arXiv · 2502.06720
Refined topology of the N = 20 island of inversion with high precision mass measurements of $^{31-33}$Na and $^{31-35}$Mg
Abstract
Mass measurements of $^{31-33}$Na and $^{31-35}$Mg using the TITAN MR-TOF-MS at TRIUMF's ISAC facility are presented, with the uncertainty of the $^{33}$Na mass reduced by over two orders of magnitude. The excellent performance of the MR-TOF-MS has also allowed the discovery of a millisecond isomer in $^{32}$Na. The precision obtained shows that the binding energy of the normally closed N = 20 neutron shell reaches a minimum for $^{32}$Mg but increases significantly for $^{31}$Na, hinting at the possibility of enhanced shell strength toward the unbound $^{28}$O. We compare the results with new ab initio predictions that raise intriguing questions of nuclear structure beyond the dripline.
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E. M. Lykiardopoulou, C. Walls, J. Bergmann, M. Brodeur, C. Brown, J. Cardona, A. Czihaly, T. Dickel, T. Duguet, J. -P. Ebran, M. Frosini, Z. Hockenbery, J. D. Holt, A. Jacobs, S. Kakkar, B. Kootte, T. Miyagi, A. Mollaebrahimi, T. Murboeck, P. Navratil, T. Otsuka, W. R. Plaß, S. Paul, W. S. Porter, M. P. Reiter, A. Scalesi, C. Scheidenberger, V. Somà, N. Shimizu, Y. Wang, D. Lunney, J. Dilling, A. A. Kwiatkowski. 2025-02-10. Refined topology of the N = 20 island of inversion with high precision mass measurements of $^{31-33}$Na and $^{31-35}$Mg. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.052503
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