Speaker
Description
Laser spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying how structures of ground and isomeric states evolve across the chart of nuclides [1]. By measuring isotope shifts and hyperfine structures we can deduce fundamental properties such as nuclear spins, changes in mean-squared charge radii and electromagnetic moments, all in a model-independent way. Such data are excellent tests for theory, providing wide-ranging benchmarks to compare model predictions to [2].
I will introduce the in-source resonance ionisation technique used at CERN’s ISOLDE facility [3] – a highly efficient method, which when combined with the sensitivity of decay stations [4] or mass spectrometry devices [5], allows access to exotic nuclides with extremely low production rates. Results will be presented from campaigns of experiments of isotopes in the proton-rich Pb (Z=82) region, a hot bed of nuclear structure phenomena that produce striking changes in nuclear ground-state deformation. Highlights will be given from studies of the charge radii of gold and bismuth isotopes, along with accompanying Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations that attempt to describe the trends in radii throughout the region [6].
[1] X. F. Yang, S. J. Wang, S. G. Wilkins, R. F. Garcia Ruiz, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 129, 104005 (2023).
[2] A. R. Vernon et al., Nature 607, 260-265 (2022).
[3] M. J. Borge, B. Jonson, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 44, 044011 (2017).
[4] A. N. Andreyev et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 252502 (2010).
[5] R. N. Wolf et al., Int. J. Mass Spectrom. 349-350, 123-133 (2013).
[6] J. G. Cubiss et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 202501 (2023).
