LENR? Perhaps off topic. Ni66 is a Unique Nuclear System (Greg Goble)

The following post has been submitted by Greg Goble

LENR? Perhaps off topic… I think not.
Ni66 is a unique nuclear system.

Quote – This result makes Ni66 a unique nuclear system, apart from U236,238, in which a retarded γ transition from a 0+ deformed state to a spherical configuration is observed, resembling a shape-isomerlike behavior. – end quote

From…

“Multifaceted Quadruplet of Low-Lying Spin-Zero States in Ni 66 : Emergence of Shape Isomerism in Light Nuclei.”
Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316313460_Multifaceted_Quadruplet_of_Low-Lying_Spin-Zero_States_in_Ni_66_Emergence_of_Shape_Isomerism_in_Light_Nuclei [accessed May 15, 2017].

Leoni, S; Fornal, B; Mărginean, N; Sferrazza, M; Tsunoda, Y; Otsuka, T; Bocchi, G; Crespi, F C L; Bracco, A; Aydin, S; Boromiza, M; Bucurescu, D; Cieplicka-Oryǹczak, N; Costache, C; Călinescu, S; Florea, N; Ghiţă, D G; Glodariu, T; Ionescu, A; Iskra, Ł W; Krzysiek, M; Mărginean, R; Mihai, C; Mihai, R E; Mitu, A; Negreţ, A; Niţă, C R; Olăcel, A; Oprea, A; Pascu, S; Petkov, P; Petrone, C; Porzio, G; Şerban, A; Sotty, C; Stan, L; Ştiru, I; Stroe, L; Şuvăilă, R; Toma, S; Turturică, A; Ujeniuc, S; Ur, C A

2017-04-21 PubMed DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.162502 Volume: 118 Issue: 16 Pages: 162502

Abstract

A search for shape isomers in the ^{66}Ni nucleus was performed, following old suggestions of various mean-field models and recent ones, based on state-of-the-art Monte Carlo shell model (MCSM), all considering ^{66}Ni as the lightest nuclear system with shape isomerism. By employing the two-neutron transfer reaction induced by an ^{18}O beam on a ^{64}Ni target, at the sub-Coulomb barrier energy of 39 MeV, all three lowest-excited 0^{+} states in ^{66}Ni were populated and their γ decay was observed by γ-coincidence technique. The 0^{+} states lifetimes were assessed with the plunger method, yielding for the 0_{2}^{+}, 0_{3}^{+}, and 0_{4}^{+} decay to the 2_{1}^{+} state the B(E2) values of 4.3, 0.1, and 0.2 Weisskopf units (W.u.), respectively. MCSM calculations correctly predict the existence of all three excited 0^{+} states, pointing to the oblate, spherical, and prolate nature of the consecutive excitations. In addition, they account for the hindrance of the E2 decay from the prolate 0_{4}^{+} to the spherical 2_{1}^{+} state, although overestimating its value. This result makes ^{66}Ni a unique nuclear system, apart from ^{236,238}U, in which a retarded γ transition from a 0^{+} deformed state to a spherical configuration is observed, resembling a shape-isomerlike behavior.