Abstract: The neutron-rich rare isotope W-190 is discussed as a candidate for a prolate-oblate transitional nucleus with maximum gamma-softness. The collectivity of this isotope is assessed for the first time by the measurement of the reduced E2 transition probability of its first 2(+) state to the ground state. The experiment employed the FAst TIming Array (FATIMA), comprised of 36 LaBr3(Ce) scintillators, which was part of the DESPEC setup at GSI, Darmstadt. The 4(1)(+) and 2(1)(+) states of W-190 were populated subsequently to the decay of its 127(12) μs isomeric J(pi )= 10(-) state. The mean lifetime of the 2(1)(+) state was determined to be tau = 274(28) ps, which corresponds to a B(E2; 2(1)(+ )-> 0(1)(+)) value of 95(10) W.u. The results motivated a revision of previous calculations within an energy-density functional-based interacting boson model-2 approach, yielding E2 transition properties and spectroscopic quadrupole moments for tungsten isotopes. From comparison to theory, the new data suggest that W-190 is at the transition from prolate to oblate structure along the W isotopic chain, which had previously been discussed as a nuclear shape-phase transition.

Abstract: Reduced transition probabilities have been extracted between excited, yrast states in the N = Z + 2 nucleus Pd-94. The transitions of interest were observed following decays of the I-pi = 14(+), E-x = 2129-keV isomeric state, which was populated following the projectile fragmentation of a Xe-124 primary beam at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum fur Schwerionenforschung accelerator facility as part of FAIR Phase-0. Experimental information regarding the reduced E2 transition strengths for the decays of the yrast 8(+) and 6(+) states was determined following isomer-delayed E-gamma 1 – E-gamma 2 – Delta T-2,T-1 coincidence method, using the LaBr3(Ce)-based FATIMA fast-timing coincidence gamma-ray array, which allowed direct determination of lifetimes of states in Pd-94 using the Generalized Centroid Difference (GCD) method. The experimental value for the half-life of the yrast 8(+) state of 755(106) ps results in a reduced transition probability of B(E2:8(+)-> 6(+)) = 205(-25)(+34) e(2) fm(4), which enables a precise verification of shell-model calculations for this unique system, lying directly between the N = Z line and the N = 50 neutron shell closure. The determined B(E2) value provides an insight into the purity of (g(9/2))(n) configurations in competition with admixtures from excitations between the (lower) N = 3pf and (higher) N = 4gds orbitals for the first time. The results indicate weak collectivity expected for near-zero quadrupole deformation and an increasing importance of the T = 0 proton-neutron interaction at N = 48.

Abstract: The decay of excited states of the nucleus Sn-135, with three neutrons outside the doubly-magic Sn-132 core, was studied in an experiment performed at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory at RIKEN. Several gamma rays emitted from excited Sn-135 ions were observed following one-neutron and one-neutron-one-proton removal from Sn-136 and Sb-137 beams, respectively, on a beryllium target at relativistic energies. Based on the analogy to 133Sn populated via one-neutron removal from Sn-134, an excitation energy of 695(15) keV is assigned to the 3/2(-) state with strongest single-particle character in 135Sn. This result provides the first direct information about the evolution of the neutron shell structure beyond N = 82 and thus allows for a crucial test of shellmodel calculations in this region. The experimental findings are in full agreement with calculations performed employing microscopic effective two-body interactions derived from CD-Bonn and N3LO nucleon-nucleon potentials, which do not predict a pronounced subshell gap at neutron number N=90. The occurrence of such a gap in Sn-140, i.e., when the 1f(7/2) orbital is completely filled, had been proposed in the past, in analogy to the magicity of Ca-48, featuring a completely filled 0f(7/2) orbital one harmonic oscillator shell below.