Beta Decay Studies of Neutron-Rich Nuclei near $^{52}$Ca
ORAL
Abstract
The $\beta$ decay and isomeric properties of neutron-rich nuclei near semi-magic $^{52}$Ca were studied at NSCL. The presence of a significant energy gap, separating the neutron \textit{f}$_{5/2}$ and \textit{p}$_{1/2}$ single-particle states from the \textit{p}$_{3/2}$ level at \textit{N}=32, has a stabilizing effect on the low-energy structure of nuclides in this region. We report the results for the low-energy structure of $^{50}$K, which has one proton hole and one neutron hole outside $^{52}$Ca, determined from isomeric decay. We also discuss new levels in $^{53}$Sc, one proton outside $^{52}$Ca, populated following the $\beta$ decay of $^{53}$Ca. Both findings reinforce previous evidence for the doubly-magic character of the $^{52}$Ca core.
*Work was supported in part by NSF under Grant No. PHY06-06007 and by U.S. DOE, Office of Nuclear Physics, under contracts No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 (ANL) and DEFG02-94ER40834 (U. Maryland) and by the Polish Scientific Committee grant 1PO3B 059 29.
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