Three-nucleon transfer on 12C: The 12C(α, p)15N reaction at 96.8 MeV

Angular distributions of protons from the ¹²C(α, p)¹⁵N reaction have been measured over the angular range from 10–70° at an α-particle bombarding energy of 96.8 MeV. Well defined particle groups are observed up to an excitation energy of 18 MeV in ¹⁵N. The relatively small number of states excited implies a selectivity both in the reaction mechanism and in structure effects. DWBA calculations using a semi-microscopic three-nucleon form factor have been performed using several different sets of wave functions. Good agreement in the ratio σ_exp/σ_th is obtained for most states using the ¹⁵N wave functions of de Meijer. The strongest state in the (α, p) spectrum is observed at 15.397 MeV in ¹⁵N and DWBA calculations give good agreement for a $\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ assignment. This state has been observed only in other three-nucleon transfer reactions involving heavy ions. The recent discovery of a $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ state at 10.693 MeV in a p+¹⁴C resonance measurement is supported by our analysis.     

High spin states in 57Co

High spin states of ⁵⁷Co have been studied via prompt γ-ray spectroscopy in the reactions ⁴⁸Ti(¹²C, p2n) and ⁵⁴Fe(α, p) at 26–48 MeV and 12–24 MeV, respectively. The energies and decay modes of these levels were determined from the analysis of γ-ray singles and γ-γ coincidence spectra, excitation functions, angular distributions and correlations. The relevant lifetimes were measured by the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The new levels established in this work are at 4037, 4814 and 5918 keV with the most probable J^π assignment of $\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, if $\text{17}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{19}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, respectively. The previously known level at 2524 keV was assigned to have $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$. These together with the known $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$(1224 keV) and $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$(1690 keV) levels constitute the yrast states of ⁵⁷Co. The measured lifetimes of the above six levels are (in order of increasing energies) 0.085±0.030, 0.32±0.10, 0.16±0.06, 0.10_?0.07^+0.06, 1.5_?0.5⁴ and 0.17_?0.07^+0.08 ps, respectively. Comparisons with some theoretical calculations are presented.     

Fusion cross section for 13C + 13C at low energies

The energy dependence of the fusion cross section has been measured over the range E_c.m. = 3.05–6.88 MeV by detecting the γ-rays from residual nuclei in a 4π geometry. Analyzing the 1.37 MeV photopeak, originating from ${}^{24}\text{Mg}\text{1.37}\text{MeV}\text{→}\text{g.s. transition}$, the cross sections for ²⁴Mg+2n channel were also deduced. The measured fusion cross sections have been compared with those for ¹²C + ¹²C and ¹²C + ¹³C systems and found to be significantly different. For ¹³C+¹³C the fusion cross sections agree with the standard optical-model prediction down to the lowest measured energies, while for ¹²C + ¹²C and ¹²C + ¹³C they are, at the lowest energies, too low. It is suggested that the unpaired valence nucleons facilitate fusion at energies well below the Coulomb barrier.     

Gamma-spectroscopic investigations on 67Ge

By γ-γ coincidence measurements following the ⁵⁷Fe(¹²C, 2nγ) reaction at E_12C = 40 MeV several new states above 1.5 MeV excitation energy in ⁶⁷Ge have been established. Spin and parity assignments on the basis of the angular distribution, linear polarization and γ-ray yield function indicate very similar structures in ^{67, 69}Ge. The positive-parity states can be followed up to the $\text{17}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ state at E_x = 3.07 MeV followed by a sequence of negative-parity high-spin states at nearly the same excitation energy relative to the $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ single-particle state as in the neighbouring nucleus ⁶⁹Ge where these states were found to have strong single-particle admixtures. A reinvestigation of the spin of the E_x = 2.75 MeV level in ⁶⁹Ge resulting in a change of its spin from $\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{to}\text{17}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ and for all spins above, removed the discrepancy concerning the spin assignments of corresponding levels in ^{67, 69}Ge. The excitation pattern of the Ge isotopes with 34 ≦ N ≦ 39 clearly indicate same structures probably due to the strong competition between collective and single-particle excitations along the whole chain similar to the results for the Zn isotopes.     

Spin-parity assignments to high-spin states of 41K and 41Ca

Yrast states of ⁴¹K and ⁴¹Ca have been investigated with the ²⁶Mg(¹⁸O, p2nγ)⁴¹K and ²⁶Mg(¹⁸O, 3nγ)⁴¹Ca reactions at a beam energy of 34 MeV. Gamma-gamma coincidence, γ-ray angular distribution and linear polarization measurements were performed with a Ge(Li)-NaI(Tl) Compton suppression spectrometer and a three-crystal Ge(Li) Compton polarimeter. Unambiguous spin-parity assignments of $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$, $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$, $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, $\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$, $\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{19}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ to the ⁴¹K levels at E_x = 1.68, 2.53, 2.76, 2.77, 4.27 and 4.98 MeV and of $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{,}\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{and}\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$to the ⁴¹Ca levels at E_x = 3.20, 3.37 and 3.83 MeV, respectively, have been obtained. Excitation energies, branching ratios, multipole mixing ratios and transition strengths are reported. The main features of the ⁴¹K and ⁴¹Ca level and decay schemes are reproduced in a 2p-1h and 3p-2h shell-model calculation.     

Spectroscopic study of 15N states with the reaction 14C(d,n)

Energy and angular distributions of neutrons from the reaction ¹⁴C(d, n)¹⁵N have been measured at 6.5 MeV deuteron energy. The DWBA analysis yielded l-values and absolute spectroscopic factors for fifteen states in ¹⁵N below 10 MeV excitation energy. For the 9.23 MeV level J^π is determined to be $\text{3}\text{2}$⁺ or $\text{5}\text{2}$⁺, for the 9.93 MeV level the data suggest $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$. The spectroscopic factors are in qualitative agreement with pure jj coupling and in semi-quantitative agreement with shell-model calculations.     

Study of the 12C(12C,n)23Mg reaction around the resonance at Ecm = 19.3 MeV

A strong selectivity of the ¹²C(¹²C,n)²³Mg reaction is observed in a resonance at $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>cm</mtext>}}\text{(}{}^{12}\text{C) = 19.3}\text{MeV}$. The neutron spectra and n-γ coincidence measurements show evidence for population of high-spin members of the ground- state rotational band in ²³Mg.     

High-spin yrast levels of 38Ar

High-spin states of ³⁸Ar have been studied with the ³⁵Cl(α, pγ)³⁸Ar reaction at E_α = 18 MeV and with the ²⁴Mg(¹⁶O, 2pγ)³⁸Ar reaction at $\text{E(}{}^{16}\text{O}\text{) = 38}\text{and}\text{45}\text{MeV}$. The ³⁸Ar level scheme is obtained with the former reaction from a proton-γ coincidence measurement. Gamma-gamma coincidence, γ-ray angular distribution and linear polarization experiments have been performed with a Ge(Li)-Na(Tl) Compton suppression spectrometer and a three-crystal Ge(Li) Compton polarimeter. Unambiguous spin-parity assignments of $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{= 7}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{, 7}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{, 8}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{, 7}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{, 9}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{and}\text{11}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$to the ³⁸Ar levels at E_x = 7.51, 8.08, 8.57, 8.97, 10.17 and 11.61 MeV, respectively, are obtained. The 8.57 MeV, 8⁺ level has a mean life below 0.8 ps. Excitation energies, branching ratios, multipole mixing ratios and transition strengths are reported. The experimental results are compared with shell-model calculations.     

Level structure of 75Se by the 75As(p,nγ)75Se reaction

Excitation functions of γ-rays from the ⁷⁵As(p, n)⁷⁵Se reaction were measured with 2.0 to 3.6 MeV protons to establish the level scheme of ⁷⁵Se up to about 1.5 MeV excitation energy. Internal conversion electrons following the same reaction were measured at 4.5 and 5.0 MeV proton energy. Using theoretical predictions of the statistical compound nucleus model together with deduced internal conversion coefficients, unique spin assignments were obtained for the $\text{112.5(}\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{), 427.9(}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}$ and $\text{663.9(}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}\text{keV}$ levels. Probable spins were proposed to the $\text{286.6 (}\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ for one of the doublet and $\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ or $\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ for the other), 579.4 $\text{(}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ or $\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, $\text{585.8(}\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ or $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{747.6 (}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ or $\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}\text{keV}$ levels. Alow-lying $\text{9}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ level was tentatively assigned at 133.2 keV energy. It was found that a low-lying $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ level which appears systematically in other odd Se nuclei is absent in ⁷⁵Se.     

High-spin negative parity states in 19F

Levels at 7.17, 8.29, 8.96 and 9.88 MeV in ¹⁹F have been assigned spin and parity $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, $\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, respectively, from resonance strength and γ-ray angular distribution measurements employing the ¹⁵N(α,γ) ¹⁹F reaction. An earlier assignment of $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ to the 8.96 MeV level is incorrect. The measured properties of the $\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ states are compared with the results of both SU (3) shell model and cluster model calculations.     

16O(p,α0)13N cross-section measurements

Total cross sections for the ${}^{16}\text{O}\text{(}\text{p}\text{, α}{}_0\text{)}{}^{13}\text{N}$ reaction have been measured by observation of the positron decay of the residual ¹³N nuclei. These cross sections, covering the c.m. energy range 5.4 ≦ E ≦ 9.9 MeV, allow determination of reaction rates of astrophysical interest at temperatures in the neighborhood of 4 × 10⁹°K.     

High-spin states of 39K and 42Ca

High-spin states of ³⁹K and ⁴²Ca have been investigated with the ²⁸Si(¹⁶O, αpγ)³⁹K and ²⁸Si(¹⁶O, 2pγ)⁴²Ca reactions at a beam energy of 45 MeV. Gamma-gamma coincidence, γ-ray angular distribution and linear polarization measurements were performed with a Ge(Li)-NaI(Tl) Compton suppression spectrometer and a three-crystal Ge(Li) Compton polarimeter. High-spin states of ³⁹K at E_x = 7.14,7.78and8.03 and of ⁴²Ca at E_x = 7.75MeV are established. Unambiguous spin-parity assignments of $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{11}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{,}\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{,}\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{,}\text{15}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{,}\text{17}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{and}\text{19}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ to the ³⁹K levels at E_x = 5.35, 5.72, 6.48, 7.14, 7.78 and 8.03 MeV and of 6^?, 7^?, 8^?, 9^? and(8, 10)^? to the ⁴²Ca levels at E_x = 5.49, 6.15, 6.41, 6.55 and 7.37 MeV, respectively, have been obtained. Further spin-parity restrictions, lifetime limits, excitation energies, branching ratios and multipole mixing ratios are reported. Discrepancies with previous J^π assignments are discussed in detail.     

Electromagnetic transitions in 51Mn

The nuclear structure of ⁵¹₂₅Mn was studied by γ-ray spectroscopy in the ⁵⁴Fe(p, α)⁵¹ Mn reaction (E_p = 9.0–13.2 MeV) and the ¹⁴N+³⁹K, ¹⁶O+⁴⁰Ca and ¹⁴N+⁴⁰Ca fusion-evaporation reactions (E_beam = 36 MeV). In the ⁵⁴Fe(p, αγ)⁵¹Mn reaction γ-rays were detected in coincidence with α-particles emitted near 180°; mean lifetimes and γ-ray mixing and branching ratios were deduced from Doppler shift attenuation and α-γ angular correlation measurements, respectively. Definite spin assignments are: 237 and 2416 keV, $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$; 1140 keV, $\text{9}\text{2}$^?; 1488 keV, $\text{11}\text{2}$^?; 1825 and 2140 keV, $\text{3}\text{2}$^?. The results for other states below 3 MeV are consistent with the existence of rotational bands (/kh²/2/OI/t~ 95 keV) built on the ($\text{3}\text{2}$⁺) 1817 keV and $\text{1}\text{2}$⁺ 2276 keV hole states. The various measurements together with an earlier value for the lifetime of the first-excited state determine unambiguously the B(M1) and B(E2) values for all of the decay branches of the $\text{7}\text{2}$^?, $\text{9}\text{2}$^? and $\text{11}\text{2}$^? lowest three excited states. From the γ-singles and γ-γ coincidence observations with fusion-evaporation reactions, the yrast cascade proceeds through these three states and higher states at 2957, 3250,3680 and 4139 keV which are suggested to have $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{=}\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, $\text{15}\text{2}$^?,$\text{15}\text{2}$^? and $\text{19}\text{2}$^?, respectively. The various experimental results for the $\text{5}\text{2}$^? → ($\text{19}\text{2}$^?) yrast states are in good overall agreement with shell-model calculations in the (f_{$\text{7}\text{2}$}¹ space.     

High-spin states in 40K investigated with the 26MG + 16O reaction

Yrast levels in ⁴⁰K and ⁴⁰Ar have been investigated with the ²⁶Mg(¹⁶O, pnγ)⁴⁰K and ²⁶Mg(¹⁶O, 2pγ)⁴⁰Ar reactions at a beam energy of 34 MeV. Gamma-ray angular distribution and γ-γ coincidence measurements have been performed with a high-resolution large volume Ge(Li)-NaI(Tl) Compton-suppression spectrometer. Gamma-ray linear polarizations have been measured with a three-crystal Ge(Li) Compton polarimeter. The ⁴⁰K decay scheme involves new high-spin levels at E_tx = 4365.6±0.3, 4875.6±0.4 and 6227.0±0.5 keV with lifetime limits of < 1, < 1 and < 2ps, respectively. Unambiguous spin-parity assignments of $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{= 5}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{, 6}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{, 8}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{, 9}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{and}\text{(8, 10)}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ to the ⁴⁰K levels at E_x = 0.89, 2.88, 4.37, 4.88 and 6.23 and of $\text{J}{}^{\mathrm{\pi }}\text{= 4}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{and}\text{6}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{to the}{}^{40}\text{Ar}$ levels at E_x = 2.89 and 3.46 MeV, respectively, have been obtained. Branching ratios and multipole mixing ratios are reported.     

Interference effects in 12C(p, γ)13N and direct capture to unbound states

Excitation functions of the capture reaction ¹²C(p, γ₀)¹³N have been obtained at θ_γ = 0° and 90° and E_p = 150–2500 keV. The results can be explained if a direct radiative capture process, E1(s and d → p), to the ground state in ¹³N is included in the analysis in addition to the two well-known resonances in this beam energy range $\text{[E}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{= 457(}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{)}$ and 1699 $\text{(}\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{) keV]}$. The direct capture component is enhanced through interference effects with the two resonance amplitudes. From the observed direct capture cross section, a spectroscopic factor of C²S(l = 1) = 0.49 ± 0.15 has been deduced for the $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ ground state in ¹³N. Excitation functions for the reaction ${}^{12}\text{C(p,γ}{}_1\text{p}{}^1\text{)}{}^{12}\text{C}$ have been obtained at θ_γ = 0° and 90° and E_p = 610–2700 keV. Away from the 1699 keV resonance the capture γ-ray yield is dominated by the direct capture process E1 (p → s) to the $\text{2366 (}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{) keV}$ unbound state. Above E_p = 1 MeV, the observed excitation functions are well reproduced by the direct capture theory to unbound states (bremsstrahlung theory). Below E_p = 1 MeV, i.e., E_p → 457 keV, the theory diverges in contrast to observation. This discrepancy is well known in bremsstrahlung theory as the “infrared problem”. From the observed direct capture cross sections at $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{? 1 MeV}$, a spectroscopic factor of C²S(l = 0) = 1.02 ± 0.15 has been found for the $\text{2366 (}\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{) keV}$ unbound state. A search for direct capture transitions to the $\text{3512 (}\text{3}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{)}$and $\text{3547 (}\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{) keV}$ unbound states resulted in upper limits of C²S(l = 1) ≦ 0.5 and C²S(l = 2) ? 1.0, respectively. The results are compared with available stripping data as well as shell-model calculations. The astrophysical aspect of the ¹²C(p, γ₀)¹³N reaction also is discussed.     

Coupled-reaction-channel approach for molecular orbital phenomena of valence nucleons in heavy-ion collisions: The 12c + 13c system

A complete coupled-reaction-channel method is applied to molecular orbital phenomena of the valence nucleon in the scattering of ¹²C on ¹³C, i.e. in elastic and inelastic transitions to the single-particle states of ¹³C¹(gr., $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ ; 3.086 MeV, $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ ; 3.854 MeV, $\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$) with consi ¹²C core-exchange process. The system is analyzed with respect to the occurrence of higher-order transitions of the direct (inelastic) and transfer (core-exchange) processes of the valence nucleon in ¹³C. It is found in the states of positive total parity that the transfer and direct processes act additively and lead to extreme higher-order steps of the multi-interactions, if the ground state (1p_{$\text{1}\text{2}$}) and the excited states (2s_{$\text{1}\text{2}$} and 1d_{$\text{5}\text{2}$}) are taken into account. Transitions between the excited subchannels show strong-coupling effects, which are due to the reorientations of the d_{$\text{5}\text{2}$} orbitals. The reoriented system couples to the ground channel (l-parity mixing) so favourably that the multi-interaction series hardly converges. The consequence of these observations are discussed in terms of the formation of molecular nucleon orbitals based on the polarization and the hybridization of the original orbitals.     

The hypernucleus 12ΛB and the decay process 12ΛB → π− + 3α

The characteristics of the decay sequences ${}^{12}{}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}\text{B}\text{→ π}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{+}{}^{12}\text{C}{}^1\text{,}{}^{12}\text{C}{}^1\text{→ 3α}$ are discussed for the two sharp levels of ¹²C¹ at excitation energies of 12.7 MeV (J_f = 1⁺, T = 0) and 16.11 MeV (J_f = 2⁺, T = 1), which are observed prominently in this decay process. The transition rates for these processes and the angular correlations in the final four-particle state αααπ^? are discussed quantitatively, using the intermediate coupling model for both the ¹²_ΛB and ¹²C¹ systems, as a function of the ¹²_ΛB spin J. Three distinct tests are proposed, which are sensitive to the spin J for ground-state ¹²_ΛB, and which have been used by the European K^? Collaboration to deduce that J = 1 for ¹²_ΛB. The implications of this conclusion for the ΛN and ΛNN interactions are briefly discussed.     

Spectroscopy of intermediate 16F states with the reaction 14N(3He,np)15O

Excited states of ¹⁶F have been investigated with the reaction ¹⁴N(³He, np)¹⁵O at E = 10.5 and 12 MeV in kinematically complete experiments. Proton groups corresponding to the decays of intermediate ¹⁶F states were observed at various angles with counter telescopes in time coincidence with the associated neutrons detected at θ_n^lab = 0° with a time-of-flight spectrometer. Excitation energies and decay widths Γ_p0 of these states have been extracted from the proton spectra. Lower limits for the orbital angular momentum in the decay channel and for the spin of the states have been deduced from the obtained angular correlations. By comparison with the reaction ¹⁴N(³He, pp)¹⁵N measured at E = 13 MeV, pairs of $\text{T = 1}{}^{16}\text{F}$ parent/¹⁶O analog states have been identified. J^π assignments and shell-model configurations are discussed on the basis of the selectivity of the reactions measured.     

Measurement of the g-factor and mean lifetime of the 13C(52+1) state

The g-factor and mean life of the $\text{5}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}{}_1$ state at 3.85 MeV in ¹³C have been determined by a recoil-into-vacuum plunger measurement. The state was populated by the ²H(¹²C, p) reaction at E = 15.0 MeV. The analysis of the time-differential deorientation effect on the p-γ angular correlation leads to a g-factor of $\text{¦g¦ = 0.558 ± 0.015}$. For the mean lifetime a value of τ = 12.2 ± 0.4ps is obtained.     

A j-forbidden isomeric transition in 204At

An isomeric 587.3 keV transition was investigated using several target-ion combinations: ¹⁹⁷Au+¹²C, ¹⁹³Ir+¹⁶O and ¹⁹⁶Pt+¹⁵N. From the measured excitation functions for the ${}^{193}\text{Ir}\text{(}{}^{16}\text{O, x}\text{n}\text{)}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>209–</mtext><mtext>x</mtext>}}$ At reaction it follows that this transition belongs to ²⁰⁴At. The isomeric level is ascribed to the 10^? state of the configuration π(h_{$\text{9}\text{2}$})³_{$\text{9}\text{2}$}ν(i_{$\text{13}\text{2}$})^?1.