News

A new paper on isospin symmetry in the T=1, A=62 triplet has been published in Physics Letters B. The study presents a combination of in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy experiments done at the RIBF with projectile fragmentation and at JYFL-ACCLAB using a fusion evaporation reaction. The first excited states in ⁶²Ga and ⁶²Ge were identified, resolving discrepant interpretations in the literature. In comparison with shell-model calculations, we can conclude that the radius of the proton and neutron p orbits shrink when they are occupied by at least one nucleon.

During the engineering runs at GSI, we have performed the first in-beam test of LISA detectors. A single diamond detector (named "Tokyo") was inserted at the S2 focal area and tested with heavy ions.

This is a huge step forward in the project, congratulations to the whole team!

Martha Reece joined us recently as a PhD student in the LISA team. Together with the rest of the team she just completed a vacuum test of newly delivered equipment. It seems to work, everybody is happy ;-)

Our paper on the nature of axial and triaxial deformation in ⁷²Zn was published in Physics Letters B. This paper is based the PhD work of S. Hellgartner. It discusses the results of a Coulomb excitation experiment performed at REX-ISOLDE. The differential excitation cross sections allowed us to draw conclusions on the shape of ⁷²Zn. The results were compared with shell model and beyond mean field calculations which corroborate the large deformation in the γ degree of freedom, while pointing to a more deformed state. These experimental and theoretical findings establish the importance of the γ degree of freedom in the ground state of ⁷²Zn, located between the ^68,70Ni nuclei that have spherical ground states, and ⁷⁶Ge, which has a rigid triaxial shape.

Our experiment to study nuclei toward the N=20 Island of Inversion has been successfully completed at National Laboratories of Legnaro. Using the AGATA γ-ray spectrometer and PRISMA for the detection of ions, we employed multi-nucleon transfer reactions of a ²²Ne beam onto a ²³⁸U target. Excited states in various Ne, F, and O isotopes were observed in the on-line analysis.

With help of the GSI detector lab, we have measured the energy resolution of SC-CV diamond detectors. All detectors show excellent performance and wait to be tested with beams this fall.

Jelena Bardak and Bellona Bles are two PhD students from the University of Novi Sad who join us for the next six month. Already in their first week, they were working hard cutting and sanding parts of the support structure in the workshop.