The excitation spectra in the deformed nucleus 228 Th have been studied by means of the (p,t) reaction, using the Q3D spectrograph facility at the Munich Tandem accelerator. The angular distributions of tritons were measured for about 110 excitations seen in the triton spectra up to 2.5 MeV. Firm 0 + assignments are made for 17 excited states by comparison of experimental angular distributions with the calculated ones using the CHUCK3 code. Assignments up to spin 6 + are made for other states. Sequences of states are selected which can be treated as rotational bands and as multiplets of excitations. Moments of inertia have been derived from these sequences, whose values may be considered as evidence of the two-phonon nature of most 0 + excitations. Experimental data are compared with interacting boson model (IBM) and quasiparticle-phonon model (QPM) calculations and with experimental data for 229 Pa.

þ states, pointing to the oblate, spherical, and prolate nature of the consecutive excitations. In addition, they account for the hindrance of the E2 decay from the prolate 0 þ 4 to the spherical 2 þ 1 state, although overestimating its value. This result makes 66 Ni a unique nuclear system, apart from 236;238 U, in which a retarded γ transition from a 0 þ deformed state to a spherical configuration is observed, resembling a shape-isomerlike behavior. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.162502 The concept of potential energy surface (PES) is central in many areas of physics. Usually, the PES displays the potential energy of the system as a function of its geometry. As an example, the PES of a molecule expressed in such coordinates as bond length, valence angles, etc., can be used for finding the minimum energy shape or calculating chemical reaction rates [1]. The idea of potential energy surface in deformation space has also been widely applied to the nucleus at a given spin. For an even-even nucleus at spin 0, the lowest PES minimum corresponds to the ground state (g.s.), while there may exist additional (secondary) minima in which excited 0 þ states can reside: they can be interpreted as ground states of different shapes [2][3][4][5][6]. When a secondary minimum is separated from the main minimum by a high barrier, in the extreme case a long-lived isomer, called shape isomer, can be formed [7]. Shape isomerism at spin zero, so far, has clearly been observed only in actinide nuclei -these isomers decay mainly by fission, and in two cases only, 236 U and 238 U, by very retarded γ-ray branches [8][9][10][11].The existence of shape isomers in lighter systems has been a matter of debate for a long time. Already in the 1980s, a study based on microscopic Hartree-Fock plus BCS calculations, in which a large number of nuclei was surveyed, identified ten isotopes in which a deformed 0 þ state is separated from a spherical structure by a significantly high barrier:66 Ni and 68 Ni, 190;192 Pt, 206;208;210 Os, and 194;196;214

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Beta-delayed proton emission from 20 Mg has been measured at ISOLDE, CERN, with the ISOLDE Decay Station (IDS) setup including both charged-particle and gamma-ray detection capabilities. A total of 26 delayed proton branches were measured including seven so far unobserved. An updated decay scheme, including three new resonances above the proton separation energy in 20 Na and more precise resonance energies, is presented. Beta-decay feeding to two resonances above the Isobaric Analogue State (IAS) in 20 Na is observed. This may allow studies of the 4032.9(2.4) keV resonance in 19 Ne through the beta decay of 20 Mg, which is important for the astrophysically relevant reaction 15 O(α, γ) 19 Ne. Beta-delayed protons were used to obtain a more precise value for the half-life of 20 Mg, 90.9(1.2) ms. PACS. 23.20.Lv γ transitions and level energies-26.30.Ca Explosive burning in accreting binary systems (novae, x-ray bursts)-27.30.+t 20 ≤ A ≤ 38-29.30.Ep Charged-particle spectroscopy

The β − decay of 34 Mg was used to study the 34 Al nucleus through γ spectroscopy at the Isotope Separator On-Line facility of CERN. Previous studies identified two β-decaying states in 34 Al having spin-parity assignments J π = 4 − dominated by the normal configuration π (d 5/2) −1 ⊗ ν(f 7/2) and J π = 1 + by the intruder configuration π (d 5/2) −1 ⊗ ν(d 3/2) −1 (f 7/2) 2. Their unknown ordering and relative energy have been the subject of debate for the placement of 34 Al inside or outside the N = 20 "island of inversion." We report here that the 1 + intruder lies only 46.6 keV above the 4 − ground state. In addition, a new half-life of T 1/2 = 44.9(4) ms, that is twice as long as the previously measured 20(10) ms, has been determined for 34 Mg. Large-scale shell-model calculations with the recently developed SDPF-U-MIX interaction are compared with the new data and used to interpret the mechanisms at play at the very border of the N = 20 island of inversion.