Abstract
We studied the proton-rich nucleus through inelastic scattering at intermediate energies in order to extract the reduced transition probability, . Comparison with the other members of the isospin triplet, and , studied in the same experiment, shows a deviation from the expected linearity of the electromagnetic matrix elements as a function of . At present, no established nuclear structure theory can describe this observed deviation quantitatively. This is the first violation of isospin symmetry at this level observed in the transition matrix elements. A heuristic approach may explain the anomaly by a shape change between the mirror nuclei and contrary to the model predictions.
- Received 30 September 2020
- Revised 25 November 2020
- Accepted 5 January 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.072501
© 2021 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
synopsis
Distorting Nuclear Mirror
Published 18 February 2021
Two “mirror” nuclei, in which the numbers of neutrons and protons are interchanged, have markedly different shapes—a finding that defies current nuclear theories.
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