Half-Life Systematics across theN=126Shell Closure: Role of First-Forbidden Transitions in theβDecay of Heavy Neutron-Rich Nuclei

This Letter reports on a systematic study of β-decay half-lives of neutron-rich nuclei around doubly magic Pb208. The lifetimes of the 126-neutron shell isotone Pt204 and the neighboring Ir200-202, Pt203, Au204 are presented together with other 19 half-lives measured during the "stopped beam" campaign of the rare isotope investigations at GSI collaboration. The results constrain the main nuclear theories used in calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis. Predictions based on a statistical macroscopic description of the first-forbidden β strength reveal significant deviations for most of the nuclei with N<126. In contrast, theories including a fully microscopic treatment of allowed and first…