No abstract

The magnetic moments of 17 N and 17 B were measured by using spin-polarized radioactive nuclear beams which were obtained from the projectile fragmentation reaction. The observed magnetic moment of 17 N, ͉͑ 17 N͉͒ϭ͑0.352Ϯ0.002͒ N , where N is the nuclear magneton, falls outside the Schmidt lines. By virtue of a simplifying feature of nuclear structure inherent in a p 1/2 valence nucleus, the deviation from the Schmidt value is attributed on firm ground to admixing of the configurations in which two neutrons in the sd shell are coupled to J ϭ2 ϩ. This interpretation is confirmed in standard shell-model calculations. The calculations reproduce fairly well the experimentally inferred amount of 2 ϩ admixture, as well as the experimental magnetic moment itself. The magnetic moment for 17 B was determined as ͉͑ 17 B͉͒ϭ͑2.545Ϯ0.020͒ N. The result is substantially smaller than the p 1/2 single-particle value, and the shell-model calculations indicate that the quenching of largely stems from J ϭ2 ϩ configurations of the sd neutrons. The observed amount of quenching, however, is larger than the shell-model predictions, suggesting an enhanced contribution of the 2 ϩ neutron configurations. This result is explained if the pairing energy for neutrons in the sd shell of a neutron-rich nucleus is assumed to diminish by about 30%. We also find that the use of the reduced pairing energy improves agreements in the magnetic moment and low-lying energy levels of 17 N as well. ͓S0556-2813͑96͒05005-4͔

Low-energy β-delayed fission of 194,196 At and 200,202 Fr was studied in detail at the mass separator ISOLDE at CERN. The fission-fragment mass distributions of daughter nuclei 194,196 Po and 202 Rn indicate a triple-humped structure, marking the transition between asymmetric fission of 178,180 Hg and symmetric fission in the light Ra-Rn nuclei. Comparison with the macroscopic-microscopic finite-range liquid-drop model and the self-consistent approach employing the Gogny D1S energy density functional yields discrepancies. This demonstrates once more the need of dynamical fission calculations, as for both models the potential-energy surfaces lack pronounced structures, in contrast to the actinide region.Nuclear fission, the division of a heavy atomic nucleus into predominantly two parts, continues to provide new and unexpected features in spite of a long history of intensive theoretical and experimental studies [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The fission process is not only important for several applications, such as energy production and radiopharmacology, but also has a direct impact on the understanding of the fission recycling process in r -process nucleosynthesis [8,9]. Therefore, a description of the fission process with reliable predictive power is needed, in particular for low-energy fission where the fission-fragment (FF) mass distributions are strongly * lars.ghys@fys.kuleuven.be sensitive to microscopic effects [4]. Mass distributions (MDs) are usually predominantly symmetric or asymmetric with the yields exhibiting a single peak or two distinct peaks, respectively. However, in several cases a mixture of two modes was observed [5]. Experimental observables characterizing various fission modes are the width of the MD peak(s), the position of these peaks in asymmetric mass division and total kinetic energy (TKE) of the FFs. The dominance of asymmetric fission in most of the actinide region beyond A = 226 up to about 256 Fm was attributed to strong microscopic effects of the heavier FF, near the doubly-magic 132 Sn [4,10,11]. However, nuclei such as 258 Fm and 259,260 Md exhibit complex MDs, each with a narrow and a broad symmetric component with a higher and lower TKE, respectively. 2This phenomenon is called bimodal fission [12][13][14][15]. Competition between symmetric and asymmetric fission, corresponding to respectively lower and higher TKE and resulting in a triple-humped MD has been reported around 226 Th [16][17][18]. These observations strongly support the hypothesis that nuclei may fission through several independent fission modes corresponding to different pre-scission shapes and fission paths in a multidimensional potential-energy landscape, referred to in literature as multimodal or multichannel fission [4,5,11,[16][17][18][19]. In the pre-actinide region, predominantly symmetric FF mass distributions were measured. A few relevant cases for the present discussion (see also Fig.1) are 195 Au, 198 Hg and 208,210 Po, studied by means of charged-particle induced reactions [20][21][22] and 204,206,...

Fission cross sections and fission fragment mass distributions were measured in the reactions of 40 Ca + 238 U and 48 Ca + 238 U at energies around the Coulomb barrier. Fusion probabilities were calculated based on the fluctuation dissipation model. The measured mass distributions for both reactions showed an asymmetric shape at low incident energies, whereas the distribution changed to a flat shape at higher energies. The variation of the mass distribution is explained by a change of the ratio between fusion and quasifission with nuclear orientation. The calculation reproduced the mass distributions and their energy dependence. The trajectories for fusion-fission were used to determine the fusion probability. Fusion probabilities for both reactions are identical as function of the center-of-mass energy (E c.m. ), but they differ when plotted as function of the excitation energy (E * ). Evaporation residue cross sections were calculated for the reaction 48 Ca + 238 U using a statistical model and the obtained fusion cross sections as input values. The results are compared to experimental data.