Nuclear-structure studies of exotic nuclei with MINIBALL

High-resolution γ-ray spectroscopy has been established at ISOLDE for nuclear-structure and nuclear-reaction studies with reaccelerated radioactive ion beams provided by the REX-ISOLDE facility. The MINIBALL spectrometer comprises 24 six-fold segmented, encapsulated high-purity germanium crystals. It was specially designed for highest γ-ray detection efficiency which is advantageous for low-intensity radioactive ion beams. The MINIBALL array has been used in numerous Coulomb-excitation and transfer-reaction experiments with exotic ion beams of energies up to 3 MeV A-1. The physics case covers a wide range of topics which are addressed with beams ranging from neutron-rich magnesium isotopes up to heavy radium isotopes. In the future the HIE-ISOLDE will allow the in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy program to proceed with higher secondary-beam intensity, higher beam energy and better beam quality

Resonance Excitations in Be 7 (d,p) Be∗ 8 to Address the Cosmological Lithium Problem

6 pags., 5 figs., 3 tabs.The anomaly in lithium abundance is a well-known unresolved problem in nuclear astrophysics. A recent revisit to the problem tried the avenue of resonance enhancement to account for the primordial Li7 abundance in standard big-bang nucleosynthesis. Prior measurements of the Be7(d,p)Be∗8 reaction could not account for the individual contributions of the different excited states involved, particularly at higher energies close to the Q value of the reaction. We carried out an experiment at HIE-ISOLDE, CERN to study this reaction at Ec.m.=7.8 MeV, populating excitations up to 22 MeV in Be8 for the first time. The angular distributions of the several excited states have been measured and the contributions of the higher excited states in the total cross section at the relevant big-bang energies were obtained by extrapolation to the Gamow window using the talys code. The results show that by including the contribution of the 16.63 MeV state, the maximum value of the total S factor inside the Gamow window comes out to be 167 MeV b as compared to earlier estimate of 100 MeV b. However, this still does not account for the lithium discrepancy.D. G. acknowledges research funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 654002 (ENSAR2) and ISRO, Government of India under Grant No. ISRO/RES/2/378/ 15–16. O. T. would like to acknowledge the support by the Spanish Funding Agency (AEI/FEDER, EU) under the project PID2019–104390GB-I00. I. M. would like to acknowledge the support by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (Grant No. PGC2018-095640-B-I00). J. C. acknowledges grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR) under Contracts No. VR-2017-00637 and No. VR-2017-03986 as well as grants from the Royal Physiographical Society. J. P. would like to acknowledge the support by Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R031-D1). S. S. acknowledges support by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 307685)

Study of elastic and inelastic scattering of 7Be + 12C at 35 MeV

6 pags., 5 figs., 2 tabs.The elastic and inelastic scattering of Be from C have been measured at an incident energy of 35 MeV. The inelastic scattering leading to the 4.439 MeV excited state of C has been measured for the first time. The experimental data cover an angular range of θ = 15-120. Optical model analyses were carried out with Woods-Saxon and double-folding potential using the density dependent M3Y (DDM3Y) effective interaction. The microscopic analysis of the elastic data indicates breakup channel coupling effect. A coupled-channel analysis of the inelastic scattering, based on collective form factors, shows that mutual excitation of both Be and C is significantly smaller than the single excitation of C. The larger deformation length obtained from the DWBA analysis could be explained by including the excitation of Be in a coupled-channel analysis. The breakup cross section of Be is estimated to be less than 10% of the reaction cross section. The intrinsic deformation length obtained for the C (4.439 MeV) state is δ = 1.37 fm. The total reaction cross section deduced from the analysis agrees very well with Wong's calculations for similar weakly bound light nuclei on C target.D. Gupta acknowledges research funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 654002 (ENSAR2) and ISRO, Government of India under grant no. ISRO/RES/2/378/15-16. O. Tengblad would like to acknowledge the support by the Spanish Funding Agency (AEI / FEDER, EU) under the project PID2019-104390GB-I00. I. Martel would like to acknowledge the support by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (Grant No. PGC2018-095640-B-I00). J. Cederkall acknowledges grants from the Swedish Research Council (VR) under contract numbers VR-2017-00637 and VR-2017-03986 as well as grants from the Royal Physiographical Society. J. Park would like to acknowledge the support by Institute for Basic Science (IBS-R031-D1). S. Szwec acknowledges support by the Academy of Finland (Grant No. 307685). A.M.M. is supported by the I+D+i project PID2020-114687GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, by the grant Group FQM-160 and by project P20_01247, funded by the Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad, Junta de Andalucía (Spain) and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”

Z=50 shell gap near 100^{100}Sn from intermediate-energy Coulomb excitations in even-mass 106−−112^{106--112}Sn isotopes

Rare isotope beams of neutron-deficient $^{106,108,110}$Sn nuclei from the fragmentation of $^{124}$Xe were employed in an intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation experiment yielding $B(E2, 0^+_1 \to 2^+_1)$ transition strengths. The results indicate that these $B(E2,0^+_1 \to 2^+_1)$ values are much larger than predicted by current state-of-the-art shell model calculations. This discrepancy can be explained if protons from within the Z = 50 shell are contributing to the structure of low-energy excited states in this region. Such contributions imply a breaking of the doubly-magic $^{100}$Sn core in the light Sn isotopes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Study of elastic and inelastic scattering of 7^7Be + 12^{12}C at 35 MeV

The elastic and inelastic scattering of $^7$Be from $^{12}$C have been measured at an incident energy of 35 MeV. The inelastic scattering leading to the 4.439 MeV excited state of $^{12}$C has been measured for the first time. The experimental data cover an angular range of $\theta_{cm}$ = 15$^{\circ}$-120$^{\circ}$. Optical model analyses were carried out with Woods-Saxon and double-folding potential using the density dependent M3Y (DDM3Y) effective interaction. The microscopic analysis of the elastic data indicates breakup channel coupling effect. A coupled-channel analysis of the inelastic scattering, based on collective form factors, show that mutual excitation of both $^7$Be and $^{12}$C is significantly smaller than the single excitation of $^{12}$C. The larger deformation length obtained from the DWBA analysis could be explained by including the excitation of $^7$Be in a coupled-channel analysis. The breakup cross section of $^7$Be is estimated to be less than 10$\%$ of the reaction cross section. The intrinsic deformation length obtained for the $^{12}$C$^*$ (4.439 MeV) state is $\delta _2$ = 1.37 fm. The total reaction cross section deduced from the analysis agrees very well with Wong's calculations for similar weakly bound light nuclei on $^{12}$C target.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

First Results on In-Beam gamma Spectroscopy of Neutron-Rich Na and Mg Isotopes at REX-ISOLDE

After the successful commissioning of the radioactive beam experiment at ISOLDE (REX-ISOLDE) - an accelerator for exotic nuclei produced by ISOLDE - first physics experiments using these beams were performed. Initial experiments focused on the region of deformation in the vicinity of the neutron-rich Na and Mg isotopes. Preliminary results show the high potential and physics opportunities offered by the exotic isotope accelerator REX in conjunction with the modern Germanium gamma spectrometer MINIBALL.Comment: 7 pages, RNB6 conference contributio

Probing proton halo effects in the 8B+64Zn collision around the Coulomb barrier

Proton halo effects in the 8B+64Zn reaction at an energy around 1.5 times the Coulomb barrier have been studied at HIE-ISOLDE CERN using, for the first time, the only existing postaccelerated 8B beam. This, together with the use of a high granularity and large solid angle detection system, allowed for a careful mapping of the elastic angular distribution, especially in the Coulomb-nuclear interference region. Contrary to what is observed for the one-neutron halo nucleus 11Be on the same target in a similar energy range, the analysis of the elastic scattering angular distribution shows only a modest suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference peak, with no remarkable enhancement of the total reaction cross-section. Inclusive angular and energy distributions of 7Be produced in direct reaction processes have also been measured. The comparison of these data with the results of theoretical calculations for the elastic and non-elastic breakup contributions indicate that both processes are important. Overall, the experimental data suggest a 8B collision dynamics at the barrier very different from the one of neutron halo nuclei, showing only modest effects of coupling to continuum. This behaviour can be interpreted as due to the presence of the additional Coulomb interactions halo-core and halo-target together with the presence of the centrifugal barrier felt by the valence proton of 8B

Commissioning of the CALIFA Barrel Calorimeter of the R3^{3}B Experiment at FAIR

CALIFA is the high efficiency and energy resolution calorimeter for the R$^{3}$B experiment at FAIR, intended for detecting high energy charged particles and $\gamma$-rays in inverse kinematics direct reactions. It surrounds the reaction target in a segmented configuration of Barrel and Forward End-Cap pieces. The CALIFA Barrel consists of 1952 detection units made of CsI(Tl) long-shaped scintillator crystals, and it is being commissioned during the Phase0 experiments at FAIR. The first setup for the CALIFA Barrel commissioning is presented here. Results of detector performance with $\gamma$-rays are obtained, and show that the system fulfills the design requirements

Restoring the valence-shell stabilization in Nd-140

A projectile Coulomb-excitation experiment was performed at the radioactive-ion beam facility HIE-ISOLDE at CERN to obtain E2 and M1 transition matrix elements of Nd-140 using the multistep Coulomb-excitation code GOSIA. The absolute M1 strengths, B(M1; 2(2)(-) -> 2(1)(+)) = 0.033(8)mu(2)(N), B(M1 ; 2(3)(+) -> 2(1)(+)) = 0.26(-0.10)(+0.11)mu(2)(N), and B(M1; 2(4)+ -> 2(1)(+)) <0.04 mu(2)(N) identify the 2(3)(+) state as the main fragment of the one-quadrupole-phonon proton-neutron mixed-symmetry state of Nd-140. The degree of F-spin mixing in Nd-140 was quantified with the determination of the mixing matrix element VF-mix <7(-7)(-13) keV.Peer reviewe

Collective and broken pair states of 65,67Ga

Excited states of 65Ga and 67Ga nuclei were populated through the 12C(58Ni,αp) and 12C(58Ni,3p) reactions, respectively, and investigated by in-beam γ-ray spectroscopic methods. The NORDBALL array equipped with a charged particle ball and 11 neutron detectors was used to detect the evaporated particles and γ rays. The level schemes of 65,67Ga were constructed on the basis of γγ-coincidence relations up to 8.6 and 10 MeV excitation energy, and Iπ=27/2 and 33/2+ spin and parity, respectively. The structure of 65,67Ga nuclei was described in the interacting boson-fermion plus broken pair model, including quasiproton, quasiproton-two-quasineutron, and three-quasiproton fermion configurations in the boson-fermion basis states. Most of the states were assigned to quasiparticle + phonon and three quasiparticle configurations on the basis of their electromagnetic decay properties