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Magic Nature of Neutrons in ^{54}Ca: First Mass Measurements of ^{55-57}Ca
S Michimasa1, M Kobayashi1, Y Kiyokawa1
1Center for Nuclear Study, The University of Tokyo, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
Abstract:
We perform the first direct mass measurements of neutron-rich calcium isotopes beyond neutron number 34 at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory by using the time-of-flight magnetic-rigidity technique. The atomic mass excesses of ^{55-57}Ca are determined for the first time to be -18650(160), -13510(250), and -7370(990) keV, respectively. We examine the emergence of neutron magicity at N=34 based on the new atomic masses. The new masses provide experimental evidence for the appearance of a sizable energy gap between the neutron 2p_{1/2} and 1f_{5/2} orbitals in ^{54}Ca, comparable to the gap between the neutron 2p_{3/2} and 2p_{1/2} orbitals in ^{52}Ca. For the ^{56}Ca nucleus, an open-shell property in neutrons is suggested.
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