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N. R. Ma

Publications and source records attributed to N. R. Ma.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

Determination of the cluster-decay branching ratio from a near-threshold molecular state in $^{10}$Be

A puzzle has long existed for the $α$-cluster content in the near-threshold 7.54 MeV state of $^{10}$Be. A new measurement was conducted to measure the cluster-decay partial width of this state, using the reaction $\rm{^9Be}(\rm{^9Be}, \rm{^{10}Be}^{*} \rightarrow α+ \rm{^6He})\rm{^8Be}$ at 45 MeV beam energy. Special measures were taken to reduce the strong near-threshold background. The neutron-decay strength was also obtained based on the three-fold coincident measurement. A cluster-decay branching ratio of $(4.04 \pm 1.26)\times 10^{-4}$ is obtained, resulting in a reasonably large $α$-cluster spectroscopic factor. The present work confirms the formation of the $σ$-bond molecular rotational band headed by the 6.18 MeV state in $^{10}$Be.

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Fine structure in the $α$ decay of $^{223}$U

Fine structure in the $α$ decay of $^{223}$U was observed in the fusion-evaporation reaction $^{187}$Re($^{40}$Ar, p3n) by using fast digital pulse processing technique. Two $α$-decay branches of $^{223}$U feeding the ground state and 244 keV excited state of $^{219}$Th were identified by establishing the decay chain $^{223}$U $\xrightarrow{α_{1}}$ $^{219}$Th $\xrightarrow{α_{2}}$ $^{215}$Ra $\xrightarrow{α_{3}}$ $^{211}$Rn. The $α$-particle energy for the ground-state to ground-state transition of $^{223}$U was determined to be 8993(17) keV, 213 keV higher than the previous value, the half-life was updated to be 62$^{+14}_{-10}$ $μ$s. Evolution of nuclear structure for $N$ = 131 even-$Z$ isotones from Po to U was discussed in the frameworks of nuclear mass and reduced $α$-decay width, a weakening octupole deformation in the ground state of $^{223}$U relative to its lighter isotones $^{219}$Ra and $^{221}$Th was suggested.

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Experimentally well-constrained masses of $^{27}$P and $^{27}$S: Implications for studies of explosive binary systems

The mass of $^{27}$P was predicted to impact the X-ray burst (XRB) model predictions of burst light curves and the composition of the burst ashes. To address the uncertainties and inconsistencies in the reported $^{27}$P masses in literature, a wealth of information has been extracted from the $β$-decay spectroscopy of the drip-line nucleus $^{27}$S. We determine the most precise mass excess of $^{27}$P to date to be $-659(9)$~keV, which is 63~keV (2.3$σ$) higher than the AME2016 recommended value of $-722(26)$~keV. The experimentally unknown mass excess of $^{27}$S was estimated to be 17030(400)~keV in AME2016, and we constrain this mass to be 17678(77)~keV based on the measured $β$-delayed two-proton energy. In the temperature region of $(0.06-0.3)$~GK, the $^{26}$Si$(p,γ)^{27}$P reaction rate determined in this work is significantly lower than the rate recommended in the reaction rate libraries, up to two orders of magnitude around 0.1~GK. The impact of these newly determined masses and well-constrained rate on the modeling of the explosive astrophysical scenarios has been explored by hydrodynamic nova and post-processing XRB models. No substantial change was found in the nova contribution to the synthesis of galactic $^{26}$Al or in the XRB energy generation rate, but we found that the calculated abundances of $^{26}$Al and $^{26}$Si at the last stage of XRB are increased by a factor of 2.4. We also conclude that $^{27}$S is not a significant waiting point in the rapid proton capture process.

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Simultaneous measurement of beta-delayed proton and gamma emission of $^{26}$P for $^{25}$Al($p,γ$)$^{26}$Si reaction rate

$β$ decay of $^{26}$P was used to populate the astrophysically important $E_x=$5929.4(8) keV $J^π=3{^+}$ state of $^{26}$Si. Both $β$-delayed proton at 418(8) keV and gamma ray at 1742(2) keV emitted from this state were measured simultaneously for the first time with corresponding absolute intensities of 11.1(12)\% and 0.59(44)\%, respectively. Besides, shell model calculations with weakly bound effects were performed to investigate the decay properties of other resonant states and a spin-parity of $4^+$ rather than $0^+$ was favored for the $E_x=$5945.9(40) keV state. Combining the experimental results and theoretical calculations, $^{25}$Al($p,γ$)$^{26}$Si reaction rate in explosive hydrogen burning environments was calculated and compared with previous studies.

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Beta-decay spectroscopy of $^{27}$S

Background: Beta-decay spectroscopy provides valuable nuclear physics input for thermonuclear reaction rates of astrophysical interest and stringent test for shell-model theories far from the stability line. Purpose: The available decay properties of proton drip-line nucleus $^{27}$S is insufficient to constrain the properties of the key resonance in $^{26}$Si$(p,γ)^{27}$P reaction rate and probe the possible isospin asymmetry. The decay scheme of $^{27}$S is complicated and far from being understood, which has motivated but also presented challenges for our experiment. Method: The $^{27}$S ions were implanted into a double-sided silicon strip detector array surrounded by the high-purity germanium detectors, where the $β$-delayed protons and $γ$ rays were measured simultaneously. Results: The improved spectroscopic properties including the precise half-life of $^{27}$S, the excitation energies, $β$-decay branching ratios, log~$ft$ values, and $B$(GT) values for the states of $^{27}$P populated in the $β$ decay of $^{27}$S were measured and compared to the $^{27}$Mg mirror states and the shell-model calculations. The present work has expanded greatly on the previously established decay scheme of $^{27}$S. Conclusions: The precise proton-separation energy of $^{27}$P, the energy and the ratio between $γ$ and proton partial widths of the $3/2^+$ resonance were obtained, thereby determining the $^{26}$Si$(p,γ)^{27}$P reaction rate based mainly on experimental constraints. The first evidence for the observation of a large isospin asymmetry for the mirror decays of $^{27}$S and $^{27}$Na is also provided. The experimental spectroscopic information can be reproduced by the shell-model calculation taking the weakly bound effect of the proton $1s_{1/2}$ orbit into account.

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Constraint on the Ground-state Mass of 21Al and Three-Nucleon Forces

Fragmentation cross section of $^{28}$Si + $^{9}$Be reaction at 75.8 MeV/u was analyzed for studying the decay mode of single-proton emission in $^{21}$Al (the proton-rich nucleus with neutron closed-shell of $N = 8$ and $T_z = -5/2$). With the comparison between the measured fragmentation cross section and the theoretical cross section produced by EPAX3.1a for the observed nuclei (i.e. $^{20}$Mg, $^{21}$Al and $^{22}$Si), the expected yield for a particle stable $^{21}$Al was estimated. With the exponential decay law, an upper limit of half-life of $13$ ns was determined. Using the single-proton penetration model, the upper limit of single-proton separation energy of $-105$ keV was deduced. This deduced mass limit agrees with the microscopic calculation based on nucleon-nucleon (NN) + three-nucleon (3N) forces in $sdf_{7/2}p_{3/2}$ valence space, which indicates the importance of 3N forces in $^{21}$Al.

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Selective decay from a candidate of the $σ$-bond linear-chain state in $^{14}$C

A cluster-transfer experiment $^9$Be($^9$Be,$^{14}$C$^*\rightarrowα$+$^{10}$Be)$α$ was carried out using an incident beam energy of 45 MeV. This reaction channel has a large $Q$-value that favors populating the high-lying states in $^{14}$C and separating various reaction channels. A number of resonant states are reconstructed from the forward emitting $^{10}$Be + $α$ fragments with respect to three sets of well discriminated final states in $^{10}$Be, most of which agree with the previous observations. A state at 22.5(1) MeV in $^{14}$C is found to decay predominantly into the states around 6 MeV in $^{10}$Be daughter nucleus, in line with the unique property of the predicted band head of the $σ$-bond linear-chain molecular states. A new state at 23.5(1) MeV is identified which decays strongly into the first excited state of $^{10}$Be.

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The decay characteristic of $^{22}$Si and its ground-state mass significantly affected by three-nucleon forces

The decay of the proton-rich nucleus $^{22}$Si was studied by a silicon array coupled with germanium clover detectors. Nine charged-particle groups are observed and most of them are recognized as $β$-delayed proton emission. A charged-particle group at 5600 keV is identified experimentally as $β$-delayed two-proton emission from the isobaric analog state of $^{22}$Al. Another charged-particle emission without any $β$ particle at the low energy less than 300 keV is observed. The half-life of $^{22}$Si is determined as 27.5 (18) ms. The experimental results of $β$-decay of $^{22}$Si are compared and in nice agreement with shell-model calculations. The mass excess of the ground state of $^{22}$Si deduced from the experimental data shows that three-nucleon (3N) forces with repulsive contributions have significant effects on nuclei near the proton drip line.

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Beta-decay study of $T_z=-2$ proton-rich nucleus $^{20}$Mg

The $β$ decay of the drip-line nucleus $^{20}$Mg gives important information on resonances in $^{20}$Na, which are relevant for the astrophysical $rp$-process. A detailed $β$ decay spectroscopic study of $^{20}$Mg was performed by a continuous-implantation method. A detection system was specially developed for charged-particle decay studies, giving improved spectroscopic information including the half-life of $^{20}$Mg, the excitation energies, the branching ratios, and the log $ft$ values for the states in $^{20}$Na populated in the $β$ decay of $^{20}$Mg. A new proton branch was observed and the corresponding excited state in $^{20}$Na was proposed. The large isospin asymmetry for the mirror decays of $^{20}$Mg and $^{20}$O was reproduced, as well. However, no conclusive conclusion can be draw about the astrophysically interesting 2645~keV resonance in $^{20}$Na due to the limited statistics.

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Cluster Decay of the High-lying excited states in $^{14}$C

A cluster-transfer experiment of $^9\rm{Be}(^9\rm{Be},^{14}\rm{C}\rightarrowα+^{10}\rm{Be})α$ at an incident energy of 45 MeV was carried out in order to investigate the molecular structure in high-lying resonant states in $^{14}$C. This reaction is of extremely large $Q$-value, making it an excellent case to select the reaction mechanism and the final states in outgoing nuclei. The high-lying resonances in $^{14}$C are reconstructed for three sets of well discriminated final states in $^{10}$Be. The results confirm the previous decay measurements with clearly improved decay-channel selections and show also a new state at 23.5(1) MeV. The resonant states at 22.4(3) and 24.0(3) MeV decay primarily into the typical molecular states at about 6 MeV in $^{10}$Be, indicating a well developed cluster structure in these high-lying states in $^{14}$C. Further measurements of more states of this kind are suggested.

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The self-consistent analysis for sub-barrier fusion enhancement effect in Ca + Ca and Ni + Ni

The fusion dynamic mechanism of heavy-ions at energies near the Coulomb barrier is complicated and still not very clear up to now. Accordingly, a self-consistent method based on the CCFULL calculations has been developed and applied for an ingoing study of the effect of the positive Q-value neutron transfer (PQNT) channels in this work. The typical experimental fusion data of Ca + Ca and Ni + Ni is analyzed within the unified calculation scheme. The PQNT effect in near-barrier fusion is further confirmed based on the self-consistent analysis and extracted quantitatively.

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