Researchers discovered rutherfordium-252, the shortest-lived superheavy nucleus, refining the “island of stability” map and advancing nuclear stability research.
A collaborative team of researchers from GSI/FAIR, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz has advanced our understanding of the “island of stability” in superheavy nuclides. They achieved this by precisely measuring the superheavy rutherfordium-252 nucleus, now identified as the shortest-lived superheavy nucleus on record. Their findings were published in Physical Review Letters and recognized as an “Editor’s Suggestion.”
The strong nuclear force binds protons and neutrons within atomic nuclei. However, the positive charge of protons generates a repulsive force, which can destabilize nuclei with an excessive number of protons. This intrinsic instability poses significant challenges in synthesizing new superheavy elements.
Certain combinations of protons and neutrons, the so-called “magic numbers”, give nuclei additional stability. When taking these magic combinations into account, theoretical works dating back to the 1960s predict an island of stability in the sea of unstable superheavy nuclei, where very long lifetimes could be achieved, even approaching the age of the Earth.
The concept of this island has since been confirmed, with the observation of increasing half-lives in the heaviest currently known nuclei as the predicted next magic number of 184 neutrons is approached. However, the location of the peak of this island, its height (reflecting the maximum expected half-life), and also the island’s extension are still unknown.
Breakthrough in Mapping the Island of Stability
Researchers at GSI/FAIR in Darmstadt, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) have now come a step closer to mapping this island, by discovering the shortest-lived superheavy nucleus known thus far, which marks the position of the island’s shoreline in nuclei of rutherfordium (Rf, element 104).
To allow experimental detection, the minimum lifetime of superheavy nuclei is on the order of a millionth of a second, which renders extremely short-lived superheavy nuclei in the vicinity of sea of instability inaccessible. But there is a trick: Sometimes, excited states, stabilized by quantum effects, show longer lifetimes and open a doorway to the short-lived nuclei.
“Such long-lived excited states, so-called isomers, are widespread in superheavy nuclei of deformed shape according to my calculations,” says Dr. Khuyagbaatar Jadambaa, first author of the publication from GSI/FAIR’s research department for superheavy element chemistry. “Thus, they enrich the picture of the island of stability with ‘clouds of stability’ hovering over the sea of instability.”
Detecting Rutherfordium-252
The research team from Darmstadt and Mainz succeeded in examining these predictions by searching for the hitherto unknown nucleus Rf-252. The researchers used an intense beam of titanium-50 available at the GSI/FAIR’s UNILAC accelerator to fuse titanium nuclei with lead nuclei supplied on a target foil. The fusion products were separated in the TransActinide Separator and Chemistry Apparatus TASCA. They implanted into a silicon detector after a flight-time of about 0.6 microseconds. This detector registered their implantation as well as their subsequent decay.
In total, 27 atoms of Rf-252 decaying by fission with a half-life of 13 microseconds were detected. Thanks to the fast digital data acquisition system developed by GSI/FAIR’s Experiment Electronics department, electrons emitted after the implantation of the isomer Rf-252m and released in its decay to the ground state, were detected. Three such cases were registered. In all cases, a subsequent fission followed within 250 nanoseconds. From these data, a half-life of 60 ns was deduced for the ground-state of Rf-252, which is now the shortest-lived superheavy nucleus currently known.
“The result decreases the lower limit of the known lifetimes of the heaviest nuclei by almost two orders of magnitude, to times that are too short for direct measurement in the absence of suitable isomer states. The present findings set a new benchmark for further exploration of phenomena associated with such isomer states, inverted fission-stability where excited states are more stable than the ground state, and the isotopic border in the heaviest nuclei,” says Professor Christoph E. Düllmann, head of the research department for superheavy element chemistry at GSI/FAIR.
In future experimental campaigns, the measurement of isomeric states with inverted fission stability in the next heavier element seaborgium (Sg, element 106) is envisioned and to be used for the synthesis of Sg isotopes with lifetimes below a microsecond in order to further map the isotopic border. The result also opens new perspectives for the international facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently under construction in Darmstadt.
Reference: “Stepping into the Sea of Instability: The New Sub-μs Superheavy Nucleus 252Rf” by J. Khuyagbaatar, P. Mosat, J. Ballof, R. A. Cantemir, Ch. E. Düllmann, K. Hermainski, F. P. Heßberger, E. Jäger, B. Kindler, J. Krier, N. Kurz, S. Löchner, B. Lommel, B. Schausten, Y. Wei, P. Wieczorek and A. Yakushev, 14 January 2025, Physical Review Letters.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.022501
Never miss a breakthrough: Join the SciTechDaily newsletter.
Follow us on Google and Google News.
3 Comments
The result also opens new perspectives for the international facility FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research), which is currently under construction in Darmstadt.
Ask the researchers:
1. How do you understand particle physics?
2. How do you understand antiprotons or antimatter?
What one researcher see or touch about an elephant will be different, and what different researchers see or touch will be even more different. It is a scientific phenomenon, not the essence of nature. Scientific research guided by correct theories can enable researchers to think more.
According to the Topological Vortex Theory (TVT), spins create everything, spins shape the world. There are substantial distinctions between Topological Vortex Theory (TVT) and traditional physical theories. Grounded in the inviscid and absolutely incompressible spaces, TVT introduces the concept of topological phase transitions and employs topological principles to elucidate the formation and evolution of matter in the universe, as well as the impact of interactions between topological vortices and anti-vortices on spacetime dynamics and thermodynamics.
Within TVT, low-dimensional spacetime matter serves as the foundation for high-dimensional spacetime matter, and the hierarchical structure of matter and its interaction mechanisms challenge conventional macroscopic and microscopic interpretations. The conflict between Quantum Physics and Classical Physics can be attributed to their differing focuses: Quantum Physics emphasizes low-dimensional spacetime matter, whereas Classical Physics centers on high-dimensional spacetime matter.
Subatomic particles in the quantum world often defy the familiar rules of the physical world. The fact repeatedly suggests that the familiar rules of the physical world are pseudoscience. In the familiar rules of the physical world, two sets of cobalt-60 can form the mirror image of each other by rotating in opposite directions, and can receive heavy rewards.
Please witness the grand performance of some so-called academic publications (including PRL, Nature, Science, etc.). https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-854286. Some so-called academic publications (including PRL, Nature, Science, etc.) are addicted to their own small circles and have long deviated from science. They hardly know what ashamed is.
If the researchers are truly interested in science, please read: The Application of Inviscid and Absolutely Incompressible Spaces in Engineering Simulation (https://scitechdaily.com/microscope-spacecrafts-most-precise-test-of-key-component-of-the-theory-of-general-relativity/#comment-870077).
There’s no space – or time – how’s that?
uhh – and “matter” is the detritus that rolls about the slippery edges between the magnetic envelopes of the galaxy equator. The rocky junk trapped in a ring. All of it made of one stuff, the stuff that purveys light – light being merely an aspect. That doesn’t sound so “scientific” does it? Ask yourself how much information is passed through the same zero-point from all directions – and how that must be?
VERY GOOD.
The outstanding representatives of science today have finally spoken.