Linking the exotic structure of 17C to its unbound mirror 17Na

Abstract

The structure of 17 C is used to define a nuclear interaction that, when used in a multichannel algebraic scattering theory for the n + C 16 system, gives a credible definition of the (compound) excitation spectra. When couplings to the low-lying collective excitations of the 16 C-core are taken into account, both sub-threshold and resonant states about the n + C 16 threshold are found. Adding Coulomb potentials to that nuclear interaction, the method is used for the mirror system of p + Ne 16 to specify the low excitation spectrum of the particle unstable 17 Na. We compare the results with those of a microscopic cluster model. A spectrum of low excitation resonant states in 17 Na is found with some differences to that given by the microscopic cluster model. The calculated resonance half-widths (for proton emission) range from ∼2 to ∼ 672 keV .