Smooth trends in fermium charge radii and the impact of shell effects

The quantum-mechanical nuclear-shell structure determines the stability and limits of the existence of the heaviest nuclides with large proton numbers Z ≳ 100 (refs. 1 – 3 ). Shell effects also affect the sizes and shapes of atomic nuclei, as shown by laser spectroscopy studies in lighter nuclides...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature (London) Vol. 634; no. 8036; pp. 1075 - 1079
Main Authors:	Warbinek, Jessica, Rickert, Elisabeth, Raeder, Sebastian, Albrecht-Schönzart, Thomas, Andelic, Brankica, Auler, Julian, Bally, Benjamin, Bender, Michael, Berndt, Sebastian, Block, Michael, Brizard, Alexandre, Chauveau, Pierre, Cheal, Bradley, Chhetri, Premaditya, Claessens, Arno, de Roubin, Antoine, Devlin, Charlie, Dorrer, Holger, Düllmann, Christoph E., Ezold, Julie, Ferrer, Rafael, Gadelshin, Vadim, Gaiser, Alyssa, Giacoppo, Francesca, Goriely, Stephane, Gutiérrez, Manuel J., Harvey, Ashley, Hasse, Raphael, Heinke, Reinhard, Heßberger, Fritz-Peter, Hilaire, Stephane, Kaja, Magdalena, Kaleja, Oliver, Kieck, Tom, Kim, EunKang, Kneip, Nina, Köster, Ulli, Kraemer, Sandro, Laatiaoui, Mustapha, Lantis, Jeremy, Lecesne, Nathalie, Loria Basto, Andrea Tzeitel, Mistry, Andrew Kishor, Mokry, Christoph, Moore, Iain, Murböck, Tobias, Münzberg, Danny, Nazarewicz, Witold, Niemeyer, Thorben, Nothhelfer, Steven, Péru, Sophie, Raggio, Andrea, Reinhard, Paul-Gerhard, Renisch, Dennis, Rey-Herme, Emmanuel, Romans, Jekabs, Romero Romero, Elisa, Runke, Jörg, Ryssens, Wouter, Savajols, Hervé, Schneider, Fabian, Sperling, Joseph, Stemmler, Matou, Studer, Dominik, Thörle-Pospiech, Petra, Trautmann, Norbert, Urquiza-González, Mitzi, van Beek, Kenneth, Van Cleve, Shelley, Van Duppen, Piet, Vandebrouck, Marine, Verstraelen, Elise, Walther, Thomas, Weber, Felix, Wendt, Klaus
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 31-10-2024 Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:	140/125 639/766/387/1126 639/766/387/1128 Chains Energy Energy charge Fermium Gases Humanities and Social Sciences Isotopes Laser spectroscopy Lasers Mathematical models multidisciplinary Nobelium Nuclear models Nuclear reactors Nuclei (nuclear physics) Nuclides Science Science (multidisciplinary) Shell stability Shells (structural forms) Spectroscopy Spectrum analysis Trends
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	The quantum-mechanical nuclear-shell structure determines the stability and limits of the existence of the heaviest nuclides with large proton numbers Z ≳ 100 (refs. 1 – 3 ). Shell effects also affect the sizes and shapes of atomic nuclei, as shown by laser spectroscopy studies in lighter nuclides 4 . However, experimental information on the charge radii and the nuclear moments of the heavy actinide elements, which link the heaviest naturally abundant nuclides with artificially produced superheavy elements, is sparse 5 . Here we present laser spectroscopy measurements along the fermium ( Z = 100) isotopic chain and an extension of data in the nobelium isotopic chain ( Z = 102) across a key region. Multiple production schemes and different advanced techniques were applied to determine the isotope shifts in atomic transitions, from which changes in the nuclear mean-square charge radii were extracted. A range of nuclear models based on energy density functionals reproduce well the observed smooth evolution of the nuclear size. Both the remarkable consistency of model prediction and the similarity of predictions for different isotopes suggest a transition to a regime in which shell effects have a diminished effect on the size compared with lighter nuclei. Laser spectroscopy measurements of the fermium isotopic chain show a smooth trend in the nuclear size of heavy actinide elements, and diminishing shell effects on the size evolution compared with lighter nuclei.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0028-0836 1476-4687 1476-4687
DOI:	10.1038/s41586-024-08062-z