Nuclear structure of dripline nuclei elucidated through precision mass measurements of 23Si, 26P, 27,28S, and 31Ar
Abstract
Using the B-defined isochronous mass spectrometry technique, we report the first determination of the 23Si, 26P, 27S, and 31Ar masses and improve the precision of the 28S mass by a factor of 11. Our measurements confirm that these isotopes are bound and fix the location of the proton dripline in P, S, and Ar. We find that the mirror energy differences of the mirror-nuclei pairs 26P-26Na, 27P-27Mg, 27S-27Na, 28S-28Mg, and 31Ar-31Al deviate significantly from the values predicted assuming mirror symmetry. In addition, we observe similar anomalies in the excited states, but not in the ground states, of the mirror-nuclei pairs 22Al-22F and 23Al-23Ne. Using ab~ initio VS-IMSRG and mean field calculations, we show that such a mirror-symmetry breaking phenomeon can be explained by the extended charge distributions of weakly-bound, proton-rich nuclei. When observed, this phenomenon serves as a unique signature that can be valuable for identifying proton-halo candidates.
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