Publication Date:
2013-10-11
Description:
Atomic nuclei are finite quantum systems composed of two distinct types of fermion--protons and neutrons. In a manner similar to that of electrons orbiting in an atom, protons and neutrons in a nucleus form shell structures. In the case of stable, naturally occurring nuclei, large energy gaps exist between shells that fill completely when the proton or neutron number is equal to 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82 or 126 (ref. 1). Away from stability, however, these so-called 'magic numbers' are known to evolve in systems with a large imbalance of protons and neutrons. Although some of the standard shell closures can disappear, new ones are known to appear. Studies aiming to identify and understand such behaviour are of major importance in the field of experimental and theoretical nuclear physics. Here we report a spectroscopic study of the neutron-rich nucleus (54)Ca (a bound system composed of 20 protons and 34 neutrons) using proton knockout reactions involving fast radioactive projectiles. The results highlight the doubly magic nature of (54)Ca and provide direct experimental evidence for the onset of a sizable subshell closure at neutron number 34 in isotopes far from stability.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Steppenbeck, D -- Takeuchi, S -- Aoi, N -- Doornenbal, P -- Matsushita, M -- Wang, H -- Baba, H -- Fukuda, N -- Go, S -- Honma, M -- Lee, J -- Matsui, K -- Michimasa, S -- Motobayashi, T -- Nishimura, D -- Otsuka, T -- Sakurai, H -- Shiga, Y -- Soderstrom, P-A -- Sumikama, T -- Suzuki, H -- Taniuchi, R -- Utsuno, Y -- Valiente-Dobon, J J -- Yoneda, K -- England -- Nature. 2013 Oct 10;502(7470):207-10. doi: 10.1038/nature12522.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for Nuclear Study, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. steppenbeck@cns.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24108051" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Print ISSN:
0028-0836
Electronic ISSN:
1476-4687
Topics:
Biology
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Chemistry and Pharmacology
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Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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