One-proton Knockout Reactions Research Articles

Level structures of 56,58Ca cast doubt on a doubly magic 60Ca

Gamma decays were observed in 56Ca and 58Ca following quasi-free one-proton knockout reactions from 57,59Sc beams at ≈200 MeV/nucleon. For 56Ca, a γ ray transition was measured to be 1456(12) keV, while for 58Ca an indication for a transition was observed at 1115(34) keV. Both transitions were tentatively assigned as the 21+→0gs+ decays, and were compared to results from ab initio and conventional shell-model approaches. A shell-model calculation in a wide model space with a marginally modified effective nucleon-nucleon interaction depicts excellent agreement with experiment for 21+ level energies, two-neutron separation energies, and reaction cross sections, corroborating the formation of a new nuclear shell above the N = 34 shell. Its constituents, the 0f5/2 and 0g9/2 orbitals, are almost degenerate. This degeneracy precludes the possibility for a doubly magic 60Ca and potentially drives the dripline of Ca isotopes to 70Ca or even beyond.

Unveiling the two-proton halo character of 17Ne: Exclusive measurement of quasi-free proton-knockout reactions

The proton drip-line nucleus 17Ne is investigated experimentally in order to determine its two-proton halo character. A fully exclusive measurement of the 17Ne(p,2p)16F→15⁎O+p quasi-free one-proton knockout reaction has been performed at GSI at around 500 MeV/nucleon beam energy. All particles resulting from the scattering process have been detected. The relevant reconstructed quantities are the angles of the two protons scattered in quasi-elastic kinematics, the decay of 16F into 15O (including γ decays from excited states) and a proton, as well as the 15O+p relative-energy spectrum and the 16F momentum distributions. The latter two quantities allow an independent and consistent determination of the fractions of l=0 and l=2 motion of the valence protons in 17Ne. With a resulting relatively small l=0 component of only around 35(3)%, it is concluded that 17Ne exhibits a rather modest halo character only. The quantitative agreement of the two values deduced from the energy spectrum and the momentum distributions supports the theoretical treatment of the calculation of momentum distributions after quasi-free knockout reactions at high energies by taking into account distortions based on the Glauber theory. Moreover, the experimental data allow the separation of valence-proton knockout and knockout from the 15O core. The latter process contributes with 11.8(3.1) mb around 40% to the total proton-knockout cross section of 30.3(2.3) mb, which explains previously reported contradicting conclusions derived from inclusive cross sections.

“Piston” mechanism in a time-dependent two-level model

We analyze a recent study of the one-proton knockout reaction on $^{19}\mathrm{N}$ in the framework of a time-dependent two-level model. Focusing on the specific case of $^{18}\mathrm{C}$, we quantify the validity of the so-called ``piston'' mechanism in terms of the timescales involved in the process, namely, the reaction time, the period of oscillation between the mixed states, and the lifetime of the excited unbound state.

Investigation of the ground-state spin inversion in the neutron-rich Cl47,49 isotopes

A first gamma-ray study of 47,49Cl spectroscopy was performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory with 50Ar projectiles at 217 MeV/nucleon, impinging on the liquid hydrogen target of the MINOS device. Prompt de-excitation gamma-rays were measured with the NaI(Tl) array DALI2+. Through the one-proton knockout reaction 50Ar(p,2p), a spin assignment could be determined for the low-lying states of 49Cl from the momentum distribution obtained with the SAMURAI spectrometer. A spin-parity J = 3/2+ is deduced for the ground state of 49Cl, similar to the recently studied N = 32 isotope 51K.

Probing the nuclear structure in the vicinity of 78Ni

Theoretical and experimental studies of neutron-rich nuclei have shown that the general concept of shell structure is not as robust and universal as earlier thought, but can exhibit significant changes as a function of neutron excess. New magic numbers appear and some other conventional ones disappear mainly because of a different ordering of the single-particle orbitals. In the present contribution, recent experimental studies of neutron-rich Cu isotopes, performed at RIKEN using β decay and one-proton knockout reactions, will be discussed. Neutron-rich nuclei near 78Ni were populated through in-flight fission of 238U on thick 9Be targets in both experiments. In the β-decay study, 75,77Ni nuclei were implanted into the WAS3ABi silicon array, while γ rays from excited states in 75,77Cu emitted after β decay of the implanted ions were detected with the EURICA Ge detector array that was surrounding the active stopper. In a second experiment within the SEASTAR campaign at RIKEN, the same 75,77Cu nuclei were produced in (p,2p) knockout reactions from 76,78Zn beam particles at around 250 MeV/nucleon impinging onto the MINOS liquid hydrogen target. In the latter experiment the DALI2 NaI array was used to detect de-excitation γ rays measured in coincidence with Cu nuclei identified in the Zero Degree Spectrometer. Both studies are complimentary and greatly contribute to our understanding on the nuclear structure in the 78Ni region.

Quasifree (p, 2p) Reactions on Oxygen Isotopes: Observation of Isospin Independence of the Reduced Single-Particle Strength.

Quasifree one-proton knockout reactions have been employed in inverse kinematics for a systematic study of the structure of stable and exotic oxygen isotopes at the R^{3}B/LAND setup with incident beam energies in the range of 300-450 MeV/u. The oxygen isotopic chain offers a large variation of separation energies that allows for a quantitative understanding of single-particle strength with changing isospin asymmetry. Quasifree knockout reactions provide a complementary approach to intermediate-energy one-nucleon removal reactions. Inclusive cross sections for quasifree knockout reactions of the type ^{A}O(p,2p)^{A-1}N have been determined and compared to calculations based on the eikonal reaction theory. The reduction factors for the single-particle strength with respect to the independent-particle model were obtained and compared to state-of-the-art abinitio predictions. The results do not show any significant dependence on proton-neutron asymmetry.

Effective proton-neutron interaction near the drip line from unbound states in F25,26

Background: Odd-odd nuclei, around doubly closed shells, have been extensively used to study proton-neutron interactions. However, the evolution of these interactions as a function of the binding energy, ultimately when nuclei become unbound, is poorly known. The $^{26}$F nucleus, composed of a deeply bound $\pi0d\_{5/2}$ proton and an unbound $\nu0d\_{3/2}$ neutron on top of an $^{24}$O core, is particularly adapted for this purpose. The coupling of this proton and neutron results in a $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1 - 4^{+}\_1$ multiplet, whose energies must be determined to study the influence of the proximity of the continuum on the corresponding proton-neutron interaction. The $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1, 2^{+}\_1,4^{+}\_1$ bound states have been determined, and only a clear identification of the $J^{\pi} =3^{+}\_1$ is missing.Purpose: We wish to complete the study of the $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1 - 4^{+}\_1$ multiplet in $^{26}$F, by studying the energy and width of the $J^{\pi} =3^{+}\_1$ unbound state. The method was firstly validated by the study of unbound states in $^{25}$F, for which resonances were already observed in a previous experiment.Method: Radioactive beams of $^{26}$Ne and $^{27}$Ne, produced at about $440A$\,MeV by the FRagment Separator at the GSI facility, were used to populate unbound states in $^{25}$F and $^{26}$F via one-proton knockout reactions on a CH$\_2$ target, located at the object focal point of the R$^3$B/LAND setup. The detection of emitted $\gamma$-rays and neutrons, added to the reconstruction of the momentum vector of the $A-1$ nuclei, allowed the determination of the energy of three unbound states in $^{25}$F and two in $^{26}$F. Results: Based on its width and decay properties, the first unbound state in $^{25}$F is proposed to be a $J^{\pi} = 1/2^-$ arising from a $p\_{1/2}$ proton-hole state. In $^{26}$F, the first resonance at 323(33)~keV is proposed to be the $J^{\pi} =3^{+}\_1$ member of the $J^{\pi} = 1^{+}\_1 - 4^{+}\_1$ multiplet. Energies of observed states in $^{25,26}$F have been compared to calculations using the independent-particle shell model, a phenomenological shell-model, and the ab initio valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group method.Conclusions: The deduced effective proton-neutron interaction is weakened by about 30-40\% in comparison to the models, pointing to the need of implementing the role of the continuum in theoretical descriptions, or to a wrong determination of the atomic mass of $^{26}$F.

Spectroscopy ofP35using the one-proton knockout reaction

The structure of $^{35}$P was studied with a one-proton knockout reaction at88~MeV/u from a $^{36}$S projectile beam at NSCL. The $\gamma$ rays from thedepopulation of excited states in $^{35}$P were detected with GRETINA, whilethe $^{35}$P nuclei were identified event-by-event in the focal plane of theS800 spectrograph. The level scheme of $^{35}$P was deduced up to 7.5 MeV using$\gamma-\gamma$ coincidences. The observed levels were attributed to protonremovals from the $sd$-shell and also from the deeply-bound $p\_{1/2}$ orbital.The orbital angular momentum of each state was derived from the comparisonbetween experimental and calculated shapes of individual ($\gamma$-gated)parallel momentum distributions. Despite the use of different reactions andtheir associate models, spectroscopic factors, $C^2S$, derived from the$^{36}$S $(-1p)$ knockout reaction agree with those obtained earlier from$^{36}$S($d$,\nuc{3}{He}) transfer, if a reduction factor $R\_s$, as deducedfrom inclusive one-nucleon removal cross sections, is applied to the knockout transitions.In addition to the expected proton-hole configurations, other states were observedwith individual cross sections of the order of 0.5~mb. Based on their shiftedparallel momentum distributions, their decay modes to negative parity states,their high excitation energy (around 4.7~MeV) and the fact that they were notobserved in the ($d$,\nuc{3}{He}) reaction, we propose that they may resultfrom a two-step mechanism or a nucleon-exchange reaction with subsequent neutronevaporation. Regardless of the mechanism, that could not yet be clarified, thesestates likely correspond to neutron core excitations in \nuc{35}{P}. Thisnewly-identified pathway, although weak, offers the possibility to selectivelypopulate certain intruder configurations that are otherwise hard to produceand identify.

Direct Lifetime Measurements of the Excited States in (72)Ni.

The lifetimes of the first excited 2^{+} and 4^{+} states in ^{72}Ni were measured at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory with the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method, a model-independent probe to obtain the reduced transition probability. Excited states in ^{72}Ni were populated by the one-proton knockout reaction of an intermediate energy ^{73}Cu beam. γ-ray-recoil coincidences were detected with the γ-ray tracking array GRETINA and the S800 spectrograph. Our results provide evidence of enhanced transition probability B(E2;2^{+}→0^{+}) as compared to ^{68}Ni, but do not confirm the trend of large B(E2) values reported in the neighboring isotope ^{70}Ni obtained from Coulomb excitation measurement. The results are compared to shell model calculations. The lifetime obtained for the excited 4_{1}^{+} state is consistent with models showing decay of a seniority ν=4, 4^{+} state, which is consistent with the disappearance of the 8^{+} isomer in ^{72}Ni.

Three-body correlations in the ground-state decay ofO26

Background: Theoretical calculations have shown that the energy and angular correlations in the three-body decay of the two-neutron unbound O26 can provide information on the ground-state wave function, which has been predicted to have a dineutron configuration and 2n halo structure. Purpose: To use the experimentally measured three-body correlations to gain insight into the properties of O26, including the decay mechanism and ground-state resonance energy. Method: O26 was produced in a one-proton knockout reaction from F27 and the O24+n+n decay products were measured using the MoNA-Sweeper setup. The three-body correlations from the O26 ground-state resonance decay were extracted. The experimental results were compared to Monte Carlo simulations in which the resonance energy and decay mechanism were varied. Results: The measured three-body correlations were well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulations but were not sensitive to the decay mechanism due to the experimental resolutions. However, the three-body correlations were found to be sensitive to the resonance energy of O26. A 1{\sigma} upper limit of 53 keV was extracted for the ground-state resonance energy of O26. Conclusions: Future attempts to measure the three-body correlations from the ground-state decay of O26 will be very challenging due to the need for a precise measurement of the O24 momentum at the reaction point in the target.

Single-particle structure of silicon isotopes approachingSi42

The structure of the neutron-rich silicon isotopes $^{36,38,40}\mathrm{Si}$ was studied by one-neutron and one-proton knockout reactions at intermediate beam energies. We construct level schemes for the knockout residues $^{35,37,39}\mathrm{Si}$ and $^{35,37,39}\mathrm{Al}$ and compare knockout cross sections to the predictions of an eikonal model in conjunction with large-scale shell-model calculations. The agreement of these calculations with the present experiment lends support to the microscopic explanation of the enhanced collectivity in the region of $^{42}\mathrm{Si}$. We also present an empirical method for reproducing the observed low-momentum tails in the parallel momentum distributions of knockout residues.

Exploring the neutron dripline two neutrons at a time: The first observations of the 26O and 16Be ground state resonances

The two-neutron unbound ground state resonances of 26O and 16Be were populated using one-proton knockout reactions from 27F and 17B beams. A coincidence measurement of 3-body system (fragment + n + n) allowed for the decay energy of the unbound nuclei to be reconstructed. A low energy resonance, < 200 keV, was observed for the first time in the 240 + n + n system and assigned to the ground state of 26O. The 16Be ground state resonance was observed at 1.35 MeV. The 3-body correlations of the 14Be + n + n system were compared to simulations of a phase-space, sequential, and dineutron decay. The strong correlations in the n-n system from the experimental data could only be reproduced by the dineutron decay simulation providing the first evidence for a dineutron-like decay.

Unresolved Question of theHe10Ground State Resonance

The ground state of (10)He was populated using a 2p2n-removal reaction from a 59 MeV/u (14)Be beam. The decay energy of the three-body system, (8)He+n+n, was measured and a resonance was observed at E=1.60(25) MeV with a 1.8(4) MeV width. This result is in agreement with previous invariant mass spectroscopy measurements, using the (11)Li(-p) reaction, but is inconsistent with recent transfer reaction results. The proposed explanation that the difference, about 500 keV, is due to the effect of the extended halo nature of (11)Li in the one-proton knockout reaction is no longer valid as the present work demonstrates that the discrepancy between the transfer reaction results persists despite using a very different reaction mechanism, (14)Be(-2p2n).

Structure of16C: Testing shell model andab initioapproaches

Excited states in C-16 were populated via the Be-9(N-17,C-16+gamma)X one-proton knockout reaction. The lifetime of the 2(1)(+) state in C-16 was measured using the recoil distance method. The extracted lifetime of tau(+)(21) = 11.4(-0.9)(+0.8)(stat) +/- 0.7(syst(B rho))(-1.5)(+0.0)(syst(feeding)) ps yields a deduced B(E2;2(1)(+) -> 0(1)(+)) = 4.21(-0.26)(+0.34)(stat)(-0.24)(+0.28)(syst(B rho))(-0.00)(+0.64)(syst(feeding)) e(2)fm(4) value in good agreement with a previous measurement. The one-proton knockout cross section is used to extract the proton amplitude of the C-16 2(1)(+) state, which confirms the neutron dominant character of this state. Gamma-ray branching ratios between the 2(2)(+) state and the 2(1)(+) and ground states were also determined. The results are compared with p-sd shell model and no-core shell model (with NN and NN + NNN) calculations. The inclusion of three-body forces are essential in order for the no-core shell model calculations to reproduce the experimental findings on the gamma-ray branching ratios.

Excited-state transition-rate measurements in18C

Excited states in ${}^{18}$C were populated by the one-proton knockout reaction of an intermediate energy radioactive ${}^{19}$N beam. The lifetime of the first ${2}^{+}$ state was measured with the K\"oln/NSCL plunger via the recoil distance method to be $\ensuremath{\tau}({2}_{1}^{+})=22.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.9{(\mathrm{stat})}_{\ensuremath{-}2.2}^{+3.3}(\mathrm{syst})$ ps, which corresponds to a reduced quadrupole transition strength of $B(E2;{2}_{1}^{+}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{0}_{1}^{+})=3.{64}_{\ensuremath{-}0.14}^{+0.15}{(\mathrm{stat})}_{\ensuremath{-}0.47}^{+0.40}(\mathrm{syst})$ e${}^{2}$fm${}^{4}$. In addition, an upper limit on the lifetime of a higher-lying state feeding the ${2}_{1}^{+}$ state was measured to be $\ensuremath{\tau}&lt;4.6$ ps. The results are compared to large-scale ab initio no-core shell model calculations using two accurate nucleon-nucleon interactions and the importance-truncation scheme. The comparison provides strong evidence that the inclusion of three-body forces is needed to describe the low-lying excited-state properties of this $A=18$ system.

Population of positive-parity states inSc53through one-proton knockout

The one-proton knockout reaction $^{9}\mathrm{Be}(^{54}\mathrm{Ti},^{53}\mathrm{Sc}+\ensuremath{\gamma})X$ at 72 MeV/nucleon has been measured. The location of the first $3/{2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ state at 2110(3) keV was confirmed, and new $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray transitions were observed at 1111(2), 1273(2), 1539(4), and 2495(5) keV. Large spectroscopic strength to excited states in $^{53}\mathrm{Sc}$ was found and attributed to the knockout of $\mathit{sd}$-shell protons.

Mechanisms in Knockout Reactions

We report the first detailed study of the relative importance of the stripping and diffraction mechanisms involved in nucleon knockout reactions, by the use of a coincidence measurement of the residue and fast proton following one-proton knockout reactions. The measurements used the S800 spectrograph in combination with the HiRA detector array at the NSCL. Results for the reactions 9Be(9C,8B+X)Y and 9Be(8B,7Be+X)Y are presented and compared with theoretical predictions for the two reaction mechanisms calculated using the eikonal model. The data show a clear distinction between the stripping and diffraction mechanisms and the measured relative proportions are very well reproduced by the reaction theory. This agreement adds support to the results of knockout reaction analyses and their applications to the spectroscopy of rare isotopes.

D5/2proton hole strength in neutron-richP43: Shell structure and nuclear shapes nearN=28

We report on the use of the one-proton knockout reaction from $^{44}\mathrm{S}$ to determine the location of ${d}_{5/2}$ proton strength in neutron-rich $^{43}\mathrm{P}$. The results are used to test two shell-model frameworks with different pictures of the evolution of single-proton energies along the $N=28$ isotones near the neutron dripline. We observe a concentration of ${d}_{5/2}$ proton hole strength near 1 MeV in excitation energy. This result favors the recent shell-model interaction of Utsuno et al. [Eur. Phys. J. Spec. Top. 150, 187 (2007)] and provides additional evidence for an oblate shape for $^{42}\mathrm{Si}$.