Search results for "island of stability"
showing 10 items of 12 documents
Nuclear isomers in superheavy elements as stepping stones towards the island of stability
2006
The stability of an atomic nucleus is determined by the outcome of a tug-of-war between the attractive strong nuclear force and the repulsive electrostatic force between the protons in the nucleus. If 100 protons and about 150 neutrons or more are assembled into a nucleus, the repulsion usually becomes dominant and causes the nucleus to fission. For certain 'magic numbers' of protons and neutrons this repulsion can be overcome and the nucleus stabilized. In particular an 'island of stability' is predicted beyond the actinides, where long-lived or even stable superheavy elements can exist, but its precise limits are unknown. Experiments can help determine where this island lies, however. Spe…
Recent developments for high-precision mass measurements of the heaviest elements at SHIPTRAP
2013
Abstract Atomic nuclei far from stability continue to challenge our understanding. For example, theoretical models have predicted an “island of stability” in the region of the superheavy elements due to the closure of spherical proton and neutron shells. Depending on the model, these are expected at Z = 114, 120 or even 126 and N = 172 or 184. Valuable information on the road to the island of stability is derived from high-precision mass measurements, which give direct access to binding energies of short-lived trans-uranium nuclei. Recently, direct mass measurements at SHIPTRAP have been extended to nobelium and lawrencium isotopes around the deformed shell gap N = 152. In order to further …
Pushing in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy to the shores of the Island of stability
2013
One hundred years after the discovery of the atomic nucleus by Ernest Rutherford, the nuclear chart has been extended far from stability, providing more and more stringent tests for nuclear models. Nuclei at the extremes of the chart are produced with extremely low production cross-sections and one has to ingeniously upgrade the best experimental devices in order to reduce the observational limits.
Stability of the heaviest elements: K isomer in No250
2020
Decay spectroscopy of No250 has been performed using digital electronics and pulse-shape analysis of the fast nuclear decays for the first time. Previous studies of No250 reported two distinct fission decay lifetimes, related to the direct fission of the ground state and to the decay of an isomeric state but without the possibility to determine if the isomeric state decayed directly via fission or via internal electromagnetic transitions to the ground state. The data obtained in the current experiment allowed the puzzle to finally be resolved, attributing the shorter half-life of t1/2=3.8±0.3μs to the ground state and the longer half-life t1/2=34.9−3.2+3.9μs to the decay of an isomeric stat…
Understanding the nuclear structure of heavy elements
2013
The study of heavy and superheavy elements has always been one of the cornerstones of nuclear physics studies. These studies are driven by a desire to create new elements and to determine the limits of nuclear stability. Current experiments to synthesize new elements aim at the fabled ?Island of Stability? which should be found in the region of the next ?magic? numbers for protons and neutrons beyond Z?=?82 and N?=?126 (208Pb). The island is predicted to be around proton number 114?126 and neutron number 184. In recent years, another approach to understanding heavy nuclear systems has gained momentum, whereby nuclei with a much lower proton number of around 100 are studied in detail. The mo…
Isotope shift, non-linearity of King plots and the search for new particles
2017
We derive a mean-field relativistic formula for the isotope shift of an electronic energy level for arbitrary angular momentum; we then use it to predict the spectra of superheavy metastable neutron-rich isotopes belonging to the hypothetical island of stability. Our results may be applied to the search for superheavy atoms in astrophysical spectra using the known values of the transition frequencies for the neutron deficient isotopes produced in the laboratory. An example of a relevant astrophysical system may be the spectra of the Przybylski's star where superheavy elements up to Z=99 have been possibly identified. In addition, it has been recently suggested to use the measurements of Kin…
Production and properties towards the island of stability
2016
The structure of the nuclei of the heaviest elements is discussed with emphasis on single-particle properties as determined by decay and inbeam spectroscopy. The basic features of production of these nuclei using fusion evaporation reactions will also be discussed. peerReviewed
Spectroscopy along Flerovium Decay Chains: Discovery ofDs280and an Excited State inCn282
2021
A nuclear spectroscopy experiment was conducted to study α-decay chains stemming from isotopes of flerovium (element Z=114). An upgraded TASISpec decay station was placed behind the gas-filled separator TASCA at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt, Germany. The fusion-evaporation reactions ^{48}Ca+^{242}Pu and ^{48}Ca+^{244}Pu provided a total of 32 flerovium-candidate decay chains, of which two and eleven were firmly assigned to ^{286}Fl and ^{288}Fl, respectively. A prompt coincidence between a 9.60(1)-MeV α particle event and a 0.36(1)-MeV conversion electron marked the first observation of an excited state in an even-even isotope of the heaviest man-made eleme…
Direct Mapping of Nuclear Shell Effects in the Heaviest Elements
2014
Quantum-mechanical shell effects are expected to strongly enhance nuclear binding on an "island of stability" of superheavy elements. The predicted center at proton number $Z=114,120$, or $126$ and neutron number $N=184$ has been substantiated by the recent synthesis of new elements up to $Z=118$. However the location of the center and the extension of the island of stability remain vague. High-precision mass spectrometry allows the direct measurement of nuclear binding energies and thus the determination of the strength of shell effects. Here, we present such measurements for nobelium and lawrencium isotopes, which also pin down the deformed shell gap at $N=152$.
Bridging the nuclear structure gap between stable and super heavy nuclei
2009
International audience; Due to recent advances in detection techniques, excited states in several trans-fermium nuclei were studied in many laboratories worldwide, shedding light on the evolution of nuclear structure between stable nuclei and the predicted island of stability centered around spherical magic numbers. In particular, studies of K-isomers around the Z=100 and N=152 deformed shell closures extended information on the energies of Nilsson orbitals at the Fermi surface. Some of these orbitals originate from spherical states, which are relevant to the magic gaps in super-heavy nuclei. The single-particle energies can be used to test various theoretical predictions and aid in extrapo…