Quadrupole collectivity of neutron-rich neon isotopes

The Angular Momentum Projected Generator Coordinate Method, with the quadrupole moment as collective coordinate and the Gogny force (D1S) as the effective interaction, is used to describe the properties of the ground state and low-lying excited states of the even-even neon isotopes ^20-34Ne, that is, from the stability valley up to the drip line. It is found that the ground state of the N = 20 nucleus ³⁰Ne is deformed but to a lesser extent than the N = 20 isotope of the magnesium. In the calculations, the isotope ³²Ne is at the drip line in good agreement with other theoretical predictions. On the other hand, rather good agreement with experimental data for many observables is obtained. Received: 19 Novemeber 2002 / Accepted: 24 January 2003 / Published online: 8 April 2003     

Quadrupole and octupole collectivity in light Po isotopes

The level structure of¹⁹⁶Po has been studied using a¹⁶⁰Dy(⁴⁰Ar, 4n) reaction and a recoil-catcher technique to reduce fission. The results showed a sharp drop off in the first (2⁺) and (4⁺) energies relative to systematics implying an abrupt increase in the quadrupole collectivity at N=112. In addition, second (2⁺) and(4⁺) states were identified at 859 and 1388 keV, respectively, suggesting the discovery of a 4p2h deformed band in Po isotopes which is related to known 2p2h proton bands in several Pb isotopes. A prompt¹⁸³W(²⁰Ne, 5n@#@) experiment located similar second 2⁺ and 4⁺ states at 1039 and 1483 keV in¹⁹⁸Po providing corroboration and extended information on the properties of the new Po deformed bands. A measured halflife of 850 (90) ns for the 2491 keV (11^?) state in¹⁹⁶Po implied collective E3 contributions to the extractedB (@#@ E3; 11^?→8⁺)=27(5) W.u.     

Quadrupole collectivity variations in even Hafnium isotopes

The boson wave functions given by the interacting boson model have been analyzed for a chain of even Hf isotopes, along which transition from spherical to deformed nuclei, accompanied by an increase in the number of d bosons and degree of their pairing, occurs.     

Quadrupole transitions in 20Ne

Untruncated shell model calculations in the 1s-0d shell using Chung-Wildenthal effective interactions have been performed for ²⁰Ne and the electron scattering form factors for elastic scattering and for the excitation of 2₁⁺, 2₁⁺ and 2₃⁺ states have been examined. Saxon-Woods wave functions and a phase-shift analysis have been used. It is shown that within the limited space of the 1s-0d shell, it is possible to obtain vastly different momentum transfer dependence for the electro-excitation of ΔJ^π = 2⁺ transitions. The 2₁⁺ and 2₂⁺ states are seen to be adequately described by the wave functions obtained in this calculation, but 2₃⁺ is not described well.     

Laser spectroscopy in the island of inversion

An overview of the studies by collinear laser spectroscopy in the island of inversion is presented with emphasis on the β-detection method. The spin and magnetic-moment measurements of ³¹Mg and ³³Mg are described in detail. Comparison with the spherical and deformed shell models provides evidence for prolate shapes and indicates the ground-state parities. The results are considered in the context of other experimental studies in the region. The potential of the β-detection technique for studying rms charge radii is highlighted.     

Spectroscopy of 36Mg: interplay of normal and intruder configurations at the neutron-rich boundary of the "island of inversion"

We report on the first spectroscopy study of the very neutron-rich nucleus (36)(12)Mg24 using the direct two-proton knockout reaction 9Be(38Si,36Mg+gamma)X at 83 MeV/nucleon. The energy of the first excited 2+ state of 36Mg, E(2+(1)=660(6) keV, was measured. The magnitude of the partial cross sections to the ground state and the 2+(1) state is indicative of strong intruder admixtures in the lowest-lying states as suggested by Monte Carlo shell-model calculations.     

Exploring the low-Z shore of the island of inversion at n=19

The technique of invariant mass spectroscopy has been used to measure, for the first time, the ground state energy of neutron-unbound (28)F, determined to be a resonance in the (27)F+n continuum at 220(50) keV. States in (28)F were populated by the reactions of a 62 MeV/u (29)Ne beam impinging on a 288 mg/cm(2) beryllium target. The measured (28)F ground state energy is in good agreement with USDA/USDB shell model predictions, indicating that pf shell intruder configurations play only a small role in the ground state structure of (28)F and establishing a low-Z boundary of the island of inversion for N=19 isotones.     

Projectile coulomb excitation of Ne and Ne

The static quadrupole moments of the first excited J^π = 2⁺ states in ²⁰Ne and ²²Ne and the reduced electric quadrupole transition probabilities of these states to the ground states were measured via projectile Coulomb excitation. The quadrupole moments were deduced from the shapes of γ-ray angular distributions. The results are: Q(²⁰Ne, 2⁺) = −0.20±0.05 b and Q(²²Ne, 2⁺) = −0.11±0.05 b. The transition strengths were deduced from yield measurements and by comparison with the yields of target γ-rays. The results are: B(E2; 0⁺ → 2⁺, ²⁰Ne) = 0.037±0.003 e² · b² and B(E2; 0⁺ → 2⁺, ²²Ne) = 0.025±0.002 e²· b². The results for the transition strengths are consistent with the results of accurate timing methods and resolve discrepancies between previous experiments. The results for the quadrupole moments are consistent with earlier measurements, although the mean values we obtain are slightly lower. The experimental measurements are compared with theoretical predictions and a detailed discussion is given of corrections to this type of reorientation experiment.     

Studies on the Ne(p, d)Ne and Ne(d, p)Ne reactions

Angular distribution measurements have been performed on the ²¹Ne(p, d)²⁰Ne and ²¹Ne(d, p)²²Ne reactions at E_p = 20 MeV and E_d = 10.2 MeV, respectively. In the ²¹Ne(p, d) ²⁰Ne reaction, the prolific formation of the J^π = 2⁺, 1.63 MeV state was characterized by l_n = 2 pickup, and the distribution associated with the 4⁴, 4.25 MeV state was suggestive of a weak l_n = 2 pickup. All of the observed l_n = 1 pickup strength is associated with formation of the 2⁻, 4.97 MeV ²⁰Ne level. The ²¹Ne(d, p)²²Ne results indicate that l_n = 2 transfer is involved in the formation of the 1.28, 3.36, 5.52, 5.63 and 6.65 MeV ²²Ne states. The angular distribution observed for the 2⁺, 4.46 MeV state and also the unresolved 5.33, 5.36 MeV composite of states required both l_n = 0 and l_n = 2 components in the associated distorted-wave Born approximation fits. The spectroscopic factors extracted from the present results are compared with those predicted by the Nilsson model without mixing: Applications of the angular momentum projection rule to the ²¹Ne(d, p)²²Ne reaction are considered.     

29Na: defining the edge of the island of inversion for Z=11

The low-energy level structure of the exotic Na isotopes (28,29)Na has been investigated through beta-delayed gamma spectroscopy. The N=20 isotones for Z=10-12 are considered to belong to the "island of inversion" where intruder configurations dominate the ground state wave function. However, it is an open question as to where and how the transition from normal to intruder dominated configurations happens in an isotopic chain. The present work, which presents the first detailed spectroscopy of (28,29)Na, clearly demonstrates that such a transition in the Na isotopes occurs between 28Na (N=17) and 29Na (N=18), supporting the smaller N=20 shell gap in neutron-rich sd shell nuclei. The evidence for inverted shell structure is found in beta-decay branching ratios, intruder dominated spectroscopy of low-lying states, and shell model analysis.     

Strange-quark collectivity of the φ-meson at RHIC

Based on A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) model, the elliptic flow v₂ of φ-mesons which is reconstructed from K ⁺ K ^- at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) energy has been studied. The results show that the reconstructed v₂ of the φ-meson can keep the earlier information before φ decays and it seems to obey the number of constituent-quark scaling as other mesons and baryons. This result indicates that the φ v₂ mostly reflects the parton level collectivity developed during the early stage of the collisions and the strange and light up/down quarks have similar collectivity properties before the hadronization.     

Loss of collectivity in 79Rb

High-spin states in ⁷⁹Rb were populated in the reaction at E(beam) = 60 MeV. The lifetimes of the excited states of the positive-parity yrast band and of the negative-parity band in ⁷⁹Rb were measured by the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. The deduced transition quadrupole moments Q_t are found to have a decreasing trend with rotational frequency for both the bands, consistent with those found experimentally in neighbouring nuclei. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Stark Broadening of Ne II and Ne III Spectral Lines

Using a semiclassical approach, the widths and shifts of the spectral lines of three Ne II and six Ne III multiplets caused by collisions with electrons, protons, and helium ions at a density of perturbing particles of 10¹⁷ cm^–3 and different temperatures have been calculated. The results obtained have been compared with the known experimental and theoretical data.     

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.     

Proton-induced direct capture on 21Ne and 22Ne

The direct capture process in the reactions ²¹Ne(p, γ)²²Na and ²²Ne(p, γ)²³Na has been investigated at E_p = 0.3–1.6 MeV using neon gas enriched to 91 % in ²¹Ne and to 99 % in ²²Ne, respectively. The gas was recirculated in a differentially pumped gas target system of the extended-static and quasi-point supersonic jet type. For ²²Ne(p, γ)²³Na, the direct capture process has been observed to several final states in ²³Na up to E_x = 8.83 MeV excitation energy. The deduced spectroscopic factors C²S are in fair agreement with the corresponding values from stripping reactions. The capture transition into the ²³Na ground state exhibits broad structures, which resemble Ericson fluctuations. The data remove the previously reported discrepancies in C²S for the ²³Na ground state. The excitation functions for the ²¹Ne(p, γ)²²Na reaction are dominated by broad and intense resonances, which hampered the measurement of the direct capture process. The nuclear and astrophysical aspects of the results are discussed.