First β-Decay Half-Life Measurements of <sup>31</sup>F and <sup>37</sup>Na Using FDSI

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) has provided unprecedented access to isotopes far from stability, enabling

a detailed investigation of nuclear structure under extreme conditions. In this work, we report the first β-decay half-life

measurements of the neutron-rich isotopes 31F and 37Na, where 31F is the most neutron-rich fluorine isotope observed

to date. These measurements were performed as part of a β-decay spectroscopy campaign using the FRIB Decay

Station Initiator (FDSI). Studying the β-decay properties of nuclei in this region offers critical insight into shell evolution

and structural changes driven by significant neutron-to-proton imbalance.

The reported results represent the shortest β-decay half-lives measured to date and serve as sensitive benchmarks

for theoretical shell-model calculations in the N = 28 region. The measured half-lives show good agreement with

predictions from the SDPFSDG shell-model interaction [1], reinforcing the role of advanced shell-model frameworks

in describing exotic nuclei. These findings demonstrate the capability of the FDSI setup to probe the most neutron-

rich systems accessible today and to deliver essential data for refining our understanding of nuclear forces and shell

evolution near the neutron drip line.

References

[1] S. Yosida et al., Phys. Rev. C 97, 054321; Erratum Phys. Rev. C 109, 029904 (2024)

*This work was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. PHY-1848177 (CAREER) and PHY-2412343.

Presenters

  • Tawfik Mohammed Mosaad Gaballah

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA
    • Mississippi State University

Authors

  • Tawfik Mohammed Mosaad Gaballah

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA
    • Mississippi State University
  • Benjamin P Crider

    • Mississippi State University
  • Sean N Liddick

    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University
    • Facility for Rare isotope Beams; Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University
  • Heather L Crawford

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Rebeka Lubna

    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams
  • James M Allmond

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Vandana Tripathi

    • Florida State University
  • Robert K. Grzywacz

    • University of Tennessee
  • Honey Arora

    • Central Michigan University
  • Corrigan J Appleton

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Samuel Oluwamayowa Ajayi

    • Florida State University
  • Peter C Bender

    • University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Caleb B Benetti

    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams
  • Jessica M Berkman

    • Michigan State University
    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams; Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University
  • Nico Braukman

    • University of Tennessee, Knoxville
  • Christopher M Campbell

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • M.P. P Carpenter

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • James Matthew Christie

    • University of Tennessee
  • Roderick M Clark

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Ian C Cox

    • University of Tennessee
  • Joseph Dopfer

    • Michigan State University
  • Amelia A Doetsch

    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University
    • Michigan State University
  • Paul Fallon

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Rahul Jain

    • Michigan State University
  • Noritake Kitamura

    • University of Tokyo
  • Thomas T King

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Kay Kolos

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Brenden Longfellow

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Miguel Madurga

    • University of Tennessee
  • Mejdi J Mogannam

    • Michigan State University
    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams; Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University
  • Shree K Neupane

    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Ellie K Ronning

    • MSU
    • Facility for Rare Isotope Beams; Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University
  • Krzysztof Piotr Rykaczewski

    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Dustin Scriven

    • Michigan State University
  • Artemis Spyrou

    • Michigan State University
  • Samuel L Tabor

    • Florida State University
  • Mac B Wheeler

    • Florida State University
  • Catur Wibisono

    • Florida State University
  • Mathis Wiedeking

    • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Zhengyu Xu

    • University of Tennessee
  • Y. Zhu

    • University of Massachusetts Lowell,