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Mass measurements of 99–101In challenge ab initio nuclear theory of the nuclide 100Sn

The tin isotope 100 Sn is of singular interest for nuclear structure due to its closed-shell proton and neutron configurations. It is also the heaviest nucleus comprising protons and neutrons in equal numbers—a feature that enhances the contribution of the short-range proton–neutron pairing interact...

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Published in:Nature physics 2021-09, Vol.17 (10), p.1099-1103
Main Authors: Mougeot, M., Atanasov, D., Karthein, J., Wolf, R. N., Ascher, P., Blaum, K., Chrysalidis, K., Hagen, G., Holt, J. D., Huang, W. J., Jansen, G. R., Kulikov, I., Litvinov, Yu. A., Lunney, D., Manea, V., Miyagi, T., Papenbrock, T., Schweikhard, L., Schwenk, A., Steinsberger, T., Stroberg, S. R., Sun, Z. H., Welker, A., Wienholtz, F., Wilkins, S. G., Zuber, K.
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Language:English
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Summary:The tin isotope 100 Sn is of singular interest for nuclear structure due to its closed-shell proton and neutron configurations. It is also the heaviest nucleus comprising protons and neutrons in equal numbers—a feature that enhances the contribution of the short-range proton–neutron pairing interaction and strongly influences its decay via the weak interaction. Decay studies in the region of 100 Sn have attempted to prove its doubly magic character 1 but few have studied it from an ab initio theoretical perspective 2 , 3 , and none of these has addressed the odd-proton neighbours, which are inherently more difficult to describe but crucial for a complete test of nuclear forces. Here we present direct mass measurements of the exotic odd-proton nuclide 100 In, the beta-decay daughter of 100 Sn, and of 99 In, with one proton less than 100 Sn. We use advanced mass spectrometry techniques to measure 99 In, which is produced at a rate of only a few ions per second, and to resolve the ground and isomeric states in 101 In. The experimental results are compared with ab initio many-body calculations. The 100-fold improvement in precision of the 100 In mass value highlights a discrepancy in the atomic-mass values of 100 Sn deduced from recent beta-decay results 4 , 5 . Accurate mass measurements of the indium isotopes adjacent to the doubly magic 100 Sn provide critical benchmarks for ab initio theory, which withstands the challenge.
ISSN:1745-2473
1745-2481
DOI:10.1038/s41567-021-01326-9