Shell evolution is studied in the neutron-rich silicon isotopes 36,38,40 Si using neutron single-particle strengths deduced from one-neutron knockout reactions. Configurations involving neutron excita- tions across the N = 20 and N = 28 shell gaps ar
e quantified experimentally in these rare isotopes. Comparisons with shell model calculations show that the tensor force, understood to drive the col- lective behavior in 42 Si with N = 28, is already important in determining the structure of 40 Si with N = 26. New data relating to cross-shell excitations provide the first quantitative support for repulsive contributions to the cross-shell T = 1 interaction arising from three-nucleon forces.
The 9Be(28Mg,27Na) one-proton removal reaction with a large proton separation energy of Sp(28Mg)=16.79 MeV is studied at intermediate beam energy. Coincidences of the bound 27Na residues with protons and other light charged particles are measured. Th
ese data are analyzed to determine the percentage contributions to the proton removal cross section from the elastic and inelastic nucleon removal mechanisms. These deduced contributions are compared with the eikonal reaction model predictions and with the previously measured data for reactions involving the re- moval of more weakly-bound protons from lighter nuclei. The role of transitions of the proton between different bound single-particle configurations upon the elastic breakup cross section is also quantified in this well-bound case. The measured and calculated elastic breakup fractions are found to be in good agreement.
There is now a large and increasing body of experimental data and theoretical analyses for reactions that remove a single nucleon from an intermediate-energy beam of neutron- or proton-rich nuclei. In each such measurement, one obtains the inclusive
cross section for the population of all bound final states of the mass A-1 reaction residue. These data, from different regions of the nuclear chart, and that involve weakly- and strongly-bound nucleons, are compared with theoretical expectations. These calculations include an approximate treatment of the reaction dynamics and shell-model descriptions of the projectile initial state, the bound final states of the residues, and the single-particle strengths computed from their overlap functions. The results are discussed in the light of recent data, more exclusive tests of the eikonal dynamical description, and calculations that take input from more microscopic nuclear structure models.
Excited states in the neutron-rich N=38,36 nuclei uc{60}{Ti} and uc{58}{Ti} were populated in nucleon-removal reactions from uc{61}{V} projectiles at 90~MeV/nucleon. The gamma-ray transitions from such states in these Ti isotopes were detected wit
h the advanced gamma-ray tracking array GRETINA and were corrected event-by-event for large Doppler shifts (v/c sim 0.4) using the gamma-ray interaction points deduced from online signal decomposition. The new data indicate that a steep decrease in quadrupole collectivity occurs when moving from neutron-rich N=36,38 Fe and Cr toward the Ti and Ca isotones. In fact, uc{58,60}{Ti} provide some of the most neutron-rich benchmarks accessible today for calculations attempting to determine the structure of the potentially doubly-magic nucleus uc{60}{Ca}.
We report on the experimental study of quadrupole collectivity in the neutron-deficient nucleus uc{104}{Sn} using intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation. The $B(E2; 0^+_1 rightarrow 2^+_1)$ value for the excitation of the first $2^+$ state in uc{10
4}{Sn} has been measured to be $0.180(37)~e^2$b$^2$ relative to the well-known $B(E2)$ value of uc{102}{Cd}. This result disagrees by more than one sigma with a recently published measurement cite{Gua13}. Our result indicates that the most modern many-body calculations remain unable to describe the enhanced collectivity below mid-shell in Sn approaching $N=Z=50$. We attribute the enhanced collectivity to proton particle-hole configurations beyond the necessarily limited shell-model spaces and suggest the asymmetry of the $B(E2)$-value trend around mid-shell to originate from enhanced proton excitations across $Z=50$ as $N=Z$ is approached.
We report final-state-exclusive measurements of the light charged fragments in coincidence with 26Ne residual nuclei following the direct two-proton removal from a neutron-rich 28Mg secondary beam. A Dalitz-plot analysis and comparisons with simulati
ons show that a majority of the triple- coincidence events with two protons display phase-space correlations consistent with the (two-body) kinematics of a spatially-correlated pair-removal mechanism. The fraction of such correlated events, 56(12) %, is consistent with the fraction of the calculated cross section, 64 %, arising from spin S = 0 two-proton configurations in the entrance-channel (shell-model) 28Mg ground state wave function. This result promises access to an additional and more specific probe of the spin and spatial correlations of valence nucleon pairs in exotic nuclei produced as fast secondary beams.
The two-proton removal reaction from 28Mg projectiles has been studied at 93 MeV/u at the NSCL. First coincidence measurements of the heavy 26Ne projectile residues, the removed protons and other light charged particles enabled the relative cross sec
tions from each of the three possible elastic and inelastic proton removal mechanisms to be determined. These more final-state-exclusive measurements are key for further interrogation of these reaction mechanisms and use of the reaction channel for quantitative spectroscopy of very neutron-rich nuclei. The relative and absolute yields of the three contributing mechanisms are compared to reaction model expectations - based on the use of eikonal dynamics and sd-shell-model structure amplitudes.
We report on the first experimental study of quadrupole collectivity in the very neutron-rich nuclei uc{47,48}{Ar} using intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation. These nuclei are located along the path from doubly-magic Ca to collective S and Si isot
opes, a critical region of shell evolution and structural change. The deduced $B(E2)$ transition strengths are confronted with large-scale shell-model calculations in the $sdpf$ shell using the state-of-the-art SDPF-U and EPQQM effective interactions. The comparison between experiment and theory indicates that a shell-model description of Ar isotopes around N=28 remains a challenge.
Background: Thick-target-induced nucleon-adding transfer reactions onto energetic rare-isotope beams are an emerging spectroscopic tool. Their sensitivity to single-particle structure complements one-nucleon removal reaction capabilities in the quest
to reveal the evolution of nuclear shell structure in very exotic nuclei. Purpose: To add intermediate-energy, carbon-target-induced one-proton pickup reactions to the arsenal of $gamma$-ray tagged direct reactions applicable in the regime of low beam intensities and to apply these for the first time to $fp$-shell nuclei. Methods: Inclusive and partial cross sections were measured for the $ uc{12}{C}( uc{48}{Cr}, uc{49}{Mn}+gamma)$X and $ uc{12}{C}( uc{50}{Fe}, uc{51}{Co}+gamma)$X proton pickup reactions at 56.7 and 61.2 MeV/nucleon, respectively, using coincident particle-$gamma$ spectroscopy at the NSCL. The results are compared to reaction theory calculations using $fp$-shell-model nuclear structure input. For comparison with our previous work, the same reactions were measured on uc{9}{Be} targets. Results: The measured partial cross sections confirm the specific population pattern predicted by theory, with pickup into high-$ell$ orbitals being strongly favored; driven by linear and angular momentum matching. Conclusion: Carbon target-induced pickup reactions are well-suited, in the regime of modest beam intensity, to study the evolution of nuclear structure, with specific sensitivities that are well described by theory.
New measurements and reaction model calculations are reported for single neutron pickup reactions onto a fast uc{22}{Mg} secondary beam at 84 MeV per nucleon. Measurements were made on both carbon and beryllium targets, having very different structu
res, allowing a first investigation of the likely nature of the pickup reaction mechanism. The measurements involve thick reaction targets and $gamma$-ray spectroscopy of the projectile-like reaction residue for final-state resolution, that permit experiments with low incident beam rates compared to traditional low-energy transfer reactions. From measured longitudinal momentum distributions we show that the $ uc{12}{C} ( uc{22}{Mg}, uc{23}{Mg}+gamma)X$ reaction largely proceeds as a direct two-body reaction, the neutron transfer producing bound uc{11}{C} target residues. The corresponding reaction on the uc{9}{Be} target seems to largely leave the uc{8}{Be} residual nucleus unbound at excitation energies high in the continuum. We discuss the possible use of such fast-beam one-neutron pickup reactions to track single-particle strength in exotic nuclei, and also their expected sensitivity to neutron high-$ell$ (intruder) states which are often direct indicators of shell evolution and the disappearance of magic numbers in the exotic regime.
