C. M. Deibel

A Shorter 146Sm Half-Life Measured and Implications for 146Sm-142Nd Chronology in the Solar System

A New Lease on Half-Life Radiometric dating relies on measuring the abundance of long-lived radionuclides relative to the abundance of their radiogenic decay products—a process determined by the original radionuclides half-life. For primordial radionuclides that decay slowly, such as 146Sm decaying to 142Nd, this method provides the timing of some of the earliest processes in solar system history. Using accelerator mass spectrometry, Kinoshita et al. (p. 1614) provide a revised estimate for the 146Sm half-life of ∼68.7 million years, which is 30% shorter than the previously accepted value. This shorter half-life suggests that reductions need to be made in the estimated ages for differentiation of Earths mantle and the solidification of the Moons magma ocean and for other more recent processes. Mantle differentiation of Earth, the Moon, and Mars occurred earlier and over a shorter time scale than previously estimated. The extinct p-process nuclide 146Sm serves as an astrophysical and geochemical chronometer through measurements of isotopic anomalies of its α-decay daughter 142Nd. Based on analyses of 146Sm/147Sm α-activity and atom ratios, we determined the half-life of 146Sm to be 68 ± 7 (1σ) million years, which is shorter than the currently used value of 103 ± 5 million years. This half-life value implies a higher initial 146Sm abundance in the early solar system, (146Sm/144Sm)0 = 0.0094 ± 0.0005 (2σ), than previously estimated. Terrestrial, lunar, and martian planetary silicate mantle differentiation events dated with 146Sm-142Nd converge to a shorter time span and in general to earlier times, due to the combined effect of the new 146Sm half-life and (146Sm/144Sm)0 values.

Nuclear structure relevant to neutrinoless double β decay: The valence protons in Ge76 and Se76

The possibility of observing neutrinoless double {beta} decay offers the opportunity of determining the effective neutrino mass if the nuclear matrix element were known. Theoretical calculations are uncertain, and the occupation of valence orbits by nucleons active in the decay is likely to be important. The occupation of valence proton orbits in the ground states of {sup 76}Ge, a candidate for such decay, and {sup 76}Se, the corresponding daughter nucleus, is determined by precisely measuring cross sections for proton-removing transfer reactions. As in previous work on neutron occupation, we find that the Fermi surface for protons is much more diffuse than previously thought, and the occupancies of at least three orbits change significantly between the two 0{sup +} ground states.

Experimental evidence for a natural parity state in Mg26 and its impact on the production of neutrons for the s process

We have studied natural parity states in {sup 26}Mg via the {sup 22}Ne({sup 6}Li, d){sup 26}Mg reaction. Our method significantly improves the energy resolution of previous experiments and, as a result, we report the observation of a natural parity state in {sup 26}Mg. Possible spin-parity assignments are suggested on the basis of published {gamma}-ray decay experiments. The stellar rate of the {sup 22}Ne({alpha},{gamma}){sup 26}Mg reaction is reduced and may give rise to an increase in the production of s-process neutrons via the {sup 22}Ne({alpha},n){sup 25}Mg reaction.

Fusion reactions with the one-neutron halo nucleus 15 C

The structure of (15)C, with an s(1/2) neutron weakly bound to a closed-neutron shell nucleus (14)C, makes it a prime candidate for a one-neutron halo nucleus. We have for the first time studied the cross section for the fusion-fission reaction (15)C+(232)Th at energies in the vicinity of the Coulomb barrier and compared it to the yield of the neighboring (14)C+(232)Th system measured in the same experiment. At sub-barrier energies, an enhancement of the fusion yield by factors of 2-5 was observed for (15)C, while the cross sections for (14)C match the trends measured for (12,13)C.

High-j single-particle neutron states outside the N=82 core

Abstract The behaviour of the i 13 / 2 and h 9 / 2 single-neutron strength was studied with the ( α , He 3 ) reaction on 138Ba, 140Ce, 142Nd and 144Sm targets at a beam energy of 51 MeV. The separation between the single-neutron states i 13 / 2 and h 9 / 2 was measured in N = 83 nuclei with changing proton number. To this end spectroscopic factors for states populated in high-l transfer were extracted from the data. Some mixing of l = 5 and 6 strength was observed with states that are formed by coupling the f 7 / 2 state to the 2 + and 3 − vibrational states and the mixing matrix elements were found to be remarkably constant. The centroids of the strength indicate a systematic change in the energies of the i 13 / 2 and h 9 / 2 single-neutron states with increasing proton number that is in quantitative agreement with the effects expected from the tensor interaction.

Pair correlations in nuclei involved in neutrinoless double β decay: Ge76 and Se76

Precision measurements were carried out to test the similarities between the ground states of {sup 76}Ge and {sup 76}Se. The extent to which these two nuclei can be characterized as consisting of correlated pairs of neutrons in a BCS-like ground state was studied. The pair removal (p,t) reaction was measured at the far forward angle of 3 deg. The relative cross sections are consistent (at the 5% level) with the description of these nuclei in terms of a correlated pairing state outside the N=28 closed shells with no pairing vibrations. Data were also obtained for {sup 74}Ge and {sup 78}Se.

Study of the Alm26(d,p)Al27 Reaction and the Influence of the Al26 0+ Isomer on the Destruction of Al26 in the Galaxy

The existence of ^{26}Al (t_{1/2}=7.17×10^{5}  yr) in the interstellar medium provides a direct confirmation of ongoing nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The presence of a low-lying 0^{+} isomer (^{26}Al^{m}), however, severely complicates the astrophysical calculations. We present for the first time a study of the ^{26}Al^{m}(d,p)^{27}Al reaction using an isomeric ^{26}Al beam. The selectivity of this reaction allowed the study of ℓ=0 transfers to T=1/2, and T=3/2 states in ^{27}Al. Mirror symmetry arguments were then used to constrain the ^{26}Al^{m}(p,γ)^{27}Si reaction rate and provide an experimentally determined upper limit of the rate for the destruction of isomeric ^{26}Al via radiative proton capture reactions, which is expected to dominate the destruction path of ^{26}Al^{m} in asymptotic giant branch stars, classical novae, and core collapse supernovae.

Nuclear structure relevant to neutrinoless double {beta} decay: The valence protons in {sup 76}Ge and {sup 76}Se

The possibility of observing neutrinoless double {beta} decay offers the opportunity of determining the effective neutrino mass if the nuclear matrix element were known. Theoretical calculations are uncertain, and the occupation of valence orbits by nucleons active in the decay is likely to be important. The occupation of valence proton orbits in the ground states of {sup 76}Ge, a candidate for such decay, and {sup 76}Se, the corresponding daughter nucleus, is determined by precisely measuring cross sections for proton-removing transfer reactions. As in previous work on neutron occupation, we find that the Fermi surface for protons is much more diffuse than previously thought, and the occupancies of at least three orbits change significantly between the two 0{sup +} ground states.

Experimental study of the rearrangements of valence protons and neutrons amongst single-particle orbits during double- β decay in Mo100

The rearrangements of protons and neutrons amongst the valence single-particle orbitals during double {\beta} decay of 100Mo have been determined by measuring cross sections in (d,p), (p,d), (3He,{\alpha}) and (3He,d) reactions on 98,100Mo and 100,102Ru targets. The deduced nucleon occupancies reveal significant discrepancies when compared with theoretical calculations; the same calculations have previously been used to determine the nuclear matrix element associated with the decay probability of double {\beta} decay of the 100Mo system.

Study of the fusion reaction 12C + 12C at low beam energy

In this article we discuss two aspects related to the 12C + 12C fusion reaction at low energies for carbon burning in supermassive stars. First we present plausible arguments for the notion that the observed resonance structures at the lowest measured energies arise from the relatively large spacing and narrow width of 24Mg compound levels at the corresponding excitation energy region. We thus point out that the Incoming Wave Boundary Condition is inappropriate for calculating the fusion cross section under these situations. Secondly, we report on a particle-γ coincidence technique that has been used for the first time to measure the fusion cross section in the system 12C + 12C at low beam energies. Based on these results, it should be possible to measure this important fusion cross section down to the 10 pb level within a reasonable length of time.