Alpha-decay widths in 20Ne

The α-decay of several unbound levels in ²⁰Ne has been studied by ¹⁶O(α, α) elastic and inelastic scattering. A narrow resonance, Γ_c.m. = 13±4 eV, with J^π = 5^? was found at $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>x</mtext>}}\text{(}{}^{20}\text{Ne}\text{) = 8.451±0.005}\text{MeV}$ and is associated with the lowest K = 2^? quasirotational band. Several new, narrow resonances were found between E_x = 16.0?18.4 MeV. Reduced α-decay widths have been obtained for the lowest K = 0⁺, 2^? and 0^?bands. For states described predominantly by the (8, 2) representation of SU(3) we note a reduction of the reduced widths with increasing spin. Reduced widths of positive parity bands are reviewed.     

The 16O + p → 17F (T = 32) resonances at Ep = 11.26,12.71 and 14.57 MeV

Excitation functions for ¹⁶O+p reactions have been measured with high energy resolution in the region of the first, second and seventh $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ resonances in ¹⁷F at extreme backward angles. The observed resonance shapes have been analyzed with a single-level resonance formula taking the off-resonance spin-flip amplitude into account. The resonance parameters of the ¹⁷F first $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ state studied with special emphasis are E_x = 11193.3 ± 2.3 keV, Γ = 200 ± 40 eV and Γ_p0 = 19 ± 3 eV. This result and other results are compared with previous studies and theoretical predictions. The comparison with data of the mirror nucleus ¹⁷O is discussed with respect to the observed charge asymmetry of the isospin-forbidden particle decay widths.     

12C(7Li,t)16O and stellar helium fusion

The reaction ¹²C(⁷Li, t)¹⁶O has been studied at $\text{E(}{}^7\text{Li}\text{) = 34}\text{MeV}$ with the LASL tandem accelerator and QDDD magnetic spectrometer. Angular distributions to levels with E_x < 11 MeV have been obtained from 0° to 90°, including 0°. The results have been analyzed with finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation theory. The α-particle spectroscopic factors and reduced widths obtained are compared with those calculated with group theory (SU(3)) and other models. The analysis of data for the 7.1 and 9.6 MeV J^π = 1^? levels, which are of great importance in stellar helium buring, yields a ratio, R, of dimensionless reduced α-widths $\text{θ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{(7.1}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{θ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{(9.6}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{= 0.35b ± 0.13}$. The observed line width of the 9.6 MeV level (Γ_c.m. = 390 ± 60 keV) is less than the accepted value (Γ_c.m. = 510 ± 60 keV) and implies θ²_a(9.6 MeV) ≈ 0.6. These results as well as data for the 6.92 MeV J^π = 2⁺ and 10.35 MeV J^π = 4⁺ “α-cluster” states indicate 0.09 < θ²_a(7.1 MeV) < 0.33 with a mean value θ²_a(7.1 MeV) = 0.14 ± 0.04. The implication for stellar helium burning is discussed.     

7 MeV dipole ground state transitions in 207Pb, 208Pb and 209Bi

The Doppler-broadened 7.117 MeV line from the ¹⁹F(p, αγ)¹⁶O reaction has been used to resonantly excite levels in ²⁰⁸Pb at 7071±2 and 7091±2 keV, in ²⁰⁷Pb at 7186±5 and 7206±5 keV and in ²⁰⁹Bi at 7179±5 and 7202±5 keV. On the basis of angular distribution measurements the 7071 and 7091 keV levels of ²⁰⁸Pb are assigned spins of 1 and assuming 100% ground state branching the widths are calculated to be 31±3 and 17±2 eV respectively. It is suggested that the states in ²⁰⁷Pb and ²⁰⁹Bi arise from the weak coupling of a $\text{P}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ neutron hole and an $\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ proton respectively to one or the other of the ²⁰⁸Pb levels. The widths obtained in terms of _gΓ_o²/Γ are 15±4 and 25±5 eV for the 7186 and 7206 keV levels of ²⁰⁷Pb and 24±5 and 30±5 for the levels of ²⁰⁹Bi respectively. These values are consistent with the weak-coupling suggestion.     

20Ne + n → 21Ne(T = 32) resonances

$\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ resonances in ²¹Ne have been studied in measurements of the total neutron cross section of ²⁰Ne using the 190 m neutron time-of-flight facility of the Karlsruhe Isochronous Cyclotron. The high time-of-flight resolution of 6.6 ps/m enabled the study of sharp $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ resonances in ²¹Ne with an effective energy resolution of up to 4000. Five $\text{T =}\text{case3}\text{2}$ levels have been observed as sharp resonances allowing the precise determination of total width Λ, partial decay with Λ_no and resonance energy E_R. The c.m. resonance parameters of the first $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ state in ²¹Ne are E_R = 2098.6 ± 0.3 keV, Λ = 2.2 ± 0.5 keV and Λ_no = 0.21 ± 0.05 keV. Upper limits for the partial decay widths are deduced for those $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ levels which do not appear as resonance anomalies. A search for additional $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ states was undertaken. The resonance energies are discussed in the framework of the isbobaric mass multiplet equation. The decay widths are compared with shell-model predictions of isospin mixing and the systematics of isospin-non-conserving particle decays.     

Some studies of T = 32 states in 17F

Measurements have been made of some parameters of the second and sixth $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ states in ¹⁷F. For the second state, the resonance energy was found to be E_p = 12.707 ± 0.001 MeV (E_n = 12.550±0.001 MeV), which agrees with and improves on the accuracy of earlier work. For the sixth $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ state, at E_p = 14.435 MeV, the γ-decay was determined to be predominantly γ₀ with a branch to the first excited state of Γ(γ₁)/Γ(γ₀) ≦ 0.14. Together with other work, this determines J^π to be $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$. The capture strength is found to be (2J + 1)Γ_pΓ_γ/Γ = 11.4 ± 2.6 eV.     

Total width of the lowest T = 2 state in 24Mg

By analyzing thick-target excitation functions of the $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>p</mtext>}}\text{= 3906}\text{keV}{}^{23}\text{Na}\text{(}\text{p}\text{, γ)}$ resonance we have determined Γ_c.m ≦ 530⁺⁴⁰_?70 eV for the width of the lowest T = 2 state of ²⁴Mg. The beam energy resolution function was measured using a narrow ²⁷Al(p, γ) resonance at E_p = 3671 keV, for which we obtain Γ_c.m. = 180 ±50 eV.     

12C(6Li,d)16O and16O(6Li,d)20Ne at E(6Li) = 42 MeV

Spectra up to 25 MeV excitation in ¹⁶O have been obtained from ¹²C(⁶Li, d) at 42 MeV bombarding energy. Angular distributions have been measured for ten states, including two J^π = 1^? states of astrophysical interest, and appear to be mostly direct α-transfer. In addition, data for ¹⁶(⁶Li, d)²⁰Ne(g.s.) and ²⁰Ne¹(2⁺) have been obtained. Excitation energies and widths have been extracted for states in ¹⁶O, including several states at E_x > 15 MeV. Alpha spectroscopic factors, S_α, and reduced α-widths, γ²_α and θ²_α have been deduced for levels in ¹⁶O and ²⁰Ne and compared with theoretical predictions. The J^π = 1^? levels in ¹⁶O at 7.12 and 9.6 MeV excitation appear to have comparable S_α and γ²_α values, viz. $\text{γ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(7.12 MeV)}\text{γ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{\alpha }}\text{(9.6}\text{MeV}\text{) = 0.6}{}^{\mathrm{+1.7}}{}_{\mathrm{?0.3}}$. Both states have apparent S_α and γ²_α values smaller than that for the J^π = 2⁺ “α-cluster” state at 6.9 MeV however. Furthermore, the observed line shape for the J^α = 1^?, 9.6 MeV level indicates Γ_c.m. = 400 ± 50 keV, which is substantially less than the accepted width for this level Γ_c.m. = 510±60 keV). The possible implications of these results for stellar helium burning calculations are discussed.     

The reactions 18O(p,p)18O and 18O(p,p')18O1(1.98 MeV) for Ep = 3.8–6.1 MeV

Angular distributions of cross sections and analyzing powers have been measured for ¹⁸O(p, p)¹⁸O and ¹⁸O(p, p₁)¹⁸O¹ (1.98 MeV) in 25 keV intervals for proton energies between 3.8 and 6.1 MeV. A phase-shift analysis of the elastic scattering data was carried out, yielding resonance parameters for 16 levels in ¹⁹F in the excitation energy region 11.6–13.8 MeV. The results generally are in good agreement with previous work. On the basis of spin, parity, excitation energy and a comparison of reduced proton widths with reduced neutron widths of levels in ¹⁹O, an assignment of $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ could be made to at least five of the levels, including the analog of the broad $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ level in ¹⁹O at 5.45 MeV. A Legendre-polynomial analysis of the inelastic scattering data suggests that the cross section for proton energies between 5.0 and 5.5 MeV is dominated by the broad $\text{3}\text{2}$⁺ resonance at E_p = 5.15 MeV.     

Electromagnetic decay of fragmented analogue states in 45Sc

The ⁴⁴Ca(p, γ) reaction was studied for 45 resonances for E_p = 1.6?2.2 MeV. The overall proton energy resolution was 300–350 eV; the γ-rays were detected with both NaI(T1) and Ge(Li) detectors. Partial and total γ-ray widths were measured for each of the fine structure states of the $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ analogue states at E_p = 1.65 and 2.04 MeV, respectively. The data are examined for correlations between the partial widths (Γ_p, Γ_p′, Γ_γi, Γ_γ^total) in different channels. The γ-ray intensities are compared with (τ, d) spectroscopic factors.     

Hydrogen burning of 20Ne and 22Ne in stars

The ²⁰Ne(p, γ)²¹Na capture reaction has been studied in the energy range E_p = 0.37–2.10 MeV. Direct-capture transitions to the $\text{332 (}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}\text{and}\text{2425}\text{keV}\text{(}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}$ states have been found with spectroscopic factors of C²S(1d) = 0.77±0.13 and C²S(2s) = 0.90±0.12, respectively. The high-energy tail of the 2425 keV state, bound by 7 keV against proton decay, has also been observed in the above energy range as a subthreshold resonance. The excitation function for this tail is consistent with a single-level Breit-Wigner shape for a γ-width of Γ_γ = 0.31±0.07 eV at E_x = 2425 keV. The extrapolation of these data to stellar energies gives an astrophysical S-factor of S(0) = 3500 keV · b. Two new resonances at E_p = 384±5 and 417± 5 keV have been observed with strengths of ωγ = 0.11±0.02 and 0.06±0.01 meV, corresponding to the known states at and 2829 keV (presumably $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$), respectively. For the known E_p = 1830 keV resonance, a strength of ωγ = 1.0± 0.3 eV and a total width of Γ = 180± 15 keV were found. Branching ratios as well as transition strengths have been obtained for these three states. The Q-value for the ²⁰Ne(p, γ)²¹Na reaction (Q = 2432.3 ± 0.5 keV) as well as excitation energies for many low-lying states in ²¹Na have been measured. No evidence was found for the existence of the state reported at E_x = 4308±4 keV.In the case of ²²Ne(p, γ)²³Na, direct-capture transitions to six final bound states have been observed revealing sizeable spectroscopic factors for these states. The astrophysical S-factor extrapolated from these data to stellar energies, is S(0) = 67 ± 12 keV · b.The astrophysical as well as the nuclear structure aspects of the present results are discussed.     

Isomers in the N = 83 nucleus 149Dy

Energy levels in the N = 83 nucleus ¹⁴⁹Dy were studied by the reaction ¹⁵²Gd(α, 7n) at 106 MeV bombarding energy using in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy methods. The measurements identified three isomers in this nucleus, at 1073 keV (13 ± 3 ns), at 2700±150keV (5 μs < T_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} < 0.5 s), and above 3.5 MeV (50 ± 15 ns). The low-lying isomer is interpreted as i_{$\text{13}\text{2}$}. The configuration $\text{27}\text{2}$^?(πh_{$\text{11}\text{2}$}²)₁₀₊ ×vf_{$\text{7}\text{2}$} is suggested for the state at 2.7 MeV.     

The hadronic cross section of electron-positron annihilation at 9.5 GeV and the ϒ and ϒ′ resonance parameters

The reaction e⁺e^?→ hadrons has been measured in the ? and ?′ region using the DASP detector at the DESY storage ring DORIS. The following final results are obtained: R_had(9.5 GeV)=3.73±0.16±0.28, Γ_ee(?)=(1.23 ± 0.08 ± 0.12) keV, B_μμ(?)=(3.2±1.3±0.3)%, $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>ee</mtext>}}\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>had</mtext>}}\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>tot</mtext>}}\text{(?′)=(0.55±0.11 ±0.06)}\text{keV}$, and M(?′)?M(?)=(556 ±10) MeV.     

Reaction dependence of nuclear decay linewidths

Various light- and heavy-ion reactions, 20 < E < 100 MeV, have been used to study the reaction dependence of α-decay widths for ⁸Be¹(2 ⁺ , 2.9 MeV) and ¹⁶O¹(1^?, 9.6 MeV). Although slight differences (< 20 %) are found for the observed line shapes (Γ), the resonance widths inferred (Γ_R) are self-consistent and indicate little if any reaction dependence (< 10 %). Near a decay threshold one may expect Γ < Γ_R by 20 % or more, however, and thus care must be taken in comparing decay widths inferred from nuclear reactions with those from scattering resonances. Reduced formal α-decay widths of γ_λ² = 680 ± 100 keV (s = 4.8 fm) and γ_λ² = 350 ± 50 keV(s = 5.4 fm), corresponding to θ_λ² = 0.50 and θ_λ² = 0.49 are deduced for ⁸Be¹(2 ⁺ , 2.9 MeV) and ¹⁶O¹(1^?, 9.6 MeV) using the nuclear-reaction Γ_R values and a particular set of α-nucleus potentials.     

keV Neutron capture cross sections of 134Ba and 136Ba

The neutron capture cross sections of ¹³⁴Ba and ¹³⁶Ba have been measured in the energy region 3 to ¹⁰⁰keV. The following average quantities were deduced from the extracted resonance parameters: 〈D〉 = 127±10eV, 10⁴S₀ = 0.85±0.3, 10⁴S₁ = 0.8, 〈Γ_γ〉 = 120±20 meV for ¹³⁴Ba. Analysis of the ¹³⁶Ba data gave 〈Γ_γ〉 = 125±30meV for s-wave neutrons. The average 30 keV capture cross sections for these two s-process nuclei were found to be $\text{225±35}\text{mb}\text{for}{}^{134}\text{Ba and}\text{61±10}\text{mb}\text{for}{}^{136}\text{Ba}$.     

Neutron resonance parameters and radiative capture cross sections of 147Sm and 149Sm

Neutron capture and transmission measurements have been carried out on the separated isotopes of ¹⁴⁷Sm (98.34 %) and ¹⁴⁹Sm (97.72 %) at the 55 m time-of-flight station of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute electron linear accelerator. Resonance energies and neutron widths for a large number of resolved resonances were determined up to 2 keV for ¹⁴⁷Sm and 520 eV for ¹⁴⁹Sm. Radiation widths for 5 resonances in ¹⁴⁷Sm + n and 7 resonances in ¹⁴⁹Sm + n were derived. The s-wave strength functions, average level spacings and average radiation widths were obtained to be: $\text{10}{}^4\text{S}{}_0\text{= 4.8 ± 0.5,}\text{D}\text{= 5.7 ± 0.5}\text{eV}$ and $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}\text{= 69 ± 2}\text{meV for}{}^{147}\text{Sm}$; a $\text{10}{}^4\text{S}{}_0\text{= 4.6 ± 0.6,}\text{D}\text{= 2.2 ± 0.2}\text{eV}$ and $\text{Γ}{}_{\mathrm{\gamma }}\text{= 62 ± 2}\text{meV for}{}^{149}\text{Sm}$. The average capture cr sections were deduced from 3.3 to 300 keV with an estimated accuracy of 5 to 15 %. The measured capture cross sections for ¹⁴⁹Sm are largely different from the evaluated data, which are obtained based on the statistical model calculation. Possible reasons for this disagreement are discussed.     

Isospin-forbidden particle decays in light nuclei: (I). T = 32 levels of 9Be, 9B

Absolute branching ratios have been measured for the isospin-forbidden nucleon decays of the lowest $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ levels of ⁹Be and ⁹B to the ground state and first excited state of ⁸Be. The $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ levels were populated by the ⁷Li(³He, n) and ⁷Li(³He, p) reactions. The subsequent decay products were observed in coincidence with the neutrons or protons, detected at 0°. Branching ratios of 0.028 ± 0.021 and 0.50 ± 0.11 were determined for the neutron decays of the 14.39 MeV, $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ level of ⁹Be to the ground state and 2.9 MeV, 2⁺ first excited state of ⁸Be, respectively. Branching ratios of 0.11 ± 0.04 and 0.33 ± 0.09 were determined for the analogous proton decays of the ⁹B, 14.67 MeV $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ level. The similarity of the decay properties of these analogue levels is in contrast to the large asymmetries observed for $\text{T =}\text{3}\text{2}$ levels in other A = 4N + 1 light nuclei.     

Investigation of the 3.46 MeV isomeric level of 38K with the 24Mg(16O,pnγ)38K reaction

The τ_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} = 22 μs isomeric level of ³⁸K at an excitation energy of 3458.0 ± 0.2keVf is strongly populated in the ²⁴Mg(¹⁶O, pnγ)³⁸K reaction. Delayed γ-rays are studied with Ge(Li), Si(Li), and NaI detectors. Accurate excitation energies, branching ratios and lifetimes of levels involved in the decay of the isomeric state are determined. The isomeric level predominantly decays by a dipole transition of 38.03±0.03 keV with a total conversion coefficient of α_T = 0.42 ± 0.15. Mean lives of ³⁸K levels are measured with the recoil-distance method. The results are τ_m = 10.1 ± 0.9 ps, 1.41 ± 0.14 ns and 101 ± 15 ps for the levels at excitation energies of 0.46, 2.65 and 3.42 MeV, respectively. It is suggested that the (1f_{$\text{7}\text{2}$})² structure of a low-lying J^π = 7⁺ state in combination with the selection rules for γ-decay in a self-conjugate nucleus is responsible for the isomerism.     

The 12C(13C, α)21Ne reaction: High-spin states,resonances and coherence widths

Excitation functions were measured for states of ²¹Ne populated by the ${}^{12}\text{C}\text{(}{}^{13}\text{C}\text{, α)}$ reaction over the bombarding energy range E_lab = 18.2–32.0 MeV (18.4–27.0 MeV) at θ_lab = 7°(25°) in in 200 keV steps, and average coherence widths of states and the moment of inertia of the compound nucleus ²⁵Mg were obtained from these excitation functions. A statistical analysis of these data was performed. Angular distributions for states in ²¹Ne to 10 MeV in excitation energy were measured at θ_lab = 7°, 18°, 28° and 43° at bombarding energies from 29.0 to 31.0 MeV in 400 keV steps. These data along with Hauser-Feshbach predictions allow us to suggest spins for some states as well as to suggest possible candidates for rotational bands in ²¹Ne.     

Evidence for two narrow pp resonances at 2020 MeV and 2200 MeV

From the study of the reaction $\text{π}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{p→p}{}_{\mathrm{F}}\text{p}\text{p}\text{π}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ using a fast proton (p_F) trigger device in the CERN Omega spectrometer, we find evidence for two narrow $\text{p}\text{p}$ states produced mainly in association with a Δ° (1232) and a N° (1520). The statistical significance of each peak is greater than 6 standard deviations. Masses and natural widths of these resonances are respectively M = 2020 ± 3 MeV, Λ₁ = 24 ± 12 MeV and M₂ = 2204 ± 5 MeV, Λ₂ = 16_?16⁺²⁰ MeV. Our data are consistent with a small production of the narrow ～ 1935 MeV resonance already reported. Production cross sections for these new $\text{p}\text{p}$ resonances are given.