Nuclear Physics Programs for the Future RIBs Facility in Korea

We present nuclear physics programs based on the planned experiments using rare isotope beams (RIBs) for the future Korean Rare Isotope Beams Accelerator facility(KRIA). This ambitious facility has both an Isotope Separation On Line (ISOL) and fragmentation capability for producing RIBs and accelerating beams of wide range mass of nuclides with energies of a few to hundreds MeV per nucleon. Low energy RIBs at Elab = 5 to 20 MeV per nucleon are for the study of nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics toward and beyond the drip lines while higher energy RIBs produced by inflight fragmentation with the reaccelerated ions from the ISOL enable to explore the neutron drip lines in intermediate mass regions. The planned programs have goals for investigating internal structures of the exotic nuclei toward and beyond the nucleon drip lines by addressing the following issues: how the shell structure evolves in areas of extreme proton to neutron imbalance; whether the isospin symmetry maintains in isobaric mirror nuclei at and beyond the drip lines; how two-proton radioactivity affects abundances of the elements; what the role of the continuum states including resonant states above protondecay threshold in exotic nuclei is in astrophysical nuclear reaction processes, and how the nuclear reaction rates triggered by unbound proton-rich nuclei make an effect on rapid proton capture processes in a very hot stellar plasma.     

Shape transitions in proton-rich Ho and Tm isotopes

Total Routhian Surface (TRS) calculations have been performed for even-even nuclei along proton drip line to study nuclear ground-state deformations, as well as the odd proton nuclei Ho and Tm isotopes. The drip line nuclei show the expected shape transition with the shell e?ects. Ground-state shape changes from prolate to oblate at 143Ho and 145Tm in these two isotopes, which is due to the γ instability around N =76.     

Shape transitions in proton-rich Ho and Tm isotopes

Total Routhian Surface (TRS) calculations have been performed for even-even nuclei along proton drip line to study nuclear ground-state deformations, as well as the odd proton nuclei Ho and Tm isotopes. The drip line nuclei show the expected shape transition with the shell effects. Ground-state shape changes from prolate to oblate at ¹⁴³Ho and ¹⁴⁵Tm in these two isotopes, which is due to the γ instability around N=76.     

Properties of Zr hypernuclei in deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock approach

Properties of the even-N Zr isotopes and their corresponding single-Λ and double-Λ hypernuclei are studied in the deformed Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach. Binding energy, the two-neutron separation energies, radii are studied from beta-stable zone to the neutron drip line in this paper. The neutron drip line nuclei predicted with SLy4 and SkI4 interactions are 122Zr and 138Zr, respectively. The neutron drip line of single-Λ and double-Λ hypernuclei are Λ139Zr and 2Λ142 Zr with SkI4 interaction, respectively. The predicted hyperon drip line hypernuclei with 80Zr and 138Zr cores are 20Λ100Zr and 50Λ188Zr, respectively.     

Structure study of light unbound nuclei near drip line

Some experimental techniques and theoretical analysis on unbound nuclei structure study are briefly introduced in this article. The unbound nuclei structure investigation can inspect the reliability of theoretical calculation, and is also important to extend the modern nuclear structure model to exotic nuclear regions. With the recent development of radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) facility and some new experimental methods, the structure of unbound nuclei near drip line can be studied in experiment.     

Soft Giant Dipole Modes in Ca Isotopes in the Relativistic RPA

The isovector giant dipole resonance in Ca isotopes is investigated in the framework of the fully consistent relativistic random phase approximation.The calculations are performed in an effective Lagrangian with a parameter set NL3,which was proposed for satisfactorily describing nuclear ground state properties.It is found that a soft isovector dipole mode for Ca isotopes near drip lines exists at energy around 6-7MeV.The soft dipole states are mainly due to the excitation of the weakly bound and pure neutron (proton)states near Fermi surface as well as the correlation of isoscalar and isovector operators.For nuclei with the extreme value of N/Z,the contributions of isoscalar mesons in the isovector mode play a non-negligible role.     

Nuclear chart in covariant density functional theory with dynamic correlations: From oxygen to tin

Nuclear masses of even-even nuclei with the proton number 8≤Z≤50(O to Sn isotopes)from the proton drip line to neutron drip line are investigated using the triaxial relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory with the relativistic density functional PC-PK1.Further,the dynamical correlation energies(DCEs)associated with the rotational motion and quadrupole-shaped vibrational motion are taken into account by the five-dimensional collective Hamiltonian(5DCH)method.The root-mean-square deviation with respect to the experimental masses reduces from 2.50 to 1.59 MeV after the consideration of DCEs.The inclusion of DCEs has little influence on the position of drip lines,and the predicted numbers of bound even-even nuclei between proton and neutron drip lines from O to Sn isotopes are 569 and 564 with and without DCEs,respectively.     

Statistical errors in Weizscker-Skyrme mass model

The statistical uncertainties of 13 model parameters in the Weizscker-Skyrme(WS*) mass model are investigated for the first time with an efficient approach,and the propagated errors in the predicted masses are estimated.The discrepancies between the predicted masses and the experimental data,including the new data in AME 2016,are almost all smaller than the model errors.For neutron-rich heavy nuclei,the model errors increase considerably,and go up to a few MeV when the nucleus approaches the neutron drip line.The most sensitive model parameter which causes the largest statistical error is analyzed for all bound nuclei.We find that the two coefficients of symmetry energy term significantly influence the mass predictions of extremely neutron-rich nuclei,and the deformation energy coefficients play a key role for well-deformed nuclei around the β-stability line.     

Projected Shell Model Description for the Proton Emitters

Proton radioactivity is an important decay mode for nuclei near the proton drip-line. Studies of this decay mode can reveal valuable information on exotic nuclear structure and provide important information on the stucture of nuclei in extreme conditions. The new experimental data can let us understand the interactions in exotic systems, which motivate further theoretical development. The most recent application of the projected shell model (PSM) for proton emitters is represented. We study the rotational bands of the deformed proton emitter 141Ho by using the PSM. The experimental data are well reproduced. Strongly suppressed γ transition from the low-lying IΠ= 3/2+ state makes this state isomeric. Variations in the dynamical moment of inertia are discussed due to band crossings using the band diagram. The calculated results for proton emitter 151Lu shows it is oblately deformed     

Systematic Calculation on Ground State Properties of Even-even Superheavy Nuclei Using Relativistic Mean Field Theory

In recent years the discovery of Super Heavy Element (SHE) with atomic number Z=108～116 has opened up a new era of research in nuclear physics, however, the extreme difficulties to synthesize SHE greatly restrict the experimental studies on it, so that the theoretical studies are very important. The Relativistic Mean Field theory (RMF) is proved to be a simple and successful theory due to its great success in describing the bulk properties at the β-stable valley, as well as nuclei far from the β-stable line, and gives good predictions for nuclei far beyond the end of the known periodic table. In the framework of RMF we have calculated the properties on SHN such as the binding energy, the deformation, single and double neutron separation energy, and the a-decay half-life and so on for nuclei Z=108～114 and N=156～190. The axial deformations considered by using the expansion of harmonic oscillator basis. The Lagrangian wc have used is as the following form:     

Gamma Spectroscopy along N~Z towards 100Sn

A wide range of research topics in different fields of physics can be addressed by study of the self-conjugate N~Z nuclei, such as the np pairing, isospin symmetry, the rp-process and the properties of the electroweak interaction. This contribution focuses on the spectroscopy of N~Z nuclei towards 100Sn. The latest results on the isomeric decay spectroscopy of N~Z nuclei below 100Sn, such as the N =Z+2 nuclides 94Pd and 96Ag, the N~Z nuclide 96Cd and so on are highlighted. New opportunities in in-beam   spectrscopy of N~Z nuclei towards 100Sn, like 90Rh and 92Pd, with radioactive ion beams are discussed.     

Properties of Zr hypernuclei in deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock approach

Properties of the even-N Zr isotopes and their corresponding single-Λ and double-Λ hypernuclei are studied in the deformed Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach. Binding energy, the two-neutron separation energies, radii are studied from beta-stable zone to the neutron drip line in this paper. The neutron drip line nuclei predicted with SLy4 and SkI4 interactions are ¹²²Zr and ¹³⁸Zr, respectively. The neutron drip line of single-Λ and double-Λ hypernuclei are ¹³⁹_ΛZr and ¹⁴²_2ΛZr with SkI4 interaction, respectively. The predicted hyperon drip line hypernuclei with ⁸⁰Zr and ¹³⁸Zr cores are ¹⁰⁰_20ΛZr and ¹⁸⁸_50ΛZr, respectively.     

Systematic study of two-proton radioactivity within a Gamow-like model

In this study,based on the Gamow-like model,we systematically analyze two-proton(2p) radioactivity half-lives of nuclei near or beyond the proton drip line.It is found that the calculated results can reproduce experimental data well.Furthermore,using this model,we predict the half-lives of possible 2p radioactivity candidates whose 2p radioactivity is energetically allowed or observed but not yet quantified in the latest table of evaluated nuclear properties,i.e.,NUBASE2016.The predicted results are in good agreement with those from other theoretical models and empirical formulas,namely the effective liquid drop model(ELDM),generalized liquid drop model(GLDM),Sreej a formula,and Liu formula.     

A CW superconducting linac as the proton driver for a medium baseline neutrino beam in China

In a long-term planning for neutrino experiments in China, a medium baseline neutrino beam is proposed which uses a continue wave (CW) superconducting linac of 15 MW in beam power as the proton driver. The linac will be based on the technologies which are under development by the China-ADS project, namely it is also composed of a 3.2 MeV normal conducting RFQ and five different types of superconducting cavities. However, the design philosophy is quite different from the China-ADS linac because of the much weaker requirement on reliability here. The nominal design energy and current are 1.5 GeV and 10 mA, respectively. The general considerations and preliminary results on the physics design will be presented here. In addition, the alternative designs such as 2.0 GeV and 2.5 GeV, which may be required by the general design, can be easily extended from the nominal one.     

Possible light neutral boson and particle mass quantization

Qualities of nucleons, such as the fundamental parameter mass, might be modified in extreme conditions relative to those of isolated nucleons. We show the ratio of the EMC-effect tagged nucleon mass to that of the free one(m*/m);these values are derived from the nuclear structure function ratio between heavy nuclei and deuterium measured in the electron Deep Inelastic Scattering(DIS) reaction in 0.3≤x≤0.7. The increase in m*/mwith A-1/3 is phenomenologically interpreted via the release of a color-singlet cluster formed by sea quarks and gluons in bound nucleons holding high momentum in the nucleus, from which the mass and fraction of non-nucleonic components in nuclei can be deduced. The mass of color-singlet clusters released per short range correlated(SRC) proton in the high momentum region(k > 2 fm-1) is extracted to be 16.890 ±0.016 MeV/c2, which evidences the possibility of a light neutral boson and quantized mass of matter.     

Spurious Shell Closures in the Relativistic Mean Field Model

Following a previous systematic theoretical study of the ground-state properties of over 7000 nuclei from the proton drip line to the neutron drip line in the relativistic mean field model [Prog. Theor. Phys. 113 （2005） 785], which is in fair agreement with existing experimental data, we observe a few spurious shell closures, i.e. proton shell closures at Z = 58 and Z = 92. These spurious shell closures are found to persist in all the effective forces of the relativistic mean field model, e.g. TMA, NL3, PKDD and DD-ME2.     

新核素合成、高激发热核和放射性束物理前沿再获一批重要成果

综述了中国科学院近代物理研究所最近三年来在新核素合成、高激发热核和放射性束物理前沿领域取得的重要进展．其主要成果是在兰州重离子加速器和放射性束流线上获得的.The recent remarkable achievements in IMP in the research frontiers of synthesis of new nuclides, highly excited hot nuclei and radioactive ion beam physics are reviewed. Most of the achievements are made at the HIRFL and RIBLL of IMP.     

An Implantation and Detection System for Spectroscopy of 22,24Si

A new decay detection system with high detection efficiency and low detection threshold has been developed for charged-particle decay studies, including -delayed proton, decay or direct proton emission from proton-rich nuclei. The detection system was tested by using the -delayed proton emitter 24Si and was commissioned in the decay study of 22Si produced by projectile fragmentation at the First Radioactive Ion Beam Line in Lanzhou. Under a continuous-beam mode, the isotopes of interest were implanted into two double-sided silicon strip detectors, where the subsequent decays were measured and correlated to the preceding implantations by using position and time information. The system allows to measure protons with energies down to about 200 keV without obvious background in the proton spectrum. Further application of the detection system can be extended to the measurements of -delayed proton decay and the direct proton emission of other exotic proton-rich nuclei.     

Exotic Behaviour of Angular Dispersion of Weakly Bound Nucleus ^17F at Small Angles

The differential cross sections of ^17F and ^17O elastic scattering products on ^208Pb have been measured at the Radioactive Ion Beam Line at Lanzhou （RIBLL）. Two angular dispersion plots of In（ dσ/ dθ ） versus 02 are obtained from the angular distribution of the elastic scattering differential cross sections. The angular dispersion plot exhibits a clear turning point for ^17F in the range of small scattering angles 6°-2° due to its exotic structure, but for ^17O, the turning point is not observed in the same angular range. The experimental results have been compared with previous data of other groups. Systematical analysis on the available data supports the above conclusion that there is an exotic behaviour of the angular dispersion plot of weakly bound nuclei with halo or skin structure as compared with that of the ordinary nuclei near stable line. Therefore the turning point of the angular dispersion plot appears at small angle for weakly bound nuclei with halo or skin structure, and can be used as a new probe to investigate the halo and skin phenomena of weakly bound nuclei.     

Anomalously Large Deformation in Some Medium and Heavy Nuclei

We investigate the properties of the Ce isotopes with neutron number N =60 - 90 and the properties of the heavy nuclei near 242Am within the framework of deformed relativistic mean-field （RMF） theory. A systematic comparison between theoretical results and experimental data is made. The calculated binding energies, two-neutron separation energies, and two-proton separation energies are in good agreement with experimental ones. The variation trend of experimental quadrupole deformation parameters on the Ce isotopes can be approximately reproduced by the RMF model. It is found that there exists an abnormally large deformation in the ground state of proton-rich Ce isotopes. This phenomenon can be the general behavior of proton-rich nuclei on the neighboring isotopic chains such as Nd and Sin isotopes. For the heavy nuclei near ^242 Am the properties of the ground state and superdeformed isomeric state can be approximately reproduced by the RMF model. The mechanism of the appearance of anomalously large deformation or superdeformation is analyzed and its influence on nuclear properties is discussed. Parther experiments to study the anomalously large deformation in some proton-rich nuclei are suggested.