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$Z=14$ Magicity Revealed by the Mass of the Proton Dripline Nucleus $^{22}$Si
Authors:
Y. M. Xing,
Y. F. Luo,
Y. H. Zhang,
M. Wang,
X. H. Zhou,
J. G. Li,
K. H. Li,
Q. Yuan,
Y. F. Niu,
J. Y. Guo,
J. C. Pei,
F. R. Xu,
G. de Angelis,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
K. Blaum,
I. Tanihata,
T. Yamaguchi,
Y. Yu,
X. Zhou,
H. S. Xu,
Z. Y. Chen,
R. J. Chen,
H. Y. Deng,
C. Y. Fu,
W. W. Ge
, et al. (14 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Using the $Bρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry technique, we conducted the first mass measurement of the proton dripline nucleus $^{22}$Si. We confirm that $^{22}$Si is bound against particle emission with $S_p/S_{2p}=+1412(114)/+229(54)$ keV, fixing the proton dripline location for the Si element. By analyzing the mass differences of the neighboring $sd$-shell nuclei, we find that $^{22}$Si…
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Using the $Bρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry technique, we conducted the first mass measurement of the proton dripline nucleus $^{22}$Si. We confirm that $^{22}$Si is bound against particle emission with $S_p/S_{2p}=+1412(114)/+229(54)$ keV, fixing the proton dripline location for the Si element. By analyzing the mass differences of the neighboring $sd$-shell nuclei, we find that $^{22}$Si exhibits a doubly-magic character similar to its mirror partner $^{22}$O, and that the mirror energy difference of $^{22}$Si-$^{22}$O deviates from the predictions assuming mirror symmetry. Gamow shell-model calculations reveal that the average occupations of valence protons in $^{22}$Si are nearly identical to those of valence neutrons in $^{22}$O, supporting the $Z=14$ magicity in $^{22}$Si. The observed mirror-symmetry breaking is attributed to the extended proton distribution in $^{22}$Si arising from a small contribution of the unbound $\pi2s_{1/2}$ orbital.
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Submitted 3 March, 2025;
originally announced March 2025.
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Nuclear structure of dripline nuclei elucidated through precision mass measurements of $^{23}$Si, $^{26}$P, $^{27,28}$S, and $^{31}$Ar
Authors:
Y. Yu,
Y. M. Xing,
Y. H. Zhang,
M. Wang,
X. H. Zhou,
J. G. Li,
H. H. Li,
Q. Yuan,
Y. F. Niu,
Y. N. Huang,
J. Geng,
J. Y. Guo,
J. W. Chen,
J. C. Pei,
F. R. Xu,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
K. Blaum,
G. de Angelis,
I. Tanihata,
T. Yamaguchi,
X. Zhou,
H. S. Xu,
Z. Y. Chen,
R. J. Chen,
H. Y. Deng
, et al. (17 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Using the B$ρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry technique, we report the first determination of the $^{23}$Si, $^{26}$P, $^{27}$S, and $^{31}$Ar masses and improve the precision of the $^{28}$S mass by a factor of 11. Our measurements confirm that these isotopes are bound and fix the location of the proton dripline in P, S, and Ar. We find that the mirror energy differences of the mirror-nucl…
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Using the B$ρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry technique, we report the first determination of the $^{23}$Si, $^{26}$P, $^{27}$S, and $^{31}$Ar masses and improve the precision of the $^{28}$S mass by a factor of 11. Our measurements confirm that these isotopes are bound and fix the location of the proton dripline in P, S, and Ar. We find that the mirror energy differences of the mirror-nuclei pairs $^{26}$P-$^{26}$Na, $^{27}$P-$^{27}$Mg, $^{27}$S-$^{27}$Na, $^{28}$S-$^{28}$Mg, and $^{31}$Ar-$^{31}$Al deviate significantly from the values predicted assuming mirror symmetry. In addition, we observe similar anomalies in the excited states, but not in the ground states, of the mirror-nuclei pairs $^{22}$Al-$^{22}$F and $^{23}$Al-$^{23}$Ne. Using $ab~ initio$ VS-IMSRG and mean field calculations, we show that such a mirror-symmetry breaking phenomeon can be explained by the extended charge distributions of weakly-bound, proton-rich nuclei. When observed, this phenomenon serves as a unique signature that can be valuable for identifying proton-halo candidates.
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Submitted 23 October, 2024;
originally announced October 2024.
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Ground-state mass of $^{22}$Al and test of state-of-the-art \textit{ab initio} calculations
Authors:
M. Z. Sun,
Y. Yu,
X. P. Wang,
M. Wang,
J. G. Li,
Y. H. Zhang,
K. Blaum,
Z. Y. Chen,
R. J. Chen,
H. Y. Deng,
C. Y. Fu,
W. W. Ge,
W. J. Huang,
H. Y. Jiao,
H. H. Li,
H. F. Li,
Y. F. Luo,
T. Liao,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
M. Si,
P. Shuai,
J. Y. Shi,
Q. Wang,
Y. M. Xing,
X. Xu
, et al. (11 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The ground-state mass excess of the $T_{z}=-2$ drip-line nucleus $^{22}$Al is measured for the first time to be $18103(10)$ keV using the newly-developed B$ρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry method at the cooler storage ring in Lanzhou. The new mass excess value allowed us to determine the excitation energies of the two low-lying $1^+$ states in $^{22}$Al with significantly reduced uncertain…
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The ground-state mass excess of the $T_{z}=-2$ drip-line nucleus $^{22}$Al is measured for the first time to be $18103(10)$ keV using the newly-developed B$ρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry method at the cooler storage ring in Lanzhou. The new mass excess value allowed us to determine the excitation energies of the two low-lying $1^+$ states in $^{22}$Al with significantly reduced uncertainties of 51 keV. Comparing to the analogue states in its mirror nucleus $^{22}$F, the mirror energy differences of the two $1^+$ states in the $^{22}$Al-$^{22}$F mirror pair are determined to be $-625(51)$ keV and $-330(51)$ keV, respectively. The excitation energies and the mirror energy differences are used to test the state-of-the-art \textit{ab initio} valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group calculations with four sets of interactions derived from the chiral effective field theory. The mechanism leading to the large mirror energy differences is investigated and attributed to the occupation of the $πs_{1/2}$ orbital.
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Submitted 26 January, 2024;
originally announced January 2024.
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$Bρ$-defined isochronous mass spectrometry: a new approach for high-precision mass measurements of short-lived nuclei
Authors:
M. Wang,
M. Zhang,
X. Zhou,
Y. H. Zhang,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
H. S. Xu,
R. J. Chen,
H. Y. Deng,
C. Y. Fu,
W. W. Ge,
H. F. Li,
T. Liao,
S. A. Litvinov,
P. Shuai,
J. Y. Shi,
M. Si,
R. S. Sidhu,
Y. N. Song,
M. Z. Sun,
S. Suzuki,
Q. Wang,
Y. M. Xing,
X. Xu,
T. Yamaguchi,
X. L. Yan
, et al. (4 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A novel technique for broadband high-precision mass measurements of short-lived exotic nuclides is reported. It is based on the isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) and realizes simultaneous determinations of revolution time and velocity of short-lived stored ions at the cooler storage ring CSRe in Lanzhou. The new technique, named as the $Bρ$-defined IMS or $Bρ$-IMS, boosts the efficiency, sensiti…
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A novel technique for broadband high-precision mass measurements of short-lived exotic nuclides is reported. It is based on the isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS) and realizes simultaneous determinations of revolution time and velocity of short-lived stored ions at the cooler storage ring CSRe in Lanzhou. The new technique, named as the $Bρ$-defined IMS or $Bρ$-IMS, boosts the efficiency, sensitivity, and accuracy of mass measurements, and is applied here to measure masses of neutron-deficient $fp$-shell nuclides. In a single accelerator setting, masses of $^{46}$Cr, $^{50}$Fe and $^{54}$Ni are determined with relative uncertainties of (5~-~6)$\times10^{-8}$, thereby improving the input data for testing the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa quark mixing matrix. This is the technique of choice for future high-precision measurements of the most rarely produced shortest-lived nuclides.
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Submitted 3 November, 2022;
originally announced November 2022.
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$Bρ$-defined Isochronous Mass Spectrometry and Mass Measurements of $^{58}$Ni Fragments
Authors:
M. Zhang,
X. Zhou,
M. Wang,
Y. H. Zhang,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
H. S. Xu,
R. J. Chen,
H. Y. Deng,
C. Y. Fu,
W. W. Ge,
H. F. Li,
T. Liao,
S. A. Litvinov,
P. Shuai,
J. Y. Shi,
R. S. Sidhu,
Y. N. Song,
M. Z. Sun,
S. Suzuki,
Q. Wang,
Y. M. Xing,
X. Xu,
T. Yamaguchi,
X. L. Yan,
J. C. Yang
, et al. (3 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
A novel isochronous mass spectrometry, termed as $Bρ$-defined IMS, is established at the experimental cooler-storage ring CSRe in Lanzhou. Its potential has been studied through high precision mass measurements of $^{58}$Ni projectile fragments. Two time-of-flight detectors were installed in one of the straight sections of CSRe, thus enabling simultaneous measurements of the velocity and the revol…
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A novel isochronous mass spectrometry, termed as $Bρ$-defined IMS, is established at the experimental cooler-storage ring CSRe in Lanzhou. Its potential has been studied through high precision mass measurements of $^{58}$Ni projectile fragments. Two time-of-flight detectors were installed in one of the straight sections of CSRe, thus enabling simultaneous measurements of the velocity and the revolution time of each stored short-lived ion. This allows for calculating the magnetic rigidity $Bρ$ and the orbit length $C$ of each ion. The accurate $Bρ(C)$ function has been constructed, which is a universal calibration curve used to deduce the masses of the stored nuclides. The sensitivity to single stored ions, quickness, and background-free characteristics of the method are ideally suited to address nuclides with very short lifetimes and tiniest production yields. In the limiting case of just a single particle, the attained mass resolving power allows one us to determine its mass-over-charge ratio $m/q$ with a remarkable precision of merely $\sim5$ keV. Masses of $T_z = -3/2$ fp-shell nuclides are re-determined with high accuracy, and the validity of the isospin multiplet mass equation is tested up to the heaviest isospin quartet with $A = 55$. The new masses are also used to investigate the mirror symmetry of empirical residual proton-neutron interactions.
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Submitted 12 September, 2022;
originally announced September 2022.
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Improving the resolving power of Isochronous Mass Spectrometry by employing an in-ring mechanical slit
Authors:
J. H. Liu,
X. Xu,
P. Zhang,
P. Shuai,
X. L. Yan,
Y. H. Zhang,
M. Wang,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
H. S. Xu,
K. Blaum,
T. Bao,
H. Chen,
X. C. Chen,
R. J. Chen,
C. Y. Fu,
D. W. Liu,
W. W. Ge,
R. S. Mao,
X. W. Ma,
M. Z. Sun,
X. L. Tu,
Y. M. Xing,
J. C. Yang,
Y. J. Yuan,
Q. Zeng
, et al. (9 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
Isochronous Mass Spectrometry (IMS) in heavy-ion storage rings is an excellent experimental method for precision mass measurements of exotic nuclei. In the IMS, the storage ring is tuned in a special isochronous ion-optical mode. Thus, the mass-over-charge ratios of the stored ions are directly reflected by their respective revolution times in first order. However, the inevitable momentum spread o…
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Isochronous Mass Spectrometry (IMS) in heavy-ion storage rings is an excellent experimental method for precision mass measurements of exotic nuclei. In the IMS, the storage ring is tuned in a special isochronous ion-optical mode. Thus, the mass-over-charge ratios of the stored ions are directly reflected by their respective revolution times in first order. However, the inevitable momentum spread of secondary ions increases the peak widths in the measured spectra and consequently limits the achieved mass precision. In order to achieve a higher mass resolving power, the ring aperture was reduced to 60 mm by applying a mechanical slit system at the dispersive straight section. The momentum acceptance was reduced as well as better isochronous conditions were achieved. The results showed a significant improvement of the mass resolving power reaching $5.2 \times 10^{5}$, though at the cost of about 40\% ion loss.
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Submitted 28 May, 2019;
originally announced May 2019.
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A method to measure the transition energy $γ_{t}$ of the isochronously tuned storage ring
Authors:
R. J. Chen,
X. L. Yan,
W. W. Ge,
Y. J. Yuan,
M. Wang,
M. Z. Sun,
Y. M. Xing,
P. Zhang,
C. Y. Fu,
P. Shuai,
X. Xu,
Y. H. Zhang,
T. Bao,
X. C. Chen,
X. J. Hu,
W. J. Huang,
H. F. Li,
J. H. Liu,
Yu. A. Litvinov,
S. A. Litvinov,
L. J. Mao,
B. Wu,
H. S. Xu,
J. C. Yang,
D. Y. Yin
, et al. (5 additional authors not shown)
Abstract:
The Isochronous Mass Spectrometry (IMS) is a powerful technique developed in heavy-ion storage rings for measuring masses of very short-lived exotic nuclei. The IMS is based on the isochronous setting of the ring. One of the main parameters of this setting is the transition energy $γ_{t}$. %The transition energy $γ_{t}$ plays an important role in the isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS). It has bee…
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The Isochronous Mass Spectrometry (IMS) is a powerful technique developed in heavy-ion storage rings for measuring masses of very short-lived exotic nuclei. The IMS is based on the isochronous setting of the ring. One of the main parameters of this setting is the transition energy $γ_{t}$. %The transition energy $γ_{t}$ plays an important role in the isochronous mass spectrometry (IMS). It has been a challenge to determine the $γ_{t}$ and especially to monitor the variation of $γ_{t}$ during experiments. In this paper we introduce a method to measure the $γ_{t}$ online during IMS experiments by using the acquired experimental data. Furthermore, since the storage ring has (in our context) a relatively large momentum acceptance, the variation of the $γ_{t}$ across the ring acceptance is a source of systematic uncertainty of measured masses. With the installation of two time-of-flight (TOF) detectors, the velocity of each stored ion and its revolution time are simultaneously available for the analysis. These quantities enabled us to determine the $γ_{t}$ as a function of orbital length in the ring. The presented method is especially important for future IMS experiments planned at the new-generation storage ring facilities FAIR in Germany and HIAF in China.
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Submitted 22 November, 2018;
originally announced November 2018.