Transition from collectivity to single-particle degrees of freedom from magnetic moment measurements on 3882Sr 44 and 3890Sr 52

The evolution of shell structure and the fragility of the benchmark magic numbers is a topic of major interest in nuclear-structure physics. The authors measured the structure-sensitive $g$ factors of states in unstable even-even strontium isotopes, following $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-pickup reactions by krypton beams from a carbon target. The results help elucidate how protons and neutrons contribute to the evolution of nuclear structure in this important mass region where rapid structural changes occur.