H. L. Crawford

Well Developed Deformation in 42Si

Excited states in (38,40,42) Si nuclei have been studied via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy with multinucleon removal reactions. Intense radioactive beams of ^{40}S and (44)S provided at the new facility of the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory enabled γ-γ coincidence measurements. A prominent γ line observed with an energy of 742(8) keV in (42) Si confirms the 2(+) state reported in an earlier study. Among the γ lines observed in coincidence with the 2^{+} → 0+ transition, the most probable candidate for the transition from the yrast 4(+) state was identified, leading to a 4(1)+) energy of 2173(14) keV. The energy ratio of 2.93(5) between the 2(1)+ and 4(1)(+) states indicates well-developed deformation in (42) Si at N = 28 and Z = 14. Also for 38,40)Si energy ratios with values of 2.09(5) and 2.56(5) were obtained. Together with the ratio for (42)Si, the results show a rapid deformation development of Si isotopes from N = 24 to N = 28.

Production andβDecay ofrp-Process NucleiCd96,In98, andSn100

The beta-decay properties of the N=Z nuclei 96Cd, 98In, and 100Sn have been studied. These nuclei were produced at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory by fragmenting a 120 MeV/nucleon 112Sn primary beam on a Be target. The resulting radioactive beam was filtered in the A1900 and the newly commissioned Radio Frequency Fragment Separator to achieve a purity level suitable for decay studies. The observed production cross sections of these nuclei are lower than predicted by factors of 10-30. The half-life of 96Cd, which was the last experimentally unknown waiting point half-life of the astrophysical rp process, is 1.03_{-0.21};{+0.24} s. The implications of the experimental T_{1/2} value of 96Cd on the abundances predicted by rp process calculations and the origin of A=96 isobars such as 96Ru are explored.

Nuclear structure towards N = 40 60Ca: in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy of 58,60Ti.

Excited states in the neutron-rich N = 38, 36 nuclei (60)Ti and (58)Ti were populated in nucleon-removal reactions from (61)V projectiles at 90 MeV/nucleon. The γ-ray transitions from such states in these Ti isotopes were detected with the advanced γ-ray tracking array GRETINA and were corrected event by event for large Doppler shifts (v/c ∼ 0.4) using the γ-ray interaction points deduced from online signal decomposition. The new data indicate that a steep decrease in quadrupole collectivity occurs when moving from neutron-rich N = 36, 38 Fe and Cr toward the Ti and Ca isotones. In fact, (58,60)Ti provide some of the most neutron-rich benchmarks accessible today for calculations attempting to determine the structure of the potentially doubly magic nucleus (60)Ca.

Nuclear Structure TowardsN=40Ca60: In-Beamγ-Ray Spectroscopy ofTi58,60

Excited states in the neutron-rich N = 38, 36 nuclei (60)Ti and (58)Ti were populated in nucleon-removal reactions from (61)V projectiles at 90 MeV/nucleon. The γ-ray transitions from such states in these Ti isotopes were detected with the advanced γ-ray tracking array GRETINA and were corrected event by event for large Doppler shifts (v/c ∼ 0.4) using the γ-ray interaction points deduced from online signal decomposition. The new data indicate that a steep decrease in quadrupole collectivity occurs when moving from neutron-rich N = 36, 38 Fe and Cr toward the Ti and Ca isotones. In fact, (58,60)Ti provide some of the most neutron-rich benchmarks accessible today for calculations attempting to determine the structure of the potentially doubly magic nucleus (60)Ca.

Direct Evidence for Octupole Deformation in Ba146 and the Origin of Large E1 Moment Variations in Reflection-Asymmetric Nuclei

Despite the more than 1 order of magnitude difference between the measured dipole moments in ^{144}Ba and ^{146}Ba, the octupole correlations in ^{146}Ba are found to be as strong as those in ^{144}Ba with a similarly large value of B(E3;3^{-}→0^{+}) determined as 48(+21-29)  W.u. The new results not only establish unambiguously the presence of a region of octupole deformation centered on these neutron-rich Ba isotopes, but also manifest the dependence of the electric dipole moments on the occupancy of different neutron orbitals in nuclei with enhanced octupole strength, as revealed by fully microscopic calculations.

Low-energy structure of 2766Co 39 and 2768Co 41 populated through β decay

The low-energy level structures for the neutron-rich Co isotopes at N = 39 and N = 41 are constructed following the beta decay of the respective even-even Fe isotopes. Spin and parity assignments of the lowest energy populated state in {sup 66}Co and {sup 68}Co are consistent with a 1{sup +} spin and parity assignment and attributed to the coupling of the deformed proton configurations identified in {sup 67}Co and deformed neutron configurations inferred from neighboring Fe isotones. Comparisons along the N = 39 and N = 41 isotonic chains reveal a similarity in the structures of the Co and Mn isotopes.

Low-lying level structure of Cu 56 and its implications for the rp process

The low-lying energy levels of proton-rich Cu56 have been extracted using in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy with the state-of-the-art γ-ray tracking array GRETINA in conjunction with the S800 spectrograph at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University. Excited states in Cu56 serve as resonances in the Ni55(p,γ)Cu56 reaction, which is a part of the rp process in type-I x-ray bursts. To resolve existing ambiguities in the reaction Q value, a more localized isobaric multiplet mass equation (IMME) fit is used, resulting in Q=639±82 keV. We derive the first experimentally constrained thermonuclear reaction rate for Ni55(p,γ)Cu56. We find that, with this new rate, the rp process may bypass the Ni56 waiting point via the Ni55(p,γ) reaction for typical x-ray burst conditions with a branching of up to ∼40%. We also identify additional nuclear physics uncertainties that need to be addressed before drawing final conclusions about the rp-process reaction flow in the Ni56 region.

Examination of the low-energy enhancement of the γ -ray strength function of Fe 56

Author(s): Jones, MD; MacChiavelli, AO; Wiedeking, M; Bernstein, LA; Crawford, HL; Campbell, CM; Clark, RM; Cromaz, M; Fallon, P; Lee, IY; Salathe, M; Wiens, A; Ayangeakaa, AD; Bleuel, DL; Bottoni, S; Carpenter, MP; Davids, HM; Elson, J; Gorgen, A; Guttormsen, M; Janssens, RVF; Kinnison, JE; Kirsch, L; Larsen, AC; Lauritsen, T; Reviol, W; Sarantites, DG; Siem, S; Voinov, AV; Zhu, S | Abstract:

Isomeric Character of the Lowest Observed 4+ State in S 44

Previous experiments observed a 4^{+} state in the N=28 nucleus ^{44}S and suggested that this state may exhibit a hindered E2-decay rate, inconsistent with being a member of the collective ground state band. We populate this state via two-proton knockout from a beam of exotic ^{46}Ar projectiles and measure its lifetime using the recoil distance method with the GRETINA γ-ray spectrometer. The result, 76(14)_{stat}(20)_{syst}  ps, implies a hindered transition of B(E2;4^{+}→2_{1}^{+})=0.61(19) single-particle or Weisskopf units strength and supports the interpretation of the 4^{+} state as a K=4 isomer, the first example of a high-K isomer in a nucleus of such low mass.

Analysis of spectroscopic factors in Be 11 and Be 12 in the Nilsson strong-coupling limit

Spectroscopic factors in 10Be, 11Be and 12Be, extracted from (d,p), one neutron knockout, and (p,d) reactions are interpreted within the rotational model. Assuming that the ground state and first excited state of 11Be can be associated with the 1/2[220] and 1/2[101] Nilsson levels, the strong coupling limit gives simple expressions that relate the amplitudes of these wavefunctions (in the spherical basis) with the measured cross-sections and derived spectroscopic factors. We obtain good agreement with both the measured magnetic moment of the ground state in 11Be and the reaction data.