Systematic study of decay properties of heaviest elements

Decay properties and stability of heaviest nuclei with Z ?? 132 are studied within the macro-microscopical approach for nuclear ground-state masses. We use phenomenological relations for the half-lives with respect to ??-decay, ??-decay and spontaneous fission. Our calculations demonstrate that the ??-stable isotopes ²⁹¹Cn and ²⁹³Cn with a half-life of about 100 years are the longest-living superheavy nuclei located on the first island of stability. We found the second island of stability of superheavy nuclei in the region of Z ?? 124 and N ?? 198. It is separated from the ??continent?? by the ??gulf?? of short-living nuclei with half-lives shorted than 1 ??s.     

Atomic masses above146Gd derived from a shell model analysis of high spin states

From a shell model analysis of high-spin states in neutron deficient nuclei above¹⁴⁶Gd we have derived the ground state masses of theN=82 and 83 isotones of Eu, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er. The results can be used to calculate the energies of aligned multiparticle yrast configurations. They also link ten α-decay chains to the nuclei with known masses, providing many new absolute mass values which are compared with predictions. An examination of the two-proton separation energies atN=82 shows an 0.5 MeV break in the nuclear mass surface atZ=64.     

Mass Measurements at the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory

A program to measure masses along the astrophysical rp-process path in the A～60–80 region is underway at the Wright Nuclear Structure Laboratory, Yale University. The classic technique of end-point determinations for β⁺ spectra measured in coincidence with daughter γ-rays is used to determine Q _EC which, in turn, is used to calculate the mass. Several innovations have been incorporated to increase the sensitivity and selectivity of the method. Results of recent experiments are reported.     

Alpha decay chains from superheavy nuclei

Magic islands for extra-stable nuclei in the midst of the sea of fission-instability were predicted to be around Z=114, 124 or, 126 with N=184, and Z=120, with N=172. Whether these fission-survived superheavy nuclei with high Z and N would live long enough for detection or, undergo α-decay in a very short time, remains an open question. α-decay half lives of nuclei with 130≥Z≥100 have been calculated in a WKB framework using density-dependent M3Y interaction with Q-values from different mass formulae. The results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. Fission survived Sg nuclei with Z=106, N=162 is predicted to have the highest α-decay half life (∼3.2 h) in the Z=106-108, N=160-164 region called small island/peninsula. Superheavy nuclei with Z>118 are found to have α-decay half lives of the order of microseconds or less.     

Structure of β-decay Strength Function <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis><Subscript>β</Subscript>(<Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>) in Halo Nuclei

It is shown that when the parent nucleus has nn Borromean halo structure, then after Gamow–Teller (GT) β^–-decay of parent state or after M1 γ-decay of Isobar Analogue Resonance (IAR) the states with np tango halo structure or mixed np tango + nn Borromean halo structure can be populated. Resonances in the GT β-decay strength function S_β(E) of halo nuclei, may have np tango halo structure or mixed np tango + nn Borromean halo structure. Correct interpretation of halo structure is important in experiments on β-decay study, interpretation of M1 γ-decay of IAR, and charge-exchange nuclear reactions analysis.     

Beyond mean field approach to the beta decay of medium mass nuclei relevant for nuclear astrophysics

The Gamow-Teller strength distributions for the β decay of the ground state as well as the lowest excited states of the rp-process waiting point nuclei ⁶⁸Se and ⁷²Kr are obtained within the complex Excited Vampir variational approach using realistic effective interactions and a rather large model space. The shape mixing is consistently described for both the states in the even-even parent and the states in the odd-odd daugther nucleus. The influence of the shape mixing accounted by the different effective interactions used and comparison with the available data are presented. The possible influence of the decay of the lowest excited states of the parent nuclei in the astrophysical environment of X-ray bursts is discussed.Gamow-Teller strength distributions, β-decay half-lives, and β-delayed neutron emission probabilities for neutron-rich Zr nuclei are investigated for the first time within the complex Excited Vampir approach using a large model space. Comparison with available data and predictions relevant for the astrophysical r process are presented.     

Experimental Beta-decay energies of very neutron-rich fission products with 107≦A≦109

Theβ-decay of neutron-rich fission products with mass numbersA=107, 108 and 109 has been investigated at the mass separator LOHENGRIN of the Institute Laue-Lange-vin (ILL) in Grenoble by measuringβγ-coincidences with a large plastic scintillator telescope and a Ge(I)-detector. Theβ-decay energies of 8 nuclei were obtained from the evaluation of more than 40β-endpoint energies. For the nuclei¹⁰⁷ Mo,¹⁰⁷Tc,¹⁰⁸Tc,¹⁰⁹Tc and¹⁰⁹Ru, theβ-decay energies were determined for the first time; the experimental error in the decay energy of three daughter nuclei was considerably reduced. In addition, the two-neutron separation energies and the nuclear mass excesses were calculated from these experimentalQ _β-values and compared with different mass predictions.     

Nuclear mass formula with a Yukawa-plus-exponential macroscopic model and a folded-Yukawa single-particle potential

We use a Yukawa-plus-exponential macroscopic model and a folded-Yukawa single-particle potential to systematically calculate the ground-state masses of 4023 nuclei ranging from ¹⁶O to {279}112. The method is also used to calculate the fission-barrier heights of 28 nuclei ranging from ¹⁰⁹Cd to ²⁵²Cf. We introduce several previously neglected physical effects, including a smaller nuclear radius constant, a proton form factor, an exact diffuseness correction, an A⁰ term, a chargeasymmetry term, and microscopic zero-point energies. The nuclear radius constant is determined from elastic electron scattering and microscopic calculations of nuclear density distributions, the range of the Yukawa-plus-exponential folding function is determined from heavy-ion elastic scattering, the surface-energy constant and surface-asymmetry constant are determined from the fission-barrier heights of the 28 nuclei that are considered, and the remaining constants are determined from the ground-state masses of 1323 nuclei ranging from ¹⁶O to ²⁵⁹No for which experimental values are known with experimental errors less than 1 MeV. For the final formula, the root-mean-square error in the ground-state masses is 0.835 MeV and the root-mean-square error in the fission-barrier heights is 1.331 MeV. Some of the remaining discrepancies in the groundstate masses can be understood in terms of instabilities with respect to ε₃ and ε₆ deformations.     

对力对于锕系核性质的影响

本文用处理对力的粒子数守恒方法来分析对力对于锕系核性质的影响,其中包括奇A核和偶偶核的内部激发谱、β衰变、α衰变等。文中首先根据实验测得的寄A核的内部激发谱,计及对力的影响,定出了单粒子能级的Nilsson参数(见表3和5)。然后利用此单粒子能级进一步分析了偶偶核的内部激发谱和β衰变。由于现有数据的限制,只分析了Th²²⁸,Th²³⁰,U²³²,U²³⁴和Cm²⁴⁴等核。由能级位置和β衰变的分析,     

Nuclear structure aspects of single and double beta decays for neutrino mass

Single β-decay of ¹⁸⁷Re and double β-decay are discussed for probing absolute masses of neutrinos. It is shown that ¹⁸⁷Re decay is dominated by p-wave emission of the electron over s-wave. Double β-decay nuclear matrix elements relevant to the neutrino mass mechanism are discussed in the view point of nuclear structure and the underlying NN interaction.     

Beta-decay properties of exotic nuclei and the astrophysical r-process

The r-process abundances are evaluated with the use of three different β-decay models, i.e., the second version of the Gross Theory, the semi-Gross Theory and a QRPA approach. The necessary Q_β-values, as well as the neutron separation energies, are obtained from the TUYY, ETFSI and FRDM mass predictions. A comparison is made among the β-decay half-lives predicted by these β-decay models for the nuclei on a typical r-process path, as well as among the resulting r-process abundances.     

Fine Structure of Beta Decay Strength Function and Anisotropy of Isovector Nuclear Dencity Component Oscillations in Deformed Nuclei

The experimental measurement data on the fine structure of beta-decay strength function S_β(E) in spherical, transitional, and deformed nuclei are analyzed. Modern high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy methods made it possible to identify the splitting of peaks in S_β(E) for deformed nuclei. By analogy with splitting of the peak of E1 giant dipole resonance (GDR) in deformed nuclei, the peaks in S_β(E) are split into two components from the axial nuclear deformation. In this report, the fine structure of S_β(E) is discussed. Splitting of the peaks connected with the oscillations of neutrons against protons (E1GDR), of proton holes against neutrons (peaks in S_β(E) of β⁺/EC-decay), and of protons against neutron holes (peaks in S_β(E) of β^–-decay) is discussed.     

Hot nuclei — Effective shapes and entrance channel effect

The γ-decay of the Giant Dipole Resonance in hot rotating compound nuclei has provided valuable information on the nuclear structure at finite temperature. A number of experimental results showing that the nuclear shapes change with temperature and angular momentum are here reviewed. In particular we concentrate on the temperature interval from 1 to 2 MeV, rotational frequencies from 0.2 to 1.5 MeV and on nuclei in the mass regionsA≈160–170 andA≈110, characterized by the prolate-oblate and spherical-oblate phase transitions, respectively. The possibility to study the shapes involved in the compound nucleus formation is also discussed. For this purpose long formation times are required and the nucleus¹⁷⁰W formed with the reaction⁶⁰Ni+¹¹⁰Pd, here studied, seems to be a good candidate. The gamma and particle decays were compared to those of the reaction⁴⁸Ti+¹²²Te. The comparison shows that in average the energy of the α-particles is larger for the more symmetric reaction, consistent with longer formation times and larger deformations in the pre-equilibrium stage.     

β-delayed proton decays near the proton drip line

We briefly reviewed the experimental study on β-delayed proton decays near the proton drip line published by our group during the period of 1996–2004, namely the first observation of the β-delayed proton decays of 9 new nuclides in the rare-earth region and the new measurements of β-delayed proton decays of 5 nuclides in the mass ∼90 region near theN=Z line with the aid of the “p-y” coincidence in combination with a He-jet tape transport system. In the meantime some important experimental technique details were supplemented. The experimental results, including the half-lives, spins, parities, deformations and production reaction cross sections for the 14 nuclei were summarized and compared with the current nuclear-model predictions, and then the following points were represented. (1) The experimental half-lives for⁸⁵Mo and⁹²Rh as well as the predicted “waiting point” nuclei⁸⁹Ru and⁹³Pd are 5–10 times longer than the theoretical predictions given by M?ller et al. using a macroscopic-microscopic model. It considerably influences the predictions of the abundances of the nuclides produced in the rp-process. (2) The current-model predictions are not consistent with the experimental assignments of the spins and parities for the proton drip-line nuclei¹⁴²Ho and¹²⁸Pm. However, the nuclear potential energy surface (PES) calculated by using a Woods-Saxon-Strutinsky method reproduced the experimental results. (3) The Alice code overestimated the production reaction cross sections of the studied 9 rare-earth nuclei by one order of magnitude or two, while HIVAP code overestimated them by one order of magnitude approximately.     

Beta-decay energies of neutron-rich nuclei in the mass region 142≦A≦150

The β-endpoint energies of 6 neutron-rich nuclei with mass numbersA=146 andA=147 have been measured with a plastic scintillator telescope at the on-line mass separator OSTIS. With theQ _β-values derived from these experiments and with those obtained in earlier studies, nuclear structure effects in this part of the nuclear chart are investigated. In addition, nuclear masses derived from the experimentalQ _β-values are compared with the predictions of theoretical mass calculations.     

sd壳层极丰质子核的β延迟衰变谱学

远离β稳定线原子核的结构是当前核物理领域的一个前沿热点。β衰变谱学是研究核结构的重要方法,尤其适用于低产额的滴线核。本文回顾了近年来在RIBLL1装置上开展的sd壳区极丰质子核β延迟衰变谱学的实验研究。该工作获得了15个原子核精确的半衰期、衰变子核的质量、β延迟的质子和双质子发射以及$\gamma $跃迁的能谱、分支比和比较半衰期等数据,并重建了衰变纲图,大大丰富了此区域内质子滴线附近原子核的衰变谱学信息。还介绍了探测器阵列和实验方法,概括了所研究核的衰变性质和半衰期等。特别地,对几个典型核,20Mg和22Si以及26P和27S的衰变性质进行了阐述。此外,对相关话题,如三体力、镜像核衰变不对称性、与银河系中26Al超丰问题相关的热核反应率等问题进行了探讨。