Experimental study of the U-238(S-36,3-5n)(269-271)Hs reaction leading to the observation of (270)Hs

The deformed doubly magic nucleus (270)Hs has so far only been observed as the four-neutron (4n) evaporation residue of the reaction Mg-26+Cm-248, where a maximum cross section of 3 pb was measured. Theoretical studies on the formation of (270)Hs in the 4n evaporation channel of fusion reactions with different entrance channel asymmetry in the framework of a two-parameter Smoluchowski equation predict that the reactions Ca-48+Ra-226 and S-36+U-238 result in higher cross sections due to lower reaction Q values, in contrast to simple arguments based on the reaction asymmetry, which predict opposite trends. Calculations using HIVAP predict cross sections for the reaction S-36+U-238 that are similar to those of the Mg-26+Cm-248 reaction. Here, we report on the first measurement of evaporation residues formed in the complete nuclear fusion reaction S-36+U-238 and the observation of (270)Hs, which is produced in the 4n evaporation channel, with a measured cross section of 0.8(-0.7)(+2.6) pb at 51-MeV excitation energy. The one-event cross-section limits (68% confidence level) for the 3n, 4n, and 5n evaporation channels at 39-MeV excitation energy are 2.9 pb, while the cross-section limits of the 3n and 5n channel at 51 MeV are 1.5 pb. This is significantly lower than the 5n cross section of the Mg-26+Cm-248 reaction at similar excitation energy.

Investigation of two-proton emission from excited states of the odd-Z nucleus P-28 by complete-kinematics measurements

An experiment to study exotic two-proton emission from excited levels of the odd-Z nucleus P-28 was performed at the National Laboratory of Heavy Ion Research-Radioactive Ion Beam Line (HIRFL-RIBLL) facility. The projectile P-28 at the energy of 46.5 MeV/u was bombarding a Au-197 target to populate the excited states via Coulomb excitation. Complete-kinematics measurements were realized by the array of silicon strip detectors and the CsI + PIN telescope. Two-proton events were selected and the relativistic-kinematics reconstruction was carried out. The spectrum of relative momentum and opening angle between two protons was deduced from Monte Carlo simulations. Experimental results show that two-proton emission from P-28 excited states less than 17.0 MeV is mainly two-body sequential emission or three-body simultaneous decay in phase space. The present simulations cannot distinguish these two decay modes. No obvious diproton emission was found.

Experimental study of the beta-delayed proton decays of Er-145,Er-147

The beta-delayed proton decays of Er-145,Er-147 have been studied experimentally using the Ni-58 + Mo-92 reaction at beam energy of 383 MeV. On the basis of a He-jet apparatus coupled with a tape transport system, the beta-delayed proton radioactivities both from the nu s(1/2) ground state and the nu h(11/2) isomer in Er-145,Er-147 were observed by proton-gamma coincidence measurements. By analyzing the time distributions of the 4(+) -> 2(gamma)(+) transitions in the granddaughter nuclei Dy-144,Dy-146, the half-lives of 1.0 +/- 0.3 s and 1.6 +/- 0.2 s have been deduced for the nu h(11/2) isomers in Er-145,Er-147, respectively.

Constraints on the symmetry energy and neutron skins from pygmy resonances in Ni-68 and Sn-132

Correlations between the behavior of the nuclear symmetry energy, the neutron skins, and the percentage of energy-weighted sum rule (EWSR) exhausted by the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) in Ni-68 and Sn-132 are investigated by using different random phase approximation (RPA) models for the dipole response, based on a representative set of Skyrme effective forces plus meson-exchange effective Lagrangians. A comparison with the experimental data has allowed us to constrain the value of the derivative of the symmetry energy at saturation. The neutron skin radius is deduced under this constraint.

Medium-spin states in Ge-70 and the role of the g(9/2) orbital

Medium-spin states of Ge-70 have been studied via the Ni-60(C-12,2p gamma)Ge-70 reaction at 45 MeV. The ground-state band and the second 0(+) band have been extended to the 12(+) and 8(+) states, respectively. Two negative-parity bands, one of which has a coupled structure and the other has a decoupled structure, have been observed additionally. Although the latter decoupled structure was known up to the (21(-)) state from a previous experiment, the part of the level scheme up to the 15(-) state has been largely modified by the present experiment. Backbendings observed in the positive- and negative-parity yrast bands have been compared with those of the neighboring even Ge isotopes. The experimental level structure has been compared with the shell-model calculations in the model space (2p(3/2), 1f(5/2), 2(p1/2), 1g(9/2)) employing two kinds of effective interactions, one of which is an extended P + QQ interaction with monopole interactions and the other is developed from a renormalized G matrix. Microscopic structures of the observed bands have been discussed with the help of the shell-model calculations.

Observation of an Antimatter Hypernucleus

Nuclear collisions recreate conditions in the universe microseconds after the Big Bang. Only a very small fraction of the emitted fragments are light nuclei, but these states are of fundamental interest. We report the observation of antihypertritons-comprising an antiproton, an antineutron, and an antilambda hyperon-produced by colliding gold nuclei at high energy. Our analysis yields 70 +/- 17 antihypertritons (3/Lambda(H) over bar) and 157 +/- 30 hypertritons (H-3(Lambda)). The measured yields of H-3(Lambda) (3/Lambda(H) over bar) and He-3 ((3)(He) over bar) are similar, suggesting an equilibrium in coordinate and momentum space populations of up, down, and strange quarks and antiquarks, unlike the pattern observed at lower collision energies. The production and properties of antinuclei, and of nuclei containing strange quarks, have implications spanning nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology.

Medium effects on pi(-)/pi(+) in heavy-ion collisions at intermediate energies

Based on the isospin-dependent transport model IBUU and on the scaling model according to nucleon effective mass, effects of elastic and inelastic NN scattering cross-sections on pi(-)/pi(+) in the neutron-rich reaction Ca-48 + Ca-48 at a beam energy of 400MeV/nucleon are studied. It is found that cross-section effects of both NN elastic and inelastic scatterings affect Delta(1232), pi(-) and pi(+) productions as well as the value of pi(-)/pi(+).

Experimental study of the two-proton correlated emission from the excited states of Ne-17,Ne-18 and S-28,S-29

A series of experiments have been performed by complete kinematics measurements to study two-proton (2p) correlated emission from the excited states of Ne-17,Ne-18 and S-28,S-29 via the Coulomb excitation by bombarding on Au-197 target. 2p and residua coincident events were picked Out under strict conditions. Visible p-p correlations were observed. It is shown that 2p can be emitted from the high-lying excited states. 2p halo may lead to 2p emission with large spectroscopy factor for the states close to or beyond the threshold.

A high performance Time-of-Flight detector applied to isochronous mass measurement at CSRe

A high performance Time-of-Flight detector has been designed and constructed for isochronous mass spectrometry at the experimental Cooler Storage Ring (CSRe) The detector has been successfully used in an experiment to measure the masses of the N approximate to Z approximate to 33 nuclides near the proton drip-line Of particular interest is the mass of As-65 A maximum detection efficiency of 70% and a time resolution of 118 +/- 8 Ps (FWHM) have been achieved in the experiment The dependence of detection efficiency and signal average pulse height (APH) on atomic number Z has been studied The potential of APH for Z identification has been discussed (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Properties of the beta-delayed proton decay of Ho-146

The proton-rich isotope Ho-148 was produced via the fusion-evaporation reaction Mo-92 (Ni-58, 3p1n). The beta-delayed proton decay of Ho-146 was studied by proton-gamma coincidence measurements using a He-jet tape transport system. The gamma-transitions in Tb-145 following the proton emissions were observed, and the beta-delayed proton branching ratios to the final states in the grand-daughter nucleus Tb-145 were determined. According to the relative branching ratios, the ground-state spin of Ho-146 has been proposed and the possible configuration discussed.

Dipole bands in nucleus Pm-139

High-spin states in nucleus Pm-139 have been studied using the reaction Cd-116(Al-27, 4n)Pm-139. Two dipole cascades have been found. Spin and parity assignments were based on the Directional Correlation of Oriented Nuclei (DCO) ratios and systematic behavior in neighboring odd-proton nuclei. The level structures of Pm-139 are compared with those of the N = 78 isotone Eu-141 in which two dipole bands have been confirmed as magnetic rotational bands. The close similarity between them suggests that the dipole bands in Pm-139 may be magnetic rotational bands.

Unified fission model for proton emission

The unified fission model (UFM) combining with the phenomenological assault frequency has been carried out to investigate the proton-radioactivity half-lives of spherical proton emitters. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data and other theoretical values, and newly observed spherical proton emitters have been analyzed. Finally, the effect of angular momentum transfer on half-life of proton emission has been discussed in detail and a formula can be used to describe this relationship.

2.6 s isomer of Nd-129

Nd-129 was produced by irradiation of an enriched target of Ru-96 with a Ar-36 beam and studied by using a helium-jet fast tape transport system in combination with X-gamma and gamma-gamma coincidence measurements. A 2.6s isomer of Nd-129 was observed for the first time and tentatively proposed to be the configuration of 1/2[411].

Two-quasiparticle K-isomeric states in strongly deformed neutron-rich Nd and Sm isotopes: a projected shell-model analysis

Motivated by recent spectroscopy data from fission experiments, we apply the projected shell model to study systematically the structure of strongly deformed, neutron-rich, even-even Nd and Sm isotopes with neutron number from 94 to 100. We perform calculations for rotational bands up to spin I = 20 and analyze the band structure of low-lying states with quasiparticle excitations, with emphasis given to rotational bands based on various negative-parity two-quasiparticle (2-qp) isomers. Experimentally known isomers in these isotopes are described well. The calculations further predict proton 2-qp bands based on a 5(-) and a 7(-) isomer and neutron 2-qp bands based on a 4(-) and an 8(-) isomer. The properties for the yrast line are discussed, and quantities to test the predictions are suggested for future experiment.

Concise methods for proton radioactivity

Concise methods are proposed to study proton radioactivity. The spectroscopic factor is obtained from relativistic mean field (RMF) theory combined with the BCS method (RMF+BCS). The assault frequency is estimated by a quantum mechanical method considering the structure of the parent nucleus. The penetrability is calculated by the WKB approximation. No additional parameters are introduced. The extracted experimental spectroscopic factors are compared with those from the calculations by the RMF+BCS, and the agreement is good, implying that the present methods work quite well for proton radioactivity. Predictions are provided for some most possible proton emissions, which may be useful for future experiments.