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A direct measurement of the ground-state-to-ground-state electron-capture decay $Q$ ($Q_{\rm EC}$) value of $^{97}$Tc has been conducted employing the high resolving power phase-imaging ion-cyclotron-resonance technique with the double Penning trap mass spectrometer JYFLTRAP. The resulting $Q_{\rm EC}$ value for $^{97}$Tc is 324.82(21) keV, exhibiting a precision approximately 19 times higher than the value adopted in the newest Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME2020) and differing by 1.2$\sigma$. Furthermore, by combining this refined $Q$ value with nuclear energy-level data for the decay-daughter $^{97}$Mo, a potential ultra-low Q-value transition, possibly of allowed type, $^{97}$Tc (9/2$^{+}$, ground state) $\rightarrow$ $^{97}$Mo$^{*}$ (320(1) keV), was evaluated for future long-term neutrino-mass determination experiments. The ground-state-to-excited-state electron-capture decay $Q$ value ($Q^{*}_{\rm EC}$) of this transition was determined to be 4.8(10) keV, confirming it to be energetically allowed with a confidence level of exceeding 4$\sigma$. The captures of electrons occupying the L and higher shells for this transition are energetically allowed, giving a value of 2.0(10) keV for the closest distance of $Q^{*}_{\rm EC}$ to the allowed binding energy of the L1 shell. To predict partial half-lives and energy-release distributions for this transition, the atomic self-consistent many-electron Dirac--Hartree--Fock--Slater method and the nuclear shell model have been employed. Dominant correction terms such as exchange and overlap corrections, as well as shake-up and shake-off effects, were included in the final results. Moreover, the normalized distribution of released energy in the electron-capture decay of $^{97}$Tc to excited states of $^{97}$Mo, is compared with that of $^{163}$Ho, which is being used for electron-neutrino-mass determination., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

A direct measurement of the ground-state-to-ground-state electron-capture decay $Q$ value of $^{95}$Tc has been performed utilizing the double Penning trap mass spectrometer JYFLTRAP. The $Q$ value was determined to be 1695.92(13) keV by taking advantage of the high resolving power of the phase-imaging ion-cyclotron-resonance technique to resolve the low-lying isomeric state of $^{95}$Tc (excitation energy of 38.910(40) keV) from the ground state. The mass excess of $^{95}$Tc was measured to be $-$86015.95(18) keV/c$^2$, exhibiting a precision of about 28 times higher and in agreement with the value from the newest Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME2020). Combined with the nuclear energy-level data for the decay-daughter $^{95}$Mo, two potential ultra-low $Q$-value transitions are identified for future long-term neutrino-mass determination experiments. The atomic self-consistent many-electron Dirac--Hartree--Fock--Slater method and the nuclear shell model have been used to predict the partial half-lives and energy-release distributions for the two transitions. The dominant correction terms related to those processes are considered, including the exchange and overlap corrections, and the shake-up and shake-off effects. The normalized distribution of the released energy in the electron-capture decay of $^{95}$Tc to excited states of $^{95}$Mo is compared to that of $^{163}$Ho currently being used for electron-neutrino-mass determination., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

High-precision mass measurements of exotic $^{95-97}$Ag isotopes close to the $N = Z$ line have been conducted with the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap mass spectrometer, with the silver ions produced using the recently commissioned inductively-heated hot cavity catcher laser ion source at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility. The atomic mass of $^{95}$Ag was directly determined for the first time. In addition, the atomic masses of $\beta$-decaying 2$^+$ and 8$^+$ states in $^{96}$Ag have been identified and measured for the first time, and the precision of the $^{97}$Ag mass has been improved. The newly measured masses, with a precision of $\approx$ 1 keV/c$^2$, have been used to investigate the $N =$ 50 neutron shell closure confirming it to be robust. Empirical shell-gap and pairing energies determined with the new ground-state mass data are compared with the state-of-the-art \textit{ab initio} calculations with various chiral effective field theory Hamiltonians. The precise determination of the excitation energy of the $^{96m}$Ag isomer in particular serves as a benchmark for \textit{ab initio} predictions of nuclear properties beyond the ground state, specifically for odd-odd nuclei situated in proximity to the proton dripline below $^{100}$Sn. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and configuration-interaction shell-model (CISM) calculations are compared with the experimental results. All theoretical approaches face challenges to reproduce the trend of nuclear ground-state properties in the silver isotopic chain across the $N =$50 neutron shell and toward the proton drip-line., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

In this paper we present the first high-resolution laser spectroscopy results obtained at the GISELE laser laboratory of the GANIL-SPIRAL2 facility, in preparation for the first experiments with the S$^3$-Low Energy Branch. Studies of neutron-deficient radioactive isotopes of erbium and tin represent the first physics cases to be studied at S$^3$. The measured isotope-shift and hyperfine structure data are presented for stable isotopes of these elements. The erbium isotopes were studied using the $4f^{12}6s^2$ $^3H_6 \rightarrow 4f^{12}(^3 H)6s6p$ $J = 5$ atomic transition (415 nm) and the tin isotopes were studied by the $5s^25p^2 (^3P_0) \rightarrow 5s^25p6s (^3P_1)$ atomic transition (286.4 nm), and are used as a benchmark of the laser setup. Additionally, the tin isotopes were studied by the $5s^25p6s (^3P_1) \rightarrow 5s^25p6p (^3P_2)$ atomic transition (811.6 nm), for which new isotope-shift data was obtained and the corresponding field-shift $F_{812}$ and mass-shift $M_{812}$ factors are presented.

The strength of the $N$ = 28 magic number in neutron-rich argon isotopes is examined through high-precision mass measurements of $^{46-48}$Ar, performed with the ISOLTRAP mass spectrometer at ISOLDE/CERN. The new mass values are up to 90 times more precise than previous measurements. While they suggest the persistence of the $N$ = 28 shell closure for argon, we show that this conclusion has to be nuanced in light of the wealth of spectroscopic data and theoretical investigations performed with the \emph{SDPF-U} phenomenological shell model interaction. Our results are also compared with \emph{ab initio} calculations using the Valence Space In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group and the Self-Consistent Green's Function approaches. Both calculations provide a very good account of mass systematics at and around $Z$ = 18 and, generally, a consistent description of the physics in this region. This combined analysis indicates that $^{46}$Ar is the transition between the closed-shell $^{48}$Ca and collective $^{44}$S., Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures