Structural evolution in the neutron-rich nuclei 106Zr and 108Zr

The low-lying states in 106Zr and 108Zr have been investigated by means of {\beta}-{\gamma} and isomer spectroscopy at the RI beam factory, respectively. A new isomer with a half-life of 620\pm150 ns has been identified in 108Zr. For the sequence of even-even Zr isotopes, the excitation energies of the first 2+ states reach a minimum at N = 64 and gradually increase as the neutron number increases up to N = 68, suggesting a deformed sub-shell closure at N = 64. The deformed ground state of 108Zr indicates that a spherical sub-shell gap predicted at N = 70 is not large enough to change the ground state of 108Zr to the spherical shape. The possibility of a tetrahedral shape isomer in 108Zr is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

Structure of 55Sc and development of the N=34 subshell closure

The low-lying structure of $^{55}$Sc has been investigated using in-beam $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy with the $^{9}$Be($^{56}$Ti,$^{55}$Sc+$\gamma$)$X$ one-proton removal and $^{9}$Be($^{55}$Sc,$^{55}$Sc+$\gamma$)$X$ inelastic-scattering reactions at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. Transitions with energies of 572(4), 695(5), 1539(10), 1730(20), 1854(27), 2091(19), 2452(26), and 3241(39) keV are reported, and a level scheme has been constructed using $\gamma\gamma$ coincidence relationships and $\gamma$-ray relative intensities. The results are compared to large-scale shell-model calculations in the $sd$-$pf$ model space, which account for positive-parity states from proton-hole cross-shell excitations, and to it ab initio shell-model calculations from the in-medium similarity renormalization group that includes three-nucleon forces explicitly. The results of proton-removal reaction theory with the eikonal model approach were adopted to aid identification of positive-parity states in the level scheme; experimental counterparts of theoretical $1/2^{+}_{1}$ and $3/2^{+}_{1}$ states are suggested from measured decay patterns. The energy of the first $3/2^{-}$ state, which is sensitive to the neutron shell gap at the Fermi surface, was determined. The result indicates a rapid weakening of the $N=34$ subshell closure in $pf$-shell nuclei at $Z>20$, even when only a single proton occupies the $\pi f_{7/2}$ orbital

Spectroscopy of 32Ne and the Island of Inversion

We report on the first spectroscopic study of the N=22 nucleus 32Ne at the newly completed RIKEN Radioactive Ion Beam Factory. A single gamma-ray line with an energy of 722(9) keV was observed in both inelastic scattering of a 226 MeV/u 32Ne beam on a Carbon target and proton removal from 33Na at 245 MeV/u. This transition is assigned to the de-excitation of the first J^pi = 2+ state in 32Ne to the 0+ ground state. Interpreted through comparison with state-of-the-art shell model calculations, the low excitation energy demonstrates that the Island of Inversion extends to at least N=22 for the Ne isotopes.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett. 11 pages, 3 figure

A search for periodic modulations of the solar neutrino flux in Super-Kamiokande-I

A search for periodic modulations of the solar neutrino flux was performed using the Super-Kamiokande-I data taken from May 31st, 1996 to July 15th, 2001. The detector's capability of measuring the exact time of events, combined with a relatively high yield of solar neutrino events, allows a search for short-time variations in the observed flux. We employed the Lomb test to look for periodic modulations of the observed solar neutrino flux. The obtained periodogram is consistent with statistical fluctuation and no significant periodicity was found

Search for Supernova Relic Neutrinos at Super-Kamiokande

A search for the relic neutrinos from all past core-collapse supernovae was conducted using 1496 days of data from the Super-Kamiokande detector. This analysis looked for electron-type anti-neutrinos that had produced a positron with an energy greater than 18 MeV. In the absence of a signal, 90% C.L. upper limits on the total flux were set for several theoretical models; these limits ranged from 20 to 130 nu_e bar cm^-2 s^-1. Additionally, an upper bound of 1.2 nu_e bar cm^-2 s^-1 was set for the supernova relic neutrino flux in the energy region E_nu > 19.3 MeV.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letters. New version includes corrections to Figure 1. Also, text has been shortened to conform with the space limitations of PR

Search for Dark Matter WIMPs using Upward Through-going Muons in Super-Kamiokande

We present the results of indirect searches for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) with 1679.6 live days of data from the Super-Kamiokande detector using neutrino-induced upward through-going muons. The search is performed by looking for an excess of high energy muon neutrinos from WIMP annihilations in the Sun, the core of the Earth, and the Galactic Center, as compared to the number expected from the atmospheric neutrino background. No statistically significant excess was seen. We calculate flux limits in various angular cones around each of the above celestial objects. We obtain conservative model-independent upper limits on WIMP-nucleon cross-section as a function of WIMP mass and compare these results with the corresponding results from direct dark matter detection experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.