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Charity RJ, Wylie J, Wang SM, Webb TB, Brown KW, Cerizza G, Chajecki Z, Elson JM, Estee J, Hoff DEM, Kuvin SA, Lynch WG, Manfredi J, Michel N, McNeel DG, Morfouace P, Nazarewicz W, Pruitt CD, Santamaria C, Sweany S, Smith J, Sobotka LG, Tsang MB, Wuosmaa AH. Strong Evidence for ^{9}N and the Limits of Existence of Atomic Nuclei. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023; 131:172501. [PMID: 37955509 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.131.172501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
The boundaries of the chart of nuclides contain exotic isotopes that possess extreme proton-to-neutron asymmetries. Here we report on strong evidence of ^{9}N, one of the most exotic proton-rich isotopes where more than one half of its constitute nucleons are unbound. With seven protons and two neutrons, this extremely proton-rich system would represent the first-known example of a ground-state five-proton emitter. The invariant-mass spectrum of its decay products can be fit with two peaks whose energies are consistent with the theoretical predictions of an open-quantum-system approach; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that only a single resonancelike peak is present in the spectrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- R J Charity
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - J Wylie
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - S M Wang
- Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-beam Application (MOE), Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
- Shanghai Research Center for Theoretical Nuclear Physics, NSFC and Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - T B Webb
- Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - K W Brown
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - G Cerizza
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - Z Chajecki
- Department of Physics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, USA
| | - J M Elson
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - J Estee
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - D E M Hoff
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - S A Kuvin
- Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - W G Lynch
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - J Manfredi
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - N Michel
- Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
| | - D G McNeel
- Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - P Morfouace
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - W Nazarewicz
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - C D Pruitt
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - C Santamaria
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - S Sweany
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - J Smith
- Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
| | - L G Sobotka
- Department of Chemistry, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
- Department of Physics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, USA
| | - M B Tsang
- Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
| | - A H Wuosmaa
- Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA
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