Experimental investigation of highly excited states of the 5,6He and 5,6Li nuclei in the (6Li, 7Be) and (6Li, 7Li) one-nucleon pickup reactions

The (⁶Li, ⁷Be) and (⁶Li, ⁷Li) reactions on ⁶Li and ⁷Li nuclei were investigated in the angular interval 0°–20° in the laboratory system at a ⁶Li energy of 93 MeV. In addition to low-lying states of the ^5,6He and ^5,6Li nuclei, broad structures were observed near the t(³He)+d and t(³He)+t thresholds at the excitation energies of 16.75 (3/2⁺) and ～20 MeV (for ⁵He), 16.66 (3/2⁺) and ～20 MeV (⁵Li), 14.0 and 25 MeV (⁶He), and ～20 MeV (⁶Li). The angular distributions measured in the ⁷Li(⁶Li, ⁷Be)⁶He reaction for transitions to the ground state (0⁺) and excited states at E _x=1.8 MeV (2⁺) and 14.0 MeV of the ⁶He nucleus were analyzed by the finite-range distorted-wave method assuming the 1p-and 1s-proton pickup mechanism. The (⁶Li, ⁷Be) and (⁶Li, ⁷Li) reactions were shown to proceed predominantly through the one-step pickup mechanism, and the broad structures observed at high excitation energies are considered as quasimolecular states of the t(³He)+d and t(³He)+t types.     

α + 12C scattering at 110 MeV: Has exotic 7.65 MeV Hoyle’s state signatures “alpha-condensate” structure?

We present new measurements of the α + ¹²C elastic and inelastic (to the states 4.44, 7.65, and 9.64 MeV) scattering at E _lab = 110 MeV in the wide angular range from ～10° to 175°, which enable us to examine the condensate and cluster properties of the low-lying excited states in ¹²C. We present the diffraction-radius analysis of our data together with a considerable amount of the existing data. The magnitudes of the diffraction radii for the ground and the first excited (4.44 MeV) states are found to be equal, whereas they appear to be enhanced by ～0.6 fm both for 7.65 and 9.64 MeV states. This result shows that the radius of the Hoyle’s 0 ₂ ⁺ , 7.65 MeV state in ¹²C is by a factor of ～1.2–1.3 larger than that of the ground state. It is demonstrated that the direct transfer mechanism of ⁸Be dominates at the largest angles in all four reactions reported here. The configuration corresponding to the transfer of ⁸Be in its ground state (I ^π = 0⁺) with L = 0 turns out to be the most important for the 7.65 MeV state of ¹²C. Evidence of existence of some features of α-condensed structure of the Hoyle’s 0 ₂ ⁺ state in ¹²C was obtained: its enhanced radius and large contribution of α-particle configuration with L = 0.     

Resonant structure observed in the 3He(τ, γ)6Be capture reaction

The ³He(τ,γ)⁶Be capture reaction has been studied for ³He bombarding energies from 12 to 27, MeV. Transitions to the first excited state in ⁶Be(T = 1, 2⁺) are readily seen. Transitions to the ground state in ⁶Be (T = 1, 0⁺) are very weak and their presence could not be ascertained. The 90° excitation function for these transitions shows a broad maximum centered at E_τ = 23 ±1 MeV. This is interpreted as a resonance in the compound nucleus ⁶Be at E_x = 23.0±0.5 MeV with a configuration other than ³He+³He. These results are compared with other experimental work as well as with theoretical predictions.     

A study of excited states of5He by the7Li (d, α)5He-reaction

The interactions of deuterons with⁷Li, in which two α-particles and a neutron are produced in the final state are studied atE _d =1.2 MeV. The dual parameter α-α coincidence spectrum was analyzed with a search program. The results indicate two excited states of⁵He: One at excitation energy 2.9±0.1 MeV and with a reduced width of γ²=1.1±0.4 MeV, and the other at 4.8±0.4 MeV, with γ²=0.9±0.4 MeV. No contributions of sequential decay through the 4⁺ state in⁸Be or direct three body decay was observed.     

Intermediate width structures in the 12C(12C,8Beg.s.)16O reaction at E c.m. =20 to 30 MeV

The ¹²C(¹²C,⁸Be_g.s.)¹⁶O reaction cross section has been measured at center-of-mass energies between 20 and 30 MeV. Intermediate width structures have been observed for the reactions leading to the ground state and two doublets of states, 6.05/6.13 MeV and 6.92/7.12 MeV, in ¹⁶O. For the ⁸Be_g.s.+¹⁶O_g.s. channel the dominant angular momenta contributing to several structures have been deduced by the analysis of the excitation functions at selected center-of-mass angles. Correlations between the structures in the ⁸Be_g.s.+¹⁶O_g.s. channel and in other inelastic scattering channels in the E _c.m. = 30 MeV region are discussed. An interpretation of the resonances in terms of current structural models is given     

Mechanism of the 12C(11B,15N)8Be reaction and 8Be + 15N optical-model potential

Angular distributions of the ¹²C( ¹¹B, ¹⁵N) ⁸Be reaction were measured at the energy E_lab(¹¹B) = 49 MeV for the transitions to the ground and 2.94 MeV (2⁺) excited state of ⁸Be and to the ground and 5.270 MeV (5/2⁺) + 5.299 MeV (1/2⁺), 6.324 MeV (3/2^-), 7.155 MeV (5/2⁺) + 7.301 MeV (3/2⁺), 7.567 MeV (7/2⁺) excited states of ¹⁵N. The data were analyzed by the coupled-reaction-channel method. The elastic, inelastic scattering and one- and two-step transfers were included in the coupling scheme. The data of the ¹²C( ¹¹B, ⁸Be) ¹⁵N reaction at E_cm = 9.4-17.8 MeV known from the literature, were also included in the analysis. The mechanism of the ¹²C( ¹¹B, ¹⁵N) ⁸Be reaction and the optical-model potential parameters for the ¹⁵N + ⁸Be channel were deduced. The energy dependence of the optical-model parameters for the ¹⁵N + ⁸Be channel was obtained.     

Five-nucleon transfer in the12C(d,7Li)7be reaction atE lab=78.0 MeV

Angular distributions of the¹²C(d,⁷Li)⁷Be reaction to the ground and to the unresolved first excited states of⁷Li or⁷Be nuclei were measured in the entire angular region in the centre of mass system atE _lab=78.0 MeV. Both the one-step five-nucleon cluster transfer as well as two-step sequential transfers were considered in the theoretical analysis. The former mechanism was found to dominate, but the latter is also not negligible.     

Investigation of the mechanism of inelastic alpha-particle scattering on 28Si nuclei by the method of angular αγ correlations at E α = 30.3 MeV

The angular dependence of the differential cross sections for alpha-particle scattering on ²⁸Si nuclei and double-differential cross sections for the reaction ²⁸Si(α, αγ)²⁸Si at E _α = 30.3 MeV is measured for the case of alpha-particle emission angle between 20° and 160° and the excitation of low-lying states of the ²⁸Si nucleus (0⁺, ground state; 2⁺ state at 1.78 MeV; 4⁺ state at 4.62 MeV; 0⁺ state at 4.96 MeV; and 3^? + 4⁺, 6.88 MeV + 6.89 MeV). The spin-tensor components of the density matrix for the 2⁺ state at 1.78 MeV and the 4⁺ state at 4.62 MeV in the ²⁸Si* nucleus are reconstructed in a modelindependent way. Seven rank-6 components are reconstructed for the 3^? state at 6.88 MeV. Orientation features of ²⁸Si* are determined. The experimental data in question are compared with the results of the calculations performed under the assumption of the collective-excitation mechanism and by the coupled-channel method.     

Quasi-free (p,pα) scattering on 24Mg, 28Si, 40Ca and 58Ni at 157 MeV

Sixfold energy spectra have been measured for the (p, pα) reaction at 157 MeV on ²⁴Mg, ²⁸Si, ⁴⁰Ca and ⁵⁸Ni around quasi-free kinematic conditions. For the three s-d shell nuclei the experiment covered a map ranging from 0 to 220 MeV/c in recoil momentum and from 0 to 20 MeV in excitation energy of the final nucleus. Recoil momentum distributions have been obtained for the 0⁺ ground state and the 2⁺ first excited state of ²⁰Ne, ²⁴Mg and ³⁶Ar, and also for the states around 4.4 MeV (mainly 4⁺) of ³⁶Ar. The a spectroscopic factors extracted by a DWIA analysis are about three times larger than those predicted by the SU(3) model; however, they agree quite well in relative magnitude for a number of cases. The disagreement in shape between experiment and theory observed at low recoil momentum for the 2⁺ states might result from another reaction mechanism. The cross sections for ⁵⁸Ni are about a factor often smaller than those for ⁴⁰Ca. The ⁵⁸Ni(p, pα)⁵⁴Fe reaction seems to lead mainly to excited states of the final nucleus.     

Mechanism of reactions induced by 7 MeV deuterons on9Be [(d,p), (d,d), (d,t), (d,4He)]

Angular distributions of protons, deuterons, tritons and alpha-particles emitted from the reactions in thed+⁹Be-system atE _d =7 MeV as well as excitation functions at selected angles in the energy rangeE _d =6.5–7.5 MeV (LAB) were measured. The potential part of the elastic scattering is described by the phenomenological optical model. The compound nucleus contribution to all exit channels is determined using the Hauser-Feshbach model. The collective excitation of the 2.43 MeV excited state of⁹Be and transfer processes are analysed within the DWBA formalism. The analyses suggest a significant contribution of five-nucleon transfer to the (d,⁴He) channel.     

Proton-threshold states in 28Si

The ²⁷Al(³He, d)²⁸Si reaction has been used to locate candidates for resonances in the ²⁷Al + p system residing near the proton-capture threshold in the energy region characteristic of quiescent stellar hydrogen burning. Two such states are observed at excitation energies E_x = 11.658 MeV(J^π = 2⁺) and 11.671 MeV (J^π = 1⁻). A comparison of the cross sections for the ²⁷Al(³He, d)²⁸Si and the ²⁷Al(α, t)²⁸Si reactions implies angular-momentum transfers of l = 2 and l = 3, respectively, for the two states of interest. Using this result, an astrophysically significant upper limit on the thermonuclear reaction rate has been calculated for the ²⁷Al(p, γ)²⁸Si reaction which is found to be too slow to affect the ²⁷Al abundance in red giants.     

High-spin states in123Te

The¹⁰Be(¹²C,¹⁴O)⁸He-reaction has been used to study the levels of⁸He. In addition to the known excited state of⁸He at E _x =3.6MeV, withJ ^π=2⁺, three additional states were found at excitation energies of 4.54(25)MeV, 6.03(10)MeV and 7.16(4)MeV.     

Developments at the SLOWRI facility at RIKEN: precision optical spectroscopy of 7,9,10,11Be+ ions

Precision optical spectroscopy of radioactive Be isotopes produced in projectile fragmentation has been performed for the first time at the prototype SLOWRI facility of RIKEN RI-Beam Factory. The ground state hyperfine constants of ⁷Be⁺ and ¹¹Be⁺ were determined with relative accuracies of 6 × 10^?7 and 3 × 10^?8, respectively, by laser-microwave double resonance spectroscopy of laser-cooled ions in a trap. The optical transition energies from the ground S-state to the excited P-state of Be isotope ions were also measured to determine the nuclear charge radii from the isotope shifts. Development of the universal slow RI-beam facility??SLOWRI??based on the rf-carpet ion guide technique is progressing at RIKEN RI-beam factory. An additional capability of providing parasitic slow RI-beams from the projectile fragment separator BigRIPS is also discussed.     

Observation of abnormally large radii of nuclei in excited states in the vicinity of neutron thresholds

Differential cross sections for inelastic scattering leading to the excitation of some nuclear states situated near neutron-emission thresholds were analyzed. With the aid of a modified diffraction model, abnormally large radii were found for the 1/2₁⁺ state of the ¹³C nucleus at 3.09 MeV, for the first levels of positive-parity rotational bands in the ⁹Be (1/2⁺ level at 1.68 MeV and 5/2⁺ level at 3.05 MeV) and ¹¹Be (5/2⁺ level at 1.78 MeV and 3/2⁺ level at 3.41 MeV) nuclei, and for the 2₁⁺ state of the ¹⁴Be nucleus at 1.54 MeV and 1₁⁻ state of the ¹²Be nucleus at 2.7 MeV. All of these states possess signatures typical of neutron halos.     

12C(12C, 8Be)16O angular distributions and excitation functions between 35 and 69 MeV bombarding energy

An array of eight detectors has been developed for identifying the particle unstable ⁸Be nucleus from nuclear reactions with high detection efficiency. Absolute cross sections have been measured for the reaction ¹²C(¹²C, ⁸Be_g.s.)¹⁶O to the ground state and to several excited states in ¹⁶O. Excitation functions at seven angles from 15° to 45° (lab) in 5° steps have been measured for bombarding energies between E¹²_C(lab) = 35 and 69 MeV. Excitation functions were obtained for the following states in the residual nucleus ¹⁶O which were found to be strongly populated: g.s.(0⁺); 6.1 MeV (0⁺, 3^?); 6.9 MeV (2⁺); 10.4 MeV (4⁺); 11.1 MeV (4⁺); 14.7 MeV (6⁺,…) and 16.3 MeV (6⁺,…). The energy range is covered in 250 keV (c.m.) steps; at certain energy ranges in ¹²⁵ keV or 50keV steps. All excitation functions exhibit a strong energy dependence of the cross section; pronounced gross structures with superimposed fine structures, similar to those observed for ¹²C+¹²C elastic and inelastic scattering at these energies, are observed. At 19.3 MeV, where resonant structures were observed in the reactions ¹²C(¹²C, p)²³Na, ¹²C(¹²C, n)²³Mg and ¹²C(¹²C, d)²²Na, no resonance is found for the reaction studied here. At 60, 61 and 63 MeV angular distributions have been measured in 1° and 2.5°(lab) angular steps. The excitation functions have been analyzed in terms of Ericson fluctuations and cross-correlation functions.     

Study of the <Superscript>12</Superscript>C (<Superscript>8</Superscript>B, <Superscript>7</Superscript>Be)<Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis> knockout reaction at intermediate energies

The breakup reactions of ⁸B on a ¹²C target at 142, 285, 790, and 936MeV/nucleon have been studied. One-proton-removal cross sections, leading to the production of ⁷Be fragments in the ground and first excited states (at 0.429MeV), and the longitudinal momentum distributions of the ⁷Be fragments are obtained in the Eikonal approximation of the Glauber Model. The results of the calculations including the contribution of the ⁷Be to the ground and first excited states of ⁸B are compared with the available experimental data. One-proton-removal cross section for the ¹²C(⁸B, ⁷Be)X knockout reaction at 142, 285, 790, and 936 MeV/nucleon energy has been calculated. ⁸B and ⁷Be cross sections and momentum distribution are in a good agreement with available data.     

Structure of28Si from the spectroscopy of high-spin states

A search for high-spin states in²⁸Si has been performed byn?y coincidence measurements in the²⁵Mg(α,nγy) reaction atE _α=14 and 15.5 MeV. Spin-parity assignments of the observed levels were obtained fromn?γ angular correlation and lifetime measurements atE _α=14.5 MeV. Theγ-decay of the 9,164 keV level was investigated separately with the²⁷Al(p, γ) reaction at theE _p=2,160 and 2,312 keV resonances. Rotational bands withK ^π=3^? (comprising levels atE _x=6,879, 8,413, 10,188 and 12,204 keV),K ^π =5^? (comprising levels atE _x=9,702, 11,577 and 13,741 keV) andK ^π=0⁺ (comprising levels atE _x=6,691, 7,381, 9,164 and 11,509 keV) were observed. The finding of the latter band supports the idea of coexisting oblate and prolate shapes in²⁸Si. A level at 14,643 keV excitation energy has the properties of theI ^π=8⁺ member of the ground state band. There are additional positive-parity high-spin states which do not fit into rotational bands. All types of positive-parity states are well accounted for by shell model calculations.     

Proton resonant and direct capture on 28Si

Excitation functions for the ²⁸Si(p, γ)²⁹P capture reaction have been measured in the proton energy range E_p = 1.3–2.3 mMeV. The analysis of the data reveals the presence of the direct capture process to the ground state and first excited state of ²⁹P. The strengths of the resonances at E_p = 1.65, 2.09 and 2.88 MeV and the spectroscopic factors of the ground state and first excited state in ²⁹P are deduced.     

On the mechanism of formation of excited states of the 8Be nucleus in the reaction 12C(γ, 3α)

The reaction ¹²C(γ, 3α) was studied with the aid of a diffusion chamber placed in a magnetic field, filled with a methane-helium mixture, and irradiated with bremsstrahlung photons of endpoint energy 150 MeV. The total reaction cross section was measured in the energy range E _γ < 40 MeV. The ground state; the first, second, and unseparated third and fourth excited states; and highly excited states (in the range 19.9 < E _x < 25.2 MeV) of the ⁸Be nucleus manifested themselves in the distribution of events with respect to the energy of the relative motion of two alpha particles. A resonance that is characterized by the energy of E₀ = 0.72 MeV and the width of Γ = 0.80 MeV and which was identified as a ghost anomaly was found between the ground state and the first excited state. Partial cross sections were measured for various channels. Excited states are formed in narrow photon-energy intervals, and their partial cross sections are of a resonance shape. It is found that the energy corresponding to the maximum of the partial cross section for the ith level, E _m ⁱ , and the excitation energy of the next level, E ₀ ⁱ⁺¹ , are correlated: E _m ⁱ = E ₀ ⁱ⁺¹ + ?, where ? is the reaction threshold. The results are qualitatively explained on the basis of a model that assumes photon absorption by an alpha-particle pair.