Observation of two-hole states at high excitation energy in (p,t) reactions

Bumps of two-hole states at high excitation energies were observed systematically in the triton spectra from (p, t) reactions with 52 MeV protons on nuclei in a broad range of masses. The cross sections of the bumps are almost equal for various targets with the same deep major shells. These cross sections vary discontinuously with variation of the corresponding deep major shell. About 20 to 50 % of the total expected strength is observed experimentally, if the bumps are assumed to arise from two-neutron pickup from the deep major shells. The centres of gravity of the bumps are located at excitation energies of about 7 to 9 MeV in all cases. On the other hand, the widths of the bumps change from about 3 MeV for ⁶⁶Zn to about 9 MeV for ²³⁰Th.     

Two-neutron elastic transfer 4He(6He,4He)6He at E = 151 MeV

Using the framework of the coupled reaction channels (CRC) the elastic scattering and the elastic transfer in the system ⁶He + ⁴He measured at E = 151 MeV have been analysed. It is shown that the structure observed in the backward range of the angular distributions is influenced by the interference of the elastic 2n-transfer with a two-step process passing through the 2⁺ excitation in ⁶He. The two-neutron transfer mechanism is studied in the microscopic approach and it is found that for the ground-state transition the one step dominates by a factor 10 over the two-step mechanism at this energy. Received: 29 October 2001 / Accepted: 4 December 2001     

Spin-alignment and g-factor measurement of the I^{\pi} = 12+ isomer in 192Pb produced in the relativistic-energy fragmentation of a 238U beam

Reactions of a 16.8 MeV ⁶He beam with a ⁹Be target have been investigated using highly segmented detector setup covering a large solid angle. Data on elastic and quasi-free scattering, as well as two-neutron transfer, are reported. The results for elastic scattering are fairly well reproduced by a CDCC calculation, in agreement with the interpretation of a breakup effect already observed for the scattering of ⁶He on other light targets. Exotic quasi-free scattering of ⁶He on $ \alpha$ -cluster in ⁹Be is clearly observed. Inclusive and coincident events were used to extract information on the two-neutron transfer reaction ⁹Be(⁶He, $ \alpha$ )¹¹Be . Sequential decay of the ¹¹Be state at the excitation energy $\ensuremath E_x = 10.6$ MeV through different channels is discussed.     

New excited states of the nucleus129Xe

Excited states of¹²⁹Xe have been investigated through the¹²⁶Te(α,n)¹²⁹Xe reaction at the incident energy E=16MeV by means of in-beam gamma ray spectroscopy. Numerous levels below the excitation energy of 2.5MeV were found. Spin assignments were made from side feeding excitation functions. A new level at 274.2keV, which is suggested as spin 9/2 negtive parity bandhead, was observed for the first time.     

Halo structure of (14)Be

The two-neutron halo nucleus (14)Be has been investigated in a kinematically complete measurement of the fragments ((12)Be and neutrons) produced in dissociation at 35 MeV/nucleon on C and Pb targets. Two-neutron removal cross sections, neutron angular distributions, and invariant mass spectra were measured, and the contributions from electromagnetic dissociation (EMD) were deduced. Comparison with three-body model calculations suggests that the halo wave function contains a large nu(2s(1/2))(2) admixture. The EMD invariant mass spectrum exhibited enhanced strength near threshold consistent with a nonresonant soft-dipole excitation.     

Determination of the N=16 shell closure at the oxygen drip line

The neutron unbound ground state of (25)O (Z=8, N=17) was observed for the first time in a proton knockout reaction from a (26)F beam. A single resonance was found in the invariant mass spectrum corresponding to a neutron decay energy of 770_+20(-10) keV with a total width of 172(30) keV. The N=16 shell gap was established to be 4.86(13) MeV by the energy difference between the nu1s(1/2) and nu0d(3/2) orbitals. The neutron separation energies for (25)O agree with the calculations of the universal sd shell model interaction. This interaction incorrectly predicts an (26)O ground state that is bound to two-neutron decay by 1 MeV, leading to a discrepancy between the theoretical calculations and experiment as to the particle stability of (26)O. The observed decay width was found to be on the order of a factor of 2 larger than the calculated single-particle width using a Woods-Saxon potential.     

Properties of electromagnetic transitions in C

Transitions to seven levels below 16 MeV excitation energy were studied by using low-energy scattering. For the T = 3/2 → 1/2, 15.11 MeV transition, which is of interest in connection with a possible isotensor electromagnetic interaction, the M1 and E2 radiative widths were measured with high precision. Electric monopole excitation of 1/2⁻ levels was found.     

Momentum distribution of 15B fragments from the breakup of 17B

The two-neutron removal cross section (sigma(-2n)) and the longitudinal momentum distribution of 15B fragments from the breakup of 17B on 9Be were measured at 70A MeV. The distribution in the projectile rest frame is characterized by a FWHM of 80+/-10 MeV/c for 15B. The sigma(-2n) is found to be 0.22+/-0.05 b. A Glauber-type analysis of the data provides clear evidence of a two-neutron halo structure in 17B.     

Experimental evidence of core modification in the near drip-line nucleus 23O

The longitudinal momentum (P(axially)) distributions of one- and two-neutron removal fragments ((21,22)O) of 23O from the reaction with a C target at 72 A MeV have been measured for the first time using a new direct time-of-flight method with nearly full acceptance for the breakup fragments. The unexpectedly narrow width of 21O ( 115 +/- 34 MeV/c in FWHM) is consistent with two neutrons occupying the 2s(1/2) orbital in 23O. This indicates modification of core (22O) structure for neutron halo-like sd shell nuclei near the drip line. This also suggests the lowering of the s orbital providing a justification for the N = 16 magic number.     

The isoscalar strength distribution in 24, 26Mg, 28Si and 40Ca obtained from inelastic alpha scattering at 120 Mev

The inelastic α-scattering reaction at E_α = 120 MeV with an energy resolution of 90–150 keV has been used to investigate isoscalar strength distributions in ^{24, 26}Mg, ²⁸Si and ⁴⁰Ca. For ^{24, 26}Mg and ²⁸Si the E2 strength between E_x = 14 and 27 MeV is strongly fragmented. In ⁴⁰Ca the E2 strength is mainly concentrated near $\text{E}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>x</mtext>}}\text{~ 65 A}{}^{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>3</mtext>}}$ MeV, although here the onset of fragmentation can be observed. The sum rule strength for the different multipolarities was obtained by applying for each nucleus an L-dependent normalization procedure. In this way we observed in total in ^{24, 26}Mg, ²⁸Si and ⁴⁰Ca for excitation energies up to 27 MeV an amount of (61⁺⁸_?6), (50⁺⁹_?8), (38⁺⁸_?6) and (94 ± 14)%, respectively, of the isoscalar E2 energy weighted sum rule (EWSR) of which (36⁺⁷_?5), (28⁺⁸_?7), (24⁺⁷_?5) and (74 ± 12)% was found between E_x = 14 and 27 MeV. In addition isoscalar E0, E3 and E4 strength was observed in this excitation energy region. A detailed comparison has been made between the isoscalar quadrupole strength distribution observed in the ^{24, 26}Mg(α, α') reaction and the E2 strength excitation function obtained from radiative α-capture measurements. In the low excitation energy region coupled channel effects have been observed, especially for the excitation of the 3⁺ states. Moreover, a considerable percentage of the 1?ω isoscalar dipole and octupole strength has been observed for excitations below 14 MeV.     

New insights into the 243Am + 48Ca reaction products previously observed in the experiments on elements 113, 115, and 117

Results of a new series of experiments on the study of production cross sections and decay properties of the isotopes of element 115 in the reaction (243)Am+(48)Ca are presented. Twenty-one new decay chains originating from (288)115 were established as the product of the 3n-evaporation channel by measuring the excitation function at three excitation energies of the compound nucleus (291)115. The decay properties of all newly observed nuclei are in full agreement with those we measured in 2003. At the lowest excitation energy E*=33 MeV, for the first time we registered the product of the 2n-evaporation channel, (289)115, which was also observed previously in the reaction (249)Bk+(48)Ca as the daughter nucleus of the decay of (293)117. The maximum cross section for the production of (288)115 is found to be 8.5 pb at E*≈36 MeV.     

Isovector quadrupole resonance observed in the 60Ni(13C,13N)60Co reaction at E/A=100 MeV

The charge-exchange reaction 60Ni(13C,13N)60Co at E/A=100 MeV has been studied to locate isovector (deltaT=1) non-spin-flip (deltaS=0) giant resonances. Besides the giant dipole resonance at E(x)=8.7 MeV, another resonance has been observed at E(x)=20 MeV with a width of 9 MeV. Distorted-wave Born approximation analysis on the angular distribution clearly indicated the L=2 multipolarity, attributing the E(x)=20 MeV state to the giant isovector quadrupole resonance.     

Neutron transfer reactions with very heavy ions

We have studied neutron transfer reactions induced by ¹³²Xe on three rare-earth targets at $\text{E}\text{V}{}_{\mathrm{C}}\text{～ 1.1}$. By using particle-particle-γ coincidence techniques we were able to identify final products and states populated in the one- and two-neutron reactions.The dependence of the transfer probabilities on the distance of closest approach is discussed in terms of effective penetration factors. The results seem to indicate the importance in two-neutron transfer of intermediate states with ? 6 MeV of excitation energy. The effect of excitation energy on the enhancement of the two-neutron transfer is discussed. A qualitative interpretation of the spin dependence of the one-neutron γ-ray yields in terms of the spatial localization of the wave functions involved is given.     

Correlation investigations of the low-energy 10He spectrum

The spectrum of low-lying states in the ¹⁰He nucleus is investigated for the two-neutron transfer reaction ³H(⁸He, p)¹⁰He. The secondary beam of ⁸He nuclei with the energy 21.5 MeV/nucleon and a cryogenic tritium target are used in the experiment. The ¹⁰He ground state is observed in the missing mass spectrum at the energy of 2.1 MeV (Γ ～ 2 MeV) above the decay threshold. Analysis of the angular correlations of the ¹⁰He decay products yields the spin and parity of two excited ¹⁰He states, J ^π = 1^? in the energy range from 4 to 6 MeV and J ^π = 2⁺ at energies above 6 MeV.     

Two proton high-spin excitations and dipole bands in192Hg

The¹⁹²Hg nucleus was populated in the¹⁶⁰Gd(³⁶S, 4n) reaction at a beam energy of E=159 MeV. Emittedγ-rays were detected with the EUROGAM array comprising 43 Compton-suppressed large volume Ge detectors. The level scheme of¹⁹²Hg has been extended up to an excitation energy of E=10.4 MeV and spin I=34 ?. Two new structures, made of competing ΔI=1 and ΔI=2 transitions have been observed and their connexions with the low-lying levels established. Their lowest levels are located at 6.304 MeV and 6.879 MeV excitation energy. The experimental results are compared with mean-field HF+BCS calculations. It is proposed that the new structures originate from deformation-aligned quasi-proton excitations π(i_13/2 * h_9/2)_K=11 andπ (h_9/2) _K=8 ² , coupled to rotation-aligned quasi-neutron ν(i_13/2)ⁿ and quasi-proton π(h_11/2)² excitations.     

Evidence of an isoscalar E3 giant resonance in 16O

Differential cross sections and analyzing powers for the inelastic scattering of polarized protons from ¹⁶O leading to the 2^? state at 8.88 MeV excitation have been measured at incident energies of 31.7, 33.8, 35.8, 36.8 and 39.9 MeV. These data have been analyzed using a distorted wave theory in which the effects of virtual excitation of E1, E2 and E3 giant resonances as doorway states are included explicitly. This analysis shows that the strong energy variation in the data between 30 and 40 MeV may be predominantly due to a new isoscalar E3 resonance with the contributions from the E1 and E2 resonances corroborating earlier findings.     

(68)(28)Ni(40): Magicity versus superfluidity

The neutron-rich (66,68)Ni have been produced at GANIL via interactions of a 65.9A MeV 70Zn beam with a 58Ni target. Their reduced transition probability B(E2;0(+)(1)-->2+) has been measured for the first time by Coulomb excitation in a (208)Pb target at intermediate energy. The B(E2) value for (68)Ni(40) is unexpectedly small. An analysis in terms of large scale shell model calculations stresses the importance of proton core excitations to reproduce the B(E2) values and indicates the erosion of the N = 40 harmonic-oscillator subshell by neutron-pair scattering.     

Observation of a shell gap at N = 152 in the 246 Cm(t,p) 248 Cm reaction

Previous reports of two-neutron stripping reactions in the actinide nuclei have not indicated any excited 0⁺ strength below an excitation energy of 1.5 MeV. In contrast, the ²⁴⁶ Cm(t,p) ²⁴⁸Cm reaction shows a relatively strong 0⁺ state at 1.084 MeV. We believe that this result, coupled with a marked change in ground-state transition strenghts between ²⁴⁶ Cm and ²⁴⁸ Cm targets, indicates a gap in the single-particle orbitals that is larger than the pairing gap.     

First study of the (14C, 12C) reaction: Selectivity of the reaction and the energy levels of 28Mg and 30Si

The first measurements are reported for (¹⁴C, ¹²C) two-neutron stripping reactions. Energy spectra up to an excitation energy of 12 MeV have been measured at 69 MeV for the ²⁶Mg(¹⁴C, ¹²C) and ²⁸Si(¹⁴C, ¹²C) reactions. A strong selectivity of this reaction is observed. Using this selectivity, the comparison of the spectra suggests J^π assignments for several ³⁰Si and ²⁸Mg states. The results from the other two-neutron stripping reactions, (t, p) and (¹⁸O, ¹⁶O) are compared with those of the (¹⁴C, ¹²C) reaction.     

Interplay between single-particle and collective effects in the odd-A Cu isotopes beyond N=40

Collective properties of the low-lying levels in the odd-A 67-73Cu were investigated by Coulomb excitation with radioactive beams. The beams were produced at ISOLDE and postaccelerated by REX-ISOLDE up to 2.99 MeV/u. In 67,69Cu, low-lying 1/2(-), 5/2(-), and 7/2(-) states were populated. In 71,73Cu, besides the known transitions deexciting the single-particle-like 5/2(-) and core-coupled 7/2(-) levels, gamma rays of 454 and 135 keV, respectively, were observed for the first time. Based on a reanalysis of beta-decay work and comparison with the systematics, a spin 1/2(-) is suggested for these excited states. Three B(E2) values were determined in each of the four isotopes. The results indicate a significant change in the structure of the odd-A Cu isotopes beyond N=40 where single-particle-like and collective levels are suggested to coexist at very low excitation energies.