Intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation ofFe52

Abstract

The nucleus $^{52}\mathrm{Fe}$ with $(N=Z=26)$ has been investigated using intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics. A reduced transition probability of $B(E2;{0}_{1}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{2}_{1}^{+})=817(102)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{e}^{2}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{fm}}^{4}$ to the first excited ${2}^{+}$ state at 849.0(5) keV was deduced. The increase in excitation strength $B(E2\ensuremath{\uparrow})$ with respect to the even-mass neighbor $^{54}\mathrm{Fe}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}\mathbf{(}B(E2\ensuremath{\uparrow})=620(50)\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{e}^{2}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{fm}}^{4}\mathbf{)}$ agrees with shell-model expectations as the magic number $N=28$ is approached. This measurement completes the systematics of reduced transition strengths to the first excited ${2}^{+}$ state for the even-even $N=Z$ nuclei up to mass $A=56$.