Abrupt structural transition in exotic molybdenum isotopes unveils an isospin-symmetric island of inversion.

ABSTRACT: Like electrons in atoms, protons and neutrons in nuclei occupy orbitals in a shell structure with energy gaps at magic numbers. Radioactive-beam experiments revealed the disappearance of magic numbers in some neutron-rich isotopes. In these nuclei, configurations involving particles excited across the shell gap gain correlation energy, becoming the ground state. Neutron-rich regions of the nuclear chart that exhibit this property are known as "Islands of Inversion". Here we present the lifetime measurement of the first 2⁺ states in ⁸⁴Mo (N = Z) and ⁸⁶Mo (N = Z + 2) revealing an unexpected sharp structural change between them defining the edge of the region of deformation around ⁸⁰Zr. Similarly to the neutron-rich N = 40 Island of Inversion near <

SUBMITTER: Ha J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12661037 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature