arXiv subjects

R. Palit

Publications and source records attributed to R. Palit.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Level structure of light neutron-rich La isotopes beyond the N=82 shell closure

The high spin excited states of Lanthanum isotopes $^{140-143}$La, above the $N=82$ closed shell, have been populated in fission reactions. The prompt $\gamma$-ray transitions were measured using two complementary methods; a) in coincidence with the isotopically identified fragments produced in the fission of the $^{238}$U+$^{9}$Be system using the VAMOS++ and the AGATA spectrometers and b) high statistics three-fold $\gamma-\gamma-\gamma$ and four-fold $\gamma-\gamma-\gamma-\gamma$ coincidence data from the spontaneous fission of $^{252}$Cf using the Gammasphere. This work reports the first identification of a pair of parity doublet structures in $^{143}$La and the new high spin level structure in $^{140-142}$La from prompt $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy. The level structures are interpreted in terms of the systematics of neighbouring odd-$Z$ nuclei above $Z=50$ shell closure and large-scale shell model calculations. The present results indicate the presence of stable octupole deformation, in $^{143}$La. The excitation energy pattern and their comparison with neighbouring isotones, moving away from the N=82 closed shell, point towards a transition from single particle structures to an alternating parity rotational band structure in the La isotopic chain.

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arXiv2025

Competition between the neutron-proton pair break-ups delineating the level structure of 202Po

High-spin spectroscopic study of $^{202}$Po ($Z$ = 84, $N$ = 118) has been carried out using the $^{195}$Pt($^{12}$C, 5n)$^{202}$Po fusion-evaporation reaction. An extended level scheme has been proposed up to an excitation energy of $E_x\approx$ 8 MeV and angular momentum of 27$\hbar$, with the addition of 57 newly observed $\gamma$-ray transitions, along with the revisions in the placement of 8 already known transitions and the multipolarities of 4 of these transitions. The energy of the unobserved 8$^+ \rightarrow 6^+$ transition has been proposed to be 9.0(5) keV, which resolves the uncertainty in the excitation energy of the levels above the 6$^{+}$ state. Three new sequences of $M1$ transitions have also been identified in the high excitation energy regime and included in the proposed level scheme. The large-scale shell model calculations for $Z>82$ and $N<126$ valence space have been carried out using PBPOP interaction which explained the overall level scheme for both the positive and negative parity states. The calculations successfully reproduced the purity of the proton $\pi h_{9/2}$ dominated $8^+$ isomeric state, and also explained the missing $E2$ decay of the ${12}^+$ isomeric state in terms of changing nucleonic configurations.

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arXiv2024

Measurement of enhanced electric dipole transition strengths at high spin in $^{100}$Ru: Possible observation of octupole deformation

The majority of atomic nuclei have deformed shapes and nearly all these shapes are symmetric with respect to reflection. There are only a few reflection asymmetric pear-shaped nuclei that have been found in actinide and lanthanide regions, which have static octupole deformation. These nuclei possess an intrinsic electric dipole moment due to the shift between the center of charge and the center of mass. This manifests in the enhancement of the electric dipole transition rates. In this article, we report on the measurement of the lifetimes of the high spin levels of the two alternate parity bands in $^{100}$Ru through the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. The estimated electric dipole transition rates have been compared with the calculated transition rates using the triaxial projected shell model without octupole deformation, and are found to be an order of magnitude enhanced. Thus, the observation of seven inter-leaved electric dipole transitions with enhanced rates establish $^{100}$Ru as possibly the first octupole deformed nucleus reported in the A $\approx$ 100 mass region.

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arXiv2024

In-beam $\gamma-$spectroscopy of the transitional nucleus $^{217}$Ac

High-spin states in the transitional $^{217}$Ac nucleus are established up to 3.8 MeV excitation energy and $I^{\pi} =$ 41/2$^+$ with the addition of around 20 new transitions. The structure of the yrast and near-yrast states below the 29/2$^+$ isomer is revisited. The inconsistencies in the level schemes reported earlier are resolved. The level structure above the 29/2$^+$ isomer is established for the first time. Large-basis shell-model calculations with the KHPE interaction are performed to compare the experimentally observed level energies with the theoretical predictions. A comparison with the systematics of the N = 128 isotones suggests that the yrast structures result from a weak coupling of the odd proton to the even-even 216Ra core, which is consistent with the shell-model configurations. Furthermore, alpha decay of the 29/2$^+$ isomer is revisited and the decay scheme established from this work is discussed in the framework of the shell model.

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arXiv2024

Evolution of chirality from transverse wobbling in $^{135}$Pr

Chirality is a distinct signature that characterizes triaxial shapes in nuclei. We report the first observation of chirality in the nucleus $^{135}$Pr using a high-statistics Gammasphere experiment with the $^{123}$Sb($^{16}$O,4n)$^{135}$Pr reaction. Two chiral-partner bands with the configuration $\pi(1h_{11/2})^1\otimes\nu(1h_{11/2})^{-2}$ have been identified in this nucleus. Angular distribution analyses of the $\Delta I = 1$ transitions connecting the two bands reveal a dominant dipole character, and quasiparticle triaxial rotor model calculations show good agreement with the data. Since the simultaneous observation of chirality and transverse wobbling in $^{135}$Pr relies critically on these angular distribution results, we also address and refute the experimental and theoretical criticisms raised in a recent work by Lv et al., presenting additional evidence that further strengthens our interpretation. This marks the first observation of both hallmarks of triaxiality-chirality and wobbling-in the same nucleus.

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arXiv2024

First identification of a doublet wobbling excitation mode in $^{105}$Pd

An experimental investigation of $^{105}$Pd has revealed, for the first time, the existence of two wobbling bands, both having one phonon configuration and originating from excitation which is the wobbling from the yrast band with the $h_{11/2}$ quasineutron fully aligned with the short axis, and from an excited band with the same quasineutron but with less alignment along the short axis. These observations have been drawn from the measured ratios of the inter-band and intra-band gamma transition rates. Model calculations based on the triaxial projected shell model (TPSM) approach have been performed and are found to be in good agreement with the experimental energies and relative transition probabilities. The analysis of the TPSM results provides an insight into the nature of the observed structures at a microscopic level.

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arXiv2024

Fusion of $^{7}$Li with $^{205}$Tl at near barrier energies

The complete and incomplete fusion cross sections for the $^{7}$Li+$^{205}$Tl reaction were measured at near barrier energies by online characteristic $\gamma$ ray detection technique. The complete fusion (CF) cross sections at energies above the Coulomb barrier were found to be suppressed by $\sim$ 26 \% compared to the coupled channel calculations. Reduced fusion cross sections for the present system at energies normalised to the Coulomb barrier were also found to be systematically lower than those with strongly bound projectiles forming a similar compound nucleus. The suppression observed in CF cross sections is found to be commensurate with the measured total incomplete fusion (ICF) cross sections. In the ICF cross sections, t capture is found to be dominant than $\alpha$ capture at all the measured energies. The systematic study of available CF, ICF and total fusion (TF) data with $^7$Li projectile is performed.

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arXiv2023

Neutrons from projectile fragmentation at 600 MeV/nucleon

The neutron emission in projectile fragmentation at relativistic energies was studied with the Large-Area-Neutron-Detector LAND coupled to the ALADIN forward spectrometer at the GSI Schwerionen-Synchrotron (SIS). Stable 124Sn and radioactive 107Sn and 124La beams with an incident energy of 600 MeV/nucleon were used to explore the N/Z dependence of the identified neutron source. A cluster-recognition algorithm is applied for identifying individual particles within the hit distributions registered with LAND. The obtained momentum distributions are extrapolated over the full phase space occupied by the neutrons from the projectile-spectator source. The mean multiplicities of spectator neutrons reach values of up to about 11 and depend strongly on the isotopic composition of the projectile. An effective source temperature of T \approx 2-5 MeV, monotonically increasing with decreasing impact parameter, is deduced from the transverse momentum distributions. For the interpretation of the data, calculations with the statistical multifragmentation model were performed. The variety of excited projectile spectators assumed to decay statistically is represented by an ensemble of excited sources with parameters determined previously from the fragment production observed in the same experiments. The obtained agreement is very satisfactory for more peripheral collisions where, according to the model, neutrons are mainly emitted during the secondary decays of excited fragments. The neutron multiplicity in more central collisions is underestimated, indicating that other sources besides the modeled statistical breakup contribute to the observed neutron yield. The choice made for the symmetry-term coefficient of the liquid-drop description of produced fragments has a weak effect on the predicted neutron multiplicities.

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arXiv2022

Collective enhancement in nuclear level density of $^{72}$Ga and its effect on $^{71}$Ga(n, $\gamma$)$^{72}$Ga capture cross-section

The $\gamma$-gated proton spectra measured in the reactions $^{64}$Ni($^{9}$Be, p2n)$^{70}$Ga and $^{64}$Ni($^{9}$Be, pn)$^{71}$Ga, have been utilized to obtain the nuclear level density (NLD) of $^{71}$Ga and $^{72}$Ga nuclei by using the statistical model (SM) calculations. It is seen that the $\gamma$-gated proton spectrum are reasonably explained by using the large value of the inverse level density parameter ($k$ = 11.2 MeV) in the NLD prescription of the Fermi gas (FG) model. The large value of $k$ is indicative of the rotational enhancement, which is consistent with the earlier results in other mass regions. Furthermore, a rotational enhancement factor has been included in the NLD and used in the SM calculation keeping the systematic value of $k$=8.6 MeV and it explains the $\gamma$-gated proton spectrum nicely. The result clearly indicates the presence of collective enhancement in NLD. Subsequently, the NLD with collective enhancement has been utilized in the TALYS calculation, for the first time, to calculate the $^{71}$Ga(n, $\gamma$)$^{72}$Ga capture cross-section. It is observed that, while the FG model without the collective enhancement in the NLD for $^{72}$Ga under predicts the capture data, with the rotational enhancement correction the FG model over predicts the data by similar amount at higher energies. However, in the energy range of 0.01 MeV to 0.1 MeV, the FG model corrected for rotational enhancement describes the data quite well. Thus, the present work indicates that collective enhancement, whenever required, should be taken into account fro proper description of low energy capture cross section data.

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arXiv2022

Shape evolution in the rapidly rotating $^{140}$Gd nucleus

Ground state band of $^{140}$Gd has been investigated following their population in the $^{112}$Sn($^{35}$Cl,~$\alpha$p2n)$^{140}$Gd reaction at 195 MeV of beam energy using a large array of Compton suppressed HPGe clovers as the detection setup. Apart from other spectroscopic measurements, level lifetimes of the states have been extracted using the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method. Extracted quadrupole moment along with the pairing independent cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky model calculations for the quadrupole band reveal that the nucleus preferably attains triaxiality with $\gamma$ = -30$^\circ$. The calculation though shows a slight possibility of rotation around the longest possible principal axis at high spin $\sim$ 30$\hbar$ which is beyond the scope of the present experiment.

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arXiv2022

Extended triaxial projected shell model approach for odd-neutron nuclei

In an effort to elucidate the rich band structures observed in odd-neutron systems, triaxial projected shell model approach is extended to include three-quasineutron and five-quasiparticle configurations. This extension makes it possible to investigate the high-spin states up to and including the second band crossing. Detailed investigation has been performed for odd-mass Xe isotopes with the extended basis, and it is shown that character of the band crossing along the yrast line changes with shell filling of the 1h11/2 orbital. Further, it is observed that the three-quasiparticle state that crosses the ground-state configuration, leading to the normal band crossing phenomenon along the yrast line, first crosses the {\gamma} band based on the ground-state configuration at an earlier spin value. This crossing feature explains the occurrence of the signature inversion observed in the {\gamma} bands for some of the studied isotopes.

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arXiv2021

Unraveling the reaction mechanism for large alpha production and incomplete fusion in reactions involving weakly bound stable nuclei

The origin of the large $\alpha$ particle production and incomplete fusion in reactions involving weakly-bound $\alpha$+$x$ cluster nuclei still remains unresolved. While the (two-step) process of breakup followed by capture of the ``free" complementary fragment ($x$) is widely believed to be responsible, a few recent studies suggest the dominant role of (direct) cluster stripping. To achieve an unambiguous experimental discrimination between these two processes, a coincidence measurement between the outgoing $\alpha$ particles and $\gamma$ rays from the heavy residues has been performed for the $^7$Li($\alpha$+triton)+$^{93}$Nb system. Proper choice of kinematical conditions allowed for the first time a significant population of the region accessible only to the direct triton stripping process and not to breakup followed by the capture of the ``free'' triton (from the three-body continuum). This result, also supported by a cluster-transfer calculation, clearly establishes the dominance of the direct cluster-stripping mechanism in the large alpha production.

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arXiv2021

Systematic study of near yrast band structures in odd-mass $^{125-137}$Pr and $^{127-139}$Pm isotopes

In the present work, the basis space in the triaxial projected shell model approach is expanded to include three and five quasiparticle configurations for odd-proton systems. This extension allows to investigate the high-spin band structures observed in odd-proton systems up to and including the second band crossing region, and as a first major application of this development, the high-spin properties are investigated for odd-mass $^{125-137}$Pr and $^{127-139}$Pm isotopes. It is shown that band crossings in the studied isotopes have mixed structures with first crossing dominated by one-proton coupled to two-neutron configuration for the lighter isotopes which then changes to three-proton configuration with increasing neutron number. Further, $\gamma$-bands based on quasiparticle states are also delineated in the present work, and it is predicted that these band structures built on three-quasiparticle configurations become favoured in energy for heavier systems in the high-spin region.

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arXiv2021

Complete set of bound negative-parity states in the neutron-rich 18N nucleus

High-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of 18N is performed with the Advanced GAmma Tracking Array AGATA, following deep-inelastic processes induced by an 18O beam on a 181Ta target. Six states are newly identified, which together with the three known excitations exhaust all negative-parity excited states expected in 18N below the neutron threshold. Spin and parities are proposed for all located states on the basis of decay branchings and comparison with large-scale shell-model calculations performed in the p-sd space, with the YSOX interaction. Of particular interest is the location of the 0^-_1 and 1^-_2 excitations, which provide strong constrains for cross-shell p-sd matrix elements based on realistic interactions, and help to simultaneously reproduce the ground and first-excited states in 16N and 18N, for the first time. Understanding the 18N structure may also have significant impact on neutron-capture cross-section calculations in r-process modeling including light neutron-rich nuclei.

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arXiv2020

Accessing tens-to-hundreds femtoseconds nuclear state lifetimes with low-energy binary heavy-ion reactions

A novel Monte Carlo technique has been developed to determine lifetimes of excited states in the tens-to-hundreds femtoseconds range. The method is applied to low-energy heavy-ion binary reactions populating nuclei with complex velocity distributions. Its relevance is demonstrated in connection with the $^{18}$O(7.0 MeV/u) + $^{181}$Ta experiment, performed at GANIL with the AGATA+VAMOS+PARIS setup, to study neutron-rich O, C, N, ... nuclei. Excited states in $^{17}$O and $^{19}$O, with known lifetimes, are used to validate the method over the $\sim$20-400 fs lifetime-sensitivity range. Emphasis is given to the unprecedented position resolution provided by $\gamma$-tracking arrays, which turns out to be essential for reaching the required accuracy in Doppler-shift correction, at the basis of the detailed analysis of $\gamma$-ray lineshape and resulting state lifetime determination. The technique is anticipated to be an important tool for lifetime investigations in exotic neutron-rich nuclei, produced with intense ISOL-type beams.

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arXiv2020

Triaxial projected shell model study of $\gamma$-bands in atomic nuclei

A systematic study of $\gamma$-bands observed in atomic nuclei is performed using the triaxial projected shell model (TPSM) approach. The staggering phase between the even and odd spin members of the $\gamma$-band for most the nuclei investigated in the present work is found to have even-I-below-odd-I, which in the framework of the collective model is considered as a signature of $\gamma$-softness. It is observed that out of twenty-three systems studied, only four nuclei, namely, $^{76}$Ge, $^{112}$Ru, $^{170}$Er and $^{232}$Th depict staggering phase with odd-I-below-even-I, which is regarded as an indication of the static $\gamma$-deformation in the collective model picture. The inclusion of the quasiparticle excitations in the framework of configuration mixing is shown to reverse the staggering phase from odd-I-down to the even-I-down for all the studied nuclei, except for the aforementioned four nuclei. Furthermore, by fitting a collective Bohr Hamiltonian to the TPSM energies, the differences between the two models are delineated through a comparison of the transition probabilities.

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arXiv2020

High-Spin Doublet Band Structures in odd-odd $^{194-200}$Tl isotopes

The basis space in the triaxial projected shell model (TPSM) approach is generalized for odd-odd nuclei to include two-neutron and two-proton configurations on the basic one-neutron coupled to one-proton quasiparticle state. The generalization allows to investigate odd-odd nuclei beyond the band crossing region and as a first application of this development, high-spin band structures recently observed in odd-odd $^{194-200}$Tl isotopes are investigated. In some of these isotopes, the doublet band structures observed after the band crossing have been conjectured to arise from the spontaneous breaking of the chiral symmetry. The driving configuration of the chiral symmetry in these odd-odd isotopes is one-proton and three-neutrons rather than the basic one-proton and one-neutron as already observed in many other nuclei. It is demonstrated using the TPSM approach that energy differences of the doublet bands in $^{194}$Tl and $^{198}$Tl are, indeed, small. However, the differences in the calculated transition probabilities are somewhat larger than what is expected in the chiral symmetry limit. Experimental data on the transition probabilities is needed to shed light on the chiral nature of the doublet bands.

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arXiv2020

Prompt-delayed $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy of neutron-rich $^{119,121}$In isotopes

The fusion and transfer induced fission reaction $^{9}$Be($^{238}$U,~f) with 6.2 MeV/u beam energy, using a unique setup consisting of AGATA, VAMOS++ and EXOGAM detectors, was used to populate through the fission process and study the neutron-rich $^{119,121}$In isotopes. This setup enabled the prompt-delayed $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy of isotopes in the time range of $100~\rm{ns} - 200~\mu\rm{s}$. In the odd-$A$ $^{119,121}$In isotopes, indications of a short half-life $19/2^{-}$ isomeric state, in addition to the previously known $25/2^{+}$ isomeric state, were observed from the present data. Further, new prompt transitions above the $25/2^{+}$ isomer in $^{121}$In were identified along with reevaluation of its half-life. The experimental data were compared with the theoretical results obtained in the framework of large-scale shell-model calculations in a restricted model space. The $\langle \pi g_{9/2} \nu h_{11/2};I \arrowvert \hat{\mathcal{H}}\arrowvert \pi g_{9/2} \nu h_{11/2};I\rangle$ two-body matrix elements of residual interaction were modified to explain the excitation energies and the $B(E2)$ transition probabilities in the neutron-rich In isotopes. The (i) decreasing trend of $E(29/2^{+}) - E(25/2^{+})$ in odd-In (with dominant configuration $\pi g_{9/2}^{-1}\nu h_{11/2}^{-2}$ and maximum aligned spin of $29/2^{+}$) and (ii) increasing trend of $E(27/2^{+}) - E(23/2^{+})$ in odd-Sb (with dominant configuration $\pi g_{7/2}^{+1}\nu h_{11/2}^{-2}$ and maximum aligned spin of $27/2^{+}$) with increasing neutron number could be understood as a consequence of hole-hole and particle-hole interactions, respectively.

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