No Arabic abstract
By using isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) at the experimental cooler storage ring CSRe, masses of short-lived $^{44}$Cr, $^{46}$Mn, $^{48}$Fe, $^{50}$Co and $^{52}$Ni were measured for the first time and the precision of the mass of $^{40}$Ti was improved by a factor of about 2. Relative precisions of $delta m/m=(1-2)times$10$^{-6}$ have been achieved. Details of the measurements and data analysis are described. The obtained masses are compared with the Atomic-Mass Evaluation 2016 (AME$^{prime}$16) and with theoretical model predictions. The new mass data enable us to extract the higher order coefficients, $d$ and $e$, of the quartic form of the isobaric multiplet mass equation (IMME) for the $fp$-shell isospin quintets. Unexpectedly large $d$- and $e$-values for $A=44$ quintet are found. By re-visiting the previous experimental data on $beta$-delayed protons from $^{44}$Cr decay, it is suggested that the observed anomaly could be due to the misidentification of the $T=2$, $J^pi=0^{+}$ isobaric analog state (IAS) in $^{44}$V.
The results of a study of the beta decays of three proton-rich nuclei with $T_z=text{-}2$, namely $^{48}$Fe, $^{52}$Ni and $^{56}$Zn, produced in an experiment carried out at GANIL, are reported. In all three cases we have extracted the half-lives and the total $beta$-delayed proton emission branching ratios. We have measured the individual $beta$-delayed protons and $beta$-delayed $gamma$ rays and the branching ratios of the corresponding levels. Decay schemes have been determined for the three nuclei, and new energy levels are identified in the daughter nuclei. Competition between $beta$-delayed protons and $gamma$ rays is observed in the de-excitation of the $T=2$ Isobaric Analogue States in all three cases. Absolute Fermi and Gamow-Teller transition strengths have been determined. The mass excesses of the nuclei under study have been deduced. In addition, we discuss in detail the data analysis taking as a test case $^{56}$Zn, where the exotic $beta$-delayed $gamma$-proton decay has been observed.
Atomic masses of seven $T_z=-1$, $fp$-shell nuclei from $^{44}$V to $^{56}$Cu and two low-lying isomers, $^{44m}$V ($J^pi=6^+$) and $^{52m}$Co ($J^pi=2^+$), have been measured with relative precisions of $1-4times 10^{-7}$ with Isochronous Mass Spectrometry (IMS) at CSRe. The masses of $^{56}$Cu, $^{52g,52m}$Co, and $^{44m}$V were measured for the first time in this experiment. The Mass Excesses ($ME^{prime}$s) of $^{44}$V, $^{48}$Mn, $^{50}$Fe, and $^{54}$Ni are determined with an order of magnitude improved precision compared to the literature values. $^{52g,52m}$Co and $^{56}$Cu are found to be $370$~keV and $400$~keV more bound, respectively, while $^{44g,44m}$V are $sim 300$~keV less bound than the extrapolations in the Atomic-Mass Evaluation 2012 (AME$^{prime}$12). The masses of the four $T_z=-1/2$ nuclei $^{45}$V, $^{47}$Cr, $^{49}$Mn, and $^{51}$Fe are re-determined to be in agreement, within the experimental errors, with the recent JYFLTRAP measurements or with the previous IMS measurements in CSRe. Details of the measurements and data analysis are described, and the impact of the new $ME$ values on different aspects in nuclear structure are investigated and discussed.
Allowed $beta^+$ branches of very proton-rich $fp$ shell $Tz=-2$ nuclei at the proton drip-line are calculated in the full fp valence space. The $beta^+$ decay half-lives calculated with the standard quenching factor ($g^{eff}_{A}/g_{A}$)=0.74 are in good agreement with existing experimental data. Detailed branching Gamow-Teller strength are predicted but comparison with experiment is still difficult since, in most cases, spectroscopic information is not yet available.
A $^{52}$Cr$(p,t)$$^{50}$Cr two-neutron pickup reaction was performed using the Q3D magnetic spectrograph at the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium in Garching, Germany. Excited states in $^{50}$Cr were observed up to an excitation energy of 5.3 MeV. Despite significantly increased sensitivity and resolution over previous work, no evidence of the previously assigned first excited $0^+$ state was found. As a result, the $0^+_2$ state is reassigned at an excitation energy of $E_x=3895.0(5)$ keV in $^{50}$Cr. This reassignment directly impacts direct searches for a non-analogue Fermi $beta^+$ decay branch in $^{50}$Mn. These results also show better systematic agreement with the theoretical predictions for the $0^+$ state spectrum in $^{50}$Cr using the same formalism as the isospin-symmetry-breaking correction calculations for superallowed nuclei. The experimental data are also compared to $ab$-$initio$ shell-model predictions using the IM-SRG formalism based on $NN$ and $3N$ forces from chiral-EFT in the $pf$-shell for the first time.
The isovector and isoscalar components of neutron-proton pairing are investigated in the N=Z unstable nuclei of the textit{fp}-shell through the two-nucleon transfer reaction (p,$^3$He) in inverse kinematics. The combination of particle and gamma-ray detection with radioactive beams of $^{56}$Ni and $^{52}$Fe, produced by fragmentation at the GANIL/LISE facility, made it possible to carry out this study for the first time in a closed and an open-shell nucleus in the textit{fp}-shell. The transfer cross-sections for ground-state to ground-state (J=0$^+$,T=1) and to the first (J=1$^+$,T=0) state were extracted for both cases together with the transfer cross-section ratios $sigma$(0$^+$,T=1) /$sigma$(1$^+$,T=0). They are compared with second-order distorted-wave born approximation (DWBA) calculations. The enhancement of the ground-state to ground-state pair transfer cross-section close to mid-shell, in $^{52}$Fe, points towards a superfluid phase in the isovector channel. For the deuteron-like transfer, very low cross-sections to the first (J=1$^+$,T=0) state were observed both for Niphe, and Fephe, and are related to a strong hindrance of this channel due to spin-orbit effect. No evidence for an isoscalar deuteron-like condensate is observed.