Atomic Mass Evaluation Research Articles

Precise Mass Measurements of A = 133 Isobars with the Canadian Penning Trap: Resolving the [formula omitted] anomaly at 133Te

We report precision mass measurements of 133Sb, 133g,mTe, and 133g,mI, produced at CARIBU at Argonne National Laboratory's ATLAS facility and measured using the Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer. These masses clarify an anomaly in the 133Te β-decay. The masses reported in the 2020 Atomic Mass Evaluation (M. Wang et al., 2021) produce Qβ−(133Te)=2920(6) keV; however, the highest-lying 133I level populated in this decay is observed at Ei=2935.83(15) keV, resulting in an anomalous Qβ−i=−16(6) keV. Our new measurements give Qβ−(Te133)=2934.8(11) keV, a factor of five more precise, yielding Qβi=−1.0(12) keV, a 3σ shift from the previous results. This resolves this anomaly, but indicates further anomalies in our understanding of the structure of this isotope.

Masses of transuranium nuclides measured with the PI-ICR technique at TRIGA-Trap

We have revisited the region of the actinides in the vicinity of the neutron number N=152 and conducted high-precision mass measurements using the newly implemented Phase-Imaging Ion-Cyclotron-Resonance (PI-ICR) technique. The masses of 244\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{244}$$\\end{document}Pu and 249\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{249}$$\\end{document}Cf were found to deviate by 5.4 and 2.9 combined sigmas, respectively, from our previous results published in 2014. This indicates the presence of systematic errors in the earlier measurements. Consequently, we decided to remeasure all the nuclides from our 2014 study, along with 248\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{248}$$\\end{document}Cm, to ensure accuracy and reliability. With our greatly improved apparatus, we have measured the masses of 244\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{244}$$\\end{document}Pu, 241\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{241}$$\\end{document}Am, 243\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{243}$$\\end{document}Am, 248\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{248}$$\\end{document}Cm, and 249\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{249}$$\\end{document}Cf, using 208\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{208}$$\\end{document}Pb and 238\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{238}$$\\end{document}U as mass references. The masses of these reference ions were recently determined with ultra-high precision at Pentatrap. Our results were implemented in the latest Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME), showing good consistency. The region related to the masses measured in this study, especially for isotopes near the N=152 deformed shell gap, is discussed in terms of two-neutron separation energies, first excited 2+\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^+$$\\end{document} energy levels and their differentials, as well as δVpn\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\delta V_{pn}$$\\end{document} values, the average proton-neutron interaction of the most loosely bound two nucleons.

High-precision measurements of the atomic mass and electron-capture decay Q value of 95Tc

A direct measurement of the ground-state-to-ground-state electron-capture decay Q value of 95Tc 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 95Tc (excitation energy of 38.910(40) keV) from the ground state. The mass excess of 95Tc was measured to be −86015.95(18) keV/c2, 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 95Mo, 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 95Tc to excited states of 95Mo is compared to that of 163Ho currently being used for electron-neutrino-mass determination.

Precision mass measurements in the zirconium region pin down the mass surface across the neutron midshell at N = 66

Precision mass measurements of 104Y, 106Zr, 104,104m,109Nb, and 111,112Mo have been performed with the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap mass spectrometer at the Ion Guide Isotope Separator On-Line facility. The order of the long-lived states in 104Nb was unambiguously established. The trend in two-neutron separation energies around the N=66 neutron midshell appeared to be steeper with respect to the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 extrapolations for the 39Y and 40Zr isotopic chains and less steep for the 41Nb chain, indicating a possible gap opening around Z=40. The experimental results were compared to the BSkG2 model calculations performed with and without vibrational and rotational corrections. All of them predict two low-lying minima for 106Zr. While the unaltered BSkG2 model fails to predict the trend in two-neutron separation energies, selecting the more deformed minima in calculations and removing the vibrational correction, the calculations are more in line with experimental data. The same is also true for the 21+ excitation energies and differences in charge radii in the Zr isotopes. The results stress the importance of improved treatment of collective corrections in large-scale models and further development of beyond-mean-field techniques.

Theoretical predictions of nuclear binding energy for the observed nuclei: the influence of coefficients and terms in a semi-empirical mass formula

The aim of this study is to calculate the nuclear binding energy for the 2457 nuclei which experimentally observed, as tabulated in the atomic mass evaluation AME2020, by using the semi-empirical mass formula based on the renowned liquid drop model (LDM). The Bethe-Weizsäcker (BW) mass formula-four terms (BWMF-4T) is extended to incorporate an additional six terms, resulting in a formula of ten terms. Our findings demonstrate commendable accuracy and reliability, as substantiated by the acceptable level of uncertainty observed when compared them to experimental data and existing models. The influence of coefficients and terms in the semi-empirical mass formula has been determined. All possible combinations of the terms are fitted in turn to the measured nuclear masses, and the outcomes are analyzed in order to reveal correlations and mutual influences between the various terms in all observed mass regions of the periodic table. The fitted surface energy and symmetry coefficients in the semi-empirical mass formula-ten terms (SEMF-10T) are remaining 26.4 and 33.3 MeV respectively. In contrast, coefficients fitted in the classic BW formula with and without one or two additional terms are around 17 and 23 MeV, respectively. The interplay between different terms in this mass formula is found to be significant and interesting.

High-precision measurement of the atomic mass of 84Sr\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{84}\\hbox {Sr}$$\\end{document} and implications to isotope shift studies

The absolute mass of 84Sr\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{84}\\hbox {Sr}$$\\end{document} was determined using the phase-imaging ion-cyclotron-resonance technique with the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap mass spectrometer. A more precise value for the mass of 84Sr\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{84}\\hbox {Sr}$$\\end{document} is essential for providing potential indications of physics beyond the Standard Model through high-precision isotope shift measurements of Sr atomic transition frequencies. The mass excess of 84Sr\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{84}\\hbox {Sr}$$\\end{document} was refined to be -80649.229(37)keV/c2\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$-80649.229(37) keV/\\hbox {c}^2$$\\end{document} from high-precision cyclotron-frequency-ratio measurements with a relative precision of 4.8×10-10\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$4.8\ imes 10^{-10}$$\\end{document}. The obtained mass-excess value is in agreement with the adopted value in the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020, but is 30 times more precise. With this new value, we confirm the previously observed nonlinearity in the study of the isotope shift of strontium. Moreover, the double-beta (2β+\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$2\\beta ^{+}$$\\end{document}) decay Q value of 84Sr\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{84}\\hbox {Sr}$$\\end{document} was directly determined to be 1790.115(37) keV, and the precision was improved by a factor of 30.

Revision of the semi-empirical mass formula coefficients by using the ame2020 database

This work aims to revise the coefficients of the Bethe-Weizsäcker’s Semi-empirical mass formula by using the latest version release of the Atomic Mass Evaluation Database (AME2020). The updated values of five energy term coefficients are determined based on the binding energy of a total of 2548 nuclei from AME2020 database. Least-squares fitting is used to obtain a new set of mass formula coefficients. The results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental AME2020 data in a wide range of the nuclei binding energy. The relative error, with respect to the experimental data does not exceed 1%, which is less than the oscillations obtained in the other works using earlier database version AME2016 due to the more accurate measurements and the larger data sample. The semi-empirical mass formula provides a good approximation of the atomic masses and thereby, with the refined coefficient values given here, other effects in the nuclear fission engineering can be calculated with higher accuracy.

Direct high-precision measurement of the mass difference of 77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}As–77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}Se related to neutrino mass determination

The first direct determination of the ground-state-to-ground-state β-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\beta ^{-}}$$\\end{document}-decay Q-value of 77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}As to 77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}Se was performed by measuring their atomic mass difference utilizing the double Penning trap mass spectrometer, JYFLTRAP. The resulting Q-value is 684.463(70) keV, representing a remarkable 24-fold improvement in precision compared to the value reported in the most recent Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME2020). With the significant reduction of the uncertainty of the ground-state-to-ground-state Q-value and knowledge of the excitation energies in 77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}Se from γ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\gamma $$\\end{document}-ray spectroscopy, the ground-state-to-excited-state Q-value of the transition 77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}As (3/2-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{-}$$\\end{document}, ground state) →\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\rightarrow $$\\end{document}77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}Se∗\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{*}$$\\end{document} (5/2+\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{+}$$\\end{document}, 680.1035(17) keV) was refined to be 4.360(70) keV. We confirm that this potential low Q-value β-\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$${\\beta ^{-}}$$\\end{document}-decay transition for neutrino mass determination is energetically allowed at a confidence level of about 60σ\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\sigma $$\\end{document}. Nuclear shell-model calculations with two well-established effective Hamiltonians were used to estimate the partial half-life for the low Q-value transition. The half-life was found to be of the order of 109\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{9}$$\\end{document} years for this first-forbidden non-unique transition. Since the half-life of 77\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^{77}$$\\end{document}As is only ≈\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\approx $$\\end{document} 2 days, usage of it as source for rare-event experiments searching for the electron antineutrino mass would be challenging.

Predicting nuclear masses with product-unit networks

Accurate estimation of nuclear masses and their prediction beyond the experimentally explored domains of the nuclear landscape are crucial to an understanding of the fundamental origin of nuclear properties and to many applications of nuclear science, most notably in quantifying the r-process of stellar nucleosynthesis. Neural networks have been applied with some success to the prediction of nuclear masses, but they are known to have shortcomings in application to extrapolation tasks. In this work, we propose and explore a novel type of neural network for mass prediction in which the usual neuron-like processing units are replaced by complex-valued product units that permit multiplicative couplings of inputs to be learned from the input data. This generalized network model is tested on both interpolation and extrapolation data sets drawn from the Atomic Mass Evaluation. Its performance is compared with that of common neural-network architectures, substantiating its suitability for nuclear-mass prediction. Additionally, a prediction-uncertainty measure for such complex-valued networks is proposed that allows identifying nuclides of expected large prediction error. Within and beyond the experimentally explored domain, model predictions are evaluated by computing deviations from the Garvey-Kelson relations.

Nuclear mass predictions with the naive Bayesian model averaging method

A naive Bayesian model averaging (NBMA) method is developed to predict nuclear masses. In the NBMA method, the weights of different models may be different for each nucleus, which are sensitive to the model accuracies to describe the nuclear masses of the isotopes and isotones with the same proton and neutron numbers of that nucleus. Therefore, there are remarkable local structures for the weights of different models on the nuclear chart, which well eliminates the local deviations between the model predictions and the experimental masses and thus achieves better accuracy of mass predictions than the traditional arithmetic mean method (AMM) and weighted average method (WAM). Based on the latest atomic mass evaluation of AME2020, the root-mean-square (rms) mass deviation of the NBMA method is 0.293 MeV, while the rms deviations of AMM and WAM are 0.634 and 0.361 MeV, respectively. This accuracy of the NBMA method is even 28% better than the best accuracy of the mass models used in the NBMA method. The extrapolation ability of the NBMA method is also verified with the experimental nuclear masses which are not used in the training of the NBMA method.

Ultra-low-mass and small-radius white dwarfs made of heavy elements

Seven possible ultra-low-mass and small-radius white dwarfs have been recently identified, with masses ranging from ∼0.02 M⊙ to ∼0.08 M⊙ and radii ranging from ∼ 4,270 km to 10670 km. The mass–radius measurements of these white dwarfs pose challenges to traditional white dwarf models, assuming they are mostly made of nuclei lighter than 56Fe. In this work, we consider the possibility that those white dwarfs are made of heavier elements. Due to the small charge-to-mass ratios in heavy elements, the electron number density in white dwarf matter is effectively reduced, which reduces the pressure with additional contributions of lattice energy and electron polarization corrections. This consequently leads to white dwarfs with much smaller masses and radii, which coincide with the seven ultra-low-mass and small-radius white dwarfs. The mass of the most massive white dwarfs is effectively reduced and could possibly account for the sub-Chandrasekhar progenitors in underluminous Type Ia supernovae. The corresponding equation of state and matter contents of dense stellar matter with and without reaching the cold-catalyzed ground state are presented, which are obtained using the latest Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME 2020). Further observations are necessary to unveil the actual matter contents in those white dwarfs via, e.g., spectroscopy, asteroseismology, and the discoveries of other ultra-low-mass and small-radius white dwarfs.

Bulk and neutron–proton asymmetry coefficients of the semi-empirical mass formula tuned to ground state mass excess of AME2020 and/or FRDM(2012)

Davidson et al. has extended Seeger’s mass formula to non-zero excitation energies by introducing temperature-dependent coefficients in the liquid drop energy part of the semi-empirical mass formula, but did not consider the nuclear shape and shell effects. The semi-empirical mass formula of Davidson et al. is applicable for nuclear temperatures less than or equal to 4 MeV. The mass excess calculated using this mass formula with/without nuclear shape and shell effects does not reproduce the ground state mass excesses of the new atomic mass evaluation data AME2020 and/or FRDM(2012) with its coefficients at zero temperature. So, the coefficients of the semi-empirical mass formula with nuclear shape and shell effects are required to be tuned to reproduce the ground state mass excess of all the nuclei available in the recent atomic mass evaluation data AME2020 and/or FRDM(2012). The bulk and neutron–proton asymmetry coefficients of the semi-empirical mass formula of Davidson et al., including the nuclear shape and shell effects, have been tuned to reproduce the mass excess data for all known 9420 nuclei which include all the nuclei of AME2020 (Z = 1-118 and A = 1-295) and of FRDM(2012) (Z = 8-136 and A = 16-339, except 3456 nuclei which are also available in the AME2020 data) at zero temperature. The tuned bulk and neutron–proton asymmetry coefficients reproduce the ground state mass excess of the new atomic mass evaluation data AME2020 and/or FRDM(2012) within a difference of less than 1 MeV and can be used for the applications/investigations in the areas of physics where high energies are experienced or nuclei involved are in excited states, e.g., fusion–evaporation and fusion–fission processes in heavy-ion reactions. The mass excess calculated for the excited states of nuclei is compared with the excited state mass excess of the NUBASE2020 evaluation data and is in good agreement with it.

Octupole deformation and Ra puzzle with covariant density functional theory in three-dimensional lattice space

The anomaly of the residual proton–neutron interaction [Formula: see text] for Ra isotopes around [Formula: see text] deviating from the general trend, the so-called Ra puzzle, is investigated within the framework of covariant density functional theory in three-dimensional lattice space. The potential energy surfaces in [Formula: see text] plane for Ra isotopes are given by the constrained calculations. The average values of proton–neutron interaction [Formula: see text] extracted from the binding energies of Ra and Rn isotopes with axial, triaxial and reflection asymmetric calculations are compared with the data from AME2020 atomic mass evaluation. It is found that the octupole deformation provides a reasonable interpretation of the Ra puzzle.

Improved high-precision mass measurements of mid-shell neon isotopes

New mass values measured with the TITAN MR-TOF-MS are reported for the short-lived isotopes 24−26Ne, produced at TRIUMF's ISAC facility using a uranium carbide target and cold FEBIAD ion source. A least-squares adjustment within the framework of the Atomic Mass Evaluation was performed and the improved precision of the new mass values is highlighted. The improved mass accuracy in this N=14 mid-shell region can also point to the refinement in values of the charge radii. By reducing the mass uncertainty of isotopes, their contribution of the mass shift uncertainty in laser spectroscopy can be negated. The work is part of developments for reaching the N=20 Island of Inversion, where high molecular contamination hinders mass measurements of the neon isotopes.

Exploring the limits of existence of proton-rich nuclei in the Z=70–82 region

$\ensuremath{\alpha}$-, $\ensuremath{\beta}$-, and proton-decay energies have been combined with TITAN mass values for $^{150--157}\mathrm{Yb}$ to expand and refine the mass surface in the proton-rich $Z=70--82$ region. The calculations were performed using the Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME) algorithm, resulting in 11 new ground-state masses and uncertainty reductions of nine others. The new information allows the determination of the two-proton drip line for elements between Ir and Pb and provides indications of possible new candidates for two-proton emission. In addition, we examined binding energies in this region for Thomas-Ehrman shifts, so far only visible for light nuclides.

Comparison of binding energy from Atomic Mass Evaluation (AME-2020) with statistical model calculations

Realistic model calculations are fundamental to any physical problem. The statistical model continues to remain one of the important theoretical basis formalism in the nuclear reaction and structure field, which is based on the theory of compound nuclei. In this work, we have compared the recently measured binding energies from The Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 with statistical model calculation. This comparison becomes very important from the fact that code calculates everything from excitation energy Q-value of reaction to cross-sections based on binding energy and is used frequently by nuclear research communities throughout the world. We have given a brief explanation of how code calculates and comparison of calculated Binding energy with recently measured binding energies from The Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020. A total of 254 stable nuclides binding energies are compared. Statistical model calculations are presented for spin distribution of fusion cross-section for different diffusive parameters for two different reactions are shown and nuclear level density using different formalisms are also presented

A new relation for nuclear masses based on the nuclide chain with the same number of neutrons

There are many studies in Odd–Even staggering (OES) of nuclear masses, but the research on nuclear masses by using the systematicness of OES is indeed very few. In this work, we analyze the relationship among the four neighboring nuclei based on the OES of nuclide chain with the same number of neutrons in atomic mass evaluation database (AME2016 database). Our purpose in this paper is to describe an empirical formula with one constant for OES of nuclear masses that can be useful in describing and predicting nuclear masses with mass number [Formula: see text]. With the empirical formula and AME2016 database, the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) of the nuclei that we have successfully obtained 172[Formula: see text]keV for [Formula: see text] (the RMSD is 140[Formula: see text]keV for [Formula: see text]). This paper also uses Levenberg–Marquart (L-M) neural network approach to study the OES of nuclear masses ([Formula: see text], RMSD [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]keV; [Formula: see text], RMSD [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]keV). The results show that the RMSD of nuclear masses for [Formula: see text] based on neural network approach 30[Formula: see text]keV decreases than that based on empirical formula (the accuracy is increased by about 17%). In addition, the predicted values based on the empirical formula and L-M neural network approach are consistent with the values in AME2020 database, and the difference between our predicted values based on AME2016 database and experimental values measured in recent years is small. These results show that the new relation for nuclear masses has good simplicity, accuracy and reliability. Accurate nuclear mass is helpful to the research of nuclear physics, nuclear technology and astrophysics.

Precise Q -value measurements of Ag112,113 and Cd115 with the Canadian Penning trap for evaluation of potential ultralow Q -value β decays

An ultra-low Q value $\beta$-decay can occur from a parent nuclide to an excited state in the daughter with $Q_{UL}$ <1 keV. These decays are of interest for nuclear $\beta$-decay theory and as potential candidates in neutrino mass determination experiments. To date, only one ultra-low Q value $\beta$-decay has been observed -- that of $^{115}$In with $Q_\beta$ = 147(10) eV. A number of other potential candidates exist, but improved mass measurements are necessary to determine if the decays are energetically allowed and, in fact, ultra-low. We performed precise $\beta$-decay Q value measurements of $^{112,113}$Ag and $^{115}$Cd and combined them with nuclear energy level data for the daughter isotopes to determine if the potential UL Q value $\beta$-decay branches of $^{112,113}$Ag and $^{115}$Cd are energetically allowed and <1 keV. The Canadian Penning Trap at ANL was used to measure the cyclotron frequency ratios of singly-charged $^{112,113}$Ag and $^{115}$Cd ions with respect to their daughters. From these measurements, the ground-state $\beta$-decay Q values were obtained. The $^{112}$Ag, $^{113}$Ag, and $^{115}$Cd $\beta$-decay Q values were measured to be 3990.16(22) keV, 2085.7(4.6) keV, and 1451.36(34) keV, respectively. These results were compared to energies of excited states in $^{112}$Cd at 3997.75(14) keV, $^{113}$Cd at 2015.6(2.5) and 2080(10) keV, and $^{115}$In at 1448.787(9) keV, resulting in $Q_{\textrm{UL}}$ values of --7.59(26) keV, 6(11) keV, and 2.57(34) keV, respectively. The potential UL Q value decays of $^{112}$Ag and $^{115}$Cd have been ruled out. $^{113}$Ag is still a possible candidate until a more precise measurement of the 2080(10) keV, 1/2$^{+}$ state of $^{113}$Cd is available. In the course of this work we have found the ground state mass of $^{113}$Ag reported in the 2020AME to be lower than our measurement by 69(17) keV (a 4$\sigma$ discrepancy).

AMC 12 atomic mass compilation data extrapolated for atomic masses of nuclei far from the valley of stability

The experimental mass data from the Atomic Mass Compilation – 2012 (AMC12) has been analyzed for two-neutron separation energies ({{boldsymbol{S}}}_{{bf{2}}{boldsymbol{n}}}), two-proton separation energies ({{boldsymbol{S}}}_{{bf{2}}{boldsymbol{p}}}), double-beta decay energies ({{boldsymbol{Q}}}_{2{{boldsymbol{beta }}}^{-}}), and four-beta decay energies ({{boldsymbol{Q}}}_{4{{boldsymbol{beta }}}^{-}}) and plotted against neutron number and mass number, respectively. A new weighted slope method of extrapolation, tested for known and new mass measurements, has been used to obtain the extrapolated mass values with better precision for more than 1100 nuclei far from the valley of stability, out of which more than 100 are being reported for the first time. A comparison has been made with five of the popular mass models with reference to experimental extrapolated masses from the present work and the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2016 (AME16). The extrapolated experimental atomic mass data will be very useful for both experimentalists and mass-model theoreticians, as well as in simulations of astrophysical r-processes.

Physically interpretable machine learning for nuclear masses

We present an approach to modeling the ground-state mass of atomic nuclei based directly on a probabilistic neural network constrained by relevant physics. Our physically interpretable machine learning (PIML) approach incorporates knowledge of physics by using a physically motivated feature space in addition to a soft physics constraint that is implemented as a penalty to the loss function. We train our PIML model on a random set of approximately 20% of the atomic mass evaluation (AME) and predict the remaining 80%. The success of our methodology is exhibited by a ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{rms}}\ensuremath{\approx}186$ keV match to data for the training set and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{\mathrm{rms}}\ensuremath{\approx}316$ keV for the entire AME with $Z\ensuremath{\ge}20$. We show that our general methodology can be interpreted using feature importance.