Low-energy measurement of the 7Be(p,gamma)8B cross section

We have measured the cross section of the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction for E(c.m.) = 185.8, 134.7, and 111.7 keV using a radioactive 7Be target (132 mCi). Single and coincidence spectra of beta+ and alpha particles from 8B and 8Be* decay, respectively, were measured using a large acceptance spectrometer. The zero energy S factor inferred from these data is 18.5+/-2.4 eV b and a weighted mean value of 18.8+/-1.7 eV b (theoretical uncertainty included) is deduced when combining this value with our previous results at higher energies.     

Enhanced electron-capture decay rate of 7Be encapsulated in C60 cages

The decay rate of 7Be electron capture was measured in C60 and Be metal with a reference method. The half-life of 7Be endohedral C60 ((7)Be@C(60)) and 7Be in Be metal (Be metal (7Be)) is found to be 52.68+/-0.05 and 53.12+/-0.05 days, respectively. This amounts to a 0.83% difference in electron-capture decay half-life between (7)Be@C(60) and Be metal (7Be). Our result is a reflection of the different electron wave functions for (7)Be@C(60) inside C60 compared to the situation when 7Be is in a Be metal.     

Features of the 9Be → 2He fragmentation in an emulsion for an energy of 1.2 GeV per nucleon

The results of investigation of the fragmentation of relativistic nuclei ⁹Be in an emulsion, which is accompanied by the formation of two 1.2-A-GeV He fragments, are presented. The angular measurements of the ⁹Be → 2He events are analyzed. The ⁹Be → ⁸Be + n fragmentation channel with the decay of ⁸Be from the ground (0⁺) and first excited (2⁺) states into a pair of α particles appears to be dominant.     

First observation of ground state dineutron decay: 16Be

We report on the first observation of dineutron emission in the decay of 16Be. A single-proton knockout reaction from a 53 MeV/u 17B beam was used to populate the ground state of 16Be. 16Be is bound with respect to the emission of one neutron and unbound to two-neutron emission. The dineutron character of the decay is evidenced by a small emission angle between the two neutrons. The two-neutron separation energy of 16Be was measured to be 1.35(10) MeV, in good agreement with shell model calculations, using standard interactions for this mass region.     

Multiple particle break-up study of low excited states in <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be: The ghost peak in the <Superscript>8</Superscript>Be excitation energy spectrum visited

The aim of this work is to find out the origin of the anomalous resonance in ⁸Be seen in the reactions through excited states in ⁹Be. We have populated the ⁹Be excited states by β-decay of ⁹Li. Energy and direction of the two α particles has been detected and the neutron spectra reconstructed. In our work we identified the “anomalous resonance" in ⁸Be observed in several reaction studies as coming from the decay of the 2.43 and 2.78 MeV states in ⁹Be. This anomalous resonance appears when the two detected α particles are assumed to form a resonance in ⁸Be. We argued that the main decaying channels for these two levels in ⁹Be do not involve ⁸Be.     

天然Pt和Al对比材料中7Be衰变率差别的测量

将HI-13北京串列加速器次级束流线产生的放射性核素 7Be分别注入到天然Pt和Al中, 利用两个高纯锗探测器同时测量 7Be 经由7Li第一激发态衰变后跃迁到基态产生的478 keVγ射线产额随时间的变化, 结果在实验误差范围内（<0.14%）没有发现7Be衰变率在Pt与Al中有明显差别, 讨论了这两种材料的电子亲和势及有效电子密度与EC衰变率的关系。 We measured the variation of the decay rate of 7Be implanted in Pt and Al host materials by detecting the 478 keV γ ray emitted from the first excited state of 7Li which is produced by EC decay of 7Be with two HPGe detectors simultaneously, and found no difference of 7Be decay rate in Pt from that in Al within our experimental error (<0.14%). We discussed the relation of the decay rate variation with the electronic affinities and effective electron densities near the implanted ions in the two different host materials.     

High-lying excited states in <Superscript>10</Superscript>Be from the <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be(<Superscript>9</Superscript>Be,<Superscript>10</Superscript>Be)<Superscript>8</Superscript>Be reaction

A transfer-reaction experiment of ⁹Be(⁹Be, ¹⁰Be)⁸Be was performed at a beam energy of 45 MeV. Excited states in ¹⁰Be up to 18.80 MeV are produced using missing mass and invariant mass methods. Most of the observed high-lying resonant states, reconstructed from the α + ⁶He and t + ⁷Li decay channels, agree with the previously reported results. In addition, two new resonances at 15.6 and 18.8 MeV are identified from the present measurement. The 18.55 MeV state is found to decay into both the t + ⁷Li_g.s. and t + ⁷Li* (0.478 MeV) channels, with a relative branching ratio of 0.93 ± 0.33. Further theoretical investigations are encouraged to interpret this new information on cluster structure in neutron-rich light nuclei.     

Cluster radioactivity in xenon isotopes

Half-life time and branching ratio for cluster decay from various xenon isotopes are studied taking Coulomb and proximity potentials as interacting barrier. Inclusion of proximity potential reduces the height of potential barrier, which closely agrees with the experiments. It is found that⁴He,⁸Be,¹²C and¹⁶O emissions are well within the present upper limit for measurements (T _1/2 10³⁰ s). Our predicted half-life time values lie close to those values reported by Gupta and collaborators based on preformed cluster model (PCM) and also with those values reported by Poenaruet al based on ASAFM. The calculated half-life time shows that⁸Be from¹⁰⁸Xe and¹¹⁰Xe are most favourable for emission (T _1/2 ≈ 10⁸ s). LowestT ^1/2 value for⁸Be emission from¹⁰⁸Xe stress the role of doubly magic¹⁰⁰Sn daughter in cluster decay process. The logarithm of half-life time calculated for⁴He emission from¹¹⁰Xe is −0.39 s which is in good agreement with experimental value which is −0.40 s. Geiger-Nuttall plots for all clusters are studied and are found to be linear. Nuclear structure effect and shell effect are evident from the observed variation in slope and intercept of Geiger—Nuttall plots. It is found that neutron excess in the parent will slow down the cluster decay process.     

Mechanism of the 6Li(6Li, 2α)α reaction from 36 to 46 MeV

The principal mechanism of the ⁶Li(⁶Li, 2α)α reaction for E₀ = 36 to 46 MeV is the formation and sequential decay of ⁸Be levels near E_x = 11, 17, and 20 MeV. In contrast to previous results obtained at lower bombarding energies, the cross section for the direct reaction involving a spectator α-particle is, under the most favorable conditions, only one third of that for excitation of these ⁸Be levels.     

Study of the 8Be first T = 2 state with 4He + α and 7Li + p initiated excitation functions

In a high resolution study of the ⁴He + α initiated excitation functions in the region of the ⁸Be first T = 2 state, weak resonance excursions have been observed in some reaction channels yielding the total width Γ = 14.7 ± 4.0 keV. No resonance excursion has been observed in the ⁴He + α elastic scattering yielding the branching ratio Γ_α/Γ ≦ 0.003 for the decay of the ⁸Be first T = 2 state into two α-particles. For the decay to the low-lying states of ⁶Li and ⁷Li lower limits of the branching ratio are given. The reinvestigation of the ⁷Li+p initiated excitation functions revealed no resonance anomaly in the region of the ⁸Be first T = 2 state. The upper limit Γ_p/Γ ≦ 0.023 has been derived for the proton decay to the ⁷Li_g.s.. The results are compared with previous measurements and with shell-model calculations.     

Determination of the cluster spectroscopic factor of the 10.3 MeV state in 12Be

From an inelastic excitation and breakup experiment with a ¹²Be beam at 29 MeV/u, a large ⁴He+⁸He cluster decay width of 1.1(2) MeV is determined for a state at an excitation energy of 10.3 MeV and with a spin parity of 0+. By using the R-matrix analysis, a cluster spectroscopic factor of 0.53(10) is extracted from the cluster partial width, providing a strong support for the clustering structure in ¹²Be. A specially designed zero-degree telescope played an essential role in the present experiment and has been demonstrated to be a promising tool in future studies of the molecular-like resonances near the cluster separation threshold.     

Auger transitions in Li-like and Be-like ions

Measurements of the Auger decay of beam-foil excited Be II and Be I levels are reported along with a proposed assignment of the experimental spectra. The Li I, Be II and Be III (1s2s²)²S → (1s²2s)²S Auger transitions as presented in this letter represents the first observation of such states in positive ions with Z?5.     

Radioactive decay speedup at T=5 K: electron-capture decay rate of (7)Be encapsulated in C(60)

The electron-capture (EC) decay rate of (7)Be in C(60) at the temperature of liquid helium (T=5 K) was measured and compared with the rate in Be metal at T=293 K. We found that the half-life of (7)Be in endohedral C(60) ((7)Be@C(60)) at a temperature close to T=5 K is 52.47+/-0.04 d, a value that is 0.34% faster than that at T=293 K. In this environment, the half-life of (7)Be is nearly 1.5% faster than that inside Be metal at room temperature (T=293 K). We then interpreted our observations in terms of calculations of the electron density at the (7)Be nucleus position inside the C(60); further, we estimate theoretically the temperature dependence (at T=0 K and 293 K) of the electron density at the Be nucleus position in the stable center inside C(60). The theoretical estimates were almost in agreement with the experimental observations.     

The effect of pressure on orbital electron capture

The effect of pressure on the decay rate by electron capture has been estimated on the basis of certain simplifying assumptions. For the case of ⁷Be the order-of-magnitude agreement is found.     

Cluster decay of the high-lying excited states in 14C

A cluster-transfer experiment of ⁹Be(⁹Be,¹⁴C→α+¹⁰Be)α at an incident energy of 45 MeV was carried out in order to investigate the molecular structure in high-lying resonant states in ¹⁴C. This reaction is of extremely large Q-value, making it an excellent case to select the reaction mechanism and the final states in outgoing nuclei. The high-lying resonances in ¹⁴C are reconstructed for three sets of well discriminated final states in ¹⁰Be. The results confirm the previous decay measurements with clearly improved decay-channel selections and also show a new state at 23.5(1) MeV. The resonant states at 22.4(3) and 24.0(3) MeV decay primarily into the typical molecular states at about 6 MeV in ¹⁰Be, indicating a well developed cluster structure in these high-lying states in ¹⁴C. Further measurements of more states of this kind are suggested.     

Experimental evidence of (2)He decay from (18)Ne excited states

Two-proton decay from (18)Ne excited states has been studied by complete kinematical reconstruction of the decay products. The (18)Ne nucleus has been produced as a radioactive beam by (20)Ne primary projectile fragmentation at 45 AMeV incident energy on a Be target. The (18)Ne at 33 AMeV incident energy has been excited via Coulomb excitation on a (nat)Pb target. The obtained results unambiguously show that the 6.15 MeV (18)Ne state two-proton decay proceeds through a (2)He diproton resonance (31%) and democratic or virtual sequential decay (69%). The quoted branching ratio has been deduced from relative angle and momentum correlations of the emitted proton pairs.     

Primordial beryllium as a big bang calorimeter

Many models of new physics including variants of supersymmetry predict metastable long-lived particles that can decay during or after primordial nucleosynthesis, releasing significant amounts of nonthermal energy. The hadronic energy injection in these decays leads to the formation of ?Be via the chain of nonequilibrium transformations: Energy(h)→T, 3He→?He, ?Li→?Be. We calculate the efficiency of this transformation and show that if the injection happens at cosmic times of a few hours the release of O(10 MeV) per baryon can be sufficient for obtaining a sizable ?Be abundance. The absence of a plateau structure in the ?Be/H abundance down to a O(10?1?) level allows one to use beryllium as a robust constraint on new physics models with decaying or annihilating particles.     

Distinction between sequential and direct three-body decays

We discuss the three-body decay mechanisms of many-body resonances. Sequential decays proceed via two-body configurations after emission of the third particle. In direct decay all three particles leave their interaction regions simultaneously. The intermediate paths within the interaction regions are not observables and are only accessible through models. The momentum distributions carry, apart from polarization, all possible information about decay modes and resonance structure. In this context we discuss detailed results for the decay of the (9)Be(5/2(-)) resonance.     

Electron screening in the 7Be + p → 8B + γ reaction

We evaluate the effect of screening by bound electrons in the ⁷Be(p,γ)⁸B reaction, where the ⁷Be target contains bound electrons, in the framework of the adiabatic representation of the three-particle problem. A comparison with two other approximations (united atom and folding) is presented. A good agreement between the “united atom” approximation and the exact solution is found. We also discuss the screening corrections induced by two K-shell electrons on a ⁷Be target. The consequences of bound electron screening for ⁷Be and ⁸B solar neutrino fluxes are discussed.     

Analysis of decay data from neutron-rich nuclei

The β-decays of the neutron-rich nuclei ¹²Be and ²⁹Ne have been studied. The statistical correlations between the almost identical half-lives of ¹²Be and its daughter ¹²B are analysed for a large sample of ¹²Be decay data. Stringent mutual bounds are obtained on the parameter set, leading to a precise determination of the ¹²Be half-life of 21.50±0.04 ms. From a simultaneous detection of β-particles and neutrons from the decay of ²⁹Ne the neutron emission probability, P_n, is determined to 17±5%. No indication of two-neutron emission is seen from this nucleus. An upper limit of 2.2% (90% confidence level) is established for P_2n. Received: 3 May 2001 / Accepted: 6 August 2001