No Arabic abstract
The neutron-rich nucleus $^{144}$Ba ($t_{1/2}$=11.5 s) is expected to exhibit some of the strongest octupole correlations among nuclei with mass numbers $A$ less than 200. Until now, indirect evidence for such strong correlations has been inferred from observations such as enhanced $E1$ transitions and interleaving positive- and negative-parity levels in the ground-state band. In this experiment, the octupole strength was measured directly by sub-barrier, multi-step Coulomb excitation of a post-accelerated 650-MeV $^{144}$Ba beam on a 1.0-mg/cm$^2$ $^{208}$Pb target. The measured value of the matrix element, $langle 3_1^- | mathcal{M}(E3) | 0_1^+ rangle=0.65(^{+17}_{-23})$ $e$b$^{3/2}$, corresponds to a reduced $B(E3)$ transition probability of 48($^{+25}_{-34}$) W.u. This result represents an unambiguous determination of the octupole collectivity, is larger than any available theoretical prediction, and is consistent with octupole deformation.
Despite the more than one order of magnitude difference between the measured dipole moments in $^{144}$Ba and $^{146}$Ba, the strength of the octupole correlations in $^{146}$Ba are found to be as strong as those in $^{144}$Ba with a similarly large value of $B(E3;3^- rightarrow 0^+)$ 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-lying excited states of the neutron-rich calcium isotopes $^{48-52}$Ca have been studied via $gamma$-ray spectroscopy following inverse-kinematics proton scattering on a liquid hydrogen target using the GRETINA $gamma$-ray tracking array. The energies and strengths of the octupole states in these isotopes are remarkably constant, indicating that these states are dominated by proton excitations.
The use of chemically selective laser ionization combined with beta-delayed neutron counting at CERN/ISOLDE has permitted identification and half-life measurements for 623-ms Mn-61 up through 14-ms Mn-69. The measured half-lives are found to be significantly longer near N=40 than the values calculated with a QRPA shell model using ground-state deformations from the FRDM and ETFSI models. Gamma-ray singles and coincidence spectroscopy has been performed for Mn-64 and Mn-66 decays to levels of Fe-64 and Fe-66, revealing a significant drop in the energy of the first 2+ state in these nuclides that suggests an unanticipated increase in collectivity near N=40.
The evolution of quadrupole and octupole collectivity and their coupling is investigated in a series of even-even isotopes of the actinide Ra, Th, U, Pu, Cm, and Cf with neutron number in the interval $130leqslant Nleqslant 150$. The Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation, based on the parametrization D1M of the Gogny energy density functional, is employed to generate potential energy surfaces depending upon the axially-symmetric quadrupole and octupole shape degrees of freedom. The mean-field energy surface is then mapped onto the expectation value of the $sdf$ interacting-boson-model Hamiltonian in the boson condensate state as to determine the strength parameters of the boson Hamiltonian. Spectroscopic properties related to the octupole degree of freedom are produced by diagonalizing the mapped Hamiltonian. Calculated low-energy negative-parity spectra, $B(E3;3^{-}_{1}to 0^{+}_{1})$ reduced transition rates, and effective octupole deformation suggest that the transition from nearly spherical to stable octupole-deformed, and to octupole vibrational states occurs systematically in the actinide region.
The nuclear shell structure, which originates in the nearly independent motion of nucleons in an average potential, provides an important guide for our understanding of nuclear structure and the underlying nuclear forces. Its most remarkable fingerprint is the existence of the so-called `magic numbers of protons and neutrons associated with extra stability. Although the introduction of a phenomenological spin-orbit (SO) coupling force in 1949 helped explain the nuclear magic numbers, its origins are still open questions. Here, we present experimental evidence for the smallest SO-originated magic number (subshell closure) at the proton number 6 in 13-20C obtained from systematic analysis of point-proton distribution radii, electromagnetic transition rates and atomic masses of light nuclei. Performing ab initio calculations on 14,15C, we show that the observed proton distribution radii and subshell closure can be explained by the state-of-the-art nuclear theory with chiral nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon forces, which are rooted in the quantum chromodynamics.