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Title: Enhanced low-energy γ -decay strength of Ni 70 and its robustness within the shell model

Journal Article · · Physical Review C
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [1];  [10];  [3];  [2];  [9];  [4];  [11];  [4] more »;  [3];  [1] « less
  1. Univ. of Oslo (Norway). Dept. of Physics
  2. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab. and Dept. of Chemistry
  3. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab., Joint Inst. for Nuclear Astrophysics and Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  4. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab.
  5. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab. and Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  6. Leypunsky Inst. of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE), Obninsk (Russian Federation)
  7. National Research Centre (NRC), Moscow (Russian Federation). Kurchatov Inst. (NRCKI)
  8. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  9. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  10. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab.; Mississippi State Univ., Mississippi State, MS (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
  11. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States). National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab. and Joint Inst. for Nuclear Astrophysics; Central Michigan Univ., Mount Pleasant, MI (United States). Dept. of Physics

Neutron-capture reactions on very neutron-rich nuclei are essential for heavy-element nucleosynthesis through the rapid neutron-capture process, now shown to take place in neutron-star merger events. For these exotic nuclei, radiative neutron capture is extremely sensitive to their $$\gamma$$-emission probability at very low $$\gamma$$ energies. Here, we present measurements of the $$\gamma$$-decay strength of 70Ni over the wide range 1.3 < E$$\gamma$$ < 8 MeV. A significant enhancement is found in the $$\gamma$$-decay strength for transitions with E$$\gamma$$ < 3 MeV. At present, this is the most neutron-rich nucleus displaying this feature, proving that this phenomenon is not restricted to stable nuclei. We have performed E1-strength calculations within the quasiparticle time-blocking approximation, which describe our data above E$$\gamma$$ ≃ 5 MeV very well. Moreover, large-scale shell-model calculations indicate an M1 nature of the low-energy $$\gamma$$ strength. This turns out to be remarkably robust with respect to the choice of interaction, truncation, and model space, and we predict its presence in the whole isotopic chain, in particular the neutron-rich 72,74,76Ni.

Research Organization:
Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); European Research Council (ERC); European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST); Research Council of Norway (RCN); U.S.- Norway Fulbright Foundation for Educational Exchange; Russian Science Foundation; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Contributing Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0003221; ERC-STG-2014; 637686; 210007; 16-12-10155; AC52- 07NA27344; NA-0003180; NA-0000979; PHY 1102511; PHY 1430152; PHY 1350234; PHY 1404442; AC52-06NA25396; AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1465115
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1439494; OSTI ID: 1465113; OSTI ID: 1474268; OSTI ID: 1495651; OSTI ID: 1657663
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-758361; PRVCAN; TRN: US1902431
Journal Information:
Physical Review C, Vol. 97, Issue 5; ISSN 2469-9985
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 27 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (4)

Combined analysis of the low-energy enhancement of the gamma-strength function and the giant dipole resonance journal August 2019
Results of Microscopic Self-Consistent Theory of Quasiparticle—Phonon Interaction in Nuclei journal July 2019
Reference database for photon strength functions journal October 2019
Consolidating the concept of low-energy magnetic dipole decay radiation text January 2018

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