Proton-proton correlations observed in two-proton decay of $^{19}$Mg and $^{16}$Ne

TL;DR

This study observes proton-proton correlations in the two-proton decay of $^{19}$Mg and $^{16}$Ne, providing insights into three-body decay mechanisms and valence proton configurations.

Contribution

It introduces a tracking technique with microstrip detectors to measure decay product trajectories, revealing genuine three-body decay mechanisms in these isotopes.

Findings

Proton-proton correlations reflect a three-body decay process.

Data enable spectroscopic insights into valence protons in the $sd$ shell.

The method reconstructs angular correlations of decay fragments.

Abstract

Proton-proton correlations were observed for the two-proton decays of the ground states of $^{19}$Mg and $^{16}$Ne. The trajectories of the respective decay products, $^{17}$Ne+p+p and $^{14}$O+p+p, were measured by using a tracking technique with microstrip detectors. These data were used to reconstruct the angular correlations of fragments projected on planes transverse to the precursor momenta. The measured three-particle correlations reflect a genuine three-body decay mechanism and allowed us to obtain spectroscopic information on the precursors with valence protons in the $sd$ shell.