Magnetic character of the low-energy enhancement in 70Zn
Abstract
The transition of an atomic nucleus from an excited state to a state of lower energy is typically accompanied by the emission of photons. The likelihood of photon emission is a function of the photon energy and of properties of the initial and final nuclear states and is known as the photon (or γ-ray) strength function (γSF)1,2. Of the features present in the γSF, an enhancement in the low-energy region has been observed in some nuclei, but the electromagnetic nature of this enhancement remains an open question3,4. This low-energy enhancement in the γSF significantly impacts our understanding of how elements are created in stars and the structure of the nucleus5,6. Here we present the results from an experiment on the γSF of 70Zn that show that the enhancement in the γSF of this nucleus is of magnetic nature. This observation helps address a long-open question about γSFs in atomic nuclei and directly impacts our predictive capabilities in nuclear science.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Developing high safety Li-metal anodes for future high-energy Li-metal batteries: strategies and perspectives
- Structure and Energy Transfer in Photosystems of Oxygenic Photosynthesis
- Ground- and Space-Based Gamma-Ray Astronomy
- Energy Functions in De Novo Protein Design: Current Challenges and Future Prospects
- Electronic structure of ions and molecules in solution: a view from modern soft X-ray spectroscopies
- Arising 2D Perovskites for Ionizing Radiation Detection
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.