Search

An analysis of the α + core properties of 104Te along with a global discussion on the α-cluster structure above the double-shell closures is presented from the viewpoint of the local potential model. The α + core interaction is described by a nuclear potential of (1 + Gaussian)×(W.S. + W.S.3) shape with two free parameters, which has been successfully tested in nuclei of different mass regions. The model produces Q α values and α-decay half-lives for 104Te in agreement with the 2018 experimental data of Auranen et al. in the energy range 5.13 MeV Q α 5.3 MeV using an α preformation factor P α = 1 . The comparison of the calculated reduced α-widths for the ground state bands of 104Te, 94Mo and 212Po indicates that 104Te has an α-cluster degree significantly higher than 94Mo and much higher than 212Po. These results point to 104Te as a preferential nucleus for α-clustering in the N , Z = 50 region and corroborate the statement on the superallowed α-decay in 104Te.

The40Ca(18O,18F)40K single charge exchange (SCE) reaction is explored at an incident energy of 275 MeV and analyzed consistently by collecting the elastic scattering and inelastic scattering data under the same experimental conditions. Full quantum-mechanical SCE calculations of the direct mechanism are performed by including microscopic nuclear structure inputs and adopting either a bare optical potential or a coupled channel equivalent polarization potential (CCEP) constrained by the elastic and inelastic data. The direct SCE mechanism describes the magnitude and shape of the angular distributions rather well, thus suggesting the suppression of sequential multi-nucleon transfer processes.

Background: Heavy-ion induced two-nucleon transfer reactions are powerful tools to reveal peculiar aspects of the atomic nucleus, such as pairing correlations, single-particle and collective degrees of freedom, and more. Also, these processes are in competition with the direct meson exchange in the double charge exchange reactions, which have recently attracted great interest due to their possible connection to neutrinoless double-beta decay. In this framework, the exploration of two-nucleon transfer reactions in the 20Ne+116Cd collision at energies above the Coulomb barrier is particularly relevant since the 116Cd nucleus is a candidate for the double-beta decay. Methods: We measured the excitation energy spectra and absolute cross sections for the two reactions using the MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer to detect the ejectiles. We performed direct coupled reaction channels and sequential distorted wave Born approximation calculations using the double folding S\~ao Paulo potential to model the initial and final state interactions. The spectroscopic amplitudes for two- and singleparticle transitions were derived by different nuclear structure approaches: microscopic large-scale shell model, interacting boson model-2 and quasiparticle random phase approximation. Results: The calculations are able to reproduce the experimental cross sections for both two-neutron and twoproton transfer reactions. The role of couplings with the inelastic channels are found to be important in the two-proton transfer case. A competition between the direct and the sequential process is found in the reaction mechanism. For the two-proton transfer case, the inclusion of the 1g7/2 and 2d5/2 orbitals in the model space is crucial.

An updated overview of recent results on Heavy-Ion induced reactions of interest for neutrinoless double beta decay is reported in the framework of the NUMEN project. The NUMEN idea is to study heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions with the aim to get information on the nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double beta (0νββ) decay. Moreover, to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half- life of 0νββ decay, the knowledge of the nuclear matrix elements is a crucial aspect. Uma visão geral atualizada dos resultados recentes sobre reações induzidas por íons pesados ​​de interesse para o decaimento beta duplo sem neutrinos é relatada na estrutura do projeto NUMEN. A ideia do NUMEN é estudar reações de Double Charge Exchange (DCE) induzidas por íons pesados ​​com o objetivo de obter informações sobre os elementos da matriz nuclear para o decaimento beta duplo sem neutrinos (0νββ). Além disso, para inferir as massas médias dos neutrinos a partir da possível medição da meia-vida do decaimento 0νββ, o conhecimento dos elementos da matriz nuclear é um aspecto crucial. 1308 012002

International audience; New experimental measurements of charge state distributions produced by a 20Ne10+ beam at 15 MeV/u colliding on various thin solid targets are presented. The useof the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer enabled measurements of the 8+ charge state down to fractions of a few 10−5. The use of different post-stripper foils locateddownstream of the main target is explored, showing that low Z materials are particularly effective to shift the charge state distributions towards fully strippedconditions. The dependence on the foil thickness is also studied and discussed.

The MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer is nowadays used in the experimental measurements of rare quasi-elastic reactions between heavy ions at intermediate energy within the NUMEN project. The small cross sections involved in such processes under the large yields due to competitive reaction channels have motivated an accurate control of the background sources. In such view, the not ideal particle identification could introduce spurious contributions which have been identified and evaluated in the present analysis.

The MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer is used in the experimental measurements of Double Charge Exchange and Multi-Nucleon Transfer reactions induced by heavy ions within the NUMEN project. These processes are characterized by small cross sections under a large background due to other reaction channels. Therefore an accurate control of the signal to background ratio is mandatory. In this article, the determination of the MAGNEX spectrometer background contribution on cross section measurements is presented by applying a suitable analysis to quantify the limits of the adopted particle identification technique. The method is discussed considering the 116Cd(20Ne, 20O)116Sn Double Charge Exchange reaction data, however it can be applied to any other reaction channel of interest.

International audience; NUMEN aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by high-accuracy measurements of the cross sections of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions. First evidence about the possibility to get quantitative information about NME from experiments is found for the (^18O,^18Ne) and (^20Ne,^20O) reactions. Moreover, to infer the neutrino average masses from the possible measurement of the half-life of 0νββ decay, the knowledge of the NME is a crucial aspect. The key tools for this project are the high resolution Superconducting Cyclotron beams and the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud in Catania (Italy). The measured cross sections are extremely low, limiting the present exploration to few selected isotopes of interest in the context of typically low-yield experimental runs. A major upgrade of the LNS facility is foreseen in order to increase the experimental yield of at least two orders of magnitude, thus making feasible a systematic study of all the cases of interest.

International audience; The article describes the main achievements of the NUMEN project together with an updated and detailed overview of the related R&D activities and theoretical developments. NUMEN proposes an innovative technique to access the nuclear matrix elements entering the expression of the lifetime of the double beta decay by cross section measurements of heavy-ion induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions. Despite the fact that the two processes, namely neutrinoless double beta decay and DCE reactions, are triggered by the weak and strong interaction respectively, important analogies are suggested. The basic point is the coincidence of the initial and final state many-body wave functions in the two types of processes and the formal similarity of the transition operators. First experimental results obtained at the INFN-LNS laboratory for the$^{40}$Ca($^{18}$O,$^{18}$Ne)$^{40}$Ar reaction at 270MeV give an encouraging indication on the capability of the proposed technique to access relevant quantitative information. The main experimental tools for this project are the K800 Superconducting Cyclotron and MAGNEX spectrometer. The former is used for the acceleration of the required high resolution and low emittance heavy-ion beams and the latter is the large acceptance magnetic spectrometer for the detection of the ejectiles. The use of the high-order trajectory reconstruction technique, implemented in MAGNEX, allows to reach the experimental resolution and sensitivity required for the accurate measurement of the DCE cross sections at forward angles. However, the tiny values of such cross sections and the resolution requirements demand beam intensities much larger than those manageable with the present facility. The on-going upgrade of the INFN-LNS facilities in this perspective is part of the NUMEN project and will be discussed in the article.

The NUMEN project aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by high-accuracy measurements of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reaction cross sections. In particular, the (18O,18Ne) and (20Ne,20O) reactions are used as tools for β+β+ and β−β− decays, respectively. In the experiments, performed at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, the beams are accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) and the reaction ejectiles are detected the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. The measured cross sections are challengingly low (a few nb), being the total reaction cross section much larger (a few b), thus a high sensitivity and a large rejection capability are demanded to the experimental set-up. This limits the present exploration to few selected isotopes of interest in the context of typically low-yield experimental runs. A major upgrade of the LNS facility is foreseen in order to increase the experimental yield of at least two orders of magnitude, still keeping the high sensitivity of the present set-up, making it feasible a systematic study of all the cases of interest. Frontiers technologies are going to be developed, to this purpose, for the accelerator and the detection systems. In parallel, advanced theoretical models are being developed in order to extract the nuclear structure information from the measured cross sections.

The aim of the NUMEN project is to access the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME), involved in the half life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ), by measuring the cross sections of Heavy Ions (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reactions with high accuracy. First evidence of the possibility to get quantitative information about NME from experiments is shown in the reaction 40Ca(18O,18Ne)40Ar at 270 MeV, performed with MAGNEX spectrometer using Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) beams at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania. Preliminary tests on 116Sn and 116Cd target are already performed. High beam intensity is the new frontiers for these studies.

The unstable nuclei 62Ge and 64Ge are analyzed in terms of the α + core structure applying a nuclear potential with (1 + Gaussian)×(W.S. + W.S.3) shape. The ground state bands of 62Ge and 64Ge and first negative parity band of 64Ge are calculated and compared with experimental data. The calculated 64Ge ground state band gives a good account of the experimental energies from 0+ to 8+ state. The rms intercluster separations and B(E2) transition rates are obtained for the 64Ge ground state band and a discussion is presented.

The present work analyzes the α + core structure in 104Te using the local potential model. The α + core interaction is described by a nuclear potential of (1 + Gaussian)×(W.S. + W.S.3) shape. The energy levels, total α widths and rms intercluster separations are determined for the ground state band and compared with a previous calculation which uses a double-folding potential. The two potential forms produce similar spectra between the 0+ and 14+ states. The antistretching effect is predicted for the 104Te ground state band, as is observed in previous α + core calculations in intermediate mass nuclei. An α-decay half-life T1/2,α ≈ 3 ns is predicted for 104Te in the α-decay energy Qα ≈ 5.36 MeV using an α preformation factor P = 1. The calculated T1/2,α value is compatible with the recently reported experimental result on α-decay of 104Te.

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0v\b{eta}\b{eta}) is considered the best potential resource to access the absolute neutrino mass scale. Moreover, if observed, it will signal that neutrinos are their own anti-particles (Majorana particles). Presently, this physics case is one of the most important research "beyond Standard Model" and might guide the way towards a Grand Unified Theory of fundamental interactions. Since the 0v\b{eta}\b{eta} decay process involves nuclei, its analysis necessarily implies nuclear structure issues. In the NURE project, supported by a Starting Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), nuclear reactions of double charge-exchange (DCE) are used as a tool to extract information on the 0v\b{eta}\b{eta} Nuclear Matrix Elements. In DCE reactions and \b{eta}\b{eta} decay indeed the initial and final nuclear states are the same and the transition operators have similar structure. Thus the measurement of the DCE absolute cross-sections can give crucial information on \b{eta}\b{eta} matrix elements. In a wider view, the NUMEN international collaboration plans a major upgrade of the INFN-LNS facilities in the next years in order to increase the experimental production of nuclei of at least two orders of magnitude, thus making feasible a systematic study of all the cases of interest as candidates for 0v\b{eta}\b{eta}.

The MAGNEX large-acceptance spectrometer has been commissioned with beams from the Tandem accelerator at INFN-LNS Catania. The optics were tested with elastically-scattered 7Li, 16O and 48Ti beams with various apertures mounted after the target. The momentum dispersion was verified to be in agreement with the optics calculations. A demonstration of the particle identification capabilities of the PSD start detector and the focal plane detector was given by a measurement of the 27Al(7Li,6Li)28Al transfer reaction at a mean angle of 25°. The measured charge state distribution of 48Ti ions is in agreement with predictions for a gold stripping foil. Preliminary results of the software reconstruction of incident angle and excitation energy, obtained through matrices based on a 3D-interpolation of the measured field maps, are encouraging.

Angular distributions for the inelastic scattering of 13.0 MeV deuterons on 104;106;108;110Pd were measured with the Sao Paulo Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility in the range of 12(0) < thetalab < 64(0). A Coulomb-Nuclear Interference analysis, employing the Distorted Wave Born Approximation with the Deformed Optical Model as transition potential, under well established global optical parameters, was applied to the first quadrupolar excitations. The values of C = / , the ratio of charge to isoscalar deformation lengths, and of ()² were extracted through the comparison of experimental and predicted cross section angular distributions. The ratios of reduced charge to isoscalar transition probabilities, B(EL) to B(ISL) respectively, are related to the square of the parameter C and were thus obtained with the advantage of scale uncertainties cancellation. For 104Pd, and preliminary for 108Pd, the respective values of C = 1.18(3) and C = 1.13(4) reveal an enhanced contribution of the protons relative to the neutrons to the excitation, while a smaller effect is found for 106Pd, C = 1.06(3) and for 110Pd, C = 1.07(3), in comparison with the value C = 1.00 expected for homogenous collective excitations.

One neutron stripping and pick-up results obtained in Sao Paulo with good energy resolution show that levels interpreted in previous works as two-phonon and three-phonon states in 100Ru are excited with considerable intensity through predominantly direct one-step single neutron transfers. Furthermore, a comparative analysis of excitation energy values obtained in recent experiments, including the present results, with previous ones shows that there are at least 4 spurious levels in the adopted 100Ru level scheme below 2.5 MeV. Several levels seen in recent gamma work are here confirmed and three new ones indicated below 3.2 MeV of excitation energy.

The main purpose of the present work is the investigation of the α-cluster phenomenon in 16 O. The 12 C( 6 Li,d) 16 O reaction was measured at a bombarding energy of 25.5 MeV employing the Sao Paulo Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility and the nuclear emulsion detection technique. Resonant states around 4α threshold were measured and an energy resolution of 15 keV allows to define states previously unresolved. The angular distributions of the absolute cross sections were determined in a range of 4-40 degree in the center of mass system. The upper limit for the resonance widths was obtained, indicating that the α cluster structure information in this region should be revised.

Background: Resonances around $x\ensuremath{\alpha}$ thresholds in light nuclei are recognized to be important in basic aspects of nuclear structure. However, there is scarce experimental information associated with them.Purpose: We study the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-clustering phenomenon in resonant states around the $4\ensuremath{\alpha}$ threshold (14.44 MeV) in the ${}^{16}\text{O}$ nucleus.Method: The ${}^{12}\text{C}{(}^{6}\text{Li},d){}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction was investigated with an unprecedented resolution at a bombarding energy of 25.5 MeV by employing the S\~ao Paulo Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility and the nuclear emulsion technique.Results: Several narrow resonances were populated and the energy resolution of 15 keV allows for the separation of doublet states that were not resolved previously. The upper limits for the resonance widths in this region were extracted. The angular distributions of the absolute differential cross section associated with four natural parity quasibound states are presented and compared to distorted wave Born approximation predictions.Conclusions: Narrow resonances not previously reported in the literature were observed. This indicates that the $\ensuremath{\alpha}$-cluster structure information in this region should be revised.

The 9Be(6Li,d)13C and 12,13C(6Li,d)16,17O reactions were measured at the Sao Paulo Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility at 25.5 MeV incident energy. The nuclear emulsion detection technique was applied. Several narrow resonances were populated up to approximately 17 MeV of excitation energy. An excellent energy resolution was obtained: 40 keV for 13C and 15-30 keV for 16O. The upper limit for the resonance widths were determined. Recently, d-a angular correlations were measured at θd = 0° with incident energy of 25 MeV using the LNS Tandem-MAGNEX Spectrometer facility.

Several narrow alpha resonant 16O states were detected through the 12C(6Li,d) reaction, in the range of 13.5 to 17.5 MeV of excitation energy. The reaction was measured at a bombarding energy of 25.5 MeV employing the Sao Paulo Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility and the nuclear emulsion technique. Experimental angular distributions associated with natural parity quasi-bound states around the 4α threshold are presented and compared to DWBA predictions. The upper limit for the resonance widths obtained is near the energy resolution (15 keV).

Information collected in the present high resolution study of 104Pd(d,t)103Pd is interpreted within the systematics of the A ~ 100 region. The paper complements data previously presented by the S.Paulo Group, which were taken with the Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility. A one-to-one correspondence to gamma ray results for 103Pd, collected by the Nuclear Data Sheets (NDS), was achieved and at least four open questions were settled. More reliable spectroscopic strengths were extracted in the present study.

Low-lying levels of 103Pd have been investigated through the (d,t) reaction on 104Pd, at an incident deuteron energy of 15.0 MeV. Outgoing particles were momentum analyzed by an Enge magnetic spectrograph and detected in nuclear emulsion plates, with an energy resolution of 8 keV. Previous (d,t) work suffered from a much worse resolution than that here achieved. A partial analysis of the data obtained is reported, referring to six out of the fourteen scattering angles for which data were obtained. Angular distributions associated with eight of the thirteen levels seen up to 1.1 MeV of excitation have been compared to DWBA one-neutron pick-up predictions. Both, the attributed excitation energy values and the transferred angular momenta are in excellent agreement with the results of other kind of experiments, as tabulated by the Nuclear Data Sheets. Some peculiar structure characteristics, associated with the yrast 5/2+, 3/2+ and 7/2+ states found in the Ru chain could be recognized also in 103Pd, pointing to the possibility of a more global understanding of this transitional mass region.

Taking {sup 94}Mo(d,d{sup {prime}}){sup 94}Mo(2{sub 1}{sup +}) at 13.2 MeV incident energy as an example, a discussion is made about the influence of known experimental uncertainties in the primary data on the precision of the B(E2) and B(IS2) values, extracted in Coulomb-nuclear interference (CNI) measurements in a correlated way. The reflexes of judicious variations of three optical model parameters (around the global prescription) on the extracted values are also examined. The good quality of the data obtained with the S. Paulo Pelletron-Enge-Spectrograph facility is shown to allow for a 2{endash}3{percent} statistical uncertainty level for these quantities, within a distorted-wave Born approximation-deformed optical model approach. The accuracy of relative values of the ratio B(E2)/B(IS2), which may be linked to the ratio of proton to neutron quadrupole moments, is argued to be of similar order. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}

A systematic study of the response of different nuclei to the (18O,16O) two-neutron transfer reaction at 84 MeV incident energy was pursued at the INFN-LNS in Catania (Italy).The experiments were performed using several solid targets from light (9Be, 11B, 12,13C, 16O, 28Si) to heavier ones (58,64Ni, 120Sn, 208Pb). The 16O ejectiles were detected at forward angles by the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer and identified without the need of time of flight measurements. Exploiting the large momentum (≈ 25%) and angular (50 msr) acceptance of the spectrometer, energy spectra were obtained with a relevant yield up to about 20 MeV excitation energy.A common feature of the light nuclei spectra is the strong population of states with well known configuration of two-particle over a core and the appearance of unknown resonant structures in the continuum. These latter can reveal the excitation of a collective mode connected with the transfer of a pair.For the heavier nuclei as 66Ni a completely different behaviour is observed indicating the presence of more dissipative processes in the reaction mechanisms that hide the spectroscopic information.

Coulomb-nuclear interference data for incident energies between 9 and 17 MeV were obtained in the form of elastic and inelastic (to the ${2}_{1}^{+}$ states) excitation functions of backscattered (\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\simeq}172.8\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}) alpha particles on $^{100,102,104}\mathrm{Ru}$. The analysis was done in a distorted-wave Born approximation within a deformed optical model approach. B(E2) values, obtained from the charge deformation lengths ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}^{\mathit{C}}$ extracted from the low energy data, are compatible for the three isotopes within \ensuremath{\sim} 2\ensuremath{\sigma} with published values. The nuclear quadrupolar deformation lengths ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}^{\mathit{N}}$, obtained from the analysis of the interference region of the excitation functions, and also of one angular distribution at 22 MeV measured for $^{100}\mathrm{Ru}$ are generally lower than the corresponding charge deformation lengths, the difference increasing with increasing A of the isotope, ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}^{\mathit{N}}$ being 18% lower than ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}^{\mathit{C}}$ for $^{104}\mathrm{Ru}$ (${2}_{1}^{+}$). Nuclear deformation lengths associated with the ${3}_{1}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}}$ states of $^{100,102,104}\mathrm{Ru}$ and with the ${4}_{2}^{+}$ state of $^{100}\mathrm{Ru}$ at 2.367 MeV were also obtained as a by-product of the present work. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.

Alpha resonant states in 13 C up to 15 MeV were excited by the 9 Be (6 Li , d )13 C reaction. The data were taken at a bombarding energy of 25.5 MeV employing the São Paulo-Pelletron-Enge Split Pole facility and the nuclear emulsion technique. The resolution of 50 keV allowed for the separation of the resonant contributions to the known 7/2- and (5/2-) states near the 9 Be + α threshold both associated with an L = 4 transfer. Several narrow alpha resonant states not previously measured were detected, in particular the one at the 3α + n threshold populated by an L = 2 transfer, revealing a 9Be + α component for the 1/2- cluster state candidate at this threshold.

Angular distribution for the inelastic scattering of 28 MeV 6Li on 76Ge was measured using the Sao Paulo PelletronEngeSplit-pole Spectrograph facility. The coulomb-nuclear interference (CNI) analysis was applied to the first quadrupole state transition. The values of CL = δCL/δNL, the ratio of charge to isoscalardeformation lengths, and of (δNL02 were extracted through the comparison of experimental and DWBA-DOMP predicted cross section. The ratio of reduced charge to isoscalartransition probabilities, B(EL) to B(ISL) respectively, are related to the square of the parameter CL and were thus obtained with the advantage of scale uncertainties cancellation. The value of C2 = 1.10(2) obtained indicate a slight predominance of the protons relative to the neutrons for 76Ge.

Ratios of $B(E2)$ to $B(IS2)$, that is, of the reduced quadrupole transition probabilities related, respectively, to charge and mass were extracted through Coulomb-nuclear interference (CNI) for the excitation of the ${2}_{1}^{+}$ states in $^{70,72,74}\mathrm{Ge}$, with a relative accuracy of less than 4%. For this purpose, the CNI angular distributions associated with the inelastic scattering of 28-MeV incident $^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ ions accelerated by the S\~ao Paulo Pelletron, and momentum analyzed by the Enge magnetic spectrograph were interpreted within the DWBA-DOMP approach (distorted wave approximation for the scattering process and deformed optical model for the structure representation) with global $^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ optical parameters. The present CNI results demonstrate an abrupt change in the $B(E2)/B(IS2)$ ratio for $^{74}\mathrm{Ge}$: although for $^{70,72}\mathrm{Ge}$, values of the order of 1.0 or slightly higher were obtained, this ratio is 0.66 (7) for $^{74}\mathrm{Ge}$. The heavier Ge isotope is thus one of the few nuclei that, so far, have been shown to present clear mixed symmetry components in their ground-state band.

The study of the odd 99;101Ru nuclei complements the investigation of the collectivity of the first quadrupolar excitations in 100;102;104Ru. Angular distributions for the 99;101Ru(d, d') reactions at 13 MeV were obtained in the Pelletron Laboratory using nuclear emulsion plates on the focal plane of the Enge spectrograph. A Coulomb-Nuclar Interference analysis employing DWBA-DOMP predictions with global optical potential parameters was applied to the excitation of states which could belong to the multiplet built on the first quadrupolar excitation of the core. In the analysis, three states were identified for each of the isotopes and associated, respectively, with adopted levels in the Nuclear Data Sheets Compilation of Jpi= 5=2+, 7=2+ and 9=2+. Through the comparison of experimental and predicted cross section angular distributions, the values of ()² and of the ratio C = / were obtained.

A systematic, high resolution (6--8 keV) study of ([ital d],[ital t]) reactions on [sup 100,102,104]Ru is reported. Spectroscopic factors were extracted by comparison of experimental angular distributions with distorted wave Born approximation predictions. All of the information for [sup 99]Ru and, for excitation energies above 0.9 MeV, for [sup 103]Ru is new. Most of the strength expected for the 50--82 neutron shell was found. The strength distributions are discussed, also in comparison with the corresponding stripping reactions. Special attention is focused on extremely low and relatively intense [ital l]=3 excitations and on the [ital l]=4 transfer pattern observed.

The /sup 91/Zr(d,d')/sup 91/Zr( reaction has been investigated at 17 MeV incident energy. Up to 4.8 MeV excitation, 73 levels, some of them new, were identified. Angular distributions associated to approx.40 levels were attributed to pure L = 2, 3, or 5 excitations, concentrated in energy regions where the /sup 90/Zr core exhibits 2/sup +/, 3/sup -/, and 5/sup -/ states. The partial deformation parameters ..beta../sub L//sup prime/ obtained show agreement with those from low energy proton scattering for L = 2, but there is a systematic difference for L = 3 and L = 5, which is discussed. Attention is drawn to the high excitation probability of the first excited state of /sup 91/Zr, as measured by the ..beta../sub 2/approx. =0.18 value obtained, a factor of approx.2 above all other values for nuclei with A = 90 +- 2.

Levels in /sup 92/Zr were studied by a high resolution (d,p) reaction on /sup 91/Zr. Outgoing particles were momentum analyzed in a split-pole spectrograph and detected in nuclear emulsion plates. A total of 64 levels was identified up to about 5.4 MeV of excitation, several of them not previously reported. Experimental angular distributions were compared to distorted-wave Born-approximation predictions and reduced spectroscopic factors obtained. Energies of centers of gravity of each shell-model orbital were deduced and effective (d/sub 5/2/)/sup 2/ and (s/sub 1/2/d/sub 5/2/) neutron-neutron two-body diagonal matrix elements were estimated.

Energy levels of /sup 101/Ru have been studied by the /sup 100/Ru(d,p)/sup 101/Ru reaction at an incident deuteron energy of 12 MeV. Outgoing particles were momentum analyzed by a magnetic spectrograph and detected in nuclear emulsion plates, with an energy resolution of 7.5 keV. A total of 68 levels up to 3.2 MeV excitation energy was identified, about two-thirds of them reported for the first time. Experimental angular distributions were compared to distorted-wave Born approximation predictions and reduced spectroscopic factors obtained. The total l = 2 and 75% of l = 0, 4, and 5 spectroscopic strengths were located. Attention is drawn to transitions to low-lying states in /sup 101/Ru (below E/sub exc/ = 0.75 MeV) with l = 3 and l = 1 character.

The spectroscopic factors of the negative-parity multiplet states 7 2 − 1 , 9 2 − 1 , 11 2 − 2 , 13 2 − 1 and 15 2 − 1 in odd Sn isotopes are calculated by including leading-order scattering and ground-state correlation processes. It is shown that ground-state correlations play an important role for the spectroscopic factors of the 7 2 − 1 and 11 − 2 states. The theoretical results are in good agreement with the available experimental data.

Energy levels in 119 Sn up to 4.75 MeV excitation have been studied with the 118 Sn(d, p) 119 Sn reaction at an incident deuteron energy of 17 MeV. The scattered particles were analysed by a magnetic spectrograph and detected in nuclear emulsions with a resolution of ≈ 9 keV. Seventyseven energy levels were identified. Angular distributions were compared to DWBA predictions allowing the identification of transferred angular momenta and the determination of spectroscopic factors for 49 states. The results obtained are compared with pairing theory and the weakcoupling model.

Attention is drawn to the strong collective {ital L}=4 direct excitation of the state at 2.367 MeV in {sup 100}Ru by inelastic scattering of 16 MeV protons characterized by a deformation parameter {beta}{sub 4}=0.10, one of the highest reported for any region of the mass table.

Neutrinoless double beta decay (0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta}) is considered the best potential resource to determine the absolute neutrino mass scale. Moreover, if observed, it will signal that the total lepton number is not conserved and neutrinos are their own anti-particles. Presently, this physics case is one of the most important research beyond Standard Model and might guide the way towards a Grand Unified Theory of fundamental interactions. Since the \b{eta}\b{eta} decay process involves nuclei, its analysis necessarily implies nuclear structure issues. The 0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta} decay rate can be expressed as a product of independent factors: the phase-space factors, the nuclear matrix elements (NME) and a function of the masses of the neutrino species. Thus the knowledge of the NME can give information on the neutrino mass scale, if the 0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta} decay rate is measured. In the NURE project, supported by a Starting Grant of the European Research Council, nuclear reactions of double charge-exchange (DCE) will be used as a tool to extract information on the \b{eta}\b{eta} NME. In DCE reactions and \b{eta}\b{eta} decay, the initial and final nuclear states are the same and the transition operators have similar structure. Thus the measurement of the DCE absolute crosssections can give crucial information on \b{eta}\b{eta} matrix elements., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2001.09657; text overlap with arXiv:2001.09648

Neutrinoless double beta decay of nuclei, if observed, would have important implications on fundamental physics. In particular it would give access to the effective neutrino mass. In order to extract such information from 0νββ decay half-life measurements, the knowledge of the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) is of utmost importance. In this context the NUMEN and the NURE projects aim to extract information on the NME by measuring cross sections of Double Charge Exchange reactions in selected systems which are expected to spontaneously decay via 0νββ. In this work an overview of the experimental challenges that NUMEN is facing in order to perform the experiments with accelerated beams and the research and development activity for the planned upgrade of the INFN-LNS facilities is reported.

The NUMEN project aims at accessing experimentally driven information on Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) involved in the half-life of the neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ). In this view measurements of Heavy Ion (HI) induced Double Charge Exchange (DCE) reaction cross sections are performed with high-accuracy. In particular, the (18O,18Ne) and (20Ne,20O) reactions are used as tools for β+β+ and β-β- decays, respectively. In the experiments, performed at INFN - Laboratory Nazionali del Sud (LNS) in Catania, the beams are accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) and the reaction ejectiles are detected the MAGNEX magnetic spectrometer. The measured cross sections are challengingly low (a few nb), being the total reaction cross section much larger (a few b), thus a high sensitivity and a large rejection capability are demanded to the experimental set-up. This limits the present exploration to few selected isotopes of interest in the context of typically low-yield experimental runs. A major upgrade of the LNS facility is under way in order to increase the experimental dataset of more than two orders of magnitude, still preserving the high sensitivity of the present set-up. When accomplished this effort will make the INFN-LNS as the state-of-the-art research infrastructure for the systematic study of all the cases of interest for 0νββ. In this view, frontiers technologies are going to be adopted for the accelerator and the detection systems. In parallel, advanced theoretical models are being developed in order to extract the nuclear structure information from the measured cross sections.