No Arabic abstract
Masses of 56,57Fe, 53Co^m, 53,56Co, 55,56,57Ni, 57,58Cu, and 59,60Zn have been determined with the JYFLTRAP Penning trap mass spectrometer at IGISOL with a precision of dm/m le 3 x 10^{-8}. The QEC values for 53Co, 55Ni, 56Ni, 57Cu, 58Cu, and 59Zn have been measured directly with a typical precision of better than 0.7 keV and Coulomb displacement energies have been determined. The Q values for proton captures on 55Co, 56Ni, 58Cu, and 59Cu have been measured directly. The precision of the proton-capture Q value for 56Ni(p,gamma)57Cu, Q(p,gamma) = 689.69(51) keV, crucial for astrophysical rp-process calculations, has been improved by a factor of 37. The excitation energy of the proton emitting spin-gap isomer 53Co^m has been measured precisely, Ex = 3174.3(10) keV, and a Coulomb energy difference of 133.9(10) keV for the 19/2- state has been obtained. Except for 53Co, the mass values have been adjusted within a network of 17 frequency ratio measurements between 13 nuclides which allowed also a determination of the reference masses 55Co, 58Ni, and 59Cu.
High-precision mass measurements on neutron-rich zinc isotopes 71m,72-81Zn have been performed with the Penning trap mass spectrometer ISOLTRAP. For the first time the mass of 81Zn has been experimentally determined. This makes 80Zn the first of the few major waiting points along the path of the astrophysical rapid neutron capture process where neutron separation energy and neutron capture Q-value are determined experimentally. As a consequence, the astrophysical conditions required for this waiting point and its associated abundance signatures to occur in r-process models can now be mapped precisely. The measurements also confirm the robustness of the N = 50 shell closure for Z = 30 farther from stability.
The nuclear magnetic moment of the ground state of $^{55}$Ni ($I^{pi}=3/2^{-}, T_{1/2}=204$ ms) has been deduced to be $|mu$^{55}Ni)$|=(0.976 pm 0.026)$ $mu_N$ using the $beta$-NMR technique. Results of a shell model calculation in the full textit{fp} shell model space with the GXPF1 interaction reproduce the experimental value. Together with the known magnetic moment of the mirror partner $^{55}$Co, the isoscalar spin expectation value was extracted as $<sum sigma_z >=0.91 pm 0.07$. The $<sum sigma_z>$ shows a similar trend as that established in the textit{sd} shell. The present theoretical interpretations of both $mu(^{55}$Ni) and $<sum sigma_z>$ for the $T=1/2$, A=55 mirror partners support the softness of the $^{56}$Ni core.
We propose the sequential reaction process $^{15}$O($p$,$gamma)(beta^{+}$)$^{16}$O as a new pathway to bypass of the $^{15}$O waiting point. This exotic reaction is found to have a surprisingly high cross section, approximately 10$^{10}$ times higher than the $^{15}$O($p$,$beta^{+}$)$^{16}$O. These cross sections were calculated after precise measurements of energies and widths of the proton-unbound $^{16}$F low lying states, obtained using the H($^{15}$O,p)$^{15}$O reaction. The large $(p,gamma)(beta^{+})$ cross section can be understood to arise from the more efficient feeding of the low energy wing of the ground state resonance by the gamma decay. The implications of the new reaction in novae explosions and X-ray bursts are discussed.
Nuclei with magic numbers serve as important benchmarks in nuclear theory. In addition, neutron-rich nuclei play an important role in the astrophysical rapid neutron-capture process (r-process). 78Ni is the only doubly-magic nucleus that is also an important waiting point in the r-process, and serves as a major bottleneck in the synthesis of heavier elements. The half-life of 78Ni has been experimentally deduced for the first time at the Coupled Cyclotron Facility of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University, and was found to be 110 (+100 -60) ms. In the same experiment, a first half-life was deduced for 77Ni of 128 (+27 -33) ms, and more precise half-lives were deduced for 75Ni and 76Ni of 344 (+20 -24) ms and 238 (+15 -18) ms respectively.
The structure of the doubly magic $^{132}_{50}$Sn$_{82}$ has been investigated at the ISOLDE facility at CERN, populated both by the $beta^-$decay of $^{132}$In and $beta^-$-delayed neutron emission of $^{133}$In. The level scheme of $^{132}$Sn is greatly expanded with the addition of 68 $gamma$-transitions and 17 levels observed for the first time in the $beta$ decay. The information on the excited structure is completed by new $gamma$-transitions and states populated in the $beta$-n decay of $^{133}$In. Improved delayed neutron emission probabilities are obtained both for $^{132}$In and $^{133}$In. Level lifetimes are measured via the Advanced Time-Delayed $betagammagamma$(t) fast-timing method. An interpretation of the level structure is given based on the experimental findings and the particle-hole configurations arising from core excitations both from the textit{N} = 82 and textit{Z} = 50 shells, leading to positive and negative parity particle-hole multiplets. The experimental information provides new data to challenge the theoretical description of $^{132}$Sn.