Hope College Physics Department Research Experiences for Undergraduates Summer 2011 Project Summary

Unexpectedly, ²⁴O is a doubly magic nucleus. We would expect a nucleus to be stable with 8 or 20 neutrons but experimentally we find that 16 neutrons is more stable than 20 because at high neutron numbers the nuclear force becomes more complicated. To gain insight into the wavefunction of the ground state of ²⁴O, the cross sections for forming ²³O in the ground state and excited state during knockout reactions needs to be determined. ²³O is stable and is therefore relatively easy to count directly. However, ²³O* is unstable and decays too rapidly to detect directly (10^-20 s). ²³O* will decay to ²²O and a neutron. The neutron goes straight forward and is recorded by MoNA while the ²²O is deflected by a 4 T superconducting dipole magnet and is recorded by charged particle detectors. Using four-vectors of the ²²O and the neutron we can work backwards to the ²³O*. We will then be able to calculate the cross section of ²³O* and ²³O. Analysis of ²³O* is currently underway and analysis of the ground state will follow.
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