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The Zirconium (Z = 40) isotopic chain has attracted interest for more than four decades. The abrupt lowering of the energy of the first $2^+$ state and the increase in the transition strength B(E2; $2_1^\rightarrow 0_1^+$ going from $^{98}$Zr to $^{100}$Zr has been the first example of "quantum phase transition" in nuclear shapes, which has few equivalents in the nuclear chart. Although a multitude of experiments have been performed to measure nuclear properties related to nuclear shapes and collectivity in the region, none of the measured lifetimes were obtained using the Recoil Distance Doppler Shift method in the $\gamma\gamma$-coincidence mode where a gate on the direct feeding transition of the state of interest allows a strict control of systematical errors. This work reports the results of lifetime measurements for the first yrast excited states in $^{98-104}$Zr carried out to extract reduced transition probabilities. The new lifetime values in $\gamma\gamma$-coincidence and $\gamma$-single mode are compared with the results of former experiments. Recent predictions of the Interacting Boson Model with Configuration Mixing, the Symmetry Conserving Configuration Mixing model based on the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach and the Monte Carlo Shell Model are presented and compared with the experimental data.

The low-lying structure of $^{15}$C has been investigated via the neutron-removal $^{16}$C$(d,t)$ reaction. Along with bound neutron sd-shell hole states, unbound p-shell hole states have been firmly confirmed. The excitation energies and the deduced spectroscopic factors of the cross-shell states are an important measure of the $[(p)^{-1}(sd)^{2}]$ neutron configurations in $^{15}$C. Our results show a very good agreement with shell-model calculations using the SFO-tls interaction for $^{15}$C. However, a modification of the $p$-$sd$ and $sd$-$sd$ monopole terms was applied in order to reproduce the $N=9$ isotone $^{17}$O. In addition, the excitation energies and spectroscopic factors have been compared to the first calculations of $^{15}$C with the $ab~ initio$ self-consistent Green's function method employing the NNLO$_{sat}$ interaction. The results show the sensitivity to the size of the $N=8$ shell gap and highlight the need of going beyond the current truncation scheme in the theory.

The properties of nuclei with extreme neutron-to-proton ratios, far from those naturally occurring on Earth, are key to understand nuclear forces and how nucleons hold together to form nuclei. $^7$H, with six neutrons and a single proton, is the nuclear system with the most unbalanced neutron-to-proton ratio known so far. However, its sheer existence and properties are still a challenge for experimental efforts and theoretical models. Here we report experimental evidences on the formation of $^7$H as a resonance, detected with independent observables, and the first measurement of the structure of its ground state. The resonance is found at $\sim$0.7 MeV above the $^3$H+4n mass, with a narrow width of $\sim$0.2 MeV and a $1/2^+$ spin and parity. These data are consistent with a $^7$H as a $^3$H core surrounded by an extended four-neutron halo, with a unique four-neutron decay and a relatively long half-life thanks to neutron pairing; a prime example of new phenomena occurring in what would be the most pure-neutron nuclear matter we can access in the laboratory.

The reduced transition probabilities $B(E2; 0^+_{g.s.}\rightarrow2_1^+,2^+_2)$ in $^{70}$Zn and the full $B(E2; 0^+_{g.s.}\rightarrow2^+)$ strength up to S$_n$=7.79 MeV in $^{68}$Ni have been determined at the LISE/GANIL facility using the Coulomb-excitation technique at intermediate beam energy on a $^{208}$Pb target. The $\gamma$ rays emitted in-flight were detected with an array of 46 BaF$_2$ crystals. The angles of the deflected nuclei were determined in order to disentangle and extract the Coulomb and nuclear contributions to the excitation of the 2$^+$ states. The measured $B(E2; 0^+_{g.s.}\rightarrow2_1^+)$ of 1432(124) e$^2$fm$^4$ for $^{70}$Zn falls in the lower part of the published values which clustered either around 1600 or above 2000 e$^2$fm$^4$, while the $B(E2; 0^+_{g.s.}\rightarrow2^+_2)$ of 53(7) e$^2$fm$^4$ agrees very well with the two published values. The relatively low $B(E2; 0^+_{g.s.}\rightarrow2_1^+)$ of 301(38) e$^2$fm$^4$ for $^{68}$Ni agrees with previous studies and confirms a local magicity at $Z=28, N=40$. Combining the results of the low-energy spectra of $^{68}$Ni and $^{70}$Zn and their shell-model interpretations, it is interesting to notice that four different shapes (spherical, oblate, prolate and triaxial) are present. Finally, a summed $E2$ strength of only about 150 e$^2$fm$^4$ has been found experimentally at high excitation energy, likely due to proton excitations across the $Z=28$ gap. The experimental distribution of this high-energy $E2$ excitation agrees with SM calculations, but its strength is about two times weaker.

The neutrons for science facility (NFS), the first operational experimental area of the new GANIL/SPIRAL-2 facility, received its first beams in December 2019. Proton-induced reaction cross-sections as well as neutron beam characteristics were measured during the first commissioning phases. The first results, showing the features of the facility, are presented here and compared with previously published data. The physics cases and the first accepted experiments are presented as well.

Decay spectroscopy of the odd-proton nuclei $^{249}$Md and $^{251}$Md has been performed. High-$K$ isomeric states were identified for the first time in these two nuclei through the measurement of their electromagnetic decay. An isomeric state with a half-life of $2.8(5)$ ms and an excitation energy $\geq 910$ keV was found in $^{249}$Md. In $^{251}$Md, an isomeric state with a half-life of $1.4(3)$ s and an excitation energy $\geq 844$ keV was found. Similarly to the neighbouring $^{255}$Lr, these two isomeric states are interpreted as 3 quasi-particle high-$K$ states and compared to new theoretical calculations. Excited nuclear configurations were calculated within two scenarios: via blocking nuclear states located in proximity to the Fermi surface or/and using the quasiparticle Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer method. Relevant states were selected on the basis of the microscopic-macroscopic model with a deformed Woods-Saxon potential. The most probable candidates for the configurations of $K$-isomeric states in Md nuclei are proposed.

The isovector and isoscalar components of neutron-proton pairing are investigated in the N=Z unstable nuclei of the \textit{fp}-shell through the two-nucleon transfer reaction (p,$^3$He) in inverse kinematics. The combination of particle and gamma-ray detection with radioactive beams of $^{56}$Ni and $^{52}$Fe, produced by fragmentation at the GANIL/LISE facility, made it possible to carry out this study for the first time in a closed and an open-shell nucleus in the \textit{fp}-shell. The transfer cross-sections for ground-state to ground-state (J=0$^+$,T=1) and to the first (J=1$^+$,T=0) state were extracted for both cases together with the transfer cross-section ratios $\sigma$(0$^+$,T=1) /$\sigma$(1$^+$,T=0). They are compared with second-order distorted-wave born approximation (DWBA) calculations. The enhancement of the ground-state to ground-state pair transfer cross-section close to mid-shell, in $^{52}$Fe, points towards a superfluid phase in the isovector channel. For the "deuteron-like" transfer, very low cross-sections to the first (J=1$^+$,T=0) state were observed both for \Ni\phe\, and \Fe\phe\, and are related to a strong hindrance of this channel due to spin-orbit effect. No evidence for an isoscalar deuteron-like condensate is observed., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

The first investigation of the single-particle structure of the bound states of 17C, via the d(16C, p) transfer reaction, has been undertaken. The measured angular distributions confirm the spin-parity assignments of 1/2+ and 5/2+ for the excited states located at 217 and 335 keV, respectively. The spectroscopic factors deduced for these states exhibit a marked single-particle character, in agreement with shell model and particle-core model calculations, and combined with their near degeneracy in energy provide clear evidence for the absence of the N = 14 sub-shell closure. The very small spectroscopic factor found for the 3/2+ ground state is consistent with theoretical predictions and indicates that the {\nu}1d3/2 strength is carried by unbound states. With a dominant l = 0 valence neutron configuration and a very low separation energy, the 1/2+ excited state is a one-neutron halo candidate., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Physics Letters B

An inelastic $\alpha$-scattering experiment on the unstable $N=Z$, doubly-magic $^{56}$Ni nucleus was performed in inverse kinematics at an incident energy of 50 A.MeV at GANIL. High multiplicity for $\alpha$-particle emission was observed within the limited phase-space of the experimental setup. This observation cannot be explained by means of the statistical-decay model. The ideal classical gas model at $kT$ = 0.4 MeV reproduces fairly well the experimental momentum distribution and the observed multiplicity of $\alpha$ particles corresponds to an excitation energy around 96 MeV. The method of distributed $m\alpha$-decay ensembles is in agreement with the experimental results if we assume that the $\alpha$-gas state in $^{56}$Ni exists at around $113^{+15}_{-17}$ MeV. These results suggest that there may exist an exotic state consisting of many $\alpha$ particles at the excitation energy of $113^{+15}_{-17}$ MeV., Comment: Accepted for publication in the European Physical Journal A

The evolution of the traditional nuclear magic numbers away from the valley of stability is an active field of research. Experimental efforts focus on providing key spectroscopic information that will shed light into the structure of exotic nuclei and understanding the driving mechanism behind the shell evolution. In this work, we investigate the Z = 6 spin-orbit shell gap towards the neutron dripline. To do so, we employed $^{A}$N(p,2p)$^{A-1}$C quasi-free scattering reactions to measure the proton component of the 2$^+_1$ state of $^{16,18,20}$C. The experimental findings support the notion of a moderate reduction of the proton 1p$_{1/2}$-1p$_{3/2}$ spin-orbit splitting, at variance to recent claims for a prevalent Z = 6 magic number towards the neutron dripline., Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Physics Letter B

The structure of $^{33}$Si was studied by a one-neutron knockout reaction from a $^{34}$Si beam at 98.5 MeV/u incident on a $^{9}$Be target. The prompt $\gamma$-rays following the de-excitation of $^{33}$Si were detected using the GRETINA $\gamma$-ray tracking array while the reaction residues were identified on an event-by-event basis in the focal plane of the S800 spectrometer at NSCL (National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory). The presently derived spectroscopic factor values, $C^2S$, for the 3/2$^+$ and 1/2$^+$ states, corresponding to a neutron removal from the $0d_{3/2}$ and $1s_{1/2}$ orbitals, agree with shell model calculations and point to a strong $N=20$ shell closure. Three states arising from the more bound $0d_{5/2}$ orbital are proposed, one of which is unbound by about 930 keV. The sensitivity of this experiment has also confirmed a weak population of 9/2$^-$ and 11/2$_{1,2}^-$ final states, which originate from a higher-order process. This mechanism may also have populated, to some fraction, the 3/2$^-$ and 7/2$^-$ negative-parity states, which hinders a determination of the $C^2S$ values for knockout from the normally unoccupied $1p_{3/2}$ and $0f_{7/2}$ orbits.

The odd-$Z$ $^{251}$Md nucleus was studied using combined $\gamma$-ray and conversion-electron in-beam spectroscopy. Besides the previously observed rotational band based on the $[521]1/2^-$ configuration, another rotational structure has been identified using $\gamma$-$\gamma$ coincidences. The use of electron spectroscopy allowed the rotational bands to be observed over a larger rotational frequency range. Using the transition intensities that depend on the gyromagnetic factor, a $[514]7/2^-$ single-particle configuration has been inferred for this band, i.e., the ground-state band. A physical background that dominates the electron spectrum with an intensity of $\simeq$ 60% was well reproduced by simulating a set of unresolved excited bands. Moreover, a detailed analysis of the intensity profile as a function of the angular momentum provided a method for deriving the orbital gyromagnetic factor, namely $g_K = 0.69^{+0.19}_{-0.16}$ for the ground-state band. The odd-$Z$ $^{249}$Md was studied using $\gamma$-ray in-beam spectroscopy. Evidence for octupole correlations resulting from the mixing of the $\Delta l = \Delta j = 3$ $[521]3/2^-$ and $[633]7/2^+$ Nilsson orbitals were found in both $^{249,251}$Md. A surprising similarity of the $^{251}$Md ground-state band transition energies with those of the excited band of $^{255}$Lr has been discussed in terms of identical bands. Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations were performed to investigate the origin of the similarities between these bands.

The most neutron-rich boron isotopes 20B and 21B have been observed for the first time following proton removal from 22N and 22C at energies around 230 MeV/nucleon. Both nuclei were found to exist as resonances which were detected through their decay into 19B and one or two neutrons. Two-proton removal from 22N populated a prominent resonance-like structure in 20B at around 2.5 MeV above the one-neutron decay threshold, which is interpreted as arising from the closely spaced 1-,2- ground-state doublet predicted by the shell model. In the case of proton removal from 22C, the 19B plus one- and two-neutron channels were consistent with the population of a resonance in 21B 2.47+-0.19 MeV above the two-neutron decay threshold, which is found to exhibit direct two-neutron decay. The ground-state mass excesses determined for 20,21B are found to be in agreement with mass surface extrapolations derived within the latest atomic-mass evaluations., Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Supplemental Material at http://link.aps.org/supplemental/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.262502

In the study of the odd-$Z$, even-$N$ nuclei $^{243}$Es and $^{249}$Md, performed at the University of Jyv\"askyl\"a, the fusion-evaporation reactions $^{197}$Au($^{48}$Ca,2$n$)$^{243}$Es and $^{203}$Tl($^{48}$Ca,2$n$)$^{249}$Md have been used for the first time. Fusion-evaporation residues were selected and detected using the RITU gas-filled separator coupled with the focal-plane spectrometer GREAT. For $^{243}$Es, the recoil decay correlation analysis yielded a half-life of $24 \pm 3$s, and a maximum production cross section of $37 \pm 10$ nb. In the same way, a half-life of $26 \pm 1$ s, an $\alpha$ branching ratio of 75 $\pm$ 5%, and a maximum production cross section of 300 $\pm$ 80 nb were determined for $^{249}$Md. The decay properties of $^{245}$Es, the daughter of $^{249}$Md, were also measured: an $\alpha$ branching ratio of 54 $\pm$ 7% and a half-life of 65 $\pm$ 6 s. Experimental cross sections were compared to the results of calculations performed using the KEWPIE2 statistical fusion-evaporation code.

The emission of neutron pairs from the neutron-rich $N\!=\!12$ isotones $^{18}$C and $^{20}$O has been studied by high-energy nucleon knockout from $^{19}$N and $^{21}$O secondary beams, populating unbound states of the two isotones up to 15~MeV above their two-neutron emission thresholds. The analysis of triple fragment-$n$-$n$ correlations shows that the decay $^{19}$N$(-1p)^{18}$C$^*\!\rightarrow^{16}$C+$n$+$n$ is clearly dominated by direct pair emission. The two-neutron correlation strength, the largest ever observed, suggests the predominance of a $^{14}$C core surrounded by four valence neutrons arranged in strongly correlated pairs. On the other hand, a significant competition of a sequential branch is found in the decay $^{21}$O$(-1n)^{20}$O$^*\!\rightarrow^{18}$O+$n$+$n$, attributed to its formation through the knockout of a deeply-bound neutron that breaks the $^{16}$O core and reduces the number of pairs., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

Background: Odd-odd nuclei, around doubly closed shells, have been extensively used to study proton-neutron interactions. However, the evolution of these interactions as a function of the binding energy, ultimately when nuclei become unbound, is poorly known. The $^{26}$F nucleus, composed of a deeply bound $\pi0d\_{5/2}$ proton and an unbound $\nu0d\_{3/2}$ neutron on top of an $^{24}$O core, is particularly adapted for this purpose. The coupling of this proton and neutron results in a $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1 - 4^{+}\_1$ multiplet, whose energies must be determined to study the influence of the proximity of the continuum on the corresponding proton-neutron interaction. The $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1, 2^{+}\_1,4^{+}\_1$ bound states have been determined, and only a clear identification of the $J^{\pi} =3^{+}\_1$ is missing.Purpose: We wish to complete the study of the $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1 - 4^{+}\_1$ multiplet in $^{26}$F, by studying the energy and width of the $J^{\pi} =3^{+}\_1$ unbound state. The method was firstly validated by the study of unbound states in $^{25}$F, for which resonances were already observed in a previous experiment.Method: Radioactive beams of $^{26}$Ne and $^{27}$Ne, produced at about $440A$\,MeV by the FRagment Separator at the GSI facility, were used to populate unbound states in $^{25}$F and $^{26}$F via one-proton knockout reactions on a CH$\_2$ target, located at the object focal point of the R$^3$B/LAND setup. The detection of emitted $\gamma$-rays and neutrons, added to the reconstruction of the momentum vector of the $A-1$ nuclei, allowed the determination of the energy of three unbound states in $^{25}$F and two in $^{26}$F. Results: Based on its width and decay properties, the first unbound state in $^{25}$F is proposed to be a $J^{\pi} = 1/2^-$ arising from a $p\_{1/2}$ proton-hole state. In $^{26}$F, the first resonance at 323(33)~keV is proposed to be the $J^{\pi} =3^{+}\_1$ member of the $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1 - 4^{+}\_1$ multiplet. Energies of observed states in $^{25,26}$F have been compared to calculations using the independent-particle shell model, a phenomenological shell-model, and the ab initio valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group method.Conclusions: The deduced effective proton-neutron interaction is weakened by about 30-40\% in comparison to the models, pointing to the need of implementing the role of the continuum in theoretical descriptions, or to a wrong determination of the atomic mass of $^{26}$F., Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, submitted to PRC

Many properties of the atomic nucleus, such as vibrations, rotations and incompressibility, can be interpreted as due to a two component quantum liquid of protons and neutrons. Electron scattering measurements on stable nuclei demonstrate that their central densities are saturated, as for liquid drops. In exotic nuclei near the limits of mass and charge, with large imbalances in their proton and neutron numbers, the possibility of a depleted central density, or a 'bubble' structure, has been discussed in a recurrent manner since the 1970s. Here we report first experimental evidence that points to a depletion of the central density of protons in the short-lived nucleus 34Si. The proton-to-neutron density asymmetry in 34Si offers the possibility to place constraints on the density and isospin dependence of the spin--orbit force-on which nuclear models have disagreed for decades-and on its stabilizing effect towards limits of nuclear existence., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

The low-lying unbound level structure of the halo nucleus $^{19}\textrm{C}$ has been investigated using single-neutron knockout from $^{20}\textrm{C}$ on a carbon target at 280 MeV/nucleon. The invariant mass spectrum, derived from the momenta of the forward going beam velocity $^{18}\textrm{C}$ fragment and neutrons, was found to be dominated by a very narrow near threshold ($E_\textrm{rel}$ = 0.036(1) MeV) peak. Two less strongly populated resonance-like features were also observed at $E_\textrm{rel}$ = 0.84(4) and 2.31(3) MeV, both of which exhibit characteristics consistent with neutron $p$-shell hole states. Comparisons of the energies, measured cross sections and parallel momentum distributions to the results of shell-model and eikonal reaction calculations lead to spin-parity assignments of $5/2^+_1$ and $1/2^-_1$ for the levels at $E_x$ = 0.62(9) and 2.89(10) MeV with $S_n$ = 0.58(9) MeV. Spectroscopic factors were also deduced and found to be in reasonable accord with shell-model calculations. The valence neutron configuration of the $^{20}\textrm{C}$ ground state is thus seen to include, in addition to the known $1s^2_{1/2}$ component, a significant $0d^2_{5/2}$ contribution. The level scheme of $^{19}\textrm{C}$, including significantly the $1/2^-_1$ cross-shell state, is well accounted for by the YSOX shell-model interaction developed from the monopole-based universal interaction., Comment: Physics Letters B, in press

The structure of $^{35}$P was studied with a one-proton knockout reaction at88~MeV/u from a $^{36}$S projectile beam at NSCL. The $\gamma$ rays from thedepopulation of excited states in $^{35}$P were detected with GRETINA, whilethe $^{35}$P nuclei were identified event-by-event in the focal plane of theS800 spectrograph. The level scheme of $^{35}$P was deduced up to 7.5 MeV using$\gamma-\gamma$ coincidences. The observed levels were attributed to protonremovals from the $sd$-shell and also from the deeply-bound $p\_{1/2}$ orbital.The orbital angular momentum of each state was derived from the comparisonbetween experimental and calculated shapes of individual ($\gamma$-gated)parallel momentum distributions. Despite the use of different reactions andtheir associate models, spectroscopic factors, $C^2S$, derived from the$^{36}$S $(-1p)$ knockout reaction agree with those obtained earlier from$^{36}$S($d$,\nuc{3}{He}) transfer, if a reduction factor $R\_s$, as deducedfrom inclusive one-nucleon removal cross sections, is applied to the knockout transitions.In addition to the expected proton-hole configurations, other states were observedwith individual cross sections of the order of 0.5~mb. Based on their shiftedparallel momentum distributions, their decay modes to negative parity states,their high excitation energy (around 4.7~MeV) and the fact that they were notobserved in the ($d$,\nuc{3}{He}) reaction, we propose that they may resultfrom a two-step mechanism or a nucleon-exchange reaction with subsequent neutronevaporation. Regardless of the mechanism, that could not yet be clarified, thesestates likely correspond to neutron core excitations in \nuc{35}{P}. Thisnewly-identified pathway, although weak, offers the possibility to selectivelypopulate certain intruder configurations that are otherwise hard to produceand identify., Comment: 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Physical Review C

Excited states in $^{28}$Na have been studied using the $\beta$-decay of implanted $^{28}$Ne ions at GANIL/LISE as well as the in-beam $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy at the NSCL/S800 facility. New states of positive (J$^{\pi}$=3,4$^+$) and negative (J$^{\pi}$=1-5$^-$) parity are proposed. The former arise from the coupling between 0d$\_{5/2}$ protons and a 0d$\_{3/2}$ neutron, while the latter are due to couplings with 1p$\_{3/2}$ or 0f$\_{7/2}$ neutrons. While the relative energies between the J$^{\pi}$=1-4$^+$ states are well reproduced with the USDA interaction in the N=17 isotones, a progressive shift in the ground state binding energy (by about 500 keV) is observed between $^{26}$F and $^{30}$Al. This points to a possible change in the proton-neutron 0d$\_{5/2}$-0d$\_{3/2}$ effective interaction when moving from stability to the drip line. The presence of J$^{\pi}$=1-4$^-$ negative parity states around 1.5 MeV as well as of a candidate for a J$^{\pi}$=5$^-$ state around 2.5 MeV give further support to the collapse of the N=20 gap and to the inversion between the 0f$\_{7/2}$ and 1p$\_{3/2}$ levels below Z=12. These features are discussed in the framework of Shell Model and EDF calculations, leading to predicted negative parity states in the low energy spectra of the $^{26}$F and $^{25}$O nuclei., Comment: Exp\'erience GANIL/LISE et NSCL/S800

The observed primordial 7Li abundance in metal-poor halo stars is found to be lower than its Big-Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) calculated value by a factor of approximately three. Some recent works suggested the possibility that this discrepancy originates from missing resonant reactions which would destroy the 7Be, parent of 7Li. The most promising candidate resonances which were found include a possibly missed 1- or 2- narrow state around 15 MeV in the compound nucleus 10C formed by 7Be+3He and a state close to 7.8 MeV in the compound nucleus 11C formed by 7Be+4He. In this work, we studied the high excitation energy region of 10C and the low excitation energy region in 11C via the reactions 10B(3He,t)10C and 11B(3He,t)11C, respectively, at the incident energy of 35 MeV. Our results for 10C do not support 7Be+3He as a possible solution for the 7Li problem. Concerning 11C results, the data show no new resonances in the excitation energy region of interest and this excludes 7Be+4He reaction channel as an explanation for the 7Li deficit., Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C (Rapid Communication)