K. Kurita

Anomalously hindered E2 strength B(E2;2+(1)-->0+) in 16C.

The electric quadrupole transition from the first 2(+) state to the ground 0(+) state in 16C is studied through measurement of the lifetime by a recoil shadow method applied to inelastically scattered radioactive 16C nuclei. The measured mean lifetime is 77+/-14(stat)+/-19(syst) ps. The central value of mean lifetime corresponds to a B(E2;2+(1)-->0(+)) value of 0.63e(2) fm(4), or 0.26 Weisskopf units. The transition strength is found to be anomalously small compared to the empirically predicted value.

Centrality dependence of kaon yields in Si + A and Au + Au collisions at the AGS

Charged kaon production has been measured in Si+Al and Si+Au collisions at 14.6 A GeV/c, and Au+Au collisions at 11.1 A GeV/c by Experiments 859 and 866 (the E--802 Collaboration) at the BNL AGS. Invariant transverse mass spectra and rapidity distributions for both K+ and K- are presented. The centrality dependence of rapidity-integrated kaon yields is studied. Strangeness enhancement is observed as an increase in the slope of the kaon yield with the total number of participants as well as the yield per participant. The enhancement starts with peripheral Si+Al and Si+Au collisions (relative to N+N) and appears to saturate for a moderate number of participating nucleons in Si+Au collisions. It is also observed to increase slowly with centrality in Au+Au collisions, to a level in the most central Au+Au collisions that is greater than that found in central Si+A collisions. The enhancement factor for

PHENIX central arm particle ID detectors

K^+

Lifetime measurements of first excited states in C 16 , 18

production are 3.0 +-0.2(stat.) +-0.4(syst.) and 4.0 +-0.3(stat.) +-0.5(syst.), respectively, for the most central 7% Si+Au collisions and the most central 4% Au+Au collisions relative to N+N at the correponding beam energy.

Different mechanism of two-proton emission from proton-rich nuclei 23 Al and 22 Mg

Abstract The Ring-Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) and the Time-of-Flight (ToF) systems provide identification of charged particles for the PHENIX central arm. The RICH is located between the inner and outer tracking units and is one of the primary devices for identifying electrons among the very large number of charged pions. The ToF is used to identify hadrons and is located between the most outer pad chamber (PC3) and the electromagnetic calorimeter. A Time Zero (T0) counter that enhances charged particle measurements in p–p collisions is described. Details of the construction and performance of both the RICH, ToF and T0 are given along with typical results from the first PHENIX data taking run.

Production of phi mesons in central 28Si+196Au collisions at 14.6A GeV/c.

The electric quadrupole transition from the first 2{sup +} state to the ground 0{sup +} state in {sup 18}C was studied through a lifetime measurement by an upgraded recoil shadow method applied to inelastically scattered radioactive {sup 18}C nuclei. The measured mean lifetime is 18.9{+-}0.9(stat){+-}4.4(syst) ps, corresponding to a B(E2;2{sub 1}{sup +}{yields}0{sub g.s.}{sup +}) value of 4.3{+-}0.2{+-}1.0 e{sup 2} fm{sup 4}, or about 1.5 Weisskopf units. The mean lifetime of the first 2{sup +} state in {sup 16}C was remeasured to be 18.3{+-}1.4{+-}4.8 ps, about four times shorter than the value reported previously. The discrepancy between the two results was explained by incorporating the {gamma}-ray angular distribution measured in this work into the previous measurement. These transition strengths are hindered compared to the empirical transition strengths, indicating that the anomalous hindrance observed in {sup 16}C persists in {sup 18}C.

Enhanced collectivity in 74Ni

Two-proton relative momentum (q(pp)) and opening angle (theta(pp)) distributions from the three-body decay of two excited proton-rich nuclei, namely Al-23 --> p + p + Na-21 and Mg-22 --> p + p + Ne-20, have been measured with the projectile fragment separator (RIPS) at the RIKEN RI Beam Factory. An evident peak at q(pp) similar to 20 MeV/c as well as a peak in theta(pp) around 30 degrees are seen in the two-proton break-up channel from a highly-excited Mg-22. In contrast, such peaks are absent for the Al-23 case. It is concluded that the two-proton emission mechanism of excited Mg-22 is quite different from the Al-23 case, with the former having a favorable diproton emission component at a highly excited state and the latter dominated by the sequential decay process

Hindered proton collectivity in 16(28)S12: possible magic number at Z=16.

Production of the {phi} meson in central Si+Au collisions has been measured by E859 at the Brookhaven Alternating Gradient Synchrotron by selecting events with identified K{sup +}K{sup -} pairs. The mass and width of the {phi}, obtained from the invariant mass distribution of kaon pairs, are consistent with those of free f mesons. The transverse mass and rapidity distributions are presented. The inverse slope parameter for an exponential fit to the invariant transverse mass distribution is 179{+-}10{+-}17 MeV.

Proton-proton correlations in distinguishing the two-proton emission mechanism of 23Al and 22Mg

Abstract The neutron-rich nucleus 74Ni was studied with inverse-kinematics inelastic proton scattering using a 74Ni radioactive beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target at a center-of-mass energy of 80 MeV. From the measured de-excitation γ rays, the population of the first 2+ state was quantified. The angle-integrated excitation cross section was determined to be 14(4) mb. A deformation length of δ = 1.04 ( 16 ) fm was extracted in comparison with distorted wave theory, which suggests that the enhancement of collectivity established for 70Ni continues up to 74Ni. A comparison with results of shell model and quasi-particle random phase approximation calculations indicates that the magic character of Z = 28 or N = 50 is weakened in 74Ni.

MEASUREMENT OF THE ANALYZING POWER OF PROTON-CARBON ELASTIC SCATTERING IN THE CNI REGION AT RHIC

The reduced transition probability B(E2;0(gs)(+)→2(1)(+)) for (28)S was obtained experimentally using Coulomb excitation at 53 MeV/nucleon. The resultant B(E2) value 181(31) e(2)fm(4) is smaller than the expectation based on empirical B(E2) systematics. The double ratio |M(n)/M(p)|/(N/Z) of the 0(gs)(+)→2(1)(+) transition in (28)S was determined to be 1.9(2) by evaluating the M(n) value from the known B(E2) value of the mirror nucleus (28)Mg, showing the hindrance of proton collectivity relative to that of neutrons. These results indicate the emergence of the magic number Z=16 in the |T(z)|=2 nucleus (28)S.