0000000001234119

AUTHOR

D.t. Joss

Lifetime measurements of excited states in $^{162}$W and $^{164}$W and the evolution of collectivity in rare-earth nuclei

International audience; Lifetimes of the first excited 2+ states in the extremely neutron-deficient $^{162}$W and $^{164}$W nuclei have been measured using the recoil distance Doppler shift technique. Experimental B(E2) data for the isotopic chains of hafnium, tungsten, and osmium, from the midshell region near the β-stability line towards the N=82 closed shell and the most neutron-deficient nuclides, are compared with predictions of nuclear deformations and 21+→0g.s.+ reduced transition strengths from different classes of state-of-the-art theoretical model calculations. The results reveal striking differences and deficiencies in the predictive power of current nuclear structure models.

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Lifetime measurements of excited states in ¹⁶³W and the implications for the anomalous B(E2) ratios in transitional nuclei

This letter reports lifetime measurements of excited states in the odd-N nucleus $^{163}$W using the recoil-distance Doppler shift method to probe the core polarising effect of the i13/2 neutron orbital on the underlying soft triaxial even-even core. The ratio B(E2:21/2+→17/2+)/B(E2:17/2+→13/2+) is consistent with the predictions of the collective rotational model. The deduced B(E2) values provide insights into the validity of collective model predictions for heavy transitional nuclei and a geometric origin for the anomalous B(E2) ratios observed in nearby even-even nuclei is proposed.

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Competing Decay Modes of a High-spin Isomer in the Proton-unbound Nucleus 158Ta

An isomeric state at high spin and excitation energy was recently observed in the proton-unbound nucleus 158Ta. This state was observed to decay by both α and γ decay modes. The large spin change required to decay via γ-ray emission incurs a lifetime long enough for α decay to compete. The α decay has an energy of 8644(11) keV, which is among the highest observed in the region, a partial half-life of 440(70) µs and changes the spin by 11~. In this paper, additional evidence supporting the assignment of this α decay to the high-spin isomer in 158Ta will be presented. peerReviewed

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Shape coexistence in neutron-deficient Hg isotopes studied via lifetime measurements in 184,186Hg and two-state mixing calculations

The neutron-deficient mercury isotopes, $^{184,186}$Hg, were studied with the Recoil Distance Doppler Shift (RDDS) method using the Gammasphere array and the K\"oln Plunger device. The Differential Decay Curve Method (DDCM) was employed to determine the lifetimes of the yrast states in $^{184,186}$Hg. An improvement on previously measured values of yrast states up to $8^{+}$ is presented as well as first values for the $9_{3}$ state in $^{184}$Hg and $10^{+}$ state in $^{186}$Hg. $B(E2)$ values are calculated and compared to a two-state mixing model which utilizes the variable moment of inertia (VMI) model, allowing for extraction of spin-dependent mixing strengths and amplitudes.

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Recoil Isomer Tagging on Proton-Rich Odd–Odd N=77 Isotones 142Tb and 144Ho

The isomeric structure of the N=77 isotones 14265Tb and 14467Ho have been studied with the 92Mo(54Fe, xpn) fusion evaporation reaction at the University of Jyväskylä. The Jurospehere II germanium array was employed in conjunction with the RITU gas filled recoil separator. The feeding and decay of a 500(20) ns isomeric state in 144Ho has been established for the first time together with states built upon the known 15 μs isomer in 142Tb. The behavior of these new structures above the isomers suggest that they are low deformation configurations which display signs of triaxiality. peerReviewed

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Coulomb excitation of 222Rn

International audience; The nature of quadrupole and octupole collectivity in $^{222}$Rn was investigated by determining the electric-quadrupole (E2) and octupole (E3) matrix elements using subbarrier, multistep Coulomb excitation. The radioactive $^{222}$Rn beam, accelerated to 4.23 MeV/u, was provided by the HIE-ISOLDE facility at CERN. Data were collected in the Miniball $\gamma$ -ray spectrometer following the bombardment of two targets, $^{120}$Sn and $^{60}$Ni. Transition E2 matrix elements within the ground-state and octupole bands were measured up to 10 ¯h and the results were consistent with a constant intrinsic electric-quadrupole moment, 518(11) $e$ fm$^2$ . The values of the int…

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Population of a low-spin positive-parity band from high-spin intruder states in Au: The two-state mixing effect

The extremely neutron-deficient isotopes $^{177,179}$Au were studied by means of in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy. Specific tagging techniques, α-decay tagging in $^{177}$Au and isomer tagging in $^{179}$Au, were used for these studies. Feeding of positive-parity, nearly spherical states, which are associated with 2d3/2 and 3s1/2 proton-hole configurations, from the 1i13/2 proton-intruder configuration was observed in $^{177}$Au. Such a decay path has no precedent in odd-Au isotopes and it is explained by the effect of mixing of wave functions of the initial state.

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