Using spin alignment of inelastically-excited fast beams to make spin assignments: the spectroscopy of 13O as a test case

TL;DR

This study uses spin alignment of inelastically excited 13O beams to determine spin states, comparing experimental angular distributions with theoretical models, revealing new high-spin states and validating the method for spin assignments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of spin alignment measurements to assign spins in nuclear spectroscopy, demonstrating its effectiveness in identifying high-spin states in 13O.

Findings

Confirmed isotropic decay for low-energy states consistent with s1/2 structure

Observed anisotropic proton emissions indicating higher-spin states

Validated spin alignment as a tool for spin assignments in nuclear spectroscopy

Abstract

Excited states in 13O were investigated using inelastic scattering of an E/A=69.5-MeV 13O beam off of a 9Be target. The excited states were identified in the invariant-mass spectra of the decay products. Both single proton and sequential two-proton decays of the excited states were examined. For a number of the excited states, the protons were emitted with strong anisotropy where emissions transverse to the beam axis are favored. The measured proton-decay angular distributions were compared to predictions from distorted-wave born-approximation (DWBA) calculations of the spin alignment which was shown to be largely independent of the excitation mechanism. The deduced $^{13}$O level scheme is compared to ab initio no-core shell model with continuum (NCSMC) predictions. The lowest-energy excited states decay isotropically consistent with predictions of strong proton 1s1/2 structure. Above these states in the level scheme, we observed a number of higher-spin states not predicted within the model. Possibly these are associated with rotational bands built on deformed cluster configurations predicted by antisymmetrized molecular dynamics (AMD) calculations. The spin alignment mechanism is shown to be useful for making spin assignments and may have widespread use.