New low-energy measurement of the 18F(p,α)15O reaction

The ¹⁸F, produced during nova explosions, is the main responsible for the 511 keV γ-ray emitted during the outburst that could be detected with satellite missions or future γ-ray telescopes. In spite of many experimental efforts, the amount of ¹⁸F synthesized still suffers from large uncertainties concerning mainly the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O reaction. We report here on a new direct measurement of the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O cross section recently carried out at the RIB facility at Louvain-la-Neuve. Cross section data down to a center-of-mass energy of 400 keV have been obtained using an isobarically pure ¹⁸F beam (averaged intensity of the order of 10⁶ pps) and a thin polyethylene target. The reaction products were detected using the multi-strip detector array LEDA. The cross section data are analysed in the framework of the R-matrix model. Our main aim is to determine the interference sign between three 3/2⁺ resonances above threshold that can significantly affect the extrapolation of the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O cross section to the energies relevant for novae, and thus, the modeling of nova explosions.     

Penning trap mass measurements of rare isotopes produced by projectile fragmentation with LEBIT at NSCL

The Low-Energy Beam and Ion Trap facility LEBIT at the NSCL at MSU has demonstrated that rare isotopes produced by fast-beam fragmentation can be slowed down and prepared for precision experiments with low-energy beams. High-pressure gas-stopping was combined with advanced ion manipulation techniques to carry out these studies with a high-precision 9.4-Tesla Penning trap mass spectrometer. The spectrometer has been used for a series of high precision mass measurements of short-lived neutron- and proton-rich isotopes during the past year. This paper presents an overview of the LEBIT facility and summarizes the first mass measurement results. The mass measurements of ⁸¹Se, where ground and isomeric states have been resolved, and of ⁸⁰As will be discussed in detail.     

Purification of a Zn radioactive ion beam by alkali suppression in a quartz line target prototype

A new target and ion source unit has been developed at CERN-ISOLDE with the aim of delivering isobarically clean beams of short lived neutron-rich Cd and Zn. A quartz insert in the transfer line allows the trapping and the decay of alkali contaminants. This paper presents the design of the quartz transfer line. Alkali suppression is demonstrated with ⁸⁰Rb and ¹¹⁴Cs. The yield of ⁸Li, ⁴⁶K, ⁷⁷Ga and ⁷⁵Zn is presented.     

Dipolar interactions in ferromagnetic thin films

We introduce a discrete model describing the motion of a zigzag domain wall in a disordered ferromagnet with in-plane magnetization, driven by an external magnetic field. The main ingredients are dipolar interactions and anisotropy. We investigate the dynamic hysteresis by analyzing the effects of external field frequency on the coercive field by Monte Carlo simulations. Our results are in good agreement with experiments on Fe/GaAs films reported in literature, and we conclude that dynamic hysteresis in this case can be explained by a single propagating domain wall model without invoking domain nucleation.     

Nuclear magnetic moment of 57Cu ground state

The nuclear magnetic moment of the ground state of ⁵⁷Cu(I^π = 3/2^-, T_1/2 = 196.3 ms) has been measured to be |μ(⁵⁷Cu)| = (2.00 ±0.05) μ_N using the β-NMR technique. Together with the known magnetic moment of the mirror partner ⁵⁷Ni, the spin expectation value was extracted as = -0.78 ± 0.13. Discrepancy between present results and shell model calculations in the full fp shell implies significant shell breaking at ⁵⁶Ni with the neutron number N = 28.     

Present and future experiments with stored exotic nuclei at the FRS-ESR facility

High accuracy mass and lifetime measurements are performed with the combination of the in-flight separator FRS and the cooler-storage ring ESR at GSI. Exotic nuclei are produced via projectile fragmentation and fission at (400–900) MeV/u. This energy range is the basis for unique experimental conditions with bare and few-electron fragments and allows for the first time investigations for decay channels which are rare or strictly forbidden in neutral atoms. New experimental developments and data including the discovery of new isotopes are presented. The comparison of the experimental results with theoretical predictions indicates the potential for improvements of nuclear models. A new generation of experiments will be possible with the advent of the proposed international Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR).     

Elastic scattering of 6He + 27Al and 7Be + 51V at RIBRAS

A double superconducting solenoid system is installed at the Pelletron Laboratory of the University of S?o Paulo, Brazil. This system allows the production of secondary beams of ⁸Li, ⁶He, ⁷Be and others light exotic nuclei. The first results using this facility are presented.     

Structure of nuclei far from the stability in relativistic approach

The recent progress of the relativistic many-body approach by the group at Peking University will be reviewed. In particular, axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach in Woods-Saxon basis aiming at halo nucleus, time-odd triaxial RMF approach, the adiabatic and configuration-fixed constrained triaxial RMF approaches, a Reflection ASymmetric RMF (RAS-RMF) approach, and a new relativistic Hartree-Fock (RHF) approach with density-dependent σ,ω,ρ and π meson-nucleon couplings for finite nuclei and nuclear matter, will be highlighted.     

Exciting isomers from the first stopped-beam RISING campaign

First results are reported from a major new initiative of experiments, which focus on nuclear structure studies at extreme isospin values by means of isomer spectroscopy. The experiments represent the first part of the so-called stopped-beam campaign within the Rare ISotope INvestigations at GSI (Rising) project. Time-correlated γ decays from individually identified nuclear species have been measured, allowing the clean identification of isomeric decays in a wide range of exotic nuclei both at the proton drip-line and in heavy, neutron-rich systems. An overview of the experimental technique will be given, together with the performance of the new germanium detector array and future research plans for the collaboration.     

Isovector deformation and its link to the neutron shell closure

DWBA analysis of the inelastic ^30-40S(p,p') and ^18-22O(p,p') scattering data measured in the inverse kinematics has been performed to determine the isoscalar (δ₀) and isovector (δ₁) deformation lengths of the 2⁺₁ excitations in the Sulfur and Oxygen isotopes using a compact folding approach. A systematic N-dependence of δ₀ and δ₁ has been established which shows a link between δ₁ and the neutron-shell closure. Strong isovector deformations were found in several cases, e.g., the 2⁺₁ state in ²⁰O where δ₁ is nearly three times larger than δ₀. These results confirm the relation δ₁>δ₀ anticipated from the core polarization by the valence neutrons in the open-shell (neutron rich) nuclei. The effect of neutron shell closure at N=14 or 16 has been discussed based on the folding model analysis of the inelastic ²²O+p scattering data at 46.6 MeV/u measured recently at GANIL.     

Isoscalar and isovector nuclear matter properties and neutron skin thickness

Isoscalar and isovector nuclear matter properties are investigated in the Skyrme Hartree-Fock (SHF) and the relativistic mean field (RMF) models. The Skyrme parameters are related analytically to the isoscalar and the isovector nuclear matter properties of the Hamiltonian density. Linear correlations are found among the isovector nuclear matter properties of the Hamiltonian density in both the SHF and the RMF models. We also discovered that the correlations between the isovector properties and the incompressibility K show a singularity at the critical incompressibility K_c=306 MeV. It is shown that the neutron skin thickness gives crucial information about not only for the neutron EOS but also about the isovector nuclear matter properties and about the parameterization of Skyrme interaction. Charge exchange spin-dipole (SD) excitations are proposed to determine the neutron skin thickness model independently.     

ISAC-I and ISAC-II: Present status and future perspectives

The ISAC facility at TRIUMF utilizes up to 100 μA from the 500 MeV H^- cyclotron to produce the RIB using the Isotopic Separation On Line (ISOL) method. The ISAC-I facility comprised the RNB production target stations, the mass separator and the beam delivery to low energy area and to a room temperature linear accelerator composed of a 4-rod RFQ and an inter-digital H type structure Drift Tube LINAC. ISAC-I linear accelerator can provide beam from A = 3 to 30 amu with an energy range from 0.15 to 1.5 A MeV. Since the beginning of operations target development program has been to increase proton beam currents on targets. Now we routinely operate our target at 50 to 85 μA and recently we have operated our target at 100 μA. Other developments are in place to add other ion sources, laser, FEBIAD and ECRIS to the actual surface ion source. The last two five year plans were mainly devoted to the construction of a heavy ion superconducting LINAC (ISAC-II), that will upgrade the mass and the energy range from 30 to 150 and 1.5 to 6.5 A MeV, respectively. We are now commissioning the medium β section and first experiment is scheduled for the fall 2006.     

Study of N = 16 for Ne isotopes

²⁷Ne has been investigated through the one neutron transfer reaction ²⁶Ne(d,p)²⁷Ne in inverse kinematics at 9.7 MeV/nucleon. The results support the existence of a low lying negative parity state in ²⁷Ne which is a signature of a reduced sd-fp shell gap in the N = 16 neutron rich region, at variance with stable nuclei.     

In-beam γ spectroscopy using DIC with a radioactive Ne beam

A study of deep-inelastic and multi-nucleon transfer reactions to populate neutron-rich O, Ne and F nuclei is here presented. The reaction under analysis employed a beam of radioactive ²⁴Ne at 7.9 AMeV, provided by the SPIRAL facility at Ganil, impingin on a ²⁰⁸Pb target. The reaction products have been detected in the VAMOS spectrometer in coincidence with gamma rays measured by the EXOGAM array. Preliminary results here presented show a selectivity in the population of states of different nature.     

Production of medium-weight isotopes by fragmentation in 750 A MeV 238U on 208Pb collisions

Projectile fragmentation of ²³⁸U in a lead target was investigated at a bombarding energy of 750 A MeV. Isotopic production cross sections of about 250 different projectile fragments in the element range Z= 30–53 were measured with the FRagment Separator (FRS). The magnetic selection and the kinematical analysis of the measured isotopes allowed to disentangle fission and fragmentation residues. The mass loss of these residues indicates a violent collision where a large amount of energy is dissipated. The position of the fragmentation corridor defined by the measured residues was used to determine an effective proton-evaporation barrier. Received: 3 October 1997 / Revised version: 27 February 1998     

Multiple particle break-up study of low excited states in <Superscript>9</Superscript>Be: The ghost peak in the <Superscript>8</Superscript>Be excitation energy spectrum visited

The aim of this work is to find out the origin of the anomalous resonance in ⁸Be seen in the reactions through excited states in ⁹Be. We have populated the ⁹Be excited states by β-decay of ⁹Li. Energy and direction of the two α particles has been detected and the neutron spectra reconstructed. In our work we identified the “anomalous resonance" in ⁸Be observed in several reaction studies as coming from the decay of the 2.43 and 2.78 MeV states in ⁹Be. This anomalous resonance appears when the two detected α particles are assumed to form a resonance in ⁸Be. We argued that the main decaying channels for these two levels in ⁹Be do not involve ⁸Be.     

The “island of inversion" from a nuclear moments perspective and the g factor of 35Si

This paper reviews recent results from electromagnetic moment measurements on isotopes in the island of inversion around N=20. The obtained moments on neutron rich Na, Mg, Al and Si isotopes allow to draw conclusions on the amount of intruder components in their ground state wave function, demonstrating a gradual transition from the normal sd-shell region into the island of inversion, starting at N=18 for Na, N=19 for Mg and N=20 for Al isotopes. A measurement of the ground state g factor of ³⁵Si (N=21), using a polarized fragment beam at GANIL, is discussed in more detail. The magnetic moment μ(³⁵Si, I^π= 7/2^-) = (-)1.638(4) μ_N is consistent with a normal ground state structure, dominated by a νf_7/2 neutron.     

Exploring the <Superscript> 6</Superscript>He continuum sea through proton inelastic collisions

The p-⁶He inelastic scattering at 700 MeV u^-1 is studied using Multiple Scattering expansion of the total Transition amplitude (MST) framework with a pseudo-state representation of ⁶He continuum. We show that the differential cross sections calculated with two different pseudo-state bases are in good agreement.     

Resonant and weakly-bound one-particle levels in quadrupole-deformed potentials

Both positive-energy and weakly-bound one-particle levels for neutrons in Y₂₀ deformed Woods-Saxon potentials are examined in comparison with those in spherical Woods-Saxon potentials. While s_1/2 levels play a unique role in spherical drip-line nuclei, the Ω^π = 1/2⁺ levels in Y₂₀ deformed potentials, which always contain some amount of s_1/2 component, exhibit an important role in deformed drip-line nuclei. As the potential strength becomes weaker, some weakly-bound Ω^π = 1/2⁺ levels continue to the positive-energy region as one-particle resonant levels, while others have no such continuation. Among an infinite number of one-particle levels at a given positive-energy and in a given deformed potential, only some selected levels expressed in terms of eigenphase are found to be important in the pair-correlated ground state of neutron-drip-line nuclei.