Research Projects

The 1f7/2 shell nuclei exhibit a wide variety of nuclear shapes and collective behavior, but their studies are often limited to natural parity states and shell model calculations. Recent studies have focused on the evolution of shapes and K-mixing in natural parity states in ⁴⁹V and exploring the high spin structure of unnatural parity states of odd-even ⁵⁰Mn. In ⁴⁹V, the unnatural parity states were extended up to the band terminating state, Jπ = (31/2+), but the spins and parities of states above the 11/2+ level were not confirmed. The level lifetime of levels above Jπ = 11/2+ is also unknown. A microscopic shell model calculation for the unnatural parity levels in ⁴⁹V revealed collectivity at low angular momentum and indications of shape changes. In ⁵⁰Mn, the level scheme was reported up to the 1f7/2 terminating 15+ state, but the lifetime of most states is not known. A weak side band of unnatural parity states was reported in ⁵⁰Mn, but the lifetime of all these states is not known. The researchers plan an experiment to populate ⁵⁰Mn at high excitation energy, focusing on collective excitation and shape evolution. They will use inverse kinematics and lineshape analysis to measure level lifetimes, which will be used to estimate transition strength and nuclear deformation. Microscopic shell model calculations using the NUSHELLX code will be performed to interpret the observation.