Inelastic scattering on 12Be and disappearance of the N = 8 magic number

Experimental studies on in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy using a ¹²Be radioactive beam are presented. Inelastic scattering of the neutron-rich ¹²Be nucleus on ²⁰⁸Pb, ¹²C, and (CH₂)_n targets has been studied by measuring de-excitation γ-rays in coincidence with scattered particles. The level schemes and transition probabilities are determined for low-lying excited states in ¹²Be. The present paper presents a brief review of the spectroscopic results, which may be associated with the N = 8 shell quenching near the drip line. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

New region of deformation in the neutron-rich 60 24Cr36 and 62 24Cr38

The neutron-rich nuclei ₂₃ ^60-63V have been produced at GANIL via interactions of a 61.8A·MeV ⁷⁶Ge beam with a ⁵⁸Ni target. Beta-decay to ₂₄ ^60-63Cr has been investigated using combined β- and γ-ray spectroscopy. Half-lives of the ^60-63V nuclei have been determined, and the existence of a beta-decay isomer in the ⁶⁰V nucleus is strongly supported. The observation of low-energy 2⁺ states in ⁶⁰Cr (646keV) and ⁶²Cr (446keV) suggests that these isotopes are strongly deformed with β₂ ∼ 0.3. This is confirmed by shell model calculations which show the dominant influence of the intruder g and d orbitals to obtain low 2⁺ energies in the neutron-rich Cr isotopes. Received: 13 June 2002 / Accepted: 27 August 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: sorlin@ipno.in2p3.fr Communicated by D. Guerreau     

High-spin states in neutron-rich nuclei explored with deep-inelastic HI reactions

The use of deep-inelastic heavy-ion reactions for the spectroscopy of neutron-rich nuclei is discussed. Conclusions from the N/Z equilibration process studies are outlined and examples of spectroscopic results obtained for the neutron-rich spdf shell nuclei, N = 82 isotones and nuclei from the ²⁰⁸Pb region are reviewed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Impurity nuclear physics

Using a germanium-detector array for hypernuclear γ spectroscopy (Hyperball), we measured B(E2) of the ⁷ _ΛLi hypernucleus and observed a significant shrinkage of the ⁶Li core induced by a Λ-particle. In this way, nuclear properties can be drastically changed by introducing a Λ-particle, which can be investigated by high-resolution hypernuclear γ spectroscopy. In the future neutron-rich hypernuclei will also be studied, where interesting modifications of nuclear structure by a Λ-particle are expected. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Spectroscopy on very neutron-rich nuclei beyond N = 20

Recent studies on nuclear structure by using radioactive isotope beams available at the RIKEN projectile-fragment separator (RIPS) are introduced. Special emphasis is given to two selected experiments from recent programs that highlight studies on the magicity loss observed for very neutron-rich nuclei beyond N = 20 in the “island-of-inversion” region; the particle stability of ³¹F, and the low-lying excited states of ³⁴Mg. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Rotational bands and signature inversion phenomena in πh9/2⊗νi13/2 and πi13/2⊗νi13/2 structures in odd-odd 176Ir

The ^109,111,113Rh nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in the fusion reaction ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb at 85 MeV. Their level schemes have been built from gamma-rays detected using the Euroball IV array. High-spin states of the neutron-rich ^111,113Rh nuclei have been identified for the first time. Several rotational bands with the odd proton occupying the πg _9/2, πp _1/2 and π(g _7/2/d _5/2) sub-shells have been observed. A band of low-energy transitions has been identified at excitation energy around 2 MeV in ^109,111Rh, which can be interpreted in terms of three-quasiparticle excitation, πg _9/2νh _11/2νg _7/2/d _5/2. In addition another structure built on states located at low excitation energy (608 keV in ¹¹¹Rh, 570 keV in ¹¹³Rh) points out that, as already observed in the lighter isotopes ^107,109Rh, triaxial deformation plays a role in the neutron-rich Rh isotopes well beyond the mid-shell. Received: 15 July 2002 / Accepted: 9 October 2002 / Published online: 3 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: porquet@csnsm.in2p3.fr RID="b" ID="b"Present address: CSNSM IN2P3-CNRS and Université Paris-Sud 91405 Orsay, France. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: CEA/Saclay, DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France. Communicated by D. Schwalm     

New high-spin microsecond isomers in 131Sb

In this work we have identified and studied the decay of two new microsecond isomers 19/2^- and 23/2⁺ in ¹³¹Sb. This neutron-rich nucleus was produced by thermal neutron-induced fission of ²⁴¹Pu. The detection is based on time correlation between fission fragments selected by the LOHENGRIN spectrometer at ILL (Grenoble) and the γ-rays or conversion electrons from isomers. These new data on high-spin states complete the level scheme previously obtained from β-decay. A large fraction of the members of the πg _7/2ν(h _11/2 ^-1 d _3/2 ^-1) and πg _7/2νh _11/2 ^-2 multiplets are now known and were compared with a multi-particle shell model calculation. Received: 7 June 2000 / Accepted: 19 September 2000     

Selective laser ionization of N≥82 indium isotopes: The new r-process nuclide 135In

Production yields and β-decay half-lives (T _1/2) of very neutron-rich indium isotopes were determined at CERN/ISOLDE using isobaric selectivity of a resonance-ionization laser ion-source. Beta-delayed neutron (βdn) multiscaling measurements have yielded improved T _1/2 for 206(6) ms ¹³²In, 165(3) ms ¹³³In and 141(5) ms ¹³⁴In. With 92(10) ms ¹³⁵In, a new r-process nuclide has been identified which acts as an important “waiting point” in the In isotopic chain for neutron densities in the range n _n≃ 10²⁴-10²⁶ n/cm³, where the r-matter flow has already passed the A≃ 130 abundance peak region. Received: 17 January 2002 / Accepted: 30 January 2002     

High-spin states following multi-nucleon transfer

High-spin states in neutron-rich nuclei, populated following deep-inelastic multi-nucleon transfer, have been studied using the GAMMASPHERE array at the LBNL, USA. A ⁶⁴Ni beam at an energy ∼ 15% above the Coulomb barrier was incident upon a thick ²⁰⁸Pb target, leading to the population of more than 130 different nuclei. The strongest channels correspond to nuclei close to the projectile and target, although transfer of up to 50 nucleons has been observed. New high-spin states in neutron-rich ^60,62Fe and ^68,70,72Zn nuclei have been observed. Some limitations of this method of high-spin spectroscopy are discussed, including the apparent difficulty of populating odd-odd and odd-even isotopes via this type of reaction. The data have been searched for superdeformed (SD) states in the A = 190-200 region, but no evidence for their presence has been found. Received: 14 April 2000 / Accepted: 12 September 2000     

Decay of the neutron-rich isotope 113Ru to 113Rh

The decay of neutron-rich isotope ¹¹³Ru obtained as on-line mass separated product of proton-induced fission has been investigated by γγ coincidence and spectrum multiscaling measurements. Decay schemes for both low- and high-spin isomers of ¹¹³Ru have been constructed. The level scheme of ¹¹³Rh is considerably extended. Systematics of the lowest-lying rhodium levels is smooth. The picture of shape coexistence established for neutron-rich Rh isotopes near-neutron midshell is confirmed with the observation of a K = 1/2 deformed band, with its 3/2⁺ state at 600 keV being the lowest-lying level and of probable 7/2⁺ and 5/2⁺ band members. A large fraction of β feeding is found to populate high-lying levels in ¹¹³Rh. The GT strength in ¹¹³Ru^m decay is significantly larger than for the decay of ¹¹³Ru_g and of lighter rhodium isotopes. Received: 18 January 2001 / Accepted: 14 January 2002     

Structure of neutron-rich Λ hypernuclei

Properties of light neutron-rich Λ hypernuclei (¹⁶ _ΛC, ¹² _ΛBe, and ¹¹ _ΛLi) are calculated within the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach. Interplay between hypernuclear interaction features and properties of these hypernuclei is studied. Response of weakly bound neutron states to hyperon addition depends generally on core distortion by hyperon, and it is essentially different for the different states. This response is especially sensitive to details of the ΛN interaction for 1p _1/2 states. Implications of the nuclear spin-orbit potential and nuclear incompressibility in the neutron-rich system properties are inferred. Dependence of the Λ binding energies in hypernuclei on Z at fixed A is discussed. Received: 16 December 1998     

Identification of a high-K isomer in neutron-rich 185Ta

A t _1/2 > 1 ms, high-K isomeric state feeding a strongly coupled rotational band has been identified following the deep inelastic reaction ²³⁸ ₉₂U +¹⁸⁶ ₇₄W at 1600 MeV. Examination of γ-ray and X-ray data combined with a g-factor analysis derived from in-band branching ratios suggests the assignment of the new states to the neutron-rich nucleus ¹⁸⁵ ₇₃Ta. Received: 11 May 1999     

Synthesis and decay properties of superheavy atoms in nuclear reactions induced by stable and radioactive ion beams

This talk consists of two parts. The first one presents the results of investigations performed in 1998-2000 in Dubna on the synthesis of superheavy nuclei in reactions induced by ⁴⁸Ca ions. The radioactive decay properties of the nuclei, indicating a considerable increase in the α-decay and spontaneous fission half-lives of the isotopes of elements 110-116 when approaching the closed neutron shell at N = 184, are given. In the second part the possible ways of advancing into the region of more neutron-rich nuclei, using stable and radioactive ion beams, are discussed. Since so far no intense radioactive ion beams are available, some experiments with stable beams are considered as a test for the suggested ideas. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Yrast level structure of the neutron-deficient N = 80 isotones 146Dy, 147Ho and 148Er up to high-spin values

High-spin level schemes of the N = 80 isotones ¹⁴⁶Dy, ¹⁴⁷Ho and ¹⁴⁸Er have been investigated by in-beam γ-ray spectroscopic methods using the NORDBALL Compton-suppressed multidetector array including proton and neutron selection. The projectile-target system ⁵⁸Ni + ⁹²Mo at 260 MeV beam energy has been used to produce the neutron-deficient N = 80 isotones. The previously known schemes have been extended to considerably higher spin and exitation energy, up to I = 23?, E _x≈ 8.9 MeV in ¹⁴⁶Dy, I = 53/2?, E _x≈ 8.7 MeV in ¹⁴⁷Ho and I = 23?, E _x≈ 9.6 MeV in ¹⁴⁸Er. The results are discussed in terms of the spherical shell model. Many of the levels can be described within this framework. Received: 12 January 2001 / Accepted: 11 April 2001     

Evolution of the N = 20 and N = 28 shell closures in neutron-rich nuclei

The isospin dependence of shell closure phenomena is studied for light neutron-rich nuclei within a microscopic self-consistent approach using the Gogny force. Introducing configuration mixing, ³²Mg is found to be dynamically deformed, although the N = 20 spherical shell closure persists at the mean-field level for all N = 20 isotones. In contrast, the N = 28 spherical shell closure is found to disappear for N - Z≥ 10 whereas deformed shell closures are preserved and lead to shape coexistence in ⁴⁴ S. Configuration mixing shows that the ground state of this nucleus is triaxially deformed. The first 2⁺ excitation energy E_x = 1.46 MeV and the reduced transition probability B(E2;0⁺ _gs→ 2⁺ ₁)= 420 e ² fm ⁴ obtained with our approach are in good agreement with experimental data. Received: 26 July 2000 / Accepted: 30 August 2000     

Rotational bands in 169Re

Based on the systematic investigation of the data available for nuclei with A≥ 40, a Z ^1/3-dependence for the nuclear charge radii is shown to be superior to the generally accepted A ^1/3 law. A delicate scattering of data around R _c/Z ^1/3 is inferred as owing to the isospin effect and a linear dependence of R _c/Z ^1/3 on N/Z (or (N - Z)/2) is found. This inference is well supported by the microscopic Relativistic Continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov (RCHB) calculation conducted for the proton magic Ca, Ni, Zr, Sn and Pb isotopes including the exotic nuclei close to the neutron drip line. With the linear isospin dependence provided by the data and RCHB theory, a new isospin-dependent Z ^1/3 formula for the nuclear charge radii is proposed. Received: 23 September 2001 / Accepted: 21 January 2002     

Spectroscopy of nuclei far from stability at GANIL: Recent experiments

The structure of neutron-rich light nuclei around N = 20, 28 has been investigated at GANIL by means of in-beam gamma spectroscopy using fragmentation reactions of ³⁶S and ⁴⁸Ca beams on a Be target. Gamma decay of relatively high-lying excited states have been measured for the first time in nuclei around ³²Mg and ⁴⁴S. Level schemes are proposed and discussed for a large number of these neutron-rich nuclei around N = 20 and N = 28. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Measurement of the interaction cross-section and related topics

Recent experimental results concerning interaction cross-sections ( σ_I) are reviewed. The σ_I values were measured by a transmission method using the fragment separator at GSI. The σ_I values for B, C, N, O and F isotopes and the recently measured σ_I for Ar are presented. As related topics, an analysis by the recently developed Glauber model for a few-body system is introduced. By using this analysis, the effective density distributions for light neutron-rich nuclei can be deduced. The recently shown magic number N = 16 near to the neutron drip line is also discussed. Received: 1 May 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Charge radius change in the heavy tin isotopes until A = 132 from laser spectroscopy

Laser spectroscopy measurements have been carried out on the very neutron-rich tin isotopes with the COMPLIS experimental setup. Using the 5s ²5p ²³ P ₀ → 5s ²5p6s ³ P ₁ optical transition, hyperfine spectra of ^126-132Sn and ^{125m, 127m, 129m-131m}Sn where recorded for the first time. The variation of the mean-square charge radius ( δ〈r ²〉) between these nuclei and nuclear moments of the isomers and the odd isotopes were thus measured. An odd-even staggering which inverts at A = 130 is clearly observed. This indicates a small appearance of a plateau on the δ〈r ²〉 which has to be confirmed by measuring the isotope shift beyond A = 132. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: leblanc@ipno.in2p3.fr     

Physics with heavy neutron-rich RIBs at the HRIBF

The Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has recently produced the world's first post-accelerated beams of heavy neutron-rich nuclei. The first experiments with these beam are described, and the results discussed. B(E2;0⁺ → 2⁺) values for neutron-rich ^126,128Sn and ^132,134,136Te isotopes have been measured by Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics. The results for ¹³²Te and ¹³⁴Te (N = 80, 82) show excellent agreement with systematics of lighter Te isotopes, but the B(E2) value for ¹³⁶Te (N = 84) is unexpectedly small. Single-neutron transfer reactions with a ¹³⁴Te beam on ^natBe and ¹³C targets at energies just above the Coulomb barrier have also been studied. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: radford@mail.phy.ornl.gov