Isomeric Character of the Lowest Observed 4^{+} State in ^{44}S.

Previous experiments observed a 4^{+} state in the N=28 nucleus ^{44}S and suggested that this state may exhibit a hindered E2-decay rate, inconsistent with being a member of the collective ground state band. We populate this state via two-proton knockout from a beam of exotic ^{46}Ar projectiles and measure its lifetime using the recoil distance method with the GRETINA γ-ray spectrometer. The result, 76(14)_{stat}(20)_{syst}  ps, implies a hindered transition of B(E2;4^{+}→2_{1}^{+})=0.

'Magic' nucleus 42Si.

Nuclear shell structures--the distribution of the quantum states of individual protons and neutrons--provide one of our most important guides for understanding the stability of atomic nuclei. Nuclei with 'magic numbers' of protons and/or neutrons (corresponding to closed shells of strongly bound nucleons) are particularly stable. Whether the major shell closures and magic numbers change in very neutron-rich nuclei (potentially causing shape deformations) is a fundamental, and at present open, question.

0(+)(gs) --> 2(+)(1) excitations in the mirror nuclei 32Ar and 32Si.

We measured the strength of the 0(+)(gs)-->2(+)(1) excitations in the radioactive mirror nuclei 32Ar and 32Si using the techniques of intermediate-energy Coulomb excitation for 32Ar and inelastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics for 32Si. The 32Ar measurement, taken together with previously existing Coulomb excitation data for 32Si, yields the isoscalar and isovector multipole matrix elements for the 0(+)(1)-->2(+)(1) transition between T = 2 states in the A = 32 system. The proton scattering measurement for 32Si, when combined with the Coulomb excitation data for this nucleus, yields a ratio of neutron and proton matrix elements, M(n)/M(p), for 32Si.