Coulomb excitation of 29,30Na: Mapping the borders of the island of inversion
Phys. Rev. C
Nuclear shell evolution in neutron-rich Na nuclei around 𝑁=20 was studied by determining reduced transition probabilities, i.e., 𝐵(𝐸2) and 𝐵(𝑀1) values, in order to map the border of the island of inversion. To this end Coulomb-excitation experiments, employing radioactive 29,30Na beams with a final beam energy of 2.85 MeV/nucleon, were performed at REX-ISOLDE, CERN. De-excitation 𝛾 rays were detected by the MINIBALL 𝛾-ray spectrometer in coincidence with scattered particles in a segmented Si detector. Transition probabilities to excited states were deduced. The measured 𝐵(𝐸2) values agree well with shell-model predictions, supporting the idea that in the Na isotopic chain the ground-state wave function contains significant intruder admixture already at 𝑁=18, with 𝑁=19 having an almost pure two-particle–two-hole deformed ground-state configuration.