Electroweak Decay Studies of Highly Charged Radioactive Ions with TITAN at TRIUMF

TL;DR

This paper discusses the development and application of a new experimental setup using the TITAN EBIT at TRIUMF to study electroweak decay processes in highly charged radioactive ions, which are relevant in astrophysics and nuclear physics.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel electron-beam ion trap setup for spectroscopy of radioactive decay in highly charged ions, enabling studies previously difficult due to experimental constraints.

Findings

Successful demonstration of decay spectroscopy on highly charged ions

Ability to manipulate decay modes by controlling ion charge states

Potential insights into astrophysical processes involving ionized isotopes

Abstract

Several modes of electroweak radioactive decay require an interaction between the nucleus and bound electrons within the constituent atom. Thus, the probabilities of the respective decays are not only influenced by the structure of the initial and final states in the nucleus, but can also depend strongly on the atomic charge. Conditions suitable for the partial or complete ionization of these rare isotopes occur naturally in hot, dense astrophysical environments, but can also be artificially generated in the laboratory to selectively block certain radioactive decay modes. Direct experimental studies on such scenarios are extremely difficult due to the laboratory conditions required to generate and store radioactive ions at high charge states. A new electron-beam ion trap (EBIT) decay setup with the TITAN experiment at TRIUMF has successfully demonstrated such techniques for performing spectroscopy on the radioactive decay of highly charged ions.