No Arabic abstract
The lifetimes of the $2^+_1$, the $2^+_2$ and the $3^-_1$ states of $^{210}$Po have been measured in the $^{208}$Pb($^{12}$C,$^{10}$Be)$^{210}$Po transfer reaction by the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The results for the lifetime of the $2^+_1$ state is about three times shorter than the adopted value. However, the new value still does not allow for consistent description of the properties of the yrast $2^+_1$, $4^+_1$, $6^+_1$, and $8^+_1$ states of $^{210}$Po in the framework of nuclear shell models. The Quasi-particle Phonon Model (QPM) calculations also cannot overcome this problem thus indicating the existence of a peculiarity which is neglected in both theoretical approaches.
The form factor of the electromagnetic excitation of $^{12}$C to its 2$^+_1$ state was measured at extremely low momentum transfers in an electron scattering experiment at the S-DALINAC. A combined analysis with the world form factor data results in a reduced transition strength $B(E2; 2^+_1rightarrow 0^+_1) =7.63(19)$ e$^2$fm$^4$ with an accuracy improved to 2.5%. In-Medium-No Core Shell Model results with interactions derived from chiral effective field theory are capable to reproduce the result. A quadrupole moment $Q(2^+_1) = 5.97(30)$ efm$^2$ can be extracted from the strict correlation with the $B((E2)$ strength emerging in the calculations.
The $E0$ transition strength in the $2^+_2 rightarrow 2^+_1$ transitions of $^{58,60,62}$Ni have been determined for the first time following a series of measurements at the Australian National University (ANU) and the University of Kentucky (UK). The CAESAR Compton-suppressed HPGe array and the Super-e solenoid at ANU were used to measure the $delta(E2/M1)$ mixing ratio and internal conversion coefficient of each transition following inelastic proton scattering. Level half-lives, $delta(E2/M1)$ mixing ratios and $gamma$-ray branching ratios were measured at UK following inelastic neutron scattering. The new spectroscopic information was used to determine the $E0$ strengths. These are the first $2^+ rightarrow 2^+$ $E0$ transition strengths measured in nuclei with spherical ground states and the $E0$ component is found to be unexpectedly large; in fact, these are amongst the largest $E0$ transition strengths in medium and heavy nuclei reported to date.
The large reported $E2$ strength between the $2^+$ ground state and $1^+$ first excited state of $^8$Li, $B(E2; 2^+ rightarrow 1^+)= 55(15)$ e$^2$fm$^4$, presents a puzzle. Unlike in neighboring $A=7-9$ isotopes, where enhanced $E2$ strengths may be understood to arise from deformation as rotational in-band transitions, the $2^+rightarrow1^+$ transition in $^8$Li cannot be understood in any simple way as a rotational in-band transition. Moreover, the reported strength exceeds textit{ab initio} predictions by an order of magnitude. In light of this discrepancy, we revisited the Coulomb excitation measurement of this strength, now using particle-$gamma$ coincidences, yielding a revised $B(E2; 2^+ rightarrow 1^+)$ of $25(8)(3)$ e$^2$fm$^4$. We explore how this value compares to what might be expected in rotational, Elliott SU(3), and textit{ab initio} descriptions, including no-core shell model (NCSM) calculations with various internucleon interactions. While the present value is a factor of $2$ smaller than previously reported, it remains anomalously enhanced.
Electromagnetic observables are able to give insight into collective and emergent features in nuclei, including nuclear clustering. These observables also provide strong constraints for ab initio theory, but comparison of these observables between theory and experiment can be difficult due to the lack of convergence for relevant calculated values, such as $E2$ transition strengths. By comparing the ratios of $E2$ transition strengths for mirror transitions, we find that a wide range of ab initio calculations give robust and consistent predictions for this ratio. To experimentally test the validity of these ab initio predictions, we performed a Coulomb excitation experiment to measure the $B(E2; 3/2^- rightarrow 1/2^-)$ transition strength in $^7$Be for the first time. A $B(E2; 3/2^- rightarrow 1/2^-)$ value of $26(6)(3) , e^2 mathrm{fm}^4$ was deduced from the measured Coulomb excitation cross section. This result is used with the experimentally known $^7$Li $B(E2; 3/2^- rightarrow 1/2^-)$ value to provide an experimental ratio to compare with the ab initio predictions. Our experimental value is consistent with the theoretical ratios within $1 sigma$ uncertainty, giving experimental support for the value of these ratios. Further work in both theory and experiment can give insight into the robustness of these ratios and their physical meaning.
EXO-200 is a single phase liquid xenon detector designed to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe to the ground state of $^{136}$Ba. We report here on a search for the two-neutrino double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe to the first $0^+$ excited state, $0^+_1$, of $^{136}$Ba based on a 100 kg$cdot$yr exposure of $^{136}$Xe. Using a specialized analysis employing a machine learning algorithm, we obtain a 90% CL half-life sensitivity of $1.7 times 10^{24}$ yr. We find no statistically significant evidence for the $2 ubetabeta$ decay to the excited state resulting in a lower limit of $T^{2 u}_{1/2}$ ($0^+ rightarrow 0^+_1$) $> 6.9 times 10^{23}$ yr at 90% CL. This observed limit is consistent with the estimated half-life of $2.5times10^{25}$ yr.