H. J. Maier

High-spin states in 224,226,228Th and the systematics of octupole effects in even Th isotopes

Abstract High-spin states in 224,226,228Th were investigated using conversion-electron and γ-ray spectroscopic methods following 226 Ra (α, x n ) reactions. The Kπ = 0+ and 0− rotational bands are observed, which in 224,226Th merge into a single band characteristic for reflection asymmetric shape. The systematics of the level energies and El transition rates of 220–230Th are discussed in terms of a stable octupole deformation.

Oblate collective bands in 199Pb and 200Pb

Abstract Three cascades of dipole transitions have been identified in 199,200 Pb with rather regular energy spacings of about 50 keV. Together with several cross-over transitions they form three rotational bands in these normally spherical nuclei. Arguments are given that the dipole transitions are of M1 multipolarity as opposed to E1 so that these cascades can be interpreted as strongly coupled bands built on high- K oblate states involving proton h 9 2 or i 13 2 orbitals.

Political Religion: a Concept and its Limitations

Abstract This article presents political religion as a concept for studying Communism, Fascism and National Socialism, which display significant elements of traditional religion, such as rites of purgation, penitence and renewal, cultic patterns of behaviour, and heresy. It then considers the history of the concept, paying particular attention to the light thrown on the phenomenon by the analysis of Nazism offered by the writer Franz Werfel in 1932. This argued that the roots of its appeal lay in the solution it seemed to offer to the contemporary socio‐political crisis of Weimar, which was widely experienced as a personal crisis of meaning and identity. For believers this imparted a redemptive, religious aura to the entire Nazi movement. Finally, it questions the legitimacy of ‘political religion’ as a concept, asking whether it can truly be used to explain or illuminate political phenomena without distorting the basic idea of religion in the process. †Translated by Jodi Bruhn.

Shears bands in 201Pb and 202Pb

Abstract High-spin states in 201 Pb and 202 Pb have been investigated using in-beam γ-ray spectroscopic techniques. Seven regular sequences of enhanced dipole transitions, with weak E2 crossovers in some cases, have been found, one of which is firmly connected to low-lying levels in 201 Pb. These bands are interpreted to be built on high-spin proton-particle neutron-hole excitations. Tilted-axis cranking calculations show that the angular momentum along the bands is predominantly generated by a continuous and simultaneous reorientation of the proton and neutron spins into the direction of the total angular momentum (shears effect).

Collective structures in 199Pb and 200Pb

Abstract Four cascades of dipole transitions have been identified in 199,200 Pb with rather regular energy spacings of about 50 keV. The dipole transitions are of M1 multipolarity and the cascades can be interpreted as strongly coupled bands built on high-K oblate states involving proton h 9 2 or i 13 2 orbitals.

The Munich Fission Fragment Accelerator

For the new Munich high-flux reactor FRM-II a fission fragment accelerator is under design. The accelerator will deliver intense mass-separated beams of very neutron-rich fission fragments with energies at and beyond the Coulomb barrier. One main physics goal will be the investigation of very heavy neutron-rich nuclei produced in fusion reactions.

Political Religions and their Images: Soviet communism, Italian Fascism and German National Socialism

Abstract This article discusses the role of images within political religions, focusing on Soviet communism, Italian Fascism and German National Socialism. It first examines the role of the cult of the leader within political religions, and explores the subjectivity and malleability of the representation of these figures; it finds that the communist leader cults were more sophisticated than their fascist counterparts. It then looks into the role of specific emblems such as the hammer and Sickle, the bundle of switch, the Swastika. Finally it explores the use of parades and festivals by political religions as ways to eliminate the individual and create the collective person.

RNB production with thermal neutrons

Abstract Thermal neutron induced nuclear fission is the most suitable method to produce neutron-rich isotopes (70⩽ A ⩽160) due to the large fission cross section and the high thermal neutron fluxes in modern reactors. Intensities of mass separated neutron rich nuclei of some 10 11 ions/s are expected, e.g. for 91 Kr, 132 Sn or 144 Cs from 235 U diluted in a porous graphite target. Several front runners with low-energy fission-fragment beams exist like OSIRIS in Studsvik. In order to get beams of neutron-rich nuclei at the Coulomb barrier, the PIAFE project worked out a first concept of production and mass separation of high-intensity beams of fission fragments. At the new Munich high-flux reactor FRMII, the Munich Accelerator for Fission Fragments (MAFF) is under development to make use of post accelerated beams of neutron rich isotopes for experiments in many different fields of nuclear physics, solid state physics and medicine. One key experiment will be the production and the study of very heavy elements. An overview of the production method of neutron-rich isotopes by thermal neutron induced fission, and of the expected yields will be given and the development of target–ion-sources and of the fission targets for MAFF will be characterized.

Coulomb excitation of 180Tam and its consequences for a possible s-process production☆

Abstract Recent Coulomb-activation experiments indicate the presence of a low-lying intermediate state depopulating the long-lived 180Ta isomer to the radioactive g.s. with considerable conquences on the effective halflife of 180Ta under s-process conditions. An ‘in-beam’ Coulomb-excitation experiment searching for the relevant transitions is reported using a 5.6% enriched 180Ta target and a particle-gamma coincidence setup consisting of five HPGe EUROBALL cluster modules covering about 10% of 4π solid angle and the NaI Crystal Ball filling the rest. Preliminary analysis indicates Coulomb excited levels in 180Ta around 700 and 1050 keV.

In-beam spectroscopy of231Pa

Information on energy levels and onE 2 andM 1 matrix elements in231Pa has been obtained using conversion-electron and gamma-ray spectroscopy following the232Th(p, 2n)231Pa reaction and Coulomb excitation of the radioactive target231Pa by4He and32S ions. The results are analyzed in the framework of the rotational model, applied to the rotational band built on the 1/2−[530] Nilsson state whose 3/2− member forms the ground state of this nucleus. The deviations of the level energies from the rigid-rotor values can be described by Coriolis couplings. The analysis of the Coulomb-excitation process shows that a constant set of rotational parameters Q0, gR, gK, andb can fairly well account for the measured line intensities.