams of exotic nuclei opens up new vistas for experiments leading towards a new understanding of the interplay between bound and continuum states.

The coupling between bound quantum states and those in the continuum is of high theoretical interest. Experimental studies of bound drip-line nuclei provide ideal testing grounds for such investigations since they, due to the feeble binding energy of their valence particles, are easy to excite into the continuum. In this Letter, continuum states in the heaviest particle-stable Be isotope, Be14, are studied by employing the method of inelastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics. New continuum states are found at excitation energies E*=3.54(16) MeV and E*=5.25(19) MeV. The structure of the earlier known 21+ state at 1.54(13) MeV was confirmed with a predominantly (0d5/2)2 configuration while there is very clear evidence that the 22+ state has a predominant (1s1/2, 0d 5/2) structure with a preferential three-body decay mechanism. The region at about 7 MeV excitation shows distinct features of sequential neutron decay via intermediate states in Be13. This demonstrates that the increasing availability of energetic beams of exotic nuclei opens up new vistas for experiments leading towards a new understanding of the interplay between bound and continuum states. © 2013 American Physical Society.

At the ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI the unbound nucleus Be-13 has been produced in one-neutron knockout reactions from a 304 MeV/nucleon relativistic beam of Be-14 ions impinging on a liquid hydrogen target. An analysis of the data including all available information about Be-13, and in particular recent data from a similar experiment performed at RIKEN, has been performed. A consistent description is reached. It is found that the excitation spectrum is dominated by s-waves at low energy, which solves problems from previous seemingly contradictory interpretations. A possible interference between two s-states in Be-13 is also discussed. The results indicate that the ground-state wave function of Be-14 is dominated by valence neutrons in the s-shell contributing with 60-75% of the total neutron knockout cross section.

The very exotic nuclear resonance systems, 10He and 13Li, are produced in proton-knockout reactions from relativistic beams of 11Li and 14Be. The experimentally determined energy and angular correlations between their decay products, He 8 + n + n and Li 11 + n + n , are analyzed using an expansion of decay amplitudes in a restricted set of hyperspherical harmonics. By considering only a small number of terms it is possible to extract the expansion coefficients directly from the experimental three-body correlations. This provides a model-independent way of getting information about the decay process, on the structure of the decaying nucleus and on the quantum characteristics of the binary subsystems. The results show that the He 8 + n + n relative-energy spectrum can be interpreted as consisting of two resonances, an I π = 0 + ground state and an excited I π = 2 + state. The Li 11 + n + n relative-energy spectrum is interpreted as an I π = 3 / 2 − ground state overlapping with excited states having a structure similar to the 2 + state in 10He but spread over several states due to the coupling to the I π = 3 / 2 − core. The 13Li data also give evidence for a contribution of a configuration where the two neutrons occupy the d-shell.

The unbound nuclei He-9 and He-10 have been produced in proton-knockout reactions from a 280 MeV/u Li-11 beam impinging on a liquid hydrogen target at the ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI. Information on their nuclear structure has been obtained from the relative-energy spectra, He-8 + n and He-8 + 2n, employing reaction models incorporating the structure of Li-11. The (8H)e + n relative-energy spectrum is dominated by a strong peak-like structure at low energy, which may be interpreted within the effective-range approximation as the result of an s-wave interaction with a neutron scattering length of -3.17(66) fm. This spectrum also shows evidence for resonance states at 1.33(8) MeV and at 2.4 MeV above the He-8 + n threshold. It is argued that the s-state might not be the He-9 ground state. For He-8 + n + n, the analysis of the relative-energy spectrum gives two alternative possibilities for an interpretation: either a narrow resonance at 1.42(10) MeV (Gamma = 1.11(76) MeV) superimposed on a correlated background, or two overlapping resonances, a ground state at 1.54(11) MeV (Gamma = 1.91(41) MeV) together with an excited state at 3.99(26) MeV (Gamma = 1.64(89) MeV). The two possible interpretations are discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

6 pages, 3 tables, 3 figures.--PACS nrs.: 27.20.+n.--Printes version published Aug 24, 2009, The unbound nucleus 7He, produced in neutron-knockout reactions with a 240 MeV/u 8He beam in a liquid-hydrogen target, has been studied in an experiment at the ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI. From an R-matrix analysis the resonance parameters for 7He as well as the spectroscopic factor for the 6He(0+)+n configuration in its ground-state have been obtained. The spectroscopic factor is 0.61 confirming that 7He is not a pure single-particle state. An analysis of 5He data from neutron-knockout reactions of 6He in a carbon target reveals the presence of an s-wave component at low energies in the α +n relative energy spectrum. A possible low-lying exited state in 7He observed in neutron knockout data from 8He in a carbon target and tentatively interpreted as a Iπ = 1/2− state, could not be observed in the present experiment. Possible explanations of the shape difference between the 7He resonance obtained in the two knockout reactions are discussed in terms of target-dependence or different reaction mechanisms at relativistic energies., This work was supported by the BMBF under Contracts No. 06 DA 115, No. 06 OF 838 and No. 06 MZ 864 I and by GSI under Contracts No. DA RICK, No. OF ELZ, No. MZ KRAK and partly supported by the Polish Committee of Scientific Research under Contract No. KBN/2P03B/144/10, CICYT under Contract No. FPA2007-62170 (M.J.G.B., O.T.), RFBR under Contract No. 08-02-1224, EC under Contract No. ERBCHGE-CT92-0003 and the KAW Foundation,Sweden.