Abstract: To test the predictive power of ab initio nuclear structure theory, the lifetime of the second 2(+) state in neutron-rich O-20, tau(2(2)(+)) = 150(-30)(+80) fs, and an estimate for the lifetime of the second 2(+) state in C-16 have been obtained for the first time. The results were achieved via a novel Monte Carlo technique that allowed us to measure nuclear state lifetimes in the tens-to-hundreds of femtoseconds range by analyzing the Doppler-shifted gamma-transition line shapes of products of low-energy transfer and deep-inelastic processes in the reaction O-18 (7.0 MeV/u) + Ta-181. The requested sensitivity could only be reached owing to the excellent performances of the Advanced gamma-Tracking Array AGATA, coupled to the PARIS scintillator array and to the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. The experimental lifetimes agree with predictions of ab initio calculations using two- and three-nucleon interactions, obtained with the valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group for O-20 and with the no-core shell model for C-16. The present measurement shows the power of electromagnetic observables, determined with high-precision gamma spectroscopy, to assess the quality of first-principles nuclear structure calculations, complementing common benchmarks based on nuclear energies. The proposed experimental approach will be essential for short lifetime measurements in unexplored regions of the nuclear chart, including r-process nuclei, when intense beams, produced by Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) techniques, become available.

Abstract: Excited states of neutron-rich iodine isotopes I130-134 above the high-spin isomers have been identified using prompt-delayed gamma-ray spectroscopy. The iodine isotopes were produced as fission fragments of fusion-fission and transfer induced fission of 9Be(U-238, f) at a beam energy of 6.2 MeV/u. The complete (A, Z) identification was obtained using the large acceptance magnetic spectrometer VAMOS++. The AGATA gamma-ray tracking array was used to detect the prompt gamma rays while the delayed gamma rays (in the time range of 100 ns to 200 μs) from the isomeric states were identified by the EXOGAM segmented clover detectors, placed behind the focal plane of the VAMOS++ spectrometer. The high-spin states above the (8(-)) isomers in I-130,I-132 were populated for the first time, and a new isomer in I-132 was identified. A new gamma-ray transition was also assigned to the level structure of I-134. Prompt transitions above the 19/2- isomer were identified in I-131,I-133, for the first time. The level structures are interpreted in terms of the systematics of odd-Z nuclei above the Z = 50 shell closure and large-scale shell model calculations.

Abstract: In beta-decay studies the determination of the decay probability to the ground state (g.s.) of the daughter nucleus often suffers from large systematic errors. The difficulty of the measurement is related to the absence of associated delayed gamma-ray emission. In this work we revisit the 4 pi gamma – beta method proposed by Greenwood and collaborators in the 1990s, which has the potential to overcome some of the experimental difficulties. Our interest is driven by the need to determine accurately the beta-intensity distributions of fission products that contribute significantly to the reactor decay heat and to the antineutrinos emitted by reactors. A number of such decays have large g.s. branches. The method is relevant for nuclear structure studies as well. Pertinent formulas are revised and extended to the special case of beta-delayed neutron emitters, and the robustness of the method is demonstrated with synthetic data. We apply it to a number of measured decays that serve as test cases and discuss the features of the method. Finally, we obtain g.s. feeding intensities with reduced uncertainty for four relevant decays that will allow future improvements in antineutrino spectrum and decay heat calculations using the summation method.