Evidence for a New Compact Symmetric Fission Mode in Light Thorium Isotopes.

Taking benefit of the R3B/SOFIA setup to measure the mass and the nuclear charge of both fission fragments in coincidence with the total prompt-neutron multiplicity, the scission configurations are inferred along the thorium chain, from the asymmetric fission in the heavier isotopes to the symmetric fission in the neutron-deficient thorium. Against all expectations, the symmetric scission in the light thorium isotopes shows a compact configuration, which is in total contrast to what is known in the fission of the heavier thorium isotopes and heavier actinides. This new main symmetric scission mode is characterized by a significant drop in deformation energy of the fission fragments of about 19 MeV, compared to the well-known symmetric scission in the uranium-plutonium region.

Quasifree (p, 2p) Reactions on Oxygen Isotopes: Observation of Isospin Independence of the Reduced Single-Particle Strength.

Quasifree one-proton knockout reactions have been employed in inverse kinematics for a systematic study of the structure of stable and exotic oxygen isotopes at the R^{3}B/LAND setup with incident beam energies in the range of 300-450 MeV/u. The oxygen isotopic chain offers a large variation of separation energies that allows for a quantitative understanding of single-particle strength with changing isospin asymmetry. Quasifree knockout reactions provide a complementary approach to intermediate-energy one-nucleon removal reactions. Inclusive cross sections for quasifree knockout reactions of the type ^{A}O(p,2p)^{A-1}N have been determined and compared to calculations based on the eikonal reaction theory. The reduction factors for the single-particle strength with respect to the independent-particle model were obtained and compared to state-of-the-art ab initio predictions. The results do not show any significant dependence on proton-neutron asymmetry.

First observation of the unbound nucleus 15Ne.

We report on the first observation of the unbound proton-rich nucleus 15Ne. Its ground state and first excited state were populated in two-neutron knockout reactions from a beam of 500 MeV/u 17Ne. The 15Ne ground state is found to be unbound by 2.522(66) MeV. The decay proceeds directly to 13O with simultaneous two-proton emission. No evidence for sequential decay via the energetically allowed 2- and 1- states in 14F is observed. The 15Ne ground state is shown to have a strong configuration with two protons in the (sd) shell around 13O with a 63(5)% (1s1/2)2 component.

Study of the 14Be continuum: identification and structure of its second 2+ state.

The coupling between bound quantum states and those in the continuum is of high theoretical interest. Experimental studies of bound drip-line nuclei provide ideal testing grounds for such investigations since they, due to the feeble binding energy of their valence particles, are easy to excite into the continuum. In this Letter, continuum states in the heaviest particle-stable Be isotope, 14Be, are studied by employing the method of inelastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics. New continuum states are found at excitation energies E*=3.54(16) MeV and E*=5.25(19) MeV. The structure of the earlier known 2(1)+ state at 1.54(13) MeV was confirmed with a predominantly (0d5/2)2 configuration while there is very clear evidence that the 2(2)+ state has a predominant (1s1/2, 0d5/2) structure with a preferential three-body decay mechanism. The region at about 7 MeV excitation shows distinct features of sequential neutron decay via intermediate states in 13Be. This demonstrates that the increasing availability of energetic beams of exotic nuclei opens up new vistas for experiments leading towards a new understanding of the interplay between bound and continuum states.

Measurement of the dipole polarizability of the unstable neutron-rich nucleus 68Ni.

The E1 strength distribution in 68Ni has been investigated using Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics at the R3B-LAND setup and by measuring the invariant mass in the one- and two-neutron decay channels. The giant dipole resonance and a low-lying peak (pygmy dipole resonance) have been observed at 17.1(2) and 9.55(17) MeV, respectively. The measured dipole polarizability is compared to relativistic random phase approximation calculations yielding a neutron-skin thickness of 0.17(2) fm. A method and analysis applicable to neutron-rich nuclei has been developed, allowing for a precise determination of neutron skins in nuclei as a function of neutron excess.