Study of two-neutron radioactivity in the decay of 26O

TL;DR

This study developed a new technique to measure extremely short lifetimes of neutron unbound nuclei, revealing evidence of two-neutron radioactivity in 26O with a half-life of about 4.5 ps.

Contribution

A novel method for measuring picosecond lifetimes of neutron unbound nuclei was applied to 26O, providing evidence for two-neutron radioactivity.

Findings

Measured 26O half-life as approximately 4.5 ps.

Provided evidence supporting two-neutron radioactivity in 26O.

Demonstrated the effectiveness of the new lifetime measurement technique.

Abstract

A new technique was developed to measure the lifetimes of neutron unbound nuclei in the picosecond range. The decay of 26O -> 24O+n+n was examined as it had been predicted to have an appreciable lifetime due to the unique structure of the neutron-rich oxygen isotopes. The half-life of 26O was extracted as 4.5^{+1.1}_{-1.5}(stat.) +/- 3 (sys.) ps. This corresponds to 26O having a finite lifetime at an 82% confidence level and, thus, suggests the possibility of two-neutron radioactivity.