First structure information on the exotic 149 La from the $\beta^-$-decay of 149 Ba

The -decay of ¹⁴⁹Ba to ¹⁴⁹La has been investigated by means of - and X-ray spectroscopy, and a partial level scheme of ¹⁴⁹La has been constructed for the first time. It includes thirteen -rays and ten excited states. The exotic ¹⁴⁹La is the heaviest lanthanum for which spectroscopic information is now available. We have applied the shell correction approach with the axially deformed Woods-Saxon potential in order to calculate the deformation energy for the ¹⁴⁹La ground state. The deformed ground state was found at 0.23, 0 and 0.12.Received: 18 July 2003, Revised: 12 January 2004, Published online: 26 May 2004PACS: 27.60. + j - 29.30.Kv X- and -ray spectroscopy     

Some physics highlights from the EUROBALL spectrometer

Exotic, neutron-rich proton-induced spallation products of ²³²Th and ²³⁸U obtained from the PS Booster ISOLDE facility have been investigated by - , - coincidence and spectrum-multiscaling measurements. A new method for the reduction of isobaric contamination enabled to study the unknown region beyond ²⁰⁸Pb for the decay chain A = 217. A new isotope ²¹⁷Bi with a half-life of s was discovered and its -decay studied. For the first time, a half-life value of s for the -decay of ²¹⁷Po was measured.Received: 3 March 2003, Revised: 13 May 2003, Published online: 30 September 2003PACS: 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 23.60.+e decay - 27.80.+w 190 A 219 - 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.     

Chiral approach to nuclear matter: Role of explicit short-range <Emphasis Type="Italic">NN</Emphasis>-terms

We extend a recent chiral approach to nuclear matter by including the most general (momentum-independent) NN-contact interaction. Iterating this two-parameter contact vertex with itself and with one-pion exchange the emerging energy per particle exhausts all terms possible up to and including fourth order in the small momentum expansion. Two (isospin-dependent) cut-offs are introduced to regularize the (linear) divergences of some three-loop in-medium diagrams. The equation of state of pure neutron matter, , can be reproduced very well up to quite high neutron densities of by adjusting the strength of a repulsive nn-contact interaction. Binding and saturation of isospin-symmetric nuclear matter is a generic feature of our perturbative calculation. Fixing the maximum binding energy per particle to MeV we find that any possible equilibrium density lies below . The additional constraint from the neutron matter equation of state leads however to a somewhat too low saturation density of . We also investigate the effects of the NN-contact interaction on the complex single-particle potential U(p,k _f ) + i W(p,k _f ). We find that the effective nucleon mass at the Fermi surface is bounded from below by . This property keeps the critical temperature of the liquid-gas phase transition at somewhat too high values MeV. The downward bending of the asymmetry energy A(k _f ) above nuclear-matter saturation density is a generic feature of theapproximation to fourth order. We furthermore investigate the effects of the NN-contact interaction on the -term in the nuclear energy density functional . Altogether, there is within this complete fourth-order calculation no magic set of adjustable short-range parameters with which one could reproduce simultaneously and accurately all semi-empirical properties of nuclear matter. In particular, the conditions for a good neutron matter equation of state and for good single-particle properties are mutually exclusive.Received: 28 October 2003, Revised: 9 December 2003, Published online: 23 July 2004PACS: 12.38.Bx Perturbative calculations - 21.65. + f Nuclear matter - 24.10.Cn Many-body theory - 31.15.Ew Density-functional theory     

Energy dependence of the Λ/Σproduction cross-section ratio in p-p interactions

The production of the - and -hyperons has been measured via the reaction at the internal COSY-11 facility in the excess energy range between 14 and 60 MeV. The transition of the cross-section ratio from about 28 at MeV to the high-energy level of about 2.5 is covered by the data showing a strong decrease of the ratio between 10 and 20 MeV excess energy. Effects from the final-state interactions in the p- channel seem to be much smaller than in the p- channel. Estimates of the effective range parameters are given for the and the systems.PACS: 13.75.-n Hadron-induced low- and intermediate-energy reactions and scattering (energy GeV) - 13.75.Ev Hyperon-nucleon interactions - 13.85.Lg Total cross-sections - 25.40.Ep Inelastic proton scattering     

Exclusive and semi-inclusive strangeness and charm production in \pi N and NN reactions

Using the Quark-Gluon Strings Model (QGSM) combined with Regge phenomenology we consider the reactions and which are dominated by the contributions of the K ^* and D ^* Regge trajectories, respectively. The spin structure of the amplitudes is described by introducing Reggeized Born terms. It is found that the existing data for the reaction are in reasonable agreement with the model predictions. To describe the absolute values of the cross-sections it is necessary to introduce also suppression factors which can be related to absorption corrections. Furthermore, assuming the SU(4) symmetry to hold for Regge residues and the universality of absorption corrections we calculate the cross-section of the reaction . Employing the latter results from reactions we then estimate the contributions of the pion exchange mechanism to the cross-sections of the reactions and and compare them with the contributions of the K and D exchanges. We find that the NN reactions are dominated not by pion exchange but by K and D exchanges, respectively. Moreover, assuming the SU(4) symmetry to hold approximately for the coupling constants = we analyze also the production of leading -hyperons in the reaction . It is shown that the non-perturbative mechanism should give an essential contribution to the yield for .Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 13.85.Fb Inelastic scattering: two-particle final states - 13.85.Hd Inelastic scattering: many-particle final states - 14.20.Lq Charmed baryons - 14.40.Lb Charmed mesons     

Parity non-conservation in proton-proton elastic scattering

The parity-non-conserving longitudinal asymmetry in proton-proton (p p) elastic scattering is calculated in the lab energy range 0-350 MeV using contemporary, realistic strong-interaction potentials combined with a weak-interaction potential comprised of - and -meson exchanges as exemplified by the DDH model. Values for the - and -meson coupling constants, and , are determined from comparison with the measured asymmetries at 13.6 MeV, 45 MeV, and 221 MeV.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 21.30.-x Nuclear forces - 24.80. + y Nuclear tests of fundamental interactions and symmetries - 25.40.Cm Elastic proton scattering     

Level structure of 146Tb

The level structure of the doubly odd nucleus ¹⁴⁶Tb has been studied via the ¹¹⁸Sn(³²S, 1p3n) reaction using techniques of in-beam -ray spectroscopy. Measurements of -ray anisotropies, X- and - -t coincidences were performed with 12 BGO(AC)HPGe detectors. Based on the measured results, the level scheme of ¹⁴⁶Tb has been revised significantly and extended up to an excitation energy of 8.39 MeV. The level structure has been interpreted qualitatively by coupling an h _11/2 proton-particle and an h _11/2 neutron-hole to the excited states in the ¹⁴⁶Gd core.Received: 3 July 2003, Published online: 26 November 2003PACS: 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 27.60. + j      

\alpha-decay spectroscopy of light odd-odd Bi isotopes - I: 188,190Bi nuclei

Detailed fine-structure -decay studies of ^188,190Bi were performed using the complete-fusion reactions of ^50,52Cr ions with a ¹⁴²Nd target at the velocity filter SHIP. The evaporation residues were separated in-flight and subsequently identified on the basis of recoil- , recoil- - /X-ray and excitation function measurements. Improved data on the -decay of ^188,190Bi were obtained and a number of new low-lying excited states in the daughters ^184,186Tl were observed. An intruder, presumably 10^- state was identified in ¹⁸⁴Tl, extending the systematics of such states in the odd-odd Tl nuclei beyond the neutron mid-shell at N = 104. Some technical aspects of experiment at recoil separators are also discussed.Received: 14 March 2003, Revised: 1 May 2003, Published online: 2 September 2003PACS: 23.60.+e decay - 27.70.+q - 27.80.+w C.D. OLeary: Present address: Department of Physics, University of York, York, UK.M.J. Taylor: Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers Univesity, NJ, USA.L. Weissman: Present address: NSCL, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1321 USA.K. Heyde: Present address: EP-ISOLDE, CERN, CH-1211, Geneva 23, Switzerland.     

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      

A new isomer in 136 Ba populated by deep inelastic collisions

Excited states in ¹³⁶Ba, populated in deep inelastic collisions by the interaction of 450 MeV ⁸²Se ions with a ¹³⁹La target, have been studied by means of in-beam -ray spectroscopy. A new isomer with has been identified at an excitation energy E_x = 3.357 MeV. The half-life was determined as ns. The extracted B(E2) value is much smaller than those in ¹³²Te and ¹³⁴Xe. This hindrance is investigated by a shell model calculation.Received: 22 September 2003, Revised: 11 November 2003, Published online: 6 April 2004PACS: 21.10.Tg Lifetimes - 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 27.60. + j      

Alpha-gamma decay studies of <Superscript>251, 253</Superscript>No and their daughter products <Superscript>247, 249</Superscript>Fm

The isotopes ²⁵¹No and ²⁵³No were produced in nuclear reactions ²⁰⁶Pb(⁴⁸Ca,3n)²⁵¹No and ²⁰⁷Pb (⁴⁸Ca,2n)²⁵³No. Radioactive decay of these isotopes and their daughter products has been investigated by means of - and - - spectroscopy. An isomeric state ^251m No, having a half-life of s and decaying by emission of particles of keV was identified. The measured decay data allowed for the construction of partial level schemes for ²⁵¹No, ^247,249Fm and ^243,245Cf and an extrapolation of energy systematics of single particle levels of N = 145, 147 and 149 isotones with even Z towards higher atomic numbers up to Z = 102.PACS: 23.60. + e decay - 27.90. + b - 21.10.-k Properties of nuclei; nuclear energy levels     

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.     

Manifestations of anomalous glue: Light-mass exotic mesons and g_{\eta'\mathrm{NN} }

The light-mass exotics with J ^PC = 1^{- +} observed at BNL and CERN may have a simple explanation as dynamically generated resonances in rescattering in the final-state interaction. This dynamics is mediated by the same anomalous glue which also generates the large mass of the . OZI-violating processes are also potentially important to production in proton-proton collisions close to threshold.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 12.39.Mk Glueball and nonstandard multi-quark/gluon states - 13.75.Lb Meson-meson interactions - 13.75.Cs Nucleon-nucleon interactions (including antinucleons, deuterons, etc.)     

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      

Experimental signals of \sigma-mesons in nuclei and chiral symmetry

The interaction in the scalar isoscalar channel is studied as a function of the baryonic density in the framework of a chiral unitary approach which successfully reproduces vacuum - phase shifts. We present some results on the -meson pole, which is generated dynamically in our model, in nuclear matter. Finally, we analyze the ( ) reaction on nucleons and nuclei in the kinematical region where the scalar isoscalar scattering amplitude is influenced by the low mass of the in nuclei, and thus, presents a large enhancement close to the position of its pole. Indeed, we find, that the final-state interaction of the pions modified by the nuclear medium produces a large shift of strength of the two-pion invariant-mass distribution in the ( ) channel consistent with recent experimental data.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 14.40.-n Properties of specific particles: Mesons - 25.20.-x Photonuclear reactions - 21.65. + f Nuclear matter     

Helicity dependence of the \gamma p\rightarrow N \pi channels and multipole analysis in the \Delta region

A high-quality double-polarization data set for the helicity dependence of the total and differential cross-sections for both channels in the region has been obtained in the framework of the GDH experiment. The experiment, performed at the Mainz microtron MAMI, used a 4 detection system, a circularly polarized photon beam, and a longitudinally polarized frozen-spin target. These data are included in the database to perform a multipole analysis to determine the properties of the -resonance. For the resonant (1232) multipoles we find a very good agreement with previous analyses, while the nonresonant ones show significant deviations.Received: 11 July 2003, Revised: 16 January 2004, Published online: 17 August 2004PACS: 13.60.Le Meson production - 14.20.Gk Baryon resonances with S = 0 - 25.20.Lj Photoproduction reactions     

Study of thermally excited nuclei through <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>1 and <Emphasis Type="Italic">E</Emphasis>2 decay from collective modes

The nuclear system at the limit of excitation energy and angular momentum is here studied in the case of the superdeformed nucleus ¹⁴³Eu using -spectroscopy techniques. The data are based on a EUROBALL experiment using the reaction ³⁷Cl + ¹¹⁰Pd Eu + 4n. The influence of thermal energy on superdeformed configurations is investigated through the analysis of the quasi-continuum spectra formed by E2 transitions among states of excited rotational bands with energy extending up to 4-5 MeV above the yrast line. In particular, the effective lifetimes of the discrete rotational bands forming ridge structures in - coincidence matrices is measured by a Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. The deduced quadrupole deformation of 10 eb indicates that the nucleus maintains its collectivity with increasing excitation energy, supporting the superdeformed character of the excited nuclear rotation. The obtained number of superdeformed discrete bands forming the ridge structures is found in good agreement with microscopic cranked shell model calculations including the decay-out process into the lower deformation minimum. In addition, the nuclear properties at higher excitation energies are investigated through the E1 -decay of the giant dipole resonance (GDR). It is found that the intensity of the superdeformed yrast and excited bands increases by a factor of approximately 1.6 when a coincidence with a high-energy -ray is required, showing the importance of the E1 cooling in the feeding mechanism of the superdeformed states.Received: 2 December 2002, Published online: 2 March 2004PACS: 21.10.Tg Lifetimes - 21.10.Re Collective levels - 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 27.60. + j      

S = -1 meson-baryon scattering in coupled-channel unitarized Chiral Perturbation Theory

The s-wave meson-baryon scattering amplitude is analyzed for the strangeness S = -1 and isospin I = 0 sector in a Bethe-Salpeter coupled-channel formalism incorporating Chiral Symmetry. Four two-body channels have been considered: , , , . The needed two-particle irreducible matrix amplitude is taken from lowest-order Chiral Perturbation Theory in a relativistic formalism. Off-shell behaviour is parameterized in terms of low-energy constants, which outnumber those assumed in previous works and provide a better fit to the data. The position of the complex poles in the second Riemann sheet of the scattering amplitude determines masses and widths of the and resonances which compare well with accepted numbers.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 11.10.St Bound and unstable states; Bethe-Salpeter equations - 11.30.Rd Chiral symmetries - 11.80.Et Partial-wave analysis - 13.75.Lb Meson-meson interactionsE. Ruiz Arriola: Spokesperson     

Beta decays with momentum space Majorana spinors

We construct and apply to decays a truly neutral local quantum field that is entirely based upon momentum space Majorana spinors. We make the observation that theory with momentum space Majorana spinors of real C parities is equivalent to Diracs theory. For imaginary C parities, the neutrino mass can drop out from the single decay trace and reappear in , a curious and in principle experimentally testable signature for a non-trivial impact of Majorana framework in polarization experiments.Received: 11 November 2003, Revised: 20 April 2004, Published online: 12 October 2004PACS: 11.30.Er Charge conjugation, parity, time reversal, and other discrete symmetries - 14.60.St Non-standard-model neutrinos, right-handed neutrinos, etc.