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We have performed the first direct measurement of the 83Rb(p,g) radiative capture reaction cross section in inverse kinematics using a radioactive beam of 83Rb at incident energies of 2.4 and 2.7 A MeV. The measured cross section at an effective relative kinetic energy of Ecm = 2.393 MeV, which lies within the relevant energy window for core collapse supernovae, is smaller than the prediction of statistical model calculations. This leads to the abundance of 84Sr produced in the astrophysical p process being higher than previously calculated. Moreover, the discrepancy of the present data with theoretical predictions indicates that further experimental investigation of p-process reactions involving unstable projectiles is clearly warranted., 6 pages, 4 figures, published in Physical Review Letters

Employing the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyzer and the implantation-decay-decay correlation technique, a weak 0.50(21)% proton decay branch was identified in 108I for the first time. The 108I proton-decay width is consistent with a hindered l = 2 emission, suggesting a d 5 2 origin. Using the extracted 108I proton-decay Q value of 597(13) keV, and the Q α values of the 108I and 107Te isotopes, a proton-decay Q value of 510(20) keV for 104Sb was deduced. Similarly to the 112,113Cs proton-emitter pair, the Q p ( I 108 ) value is lower than that for the less-exotic neighbor 109I, possibly due to enhanced proton-neutron interactions in N ≈ Z nuclei. In contrast, the present Q p ( Sb 104 ) is higher than that of 105Sb, suggesting a weaker interaction energy. For the present Q p ( Sb 104 ) value, network calculations with the one-zone X-ray burst model Mazzocchi et al. (2007) [18] predict no significant branching into the Sn-Sb-Te cycle at 103Sn.

The astrophysical s-process is one of the two main processes forming elements heavier than iron. A key outstanding uncertainty surrounding s-process nucleosynthesis is the neutron flux generated by the Ne 22 ( α , n ) 25 Mg reaction during the He-core and C-shell burning phases of massive stars. This reaction, as well as the competing Ne 22 ( α , γ ) 26 Mg reaction, is not well constrained in the important temperature regime from ∼0.2–0.4 GK, owing to uncertainties in the nuclear properties of resonances lying within the Gamow window. To address these uncertainties, we have performed a new measurement of the Ne 22 ( Li 6 , d ) 26 Mg reaction in inverse kinematics, detecting the outgoing deuterons and Mg 25 , 26 recoils in coincidence. We have established a new n / γ decay branching ratio of 1.14 ( 26 ) for the key E x = 11.32 MeV resonance in Mg 26 , which results in a new ( α , n ) strength for this resonance of 42 ( 11 ) μ eV when combined with the well-established ( α , γ ) strength of this resonance. We have also determined new upper limits on the α partial widths of neutron-unbound resonances at E x = 11.112 , 11.163, 11.169, and 11.171 MeV. Monte-Carlo calculations of the stellar Ne 22 ( α , n ) 25 Mg and Ne 22 ( α , γ ) 26 Mg rates, which incorporate these results, indicate that both rates are substantially lower than previously thought in the temperature range from ∼0.2–0.4 GK.

We report on the measurement of lifetimes of excited states in the near-mid-shell nuclei Dy164,166 using the gamma-ray coincidence fast-timing method. The nuclei of interest were populated using reactions between an O18 beam and a gold-backed isotopically enriched Dy164 target of thickness 6.3mg/cm2 at primary beam energies of 71, 76, and 80 MeV from the IPN-Orsay laboratory, France. Excited states were populated in Dy164, Dy166, and W178,179 following Coulomb excitation, inelastic nuclear scattering, two-neutron transfer, and fusion-evaporation reaction channels respectively. Gamma rays from excited states were measured using the ν-Ball high-purity germanium (HPGe)-LaBr3 hybrid γ-ray spectrometer with the excited state lifetimes extracted using the fast-timing coincidence method using HPGe-gated LaBr3-LaBr3 triple coincident events. The lifetime of the first Iπ=2+ excited state in Dy166 was used to determine the transition quadrupole deformation of this neutron-rich nucleus for the first time. The experimental methodology was validated by showing consistency with previously determined excited state lifetimes in Dy164. The half-lives of the yrast 2+ states in Dy164 and Dy166 were 2.35(6) and 2.3(2) ns, respectively, corresponding to transition quadrupole moment values of Q0=7.58(9) and 7.5(4) eb, respectively. The lifetime of the yrast 2+ state in Dy166 is consistent with a quenching of nuclear quadrupole deformation at β≈0.35 as the N=104 mid-shell is approached.

In-flight fission of a 345 MeV per nucleon 238U primary beam on a 2 mm thick 9Be target has been used to produce and study the decays of a range of neutron-rich nuclei centred around the doubly mid-shell nucleus 170Dy at the RIBF Facility, RIKEN, Japan. The produced secondary fragments of interest were identified eventby- event using the BigRIPS separator. The fragments were implanted into the WAS3ABI position sensitive silicon active stopper which allowed pixelated correlations between implants and their subsequent β-decay. Discrete γ-ray transitions emitted following decays from either metastable states or excited states populated following beta decay were identified using the 84 coaxial high-purity germanium (HPGe) detectors of the EURICA spectrometer, which was complemented by 18 additional cerium-doped lanthanum bromide (LaBr3)

The 12C + 12C fusion reaction plays a critical role in the evolution of massive stars and also strongly impacts various explosive astrophysical scenarios. The presence of resonances in this reaction at energies around and below the Coulomb barrier makes it impossible to carry out a simple extrapolation down to the Gamow window—the energy regime relevant to carbon burning in massive stars. The 12C + 12C system forms a unique laboratory for challenging the contemporary picture of deep sub-barrier fusion (possible sub-barrier hindrance) and its interplay with nuclear structure (sub-barrier resonances). Here, we show that direct measurements of the 12C + 12C fusion cross section may be made into the Gamow window using an advanced particle-gamma coincidence technique. The sensitivity of this technique effectively removes ambiguities in existing measurements made with gamma ray or charged-particle detection alone. The present cross-section data span over 8 orders of magnitude and support the fusion-hindrance model at deep sub-barrier energies.

The reaction of a pulsed 18O beam on a self-supporting and gold-backed isotopically-enriched 164Dy target of thickness 6.3 mg/cm2 at separate primary beam energies of 71, 76 and 80 MeV was studied at the accelerator at the ALTO facility of the IPN Orsay. The γ rays produced were detected using the newly-constructed ν-Ball spectrometer which comprised of HPGe and LaBr3(Ce) detectors. This conference paper describes the methodology and effectiveness of multiplicity/sum-energy gating, for channel selection between fusion evaporation events and lower multiplicity/energy events from inelastic nuclear scattering and Coulomb excitation of the target, and from two-neutron transfer reactions to 166Dy.

Background: Classical novae are cataclysmic nuclear explosions occurring when a white dwarf in a binary system accretes hydrogen-rich material from its companion star. Novae are partially responsible for the galactic synthesis of a variety of nuclides up to the calcium ( A ∼ 40 ) region of the nuclear chart. Although the structure and dynamics of novae are thought to be relatively well understood, the predicted abundances of elements near the nucleosynthesis endpoint, in particular Ar and Ca, appear to sometimes be in disagreement with astronomical observations of the spectra of nova ejecta. Purpose: One possible source of the discrepancies between model predictions and astronomical observations is nuclear reaction data. Most reaction rates near the nova endpoint are estimated only from statistical model calculations, which carry large uncertainties. For certain key reactions, these rate uncertainties translate into large uncertainties in nucleosynthesis predictions. In particular, the 38 K ( p , γ ) 39 Ca reaction has been identified as having a significant influence on Ar, K, and Ca production. In order to constrain the rate of this reaction, we have performed a direct measurement of the strengths of three candidate l = 0 resonances within the Gamow window for nova burning, at 386 ± 10 keV, 515 ± 10 keV, and 689 ± 10 keV. Method: The experiment was performed in inverse kinematics using a beam of unstable 38 K impinged on a windowless hydrogen gas target. The 39 Ca recoils and prompt γ rays from 38 K ( p , γ ) 39 Ca reactions were detected in coincidence using a recoil mass separator and a bismuth-germanate scintillator array, respectively. Results: For the 689 keV resonance, we observed a clear recoil- γ coincidence signal and extracted resonance strength and energy values of 120 + 50 − 30 ( stat . ) + 20 − 60 ( sys . ) meV and 679 + 2 − 1 ( stat . ) ± 1 ( sys . ) keV , respectively. We also performed a singles analysis of the recoil data alone, extracting a resonance strength of 120 ± 20 ( stat . ) ± 15 ( sys . ) meV, consistent with the coincidence result. For the 386 keV and 515 keV resonances, we extract 90 % confidence level upper limits of 2.54 meV and 18.4 meV, respectively. Conclusions: We have established a new recommended 38 K ( p , γ ) 39 Ca rate based on experimental information, which reduces overall uncertainties near the peak temperatures of nova burning by a factor of ∼ 250 . Using the rate obtained in this work in model calculations of the hottest oxygen-neon novae reduces overall uncertainties on Ar, K, and Ca synthesis to factors of 15 or less in all cases.

One of the most successful descriptions of the structure of atomic nuclei is the spherical shell model. It, however, becomes impractical when moving away from closed-shell nuclei. Instead, it is the interplay between the macroscopic shape degrees of freedom and the microscopic nature of the underlying single-particle structure in a deformed basis that determines the nuclear structure. Being the heaviest nucleus precisely in the middle of, known, closed proton and neutron shells, $^{170}$Dy has become a central calibration point for tests of collective models of nuclear physics. However, besides one candidate transition from a previous experiment in Legnaro, Italy, no experimental information is available for this nucleus. Using the EURICA setup at RIKEN, which couples the worlds highest intensity in-flight fission facility with a high-efficiency HPGe array, an experiment in November 2014 produced $^{170}$Dy nuclei by in-flight fission of a $^{238}$U beam. The results from this experiment provide a wealth of information on this elusive nucleus, including the evolution of quadrupole collectivity, rigidity and higher order deformations, as well as the long sought for isomeric $K=6^+$ state, predicted to be exceptionally pure at mid-shell. These results provide us with a rich level scheme for discussing both single-particle and collective structures at mid-shell.

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017. This short paper presents the identification of a metastable, isomeric-state decay in the neutron-rich odd-odd, prolate-deformed nucleus 166Tb. The nucleus of interest was formed using the in-flight fission of a 345 MeV per nucleon 238U primary beam at the RIBF facility, RIKEN, Japan. Gamma-ray transitions decaying from the observed isomeric states in 166Tb were identified using the EURICA gamma-ray spectrometer, positioned at the final focus of the BigRIPS fragments separator. The current work identifies a single discrete gamma-ray transition of energy 119 keV which de-excites an isomeric state in 166Tb with a measured half-life of 3.5(4) μs. The multipolarity assignment for this transition is an electric dipole and is made on the basis internal conversion and decay lifetime arguments. Possible two quasi-particle Nilsson configurations for the initial and final states which are linked by this transition in 166Tb are made on the basis of comparison with Blocked BCS Nilsson calculations, with the predicted ground state configuration for this nucleus arising from the coupling of the v(1-/2)[521] and π(3+/2) Nilsson orbitals. ispartof: EPJ Web of Conferences vol:146 ispartof: ND 2016: International Conference on Nuclear Data for Science and Technology location:Bruges, Belgium date:11 Sep - 16 Sep 2016 status: Published online

New, low-lying levels in the odd-odd, N=Z nucleus 62Ga have been identified using a sensitive technique, where in-beam γ rays from short-lived nuclei are tagged with β decays following recoil mass identification. A comparison of the results with shell-model and IBM-4 calculations demonstrates good agreement between theory and experiment, with the majority of predicted low-lying, low-spin T=0 states now identified. There is a dramatic change in the level density at low excitation energies for the N=Z nucleus 62Ga when compared with neighbouring odd-odd Ga isotopes where, in contrast, the low-lying level structure is dominated by configurations with T=1 pairing interactions between excess neutrons. This illustrates the distinctively different aspects of nuclear structure exhibited by nuclei with N=Z. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

International audience; Low energy fusion between light heavy-ions is a key feature of the evolution of massive stars. In systems of astrophysical interest, the process may be strongly affected by molecular configurations of the compound nucleus, leading to resonant S factors. In particular, the 12C+12C fusion reaction has been the object of numerous experimental investigations. The STELLA project has been developed to extend these investigations to lower energies towards the Gamow window.

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. It is planned to install the heavy-ion, low-energy ring TSR, currently at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, at the HIE-ISOLDE facility in CERN, Geneva. Such a facility will provide a capability for experiments with stored, cooled secondary beams that is rich and varied, spanning from studies of nuclear ground-state properties and reaction studies of astrophysical relevance, to investigations with highly-charged ions and pure isomeric beams. In addition to experiments performed using beams recirculating within the ring, the cooled beams can be extracted and exploited by external spectrometers for high-precision measurements. The capabilities of the ring facility as well as some physics cases will be presented, together with a brief report on the status of the project. ispartof: Nuclear Instruments & Methods in Physics Research B vol:376 pages:270-274 ispartof: location:Grand Rapids: MI status: published

Physics letters / B 747, 88 - 92 (2015). doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2015.04.055, Published by North-Holland Publ., Amsterdam

We present information on the excited states in the prolate-deformed, neutron-rich nuclei 165;167Tb100;102. The nuclei of interest were synthesised following in-flight fission of a 345 MeV per nucleon 238U primary beam on a 2 mm 9Be target at the Radioactive Ion-Beam Factory (RIBF), RIKEN, Japan. The exotic nuclei were separated and identified event-by-event using the BigRIPS separator, with discrete energy gamma-ray decays from isomeric states with half-lives in the s regime measured using the EURICA gamma-ray spectrometer. Metastable-state decays are identified in 165Tb and 167Tb and interpreted as arising from hindered E1 decay from the 7 2 [523] single quasi-proton Nilsson configuration to rotational states built on the 3 2 [411] single quasi-proton ground state. These data correspond to the first spectroscopic information in the heaviest, odd-A terbium isotopes reported to date and provide information on proton Nilsson configurations which reside close to the Fermi surface as the 170Dy doubly-midshell nucleus is approached.

We propose to install a storage ring at an ISOL-type radioactive beam facility for the first time. Specifically, we intend to setup the heavy-ion, low-energy ring TSR at the HIE-ISOLDE facility in CERN, Geneva. Such a facility will provide a capability for experiments with stored secondary beams that is unique in the world. The envisaged physics programme is rich and varied, spanning from investigations of nuclear ground-state properties and reaction studies of astrophysical relevance, to investigations with highly-charged ions and pure isomeric beams. The TSR might also be employed for removal of isobaric contaminants from stored ion beams and for systematic studies within the neutrino beam programme. In addition to experiments performed using beams recirculating within the ring, cooled beams can also be extracted and exploited by external spectrometers for high-precision measurements. The existing TSR, which is presently in operation at the Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, is well-suited and can be employed for this purpose. The physics cases as well as technical details of the existing ring facility and of the beam and infrastructure requirements at HIE-ISOLDE are discussed in the present technical design report. ispartof: European Physical Journal. Special Topics vol:207 issue:1 pages:1-117 status: published

Expérience GANIL E521aS/SPIRAL; International audience; The unbound nucleus $^{18}$Na, the intermediate nucleus in the two-proton radioactivity of $^{19}$Mg, was studied by the measurement of the resonant elastic scattering reaction $^{17}$Ne(p,$^{17}$Ne)p performed at 4 A.MeV. Spectroscopic properties of the low-lying states were obtained in a R-matrix analysis of the excitation function. Using these new results, we show that the lifetime of the $^{19}$Mg radioactivity can be understood assuming a sequential emission of two protons via low energy tails of $^{18}$Na resonances.

The yrast structure of 207Pb above the 13/2+ isomeric state has been investigated in deep-inelastic collisions of 208Pb and 208Pb at ATLAS, Argonne National Laboratory. New and previously observed transitions were measured using the Gammasphere detector array. The level scheme of 207Pb is presented up to ~ 6 MeV, built using coincidence and γ-ray intensity analyses. In addition, the spin and parity assignments of states were made, based on angular distributions and comparisons to shell model calculations.

In several radiative proton capture reactions important in novae and XRBs, the resonant parts play the capital role. We use decay spectroscopy techniques to find these resonances and study their properties. We have developed techniques to measure beta- and beta-delayed proton decay of sd-shell, proton-rich nuclei produced and separated with the MARS recoil spectrometer of Texas A&M University. The short-lived radioactive species are produced in-flight, separated, then slowed down (from about 40 MeV/u) and implanted in the middle of very thin Si detectors. This allows us to measure protons with energies as low as 200 keV from nuclei with lifetimes of 100 ms or less. At the same time we measure gamma-rays up to 8 MeV with high resolution HPGe detectors. We have studied the decay of 23Al, 27P, 31Cl, all important for understanding explosive H-burning in novae. The technique has shown a remarkable selectivity to beta-delayed charged-particle emission and works even at radioactive beam rates of a few pps. The states populated are resonances for the radiative proton capture reactions 22Na(p,γ)23Mg (crucial for the depletion of 22Na in novae), 26mAl(p,γ)27Si and 30P(p,γ)31S (bottleneck in novae and XRB burning), respectively. Lastly, results with a new detector that allowed us to measure down to about 80 keV proton energy are announced.