Alpha-gamma decay studies of 255Rf, 251No and 247Fm

The decay of the isotopes ²⁵⁵Rf, ²⁵¹No and ²⁴⁷Fm produced in the reactions , and was investigated by means of α-γ spectroscopy. Previously observed γ transitions in coincidence with α decays of ²⁵⁵Rf were confirmed, their energies and line intensities were measured more precisely, and their multipolarities were determined as E1. In ²⁵¹No a new isomeric state at E ^* > 1700keV with a half-life of ≈ 2μs was identified. The decay of ²⁴⁷Fm was measured more precisely. A partial level scheme of the daughter nucleus ²⁴³Cf could be established.     

Two-quasiparticle and collective excitations in transitional 108,110 Pd nuclei

High-spin states in ^108,110Pd isotopes are studied by -ray spectroscopy of heavy-ion-induced fission. The Pd isotopes are produced in the fission channel of the ³¹P + ¹⁷⁶Yb reaction at beam energy 152 MeV. The prompt -rays are detected with the EUROBALL4 multidetector array. The yrast states of ^108,110Pd have been observed above the region of the first backbend. The level scheme of ¹⁰⁸Pd was extended with a new negative-parity band. The yrast sequence in ¹¹⁰Pd is observed up to spin I = 14 ⁺ and negative-parity bands have also been identified. The backbending in these even-mass Pd isotopes is associated with the alignment of the neutron (h _11/2)² pair. The negative-parity states arise from two neutron configurations and and they are interpreted in the frame of two-quasiparticle + rotor model as semidecoupled bands. The observed experimental staggering in the -bands of ^108,110Pd supports the theoretical predictions for -instability of their shapes.Received: 22 April 2003, Revised: 27 June 2003, Published online: 2 December 2003PACS: 21.60.-n Nuclear structure models and methods - 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 25.70.Jj Fusion and fusion-fission reactions - 27.60. + j      

Tachyonic cyclotron radiation

We study superluminal cyclotron emission by electrons and muons in semiclassical orbits. The tachyonic line spectra of hydrogenic ions such as , , and , as well as their muonic counterparts , and are calculated, in particular the tachyonic power transversally and longitudinally radiated, the total intensity, and the power radiated in the individual harmonics. We also investigate tachyonic continuum radiation from electrons and protons cycling in the surface and light cylinder fields of -ray and millisecond pulsars, such as the Crab pulsar, PSR B1509-58, and PSR J0218 + 4232. The superluminal spectral densities generated by non-relativistic, mildly relativistic and ultra-relativistic source particles are derived. We study the parameters determining the global shape of the transversal and longitudinal densities and the energy scales of the broadband spectrum. The observed cutoff frequency in the -ray band of the pulsars is used to infer the upper edge of the orbital energy, and we conclude that electrons and nuclei cycling in the surface fields can reach energies beyond the "ankle" of the cosmic ray spectrum. This suggests -ray pulsars as sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays. Arrival of the final proofs: 17 November 2005 PACS: 41.60.Ap, 11.10.Lm, 36.10.Dr, 98.70.Sa     

Isospin mixing in the 4<Superscript> + </Superscript> doublet of <Superscript>54</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">Co</Emphasis>

The T = 1 admixture into the T = 0 member of a recently discovered isospin-doublet in ⁵⁴Co is obtained from the measured electromagnetic E2/M1 multipole mixing ratio, of the transition. Combining these data with shell model calculations for strong isovector M1 and isoscalar E2 electromagnetic matrix elements one obtains a value for the T = 1 admixture into the T = 0, 4 ⁺ state of . The corresponding mixing matrix element in the 4 ⁺ doublet is keV.Received: 31 October 2002, Published online: 9 March 2004PACS: 21.10.Hw Spin, parity, and isobaric spin - 21.60.Cs Shell model - 23.20.Gq Multipole mixing ratios     

Lifetime vibrational interference during the NO 1s-1π* resonant excitation studied by the NO+(A 1Π → X 1Σ+) fluorescence

Dispersed fluorescence from fragments formed after the de-excitation of the 1s^-1π^* resonances of N^*O and NO^* has been measured in the spectral range of 118–142 nm. This range is dominated by lines of atomic nitrogen and oxygen fragments and by the bands in the NO⁺ ion which result from the participator Auger decay of the 1s^-1π^* resonances. Ab-initio calculations of the transition probabilities between vibrational levels during the reaction NO N^*O ⇒ NO were used to explain the observed intensity dependence for the fluorescence bands on the exciting-photon energy across the resonances and on both v^′ and v^′′ vibrational quantum numbers. The multiplet structure of the 1s^-1π^* resonance and lifetime vibrational interference explain the observed exciting-photon energy dependence of the fluorescence intensity. A strong spin-orbit coupling between singlet and triplet states of NO⁺ is proposed to reduce additional cascade population of the state via radiative transitions from the and states and to explain remaining differences between measured and calculated integral fluorescence intensities.     

Changes in the mean square charge radii of neutron-deficient europium isotopes measured by the laser ion source resonance ionization spectroscopy

The laser ion source has been used for the study of the isotope shifts of neutron-deficient Eu isotopes. The extension of the region of applicability of the method by using the - and -radiation detection is reported. We have measured the isotope shifts of the europium optical line 576.520 nm for . To increase the laser ion source efficiency an axial magnetic field (350 gauss) was applied. Nearly a twofold rise of the ionization efficiency for Eu was observed. By using the effect of optical ion bunching an increase of the selectivity was obtained. The isotope shift data for are in agreement with the previously measured isotope shifts for these nuclides. The new data for and refined data for point to a gradual increase of the deformation for these isotopes. Comparisons with microscopic-macroscopic calculations and calculations in the framework of the Hartree-Fock model were performed.Received: 10 November 2003, Revised: 28 April 2004, Published online: 19 October 2004PACS: 29.25.Rm Sources of radioactive nuclei - 42.62.Fi Laser spectroscopy - 21.10.-k Properties of nuclei; nuclear energy levels - 21.10.Ft Charge distribution     

Exotic baryons and monopole excitations in a chiral soliton model

We compute the spectra of exotic pentaquarks and monopole excitations of thelow-lying and baryons in a chiral soliton model. Once the low-lying baryon properties are fit, the other states are predicted without any more adjustable parameters. This approach naturally leads to a scenario in which the mass spectrum of the next to lowest-lying states is fairly well approximatedby the ideal mixing pattern of the representation of flavor SU(3). We compare our results to predictions obtained in other pictures for pentaquarks and speculate about the spin-parity assignment for and .Received: 21 April 2004, Revised: 19 May 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 12.39.Dc Skyrmions - 14.20.-c Baryons (including antiparticles) - 14.80.-j Other particles (including hypothetical)     

Alpha-gamma decay studies of 255No

The decay of ²⁵⁵No was investigated by means of α-γ spectroscopy. The isotope was produced in the reactions ²⁰⁸Pb(⁴⁸Ca, n)²⁵⁵No, , and $²³⁸U(²²Ne, 5n)²⁵⁵No$. Levels of the daughter nucleus ²⁵¹Fm were assigned by α-γ coincidence measurements and on the basis of systematics. Level energies were determined precisely using measured γ-rays. The results are compared with the known level schemes of the lighter isotones ²⁴⁷Cm and ²⁴⁹Cf as well as with data for ²⁵³No.     

Suppression of Gamow-Teller and M1 transitions in deformed mirror nuclei 25Mg and 25Al

The mirror nuclei ²⁵Mg and ²⁵Al are expected to have very similar structures. The Gamow-Teller (GT) transitions from the ground state of ²⁵Mg to the excited states in ²⁵Al were studied by high-resolution measurements of the ²⁵Mg( ) charge-exchange reaction at and at 140 MeV/nucleon. Assuming the usual selection rule for the spin-isospin-type GT transitions, the states with , and 7/2 ⁺ should be excited. However, of the more than ten states with these values below 6 MeV excitation energy, only the 5/2 ⁺ ground state and the 7/2 ⁺ , 1.613 MeV state in ²⁵Al were strongly populated, while all other states were strongly suppressed. The analysis of M1 transitions in ²⁵Mg also suggested a very similar feature for the analogous M1 transitions. Both ²⁵Mg and ²⁵Al are known to be largely deformed, and most low-lying states can be interpreted in terms of one-particle quantum numbers in the deformed potential and the associated rotational spectra. The observed suppression can be explained in terms of the K quantum number selection rules that are inherent to axially deformed nuclei.-1Received: 18 July 2003, Published online: 18 December 2003PACS: 21.10.Re Collective levels - 21.60.Ev Collective models - 25.55.Kr Charge-exchange reactions - 27.30. + t H. Fujita: Present address: Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka University, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan.J. Kamiya: Present address: Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan.T. Wakasa: Present address: Department of Physics, Kyushu University, Higashi, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan.     

Hyperfine structure and isotope shift study in singly ionized lead

Hyperfine structure and isotope shifts in five optical transitions: 424.5 nm ( – ), 537.2 nm ( – ), 554.5 nm ( – ), 560.9 nm ( – ) and 666.0 nm ( – ) of Pb  II have been measured. As a light source the discharge tube was used. The hyperfine structure measurements were performed using metallic isotope ²⁰⁷Pb. For isotope shifts measurements natural lead was used. The high resolution spectral apparatus consisted of a silver coated Fabry-Perot etalon and a grating spectrograph combined with a CCD camera used as a detector. In the analysis of the spectra a computer simulation technique was used. The hyperfine structure observations yielded the splitting constants A for seven levels of Pb II. The isotope shift studies enabled to separate the mass and the field shifts and to determine values of changes of the mean square nuclear charge radii.     

Absolute resonance strengths in the $^{6,7}Li(\alpha, \gamma)^{10,11}B$ reactions

The absolute strengths of the keV resonance in the reaction and of the keV resonance in the reaction have been measured to meV and meV, respectively, in good agreement with previous values. These resonances can be used to measure the absolute acceptance of the recoil separator ERNA to a precision of about 10%.Received: 12 December 2003, Revised: 10 February 2004, Published online: 3 August 2004PACS: 24.30.-v Resonance reactions - 25.40.Lw Radiative capture - 26.20. + f Hydrostatic stellar nucleosynthesis     

Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbech calculation of total reaction cross-section and fragmentation cross-section

, and have been calculated via the BUU model with soft EOS and 0.8 times of . The density distribution without any adjustable parameters which comes from the RMF model has been introduced into the BUU calculation to replace the normally used one-parameter square-type distribution. The calculated results can reproduce the experimental data well for both halo- and stable-nuclei-induced reactions. Here or is calculated as the difference between of halo nucleus and core nucleus, by assuming . It indicates that this assumption works very well at high energy in the BUU calculation. More experimental measurements are necessary to test the validity of this assumption at intermediate energy.Received: 12 June 2003, Revised: 29 September 2003, Published online: 27 April 2004PACS: 24.10.-i Nuclear reaction models and methods - 25.60.Dz Interaction and reaction cross-sections - 25.60.Gc Breakup and momentum distributions - 27.20. + n      

Isomeric and ground-state decay of 215 Bi

A new high-spin isomer in ²¹⁵Bi, with a half-life of 36.9(6) s, has been identified at the PSB-ISOLDE on-line mass separator using the pulsed-release technique combined with the element selective RILIS source. A decay scheme of Bi was constructed and complemented with the low-spinstructure observed in Bi decay. The population of a cascade on top of the level in ²¹⁵Poprovides evidence for Gamow-Teller -decay of the high-spin ²¹⁵Bi isomer.Received: 3 March 2003, Revised: 10 June 2003, Published online: 9 October 2003PACS: 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 27.80.+w - 29.30.Kv X- and -ray spectroscopyV. Fedoseyev: Present address: ISOLDE, CERN-PPE, CH-1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland.M. Górska: Present address: GSI, Darmstadt, D-64220, Germany.M. Huhta: Present address: Nokia, Tampere, Finland.     

Prompt fission neutron spectra of <Superscript>238 </Superscript>U(n,f) above emissive fission threshold

Model calculations were performed to interpret prompt fission neutron spectra (PFNS) of the ²³⁸ U(n, f) reaction for incident neutron energies -18 MeV. Pre-fission (pre-saddle) reaction neutron spectra were calculated with Hauser-Feshbach statistical model, ²³⁸ U fission and reaction cross-section data being described consistently. The increase of the cut-off energy of (n, nf) reaction neutron spectra with excitation energy of fissioning nucleus is described. For -9 MeV the low-energy PFNS component, which is due to the contribution of pre-fission (n, nf) neutrons, is compatible with measured data. Average energy of prefission (n, nf) neutrons is shown to be rather dependent on . For -18 MeV, a decrease of measured PFNS average neutron energies is interpreted. Spectra of neutrons, evaporated from fission fragments, were approximated as a sum of two Watt distributions. The reduced fission fragment velocity is assumed for the neutron emission during fragment acceleration. Several interpretations of observed soft neutron excess are investigated, i.e., possible uncertainties of emissive fission contributions and additional neutron source. We claim the soft neutron excess cannot be attributed to the pre-saddle neutrons contribution.Received: 3 February 2003, Revised: 24 April 2003, Published online: 9 October 2003PACS: 25.85.Ec Neutron-induced fission     

Measurement of the strange spectral function in hadronic \tau decays

Tau lepton decays with open strangeness in the final state are measured with the OPAL detector at LEP to determine the strange hadronic spectral function of the lepton. The decays , and with final states consisting of neutral and charged kaons and pions have been studied. The invariant mass distributions of of these final states have been experimentally determined. Monte Carlo simulations have been used for the remaining and for the strange final states including mesons. The reconstructed strange final states, corrected for resolution effects and detection efficiencies, yield the strange spectral function of the lepton. The moments of the spectral function and the ratio of strange to non-strange moments, which are important input parameters for theoretical analyses, are determined. Furthermore, the branching fractions and have been measured.Received: 18 February 2004, Revised: 30 April 2004, Published online: 15 June 2004     

New experimental limits on violations of the Pauli exclusion principle obtained with the Borexino Counting Test Facility

The Pauli exclusion principle (PEP) has been tested for nucleons (n,p) in and nuclei, using the results of background measurements with the prototype of the Borexino detector, the Counting Test Facility (CTF). The approach consisted of a search for , n, p and/or s emitted in a non-Paulian transition of 1P- shell nucleons to the filled 1S _1/2 shell in nuclei. Similarly, the Pauli-forbidden decay processes were searched for. Due to the extremely low background and the large mass (4.2 tons) of the CTF detector, the following most stringent up-to-date experimental bounds on PEP violating transitions of nucleons have been established: , , , , and , all at C.L.Received: 18 June 2004, Published online: 1 October 2004PACS: 11.30.-j, 24.80. + y, 23.20.-g, 27.20. + nG. Bellini: SpokesmanL. Cadonati: Now at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, NW17-161, 175 Albany St. Cambridge, MA 02139O. Dadoun: Marie Curie fellowship at LNGS Correspondence to: A. Derbin. On leave of absence from St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Inst. - Gatchina, RussiaM. Deutsch: DeceasedR. Ford: No w at Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, INCO Creighton Mine, P.O.Box 159 Lively, Ontario, Canada, P3Y 1M3B. Freudiger: Marie Curie fellowship at LNGS. Now at Institute for Nuclear Physics, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Postfach 3640, 76021 KarlsruheS. Gazzana: GLIMOSV.V. Kobychev: Now at Institute for Nuclear Research, Prospekt Nauki 47, MSP 03680, Kiev, UkraineG. Korga: On leave of absence from KFKI-RMKI, Konkoly Thege ut 29-33 H-1121 Budapest, HungaryC. Lendvai: Marie Curie fellowship at LNGSP. Lombardi: Detector installation managerA. Martemianov: DeceasedV. Muratova: On leave of absence from St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Inst. - Gatchina, RussiaL. Niedermeier: Marie Curie fellowship at LNGSL. Papp: On leave of absence from KFKI-RMKI, Konkoly Thege ut 29-33 H-1121 Budapest, HungaryR.S. Raghavan: Present Address: Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg VA 24061G. Ranucci: Project managerC. Salvo: Operational manager Correspondence to: O. SmirnovA. Sonnenschein: Center for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, 933 E.56^th St., Chicago, IL 60637     

First decay study of the new isotope <Superscript>129</Superscript>Pm near the proton drip line

The very neutron-deficient nuclide ¹²⁹Pm was produced via the ⁹²Mo(⁴⁰Ca, p2n) reaction and identified for the first time by using the X- coincidence in combination with a He jet tape transport system. According to the decay curve of a 99 keV -ray which corresponds to the known transition in the daughter nucleus ¹²⁹Nd of the ¹²⁹Pm decay, the half-life of ¹²⁹Pm was determined to be 2.4(9) s. Based on the nuclear potential energy surface (PES) calculations, the ground-state spin-parity of ¹²⁹Pm was predicted as 5/2^- which is favorable to feed a 5/2^- low-lying state in the daughter nucleus ¹²⁹Nd via the (EC ) decay.Received: 20 November 2003, Revised: 7 January 2004, Published online: 29 June 2004PACS: 23.40.Hc Relation with nuclear matrix elements and nuclear structure - 21.10.Hw Spin, parity, and isobaric spin - 24.10.Pa Thermal and statistical models - 27.60. + j