44 research outputs found
Composition of the nuclear periphery from antiproton absorption
Thirteen targets with mass numbers from 58 to 238 were irradiated with the
antiproton beam from the Low Energy Antiproton Ring facility at CERN leading to
the formation of antiprotonic atoms of these heavy elements. The antiproton
capture at the end of an atomic cascade results in the production of more or
less excited residual nuclei. The targets were selected with the criterion that
both reaction products with one nucleon less than the proton and neutron number
of the target be radioactive. The yield of these radioactive products after
stopped-antiproton annihilation was determined using gamma-ray spectroscopy
techniques. This yield is related to the proton and neutron density in the
target nucleus at a radial distance corresponding to the antiproton
annihilation site. The experimental data clearly indicate the existence of a
neutron-rich nuclear periphery, a "neutron halo", strongly correlated with the
target neutron separation energy Bn and observed for targets with Bn < 10 MeV.
For two-target nuclei 106Cd and 144Sm, with larger neutron binding energies, a
proton-rich nuclear periphery was observed. Most of the experimental data are
in reasonable agreement with calculations based on current antiproton-nucleus
and pion-nucleus interaction potentials and on nuclear densities deduced with
the help of the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach. This approach was, however,
unable to account for the 106Cd and 144Sm results.Comment: Latex (RevTeX,aps style), 13 pages + 12 Postscript figure
The structure of superheavy elements newly discovered in the reaction of Kr with Pb
The structure of superheavy elements newly discovered in the
Pb(Kr,n) reaction at Berkeley is systematically studied in the
Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) approach. It is shown that various usually
employed RMF forces, which give fair description of normal stable nuclei, give
quite different predictions for superheavy elements. Among the effective forces
we tested, TM1 is found to be the good candidate to describe superheavy
elements. The binding energies of the 118 nucleus and its
decay daughter nuclei obtained using TM1 agree with those of FRDM
within 2 MeV. Similar conclusion that TM1 is the good interaction is also drawn
from the calculated binding energies for Pb isotopes with the Relativistic
Continuum Hartree Bogoliubov (RCHB) theory. Using the pairing gaps obtained
from RCHB, RMF calculations with pairing and deformation are carried out for
the structure of superheavy elements. The binding energy, shape, single
particle levels, and the Q values of the decay are
discussed, and it is shown that both pairing correlation and deformation are
essential to properly understand the structure of superheavy elements. A good
agreement is obtained with experimental data on . %Especially, the
atomic number %dependence of %seems to match with the experimental
observationComment: 19 pages, 5 figure
Search for long lived heaviest nuclei beyond the valley of stability
The existence of long lived superheavy nuclei (SHN) is controlled mainly by
spontaneous fission and -decay processes. According to microscopic
nuclear theory, spherical shell effects at Z=114, 120, 126 and N=184 provide
the extra stability to such SHN to have long enough lifetime to be observed. To
investigate whether the so-called "stability island" could really exist around
the above Z, N values, the -decay half lives along with the spontaneous
fission and -decay half lives of such nuclei are studied. The
-decay half lives of SHN with Z=102-120 are calculated in a quantum
tunneling model with DDM3Y effective nuclear interaction using
values from three different mass formulae prescribed by Koura, Uno, Tachibana,
Yamada (KUTY), Myers, Swiatecki (MS) and Muntian, Hofmann, Patyk, Sobiczewski
(MMM). Calculation of spontaneous fission (SF) half lives for the same SHN are
carried out using a phenomenological formula and compared with SF half lives
predicted by Smolanczuk {\it et al}. Possible source of discrepancy between the
calculated -decay half lives of some nuclei and the experimental data
of GSI, JINR-FLNR, RIKEN are discussed. In the region of Z=106-108 with N
160-164, the -stable SHN is predicted to have
highest -decay half life () using
value from MMM. Interestingly, it is much greater than the recently measured
() of deformed doubly magic
nucleus. A few fission-survived long-lived SHN which are either -stable
or having large -decay half lives are predicted to exist near
, , and .
These nuclei might decay predominantly through -particle emission.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl
Neutron density distributions from antiprotonic 208Pb and 209Bi atoms
The X-ray cascade from antiprotonic atoms was studied for 208Pb and 209Bi.
Widths and shifts of the levels due to the strong interaction were determined.
Using modern antiproton-nucleus optical potentials the neutron densities in the
nuclear periphery were deduced. Assuming two parameter Fermi distributions
(2pF) describing the proton and neutron densities the neutron rms radii were
deduced for both nuclei. The difference of neutron and proton rms radii /\r_np
equal to 0.16 +-(0.02)_{stat} +- (0.04)_{syst} fm for 208Pb and 0.14 +-
(0.04)_{stat} +- (0.04)_{syst} fm for 209Bi were determined and the assigned
systematic errors are discussed. The /\r_np values and the deduced shapes of
the neutron distributions are compared with mean field model calculations.Comment: 22 pages, 8 tables, 15 figure
Nucleon density in the nuclear periphery determined with antiprotonic x-rays: cadmium and tin isotopes
The x-ray cascade from antiprotonic atoms was studied for 106Cd, 116Cd,
112Sn, 116Sn, 120Sn, and 124Sn. Widths and shifts of the levels due to strong
interaction were deduced. Isotopic effects in the Cd and Sn isotopes are
clearly seen. The results are used to investigate the nucleon density in the
nuclear periphery. The deduced neutron distributions are compared with the
results of the previously introduced radiochemical method and with HFB
calculations