Search

Long-lived isomers in 212Bi have been studied following 238U projectile fragmentation at 670 MeV per nucleon. The fragmentation products were injected as highly charged ions into a storage ring, giving access to masses and half-lives. While the excitation energy of the first isomer of 212Bi was confirmed, the second isomer was observed at 1478(30) keV, in contrast to the previously accepted value of >1910 keV. It was also found to have an extended Lorentz-corrected in-ring half-life >30 min, compared to 7.0(3) min for the neutral atom. Both the energy and half-life differences can be understood as being due a substantial, though previously unrecognized, internal decay branch for neutral atoms. Earlier shell-model calculations are now found to give good agreement with the isomer excitation energy. Furthermore, these and new calculations predict the existence of states at slightly higher energy that could facilitate isomer deexcitation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excited states in 180Hg were populated using the 147Sm(36Ar,3n)180Hg reaction and studied by in-beam conversion-electron spectroscopy. Conversion electrons emitted at the target position were measured using the Silicon Array for Conversion Electron Detection (SACRED) spectrometer and tagged through the characteristic decays of 180Hg detected in a position-sensitive silicon strip detector located at the focal plane of the gas-filled recoil separator Recoil Ion Transport Unit (RITU). Electron conversion of transitions previously assigned to 180Hg through in-beam v-ray spectroscopy studies was identified up to the 10+ → 8+ transition and the intensities of the conversion-electron transitions were found to be consistent with the previous multipolarity assignments. Evidence was also found for two highly converted transitions in 180Hg: a 167 keV transition is interpreted as the transition from the newly identified Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed, while a 420 keV transition is assigned as the E0 decay from the 0+ bandhead of the prolate-deformed configuration to the weakly deformed ground state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energies of 2-quasiparticle (2-qp) states in heavy shell-stabilized nuclei provide information on the single-particle states that are responsible for the stability of superheavy nuclei. We have calculated the energies of 2-qp states in 256Rf, which suggest that a long-lived, low-energy 8- isomer should exist. A search was conducted for this isomer through a calorimetric conversion electron signal, sandwiched in time between implantation of a 256Rf nucleus and its fission decay, all within the same pixel of a double-sided Si strip detector. A 17(5)-μs isomer was identified. However, its low population, ∼5(2)% that of the ground state instead of the expected ∼30%, suggests that it is more likely a 4-qp isomer. Possible reasons for the absence of an electromagnetic signature of a 2-qp isomer decay are discussed. These include the favored possibility that the isomer decays by fission, with a half-life indistinguishably close to that of the ground state. Another possibility, that there is no 2-qp isomer at all, would imply an abrupt termination of axially symmetric deformed shapes at Z = 104, which describes nuclei with Z = 92-103 very well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The NPDGamma collaboration reports results from the first phase of a measurement of the parity violating up-down asymmetry Aγ with respect to the neutron spin direction of γ rays emitted in the reaction n→+p→d+γ using the capture of polarized cold neutrons on the protons in a liquid parahydrogen target. One expects parity-odd effects in the hadronic weak interaction between nucleons to be induced by the weak interaction between quarks. Aγ in n→+p→d+γ is dominated by a ΔI=1, 3S1-3P1 parity-odd transition amplitude in the n-p system. The first phase of the measurement was completed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center spallation source (LANSCE), with the result Aγ=[-1.2±2.1 (stat.)±0.2 (sys.)]×10-7. We also report the first measurement of an upper limit for the parity-allowed left-right asymmetry in this reaction, with the result Aγ,LR,=[-1.8±1.9 (stat.)±0.2 (sys.)]×10-7. In this paper we give a detailed report on the theoretical background, experimental setup, measurements, extraction of parity-odd and parity-allowed asymmetries, analysis of potential systematic effects, and LANSCE results. The asymmetry has an estimated size of 5×10-8 and the aim of the NPDGamma collaboration is to measure it to 1×10-8. The second phase of the measurement will be performed at the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]