Structure of $^{23}$Al from a multi-channel algebraic scattering model based on mirror symmetry

Abstract

The proton-rich nucleus 23 Al has a ground state just 123 keV below the proton drip-line, and as a result comparatively little is known experimentally about its properties, as with many such nuclei. Theoretical investigations have tended to model exclusively the ground and first one to three excited states known. In this paper, we theoretically model most of the known spectrum, and predict what states may as yet be unobserved. We use the multichannel algebraic scattering (MCAS) method to describe states as resonances of a valence proton coupled to a 22 Mg rotor core. Six states with low-excitation energies and defined J π are matched, and we make the first prediction of the properties of four others and propound the possible existence of several more.