Unexpectedly large charge radii of neutron-rich calcium isotopes
- KU Leuven, Leuven (Belgium)
- KU Leuven, Leuven (Belgium); The Univ. of Manchester, Manchester (United Kingdom)
- Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Univ. Mainz, Mainz (Germany)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Technishe Univ. Darmstadt, Darmstadt (Germany); ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, Darmstadt (Germany)
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
- CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva (Switzerland)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Univ. of Warsaw, Warsaw (Poland)
- Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Univ. Mainz, Mainz (Germany)
- Univ. Mainz, Mainz (Germany); Technishe Univ. Darmstadt, Darmstadt (Germany)
- Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Technishe Univ. Darmstadt, Darmstadt (Germany); ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, Darmstadt (Germany)
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States);Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- Max-Planck-Institut fur Kernphysik, Heidelberg (Germany); Univ. Paris-Sud, Orday Cedex (France)
Here, despite being a complex many-body system, the atomic nucleus exhibits simple structures for certain ‘magic’ numbers of protons and neutrons. The calcium chain in particular is both unique and puzzling: evidence of doubly magic features are known in 40,48Ca, and recently suggested in two radioactive isotopes, 52,54Ca. Although many properties of experimentally known calcium isotopes have been successfully described by nuclear theory, it is still a challenge to predict the evolution of their charge radii. Here we present the first measurements of the charge radii of 49,51,52Ca, obtained from laser spectroscopy experiments at ISOLDE, CERN. The experimental results are complemented by state-of-the-art theoretical calculations. The large and unexpected increase of the size of the neutron-rich calcium isotopes beyond N = 28 challenges the doubly magic nature of 52Ca and opens new intriguing questions on the evolution of nuclear sizes away from stability, which are of importance for our understanding of neutron-rich atomic nuclei.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1376334
- Journal Information:
- Nature Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 6; ISSN 1745-2473
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing Group (NPG)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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