First observation of 28O
- Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); RIKEN, Saitama (Japan)
- Université de Caen Normandie (France)
- Lebanese University, Beirut (Lebanon); Lebanese-French University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Deddeh (Lebanon)
- Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany)
- Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany); GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); Helmholtz Research Academy Hesse for FAIR, Darmstadt (Germany)
- RIKEN, Saitama (Japan)
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany)
- Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany); GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany)
- Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette (France)
- Institute for Basic Science, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
- MTA Atomki, Debrecen (Hungary)
- University of Groningen (Netherlands)
- Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Göteborg (Sweden)
- RIKEN, Saitama (Japan); Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany); Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb (Croatia)
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
- GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Darmstadt (Germany); University of Groningen (Netherlands)
- Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (Hungary)
- Institute for Basic Science, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National University (Korea, Republic of)
- RIKEN, Saitama (Japan); Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany)
- Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan)
- Tohoku University, Miyagi (Japan)
- University of Tokyo (Japan)
- University of Tokyo, Saitama (Japan)
- Universität zu Köln (Germany)
- Kyoto University (Japan)
- Kyushu University, Fukuoka (Japan); Osaka University (Japan); Osaka City University (Japan)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Caen (France). Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique (CIMAP), Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL)
- RIKEN, Saitama (Japan); University of Tokyo (Japan)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Caen (France). Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique (CIMAP), Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL); Université de Caen Normandie (France)
- Seoul National University (Korea, Republic of)
- University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)
- RIKEN, Saitama (Japan); Institute for Basic Science, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
- Osaka University (Japan)
- Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (United States)
- Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan); Rikkyo University, Tokyo (Japan)
- Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), Ibaraki (Japan)
- Durham University (United Kingdom)
- Utsunomiya University, Tochigi (Japan)
Subjecting a physical system to extreme conditions is one of the means often used to obtain a better understanding and deeper insight into its organization and structure. In the case of the atomic nucleus, one such approach is to investigate isotopes that have very different neutron-to-proton ($N/Z$) ratios than in stable nuclei. Light, neutron-rich isotopes exhibit the most asymmetric $N/Z$ ratios and those lying beyond the limits of binding, which undergo spontaneous neutron emission and exist only as very short-lived resonances (about 10-21 s), provide the most stringent tests of modern nuclear-structure theories. Here we report on the first observation of 28O and 27O through their decay into 24O and four and three neutrons, respectively. The 28O nucleus is of particular interest as, with the $$Z$$ = 8 and $$N$$ = 20 magic numbers, it is expected in the standard shell-model picture of nuclear structure to be one of a relatively small number of so-called ‘doubly magic’ nuclei. Furthermore, both 27O and 28O were found to exist as narrow, low-lying resonances and their decay energies are compared here to the results of sophisticated theoretical modelling, including a large-scale shell-model calculation and a newly developed statistical approach. In both cases, the underlying nuclear interactions were derived from effective field theories of quantum chromodynamics. Finally, it is shown that the cross-section for the production of 28O from a 29F beam is consistent with it not exhibiting a closed $$N$$ = 20 shell structure.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Nuclear Physics (NP); National Science Foundation (NSF); German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF); European Research Council (ERC); Swedish Research Council (SRC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725; FG02-96ER40963; AC02-06CH11357; 2018-05973; SC0018223; PHY-1102511; 05P15RDFN1; 05P21PKFN1; 258567
- OSTI ID:
- 1997596
- Journal Information:
- Nature (London), Vol. 620, Issue 7976; ISSN 0028-0836
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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