Signature splitting in two quasiparticle rotational bands of <Superscript>180,182</Superscript>Ta

The signature splittings in K^π = 1 ⁺: 7 /2[404] _π?9 /2[624] _ν, K^π = 0^?: 9 /2[514] _π?9 /2[624] _ν bands of ¹⁸⁰Ta and K^π = 0^?: 7 /2[404] _π?7 /2[503] _ν, K^π = 1^?: 5 /2[402] _π?3 /2[512] _ν, K^π = 1⁺: 7 /2[404] _π?9 /2[624] _ν bands of ¹⁸²Ta are analysed within the framework of two-quasiparticle rotor model. The phase as well as magnitude of the experimentally observed signature splitting in K^π = 1⁺ band of ¹⁸⁰Ta, which could not be explained in earlier calculations, is successfully reproduced. The conflict regarding placement of a 12 ⁺ level in K^π = 1 ⁺: 7 /2 ⁺[404] _π?9 /2 ⁺[624] _ν ground-state rotational band of ¹⁸⁰Ta is resolved and tentative nature of K^π = 0^?: 7 /2[404] _π?7 /2[503] _ν, K^π = 1⁺: 7 /2[404] _π?9 /2[624] _ν bands observed in ¹⁸²Ta is confirmed. As a future prediction for experimentalists, these two-quasiparticle structures observed in ¹⁸⁰Ta and ¹⁸²Ta are extended to higher spins.     

Investigating the Double Beta Decay of <Superscript>58</Superscript>Ni

Double beta decay (β + EC, EC/EC) of ⁵⁸Ni is investigated at France’s Modane Underground Laboratory (4800 m water equivalent) using the OBELIX ultralow-background HPGe detector with a sensitive volume of 600 cm³ and a natural nickel sample of ~68% 58Ni with a mass of ~21.7 kg. After preliminary analysis of the experimental data accumulated over ~144 days, new experimental limits are obtained for the 2νβ⁺EC decay of ⁵⁸Ni to the 0⁺ ground state and the 2 ₁ ⁺ , 811 keV excited state of ⁵⁸Fe, and for the 2νEC/EC decay of ⁵⁸Ni to the 2 ₁ ⁺ , 811 keV and 2 ₂ ⁺ , 1675 keV excited states of ⁵⁸Fe. The limits are T_1/2(β⁺EC,0→0⁺) > 1.7 × 10²² yr, T_1/2(β⁺EC,0→2 ₁ ⁺ ) > 2.3 × 10²² yr, T_1/2(EC/EC,0→2 ₁ ⁺ ) > 3.3 × 10²² yr, and T_1/2(EC/EC,0→2 ₂ ⁺ ) > 3.4 × 10²² yr. Experimental limit T_1/2(0νEC/EC–res, 1918 keV > 4.1 × 10²² yr is obtained for resonant neutrinoless radiative EC/EC decay with an energy of 1918.3 keV. All limits are at 90% CL.     

Search for the double-beta decay of <Superscript>130</Superscript>Te to excited states in <Superscript>130</Superscript>Xe

Experimental limits on the half-lives with respect to the (0ν+2ν) double-beta decay of ¹³⁰Te to excited states in ¹³⁰Xe are obtained by using low-background HPGe detectors. At a 90% C.L., they are 1.6×10²¹, 2.7×10²¹, and 2.3×10²¹ yr for transitions to the 2 ₁ ⁺ , 2 ₂ ⁺ , and 0 ₁ ⁺ levels, respectively.     

Optical characteristics of radiation from N<Stack><Subscript>2</Subscript><Superscript>*</Superscript></Stack> dimers in a barrier discharge

The spectral and power characteristics of radiation of the second positive system of nitrogen (C ³Π _u → B ³Π _g ) in Ar-N₂ and Ar-N₂-Cl₂ mixtures excited by barrier discharge have been studied experimentally. Addition of argon to N₂ increased the radiation power by sixfold. In the triple mixture Ar-N₂-Cl₂ = 210/0.5/0.005, minor chlorine additions increased the intensity of the C ³Π _u → _B ³Π _g transition by 26% compared to Ar-N₂ mixtures. Radiation power density of 2.7 mW/cm² has been achieved. In both binary and triple mixtures, the second positive system of nitrogen was the major contributor to radiation, while the contributions of the fourth positive system of N ₂ ^* (D ³Σ _u ⁺ → B ³Π _g ), the Vegard-Kaplan transition of N ₂ ^* (A ³Σ _u ⁺ → X ¹Σ _g ⁺ ), and the D′ → A′ band of Cl ₂ ^* were negligibly small.     

High-frequency EPR of Cr<Superscript>2+</Superscript> ions in CdGa<Subscript>2</Subscript>S<Subscript>4</Subscript>

High-frequency broad-band (65–240 GHz) EPR is used to study impurity centers of bivalent chromium in a CdGa₂S₄ crystal. It is found that the EPR spectra correspond to tetragonal symmetry. The spin Hamiltonian H = βB · g · S + B ₂ ⁰ O ₂ ⁰ + B ₄ ⁰ O ₄ ⁰ + B ₄ ⁴ O ₄ ⁴ with the parameters B ₂ ⁰ =23659±2 MHz, B ₄ ⁰ =1.9±1 MHz, |B ₄ ⁴ |=54.2±2 MHz, g_‖=1.93±0.02, and g_⊥=1.99±0.02 is used to describe the observed spectra. It is concluded that chromium ions occupy one of the tetrahedrally coordinated cation positions.     

QRPA coordinate space calculations of 2<Superscript>+</Superscript> states in <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>=20 isotones

The first 2⁺ states in N=20 isotones are studied within the self-consistent quasiparticle random phase approximation based on the Green’s function method. The residual interaction between quasiparticles with full velocity dependence is consistently derived from the Skyrme interaction plus pairing interaction energy density functional. The B(E2, 0 ₁ ⁺ → 2 ₁ ⁺ ) transition probabilities and the excitation energies of the first 2⁺ states are well described within a single framework. We discuss mainly the microscopic origin of the anomalously large B(E2) value and the very low excitation energy in ³²Mg.     

Manifestation of nonuniformity in the electron charge distribution in H<Stack><Subscript>2</Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript></Stack> molecular ions colliding with each other

The anomalous character of threshold properties in the ion-molecule reactions H ₂ ⁺ + H ₂ ⁺ → H ₃ ⁺ + p and H ₂ ⁺ + H ₂ ⁺ → H + p + H + p has been theoretically analyzed. It has been shown that these reactions proceed through the formation of the intermediate H ₄ ⁺⁺ complex. Molecules H ₂ ⁺ in the collision process are described by a chemical model, where the positive charge is concentrated in one of the nuclei. The calculations of the reaction cross sections are in good agreement with the experimental data. It has been shown that the chemical model of the H ₂ ⁺ molecule can be consistently explained only in terms of dynamic interactions, i.e., polarization forces and van der Waals forces.     

Specific features of the three-electron <Emphasis Type="Italic">KL</Emphasis><Stack><Subscript>2, 3</Subscript><Superscript>2</Superscript></Stack> ionization of silicon atoms upon near-threshold photoabsorption

The shape and relative intensity of the group of the Kα_5–8 satellites (radiative transitions KL _{2, 3} ² )-L _{2, 3} ³ of Si atoms are experimentally studied upon photoabsorption near and far from the KL _{2, 3} ² ionization threshold. The satellites were excited near the ionization threshold by lines of the characteristic L spectrum and bremsstrahlung radiation from Nb and Mo anodes and far from the threshold by the L spectrum and bremsstrahlung radiation from an Ag anode and by monochromatized Kα_{1, 2} radiation from a Ti anode. It is established that the probability P(L _{2, 3} ² ) of formation of two additional 2p vacancies during KL _{2, 3} ² photoabsorption of Si atoms near the energy threshold is by a factor of 1.5 lower than that during photoionization in a more distant energy region beyond the threshold. At the same time, the P(L _{2, 3} ² )/P(L _{2, 3}) ratio remains invariable for the absorbed photons throughout the energy range studied. It is demonstrated that, as the KL _{2, 3} ² ionization threshold is approached, an intensity redistribution occurs among the components of the group of the Kα_5–8 lines, which reflects a decrease in the excitation cross section ratio σ(⁴ P)/σ(² P) of the ⁴ P and ² P terms of the KL _{2, 3} ² configuration. A conclusion is drawn that the effects of suppression of the generation of P terms of higher multiplicity during the KL _{2, 3} and KL _{2, 3} ² near-threshold photoionizations are of a common nature.     

Investigation of low-lying levels of the <Stack><Subscript>4</Subscript><Superscript>8</Superscript></Stack>Be nucleus in the multiquantum approximation of the orthogonal scheme

In the multiquantum approximation of the orthogonal scheme, specific calculations for the energies and radii of the ₄ ⁸ Be nucleus are performed with allowance for all states characterized by the λ=[44] Young diagram, the quantum numbers K_min and K_min+2 of the O(3(A?1)) group, and the quantum numbers E=K+2N (N≤9) of the U(3(A?1)) group. The convergence of the results with respect to the extension of the basis is studied, and the structure of relevant wave functions is revealed. The results of these calculations are compared with the results obtained in the analogous approximation of the unitary scheme.     

Measurement of light scalar mesons in many-body decays in the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider

The unique design of the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider allows one to detect neutral and charged particles produced in high-energy collisions of heavy ions. This circumstance made it possible to measure many-particle decays of light mesons, such as K _S ⁰ →π⁰π⁰, η→π⁰π^?π⁺, and η→γγ in p + p, d + Au and Au + Au collisions at the energy \(\sqrt {S_{NN} }\) = 200 GeV. The latest results of measuring the differential production cross sections, ratios of particle yields (K _S ⁰ /π⁰ and η/π⁰), and the nuclear modification factors (\(R_{dA}^{K_S }\), R _dA ^η , R _AA ^η ) in a wide range of transverse momenta (from 2 to 12 GeV s^?1) are reported.     

Secondary ion emission from a GaAs single crystal upon bombardment with Bi<Stack> <Subscript> <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis> </Subscript> <Superscript>+</Superscript> </Stack> cluster ions

Secondary-ion mass spectra and energy distributions upon bombarding a gallium arsenide single crystal using Bi_m⁺(m = 1–5) cluster ions with energies of 2–12 keV are investigated. The gallium cluster ion yield grew nonadditively with the number of atoms in the cluster projectiles. A quasi-thermal component found in the energy spectra of secondary Ga⁺ and Ga₂⁺ ions is indicative of the occurrence of the thermal spike mode upon cluster ion bombardment. The quasi-thermal component in the yield of atomic Ga⁺ ions upon bombardment with Bi₂⁺–Bi₅⁺–ions is 35–75%.     

Metastable helium cluster He<Stack><Subscript>4</Subscript><Superscript>*</Superscript></Stack>

The existence of a metastable cluster He ₄ ^* with total spin S = 2 is predicted. The cluster consists of two covalently bound excited spin-polarized triplet He ₂ ^* molecules and is rectangular in shape. The electron wavefunctions, the dependence of the energy He ₄ ^* system on the distance between the He ₂ ^* triplet molecules, the atomic spacing, the frequency spectrum of natural oscillations of the cluster, and other characteristics are calculated from first principles. It is shown that the metastable state is formed if one of the excited He ₂ ^* molecules is in the ³Σ _u ⁺ state, while the other is in the ³Π_g state. The radiation lifetime τ of the metastable cluster He ₄ ^* is calculated; it is found to range from 100 to 200 s, which is much longer than the lifetime τ ≈ 20 s of the triplet molecule He ₂ ^* (³Σ _u ⁺ ). The height U ≈ 0.5 eV of the potential barrier preventing the departure from the local energy minimum is determined. The energy E_acc ≈ 9 eV/atom accumulated in the He ₄ ^* cluster is calculated; this energy considerably exceeds the energy of known chemical energy carriers. It is shown that the accumulated energy is released virtually completely during decomposition of the He ₄ ^* cluster into individual helium atoms. This means that helium clusters are a promising material with a high accumulated energy density (HEDM).     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis> <Superscript>+</Superscript>(4430): Nonexotic interpretation

The possibility of describing the charged charmonium-like state Z⁺(4430) as the kinematical rescattering effect is examined. This approach makes it possible to avoid the introduction of exotic hadron states in the model, and one describes structures in the ψ(2S)π⁺ mass spectrum by the presence of the D_s^(*)′ resonance in a hidden intermediate state. The resulting model predictions are compared with the results obtained by the LHCb Collaboration.     

Mixing of <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Superscript>0</Superscript> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis><Superscript>0</Superscript> neutral mesons within the minimum supersymmetry model

Mixing of K ⁰ and B ⁰ mesons is studied in the scope of the minimum supersymmetry model (MSSM) with a type II Yukawa sector and explicit violation of CP invariance in the Higgs potential. The mixing parameters Δm _LS and ? are calculated in the limit of the low-energy four-fermion approximation with a charged Higgs boson exchange. It is shown that supersymmetric effects are very small for K ⁰ mesons and may be quite significant for B _s ⁰ and B _d ⁰ mesons, which imposes constraints on the MSSM parameter space.     

Production of exotic Λ hypernuclei via mesonic beams

We study the production of neutron-rich hypernuclei _Λ ¹² Be, _Λ ¹⁶ C, and _Λ ¹⁰ Li by the (π^?, K⁺) and (K^?, π⁺) reactions in flight and treat two different mechanisms of production. The first mechanism is a two-step process with meson charge exchange (e.g., π^?p → π⁰n, π⁰p → K⁺Λ). The other mechanism is one-step production (π^?p → K⁺Σ^?) proceeding via a small Σ^? component, arising in Λ hypernuclei due to ΛN–ΣN coupling, as a doorway state. Typically, the two-step mechanism is more productive. The forward differential cross section of the ¹⁰B(π^?,K⁺) reaction is about 70 nb/sr at an incident momentum of 1.05 GeV/c. On the other hand, the one-step process can serve as a direct measurement of the Σ admixture if the two-step contribution is suppressed by a suitable choice of the reaction kinematics.     

Study of the formation and unimolecular fragmentation of Si<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript>O<Stack><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis></Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript></Stack> clusters under ion bombardment

The dependences of the emission and fragmentation of clusters sputtered by Xe⁺ ions from the surface of Si _n O _m ⁺ on the oxygen pressure near the bombarded surface are studied using secondary ion mass spectrometry. It is shown that the process of Si _n O _m ⁺ cluster formation under ion bombardment can be described within the framework of the mechanism of combinatorial synthesis by taking into account the mutual reversibility of the reactions of formation and unimolecular decay.     

Exotic molecular states in a strong magnetic field: H<Stack><Subscript>3</Subscript><Superscript>(2+)</Superscript></Stack> ion

The existence of the molecular ion H ₃ ⁽²⁺⁾ in a magnetic field in a triangular and a linear configuration is discussed. A variational method (with an optimization of the form of the vector potential) is used. It is shown that, in the range of magnetic fields 10⁸<B<10¹¹ G, the system (pppe), with the protons forming an equilateral triangle perpendicular to the magnetic line, has a well-pronounced minimum in the total energy. Also, for B?10¹⁰ G, if the protons are situated along a magnetic line (linear configuration), a well-pronounced minimum in the total energy appears. Both configurations are unstable under the decays H(atom) + p + p and H ₂ ⁽⁺⁾ + p. A possible connection between the H ₃ ⁽²⁺⁾ molecular ion and a recently discovered absorption feature in a neutron-star atmosphere is discussed.     

Effect of the Lattice and Spin-Phonon Contributions on the Temperature Behavior of the Ground State Splitting of Gd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> in SrMoO<Subscript>4</Subscript>

The temperature behavior of the EPR spectra of the Gd³⁺ impurity center in single crystals of SrMoO₄ in the temperature range T = 99–375 K is studied. The analysis of the temperature dependences of the spin Hamiltonian b ₂ ⁰ (T) = b₂(F) + b₂(L) and P ₂ ⁰ (T) = P₂(F) + P₂(L) (for Gd¹⁵⁷) describing the EPR spectrum and contributing to the Gd³⁺ ground state splitting ΔE is carried out. In terms of the Newman model, the values of b₂(L) and P₂(L) depending on the thermal expansion of the static lattice are estimated; the b₂(F) and P₂(F) spin-phonon contributions determined by the lattice ion oscillations are separated. The analysis of b ₂ ⁰ (T) and P ₂ ⁰ (T) is evidence of the positive contribution of the spin-phonon interaction; the model of the local oscillations of the impurity cluster with close frequencies ω describes well the temperature behavior of b₂(F) and P₂(F).     

Description of spectrum and electromagnetic transitions in <Superscript>94</Superscript>Mo through the proton-neutron interacting boson model

We investigated the properties of low-lying states in ⁹⁴Mo within the framework of the proton-neutron interacting boson model (IBM-2), with special focus on the characteristics of mixed-symmetry states. We calculated level energies and M1 and E2 transition strengths. The IBM-2 results agree with the available quantitative and qualitative experimental data on ⁹⁴Mo. The properties of mixed-symmetry states can be well described by IBM-2 given that the energy of the d proton boson is different from that of the neutron boson, especially for the transition of B(M1; 4 ₂ ⁺ → 4 ₁ ⁺ ).     

Searching for signatures around 1920 MeV of a N<Superscript>*</Superscript> state of three hadron nature

We provide a series of arguments which support the idea that the peak seen in the \( \gamma\) p \( \rightarrow\) K ⁺ \( \Lambda\) reaction around 1920MeV should correspond to the recently predicted state of J ^P = 1/2⁺ as a bound state of K \( \bar{{K}}\) N with a mixture of a ₀(980)N and f ₀(980)N components. At the same time we propose polarization experiments in that reaction as a further test of the prediction, as well as a study of the total cross-section for \( \gamma\) p \( \rightarrow\) K ⁺ K ^- p at energies close to threshold and of dσ/dM _inv for invariant masses close to the two-kaon threshold.