Measurements of the two-neutron transfer reaction induced by a 6He radioactive beam

To estimate the probability of two-neutron configuration in halo nuclei, an experimental method for studying neutron-neutron correlations at the periphery of such nuclei by measuring the two-neutron transfer reaction is proposed. Experimental investigation of the ⁶He + A → ⁴He + B reaction was performed using a 60-MeV ⁶He radioactive beam at the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna); the technique of nuclear photoemulsions was applied. Search for events of the two-nucleon transfer reaction was performed at the PAVIKOM setup (Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences).     

Quasifree proton scattering on halo nuclei as a tool for studying the neutron-halo structure

An experimental method is proposed for investigating the structure of the two-neutron halo in quasifree proton scattering on clusters of halo nuclei. This scattering process is studied in inverse kinematics by using a ⁶He beam incident to a stack of track emulsions. Preliminary data on the reaction ⁶He + p → ⁴He + p + X are compared with the results of simple kinematical calculations for quasifree proton scattering on the clusters forming the halo of the ⁶He nucleus.     

The role of configurations of neutron halo in the formation of the model vertex function for description of the two-neutron transfer reaction

The nuclear vertex functions for virtual decay of halo nuclei ⁶He → α + n + n (¹¹Li-⁹Li + n + n) for dineutron and cigarlike configurations of the neutron halo have been analytically investigated using the diagram method of direct nuclear reactions. These vertex functions describe the one-step process of two-neutron transfer. It is shown that the angular and energy distributions of the reaction products (α particles, ⁹Li, etc.) in different ranges of variables correspond to different structural elements of the halo. The vertex function describing the two-step process of halo neutron transfer has also been analyzed.     

Studying of the neutron halo structure in quasi-free proton scattering from 6He Halo nucleus

An experimental method based on an analysis of the neutron-neutron correlations in reactions induced by halo nuclei in nuclear photoemulsion is proposed for studying the two-neutron halo structure. Photoemulsion stacks were exposed to a beam of radioactive ⁶He nuclei. Preliminary data on interaction of the ⁶He halo nucleus to hydrogen are compared with the results of the kinematic calculation for the reaction of quasi-free proton scattering from clusters making up the ⁶He halo nucleus. A fraction of quasi-free scattering events with “survival” of the dineutron is evaluated for scattering of protons by the dineutron configuration of the ⁶He nucleus.     

Enhanced neutron pair transfer and collective excitations in the system 206Pb + 118Sn at barrier energies

At energies below the Coulomb barrier, neutron transfer and Coulomb excitation have been measured in a very heavy asymmetric nuclear system, in ²⁰⁶Pb + ¹¹⁸Sn. These are semi-magic nuclei showing super-fluid properties. Particle-γ coincidence techniques using 5 Euroball Cluster detectors (EB), combined in a set-up with the Heidelberg-Darmstadt NaI Crystal Ball (CB), have been used. Position-sensitive detectors allowed the observation of scattering processes covering angles from 110 up to 150 degrees. The fragments are identified via the known γ-decays of the lowest excited states using the high resolution of EB. Using the unique feature of the set-up with the CB, transfer to well-defined final channels with known quantum numbers is selected using the high-efficiency multiplicity filter of the CB with no second γ-ray, i.e. without feeding. The data are analysed using the semi-classical approach and transfer probabilities are obtained. Coulomb excitation has been analysed using known transition probabilities. The enhancement is deduced for the two-neutron transfer populating the low-lying super-fluid 2⁺ states in ¹²⁰Sn and ¹¹⁶Sn, while the 2n transition remains in the ground state for the ^20NPb nuclei. Large enhancements up to EF ≃ 10³ are observed. This is the first observation of neutron pair transfer enhancement for a heavy nuclear binary system with super-fluid properties with experimentally separated levels. The calculations with microscopic 2-neutron wave functions, with configuration mixing over six shell model configurations and using the coupled reaction channels approach, reproduce well the observed probabilities and the enhancement. Received: 27 August 2002 / Accepted: 9 December 2002 / Published online: 25 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: oertzen@hmi.de Communicated by D. Schwalm     

Excitation functions of fusion reactions and neutron transfer in the interaction of 6He with 197Au and 206Pb

Excitation functions for evaporation residues in the reactions ¹⁹⁷Au(⁶He, xn)^203-xnTl, x = 2-7, and ²⁰⁶Pb(⁶He, 2n)²¹⁰Po, as well as for neutron transfer reactions for the production of ¹⁹⁶Au and ¹⁹⁸Au in the interaction of ⁶He with ¹⁹⁷Au were measured. The ⁶He beam was obtained from the accelerator complex for radioactive beams DRIBs (JINR). The maximum energy of the beam was about 10AMeV and the intensity reached 2×10⁷pps. The stacked-foil activation technique was used directly in the beam extracted from the cyclotron or in the focal plane of the magnetic spectrometer MSP-144. The identification of the reaction products was done by their radioactive γ- or α-decay. The fusion reaction with the evaporation of two neutrons was characterized by an increase in the cross-section compared to statistical model calculations. The analysis of the data in the framework of the statistical model for the decay of excited nuclei, which took into account the sequential fusion of ⁶He has shown good agreement between the experimental and the calculated values of the cross-sections in the case of sub-Coulomb-barrier fusion in the ²⁰⁶Pb + ⁶He reaction. An unusually large cross-section was observed below the Coulomb barrier for the production of ¹⁹⁸Au in the interaction of ⁶He with ¹⁹⁷Au. Possible mechanisms of formation and decay of transfer reaction products are discussed.     

Two-neutron elastic transfer 4He(6He,4He)6He at E = 151 MeV

Using the framework of the coupled reaction channels (CRC) the elastic scattering and the elastic transfer in the system ⁶He + ⁴He measured at E = 151 MeV have been analysed. It is shown that the structure observed in the backward range of the angular distributions is influenced by the interference of the elastic 2n-transfer with a two-step process passing through the 2⁺ excitation in ⁶He. The two-neutron transfer mechanism is studied in the microscopic approach and it is found that for the ground-state transition the one step dominates by a factor 10 over the two-step mechanism at this energy. Received: 29 October 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Near-barrier neutron transfer in reactions <Superscript>6</Superscript>He + <Superscript>45</Superscript>Sc, <Superscript>64</Superscript>Zn,and <Superscript>197</Superscript>Au

Experimental cross sections of formation of isotopes ⁴⁶Sc (in reaction ⁶He + ⁴⁵Sc), ^196,198Au (in reaction ⁶He + ¹⁹⁷Au), and ⁶⁵Zn (in reaction ⁶He + ⁶⁴Zn) are analyzed. The time-dependent Schrödinger equation for the outer neutrons of ⁶He and ¹⁹⁷Au nuclei is solved numerically to calculate the probability of neutron transfer and transfer cross sections. In reaction ⁶He + ¹⁹⁷Au, the contribution of fusion and subsequent evaporation to experimental data can be neglected, while the corresponding contributions to reactions ⁶He + ⁴⁵Sc and ⁶He + ⁶⁴Zn are considerable. Fusion–evaporation is taken into account using the computational code of the NRV knowledge base. The results of calculations are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data.     

Transfer, sequential decay, and quasi-free reactions induced by 18-MeV 6He beam on 6Li, 7Li, and 12C

The ⁶He + ^6,7Li and ⁶He + ¹²C scattering and reactions have been studied using an 18-MeV ⁶He beam. Experimental results for the elastic scattering on all three targets are in fair agreement with optical model predictions, using the potentials found in the analysis of the ⁶Li scattering on the same targets and at close beam energies. Several two-body exit channels show clear signatures of a direct reaction mechanism allowing extraction of spectroscopic information. The measured angular distribution for the ⁶He + ⁶Li → α + ⁸Li reaction indicated close similarity between the α + 2n configuration in ⁶He and the α + d configuration in ⁶Li. The obtained results for α-particle pickup from both ⁶Li and ⁷Li give large values of α spectroscopic factors for some ¹⁰Be states, indicating their well-developed α + ⁶He cluster structure. The exotic two-proton pickup reaction (⁶He, ⁸Be) was studied, as well as two-neutron and triton transfer reactions. Quasi-free scattering of ⁶He on deuteron and α particle in ⁶Li was also observed. The sequential decay reactions ⁶He + ⁶Li → ⁶He + α + d, ⁶He + ⁶Li → 2α + t + n, ⁶He + ⁷Li → ⁶He + α + t, and ⁶He + ¹²C → ¹⁰Be + 2α were clearly seen, and α clustering of some states in ^6,7Li, ^8–10Be, and ¹⁴C was thus studied. Several new spectroscopic results obtained for some ¹⁰Be states support the existence of a molecule-like rotational band in ¹⁰Be with a very large moment of inertia. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Near-barrier neutron transfer in reactions with <Superscript>3</Superscript>He nucleus

Experimental cross sections for the formation of ^196,198Au isotopes in the ³He + ¹⁹⁷Au reaction and ^44,46Sc isotopes in the ³He + ⁴⁵Sc reaction are analyzed. To calculate transfer probabilities and cross sections, the time-dependent Schrödinger equation is numerically solved for the external neutrons of the ³He, ⁴⁵Sc, and ¹⁹⁷Au nuclei. It is shown that the contribution from the fusion channel with subsequent evaporation is important for the ³He + ⁴⁵Sc reaction and negligibly small for the ³He + ¹⁹⁷Au reaction. Fusion–evaporation is taken into account using the NRV and PACE codes. Calculation results demonstrate overall satisfactory agreement with experimental data.     

Strong enhancement of two-neutron transfer in the system 206Pb+118Sn

One and two neutron transfer has been measured in the heaviest asymmetric nuclear system with semi magic nuclei showing superfluid properties, in ²⁰⁶Pb+¹¹⁸Sn collisions at an energy well below the Coulomb barrier with scattering orbits covering the largest angles. Particle-γ coincidence techniques using 5 Euroball-Cluster detectors (EB) combined in a set-up with the Heidelberg-Darmstadt NaI-Crystal Ball (CB) have been used. Transfer channels are identified with EB via their known γ-decays of the lowest excited states. Using the unique feature of the set-up with the CB, transfer to well defined final states with known quantum numbers (without feeding) are selected using the high efficiency multiplicity filter of the CB (no second γ-ray). The data are analysed using the semiclassical approach and transfer probabilities are obtained. The enhancement for the two-neutron transfer populating the low lying superfluid 2⁺ state in ¹²⁰Sn (and ¹¹⁶Sn), while the Pb-branch is in the groundstate is deduced by comparison with the strongest single neutron transfer transition. Large enhancements (EF ≃ 10³) are observed. This is the first direct measurement of enhancement for a heavy nuclear binary system with experimentally separated levels suggesting a strong contribution from superfluid pair transfer. Received: 18 December 1998 / Revised version: 23 February 1999     

Investigation of neutron and proton distributions of He,Li, and Be isotopes using the new Skyrme-Force parameters

The proton and neutron densities, root-mean-square (rms) radii of proton density and neutron density, and neutron skin thickness of ^4–10He, ^6–11Li, and ^7–12Be isotopes are calculated using Skyrme-Hartree-Fock method with SLy4, SLy5, SLy6, and SLy7 force parameters. The evaluated results are compared with experimental data. Also, the results of halo nuclei (^6,8He, ¹¹Li, and ¹¹Be) are compared with the results of other isotopes for selected nuclei having the same neutron configuration.     

Electron scattering on two-neutron halo nuclei: The case of 6He

The formalism to describe electron scattering reactions on two-neutron halo nuclei is developed. The halo nucleus is described as a three-body system (core +n + n), and the wave function is obtained by solving the Faddeev equations in coordinate space. We discuss elastic and quasielastic scattering using the impulse approximation to describe the reaction mechanism. We apply the method to investigate the case of electron scattering on ⁶He. Spectral functions, response functions, and differential cross sections are calculated for both neutron knockout and α knockout by the electron.     

Nuclear-matter distributions of halo nuclei from elastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics

Proton-nucleus elastic scattering at intermediate energies, a well-established method for probing nuclear-matter density distributions of stable nuclei, was applied for the first time to exotic nuclei. This method is demonstrated to be an effective means for obtaining accurate and detailed information on the size and radial shape of halo nuclei. Absolute differential cross-sections for small-angle scattering were measured at energies near 700 MeV/u for the neutron-rich helium isotopes ⁶He and ⁸He, and more recently for the lithium isotopes ⁶Li, ⁸Li, ⁹Li and ¹¹Li, using He and Li beams provided by the fragment separator FRS at GSI Darmstadt. Experiments were performed in inverse kinematics using the hydrogen-filled ionization chamber IKAR which served simultaneously as target and recoil-proton detector. For deducing nuclear-matter distributions, differential cross-sections calculated with the aid of the Glauber multiple-scattering theory, using various parametrizations for the nucleon density distributions as input, were fitted to the experimental cross-sections. The results on nuclear-matter radii and matter distributions are presented, and the significance of the data for a halo structure is discussed. Nuclear-matter distributions obtained for ⁶He and ⁸He conform with the concept that both nuclei compose of α-particle like cores and significant neutron halos. The matter distribution in ¹¹Li exhibits, as expected from previous reaction cross-section studies with nuclear targets, the by far most extended halo component of all nuclei being investigated. In addition the present data allow a quantitative comparison of the structure of the He and Li isobares of either the mass number A = 6 or A = 8. The measured differential cross-sections have also been used for probing density distributions as predicted from various microscopic calculations. A few examples are presented. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: p.egelhof@gsi.de     

Study of the neutron halo structure in interaction of 6He with nuclei of photoemulsion

To investigate the structure of the halo of Borromean nuclei, we have studied quasi-free scattering of the proton by constituents of halo-nuclei ⁶He. The experimental study is performed using the ⁶He beam of the Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR) at an energy of about 10?MeV/u and the technique of nuclear photoemulsions. Searching for events of quasi-free scattering and their processing is performed using the PAVICOM-setup at the Lebedev Physical Institute.     

One- and two-neutron transfer reactions on 12C with the weakly bound 6He projectile

Using the framework of the coupled reaction channels (CRC) the one- and two-neutron transfer process initiated by the weakly bound nucleus ⁶He on ¹²C at an energy of E _L = 5.9 MeV is studied. The absolute cross-sections for a few states in ¹⁴C are well reproduced within a factor 2 in second order, using microscopic wave functions of ⁶He and ¹²C. Only a small dependence of the cross-section on details of the ⁶He wave function is observed. Good fits to the data are obtained in a calculation with full coupling (25 iterations) with renormalised optical potential parameters and spectroscopic amplitudes of ⁶He. Received: 13 June 2000 / Accepted: 24 July 2000     

Peculiarities in total cross sections of reactions with weakly bound nuclei <Superscript>6</Superscript>He, <Superscript>9</Superscript>Li

The energy dependence of the total cross sections for the ⁶He + Si and ⁹Li + Si reactions was measured at beam energies between 5 and 20 MeV per nucleon. The results agree with experimental data published for the ⁶He + Si reaction. New data are obtained for the ⁹Li + Si reaction in the vicinity of a local enhancement of the total cross section. A theoretical analysis of the possible reasons behind the appearance of this peculiarity in the case of collisions of ⁶He and ⁹Li nuclei with silicon target nuclei is performed. In particular, the enhancement may owe its origin to the effect of loosely bound projectile nucleons.     

Correlation investigations of the low-energy 10He spectrum

The spectrum of low-lying states in the ¹⁰He nucleus is investigated for the two-neutron transfer reaction ³H(⁸He, p)¹⁰He. The secondary beam of ⁸He nuclei with the energy 21.5 MeV/nucleon and a cryogenic tritium target are used in the experiment. The ¹⁰He ground state is observed in the missing mass spectrum at the energy of 2.1 MeV (Γ ～ 2 MeV) above the decay threshold. Analysis of the angular correlations of the ¹⁰He decay products yields the spin and parity of two excited ¹⁰He states, J ^π = 1^? in the energy range from 4 to 6 MeV and J ^π = 2⁺ at energies above 6 MeV.     

Rearrangements in neutron shell closures far from stability

A survey of experimental results obtained at GANIL (Caen, Prance) on the study of the properties of very neutron-rich nuclei (Z = 6–20, A = 20–60) near the neutron drip line and resulting in an appearance of further evidence for the new magic number N = 16 is presented. Very recent data on mass measurements of neutron-rich nuclei at GANIL and some characteristics of binding energies in this region are discussed. Nuclear binding energies are very sensitive to the existence of nuclear shells and together with the measurements of instability of doubly magic nuclei ¹⁰He and ²⁸0 they provide information on changes in neutron shell closures of very neutron-rich isotopes. The behaviour of the two-neutron separation energies S_2n derived from mass measurements gives a very clear evidence for the existence of the new shell closure N = 16 for Z = 9 and 10 appearing between 2s_1/2 and ld_3/2 orbitals. This fact, strongly supported by the instability of C, N and O isotopes with N > 16, confirms the magic character of N = 16 for the region from carbon up to neon while the shell closure at N = 20 tends to disappear for Z ≤ 13. Decay studies of these hardly accessible short-lived neutron-rich nuclei from oxygen to silicon using the in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy are also reported.