The size of 38Km (The physics we did not expect or request)

by Mark Bissell (University of Manchester (GB))

Thursday 8 Jan 2015, 14:30 → 15:30 Europe/Zurich

26-1-022 (CERN)

Laser spectroscopy of the odd-odd self-conjugate nucleus 38K revealed a surprisingly large difference in charge radius between the I=3 ground state and 130keV I=0 isomer. As these nuclear states should only differ by a rotation of the coupling of the last proton and neutron, it is proposed that this difference in size can only be attributed to proton-neutron pairs being formed and scattering across the N,Z=20 major shell closures. The experimental technique used to obtain these measurements will be introduced along with the theoretical toolbox used in the interpretation.