Evidence for the $^{15}\text{Be}$ ground state from $^{12}$Be$+3$n events

A. N. Kuchera; R. Shahid; J. Zhao; A. Edmondson; P. A. DeYoung; N. Frank; J. McDonaugh; O. Peterson-Veatch; W. F. Rogers; T. Redpath; M. Thoennessen

arXiv · 2411.04927

Evidence for the $^{15}\text{Be}$ ground state from $^{12}$Be$+3$n events

A. N. Kuchera·R. Shahid·J. Zhao·A. Edmondson·P. A. DeYoung·N. Frank·J. McDonaugh·O. Peterson-Veatch·W. F. Rogers·T. Redpath·M. Thoennessen

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Abstract

Background: $^{15}$Be is an unbound nuclide that has been observed to decay by one-neutron emission. Shell model calculations predict two low-lying states in its energy spectrum, however, only a single resonance has been observed from coincident measurements of $^{14}$Be+n. It has been suggested that the yet unobserved state may decay sequentially through the first excited state in $^{14}$Be followed by a two-neutron emission to $^{12}$Be. Purpose: The ground state of $^{15}$Be has yet to be confirmed. A search for this predicted $^{15}$Be state by reconstructing $^{12}$Be$+3$n events allows a possible determination of its ground state properties. Methods: A neutron-pickup reaction was performed with a $^{14}$Be beam on a CD$_2$ target to populate unbound $^{15}$Be states. Decay energies were reconstructed using invariant mass spectroscopy by detecting $^{12}$Be daughter nuclei in coincidence with up to three neutrons. Results: Evidence for at least one resonance in $^{15}$Be is presented based on the reconstruction of $^{12}$Be$+3$n events. Through comparison with simulations, the energy of the strongest resonance in the analyzed reaction and decay channel is determined to be $E_{^{12}Be+3n}=330(20)$ keV. Conclusions: The inclusion of a new $^{15}$Be state among the $^{12}$Be+$3$n events lower in relative decay energy than the previous $^{14}$Be+n observations provides the best fit to the data. Because this suggested new state would be lower in energy than the previously observed state, it is a candidate for the ground state of $^{15}$Be.

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A. N. Kuchera, R. Shahid, J. Zhao, A. Edmondson, P. A. DeYoung, N. Frank, J. McDonaugh, O. Peterson-Veatch, W. F. Rogers, T. Redpath, M. Thoennessen. 2024-11-07. Evidence for the $^{15}\text{Be}$ ground state from $^{12}$Be$+3$n events. https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.04927

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