Speaker
Description
Studies of exotic atomic nuclei have shown that the magic nucleon numbers observed near the valley of stability (2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126) can slightly vary. The vast majority of theoretical calculations consider the 100Sn nucleus, with 50 neutrons and protons, to be magic; however, we have not yet found clear experimental evidence for this. Beyond this fundamental question of nuclear structure, the 100Sn nucleus and its surrounding region also play a key role in the study of astrophysical rp processes. We can infer the magical property of even-even nuclei from the energy of their excited states and from the deformation of the nuclei. The 100Sn nucleus itself is not yet accessible with current experimental techniques; therefore, in our experiment, we studied the 102Sn and 104Sn nuclei using gamma-ray spectroscopy in an inelastic proton scattering reaction, employing inverse kinematics. The tin isotopes were produced at the RIKEN Radioisotope Beam Facility (RIBF) by fragmenting a 124Xe beam on a 9Be target. During the presentation, I will describe the experiment, the resulting gamma spectra, their analysis, and the derivation of the deformation of the atomic nuclei.