Isomer triggering via nuclear excitation by electron capture

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• Atomic Physics
• Quantum Mechanics

Background:

• Long-lived nuclear isomeric states are crucial for various applications.
• Existing methods for triggering these states have limitations.
• Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture (NEEC) is a proposed mechanism involving highly charged ions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficiency of NEEC in triggering long-lived nuclear isomeric states.
• To determine the feasibility of NEEC for isomer excitation using realistic experimental parameters.
• To compare NEEC with other known isomer triggering mechanisms.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical calculations of total cross sections for NEEC isomer triggering.
• Consideration of experimentally confirmed low-lying triggering levels.
• Analysis of reaction rates under realistic ion storage ring conditions.

Main Results:

• NEEC can effectively excite nuclear isomeric states to triggering levels.
• Calculated cross sections and reaction rates are presented for specific scenarios.
• NEEC demonstrates higher efficiency compared to other studied isomer triggering mechanisms.

Conclusions:

• NEEC is a highly efficient mechanism for triggering long-lived nuclear isomers.
• The findings support the potential of NEEC for practical applications in nuclear isomer manipulation.
• Further experimental validation in ion storage rings is warranted.