Related papers: Identification of new isomers in $^{228}$Ac : Impa…
A new approach to observe the radiative decay of the $^{229}$Th nuclear isomer, and to determine its energy and radiative lifetime, is presented. Situated at a uniquely low excitation energy, this nuclear state might be a key ingredient for…
The production of alpha particle decaying heavy nuclei in reactions of 7.5-6.1 MeV/nucleon $^{238}$U +$^{232}$Th has been explored using an in-beam detection array composed of YAP scintillators and gas ionization chamber-Si telescopes.…
High-spin states in the transitional $^{217}$Ac nucleus are established up to 3.8 MeV excitation energy and $I^{\pi} =$ 41/2$^+$ with the addition of around 20 new transitions. The structure of the yrast and near-yrast states below the…
We estimate the range of the radiative lifetime and energy of the anomalous, low-energy $3/2^+(7.8 \pm 0.5$ eV) state in the $^{229}$Th nucleus. Our phenomenological calculations are based on the available experimental data for the…
The discovery of naturally occurring long-lived isomeric states (t_1/2 > 10^8 yr) in the neutron-deficient isotopes 211,213,217,218Th [A. Marinov et al., Phys. Rev. C 76, 021303(R) (2007)] was reexamined using accelerator mass spectrometry…
Isotopes with low-lying long-lived isomers can behave very differently from other isotopes in astrophysical environments. In particular, the assumption of thermal equilibrium in computing the temperature-dependent $\beta$-decay rates of…
The first excited isomeric state of $^{229}$Th possesses the lowest energy among all known excited nuclear states. The expected energy is accessible with today's laser technology and in principle allows for a direct optical laser excitation…
We present a measurement of the low-energy (0--60$\,$keV) $\gamma$ ray spectrum produced in the $\alpha$-decay of $^{233}$U using a dedicated cryogenic magnetic micro-calorimeter. The energy resolution of $\sim$$10\,$eV, together with…
The low-lying isomeric state of $^{229}$Th provides unique opportunities for high-resolution laser spectroscopy of the atomic nucleus. We determine the energy of this isomeric state by taking the absolute energy difference between the…
Inelastic dark matter and strongly interacting dark matter are poorly constrained by direct detection experiments since they both require the scattering event to deliver energy from the nucleus into the dark matter in order to have…
There is compelling cosmological and astrophysical evidence of dark matter comprising 27% of the energy budget of the Universe. However, dark matter has never been observed in direct detection experiments. The long-time favorite model of…
$^{\rm {180m}}$Ta is the rarest naturally occurring quasi-stable isotope and the longest lived metastable state which is known. Its possible decay via the $\beta^-$ or the electron capture channel has never been observed. This article…
The decay of odd-odd $^{150}$Pm has been studied by populating the nucleus with the $^{150}$Nd(p,n)$^{150}$Pm reaction at E$_{beam}$ = 8.0 MeV using 97$\%$ enriched $^{150}$Nd target. The presence of an isomeric state with $\beta$ decay…
We perform coincidence measurements between $\alpha$ particles and $\gamma$ rays from a $^{233}$U source to determine the half-lives of the excited state in a $^{229}$Th nucleus. We first prove that the half-lives of 42.43- and 164.53-keV…
The isomeric and {\beta} decays of the N = Z +2 nucleus 96Ag were investigated at NSCL. A cascade of {\gamma}-ray transitions originating from the de-excitation of a {\mu}s isomer was observed for the first time and was found in coincidence…
Yrast and near-yrast states above the known 25/2$^{+}$ isomer in $^{207}$At are established for the first time. The level scheme is extended up to 47/2$\hbar$ and 6.5 MeV with the addition of about 60 new $\gamma$-ray transitions. The…
We explore dark matter mechanisms that can simultaneously explain the galactic 511 keV gamma rays observed by INTEGRAL/SPI, the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation, and the excess of low-recoil dark matter candidates observed by CoGeNT. It…
The excitation energy of $ {}^{229m} \mathrm{Th} $ is extremely low at $ 8.4 \, \mathrm{eV} $; thus, this isotope exhibits changes in its decay modes depending on the chemical state, specifically the outermost electronic states. However,…
The isomeric first excited state of the isotope 229Th exhibits the lowest nuclear excitation energy in the whole landscape of known atomic nuclei. For a long time this energy was reported in the literature as 3.5(5) eV, however, a new…
225Ac is a valuable medical radionuclide for targeted alpha therapy, but 227Ac is an undesirable byproduct of an accelerator-based synthesis method under investigation. Sufficient detector sensitivity is critical for quantifying the trace…