BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Felsenkeller accelerator for nuclear astrophysics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T072500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T074500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1840@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kai Zuber (TU Dresden)\nNuclear astrophysics often r elies on small cross sections in the region of fusion reactions. Hence\, t he reaction rates are small. Over the last decade we were able to install a 5 MV tandem accelerator underground in Dresden (Germany) for this purpos e. The facility is meant to be open for all scientists to use\, proposals will be evaluated by an external committee. For the measurements proton\, helium and carbon beams are available.\nThe talk will present the new fac ility and the dedicated measurements\non background studies. Additional de tectors are installed\, among them for example an ultra-low background wit h high detection efficiency. Furthermore\,\nin the talk first scientific r esults will be presented.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contribu tions/1840/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1840/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Selection rules of electromagnetic transitions for chirality-parit y violation in atomic nuclei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2028@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Yuanyuan Wang (North China Electric Power University )\nChirality is a subject of general interest in natural science. Nuclear chirality was first predicted in 1997 [1]\, and up to now more than 60 can didate chiral doublet bands in around 50 nuclei have been reported [2]. Ba sed on the covariant density functional theory\, a phenomenon named multip le chiral doublets (MχD)\, i.e.\, more than one pair of chiral doublet ba nds in one single nucleus\, was predicted in 2006 [3]\, which has attracte d extensive attentions. \n In 2016\, the MχD with octupole correlation s were reported in 78Br [4]. This observation provides the first example o f chiral geometry in octupole soft nuclei and indicates that the simultane ous breaking of chiral and reflection symmetries\, i.e.\, Chirality-Parity (ChP) violation\, may exist in nuclei. In the reflection-asymmetric triax ial nuclei\, one expects to establish four nearly degenerate ∆I = 1ℏ b ands\, i.e.\, ChP quartet bands\, experimentally\, which stimulates furthe r interests.\n In this talk\, I will briefly introduce the recently dev eloped reflection-asymmetric triaxial particle rotor model (RAT-PRM) [5]. RAT-PRM provides a useful tool for the description of the ChP quartet band s. It is applied to investigate the ChP violation in atomic nuclei [6]. A new symmetry for an ideal ChP violation system is found and the correspond ing selection rules of the electromagnetic transitions are derived. The fi ngerprints for the ChP violation including the nearly degenerate quartet b ands and the selection rules of the electromagnetic transitions are provid ed.\n\n[1] S. Frauendorf and J. Meng\, Nucl. Phys. A **617** (1997) 131.\n [2] B. W. Xiong and Y. Y. Wang\, At. Data Nucl. Data Tables **125** (2019) 193.\n[3] J. Meng\, J. Peng\, S. Q. Zhang\, and S.-G. Zhou\, Phys. Rev. C **73** (2006) 037303.\n[4] C. Liu et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. **116** (2016 ) 112501.\n[5] Y. Y. Wang\, S. Q. Zhang\, P. W. Zhao\, and J. Meng\, Phys. Lett. B **792** (2019) 454.\n[6] Y. Y. Wang\, X. H. Wu\, S. Q. Zhang\, P. W. Zhao\, and J. Meng\, Sci. Bull. **65** (2020) 2001.\n\nhttps://indico. tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2028/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2028/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:FRAISE: The New Fragment In-Flight Separator at INFN-LNS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1919@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nunzia Simona Martorana (Dipartimento di Fisica e As tronomia and INFN-LNS)\nThe study of exotic nuclei is presently a challeng e for nuclear physics. Indeed\, exotic nuclei properties are useful to inv estigate nuclear structure models\, features of the nuclear force and nucl ear reactions important for nuclear astrophysics. These investigations can be helpful also to add a further constraint to the knowledge of the Equat ion of State of nuclear matter. Within this framework\, various facilities have been developed worldwide with the aim to deliver Radioactive Ion Bea ms (RIBs) [1]. In the last 15 years\, at Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of I NFN (INFN-LNS) RIBs have been produced through the In-Flight Fragmentation method\, using the in Flight Radioactive Ion Beams at LNS (FRIBs@LNS) fac ility [1-3]. Presently\, the ongoing project of the LNS (POTLNS)\, based o n an upgrade of the Superconducting Cyclotron\, aims to deliver light and medium masses nuclei with a power up to ≈ 10 kW. This project has brough t a new perspective also for the production of RIBs. Indeed\, the building of a new fragment separator\, named FraISe (Fragment In-flight Separator) \, is underway to exploit primary beams with power of 2-3 kW for the produ ction of high-intensity RIBs [1-3]. We report the status and the perspecti ves of the FraISe facility. Moreover\, R&D studies for new diagnostics and tagging devices will be also discussed. \n\n[1] Russotto P. et al.\, Jour . of Phys. Conf. Ser.\, 1014 (2018) 012016 and references therein.\n[2] Ru sso A.D. et al.\, NIM B\, 463 (2020) 418. \n[3] Martorana N.S.\, Il Nuovo Cimento 44 C (2021) 1.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributio ns/1919/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1919/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:B(E2) value of even-even 124-130Barium transitional nuclei with cu bic terms from Casimir invariant operators and IBM-1 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2032@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Rekha Mehta Rekha (Guru Kashi University\, talwandi sabo\,punjab)\nAbstract\n Several properties of nuclear stru cture for even- even 124-130Barium nuclei have been explored with Interact ing Boson Model. This work studies the systematic reduced transition proba bilities B(E2) ↓ of Ba isotopes with even neutrons from N=68 to 74. The values of parameters have been determined with the formation of cubic term s by Casimir invariant operators and addition of these terms by breaking O (6) symmetry of IBM Hamiltonian .We have studied systematically the trans ition rate R=B(E2: L+→(L-2)+ )/ B(E2: 2+→0+) of some of the low-lying quadrupole collective states in comparison with available experimental da ta. The results of this calculation are in good agreement with available e xperimental data. The even- even 124-130Barium isotopes show O(6) symmetr y.\nKeywords: B(E2)\, Interacting Boson Model\, 124-130Barium isotopes\n\n https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2032/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2032/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Erosion of N = 28 Shell Closure in Light Nuclei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1925@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Pankaj Kumar (Himachal Pradesh University\, Shimla)\ nThe development of deformation in proton deficient N = 28 isotones is ana lyzed by employing relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) model based on re cently introduced energy density functional DD-PCX. The calculations are p erformed by imposing constraints on axial and triaxial mass quadrupole mom ents. The regions of low-level density in neutron and proton single-partic le states\, around the Fermi level\, favor the onset of deformation and sh ape coexistence. The relativistic functional DD-PCX provides a good descri ption of the reduction of N = 28 spherical shell gap\, the evolution of sh apes\, and disappearance of N = 28 shell closure\, that occur due to quadr upole excitations across it. The results are compared with previous studie s based either on the mean-field approach or the shell-model approach.\n\n https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1925/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1925/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A ground-based evaluation of the impact of neutron dose rate on he alth effects during space travel DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1924@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Randall Fisher (Division of Radiation Biophysics\, Separated Sector Cyclotron Laboratory\, NRF iThemba LABS)\nThe lack of inf ormation on how biological systems respond to low-dose and low dose-rate r adiation makes it difficult to accurately assess the corresponding health risks. This is of critical importance to space radiation\, which remains a serious concern for long-term manned space exploration. Therefore\, a gro wing number of particle accelerator facilities implement ground-based anal ogues to study the biological effects of simulated space radiation. In thi s presentation\, we will introduce first results of a project on the “Op timization and validation of a unique ground-based in vitro model to study space health effects” (INVEST) at iThemba LABS\, which aims to implemen t a first ground-based set-up to study space health effects in Africa. The focus of this work is on neutron irradiation\, which is considered to be an important secondary component in space radiation fields. In a first set of experiments\, the effect of neutron dose rate on immune system alterat ions and DNA double-strand break (DSB) induction and repair was investigat ed. Blood samples of adult volunteers were exposed to p(66)/Be(40) neutron irradiation (fluence-weighted average energy: 29.8 MeV) at a lower dose r ate (LDR) of 0.015 Gy/min or a higher dose rate (HDR) of 0.400 Gy/min. DNA DSB formation was 40% higher at HDR exposure compared to LDR exposure. Th e DNA DSB levels decreased gradually to 1.65 ± 0.64 foci/cell (LDR) and 1 .29 ± 0.45 (HDR) at 24 h post-irradiation\, remaining significantly highe r than background levels. The impact of neutron dose and dose rate on immu ne alterations was studied using the in vitro cytokine release assay. Reca ll antigens and mitogens were used to activate lymphocytes post-irradiatio n and dose rate effects on the cytokine production capacity of the cells w ere observed under specific conditions. The results give a first indicatio n that the dose rate should be taken into account for health risk estimati ons related to neutron irradiation.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/10 1/contributions/1924/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1924/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Novel Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Pathway Inhibitors for Targeted Rad ionuclide Therapy of Glioblastoma DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1923@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Julie Bolcaen (Radiobiology\, Radiation Biophysics D ivision\, Nuclear Medicine Department\, iThemba LABS\, Cape Town 7131\, So uth Africa)\nGlioblastoma (GB) remains the most fatal brain tumor with a m edian survival of approximately 14 months and less than 10% of patients li ving longer than 5 years from diagnosis. GB tumors are characterized by a high infiltration rate and treatment resistance. At recurrence\, there is no consensus on the standard of care as no therapeutic options thus far co uld demonstrate a substantial survival benefit. An improved understanding of the underlying disease pathology and the causes for these treatment cha llenges might aid the development of new GB therapy strategies. One partic ular strategy is the development of theranostic agents that combine diagno stic molecular imaging with therapy using the same agent. The theranostic agent thereby investigates the presence of a certain target on the tumor c ells of the patient while the therapeutic version of the agent (commonly a radioactive derivative) binds to the same target and induces tumor cell d eath by emitting radiation\, while sparing healthy normal tissues. The lat ter approach is called targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT).\nMutations in receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and aberrant activation of their intracel lular signaling pathways have been linked to malignant transformation and therapy resistance and have driven the development of a new generation of drugs that block or attenuate RTK activity. Overexpression and/or mutation of RTKs is common in GB\, and therefore receptor tyrosine kinase inhibito rs (RTKIs) have been investigated to improve the dismal prognosis of GB in an effort to evolve into a personalized targeted therapy strategy. RTKIs consist of mainly two categories\, monoclonal antibody-based drugs that bi nd to the extracellular domain of the receptor and small molecule inhibito rs acting intracellularly\, both of which result in blocking the downstrea m signal trans-duction cascade. Numerous RTKIs have been approved in the c linic and several radiopharmaceuticals are part of (pre)clinical trials as a non-invasive method to identify patients who could benefit from RTKI. T he latter opens up the scope for theranostic applications. \nIn this work\ , recently published in MDPI Pharmaceuticals\, the option to use the tyros ine kinase pathway as a target for GB radiopharmaceutical development\, an d specifically for TRT\, was explored. The focus was on seven tyrosine kin ase receptors\, based on their central role in GB: EGFR\, VEGFR\, MET\, PD GFR\, FGFR\, Eph receptor and IGF1R. Finally\, by way of analyzing structu ral and physiological characteristics of the RTKIs with promising clinical trial results\, four small molecule RTKIs were selected based on their po tential to become new therapeutic GB radiopharmaceuticals.\n\nhttps://indi co.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1923/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1923/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The TUSCC project: What can elephants teach us about cancer preven tion and treatment in humans DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1922@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Charlot Vandevoorde (iThemba LABS)\nAlthough logic w ould suggest the contrary\, it seems that cancer incidence is not related to body size (number of cells) and species life span (number of cell divis ions). Large\, long-living mammals\, such as elephants\, have no increased risk of developing cancer compared to smaller mammals with fewer cells an d shorter lifespans. This lack of correlation between body size\, life spa n and cancer risks is known in evolutionary biology as Peto's Paradox. Rec ent reports have shown that elephants have an expanded number of TP53 gene copies\, a crucial tumour-suppressor gene encoding the tumour protein p53 . However\, the redundancy in tumour suppressor genes cannot resolve Peto ’s paradox completely in elephants\, since they should have developed a trade-off between the aggressive elimination of damaged cells and senescen ce due to depletion of their stem cell pool. \n\nWhile limited research an d experimental efforts have focused on resolving the paradox up to now\, t here are a growing number of alternative hypotheses that have been propose d. In the project “Tumour Suppression and Subdual of Cancer (TUSSC) in e lephants”\, we aim to investigate three alternative mechanisms (metaboli sm\, inflammasome and telomere length) which could play an important role in cancer suppression by comparing captive and free-roaming elephants. \n\ nHere\, we will present the first results of our project and highlight wha t implications Peto’s paradox could have for radiation protection and ra diation therapy strategies. Blood samples were collected from elephants by experienced wildlife veterinarians in the Zoo of Naples (Italy) and at Bo tlierskop\, a private game reserve with free-roaming elephants (South Afri ca). After collection and transport to the laboratories\, the elephant blo od samples were irradiated and cell death and DNA repair response was comp ared to human samples. In addition\, comparative next generation sequencin g will be performed on human and elephant blood samples\, to investigate w hich specific pathways are up- or downregulated after radiation exposure. The results of the Annexin V/PI apoptosis assay illustrate that elephant c ells go into apoptosis at much higher rates than human cells\, even after exposure to doses as low as 0.125 Gy. DNA double-strand break (DSB) induct ion and repair was evaluated using the γ-H2AX foci assay. While no statis tically significant difference could be observed in the number of DNA DSBs at 1 hour post-irradiation\, the 24 hours result confirm that elephant ce lls repair the induced damage faster. \n\nThe first results of the project confirm the working mechanisms of the tumour suppressor gene and striking differences in DNA repair capacity between human and elephant cells. It i s envisaged that this project could rapidly advance the development of new strategies for the prevention of radiation-induced cancers or the sensiti zation of cancer cells to radiotherapy. In addition\, future experiments a re planned with elephant fibroblast cells and carbon-ions\, which will als o increase our understanding of the role of TP53 in the DNA damage respons e after high-LET radiation.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contri butions/1922/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1922/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Study of the reactions 78Kr+40Ca and 86Kr+48Ca at 10 AMeV DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1921@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Brunilde Gnoffo (UNICT & INFN - CT)\nIn this work\, the principal results of data analysis of the reactions 78Kr +40 Ca and 86 Kr +48Ca at laboratory energy of 10 AMeV\, will be presented.\nThe experim ent has been carried out at INFN-Laboratori Nazionali del Sud\, with the 4 π multidetector CHIMERA\, which is used for the first time in this low en ergy regime\, thanks to the implementation of its identification capabilit ies (pulse shape discrimination on silicon detectors). \nThe isospin influ ence on the reaction mechanisms in central and semi-central collisions has been investigated\, with particular attention to Evaporation\, and Fissio n-like processes following Fusion and to the break-up mechanism of the Pro jectile-like Fragment.\nThe dynamical or statistical nature of the mention ed reaction mechanisms has been studied through the analysis of fragments kinematics features and a dependence on the isopin of the involved system has been found.\nThe energy spectra of alpha particles have studied in ord er to obtain information about the temperature of their emission source in the two systems.\nFinally\, a comparison of the experimental data with th e results of some theoretical models will be presented.\n\nhttps://indico. tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1921/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1921/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Multi-channel experimental and theoretical approach to the $^{12}$ C($^{18}$O\,$^{18}$F)$^{12}$B single charge exchange reaction at 275 MeV DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1920@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alessandro Spatafora (INFN-LNS)\nIn recent years\, t he search for neutrinoless double beta ($0\\nu\\beta\\beta$) decay has att racted much interest among physicists due to the extraordinary consequence s that could derive from its observation. The NUMEN project aims to provid e experimental information on the nuclear matrix elements involved in the expression of $0\\nu\\beta\\beta$ decay half-life by measuring the cross s ection of nuclear double charge exchange reactions. In this framework a fu ll understanding of the reaction mechanisms involved in double and single charge exchange nuclear reactions is mandatory for the purposes of the NUM EN project. \n\nAn interesting case study\, to test the capabilities of s tate-of-art nuclear reaction and nuclear structure theories\, is the net o f nuclear reactions involved in the $^{18}$O + $^{12}$C collision at 275 M eV incident energy. The experiment has been performed at the INFN-LNS and the experimental results and the theoretical analysis for the single charg e exchange\, elastic and inelastic scattering\, one-neutron addition and o ne-proton removal nuclear reactions will be discussed during the communica tion.\n\nThe experimental and theoretical study of the $^{12}$C($^{18}$O\, $^{18}$O)$^{12}$C elastic and inelastic scattering was performed to acces s the initial state interaction (ISI) responsible for the distortion of th e many-body wave functions of the incoming nuclei. In addition to the ISI and the many-body properties of the nuclear wave functions involved in the studied reactions\, the most crucial and debated aspect in the SCE nuclea r reactions is the competition between the direct process\, proceeding via the deeply studied meson-exchange and the sequential neutron-proton or pr oton-neutron transfer processes. In this framework\, also the $^{12}$C($^{ 18}$O\,$^{19}$F)$^{11}$B one-proton knock-out and the $^{12}$C($^{18}$O\,$ ^{17}$O)$^{13}$C one-neutron pick-up reaction channels have been analysed to constraint the single particle components of the many-body nuclear wave functions of the involved nuclei.\n\nThe goal of this work is to produce and to theoretically analyse the experimental data using state-of-art nucl ear structure and reaction theories in a unique comprehensive and coherent theoretical calculation. The holistic approach\, applied both to the expe rimental and the theoretical analysis\, is the main feature and novelty of the work presented here and justifies the interest of the NUMEN collabora tion.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1920/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1920/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DURGA: A novel facility in India to study capture gamma\, fission fragment and decay spectroscopy DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1918@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Somsundar Mukhopadhyay (Nuclear Physics Division\, B habha Atomic Research Centre\, Mumbai\, India)\nThe advent of high-efficie ncy $\\gamma$ ray spectrometers with multiple types of detectors\, digital signal processing-based data acquisition system\, and the realistic possi bility of taking a stride in the hitherto unknown territory of nuclear lan dscape are driving the low- and medium-energy nuclear physics into the pat h of exciting exploration. With this in consideration\, a novel facility\, DURGA (Dhruva Utilization in Research using Gamma Array)\, has recently b een developed in Bhabha Atomic Research Centre\, Mumbai\, India. The conce pt and possible utilization of the aforesaid facility is very unique in th e sense that it is the only facility in the country (India) for carrying o ut “prompt” $\\gamma$-ray spectroscopic investigation using thermal ne utron beam. \nThe facility consists of eight Compton-suppressed clover Ger manium detectors and sixteen LaBr$_3$(Ce) fast scintillators. The heart of the DURGA facility is a multi-frequency digitizer-based trigger-less data acquisition system. The digital acquisition system has been tailor-made f or the aforesaid array of eight Compton-suppressed Clover Ge detectors and sixteen LaBr$_3$(Ce) fast scintillators\, with a provision of expansion i n future. The system boasts of many novel features which will be discussed .\nLow-spin\, low-excitation energy regime has always been a fertile groun d in γ ray spectroscopy to explore several exotic nuclear phenomena\, suc h as\, β and γ vibration\, multi-phonon structures\, and even octupole-h exadecapole deformation. The facility is planned to be heavily used in stu dying Capture Gamma prompt and decay Spectroscopy (CGS). Apart from basic research\, such studies will contribute in direct and immediate determinat ion of presence of certain elements/contaminants in a given material/subst ance (in small quantity) in a non-destructive manner. \nNuclei with higher neutron-to-proton ratios are difficult to study in accelerator-based faci lities using stable projectile and target combinations. One of the means t o access and study the structure/properties of such nuclei is nuclear fiss ion. Thermal neutron induced fission fragment spectroscopy will provide ac cess to these difficult-to-reach nuclei\, and study their medium- and high -spin nuclear structures in detail. Additionally\, decay spectroscopy of t he neutron-rich fission fragment nuclei will reveal/affirm the decay chain of isotopes and low-spin structures of daughter nuclei. A few preliminary /test experiments have already been carried out using the facility. Detail s on these measurements will be presented during the conference.\n\nhttps: //indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1918/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1918/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The design of a radon chamber for the calibration of radon monitor s at the Centre for Applied Radiation Science and Technology\, Mafikeng\, South Africa. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1915@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Moses Radebe ()\nThe aim of the study was to design a radon chamber for the calibration of radon monitors at the Centre for Ap plied Radiation Science and Technology. There are radon monitors in South Africa\, however\, there are no known calibration facilities in the countr y. Therefore\, there is a need to design radon chambers. The radon chamber was designed with a Perspex material of thickness 6mm and of volume of 0. 5 m3 . Tudor-shaft soil samples whose 226Ra activities were known were use d as radon sources. Experimentally\; radon concentration\, humidity\, temp erature and pressure were measured with the AlphaGUARDs. The computed rado n ingrowth activities were used as a standard for calibrating the experime ntally obtained radon activities from radon monitors (AlphaGUARDs). The ca libration factors for the experiment were the differences between the rado n monitors and the computed radon ingrowth activities at equilibrium deter mined as 223.97 Bq and 339.83 Bq.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/ contributions/1915/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1915/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Electron screening effect @ IJS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1913@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Aleksandra Cvetinović (JSI)\nIn nuclear reactions i nduced by low-energy charged particles\, atomic electrons can participate in the process by screening the nuclear charge and so\, effectively reduce the repulsive Coulomb barrier. Consequently\, the measured cross section is enhanced by an effect called electron screening. In numerous experiment s\, different research groups [1-4] obtained extremely high values of elec tron screening\, that are in several cases (depending on target-nuclei env ironment) more than an order of magnitude above the prediction based on av ailable theoretical model [5]. \n\nNevertheless\, even as a considerable a mount of experimental data was collected over the past twenty years\, a su itable theory\, which can give an explanation of this effect\, has not yet been found. However\, electron screening is very important in nuclear ast rophysics. For nucleosynthesis calculations\, precise reaction rates shoul d be known at very low energies. At these energies charged-particle-induce d reaction cross sections become difficult to measure due to their sharp d rop with decreasing energy. Nowadays\, the energies of astrophysical inter est can only be reached in underground laboratories with high-current low energy accelerators [6]. In spite of that\, even when the lowest energies are reached\, the measurements do not give the nuclear cross section\, sin ce the reaction rate in the laboratory is always influenced by the atomic electrons that surround the reacting nuclei. This is a problem since we do not expect that the electron screening effect observed under laboratory c onditions should be equal to the electron screening in stars. \n\nTrying t o understand this process\, the effect of electron screening has been inve stigated by our group for already several years [7-9]. We measured the hig hest value of electron screening in a graphite target. The measured value is about a factor of 50 above the adiabatic limit prediction and much high er than any potential measured so far. Further\, our results pointed out t hat the *Z* dependence of the screening is even higher than *Z$ ^{2} $* i nstead of expected linear dependence. This rules out the theory based on s tatic electron densities. In order to explain our data\, we proposed a new model assuming that an electron is caught in the attractive potential of the two approaching nuclei\, similar to the potential of the hydrogen mole cular ion [8]. An overview of previous research works on this topic\, same as our latest results will be presented.\n\n[1] K. Czerski *et al*.\, Eur ophys. Lett. **68**\, 363 (2004)\n[2] J. Kasagi *et al*.\, J. Phys. Soc. J pn. **73**\, 608 (2004)\n[3] F. Raiola *et al*.\, J. Phys. G **31**\, 1141 (2005)\n[4] J. Cruz *et al*.\, Phys. Lett.\, B **624**\, 181 (2005)\n[5] H. J. Assenbaum *et al*.\, Z. Phys. A: At. Nucl. **327**\, 461 (1987)\n[6] C. Broggini *et al*.\, Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci. **60**\, 53 (2010)\n[7] J. Vesić *et al*.\, Eur. Phys. J. A **50**\, 153 (2014)\n[8] A. Cvetinov ić *et al*.\, Phys. Rev. C **92**\, 065801 (2015)\n[9] M. Lipoglavšek *e t al*.\, Phys. Lett. B **773**\, 553 (2017)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ event/101/contributions/1913/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1913/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Charge changing cross section and proton distribution radii of Be isotopes DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1912@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Gen Takayama ()\nIn this research\, we tested a new idea to measure proton-distribution radii ($r_{\\rm{p}}$) by heavy-ion sec ondary beam experiments. It is important for understanding the structures of nuclei to know the proton- and the neutron-distribution radii independe ntly. From this point of view\, we tried to develop a new method to deduce proton-distribution radii ($r_{\\rm{p}}$) very efficiently using nuclear collisions .\n \n Now\, $r_{\\rm{p}}$ can be measured by electron scatteri ng and isotope shift measurements. They have high accuracy and precision\, but applicable unstable nuclei are rather limited. On the other hand\, th e present new method could have the same degrees of accuracy and could mea sure a wide range of unstable nuclei.\n\n The experiment was carried out a t HIMAC\, Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba\, in Japan. We measured c harge changing cross sections ($\\sigma_{\\rm{cc}}$) for $^{7-12}$Be isoto pes on proton\, Be\, C\, and Al targets. Charge changing cross section ($ \\sigma_{\\rm{cc}}$) is the cross section of changing the number of proton s in the collision with the target nucleus. We can deduce charge changing cross sections ($\\sigma_{\\rm{cc}}$) from the number of incident particle s $N_1$ and charge changed particles $N_2$:\n\n\\begin{equation}\n \\sigma _{\\rm{cc}}=-\\frac{1}{t}\\rm{ln}\\Bigl(1-\\it{\\frac{N_2}{N_1}}\\Bigr)\n\ \end{equation} \n \n In the zeroth-order approximation\, the cross sectio n is approximated by equation (2). \n\n\\begin{equation}\n \\sigma_{\\rm{c c}}=\\pi(r_{\\rm{T}}+r_{\\rm{p}})^2\n\\end{equation}\n\n![charge changing] [1]\n\n\n From eq (2)\, we can derive proton radii if target’s nucleon radius $r_{\\rm{T}}$ and $\\sigma_{\\rm{cc}}$ are known. In practice\, we need to use Glauber calculation with more realistic proton and neutron dis tributions both in the projectile and the target nuclei. \n\nMoreover\, wh en trying to link the charge changing cross-section and the proton distrib ution radius\, the consideration of the proton evaporation process shown i n fig. 2 is considered to be very important.\n In this process\, neutrons are firstly abraded\, which excites prefragment and results in the evapora tion of protons. If this process could be extracted independently\, it wou ld be very useful in deriving the proton-distribution radii from the charg e changing cross sections. \n \n![proton evaporation][2]\n\n In the experi ment\, we used proton\, Be\, C\, and Al targets. Proton target is particul arly sensitive to neutrons in the projectile reflecting the isospin asymme try of the nucleon-nucleon total cross sections\, which amplifies neutron abrasion. In short\, the proton-evaporation effect has large portion of th e charge changing cross section on proton target $\\sigma^{\\rm{p}}_{cc}$. \n\nSo\, we assumed that $\\sigma^{\\rm{p}}_{cc}$ multiplied by some value x: $x\\sigma^{\\rm{p}}_{cc}$ is the cross section of proton evaporation f or Be\, C\, and Al targets. Therefore\, adding $x\\sigma^{\\rm{p}}_{cc}$ t o eq (2) would reproduce the experimental results of charge changing cross sections.\n\nIn practice\, we introduced x for each target and a constant parameter Y as the first and second approximation terms: \n\n\\begin{equa tion}\n \\sigma_{cc} = \\sigma_{\\rm{Glauber}} + \n x\\Bigl(\\sigma^{\\rm{ p}}_{\\rm{cc}}-[\\sigma^{\\rm{p}}_{\\rm{Glauber}}+Y]\\Bigr)\n\\end{equatio n}\n\nAs a result\, we figured out that only 4 parameters\, x(for 3 target s) and Y could reproduce 15 data of charge changing cross section for Be i sotopes very well. It suggests a possibility of this new method for the de duction of proton-distribution radii with high accuracy and efficiency app licable to a wide range of unstable nuclei.\n\n![proton distribution radii ][3]\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1912/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1912/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Resonances in 11C above 10B+p threshold using thick target in inve rse kinematics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1911@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Gurpreet Kaur ()\nThe resonance structure in 11C is important to understand 7Be(α\,γ)11C reaction in the pp-chain of Sun and for the 10B(p\,α)7Be reaction as the contamination of the candidate of a neutronic fusion reaction 11B(p\,2α) 4 He. Above the proton threshold\, t here are discrepancies in the excitation energies and lack of spin-assignm ent for the resonances in 11C nucleus. For this\, an elastic scattering ex periment of 10B+p was conducted and the R-matrix calculations are performe d for the inverse kinematics data using the code Azure2 [1]. The resonant parameters such as the energy\, spin-parity Jπ \, and the proton-decay pa rtial width are extracted and a comparison is performed with the results o btained from direct kinematic data [2]. Prior to this\, similar calculatio ns were performed for the reaction 12C+p [3\,4] where the resonance struct ure is well established.\nReferences:\n[1] R. E. Azuma\, E. Uberseder\, E. C. Simpson\, C. R. Brune\, H. Costantini\, R. J. de Boer\, J. Görres\, M . Heil\, P. J. LeBlanc\, C. Ugalde\, and M. Wiescher. Phys. Rev. C 81\, 04 5805 (2010).\n[2] M. Chiari\, L. Giuntini\, P. Mandò\, and N. Taccetti\, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res.\, Sect. B 184\, 309 (2001).\n[3] S. Samb i et al.\, Eur. Phys. J. A 51 (2015).\n[4] H.O. Meyer\, G.R. Plattner\, I. Sick\, Z. Phys. A 279\, 41 (1976).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/10 1/contributions/1911/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1911/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:One neutron removal cross sections for the 16N isomeric state DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1909@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Miki Fukutome ()\nThe enhancement of halo neutron re moval cross sections in neutron halo nuclei is well known and is one of th e evidences for the neutron halo structure. We have measured neutron remov al cross sections for several exotic light nuclei to reveal their characte ristic neutron-halo-like structures.(M.Fukuda et al\, Phys. Lett. B 268\, (1991)\, 339-344)\n　The difference in the nuclear structure between the ground and the isomeric state of $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ can be explained by th e orbitals in which the valence neutron is sitting. Considering the spin a nd parity\, the valence neutron is considered to be mainly occupying in th e $1\\mathrm{d}_{5/2}$ orbital in the ground state and in the $2\\mathrm{s }_{1/2}$ orbital in the isomeric state. Therefore\, the valence neutron in the $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ isomeric state\, with effects of $2\\mathrm{s}_{1/ 2}$ orbital and its relatively small neutron-separation energy of 2 MeV\, can be distributed more broadly in the radial direction. Attachment [1] sh ows the calculated nucleon density distributions of $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ val ence neutrons using the single-particle model. The spread of the density d istribution depends on which orbital the valence neutron resides in. There fore\, the $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ isomeric state is a candidate for neutron ha lo nucleus. The halo nucleus in the excited state has not been observed di rectly with experimental evidences.\n　The results of this research can a lso contribute to astrophysics. One of the nucleosynthesis processes is nu clear reactions in stars. The highest temperature among stars is about 1GK \, which corresponds to about 100 keV in energy. This is the same order of magnitude as the excitation energy of $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ isomer(120 keV). This suggests that $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ isomer is existing in stars with a certain probability and may contribute significantly to the synthesis of e lements. Therefore\, the study of nuclear structure of $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ isomer will be useful for elucidating the mechanism of nucleosynthesis.\n In the present study\, we measured one neutron removal cross sections usin g secondary beams of $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ with a mixture of ground and isome ric states. We used two types of primary beams\, $^{15}\\mathrm{N}$ and $^ {18}\\mathrm{O}$\, to produce $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ beams with different isom eric ratios\, and compared the one neutron removal cross sections measured with each secondary beam. The experiments were carried out at the HIMAC h eavy-ion synchrotron facility at National Institute for Radiological Scien ces(NIRS)\, Japan.\n　The experimental results show that the neutron remo val cross section obtained from a $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ beam with a large iso meric ratio\, which was produced from $^{18}\\mathrm{O}$\, is large compar ed to that obtained with a $^{16}\\mathrm{N}$ beam with a small isomeric r atio produced from $^{15}\\mathrm{N}$. This result suggests that the $^{16 }\\mathrm{N}$ isomeric state is considered to have a neutron-halo-like str ucture.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1909/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1909/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Recent tests on the construction of a new correlator for neutrons and charged particles DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1908@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Emanuele Vincenzo Pagano (INFN - LNS)\nWith the adve nt of new facilities for radioactive ion beams mainly rich in neutrons\, S PES @ LNL\, FRAISE @ LNS and FAIR @ GSI to give some examples\, the detect ion of neutrons and charged particles in Heavy radioactive Ion collisions with both high angular and energy resolutions became a mandatory request. As a consequence\, the construction of new multi-detection systems suitabl e for correlations studies between neutrons and charged particles became a n important perspective.\nThe contribution will illustrate the results of recent tests performed on new plastic material\, the EJ276 both in the "gr een-shifted" and in the ordinary versions\, coupled with Photon Multiplier Tubes (PMTs) or Silicon based-PM (SiPM) fast device. These experimental w orks are aimed at designing an advanced high efficiency neutron and charge d particles prototype of a multi-element detector with both high energy an d angular resolution.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contribution s/1908/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1908/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Recent results from INGA and VENUS at VECC DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1907@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Gopal Mukherjee (Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre\, Kolkata\, India)\nThe Indian National Gamma Array (INGA)\, which moves bet ween the three major accelerator centres in India\, was recently setup at VECC\, Kolkata. Moreover\, a complementary horizontal array of clover dete ctor\, VENUS (VECC Nuclear Spectroscopy) array was also setup. Several exp eriments have been performed to study the medium and high spin states in n uclei with these two array using light ion (proton and alpha) as well as h eavy-ion beams from the K-130 cyclotron at VECC. Though it has limitation to produce very high spin states\, but the alpha beam has certain advantag es on the study of nuclear structure. Among the nuclei studied\, interesti ng results have been obtained for the heavy nuclei just below the $Z = 82$ shell closure\, the structure of which are severely affected by presence of the intruder high-j proton and neutron orbitals. Extending our study on Tl nuclei\, we have identified a transition from chirality in $^{194}$Tl [1] to magnetic rotation in $^{195}$Tl [2]. In the odd-proton nucleus\, $^ {183}$Au\, we have strong evidence of wobbling motion based on two high-j configurations\, $h_{9/2}$ and $i_{13/2}$ [3]. The contrasting nature of t he variation of the wobbling energies with spin in these two transverse wo bbling bands were interpreted with a generalised picture of Frauendorf-Don au model [4]. Evidence of gamma vibration band and unfavoured long-axis ro tation have been identified in the odd-neutron nucleus $^{187}$Os [5]. The details of the experiments\, results and interpretations will be presente d in the conference.\n\nReferences:\n[1] T. Roy et al.\, Phys. Lett. B782\ , 768 (2018).\n[2] S. Nandi et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 99\, 054312 (2019) \n[3] S. Nandi et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 125\, 132501 (2020).\n[4] S. Frauedorf and F. Donau\, Phys. Rev. C 89\, 014322 (2014).\n[5] S. Nandi et al.\, in review (2021)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1907/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1907/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Shapes\, Softness and Non-Yrast Collectivity in 186W DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1905@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: AJ Mitchell (Australian National University)\nThe tu ngsten isotopes exist in a region of deformed nuclei with soft\, triaxial shapes that evolve into oblate deformation as the proton\, *Z*\, and (or) neutron\, *N*\, numbers increase\, before reaching sphericity at $Z = 82$ [1]. The heaviest stable W ($Z = 74$) isotope is at $A=186$. Its low-lying structure has been investigated in the past using Coulomb excitation [2] and $\\beta$ decay [3]\; however\, experimental data on the non-yrast\, hi gher-spin states are sparse due to their inaccessibility through any suita ble heavy-ion fusion-evaporation reactions. In this work\, non-yrast\, exc ited states in neutron-rich $^{186}$W were populated via inelastic-scatter ing reactions using stable beams of $^{136}$Xe nuclei accelerated to 725 a nd 800 MeV (10 and 20% above the Coulomb barrier) [4]. Scattered ions were detected in CHICO2\, and de-exciting γ rays in Gammasphere. Considerable progress was made in extending the $K^π = 2^+$ (γ)\, $K^π = 0^+$ and $ K^π = 2^-$ (octupole) bands. A staggering pattern observed in the energie s of levels in the $K^π = 2^+$ band was found to be consistent with a pot ential that gets softer to vibration in the γ degree of freedom with incr easing spin. The odd-even staggering of states in the $K^π = 2^-$ band wa s found to exhibit a phase opposite to that seen in the γ band. This effe ct is most probably associated with Coriolis coupling to other\, unobserve d octupole vibrational bands in $^{186}$W. \n\nThis material is based upo n work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy\, Office of Science\, Of fice of Nuclear Physics under Grants No.~DE-FG02-94ER40848 (UML)\, No.~DE- FG02-97ER41041 (UNC)\, No. DE-FG02-97ER41033 (TUNL) and DE-FG02-94-ER40834 (UMCP)\, and Contracts No.~DE-AC02-06CH11357 (ANL) and No.~DE-AC52-07NA27 344 (LLNL)\, the International Technology Center Pacific (ITC-PAC) under C ontract No.~FA520919PA138 (ANU)\, and the National Science Foundation. The research used resources of ANL's ATLAS facility\, which is a DOE Office o f Science user facility.\n\n1. K. Kumar and M. Baranger\, Nucl. Phys. A ** 110**\, 529 (1968). \n2. F. K. McGowan $et~al$.\, Nucl. Phys. A **289**\, 253 (1977)\; W. T. Milner $et~al$.\, Nucl. Phys. A **177**\, 1 (1971)\; R. Kulessa\, $et~al$.\, Phys. Lett. B **218**\, 421 (1989). \n3. E. Monnand $et~al$.\, Nucl. Phys. A **134**\, 321 (1969). \n4. V. S. Prasher\, PhD th esis (2015).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1905/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1905/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Emerging collectivity in neutron-hole transitions near doubly magi c 208Pb DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1904@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Matthew Gerathy (The Australian National University) \nNuclei around doubly magic $^{208}$Pb have long served as a testing grou nd for the validity of the shell model. While the high-spin states of thes e nuclei have been studied extensively\, data on electromagnetic transitio n rates between the low-spin states are scarce. Members of the $N = 125$ i sotone chain – including $^{209}$Po\, $^{211}$Rn and $^{213}$Ra – exhi bit a ground state with spin-parity of $J^{\\pi} = 1/2^-$\, and a $5/2^-$ first-excited state at near-constant excitation energy. The ground state c an be attributed to a p$_{1/2}$ neutron hole coupling to the $0^+$ ground- state of the neighbouring semi-magic\, $N = 126$ core\; likewise\, couplin g the ground state of the core to a $\\nu f_{5/2}$ hole accounts for the e xcited $5/2^-$ state. \n\nThese nuclei have been studied using stable-beam experiments at the Australian National University Heavy Ion Accelerator F acility. Lifetimes of the $5/2-$ states in the $N = 125$ isotone chain wer e measured directly from γ- γ time differences using Compton-suppressed\ , ultrafast LaBr$_3$ scintillators installed in the CAESAR detector array. The near-constant excitation energy of the $5/2^-$ state across the chain suggests that the simple single-hole structure persists as pairs of proto ns are added. However\, the measured $B(E2\; 5/2^- \\to 1/2^-$) values ind icate enhanced collective contributions from valence protons that increase with Z. It appears that the near-constant $5/2^-$ excitation energies are a coincidental outcome of the interplay between the single-particle behav iour and emerging collectivity beyond the shell-model valence space. Shell -model calculations were performed to understand the microscopic origins o f this behaviour. \n\nThis research was supported by the Australian Resear ch Council through grant numbers No.~DP170101673 and No.~DP170101675\, and by the International Technology Center Pacific (ITC-PAC) under Contract N o.~FA520919PA138. A.~A.\, B.~J.~C.\, J.~T.~H.~D.\, T.~J.~G.\, and B.~P.~M. acknowledge the support of the Australian Government Research Training Pr ogram. Support for the ANU Heavy Ion Accelerator Facility operations throu gh the Australian National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program is also acknowledged.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/ 101/contributions/1904/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1904/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Study of electromagnetic properties of even-even medium-mass tellu rium isotopes DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1903@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Rani Devi (University of Jammu)\nThe yrast spectra a nd electromagnetic properties of even-even medium mass tellurium isotopes are studied by employing projected shell model. From the analysis of proje cted shell model wave functions\, the structure of yrast states is predict ed. The low-lying yrast states up to spin 4+ are predicted to arise from z ero-quasiparticle (qp) bands whereas the yrast 6+ states arise from 2-qp p roton bands. The structure of yrast states changes further to 2-qp neutron bands as one moves along the yrast states. The B(E2) transition probabili ties and g-factors are computed from projected shell model wave functions and compared with the available experimental data. The computed values are in agreement with the available experimental data. The electromagnetic qu antities show a decrease in their values at spins wherever the structure o f yrast states changes from 2-qp proton bands to 2-qp neutron bands. The present calculations predict spin 8+ states in lower mass tellurium isotop es to be of proton g7/2 character and spin 10+ states in higher mass tellu rium isotopes to be of neutron h11/2 character.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac .za/event/101/contributions/1903/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1903/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Rotational Structure in Nuclei Near 66Fe DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1901@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Emma Rice ()\nStudies of the "heavy" island of inver sion near the N=40 isotones between Ca and Ni have\, to date\, focused on determining the degree of collectivity in even-even nuclei using propertie s of 2+ transitions. While collective rotational structures are understood to be present\, limited results are available to characterize these struc tures. In this work\, we report on the results from an experiment conducte d at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University (MSU) using a secondary fragmentation reaction to populat e higher angular momentum states. We discuss new transitions observed in 6 6Fe and odd-A neighbors\, 67Co and 65Fe\, and the interpretation of these level schemes in terms of the rotational model of the nucleus.\n\nhttps:// indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1901/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1901/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The B(E2) transition Probabilities for 122-130Te (Tellurium) Even- Even Isotopes with the help of Cubic terms from Casimir Invariant Operator s and IBM-1 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1899@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Pinky Rani (Research Scholar)\nThe interacting boson model-1 has been used to calculate the reduced electric transition probab ility B(E2) ↓ of even-even 122-130Te (Tellurium) isotopes with even neut rons from N = 70 to 78. The three-three boson interactions are also formed in the Hamiltonian from Casimir invariant operators. The parameters of be st fit to measure the data is used from the experimental value of B (E2\; 21+ → 01+) for even-even 122-130Te isotopes. The theoretical values are good in agreement especially with the experimental ones. The branching rat ios B (E2\; 41+ → 21+) / B (E2\; 21+ → 01+) is less than 2 represents U (5) symmetry in 122-130Te isotopes.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/ 101/contributions/1899/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1899/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Study of the single-nucleon transfer reactions in the $^{18}$O+$^{ 48}$Ti collision at 275 MeV DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1896@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Onoufrios Sgouros (INFN-LNS)\nSingle nucleon transfe r reactions are considered among the best resources for probing single par ticle configurations in the populated many-body nuclear states. Besides a valuable spectroscopic tool\, transfer reactions offer also an insight of the reaction dynamics. An example is the study of the degree of competitio n between sequential nucleon transfer and charge exchange reactions\, the latter being of particular interest in the contest of single and double be ta decay studies. Into this context\, one-proton and one-neutron transfer reactions for the system $^{18}$O+$^{48}$Ti were measured at the energy of 275 MeV for the first time under the NUMEN and NURE experimental campaign s. The experiment was carried out at the MAGNEX facility of INFN-LNS in Ca tania. Angular distribution measurements for the reaction ejectiles were p erformed by using the MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer. The d ata were analyzed by using two different reaction models aiming at validat ing the adopted reaction and nuclear structure inputs as well as to study the effect of inelastic excitations to the low-lying states of the project ile and target nuclei to the transfer cross-sections. The results of the a nalysis will be presented and discussed.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/eve nt/101/contributions/1896/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1896/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Shape Coexistence and Octupole Correlations in 72Se DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1894@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Arunita Mukherjee (Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya\, B ilaspur(C.G)\, India)\nAtomic nuclei are unique quantum-body systems where the spontaneous symmetry breaking phenomena enrich a variety of shapes an d structures. In recent years\, the nuclei lying in the vicinity of the mi d-shell region have attracted considerable attention as it exhibits a clas s of remarkable phenomena such as shape coexistence\, shape evolution\, oc tupole correlations\, chirality\, etc. The advancements in the detection t echnology with high resolution detector arrays like Indian National Gamma Array(INGA) [1]\, AGATA etc\, have revolutionised the experimental scope o f studying nuclear strucuture on the basis of such exotic phenomena. In th e present work\, high-spin excited states of 72Se nucleus have been popula ted using 50Cr(28Si\, α2p)72Se fusion evaporation reaction at a beam ener gy of 90 MeV. The de-exciting γ-rays were detected using the Indian Nati onal Gamma Array (INGA) at IUAC\, New Delhi. The well-determined shape coe xistence feature of 72Se isotope has been further studied using the RDCO-P olarization method which was conveniently used to determine the M1/E2 char acter of ∆I = 0\, 454.5-keV transition. Additionally\, 72Se isotope havi ng Z = 34\, lies in the octupole coupling region of the single particle le vel orbitals. The first observation of enhanced E1 transitions\, in A ≈ 70 mass region\, decaying from the levels in the lowest negative parity ba nd to first excited 0+2 band has been reported in this study. The energy s eparation parameter [∆E(I)] and frequency ratio between positive and neg ative parity bands further supports the observation of such reflection asy mmetric structure. The experimental observations are also interpreted in t erms of cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky model and total Routhian surface calcul ations\, providing evidence of shape coexistence.\n\nREFERENCES\n [1] S. M uralithar et al.\, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res.Sect. A 622\, 281 (201 0).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1894/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1894/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Structural Evolution and Octupole Correlations in Transitional Nuc lei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1893@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sutanu Bhattacharya (Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya ) \nThe atomic nucleus is a fundamental and unique laboratory of nature for investigating the relationships among the fundamental symmetries. Explorin g the relations between these symmetries is one of the major objectives of present-day researches. The nucleon-nucleon interactions inside the nucle us play a crucial role in the occurrence of various exotic phenomena like shape coexistence\, γ-vibrational band\, multi-phonon bands\, back-bendin g\, octupole vibration\, octupole deformation\, band termination\, etc. Du e to advancements in detection systems like high-resolution gamma detector arrays with large efficiency\, it is now possible to study these exotic f eatures exhibited by atomic nucleus. Recently\, the high-spin states of th e 73Br nucleus have been populated via the 50Cr(28Si\, αp)73Br fusion eva poration reaction with a beam energy of 90 MeV. The deexciting gamma rays were detected using the Indian National Gamma Array (INGA) facility at Int er-University Accelerator Center (IUAC)\, New Delhi [1]. The half-life τ1 /2 = 52(2) ns of isomeric 9/2+ state is determined using the intensity var iation method. This lifetime is used to determine the magnitude of monopol e transition strength ρ2(E0)\, which provides evidence for the shape coex istence at low spin states in odd mass 73Br nucleus. In addition\, two new interconnecting enhanced E1 transitions between positive and negative par ity yrast band have been added\, which provides evidence for octupole corr elation in ground state configuration. The lifetime of high spin states ha s also been measured using the Doppler-shift attenuation method (DSAM) for both positive and negative parity bands in 73Br nucleus. The observed tra nsitional quadrupole moments decreases with increasing spin for these band s. The experimental observations have been interpreted in terms of the cra nked Nilsson-Strutinsky model and total Routhian surface calculations\, pr oviding evidence for band termination at higher spin [2].\n\nREFERENCES\n [1] S. Muralithar et al.\, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res.Sect. A 622\, 281 (2010).\n[2] S. Bhattacharya et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 100 014315 (2019).\ n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1893/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1893/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fast timing characteristics of 1.5′′ x 1.5′′ CeBr$_{3}$ de tector DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1892@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sneha Das ()\nMeasurement of lifetime of nuclear excited states and extraction of electromagnetic transition streng ths from that provides direct insight into nuclear structure. Gamm a ray coincidence spectroscopy with new-age fast scintillator detectors \, such as\, LaBr$_{3}$(Ce) and CeBr$_{3}$ serves as a useful tool for lif etime measurements in sub-nanosecond ranges. Although the energy resolutio n of CeBr$_{3}$ is slightly poorer than that of LaBr$_{3}$(Ce)\, but w ith comparable time resolution and without any internal activity\, CeBr$_{3}$ scintillator detectors emerge as a potential alternative to L aBr$_{3}$(Ce).\nAt Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC)\, Kolkata\, 1.5 ′′ x 1.5′′ CeBr$_{3}$detectors coupled with a new Photo-Multipli er tube Hamamatsu R13089-100 has been characterized. An energy re solution of 4.1% has been obtained at 662 keV of $^{137}$Cs source. Absol ute photo-peak efficiencies at different source-to-detector distances have been measured [1]. GEANT4 simulation has been carried out which reproduce s pulse height spectra and absolute efficiencies reasonably well. The best time resolution (TAC FWHM) of 199(2) ps between two CeBr$_{3}$detecto rs for 1173-1332 energy cascade of $^{60}$Co source and 327(3) ps for 511-511 keV of $^{22}$Na source have been obtained after optimizing v arious parameters. With the knowledge of basic characteristics of t wo detector set-up\, time-walk response for this set-up was determ ined using Mirror Symmetric Centroid Difference (MSCD) method [2]. $^{152}$Eu source has been used to calibrate Prompt Response Diff erence[PRD(E$_{\\gamma}$)] curve for different high voltages at vario us CFD delays [3]. For each set-up\, known lifetimes of two states of $^{133}$Cs - (3/2)$^{+}$state at 384 keV and (5/2)$^{+}$state at 161 keV\ , populated via electron capture decay of $^{133}$Ba\, have been reproduce d.\nNuclei near $^{208}$Pb region are expected to have spherical s tructure at lower spin and collective structure at higher spin an d excitation energies. For even-even Po (Z=84) isotopes in this region\, the variation of R$_{4/2}$ ratio approaches towards vibrati onal limit as neutron holes increase whereas\, E2 transition stren gth increase from $^{210}$Po to $^{206}$Po [4]. The low-lying states of neighboring odd-A nuclei in this region are mainly described by t he coupling of one neutron hole with the nearest even-even core. The lifet ime measurement of low-lying states of Po isotopes will be of g reat importance to understand the interplay between single particle an d collective structure. Lifetime of (11/2)$^{-}$state at 1521.85 keV of $ ^{209}$Po has been determined. The excited states of $^{209}$Po were popul ated via electron capture decay of $^{209}$At which was produced using the reaction $^{209}$Bi ($\\alpha$\, 4n) $^{209}$At at 52 MeV beam energy at VECC\, kolkata. The value obtained has been found to be in good agreement with the previously reported value [5]. \n**References:**\n[1] S.Das\, et al.\, Proc. of DAE-BRNS Symp. on Nucl. Phys.70 (2019) 986 \n[2] J.-M.Regis \, et al.\, NIM A 622 (2010) 83-92\n[3] J.-M.Regis\, et al.\, NIM A 684 (2 012) 36-45\n[4] M. Stoyanova\, et al.\, PRC 100\, 064304 (2019)\n[5] V. Ka rayonchev\, et al.\, PRC 103\, 044309 (2021)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za /event/101/contributions/1892/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1892/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Study of $^4$He + $^4$He inelastic scattering at the MAGNEX facili ty DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1891@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vasileios Soukeras (Dipartimento di Fisica e Astrono mia “Ettore Majorana”\, Universit \\`a di Catania\, Catania\, Italy an d INFN – Laboratori Nazionali del Sud\, Catania\, Italy)\nA recent ab-in itio calculation of the monopole transition form factor of $^4$He (Phys. R ev. Lett. 110\, 042503 (2013)) pointed to a strong dependence on the diffe rent realistic potentials used. The inconsistencies met between the recent ab-initio form factor calculation and the existing data from $^4$He(e\,e ‘)$^4$He* call for further investigation. In order to shed some light on this challenging subject\, an exclusive measurement of the $^4$He + $^4$H e $\\rightarrow$ $^4$He + $^4$He* $\\rightarrow$ $^4$He + $^3$H + $^1$H re action in the region of the first 0+ excited state of $^4$He was performed at the MAGNEX facility of INFN – Laboratori Nazionali del Sud. The $^4$ He ions were momentum analyzed by the MAGNEX spectrometer\, while the $^3$ H ions were detected by the OSCAR telescope. The $^4$He + $^4$He $\\righta rrow$ $^4$He + $^4$He* $\\rightarrow$ $^4$He + $^3$He + n reaction was als o measured simultaneously thanks to the large momentum acceptance of the M AGNEX spectrometer. The data analysis\, including the relevant Monte Carlo simulations will be presented and discussed.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.z a/event/101/contributions/1891/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1891/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Measurement of 17F breakup on 4He using the pAT-TPC DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1889@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Guilherme Ferrari Fortino (Instituto de Física da U SP)\n17F is a well-known proton halo nucleus (Sp = 0.6 MeV) that can be de scribed as a 16O core nucleus plus a weakly bounded proton. The 17F breaku p mechanism can be induced by electromagnetic and nuclear interactions. Pr evious experiments of 17F breakup on 58Ni and 208Pb nuclei show a strong i nterference of Coulomb and nuclear breakup processes. New experimental dat a of 17F breakup on a 4He target were measured using the prototype Active Target-Time Projection Chamber (pAT-TPC). The pAT-TPC is a detector that u ses a gas volume as both target and tracking medium\, covering almost a 4 pi solid angle. The detector system allows a particle tracking from where it is possible to extract the scattering angles and the reaction vertex w ith good precision. Preliminary results of exclusive and inclusive breakup will be discussed in this talk.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/c ontributions/1889/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1889/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The energy levels of 21Ne and the s-process in rapidly rotating me tal poor stars DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T153000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1871@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: C. Angus (University of York & TRIUMF)\nObservations of Ultra Metal Poor stars such as HD 221170 [1] show that the abundances of elements heavier than silver can be reliably predicted by models of nuc leosynthesis. However\, elements between iron and silver have much higher observed abundances than predicted by models which only consider the ‘no rmal’ r- and s- processes. A potential solution for these underestimates is an extension of the s-process to rapidly rotating metal poor stars. Wh ether or not these stars contribute significantly to the abundances of the lighter heavy elements depends on several nuclear reactions\; of specific interest is the ratio of 17O(α\,n)20Ne to 17O(α\,γ)21Ne [2]. This rati o is important as it determines the efficiency of the s-process in these s tars. However\, the cross section is too low to measure directly which mea ns we must calculate the rate based on the parameters of the relevant stat es. \n\nWhen calculating the rates of these reactions\, the spin-parities of nuclear energy levels are important as rates of reaction depend upon th em. Several states within the Gamow window in neon-21 have unknown spin-pa rities and this is a significant source of uncertainty in the model predic tions [3]. In order to address this\, an experiment in direct kinematics w as conducted using the Enge split-pole spectrograph at the Triangle Univer sities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) [4]. A second experiment was later carrie d out in inverse kinematics at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) using the HELIOS spectrometer. The aim of these experiments was to determine the un known spin-parities relevant for nuclear astrophysics as well as constrain ing the neutron widths of the relevant states\, via a study of the 21Ne(d\ ,p) reaction\; in both direct and inverse kinematics. The angular distribu tion for each state was determined and compared with Distorted-Wave Born A pproximation predictions. The astrophysical motivation behind the experime nt\, results of the TUNL experiment and details of the ongoing analysis of data from HELIOS will be presented.\n\n\nThis material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy\, Office of Science\, Office o f Nuclear Physics\, under Contract Number DE-AC02-06CH11357 and under Gran t No. DE-SC0017799 and Contract No. DE-FG02-97ER41041. Also\, from the Fon ds de la Recherche Scientifique-FNRS under Grant No IISN 4.4502.19\, the C hETEC COST Action (CA16117)\, supported by COST (European Cooperation in S cience and Technology)\, the IReNA AccelNet Network of Networks\, supporte d by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OISE-1927130 and from the World Premier International Research Centre Initiative (WPI Initiativ e)\, MEXT\, Japan. This research used re- sources of ANL’s ATLAS facilit y\, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.\n\n[1] I. Ivans\, et al.\, (2006). Ap. J. 645(1)\, 612-633.\n[2] M. Rayet and M. Hashimoto.\, (2000). A&A 354\, 740-748.\n[3] M. P. Taggart\, et al.\, (2019). Phys. Le t. B. 798\, 134894.\n[4] J. Frost-Schenk. (2020). “Alpha capture reactio ns for abundance observations in nuclear astrophysics”. PhD Thesis. Univ ersity of York.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1871 / LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1871/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Cluster excitation and alpha radioactivity within covariant EDF fr amework DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2031@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Florian Mercier (IJCLab\, Orsay\, France)\nThe use o f Energy Density Functional (EDF) method within a relativistic framework s howed\, this last decades\, that it can both describe the bulk properties of nuclei (radii\, GS energy\, binding energy\, ...)[1] as well as cluster s formation[2].\nThe study of cluster structures allow for many applicatio ns ranging from $\\alpha$ or cluster decay to many different kinds of exci tations.\nThis last few years\, new techniques such as the Finite Amplitud e Method (FAM) [3\,4\,5] open new possibilities in the computation of coll ective response of nuclei: a fully microscopical calculation for axially d eformed nuclei is made possible within this framework. Such deformed calcu lations are necessary to describe clusters behaviors.\n\nMany experimental results show significant transition strengths in light nuclei at low ener gy below giant resonance transition. In some cases\, these low energy exci tations can be associated with $\\alpha$ cluster states. The use of FAM pr ovides an efficient tool\, less demanding on the numerical side than the u sual QRPA method. The ground state calculations are performed over several isotopic chains using relativistic energy density functional method. \nTh is approach allows for a fully microscopic treatment from the nucleonic de gree of freedom\, and does not require any ansatz on the nature of the sin gle particle wave-function nor the ground state itself. The same universal pattern at low energy is found in the case of Ne\, Mg and other isotopes\ , for the different multipoles[6]. The associated transition densities sho w a cluster structure linked with $\\alpha$ or cluster oscillations.\n\nA more extreme phenomenon to be studied within the covariant EDF framework i s the one of radioactivity where cluster are pre-formed and emitted. Previ ous studies showed that a reliable description of cluster radioactivity in heavy nuclei was achievable[7]. \nThe description of $\\alpha$ radioactiv ity has recently been carried through within RMF framework at both qualita tive and quantitative levels[8]. A new 2$\\alpha$ decay mode is even predi cted for some heavy nuclei with lifetime close to cluster emission[9].\n\n \n[1] G. A. Lalazissis\, T. Nikšić\, D. Vretenar\, and P. Ring\, Phys. R ev. C 71\, 024312 (2005).\n[2] J.-P. Ebran\, E. Khan\, T. Nikšić and D.V retenar\, Nature 487\, 341 (2012).\n[3] T. Nakatsukasa\, T. Inakura\, K. Y abana\, Phys. Rev. C76\, 024318 (2007).\n[4] P. Avogadro\, T. Nakatsukasa\ , Phys. Rev. C84\, 014314\, (2011).\n[5]T. Nikšić\, N. Kralj\, T. Tutiš \, D. Vretenar\, and P. Ring\, Phys. Rev. C88\, 044327 (2013).\n[6] F. Mer cier\, A. Bjelčić\, T. Nikšić\, J.-P. Ebran\, E. Khan\, and D. Vretena r\, Phys. Rev. C 103\, 024303 (2021).\n[7] M. Warda and L. M. Robledo\, Ph ys. Rev. C 84\, 044608 (2011).\n[8] F. Mercier\, J. Zhao\, R.-D Lasseri\, J.-P. Ebran\, E. Khan\, T. Nikšić\, and D. Vretenar\, Phys. Rev. C 102\, 011301(R) (2020).\n[9] F. Mercier\, J. Zhao\, J.-P. Ebran\, E. Khan\, T. Nikšić\, and D. Vretenar\, Phys. Rev. Letter (to be published).\n\nhttps ://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2031/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2031/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Davydov-Chaban Hamiltonian within the formalism of deformation-dep endent effective mass for Kratzer potential DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2029@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alaaeddine Lahbas (ESMaR\, Department of Physics\, F aculty of Sciences\, Mohammed V University in Rabat\, Morocco)\nIn this wo rk\, we modify the Davydov-Chaban Hamiltonian describing the collective mo tion of a $\\gamma$-rigid atomic nucleus by allowing the mass to depend on nuclear deformation. Exact analytical expressions are derived for energy spectra as well as normalized wave functions for Kratzer potential. The mo del called Z(4)-DDMD (Deformation Dependent Mass with Kratzer potential)\, is achieved by using the Asymptotic Iteration Method (AIM). The numerical calculations for energy spectra and B(E2)transition probabilities are com pared to the experimental data of $^{192−196}$Pt isotopes. The obtained results show an overall agreement with the experiment and an important imp rovement in respect to other models\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/10 1/contributions/2029/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2029/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A study on the photon interaction parameters of some meteorite sam ples DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2027@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Canel Eke (Akdeniz University)\nThe goal of this wor k is to research photon interaction parameters of four meteorite samples w hich have various elemental contents from the scientific literature. Mass attenuation coefficients\, effective atomic number values\, effective elec tron density values\, coherent scattering cross sections\, incoherent scat tering cross sections\, photoelectric absorption cross sections\, pair pro duction cross sections for atomic nucleus and pair production cross sectio ns for atomic electrons of present meteorite samples were obtained theoret ically using computer software in energy range from 1 keV to 100 GeV. Cons equently\, photon interaction parameters of four meteorite samples vary de pending on the incident photon energy and elemental components of the mete orite samples.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2027/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2027/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Density modified tracer particles for Positron Emission Particle T racking (PEPT) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1914@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Michael van Heerden (University of Cape Town)\nPEPT Cape Town has pioneered the development of Gallium-68 based tracer particl e analogues for use in positron emission particle tracking studies of gran ular and multiphase systems. The accuracy of the measured data relies stro ngly on how representative the tracer particle analogue is to the media of interest in these dynamic systems. The ability to control and manipulate the tracer fabrication methods expands the range of applications and syste ms suitable for investigation with PEPT. The density of the material under investigation is often a critical parameter of the system under study. Tr acer production methods developed at PEPT Cape Town rely on multiple layer coatings of tracers created by radiolabelling ion exchange resin beads. T he layers include the radioactive core\, a density controlled region and m ay include an additional coating used to control the surface chemistry of the particle. The current available densities range between 1.00 and 2.85 g cm-3 with particle diameters as small as 450 microns. We report on the current state of density-modified tracer particles and illustrate the meth od using data from PEPT measurements on an industrial system designed to s eparate higher density minerals from lower density gangue.\n\nhttps://indi co.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1914/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1914/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A compact neutron spectrometer for neutrons produced by cosmic ray s DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1910@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Erin Jarvie (University of Cape Town)\nCosmic rays a re comprised largely of high energy protons and alpha particles which crea te large amounts of secondary particles through spallation when they inter act with our atmosphere. At aviation altitudes the radiation field is made up predominantly of neutrons in the energy range 1 - 100 MeV [1]. During space weather events\, such as solar flares\, the number of energetic part icles entering the atmosphere can increase drastically resulting in higher radiation doses to aircrew\, and an increased risk of electronics malfunc tion on board aircraft [2]. As these events are unpredictable and short-li ved\, very little observational data exist. \n\nThe development and charac terisation of a compact detector to measure cosmic ray induced neutrons wi th energies up to 100 MeV on board aircraft is presented. Building upon pr evious research at UCT [3\,4\,5]\, the prototype detector comprised of a 6 mm x 6 mm x 50 mm slab of EJ-276 plastic scintillator\, a SensL C-series silicon photomultiplier\, and digital data acquisition. Results from the f irst measurement campaign at n-lab (UCT) utilising mixed gamma ray and neu tron fields with energies up to 4.4 MeV and 14.1 MeV respectively are pres ented. Overall\, the detector system performed well and showed promise of being suitable for the measurement of neutrons with energies up to 100 MeV . Further development of the device is ongoing in collaboration with SANSA and iThemba LABS\, and a design which optimises neutron detection and lig ht collection has been identified using Geant4 simulations. Future work ai ms characterise the response of the detector up to 100 MeV and perform mea surements in an in-flight scenario.\n\n[1] P. Goldhagen\, et al.\, Rad. Pr ot. Dos.\, vol.110\, p.387 (2004)\n[2] W. Tobiska\, et al.\, Space Weather \, 13\, 202–210 (2015).\n[3] A. Buffler\, et al.\, Int. Jour. Mod. Phys. 44\, 1660228 (2016). \n[4] A. Comrie\, et al.\, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A\, 77 2\, 43–49 (2015). \n[5] E. Jarvie\, A new pocket-sized neutron detector\ , Hons. Thesis\, Dept. Physics\, UCT\, 2020\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ event/101/contributions/1910/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1910/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:SIMSPEC-G: a new code for simulating the working of HPGe detectors DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1906@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Satya Samiran Nayak (Variable Energy Cyclotron Cente r\, India)\nHPGe detectors are one of the most important components of exp erimental nuclear physics. Therefore\, a deeper understanding of them is r equired for better utilization of the available resources. Simulations all ow us to do that in a faster way while also pointing to unaccounted proces ses in case of a mismatch between simulated and measured spectra. While th ere exist many simulation routines to reproduce a spectrum\, these are com plicated as they are designed to have as few restrictions on the general s etup\, so as to cater to many detector materials and geometry. The new cod e SIMSPEC-G\, being developed\, is simple\, fast and specific to HPGe dete ctors. In the beginning\, we consider gamma photons $\\leq$ 1 MeV\, which interact with detector material through photoelectric and Compton interact ions only. The interaction length is estimated using the energy dependent cross section data of the detector material obtained from the photon datab ase at NIST [[1][2]]. SIMSPEC-G allows for tracking of gamma photons passi ng through the detector\, storing the information about the type (Compton or photoelectric) and the point of interaction\, energy lost\, etc. This a llows us to compute the energy spectra\, the most probable energy deposite d after the first interaction\, distribution of different types of multipl e scattering processes at different energies\, efficiency\, etc. Initially \, we worked with a single crystal geometry\, but later we extended the si mulation to accommodate for clover geometry. We also worked out the effect of multi-segment events\, due to clover geometry\, on various parameters. The distribution of energy deposited in the first interaction segment in case of multi-segment events was also studied. Addback factor’s variatio n with incident photon energy is also estimated. Further details will be s hared in the presentation.\n\nREFERENCE\n\n 1. M. J. Berger\, J. Hubbell\, S. Seltzer\, J. Chang\, J. Coursey\, R. \n Sukumar\, D. Zucker and K . Olsen\, "XCOM: Photon Cross Sections \n Database\," 1 November 2020 . [Online]. Available: \n [www.nist.gov/pml/xcom-photon-cross-section s-database][2]\n\n [2]: https://www.nist.gov/pml/xcom-photon-cross-sectio ns-database\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1906/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1906/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A new fast neutron facility for materials analysis at UCT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1897@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sizwe Mhlongo (University of Cape Town)\nNeutron-bas ed nuclear techniques such as fast neutron analysis (FNA) and thermal neut ron analysis (TNA) are among the most powerful techniques for elemental an alysis in small and bulk samples [1\, 2]. The techniques are rapid\, non-d estructive\, and are capable of multi-elemental analysis of samples with c omplex matrices. Neutron-based techniques are often used in the minerals i ndustry\, where fast neutrons are used for on-line analysis of coal\, and the safety and security industry\, where neutrons can be used for detectio n of contraband and explosives in cargo containers and in vehicles [3\, 4] . Analysis of materials using neutron-based techniques involves irradiatin g a sample with a field of neutrons with a known energy distribution and n eutron flux. The interaction of incident neutrons with the sample nuclei l eads to an emission of several signatures – mainly gamma-rays\, scattere d neutrons and transmitted neutrons\, which are characteristic to the elem ental composition of the sample [3\, 5].\n\nIn 2017\, the Metrological and Applied Sciences University Research Unit (MeASURe) within the UCT Depart ment of Physics commissioned the n-lab\, a fast neutron laboratory [6] cen tred around a Thermo MP-320 deuterium-tritium sealed tube neutron generato r (STNG) and a 220 GBq Americium-Beryllium (Am-Be) radioisotopic source. T he aims of this project are to characterise the n-lab as a facility for FN A and TNA\, and to develop standardised analysis protocols for the element al analysis of bulk materials. Fundamental to FNA and TNA is the knowledge of the number and energy distribution of neutrons incident upon the sampl e of interest. The fast neutron yield of the STNG has been measured to be (1.23 ± 0.29)E+08 s-1 using the foil activation method\, and is in agreem ent with the expected value for this particular device.\n\n\nReferences\n\ n[1] J. Csikai\, Proc. SPIE 2339\, 318-334 (1995)\n[2] Z. Alfassi\, Activa tion Analysis Vol.1\, CRC Press (1990).\n[3] Sowerby\, B.D.\, 2009\, Appli ed Radiation and Isotopes 67\, 1638-1643.\n[4] Brown\, D.R.\, et al.\, 199 4\, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 353\, 684-688.\n [5] Brooks\, F.D.\, et al.\, 1998\, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Phy sics Research A 410\, 319-328.\n[6] T. Hutton & A. Buffler\, Proceedings o f SAIP2017\, SA Institute of Physics (2018).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za /event/101/contributions/1897/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1897/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Investigation of limit of detection using standard radioactive sou rces with a LaBr3:Ce: detector DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1895@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ferdie van Niekerk (Tshwane University of Technology )\nKeywords: LaBr3(Ce) detector\; Background radiation\; Gamma radiation\; Detection limits\n\nAbstract\n\nNaI(Tl) detectors have for long been the preferred scintillation detector for radioisotope identification. However\ , one of the most profound shortcomings of this detector is its poor spect ral resolution. A suitable replacement for NaI(Tl) is the LaBr3(Ce) detect or. This detector shows significantly improved sensitivity and spectral re solution. This will be especially evident through measurements employing b oth peak and full-spectrum analysis. \n\nDuring this study\, an energy cal ibration of a LaBr3(Ce) detector was performed using radionuclides 22Na\, 60Co and 152Eu as radiation sources. Ambient background radiation was meas ured with the intention of correction purposes after actual source measure ments. The aforementioned sources have been measured at increasing distanc es from the detector. This study mainly focussed on the determination of t he detection limits of each radiation source considering the presence of b ackground radiation. Therefore\, the change in the intensity measured for each source as a function of increasing distance from the detector has bee n emphasised. This application is in relation to the solid angle between t he points of the radiation source and the active detector volume. \n\nStud ies and the application of all data available will focus on the relevant f actors to calculate the limit of detection for a specific activity for eac h radiation source. Results obtained during the investigation indicated a relation between detector counts\, solid angle\, and source activity. Furt her studies and application of all data available will focus on the releva nt factors to calculate the limit of detection for a specific activity for each radiation source. \nThis study forms part of a broader research proj ect that entails the design\, building and commissioning of a prototype mo bile gamma-ray detection system equipped with a LaBr3(Ce) detector. The su ccessful development of such a detector system will enable in situ measure ments of radiation in various robust terrestrial environments with improve d sensitivity and spectral resolution.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event /101/contributions/1895/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1895/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Radiation Damage by Low Energy Neutrons with Geant4: A Review of C urrent Approaches and Results DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1890@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Samuel Terungwa Temaugee (School of Physics\, Univer sity of the Witwatersrand\, Johannesburg\, South Africa)\nGeant4 is a Mont e Carlo based simulation toolkit utilized for the geometry and tracking of particles transport through matter. Geant4 offers variety of geometrical constructions\, visualization\, and multi-threading features\, which are h ard to find in simulating codes such as MCNP\, FLUKA and FISPACTII. Evalua tion of neutron radiation damage by means of Primary Knock-out Atoms (PKAs ) and Displacements-Per-Atom (dpa) has been used to estimate damages in me tals and semiconductor materials in which results have shown good agreemen t with experimental data. Recent evolution in Geant4 to include G4TENDL fi les especially with the enrichment of the Hadronic Physics List\, promises improved results for low energy neutrons\, making the toolkit more robust especially for simulating nuclear processes at low neutron energies (< 20 MeV) found in fission reactors. This work therefore reviews the radiation damage creation by low energy neutrons with Geant4\, presenting it as a v iable simulation tool for nuclear processes\, considering the numerous adv antages of this toolkit regarding speed\, flexibility in data handling\, g eometry and its use of future programming languages in the simulation code s.\nKeywords:Geant4\, Radiation Damage\, Neutron\, Review.\n\nhttps://indi co.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1890/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1890/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Investigation of reaction channels in the production of alpha part icles in light systems collisions DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1888@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Bruno Penteado Monteiro (Instituto de Física da USP )\nB. P. Monteiro\, K. C. C. Pires\, R. Lichtenthäler\, O. C. B. Santos\n Departamento de Física Nuclear\, Instituto de Física\, Universidade de S ão\nPaulo\, 05508-090\, SP\, Brasil\n\nA study of the mechanisms involved in the production of alpha particles from\nreactions induced by a 6He rad ioactive beam on a 9Be light target\, is presented. The\nexperimental data was obtained using the RIBRAS (Radioactive Ion Beams in Brasil) facility\ nof the Institute of Physics of the University of São Paulo\, Brazil [1\, 2]. The RIBRAS system\nconsists of two superconducting solenoids used to select and focus light secondary beams of\nnuclei far from the stability l ine. A high yield of α-particles has been observed in the\nmeasurement pe rformed for the 6He+9Be system [3]\, which was not present with the gold\n target\, used for normalization purposes. In the present work\, the energy and the angular\ndistributions of those events have been analysed. The re sults will be compared with\ntheoretical calculations performed using the Ichimura-Austern-Vincent (IAV) formalism\, a\nnew model recently applied t o study inclusive reactions [4\,5].\nReferences\n[1] R. Lichtenthäler Fil ho\, A. Lépine-Szily\, V. Guimarães. Eur. Jour. of Phys.\, 25\, 733\, 20 05.\n[2] A. Lépine-Szily\, R. Lichtenthäler Filho\, V. Guimarães. Nucle ar Physics News\, v. 23\, p.\n5-11\, 2013.\n[3] K. C. C. Pires et al\, Phy s. Rev. C83\, 064603\, 2011.\n[4] Jin Lei\, A. M. Moro. Phys. Rev. C92\, 0 44616 (2015).\n[5] O.C.B. Santos et al\, Phys. Rev. C103\, 064601 (2021).\ n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1888/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1888/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Reaction processes at near barrier energies: the case of 9Be+197Au DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1887@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Malika Kaushik (Department of Physics\, Indian Insti tute of Technology Ropar\, Rupnagar - 140 001\, Punjab\, India)\nRecent st udies of nuclear reactions involving weakly bound stable nuclei\, $^{6\,7} $Li and $^{9}$Be have revealed several interesting phenomena [1]. The low breakup threshold\, small binding energy\, and cluster structure are some of the unique features of these nuclei\, which strongly influence the reac tion dynamics at near barrier energies. The simultaneous measurement of co mplete/ incomplete fusion and direct reactions (e.g. neutron transfer) can provide insight into the underlying mechanism. With this motivation\, the excitation functions for complete fusion (CF)\, incomplete fusion (ICF)\, and transfer channels have been measured in $^{9}$Be+$^{197}$Au system\, over the energy range 0.76 $\\leq$ E$_{c.m.}$/V$_{\\rm B}$ $\\leq$ 1.16 (V $_{B}$ = 38.4 MeV). The experiment was carried out at the BARC-TIFR Pellet ron-Linac Facility\, Mumbai\, India\, by employing the stack-foil techniqu e followed by offline gamma spectroscopy with two HPGe detectors. Theoret ical model calculations using CCFULL and FRESCO codes are employed to inte rpret the measured cross-section data. The coupled channel calculations (C CFULL) successfully describe the data at sub-barrier energies and indicate $\\sim$ 40$\\%$ fusion suppression at above barrier energies [2]. Further \, it is observed that amongst $\\rm x$+$^{197}$Au systems\, where x repre sents stable projectiles with Z = 2-5\, the enhancement in sub barrier fus ion is largest for $^{9}$Be. The ground state deformation of $^{9}$Be is s hown to play an important role in sub barrier fusion along with the weak b inding. \nAt sub barrier energies\, the transfer process has been found t o be dominant [3] in $^{9}$Be+$^{197}$Au\, and the ratio of transfer to CF cross-sections is considerably higher in comparison to $^{6\,7}$Li+$^{197 }$Au systems. The CRC calculations for 1$n$-stripping ($^{198}$Au) highli ght the role of 2+ resonance state of $^{8}$Be\, as it provides better mat ching with the Q-value (4.85 MeV) of the reaction. The present studies ind icate that observed differences amongst reactions with $^{6\,7}$Li\, $^{9 }$Be can be attributed to the structural differences in these projectiles\ , and have also highlighted the impact of the large deformation as well as a spatial extension of $^9$Be nucleus. Details will be presented. \n\nRef erences\n\n1. L.F. Canto *et al.*\, Phys. Rep. **424**\, 1 (2006)\; Phys. Rep. **596**\, 1 (2015) and the references therein.\n2. Malika Kaushik *et al.*\, Phys. Rev. C **101**\, 034611 (2020).\n3. Malika Kaushik *et al.*\ , Arxiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.13689.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/e vent/101/contributions/1887/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1887/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:New evidence for alpha clustering structure in the ground state ba nd of $^{212}$Po DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1885@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Martin von Tresckow (TU Darmstadt)\nThe isotope $^{2 12}$Po has two-protons and neutrons outside the doubly-magic nucleus $^{20 8}$Pb and it may be assumed that the nuclear structure can be well describ ed within the standard shell-model. But various experimental properties\, such as the short-lived ground state are inconsistent with this model and better predicted by an $\\alpha$-clustering model. The B(E2) values of the decays of the low lying yrast-states are an important finger print to des cribe the structure of $^{212}$Po. Especially the missing B(E2\; 4$_1^+ \\ rightarrow$ 2$^+_1$)\, and the corresponding missing lifetime of the 4$^+_ 1$ state\, are important in this discussion.\\\\\nAt the end of 2019\, we had performed an experiment to determine the lifetime of the low-lying yra st states at the Bucharest FN Tandem accelerator in the Horia Hulubei Nati onal Institute for R\\&D in Physics and Nuclear Engineering (IFIN-HH) in M agurele\, Romania. $^{212}$Po were populated by an $\\alpha$-transfer reac tion between a $^{208}$Pb target and a stable $^{10}$B beam. The $\\gamma$ -rays from the excited states are detected at the ROSPHERE $\\gamma$-ray d etector array which consisted of 15 HPGe detectors and 10 LaBr$_3$(Ce) sci ntillator detectors. To detect coincidence particles\, this setup was supp lemented with the SORCERER particle detector system. The combination of $\ \gamma$-ray and the particle detectors was an important tool to determine the mean lifetimes of all ground state band levels up to the 8$^+$ state a pplying the fast-timing method.\\\\\nIn this talk\, I will present our lif etime analysis of the excited states of $^{212}$Po and will discuss the re sults within the shell-model and $\\alpha$-clustering model.\n\nhttps://in dico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1885/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1885/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:In-beam spectroscopy of 94Ag DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1884@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jesus Pereira-Lopez (University of York)\nThe formal concept of isospin has been introduced to explain the apparent exchange s ymmetry between neutrons and protons. However\, if the nuclear force were the same for protons and neutrons properties such as masses and excitation energies would depend only on the mass number A. Recent studies have show n that the Coulomb force cannot account for all deviations\, suggesting th at other isospin-symmetry-breaking components must be present. N⁓Z syste ms present the perfect testing ground to probe isospin symmetry phenomena [1-3]. In particular\, pairing correlations have a significant importance in the description of the nuclear structure of N=Z nuclei\, where protons and neutrons are arranged occupying the same orbits\, allowing T=0 np pair ing in addition to the normal T=1. It was recently suggested that spin-ali gned T=0 np pairs dominate the wavefunction of the y-rast sequence in $^{9 2}$Pd [4]. Subsequent theoretical studies were devoted to probe the contri bution of np pairs in other N=Z A>90 nuclei [5-6]\, suggesting that a simi lar pairing scheme strongly influences the structure of these nuclei. In a n effort to answer this question further\, a recoil beta tagging experimen t has been performed to try and identify the excited T=0 and T=1 states in odd-odd N=Z $^{94}$Ag using the $^{40}$Ca($^{58}$Ni\,p3n)$^{94}$Ag reacti on. The experiment was conducted using MARA recoil separator and JUROGAM3 array at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyväskylä.\n\nT he detailed goals of the experiment\, the setup\, tentatively identified t ransitions\, experimental CED and nuclear shell model predictions will be shown in this presentation. A preliminary interpretation of the experiment al results will also be discussed.\n\n\n[1] K. Wimmer\, et al.\, Phys. Re v. Lett. 126\, 072501 (2021).\n[2] R.D.O. Llewellyn\, et al.\, Phys. Lett . B 797\, 135873 (2019).\n[3] A. Boso\, et al.\, Phys. Lett. B 797\, 1348 35 (2019).\n[4] B. Cederwall\, et al.\, Nature 469\, 6871 (2011).\n[5] G .J. Fu\, et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 87\, 044312 (2013).\n[6] Z.X. Xu\, et al.\, Nucl. Phys. A 877 (2012) 51-58.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/c ontributions/1884/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1884/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Triple RFQ Trap System for Measuring Neutron Capture of Fission Fr agments DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1883@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Heinrich Wilsenach (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gieß en)\nOne of the current limitations of predicting the nuclear astrophysics *r*-process abundance is the lack of data on neutron-rich isotopes\; meas ured neutron-capture cross-sections are the scarcest data. These cross-sec tions are also invaluable for nuclear reactions and structure in general. The current limitations come from the instability of the target and the pr ojectiles. We proposed a method to overcome this limitation. The goal of t his work is the selection and storage of fission fragments in a triple RFQ system. These stored ions will then be hit with an intense neutron beam. The reacted ions will then be ejected and measured using a multiple-reflec tion time-of-flight mass-spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS).\n\nThis poster will mai nly focus on the RFQ-3 system that will be installed at Soreq Applied Rese arch Accelerator Facility (SARAF-II)[1]\, currently under construction in Yavne\, Israel. The existing RFQ-3 system [2] will be recommissioned and o ptimised for this project at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen\, Germany. T his recommissioning and optimisation will be presented as well as some of the future goals of the project.\n\n[1] I. Mardor *et al.*\, Eur. Phys. Jo ur. A 54: 91 (2018)\n \n[2] E. Haettner *et al.*\, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A 88 0\, 138 (2018)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1883/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1883/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Experimental investigation of nuclei in A ~ 50 - 60 region DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1881@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sansaptak Basu (Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre\, K olkata-700064\, India \; HBNI\, Training School Complex\, Anushaktinagar\, Mumbai-400094\, India)\nThe proton and neutron Fermi levels in nuclei wit h mass number A ~ 50 - 60 lie around the N = Z = 28 magic number. This she ll gap is comparatively smaller which might have made the doubly magic $^{ 56}$Ni (N = Z = 28) a soft core [1]. The 1g$_{9/2}$ orbital\, lies above f p orbital\, has shape driving effect which leads to deformation and collec tivity. Therefore\, in these nuclei there is a competition between the sin gle particle and collective excitations. Different nuclear shapes and shap e transitions are expected for these nuclei\, some of which have been obse rved [1-3].\n\nWe have performed an experiment at VECC\, Kolkata using $^{ 55}$Mn($^4$He\,2p3n) reaction with 34-MeV $\\alpha$ beam from the K-130 cy clotron to populate the nuclei near the vicinity of $^{56}$Ni. The primary aim was to study the odd-odd nucleus $^{54}$Mn (Z = 25\, N = 29)\, which has 3h-1p ground state configuration with respect to $^{56}$Ni. Being an o dd-odd nucleus\, different coupling possibilities exist between different valence proton and neutron orbitals which would lead to the production of several low-lying yrast and non yrast states. The experimental evidence of these states would provide information on the proton-neutron interaction. \n\nThe de-excited prompt gamma rays\, emitted from the populated nuclei\, were detected using a multi detector gamma-ray spectrometer consisting of 11 Compton-suppressed clover HPGe detectors and 1 LEPS detector. The clov er detectors were at three angles\, 40$^\\circ$ (2 clovers + LEPS)\, 90$^\ \circ$ (6 clovers) and 125$^\\circ$ (3 clovers). The PIXIE-16 digitizer ba sed data acquisition system and IUCPIX package\, developed by UGC-DAE CSR Kolkata [4]\, was used to record and process the data. While the detailed analysis of the data is in progress\, the preliminary analysis of the coin cidence matrix constructed from the addback energies from the clover detec tors clearly indicates the production of excited states in other odd-even ($^{57}$Co\, $^{55}$Mn) and even-odd ($^{57}$Fe) nuclei in addition to $^{ 54}$Mn. Another experiment ($\\alpha$ + $^{58}$Ni) was also performed at V ECC using similar detector setup to study the higher Z nuclei in this regi on [5].\n\nAccording to the present data analysis\, some states of $^{54}$ Mn reported in [6] are found to be highly questionable. The parity of a lo w lying state at ~1.9 MeV has been assigned as negative by [6]. The negati ve parity at such a low excitation is highly interesting for this nucleus. This is also under inspection. A few new gammas have also been identified in the present work. In addition\, evidence of rotational band has been f ound in the odd-A isotope $^{55}$Mn. Further data analysis is in progress. \n\nReferences:\n[1] E.K. Johansan et.al. \, Eur. Phys. J. A27\, 157-165 ( 2006)\n[2] C.–H Yu et al.\, Physical Review C65\, 061302(R) (2002)\n[3] N. Bendjaballah et al. Phys. Rev. Lett 36\, 1536 (1976)\n[4] S. Das et al. \, Nucl. Inst. Meth. Phys. Res. A 893\, 138 (2018)\n[5] S. Basu et al.\, V ECC Ann. Prog. Rep. 2019-20 P35\n[6] G. Kiran Kumar et al. J. Phys. G: Nuc l. Part. Phys. 35\, 095104(2008)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/c ontributions/1881/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1881/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Studying the microscopic structure of the low-energy electric dipo le response of $^{120}$Sn DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1880@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Michael Weinert (University of Cologne\, Institute f or Nuclear Physics\, 50937 Cologne\, Germany)\nThe microscopic structure o f the low-energy electric dipole response\, commonly denoted as the Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR)\, was studied for $^{120}$Sn in a $^{119}$Sn$(d\,p\ \gamma)^{120}$Sn experiment\, using the SONIC@HORUS setup at the Universit y of Cologne. Unprecedented access to the single-particle structure of exc ited $1^-$ states below and around the neutron-separation threshold was ob tained by comparing experimental data to predictions from a novel theoreti cal approach. The approach combines detailed nuclear structure input from energy-density functional (EDF) plus quasiparticle-phonon model (QPM) theo ry with reaction theory to obtain a consistent description of both the str ucture and reaction aspects of the process. Similar to the recently invest igated case of $^{208}$Pb [1]\, the combined results show that the EDF+QPM approach correctly predicts the energies of the relevant neutron single-p article levels in $^{120}$Sn and the fragmentation of the observed spectro scopic strength\, and that the understanding of one-particle-one-hole stru ctures of the $1^-$ states in the PDR region is crucial to reliably predic t properties of the PDR. Furthermore\, the EDF+QPM approach predicts the i ncreasing contribution of complex configurations to the PDR states at high er excitation energies\, which has been recently suggested as a cause for the discrepancy between $(\\gamma\,\\gamma')$ and $(p\,p')$ experiments [2 \,3]. This contribution will present the joint experimental and theoretica l effort and discuss further applications\, allowing a detailed study of t he microscopic structure of the PDR along the isotopic chart.\n[1] M. Spie ker *et al.*\, Phys. Rev. Lett. **125**\, 102503 (2020)\n[2] S. Bassauer * et al.*\, Phys. Rev. C **102**\, 034327 (2020)\n[3] M. Müscher *et al.*\, Phys. Rev. C **102**\, 014317 (2020)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/ 101/contributions/1880/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1880/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:First observation of a rotational band in neutron-deficient $^{187 }$Pb: evidence for triple shape coexistence DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1879@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Wenqiang Zhang (Institute of Modern Physics\, Chines e Academy of Sciences)\nA prompt and delayed $\\gamma$-ray spectroscopy of neutron-deficient isotope $^{187}$Pb has been performed using the recoil- decay tagging and the isomer-decay tagging techniques at Argonne Gas-Fille d Analyzer (AGFA). A new 4.66(4) $\\mu$s isomer and a strongly-coupled ban d on top of it were identified. The band looks nearly identical to a band built on top of the 7/2$^{-}$[514] Nilsson orbital in the isotone $^{185}$ Hg. Based on this similarity and on the potential-energy surface (PES) and particle-plus-rotor (PPR) calculations\, the new isomer in $^{187}$Pb is also proposed as originating from the same configuration. Combining this r esult with the previous studies\, evidence for triple shape coexistence at low energy has been found in both negative and positive parity configurat ions in $^{187}$Pb. Furthermore\, the almost identical properties between the 7/2$^{-}$[514] bands in $^{187}$Pb and $^{183\,185}$Hg were discussed .\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1879/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1879/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DICER: A new device for indirect capture experiments on radionucli des DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1877@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Athanasios Stamatopoulos (Los Alamos National Labora tory)\nDirect neutron capture measurements on short-lived radionuclides ca n be extremely challenging\, if not impossible using current techniques. T herefore\, indirect methods have been developed. A new apparatus was insta lled at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) to measure neutron total cross sections on small radioactive samples as an indirect means to tightly constrain their neutron-capture cross sections. The first year of operation indicates that the instrument is ready to perform its first meas urement on a radioactive sample (88Zr\, t1/2=83.4 days). The experiment is planned for the summer of 2021 in collaboration with the Isotope Producti on Facility (IPF)\, also at LANSCE. A description of the apparatus and det ails of the experiment will be presented.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ev ent/101/contributions/1877/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1877/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nuclear matrix elements of neutrinoless double-β decay in the tri axial projected shell model DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1876@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Yakun Wang (Peking University)\nThe nuclear matrix e lements of neutrinoless double-beta decay for nuclei 76Ge\, 82Se\, 100Mo\, 130Te\, and 150Nd are studied within the triaxial projected shell model\, which incorporates simultaneously the triaxial deformation and quasiparti cle configuration mixing. The low-lying spectra\, the B(E2: 0+ to 2+) valu es\, and the occupancies of single-particle orbits are reproduced well. Th e effects of the quasiparticles configuration mixing\, the triaxial deform ation\, and the closure approximation on the nuclear matrix elements are s tudied in detail. For nuclei 76Ge\, 82Se\, 100Mo\, 130Te\, and 150Nd\, the nuclear matrix elements are respectively reduced by the quasiparticle con figuration mixing by 6%\, 7%\, 2%\, 3%\, and 4%\, and enhanced by calculat ing explicitly the transitions through odd-odd intermediate states by 7%\, 4%\, 11%\, 20%\, and 14%. Varying the triaxial deformation gamma from 0 ◦ to 60◦ for the mother and daughter nuclei\, the nuclear matrix eleme nts change by 41%\, 17%\, 68%\, 14%\, and 511% respectively for 76Ge\, 82S e\, 100Mo\, 130Te\, and 150Nd\, which indicates the importance of treating the triaxial deformation consistently in calculating the nuclear matrix e lements.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1876/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1876/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Unveiling the excitation modes of $^{28}$Si in interpreting the ba rrier distribution data DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1875@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Saumyajit Biswas (Department of Physics\, Siksha Bha vana\, Visva-Bharati University)\n**Abstract**\n\nBarrier distribution is a very sensitive tool for understanding fusion process in the presence of various possible channel couplings. There exist two experimental methods f or investigating barrier distributions: (i) by the measurement of fusion e xcitation function and (ii) by the measurement of quasi-elastic excitation function. Among the two methods of measurements\, the measurement involvi ng category (ii) is relatively easier to carry out in the laboratory and p rovides additional advantages over the measurement under category (i). Our very recent published work [1\,2\,3] deals with quasi-elastic excitation function measurements (method (ii)) in and around the Coulomb barrier regi me for the $^{28}$Si + $^{142\,150}$Nd systems and the corresponding barri er distributions have subsequently been extracted. The data were collected simultaneously by a number of detectors at back-angles using narrow binni ng of incident beam energies. The experiment was carried out using the fac ilities available at IUAC\, New Delhi. The experimental data have been int erpreted invoking different possible channel couplings. Projectile excitat ions and ground state deformations (quadrupole as well as hexadecapole def ormations) of the targets seem to play a dominant role in generating the o bserved barrier distributions. However\, there remain unanswered questions about the low-lying excitation modes of the projectile\, $^{28}$Si. Hence \, extensive channel coupling calculations have further been undertaken. T he ambiguities prevailing in the low-lying excitation modes of the project ile\, $^{28}$Si will be highlighted in the conference following the result s from detail channel coupling calculations and making comparisons of the barrier distribution data at the near barrier energies available for sever al systems involving $^{28}$Si projectile and other suitable targets. \ n\nReferences:\n1. Saumyajit Biswas et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 102\, 014613 (20 20) \n2. Saumyajit Biswas et al.\, Indian Journal of Pure & Applied Physic s 58\, 409-414 (2020) \n3. Saumyajit Biswas et al.\, Proceedings of the DA E Symp. on Nucl. Phys. 64 (2019) 439 (http://www.sympnp.org/proceedings/)\ n\nHelp and cooperation received from all the collaborators during the tim e of data taking and the follow up analysis process is gratefully acknowle dged.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1875/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1875/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Competing excitation modes in A $\\sim$ 80 region DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1873@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Anagha Chakraborty (Department of Physics\, Siksha B havana\, Visva-Bharati University)\nThe level structure of neutron rich nu cleus\, $^{78}$As has been investigated at the low- and medium-spin regime through the alpha-induced fusion evaporation reaction\, at varying beam e nergies\, using the mylar backed enriched $^{76}$Ge target. The de-excited gamma rays were detected using the INGA (Indian National Gamma Array) spe ctrometer stationed at VECC\, Kolkata\, India. The level scheme of $^{78}$ As has been constructed using the standard gamma-ray spectroscopic techniq ues. The use of both Clover and LEPS detectors provided additional \nscope for proper identification and unambiguous placements of the low-energy ga mma transitions (having $E_{\\gamma}$ $\\leq$ 80 keV) in the level scheme. The observed low-lying\, low-spin level structure is found to be highly i rregular suggesting the dominance of single-particle excitation modes. The onsets of regular positive- and negative-parity dipole band-like structur es are found to be developed at the medium-spin excitation regime. Based o n the detail theoretical calculations (shell model calculations\, TRS calc ulations\, and the semi-empirical calculations for shears mechanism) and t he level structure systematics\, these band-like structures are interprete d to originate from the novel excitation mode known as "stapler"-like shea rs mechanism. It is interesting to note that while both the intruder orbit als\, $\\pi(1g_{9/2})$ and $\\nu(1g_{9/2})$ are found to have dominnat con tributions in generating the positive-parity states\, the intruder $\\pi(1 g_{9/2})$ orbital does not seem to have any role in generating the negativ e-parity states. The details about the level structure of $^{78}$As obtain ed from the present investigation will be presented at the conference. \n\ n*This is a part of the work carried out using the financial assistance fr om the DAE-BRNS\, Government of India [Project Sanction No. 37(3)/14/17/20 16-BRNS]. The financial support and co-operation received from UGC-DAE CSR \, Kolkata\, India through Project No.: UGC-DAE-CSR-KC/CRS/19/NP10/0921/09 63 is gratefully acknlowledged. The help and support received from all the collaborators at different stages of the work is deeply acknowledged.*\n\ nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1873/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1873/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Disappearance of channel coupling effects in $^{12}$C + $^{24}$Mg fusion far below the barrier DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1872@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mirco Del Fabbro (Dip. di Fisica e Scienze della Ter ra Univ. di Ferrara and INFN Padova )\nEvidence for fusion hindrance in $ ^{12}$C + $^{24}$Mg was suggested by a recent experiment where the excitat ion function was over-estimated by standard CC calculations\, and a pronou nced indication of an S factor maximum vs energy was observed [1].\nThis s ystem is slightly heavier than those of astrophysical interest\, like $^{1 2}$C + $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O + $^{16}$O. Further measurements on $^{12}$C + $^{24}$Mg have been performed in the present work\, with the purpose of extending the excitation function to lower energies and adding intermediat e energy points to better characterise its overall behaviour.\nThe present experiment has been performed using high-quality $^{24}$Mg beams from the XTU Tandem accelerator of INFN - Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro by direc tly detecting the fusion evaporation residues (ER) at very forward angles. We have\nextended the excitation function down to around 4 μb\, and the new data points confirm the presence of hindrance in $^{12}$C + $^{24}$Mg undoubtedly. The cross-section at the hindrance threshold is indeed found to be remarkably large\, in agreement with the result of the previous meas urement. The S-factor develops a clear maximum vs energy\, that is nicely fitted using both an empirical interpolation in the spirit of the adiabati c model [2]\, and the hindrance parametrisation.\nCoupled-channels calcula tions have been performed using the same Woods-Saxon potential of the prev ious paper. The new data far below the barrier may suggest that the coupli ng strengths gradually decrease and vanish so that the excitation\nfunctio n seems to be well reproduced by simple one-dimensional tunnelling through the potential barrier in that energy range. On the other hand\, the equal ly good fit obtained with the hindrance model [3] indicates that discrimin ating between the two\napproaches would require further precise cross-sect ion measurements at lower energies.\n\n**(please see figure in the attache d pdf file)**\n\nFIG. 1: (left) Fusion excitation function of $^{12}$C + $ ^{24}$Mg measured in [1] (blue dots)\, and the new present data (red dots) \, compared to CC calculations (see text). (right) Astrophysical S-factor derived from the two data sets\, compared to CC calculations and fitted ac cording to the adiabatic and hindrance model [2\, 3].\n\n\n[1] G. Montagno li et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 101 (2020) 044608\n[2] T. Ichikawa\, K. Hagino\, and A. Iwamoto\, Phys. Rev. C 75 (2007) 057603\n[3] C.L.Jiang\, K.E.Rehm\, B.B.Back and R.V.F.Janssens\, Phys. Rev. C 79 (2009) 044601\n\nhttps://in dico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1872/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1872/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Magnetic giant resonances in the relativistic energy density funct ional theory DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1867@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Goran Kružić (Ericsson-Nikola Tesla)\nElectromagne tic excitations in finite nuclei represent one of the most important probe s of relevance in nuclear structure and dynamic. Various aspects of magnet ic dipole (M1) mode have been considered due to their relevance for nuclea r properties associated e.g.\, to unnatural-parity states and spin-orbit s plittings. Specifically\, M1 spin-flip excitations are analog of Gamow-Tel ler (GT) transitions\, meaning that\, at the operator level\, the dominant M1 isovector component is the synonym to the zeroth component of GT trans itions\, and can serve as probe for calculations of inelastic neutrino-nuc leus cross section essential in the r-process nucleosynthesis calculations .\n\nIn this work [2\,3\,4\,5] we have introduced a novel approach to desc ribe M1\, $0^+$ ground state to $1^+$\nexcited state\, transitions in even -even nuclei\, based on the RHB + RQRPA framework\nwith the relativistic p oint-coupling interaction\, supplemented with the pairing correlations des cribed by the pairing part of the Gogny force. In addition to the standard terms of the point coupling model with the DD-PC1 parameterization\, the residual R(Q)RPA interaction has been extended by the isovector-pseudovect or $(IV-PV)$ contact type of interaction that contributes to unnatural par ity transitions. This pseudovector type of interaction has been modeled as a scalar product of two pseudovectors. The strength parameter for this ch annel\, $\\alpha_{IV-PV}$ \, is considered as a free parameter constrained by the experimental data on M1 transitions of $\\rm^{48}Ca$ and $\\rm^{20 8}Pb$ referent nuclei [2]. As analitical test\, a newly developed sume ru le for M1 transitions [1] has been applied\, which confirmed results of ou r microscopical calculations [2]. Significance of pariring correlations ha s been demostrated on open shell nulclei $\\rm^{42}Ca$ and especially $\\r m^{50}Ti$ [2\,5] where it has been reproduced two-peaked structure in a st rength distribution expected from experimental spectrum in Ref.[6].\nA rec ent experimental publication [7] investigates\, by inelastic proton scatte ring\, isotopic dependance of E1 and M1 strength distribution of even-even nuclei in $\\rm ^{112-124}Sn$ isotope chain\, that is why theoretically have been explored M1 transitions in Ref. [4] but over the wider isotope r ange $\\rm ^{100-140}Sn$. As main results we would like to emphasize repro duced single and double-peaked structure in a strength spectra governed by single-particle evolution over $\\rm ^{100-140}Sn$ isotope chain and sign ificant reduction of spin-quenching $\\zeta_s = g^{\\sigma}_{eff}/g^{\\sig ma}_{free} = 0.80-0.93$ factor compared to the previous theoretical invest igations. Indication in Ref. [6]\, that part of M1 strength above neutron threshold may be missing\, leads to the conclusion that further experiment al studies are required.\n\nReferences:\n[1] T. Oishi and N. Paar\, Phys. Rev. C 100\, 024308 (2019).\n\n[2] G. Kružić\, T. Oishi\, D. Vale\, and N. Paar\, Phys. Rev. C 102\, 044315 (2020).\n\n[3] T. Oishi\, G. Kružić \, and N. Paar\, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 47 115106 (2020). \n\n[4] G . Kružić\, T. Oishi\, and N. Paar\, Phys. Rev. C 103\, 054306 (2021).\n \n[5] T. Oishi\, G. Kružić and N. Paar\, arXiv:2011.04676 (2020).\n\n[6] D. I. Sober\, B. C. Metsch\, W. Knüpfer\, G. Eulenberg\, G.Küchler\, A. Richter\, E. Spamer\, and W. Steffen\, Phys. Rev. C 31\, 2054 (1985).\n\n [7] S. Bassauer et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 102\, 034327 (2020).\n\nhttps://indi co.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1867/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1867/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Spectroscopic studies in $^{152-154}$Gd DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1866@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: S. Pelonis (Department of Physics\, National and Kap odistrian University of Athens)\nFusion-evaporation reactions have been pr oven very successful in populating excited states of deformed nuclei. The rare-earth region has been the focus of various studies (using Coulex etc) aiming at the understanding of nuclear structure and providing informatio n on the details of the reaction mechanism. The Gd isotopes belong to this group of nuclei and despite the available spectroscopic information\, sev eral open questions about their structure still exist\, such as the interb and transitions related to shape evolution or branching ratios in deformed states. In addition\, production cross-sections of different reactions on Gd isotopes are largely unknown. In this work\, we report on an experimen tal attempt to populate the excited states in the isotopes $^{152-154}$Gd\ , by employing the 2n transfer reaction $^{138}$Ba($^{18}$O\, $^{16}$O)$^{ 140}$Ba and the subsequent fusion reaction $^{18}$O + $^{138}$Ba in the en ergy range of 61-67 MeV. The experiment was conducted at the 9 MV FV Pelle tron Tandem at the Horia Hulubei National Institute for Physics and Nuclea r Engineering (IFIN–HH)\, employing the ROSPHERE array. Several branchin g ratios for energy levels in $^{152\,153}$Gd have been measured\, offerin g data for the first time and updates of earlier measured values. Furtherm ore\, relative cross-sections regarding the three Gd isotopes have been me asured and compared with theoretical calculations from the PACE4 program.\ n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1866/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1866/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Dipole excitations in $^{162}$Er - $^{166}$Yb DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T134500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T154500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1865@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nilufer Demirci Saygı ()\nParticle-hole symmetry re veal some degenerate experimental observable for nuclei having equal N$_{p }$N$_{n}$. Up to date\, E(2$^+$)\, E$_{4^+}$/E$_{2^+}$\, B(E2\; $2^+ \\ri ghtarrow 0^+$)\, spectroscopic factors for alpha decay\, binding energy an d moment of inertia have been investigated as a function of N$_{p}$N$_{n}$ [1]. Recently\, it has been shown that nuclei having particle-hole symmetr y reveal similar excitation patterns up to 10$^+$ in yrast bands. $^{162}$ Er and $^{166}$Yb nuclei having particle hole symmetry show similar excita tion patterns in the yrast\, $\\gamma$ and $\\beta$ bands. In the present work\, we are aiming to investigate the dipole excitation modes in $^{162 }$Er and $^{166}$Yb. These features have not been investigated within this perspective so far. We investigate the dipole structure properties of th e deformed of these nuclei in the dipole resonance energy region within th e framework of the quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA)\, which is one of the models taking account the quasiparticle and pairing intera ctions[2-6]. Due to the mean field features of the QRPA\, spontaneous brok en of the translational and Galilean symmetries of the single particle Ham iltonian are observed. In this context\, we also aim to investigate the ef fects of both translation and Galilean (TGI) restorations invariance QRPA on the dipole properties of $^{162}$Er and $^{166}$Yb whether they reveal a similar behaviour or not as in the low-lying excitation modes.\n\n1- R. F. Casten\, Nucl. Phys. A443\, (1985) 1.\n2- Ring P. and Shuck P.\,The Nuc lear Many Body Problem(Springer Verlag New York\,2001).\n3- T. Oishi\, M. Kortelainen and N. Hinohara\,Phys. Rev. C93(Mar 2016) 034329.\n4- K. Yoshi da and T. Nakatsukasa\,Phys. Rev. C83(Feb 2011) 021304. \n5- K. Yoshida an d T. Nakatsukasa\,Phys. Rev. C88(Sep 2013) 034309.\n6- V. O. Nesterenko\, V. G. Kartavenko\, W. Kleinig\, J. Kvasil\, A. Repko\, R. V. Jolosand P.-G . Reinhard\,Phys. Rev. C93(Mar 2016) 034301\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ event/101/contributions/1865/ LOCATION:Gather.Town URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1865/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T131000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2050@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Augusto Macchiavelli (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab oratory)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2050/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2050/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T122500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T123500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2049@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Augusto Macchiavelli (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab oratory)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2049/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2049/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T135000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T140000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2047@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Adam Maj (IFJ PAN Krakow)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.z a/event/101/contributions/2047/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2047/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T130000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T131000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2046@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Adam Maj (IFJ PAN Krakow)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.z a/event/101/contributions/2046/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2046/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T122500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T123500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2045@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Adam Maj (IFJ PAN Krakow)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.z a/event/101/contributions/2045/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2045/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Summary Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T133000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T134500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2056@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vandana Nanal (TIFR)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/eve nt/101/contributions/2056/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2056/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T132000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T133000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2055@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vandana Nanal (TIFR)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/eve nt/101/contributions/2055/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2055/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Angular momentum generation in nuclear fission DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T125500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2044@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jonathan Wilson (IPN Orsay)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac .za/event/101/contributions/2044/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2044/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T123000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T124000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2054@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vandana Nanal (TIFR)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/eve nt/101/contributions/2054/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2054/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Recent studies of heavy ion transfer reactions using large solid a ngle magnetic spectrometers DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T120500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T123000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2043@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Suzana Szilner (dr)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/even t/101/contributions/2043/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2043/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Q&A with Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T115500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T120500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2053@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Vandana Nanal (TIFR)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/eve nt/101/contributions/2053/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2053/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Physics opportunities with isotopically identified Fission Fragmen ts DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T113000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T115500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2042@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Antoine Lemasson (GANIL)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za /event/101/contributions/2042/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2042/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Summary Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T131000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T132500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2052@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Augusto Macchiavelli (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab oratory)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2052/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2052/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Photon Strength Functions: Prospects for Nucleosynthesis and Nucle ar Structure Studies DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T122500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2041@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mathis Wiedeking (iThemba LABS)\nhttps://indico.tlab s.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2041/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2041/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Novel Techniques for Understanding Reactions Critical to Astrophys ics DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T123500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T130000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2040@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kelly Chipps (ORNL)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/even t/101/contributions/2040/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2040/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Summary Discussion DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T140000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T141500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2048@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Adam Maj (IFJ PAN Krakow)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.z a/event/101/contributions/2048/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2048/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Decay Spectroscopy of Superheavy Elements DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T132500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T135000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2038@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Daniel Cox (Lund University)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.a c.za/event/101/contributions/2038/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2038/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Probing collective excitation modes of nuclei with stable beams us ing gamma and particle detector arrays DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T123500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T130000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2037@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Rudrajyoti Palit (TIFR)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ event/101/contributions/2037/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2037/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A selection of “exotic” nuclear states: stretched\, near thre shold and shape-isomer-like states DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T122500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2036@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Silvia Leoni (INFN)\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/even t/101/contributions/2036/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2036/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Polarizability of $^{40}$Ca and $^{48}$Ca: Implications for the de nsity dependence of the symmetry energy DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T104000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1854@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Peter von Neumann-Cosel (Institut f\\"ur Kernphysik\ , Technische Universit\\"at Darmstadt)\nThe dipole polarizability of $^{40 }$Ca has been extracted from a zero-degree (p\,p$^\\prime$) experiment at RCNP [1]. Together with results from a previous experiment on $^{48}$Ca [2 ] it serves as a test of state-of-the-art ab initio [3\,4] and EDF [5] cal culations. From the good agreement obtained for both methods one can deriv e limits on the density dependence of the symmetry energy. These are clear ly at variance with those derived [6] from the recently published result o f the PREX-II experiment [7]. \n\n[1] P. von Neumann-Cosel and A. Tami i\, Eur. Phys. J. A 55\, 110 (2019).\n[2] J. Birkhan et al.\, Phys. Rev. L ett. 118\, 252501 (2017).\n[3] J. Simonis\, S. Bacca\, and G. Hagen\, Eur . Phys. J. A 55\, 241 (2019).\n[4] S. Kaufmann et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 1 24\, 132502 (2020).\n[5] P.-G. Reinhard\, X. Roca-Maza\, and W. Nazarewicz \, arXiv:2105.15050.\n[6] D. Adhikari et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126\, 1725 02 (2021).\n[7] B.T. Reed et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 126\, 172503 (2021). \ n\nSupported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG\, German Research Foundation) - Project-ID 279384907 - SFB 1245.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac .za/event/101/contributions/1854/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1854/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Microscopic description of isoscalar giant monopole resonance: The case of 132Sn DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T102000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T104000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1858@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Nikolay Arsenyev (Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretic al Physics\, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research)\nThe study of nuclear g iant resonances has long been a subject of extensive theoretical and exper imental research. The multipole response of nuclei far from the beta-stabi lity line and the possible occurrence of exotic modes of excitation presen t a growing field of research. In particular\, the study of the isoscalar giant monopole resonances (ISGMR) in neutron-rich nuclei is presently an i mportant problem not only from the nuclear structure point of view [1] but also because of the special role they play in many astrophysical processe s such as prompt supernova explosions [2] and the interiors of neutron sta rs [3]. One of the successful tools for describing the ISGMR is the quasip article random phase approximation (QRPA) with the self-consistent mean-fi eld derived from Skyrme energy density functionals (EDF) [4]. Due to the a nharmonicity of the vibrations there is a coupling between one-phonon and more complex states [5]. The main difficulty is that the complexity of cal culations beyond standard QRPA increases rapidly with the size of the conf iguration space\, and one has to work within limited spaces. Using a finit e rank separable approximation for the residual particle-hole interaction derived from the Skyrme forces one can overcome this numerical problem [6- 8].\nIn the present report\, we study the effects of phonon-phonon couplin g on the monopole strength distributions of neutron-rich tin isotopes. Usi ng the same set of the EDF parameters\, we describe available experimental data for 118\,120\,122\,124Sn [9] and give prediction for 132Sn [10]. The effects of the phonon-phonon coupling leads to a redistribution of the ma in monopole strength to lower energy states and also to higher energy tail . We analyze thoroughly the properties of the low-energy 0+ spectrum of tw o-phonon excitations of 132Sn. We give prediction for the excitation energ y of the lowest two-phonon state around Ex=8 MeV in comparison to 11.5 MeV in the case of the lowest 0+ state within the random phase approximation. \n\nThis work was partly supported by the Heisenberg-Landau (Germany-BLTP JINR) program and the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant No.129603).\n\n1. J.P. Blaizot\, Phys. Rep. 64\, 171 (1980).\n2. H.A. Beth e\, Rev. Mod. Phys. 62\, 801 (1990).\n3. N.K. Glendenning\, Phys. Rev. Let t. 57\, 1120 (1986).\n4. N. Paar\, D. Vretenar\, E. Khan\, G. Colò\, Rep. Prog. Phys. 70\, 691 (2007).\n5. V.G. Soloviev\, Theory of Atomic Nuclei: Quasiparticles and Phonons\, Bristol/Philadelphia (1992).\n6. N.V. Giai\, Ch. Stoyanov\, V.V. Voronov\, Phys. Rev. C 57\, 1204 (1998).\n7. A.P. Sev eryukhin\, V.V. Voronov\, N.V. Giai\, Phys. Rev. C 77\, 024322 (2008).\n8. A.P. Severyukhin\, V.V. Voronov\, N.V. Giai\, Eur. Phys. J. A. 22\, 397 ( 2004).\n9. T. Li\, U. Garg\, Y. Liu et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 81\, 034309 (201 0).\n10. N.N. Arsenyev\, A.P. Severyukhin\, Universe 7\, 145 (2021).\n\nht tps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1858/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1858/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Damping of the ISGMR in 90Zr and 120Sn DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T102000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1849@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Armand Bahini (University of the Witwatersrand\, Joh annesburg)\nGiant Resonances (GRs) are considered to be high frequency sha pe-vibrations of the nucleus. Since the new millennium it became apparent that the IsoScalar Giant Quadrupole Resonance (ISGQR) exhibits fine struct ure that is independent of probe\, and soon after that it was shown that o ther GRs also exhibit such fine structure. As such\, this fine structure a s an additional GR observable has been shown to be a useful tool to determ ine the damping mechanism of different shape-vibrations using the Wavelet Analysis technique.\n\nThe ISGMR was excited in $^{90}$Zr and $^{120}$Sn b y using inelastic $\\alpha$-particle scattering measurements acquired with an $E_\\alpha = 200$ MeV beam at $\\theta_{\\text{Lab}} = 0^0$ and $4^0$. The high energy-resolution K$600$ magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS w as used to detect the scattered alpha particles and an experimental energy -resolution of $\\sim 70$ keV (FWHM) was achieved. This enabled the fine s tructure in the excitation energy region of the ISGMR to be investigated. Due to the limitations in angular acceptance and resolution\, the $E0$ str ength distributions in the present study was determined using the Differen ce-of-Spectra (DoS) method. Here\, the $L = 0$ multipole excited (ISGMR $E 0$ strength) has a maximum at $\\theta_{\\text{Lab}} = 0^0$ allowing the b ackground from all other multipoles to be subtracted using an angle cut fr om the $\\theta_{\\text{Lab}} = 4^0$ measurements where the $L = 0$ has a deep minimum.\n\nThe aim of the work to be presented is to investigate the damping mechanism of the ISGMR in $^{90}$Zr and $^{120}$Sn. The $E0$ stre ngth distribution in $^{90}$Zr and $^{120}$Sn will be discussed and compar ed to theoretical predictions from the Phonon-Phonon Coupling (PPC) model. \n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1849/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1849/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nuclear Structure Studies at the NSCL DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1940@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alexandra Gade (NSCL/FRIB)\nThe National Superconduc ting Cyclotron Laboratory on the campus of Michigan State University provi ded fast\, stopped\, and reaccelerated beams of rare isotopes for nuclear science research. This presentation will give an overview of the nuclear s tructure program with representative examples showcasing a complementary s et of experimental techniques.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/con tributions/1940/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1940/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Measurement of the B(E2\; 4$^+ \\rightarrow $ 2$^+$)/ B(E2\; 2$^+ \\rightarrow $ 0$^+$) ratio in 164W DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T085500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T091500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1838@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Bahadir Saygi ()\nRecent lifetime measurements revea led that the B(E2)$_{4^+/2^+}$ ratio is far less than unity in several nuc lei in the mass region 160 ≤ A ≤ 170 namely $^{166}$W [1]\, $^{168}$Os [2]\, $^{170}$Os [3]\, and $^{172}$Pt [4]. From a theoretical point of vi ew\, the origin and the underlying structure of this anomalous behavior re mains unexplained. On the other hand\, a quantum phase transition from sen iority-conserving structure to a collective regime as a function of neutro n number around N ≈ 90 - 94 has been proposed for these nuclei from phen omenological point of view [4]. In the present work\, we aimed to extend o ur investigation of the anomalous B(E2\; 4$^+ \\rightarrow $ 2$^+$)/ B(E2\ ; 2$^+ \\rightarrow $ 0$^+$) ratio phenomenon this mass region in order to provide more data for the future theoretical calculations. We chose $^{16 4}$W as a good candidate to investigate because\, it has a pivotal positio n with N = 90 to test the hypothesis of a quantum phase transition as the mechanism for the B(E2)$_{4^+/2^+}$ anomaly. We used the DPUNS [5] plunger device in conjunction with the RITU gas-filled separator [6] and the JURO GAM II and GREAT [7] spectrometers for the measurement of mean lifetimes o f excited states in $^{164}$W. The fusion evaporation reaction $^{106}$Cd( $^{60}$Ni\,2p2n)$^{164}$W* at a beam energy of 270 MeV provided an initial recoil velocity v/c of 3.3%. The analysis of the data revealed that 164W has a similar B(E2)$_{4^+/2^+}$ = 0.56(13) < 1 anomaly as in the $^{166}$W \, $^{168}$Os\, $^{170}$Os\, and $^{172}$Pt nuclei. Experimental B(E2) va lues have been compared to the state-of-the-art beyond-mean-field calculat ions. However\, the theoretical predictions disagree with experimental fin dings. In the present work\, details of the experimental procedure and ana lysis steps will be explained and the results for the lifetime measurement s of first excited 2$^+$ and 4$^+$ states will be presented.\nThis work ha s been supported by the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council under grants ST/P004598/1\, ST/L005670/1 and ST/L005794/1\; the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK Project No: 117F508)\; t he EU HORIZON2020 programme “Infrastructures”\, project number: 654002 (ENSAR2) and by the Academy of Finland under the Finnish Centre of Excell ence Programme (Nuclear and Accelerator Based Physics Pro-gramme at JYFL). The UK/France (STFC/IN2P3) Loan Pool and GAMMAPOOL network are acknowledg ed for the HPGe escape-suppressed detectors of the JUROGAM II array.\n[1] B. Saygı et al.\, Phys. Rev. C96\, 021301 (2017).\n[2] T. Grahn et al.\, Phys. Rev. C94\, 044327 (2016). \n[3] A. Goasduff et al.\, Phys. Rev. C100 \, 034302 (2019).\n[4] B. Cederwall et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121\, 022502 (2017).\n[5] M. Taylor et al.\, Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A707\, 143 (2013).\n[6] J. Saren et al.\, Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. A. 6 54\, 508 (2011).\n[7] R.D. Page et al.\,Nucl. Instrum. Methods. Phys. Res. B. 204\, 634 (2003).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contribution s/1838/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1838/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Triaxial odd-odd nuclei at proton drip-line DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T083500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T085500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1845@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Pooja Siwach (Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee )\nThe spontaneous proton emission from the nuclei at the proton drip-line is a unique tool to investigate the nuclear structure properties in extre me conditions. Furthermore\, as the astrophysical rapid proton capture (rp ) process is the inverse of proton emission\, the study of the latter can provide insights into the possible paths of the rp process [1-3]. However\ , due to the short half-life\, there is a lack of data in the exotic regio n. Complexities surge when one encounters odd-odd nuclei with triaxial def ormation. Therefore\, a robust theoretical framework is required to encoun ter these nuclei\, which relies on the least number of freely adjustable p arameters. With this motive\, recently\, we have developed a nonadiabatic quasiparticle approach within the core-particle coupling framework to stud y the triaxial odd-odd nuclei [4]. The matrix elements of the odd-odd syst em are written in terms of core energies through an appropriate transforma tion such that the experimental data of the core can be incorporated direc tly [5]. In addition\, the residual neutron-proton (np) interaction is inc luded in two reliable ways\, namely\, a constant potential form and zero-r ange interaction. The developed approach has been successfully applied [6] to interpret the data of recently observed proton emitter $^{108}$I [3]. We establish that triaxiality plays a significant role in the proton emiss ion from $^{108}$I. Furthermore\, the residual np interaction is crucial t o conclude the ground state spin and parity of this nucleus\, which is $1^ {+}$ state. This approach is quite reliable for studying the fine structur e in proton emission and chirality in triaxial odd-odd nuclei.\n[1] C. Maz zocchi et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98\, 212501 (2007).\n[2] H. Suzuki et al. \, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119\, 192503 (2017).\n[3] K. Auranen et al.\, Phys. Le tt. B 792\, 187 (2019).\n[4] P. Siwach et al.\, J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Ph ys. 47\, 125105 (2020).\n[5] S. Modi et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 95\, 024326 (20 17).\n[6] P. Siwach et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 103\, L031303 (2021).\n\nhttps:/ /indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1845/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1845/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Systematic study of neutron-deficient nuclei by beta-decay spectro scopy DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T081500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T083500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1844@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sonja Orrigo (IFIC (CSIC-UV))\nBeta decay has a dire ct access to the absolute values of the Fermi and Gamow-Teller transition strengths. The comparison with complementary charge exchange reactions\, s uch as the ($^3$He\,t) reaction performed on the mirror stable targets at RCNP Osaka\, allows us the investigation of fundamental questions related to the role of the isospin in atomic nuclei. A systematic study of proton- rich nuclei has been carried out by decay spectroscopy experiments with im planted radioactive ion beams (RIBs) at GANIL and RIKEN. We have obtained remarkable results [1-4]\, among which the discovery of the exotic $\\beta $-delayed $\\gamma$-proton decay in $^{56}$Zn [1] and the first observatio n of the 2$^+$ isomer in $^{52}$Co [3]. These studies were extended to hig her masses and more extreme nuclear conditions at RIKEN thanks to the high -intensity RIBs available. An overview of the most important results will be presented\, together with the new results on $^{60}$Ge and $^{62}$Ge [4 ] obtained from the RIKEN experiment. \n[1] S.E.A. Orrigo et al.\, Phys. R ev. Lett. 112\, 222501 (2014). \n[2] S.E.A. Orrigo et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 9 3\, 044336 (2016). \n[3] S.E.A. Orrigo et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 94\, 044315 ( 2016). \n[4] S.E.A. Orrigo et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 103\, 014324 (2021).\n\nh ttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1844/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1844/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Recent results from n_TOF DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T074500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210924T081500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1936@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Alberto Mengoni (ENEA and INFN\, Bologna\, Italy)\nB ased on an idea by Carlo Rubbia\, the n_TOF facility at CERN has been oper ating during the last 20 years. it is a neutron spallation source\, driven by the 20 GeV/c proton beam from the CERN PS accelerator. Neutrons in a v ery wide energy range (from GeV\, down to sub-eV kinetic energy) are gener ated by a massive Lead spallation target feeding two experimental areas se t at 185 meters (EAR1\, horizonal with respect to the proton beam directio n) and at 20 meters (EAR2\, vertical) from the spallation source. Neutron energies for experiments are selected by the time-of-flight technique\, ( hence the name n_TOF)\, while the long flight paths ensure the possibility of doing very high-resolution measurements.\n \nOver the course of two de cades\, over one hundred experiments have been performed by the n_TOF Coll aboration\, with applications ranging from nuclear astrophysics (synthesis of the heavy elements in stars\, big bang nucleosynthesis\, nuclear cosmo -chronology)\, to advanced nuclear technologies (nuclear data for applicat ions\, nuclear safety) to basic nuclear science (structure and decay of hi ghly excited compound states).\n \nDuring the planned shutdown of the CERN accelerator complex between 2019 and 2021\, the facility went through a s ubstantial upgrade with a new target-moderator assembly\, refurbishing of the neutron beam lines and experimental areas. An additional measuring and irradiation station (the NEAR Station) has been envisaged and its capabil ities for performing material test studies and new physics opportunities a re presently explored.\n \nAn overview of the facility and of its experime ntal plan for future activities will be presented\, with a particular emph asis on the most recent results and planning for the future.\n\nhttps://in dico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1936/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1936/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Production and chelation of alpha-emitting radiometals for targete d alpha therapy (TAT) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T125000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T132000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1939@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Caterina Ramogida (Simon Fraser University & TRIUMF) \nCoupling alpha-emitting radionuclides with disease seeking targeting vec tors for site-selective delivery of cytotoxic radiation has the potential to be a powerful technique for treating metastatic and hard to treat cance rs. The success of this type of treatment\, termed targeted alpha therapy (TAT)\, is reliant on the availability of isotope and ability to securely tether said isotope to a biomolecule of interest. With four alpha particle s in its decay chain\, actinium-225 (225Ac\; t1/2 = 9.9 d) is a promising candidate isotope for TAT. Similarly\, the single alpha-emitter lead-212 ( 212Pb\; t1/2 = 10.6 h) has generated significant interest as a matched the ranostic pair with 203Pb (t1/2 = 51.9 h)\, compatible with single-photon e mission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. The current limited global su pply\, and lack of appropriate chelating ligands (molecules used to bind t he isotope to the biomolecule) has delayed the advancement of TAT-drugs to wards the clinic.1 Herein\, we describe efforts to produce\, purify\, and evaluate the radiolabeling ability of 225Ac and 212Pb\, by leveraging TRIU MF’s unique infrastructure (located in Vancouver\, Canada). For 225Ac\, the ISAC isotope separation on-line (ISOL) facility\, as well as the 500 M eV cyclotron were used to produce preclinical and clinical amounts of isot ope\, respectively. For 212Pb\, a 228Th generator was manufactured.\n225Ac alongside parent nuclide radium-225 (225Ra\; t1/2 = 14.8 d) were produced via spallation of uranium carbide targets with 480 MeV protons on ISOL’ s radioactive beam facility. Downstream from the target\, a high-resolutio n mass separator was used to isolate 225Ra and 225Ac ions from other isoto pes produced in the spallation process. Implantation resulted in isolation of 1.0 – 7.5 and 1.4 – 18.0 MBq of 225Ra and 225Ac\, respectively. Th e implanted activity was etched off the sample stage with dilute acid\, an d 225Ac was separated in >99% yield from 225Ra using solid phase extractio n (DGA resin).2 This method has resulted in the isolation of MBq quantitie s of both 225Ra and 225Ac\, where the former can be stored and used as a g enerator for 225Ac. Clinical scale-production via irradiation of 232Th tar gets on the 500 MeV cyclotron resulted in 225Ac products suitable for our studies. Conveniently\, the by-products produced during spallation can be extracted to prepare a 228Th/212Pb generator that can deliver up to 9 – 10 MBq of 212Pb daily.3 Subsequently\, 225Ac and 212Pb coordination prope rties with a library of chelating ligands along with commercial standard D OTA were evaluated by testing radiolabeling efficiency\, and complex stabi lity. \nIn conclusion\, we have successfully established a production meth od for 225Ac which yields activities adequate for pre-clinical screening ( 225Ac via ISOL\, or 212Pb via 232Th spallation) or clinical production (22 5Ac via 232Th spallation). Furthermore\, several novel radiometal-chelator s showed promising radiolabeling properties and kinetic inertness in vitro compared to commercial standards and will be tested *in vivo* in future s tudies.\n\n(1) Robertson\, A. K. H. et al. Curr. Radiopharm. 2018\, 11 (3 )\, 156–172. https://doi.org/10.2174/1874471011666180416161908.\n(2) Ra mogida\, C. F.\; et al. EJNMMI Radiopharm. Chem. 2019\, 4 (1)\, 21. https: //doi.org/10.1186/s41181-019-0072-5.\n(3) McNeil\, B. L.\; et al. EJNMMI Radiopharm. Chem. 2021\, 6 (1)\, 6. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41181-021-001 21-4.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1939/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1939/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:DNA damage response of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to high-LET neutron irradiation. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T123000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T125000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1864@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Monique Engelbrecht (NRF-iThemba LABS)\nThe radiosen sitivity of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) to neutron ra diation remains largely underexplored\, notwithstanding their role as targ et cells for radiation-induced leukemogenesis. This is important for radia tion protection purposes\, particularly for aviation\, space missions\, nu clear accidents and even particle therapy. In this study\, HSPCs (CD34+ ce lls) were isolated from umbilical cord blood and irradiated with 60Co γ-r ays (photons) and high energy p(66)/Be(40) neutrons. A significant higher number of DNA DSBs was observed after 0.5 Gy neutrons of 1.277±0.118 foci /cell compared to 0.839±0.141 foci/cell for photons at 2 hours\, but decr eased to similar levels for both radiation qualities after 18 hours. Howev er\, differences in late apoptosis were observed between photons and neutr on at 18 hours\, 43.17±6.10 % versus 55.55±4.87 % respectively. A signif icant increase in cytogenetic damage was observed after both 0.5 and 1 Gy neutron irradiation compared to photons. No difference in nuclear division index was observed between both radiation qualities. The results point to wards a higher induction of DNA damage after neutron irradiation in HSPCs followed by a fast error-prone DNA repair\, which contributes to genomic i nstability and a higher risk of leukemogenesis.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac .za/event/101/contributions/1864/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1864/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Advances in $^{211}$At production at Texas A&M University DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T123000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1937@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sherry Yennello (Texas A&M University)\nAlpha emitti ng radionuclides with medically relevant half-lives are interesting for tr eatment of tumors and other diseases because they deposit large amounts of energy close to the location of the radioisotope. Researchers at the Cycl otron Institute at Texas A&M University are developing a program to produc e $^{211}$At\, an alpha emitter with a 7.2 h half-life. The properties of $^{211}$At make it a great candidate for targeted alpha therapy for cancer due to its short half-life and decay mechanism. Astatine-211 has now been produced multiple times and novel chemistry has been developed for the se paration of the At from the Bi target. Innovations to improve the safety and reliability of this process have been enacted.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs .ac.za/event/101/contributions/1937/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1937/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Novel method for accessing tens-to-hundreds femtoseconds nuclear s tate lifetimes\, examples and results DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T110000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T113000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1934@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Michał Ciemała (IFJ PAN Kraków\, Polska)\nI will presented a novel Monte Carlo technique based on DSAM (Doppler Shift Atten uation Method)\, which has been developed to determine lifetimes of excite d states in the tens to-hundreds femtoseconds range in products of low-ene rgy heavy-ion binary reactions [1]. These reaction processes are character ized by large energy dissipation\, leading to complex velocity distributio ns which do not allow to apply standard Doppler broadened gamma-ray linesh ape analysis. The technique is anticipated to be an important tool for lif etime investigations in exotic neutron-rich nuclei\, produced with intense ISOL-type beams.\n\nI will demontrate its relevance in connection with ex periment\, performed at GANIL with the AGATA+VAMOS+PARIS setup\, to study neutron-rich O\, C\, N\, nuclei. Excited states in this region\, with kno wn lifetimes\, are used to validate the method between 20 fs to 400 fs lif etime range. Moreover extraction of the lifetimes of the second 2$^+$ stat es in $^{16}$C and $^{20}$O\, which have beenpredicted to be in the hundre d-femtoseconds time range and to strongly depend on the three-body term of the nuclear interaction will be presented [2].\n\n\nReferences\n[1] M. Ci emała\, et al.\, Eur. Phys. J. A\, 57:156\, (2021)\n[2] M. Ciemała\, et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 101\, 021303(R)\,(2020)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/e vent/101/contributions/1934/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1934/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Look for non-axially deformed halo nuclei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T104000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1848@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kaiyuan Zhang (Peking University)\nHalo phenomenon h as long been a hot topic in nuclear physics. Due to the weakly binding nat ure\, the Fermi surface of a halo nucleus is very close to the continuum t hreshold\, and the pairing interaction can scatter nucleons from bound sta tes to resonant ones in the continuum. It is therefore necessary to take i nto account the pairing correlations and continuum effects in describing t he halo nuclei.\n\nFor spherical halo nuclei\, the relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov (RCHB) theory interpreted microscopically the halo phen omenon in Li-11 and predicted the giant halo phenomena. For deformed halo nuclei\, the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc)\, which takes into account the axial deformation degrees of freedo m\, pairing correlations\, and continuum effects in a unified way\, predic ted the deformed halo nucleus Mg-44 and a shape decoupling between the cor e and the halo.\n \nThe non-axial shape\, i.e.\, triaxiality\, plays an es sential role in understanding the nuclear chirality and wobbling. In order to explore the non-axially deformed halo nuclei\, the triaxial relativist ic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (TRHBc) is developed\, and the p ossible triaxially deformed halo nucleus Al-42 is investigated as an examp le.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1848/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1848/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Direct Measurement of Fusion Reaction in $^8$B + $^{40}$Ar using t he Active-Target TexAT DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T102000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T104000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1839@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Valdir Guimaraes (Universidade de São Paulo - Brazi l)\nV. Guimaraes $^{1)}$\, J. C. Zamora $^{1)}$\, G. V. Rogachev $^{2\,3)} $\, S. Ahn $^{2)}$\, E. Aboud $^{2\,3)}$\, M. Assuncao $^{4)}$\, M. Barbui $^{2)}$\, J. Bishop $^{2\,3)}$\, A. Bosh $^{2\,3)}$\, J. Hooker $^{2\,3)} $\, C. Hunt $^{2\,3)}$\,\nD. Jayatissa $^{2\,3)}$\, E. Koshchiy $^{2)}$\, S. Lukyanov $^{5)}$\, R O’Dwyer $^{2\,3)}$\, Y. Penionzhkevich $^{5)}$\, B. T. Roeder $^{2)}$\, A. Saastamoinen $^{2)}$\, E. Uberseder $^{2)}$\, an d S. Upadhyayula $^{2\,3)}$.\n\n$^{1)}$ Instituto de Fisica\, Universidade de Sao Paulo\, SP\, Brazil\n$^{2)}$ Cyclotron Institute\, Texas A&M Unive rsity\, College Station\, TX\, USA\n$^{3)}$ Dep. of Physics and Astronomy\ , Texas A&M University\, College Station\, TX\, USA\n$^{4)}$ Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo\, SP\, Brazil\n$^{5)}$ Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear R eactions\, JINR\, Dubna\, Russia\n\nThe investigation of reaction mechanis m involving weakly bound (stable and unstable) nuclei has been a subject o f great interest in the last years. In particular\, the low binding energy and strong cluster configuration in halo nuclei produces a decoupling bet ween the valence particle and the core nucleus\, which give rise to an inc rease of the breakup and/or transfer probability in the total reaction cro ss section [1\,2]. It has been observed that the coupling of these direct processes affects the total fusion cross section producing a suppression a t energies above the Coulomb barrier and an enhancement at sub-barrier ene rgies\, when compared with no-coupling one dimensional barrier penetration . Measurements of fusion cross section involving unstable nuclei are usual ly performed with indirect methods which most of the times are model depen dent. For instance\, fusion in $^{8}$B+$^{58}$Ni (below barrier) [3] and $^{8}$B+$^{28}$Si (above barrier) [4] were measured from evaporation yiel ds of proton and alpha particles\, respectively. Inconsistencies between t hese experimental results and predictions from coupled channel calculation s are still not fully understood. To address these open questions\, a dire ct fusion measurement for the $^{8}$B+$^{40}$Ar system at near Coulomb-bar rier energies was performed at the Cyclotron Institute of the Texas A&M Un iversity using the active target TexAT (Texas Active Target) [5]. The pres ent technique allowed a clear identification of fusion events from other r eaction channels\, as well as the evaporated charged particles\, by recons tructing their tracks in the 3D space and energy deposited in the gas targ et. Results of this measurement will be presented and the comparison with the $^{8}$B+$^{58}$Ni and $^{8}$B+$^{28}$Si existing data will be discus sed [6].\n\n[1] L.F. Canto\, V. Guimaraes\, J. Lubian\, M. S. Hussein\, Eu r. Phys. J. A 56\, 281 (2020).\n[2] L. F. C. P.R.S. Gomes\, R. Donangelo a nd M.S. Hussein\, Phys. Rep. 424\, 1 (2006).\n[3] E. F. Aguilera et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107\, 092701 (2011).\n[4] A. Pakou et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 87\, 014619 (2013).\n[5] E. Koshchiy\, et al.\, Nuclear Inst. and Meth. A 957\, 163398 (2020).\n[6] J. C. Zamora\, V. Guimaraes\, et al.\, Phys. Let t. B 816\, 136256 (2021).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contribu tions/1839/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1839/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A study of the nuclear structure in the even-even Yb isotopes DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T102000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1841@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Aikaterini Zyriliou (National and Kapodistrian Unive rsity of Athens\, Greece)\nThe medium-to-heavy mass ytterbium isotopes ($_ {70}$Yb) in the rare-earth mass region are known to be well-deformed nucle i\, which can be populated to very high spin. Spectroscopic information be comes scarcer as the neutron number increases\, impeding the understanding of nuclear structure in this mass region\, where interesting phenomena\, such as shape coexistence\, have been predicted. The lack of any experimen tal information on the structure of the neutron-rich $^{180}$Yb isotope an d the lifetime of the $2_1^+$ state of $^{178}$Yb have greatly motivated t his study inlaying the path for near-future experimental endeavors. In thi s work\, energy levels\, deformation parameters $\\beta_2$\, reduced trans ition probabilities $B(E2)$ and transition quadrupole moments $Q$ for even -even Yb isotopes have been calculated using a Phenomenological Model and the Interacting Boson Approximation 1. Additional results are presented us ing the following theoretical models: the Finite-Range Droplet Model\, the Hartree-Fock BCS Model with MSk7 force\, the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov Mode l with Gogny D1S force\, the Relativistic Hartree Bogoliubov Model with th e covariant energy density functional NL3$^∗$\, the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliu bov Model with UNEDF1\, the Proxy SU(3) and the Pseudo SU(3) models. Also\ , numerical results for energy ratios for the Yb isotopes\, with the Exact ly Separable Davidson (ESD)\, Exactly Separable Morse\, Exactly Separable Woods-Saxon\, Deformation Dependent Mass Davidson (DDMD) and Deformation D ependent Mass Kratzer (DDMK) analytical solutions of the Bohr Hamiltonian have been obtained. Along these lines\, the results for even-even $^{164-1 78}$Yb isotopes are compared to available experimental data\, serving as b enchmarks. An overall good agreement was found between available adopted d ata and theoretical predictions.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/c ontributions/1841/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1841/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Fission fragment spectroscopy of isotopically identified neutron r ich nuclei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1935@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sarmishtha Bhattacharyya (Variable Energy Cyclotron centre)\nThe single-particle excitations\, particle-hole interactions\, an d mixing of various single particle configurations in nuclei with few vale nce particles or holes around $^{132}$Sn have been the subject of contempo rary interest\, both experimentally [1–4] and theoretically [5]. The exc ited states of these neutron-rich nuclei provide key inputs to understand the effective interactions in terms of large scale shell model calculation s. Presence of high-j unique parity orbitals plays a major role in generat ing high spin states in these nuclei and is also responsible for occurrenc e of isomers in odd-A as well as in odd-odd nuclei in this region.\n\nThe neutron-rich nuclei with few valence particle / holes in Z=50\, N=82 close d shell are only accessible via fission and direct identification of the n uclei with both mass (A) and charge (Z) selection is extremely challenging . Neutron-rich nuclei around $^{132}$Sn have been investigated using fissi on reaction of $^{238}$U beam of 6.2 Mev/u impinging on $^9$Be target at G ANIL [6]. The isotopic identification (A\, Z) of the fission fragments was obtained using the large acceptance magnetic spectrometer VAMOS++. The pr ompt $\\gamma$ rays emitted from the recoiling fission products at the tar get position were detected using $\\gamma$-ray tracking array AGATA and th e EXOGAM segmented clover detectors were placed behind the focal plane of VAMOS++ to detect the delayed $\\gamma$ rays. Some of the complimentary st udies on low lying states have also been carried out from decay spectrosco py after $\\alpha$ induced fission at VECC\, Kolkata.\n\nThe high spin sta tes of neutron rich Iodine nuclei above the long lived isomers are populat ed for the first time and new isomers are also identified from prompt-dela yed spectroscopy [7]. The level structures are interpreted in terms of the systematics of odd-Z nuclei above the Z = 50 shell closure and large-scal e shell model calculations.\n\nReferences:\n[1] A. Navin and M. Rejmund\, in McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science and Technology (McGraw-Hill\, New York\ , 2014)\, p. 137.\n[2] K. L. Jones et al.\, Nature (London) 465\, 454 (201 0).\n[3] M. Rejmund et al.\, Phys. Lett. B 753\, 86 (2016).\n[4] S. Bhatta charyya et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 98\, 044316 (2018).\n[5] L. Coraggio\, A. Co vello\, A. Gargano\, and N. Itaco\, Phys. Rev. C 87\, 034309 (2013).\n[6] Y. H. Kim et al.\, Eur. Phys. J. A 53\, 162 (2017).\n[7] R. Banik et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 102\, 044329 (2020)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/ contributions/1935/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1935/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Overlap integrals in core + n + n systems DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T085500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T091500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1846@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Makoto Ito (Department of Pure and Applied Physics\, Kansai University)\nDi-neutron correlations are extensively explored in r ecent experiments\, and the enhancement of the spatial localization of the pair of the neutrons (n) has been confirmed at the nuclear surface in the light neutron-excess systems\, such as $^{11}$Li and $^{19}$B. The di-neu tron correlations are also investigated theoretically by employing the thr ee-body model with core + n + n. The analysis of the di-neutron correlatio n gives an important key to elucidate the intrinsic structure of neutron s tars. If we consider the three-body system of core plus two neutrons\, the spatial localization of two neutrons corresponds to the formation of “d i-neutron cluster” around the core nucleus. \n\n On the other hand\, the valence neutrons usually perform the independent particle motion around t he core nucleus\, and the ground state of the normal nucleus is explained by the so-called the nuclear shell model. The shell model configuration an d the di-neutron one seem to be very different structure intuitively but t hese two configurations are non-orthogonal\, and there is a finite amplitu de of the di-neutron cluster component even if the pure shell model state is realized. Thus\, in order to understand the feature of the di-neutron c luster more deeply\, it is important to evaluate the overlap integral of t he di-neutron cluster state and the shell model state\, which is a measure of the non-orthogonal amplitude of these two different states. \n\n We ha ve proposed a new formula to evaluate the overlap integral of the cluster and shell-model configurations\, and the formula is applied to the core + n + n systems. In this report\, we will report the systematic feature of t he overlap integrals of the di-neutron cluster state (core + 2n) and the s hell model state (core + n + n) with a variation of the core mass number. In particular\, we will discuss the enhancements of the overlap integral i n connection to the single particle orbits of the valence two neutrons in the shell model states.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributi ons/1846/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1846/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Analysis of fission yield measurements from $^{236}$U* using promp t $\\gamma$-ray spectroscopy: Challenges\, Anomalies\, and Resolutions DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T083500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T085500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1847@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Aniruddha Dey (1) Nuclear Physics Division\, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre\, Mumbai 400 085\, India\, 2) Department of Physics \, Siksha Bhavana\, Visva-Bharati University\, Santiniketan\, West Bengal 731 235\, India)\nPrompt $\\gamma$-ray spectroscopy is one of the experime ntal approaches that can effectively be utilized for extracting the relati ve isotopic and mass yield distributions of the fission fragment nuclei\, produced from the compound fissioning nucleus. Ideally\, this is a novel t echnique\, in the sense\, that it can be used to measure accurate fission yield distributions with one unit of mass resolution. However\, one has to deal with several difficulties while analyzing the in-beam fission fragme nt spectroscopic data. These difficulties are related to several factors\, such as the unwanted contributions from beta-decay precursors\, presence of isomeric states in the low-lying yrast band of the fragment nuclei\, pr esence of close-lying transitions in the fragment nuclei\, underestimation of $\\gamma$-ray yields due to the accompanying electron conversion proce sses\, etc. Hence\, one has to properly optimize the analysis procedure fo r unambiguous extraction of the fission fragment yields from the coinciden ce $\\gamma$-ray spectrum. Such an optimization in the analysis procedure has been followed for in-depth analysis of the in-beam fission fragment sp ectroscopic data obtained from two separate experiments: (i) thermal neutr on-induced fission of $^{235}$U during the EXILL campaign [1] at Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL)\, Grenoble\, France\, and (ii) alpha-induced fission o f $^{232}$Th during the INGA campaign [2] at Variable Energy Cyclotron Cen tre (VECC)\, Kolkata\, India. It is to be noted that the compound fissioni ng nucleus was $^{236}$U* in both the measurement\, albeit the excitation energy was slightly higher in the latter. The analysis procedure in detail \, highlighting the challenges and approaches that were adopted to address those\, will be presented at the conference. The important results that h ave been obtained from the analysis of the two sets of data will also be d iscussed.\n\nThe Indian National Gamma Array (INGA) and EXILL collaboratio ns are duly acknowledged. Help and support from the Cyclotron operation st affs (at VECC\, Kolkata)\, as well as the reactor operation staffs (at ILL \, Grenoble) are thankfully acknowledged. This is a part of the work carri ed out with the financial assistance from the DAE-BRNS\, Government of Ind ia [Project Sanction No. 37(3)/14/17/2016-BRNS].\n\nReferences:\n1. Anirud dha Dey et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 103\, 044322 (2021)\n2. Aniruddha Dey et al. \, Proc. of the DAE Symposium on Nucl. Phys. 101\, 268 (2018) [URL : http: //www.sympnp.org/proceedings/63/A101.pdf]\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ev ent/101/contributions/1847/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1847/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Search for $E$0 transitions in $^{54}$Mn via electron-pair spectro scopy DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T081500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T083500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1852@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Abraham Avaa (iThemba/Wits)\nThe low energy structur e of nuclei close to the doubly magic $^{40}$Ca and $^{56}$Ni are driven b y collective excitations\, including shape coexistence and super-deformati on [1]. On the other hand\, the N=28 shell closure is also strongly influe ncing the nuclei between N=Z=20 and 28. Electric monopole\, $E$0 transitio ns are often cited as excellent probes to explore the interactions of coll ective excitations with different deformations. Strong $E$0 transitions ar e reported in $^{54}$Fe [2] and in $^{52}$Cr [3]\, however most of the $E$ 0 transitions in the region has not been observed. We shall report on a de tailed conversion electron and electron-positron pair conversion study of $^{54}$Mn\, a N=29\, Z=25 nucleus next to $^{52}$Cr and $^{54}$Fe. Excite d states up to about 3 MeV energy have been populated using the $^{54}$Cr( p\,n)$^{54}$Mn reaction at 5.4 MeV bombarding energy at the ANU HIAS accel erator. Electron and electron-positron pair conversion coefficients have b een measured with the Super-e spectrometer [4]. The 1579 keV transition fr om the 1634 keV 2$^{+}$ state has a conversion coefficient larger than the pure $M$1 or $E$2 value\, indicating a significant $E$0 contribution. In this talk we describe the experiments and will present a preliminary inter pretation of the results.\n\n[1] K. Hyde and J.L. Wood\, Rev. Mod. Phys. 8 3 (2011) 1467\n[2] T.K. Eriksen\, PhD thesis\, ANU (2018)\n[3] J.T.H. Dowi e\, PhD thesis\, ANU (2021)\n[4] T.K. Eriksen et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 102 (2 020) 024320\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1852/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1852/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The Neutrons For Science Facility of GANIL/SPIRAL2 DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T074500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210923T081500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1938@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Diego Ramos (GANIL)\nThe neutrons for science facili ty (NFS) is the first operational experimental area of the new GANIL/SPIRA L2 facility. It is composed of two main areas: a converter room where neut rons are produced and activation measurements are performed\, and a 28-met ers long time-of-flight area where high neutron-energy resolution is achie ved by the time-of-flight technique.\nNFS benefits from the intense proton and deuteron beams delivered by the LINAC of SPIRAL2 in order to produce neutron beams in the range of 1-40 MeV through reactions in Be and Li conv erters. The NFS commissioning started in the fall of 2020 were proton-indu ced reaction cross-sections as well as neutron beam characteristics were m easured. The second phase of the commissioning\, using deuteron beams\, is scheduled for this year as well as the first accepted experiments.\nThe f irst results\, showing the capability of the facility\, will be presented and compared with previous data. The future physics cases and the first ex periments to run at NFS will be presented as well.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs .ac.za/event/101/contributions/1938/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1938/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Advances in radon research and protection in Cameroon DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T110000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T113000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1943@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Saïdou - (Research Centre for Nuclear Science and T echnology)\nIndoor radon measurements started in Cameroon since 2012 by me asuring 222Rn using the Electret Ionization chambers (EIC) in about 500 dw ellings of some ore bearing areas\, followed by the discriminative measure ments of 222Rn and 220Rn in 450 dwellings using RADUET detectors in some m ining and ore bearing areas of Cameroon. The collected data helped to buil d a Technical Cooperation Project with the International Atomic Energy Age ncy (IAEA) on establishing a national radon plan for controlling public ex posure due to radon indoors. A total of 1500 RADTRAK detectors to measure 222Rn were deployed in the whole country\, collected and analyzed. The res ults of indoor radon measurements and inhalation dose assessment showed th e importance to put in place radon regulation and national radon action pl an. Radon regulation was drafted and the national radon action plan adopte d in October 2020. The priority tasks for 2022-2025 are radon-risk mapping \, radon mitigation\, radon-risk communication and the integration of rado n issue in the training of building professionals.\n \n222Rn\, 220Rn and 2 20Rn progeny measurements confirmed the importance to consider 220Rn in do se assessment to avoid biased results in epidemiological study. At the int ernational scale\, reference levels should be defined for 220Rn as done fo r 222Rn some decades ago. Effective dose due to 220Rn determined from the equilibrium factor is unreliable. Therefore\, the risk of public exposure due to 220Rn and its progeny may therefore be higher than that of 222Rn an d its progeny in many parts of the world if the equilibrium factor of 220R n is no longer used in estimating total effective dose. It is therefore im portant to directly measure 222Rn and 220Rn progenies for a correct estima te of effective dose.\n\nUncertainty assessment in biokinetic and dosimetr ic models of α\, β\, αγ\, βγ -emitters for ingestion and inhalation dose coefficients was carried out followed by the determination of the inh alation dose coefficients of 219Rn progeny\, stemming from the disintegrat ion of 223Ra used in nuclear medicine to treat bone metastasis due to pros tate cancer.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1943/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1943/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Are LaBr3:Ce detectors the optimum instruments for naturally occur ring radioactive materials (NORM) activity measurements? DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T104000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1856@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Munirat Bashir ( Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida Universi ty )\nLaBr$_3$:Ce (2" x 2") detectors were used to measure soil samples p laced in Marinelli beakers in singles and coincidence modes. Time-stamped data were acquired and background removed offline by using photon time-of- flight in addition to measurement of the two photon energies in coincidenc e. Coincident gamma-ray pairs from $^{238}$U ($^{214}$Bi) and $^{232}$Th ( $^{208}$Tl) series were identified in measured samples. The activity conce ntrations of $^{238}$U and $^{232}$Th series radionuclides inside the samp les were determined in both singles and coincidence modes. The internal ac tivity of the LaBr$_3$:Ce detector increases the MDA at 1460.8 keV and 261 4.5 keV\, which limits the measurement of $^{40}$K radionuclide with low a ctivity concentration in singles mode. The measured internal activity of $ ^{138}$La in the LaBr$_3$:Ce detector crystal is 263.8 $\\pm$ 26.8 Bq kg$^ {-1}$ which is comparable to the calculated activity of 293.3 Bq kg$^{-1}$ . The suitability of the use of these detectors for NORM measurements was evaluated.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1856/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1856/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:The South African Space Neutron Initiative (SASNI) DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T102000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T104000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1946@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Tanya Hutton (University of Cape Town)\nCosmic radia tion consisting of Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) and Solar Energetic Particl es (SEPs)\, and their associated secondary particles are a known radiation hazard for high altitude flights\, satellites\, and space operations. Sol ar energetic particles result from highly unpredictable space weather even ts\, releasing a large number of high energy protons and alpha particles o ver short periods of time.\n\nCosmic ray interactions with matter produce a cascade of secondary particles\, consisting of electrons\, mesons\, pion s\, protons\, neutrons\, alpha particles and higher mass fragments. At avi ation altitudes around 40% of the total dose equivalent from this complex radiation field is attributed to neutrons with energies between 1 and 100 MeV\, which poses the greatest challenge for dosimetric systems. Dosimetry at flight altitudes continues to grow in importance due to the increased awareness of the exposure of air crew personnel to cosmic radiation. This topic is of special importance because the accumulated effective dose of a significant number of air crew members will be between 1 mSv and 5 mSv pe r year\, receiving the largest exposures of all occupationally exposed per sons. The equivalent dose in the atmosphere strongly depends on geomagneti c latitude and altitude\, and there have been few experimental measurement s made in the Southern Hemisphere.\n\nIn general\, there is a lack of expe rimental data for high-energy neutrons (> 20 MeV)\, and as such there is i nsufficient information regarding the biological effects and severity of n eutron interactions to make accurate risk assessments. In order to improve understanding of radiobiological observations related to high-energy neut ron irradiation\, it is critical to fully characterize these mixed fields at the point of interest.\n\nThe South African Space Neutron Initiative (S ASNI) is a new research collaboration between the Metrological and Applied Sciences University Research unit (MeASURe) at the University of Cape Tow n\, the South African National Space Agency (SANSA) and the Radiation Biop hysics division at iThemba LABS. The collaboration has a broad focus on th e measurement of secondary neutrons produced by cosmic rays and the radiat ion protection consequences which follow\, particularly regarding South Af rican civil aviation and space missions.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/eve nt/101/contributions/1946/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1946/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Development of a digital data acquisition system for neutron metro logy DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T102000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1855@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Chloe Sole (UCT)\nDevelopment of a digital data acqu isition system for fast neutron metrology\n\nUniversity of Cape Town (UCT) : C. Sole\, A. Buffler\, T. Hutton\, T. Leadbeater\nInstitut de radioprote ction et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN): V. Gressier\, R. Babut\, M. Petit\ n\nFast neutron fields are found in a wide variety of contexts\, for examp le at accelerator and medical radiation facilities\, around nuclear power plants\, in aviation and space flight. The essence of neutron metrology is to quantify both the fluence and energy distribution of these fields\, wh ich is complicated by the large range of energies\, intensities and direct ional characteristics in each unique scenario [1]. Neutron metrology and s pectrometry communities are beginning to adopt modern digital pulse proces sing systems to complement\, and eventually replace\, the existing analogu e data acquisition systems [1\,2]. \n\nDigital pulse processing electronic s offer several distinct advantages over the existing analogue systems\, w ith a need to rigorously benchmark against the current metrology standards prior to deployment [3]. Measurements were made using a BC-501A scintilla tor detector for neutron fields with energies between 1.2 MeV and 20.0 MeV over the full range of available beam currents at the AMANDE fast neutron metrology facility [4] at the IRSN. Comparisons were made between the AMA NDE standard analogue data acquisition system\, and a new digital system c omprised of a CAEN DT5730 digitizer and the open source QtDAQ software [5] . An overview of the comparison will be presented\, with a focus on the de finition of the digital light output parameter\, and dead time effects. Ba sed on these measurements\, recommendations will be made for implementing a fully digital data acquisition system for fast neutron metrology.\n\n[1] D. Thomas et al. (2011) Metrologia 48 S225.\n[2] V. Fedorov et al. (2018) EPJ Web of Conferences. 170 02005.\n[3] A. Buffler et al. (2016) Int. J. Mod. Phys. 44 1660228. \n[4] V. Gressier et al. (2004) Rad. Prot. Dos. 110 49.\n[5] A. Comrie et al. (2015) NIMA 772 43.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac. za/event/101/contributions/1855/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1855/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A Study of Environmental Radioactivity Measurement of selected Kao lin Mining Fields in Kwara\, Nigeria DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1942@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mojisola Rachael Usikalu (Covenant University)\nThis article reports in-situ measurements of the gamma dose rates and the acti vity concentrations 238U\, 232Th and 40K\, at about 1m above earth over ka olin mining fields in Ilorin-south and Ilorin-west\, Kwara\, Nigeria. A ca librated high precision and great accuracy RS-125 Super-Spec gamma spectro meter was utilized to perform radioactivity measurements on both minefield s. Readings were recorded in 90 randomly selected sample points. For Ilori n-south mining site\, 50 sample points were recorded together with their s tandard error while 40 randomly selected sample points were considered for Ilorin-west mining site. Descriptive statistical investigations of the re sults were carried out to examine the statistical correspondences between the measured quantities. The results of the activity concentrations showed that the locations are enhanced with 40K compared with 238U and 232Th. Th e mean values of the estimated radiological hazard parameters are mostly w ithin the recommended global averages. The measured outcomes are presented for further evaluation that can offer understandings on the state of radi ological risks of Fufu\, Akerebiata and their environments from the perspe ctive of radiation protection. The results in this current work can be use d as a significant baseline radioactivity data of these mining fields for future epidemiology and monitoring purposes.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za /event/101/contributions/1942/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1942/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Experimental Study of the 30Si(p\,γ)31P via the 30Si( 3He\,d)31P transfer reaction for understanding elemental anomalies in Globular Cluste rs. DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T085500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T091500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1843@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Djamila Sarah Harrouz (Université Paris-Saclay\, CN RS/in2p3\, IJCLab)\nGlobular clusters are key grounds for models of stella r evolution and early stages of the formation of galaxies. Abundance anoma lies observed in the globular cluster NGC 2419\, such as the enhancement o f potassium and depletion of magnesium [1] can be explained in terms of an earlier generation of stars polluting the presently observed stars [2]. H owever\, the nature and the properties of the polluting sites are still de bated. The range of temperatures and densities of the polluting sites depe nds on the strength of a number of critical thermonuclear reaction rates. The $^{30}$Si($p$\,$\\gamma$)$^{31}$P reaction is one of the few reactions that have been identified to have an influence for elucidating the nature of polluting sites in NGC 2419 [3]. The current uncertainty on the $^{30} $Si($p$\,$\\gamma$)$^{31}$P reaction rate has a strong impact on the range of possible temperatures and densities of the polluter sites.\n\nHence\, we investigated the $^{30}$Si($p$\,$\\gamma$)$^{31}$P reaction with the ai m to reduce the associated uncertainties by determining the strength of r esonances of astrophysical interest. In this talk I will present the study of the reaction $^{30}$Si($p$\,$\\gamma$)$^{31}$P that we performed via t he one proton $^{30}$Si($^{3}$He\,$d$)$^{31}$P transfer reaction at the Ma ier-Leinbnitz-Laboratorium Tandem. With the high resolution Q3D magnetic s pectrograph\, we measured the angular distributions of the light reaction products. These angular distributions are interpreted in the DWBA (Distort ed Wave Born Approximation) framework to determine the proton spectroscopi c factor information needed to determine the proton partial width of the s tates of interest. This information was used to calculate the $^{30}$Si($p $\,$\\gamma$)$^{31}$P reaction rate. The uncertainties on the reaction rat e have been significantly reduced and key remaining uncertainties have bee n identified.\n\n**Bibliography**\n\n[1] C. Iliadis\, A. I. Karakas\, N. Prantzos\, J. C. Lattanzio\, and C. L. Doherty\, “On Potassium and Other abundance Anomalies of Red Giants in NGC 2419\,” The Astrophysical Jour nal\, vol. 470\, p. 98\, Feb. 2016.\n\n[2] R. G. Gratton\, E. Caretta\, a nd A. Bragaglia\, “Multiple populations in globular clusters. Lessons le arned from the Milku Way globular clusters\,” The Astronomy and Astrophy sics Review\, vol. 20\, p. 50\, Feb. 2012.\n\n[3] J. R. Dermigny and C. I liadis\, “Sensitivity to Thermonuclear Reaction Rates in Modeling Abunda nce Anomalies of NGC 2419\,” The Astrophysical Journal\, vol. 848\, p. 1 4\, Oct. 2017.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1843/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1843/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Investigation of the dipole response of 64Ni in real-photon scatte ring experiments DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T083500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T085500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1862@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Miriam Müscher (Institute for Nuclear Physics\, Uni versity of Cologne)\nOne of the two main nucleosynthesis processes for exp laining the formation and abundances of the neutron-rich nuclei in our uni verse is the slow neutron-capture process (s process). It takes place in e nvironments with neutron densities in the range of 10$^{6}$–10$^{12}$ cm $^{−3}$. Due to these relatively small neutron densities\, the β- decay rate usually dominates over the neutron-capture rate and\, hence\, the s- process reaction path follows the valley of stability. At a so-called bran ching-point nucleus\, the aforementioned reaction rates become competing a nd the reaction path branches. One of these branching-point nuclei is $^{6 3}$Ni. Its radiative neutron-capture cross section is crucial for determin ing the corresponding branching ratio. Therefore\, $^{63}$Ni(n\,γ) experi ments have been performed [1\,2]. But\, the determined cross sections take only radiative-neutron captures on $^{63}$Ni nuclei in the ground state i nto account and neglect that a certain amount is excited in stellar enviro nments [3]. Hence\, theoretical corrections have to be applied using\, e.g .\, Statistical Hauser-Feshbach calculations [4]. For these\, the Photon S trength Function (PSF) is one input parameter which is closely related to the photoabsorption cross section which can be deduced from real-photon sc attering experiments.\nFurthermore\, systematic studies of the photoabsorp tion cross section can be utilized to investigate the properties of dipole excitation modes. For instance\, in many nuclei an accumulation of electr ic dipole strength below and around the neutron separation threshold has b een observed which is commonly denoted as Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR) [5] . During the last two decades\, experimental and theoretical effort was pu t into the investigation of the PDR. Nevertheless\, there are still some o pen questions concerning this excitation mode and systematic studies are c rucial. Due to the wide range of N/Z ratios of stable\, even-even nuclei\, the nickel isotopic chain is well suited for this purpose. Real-photon sc attering experiments have already been performed on $^{58\,60\,62}$Ni [6-8 ] and the dipole responses of the unstable isotopes $^{68\,70}$Ni have bee n measured using relativistic Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics [9- 11]. Therefore\, the missing link for completing this systematic investiga tion is $^{64}$Ni.\nTwo complementary real-photon scattering experiments o n $^{64}$Ni were performed using a continuous bremsstrahlung and a quasi-m onoenergetic photon beam to obtain the total and absolute photoabsorption cross section in a model-independent way. In this contribution\, the corre sponding experiments and preliminary results will be presented.\nThis work is supported by the BMBF (05P18PKEN9).\n\n[1] C. Lederer et al.\, Phys. R ev. Lett. 110\, 022501 (2013) \n[2] C. Lederer et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 89\, 025810 (2014)\n[3] T. Rauscher\, Astrophys. J. Lett. 755\, L10 (2012)\n[4] W. Hauser and H. Feshbach\, Phys. Rev. A 87\, 366 (1952)\n[5] D. Savran e t al.\, Phys. Rev. C 84\, 024326 (2011)\n[6] F. Bauwens et al.\, Phys. Rev . C 62\, 024302 (2000)\n[7] M. Scheck et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 87\, 051304(R) (2013)\n[8] M. Scheck et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 88\, 044304 (2013) \n[9] O. W ieland et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102\, 092502 (2009)\n[10] D.M. Rossi et a l.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111\, 242503 (2013)\n[11] O. Wieland et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 98\, 064313 (2018)\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contribu tions/1862/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1862/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Radiative proton-capture cross-sections with $^{112\,114}$Cd DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T081500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T083500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1842@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Polytimos Vasileiou (National and Kapodistrian Unive rsity of Athens)\nThe reaction network in the neutron-deficient part of th e nuclear chart around A~100 contains several nuclei of importance to astr ophysical processes\, such as the *p*-process. This work reports on the re sults from recent experimental studies of the radiative proton-capture rea ctions $^{112\,114}$Cd(p\,γ)$^{113\,115}$In. Isotopically enriched $^{112 }$Cd and $^{114}$Cd targets have been used for the determination of the cr oss sections\, for proton beam energies residing inside the respective Gam ow windows for each reaction. Two different techniques\, the in-beam γ-ra y spectroscopy and the activation method have been implemented\, where the latter is considered mandatory to account for the presence of low-lying i somers in $^{113}$In and $^{115}$In\, with energies of E≈392 keV\, and E ≈336 keV\, respectively. Following the measurement of the cross sections \, the astrophysical *S* factors have been subsequently deduced. The exper imental results are compared to detailed Hauser-Feshbach theoretical calcu lations carried out with TALYS v1.95.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/ 101/contributions/1842/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1842/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nuclear physics and r-process observables DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T074500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210922T081500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1929@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Rebecca Surman (University of Notre Dame)\nOur under standing of the formation of the heaviest elements via *r*-process nucleos ynthesis is built up through the detection and analysis of a variety of as trophysical observables: isotopic and elemental abundance patterns\, elect romagnetic signatures\, and radioisotopes. The interpretation of each type of observable is complicated by the unknown nuclear physics of the thousa nds of neutron-rich species that participate in the *r* process. Here we w ill describe a few examples of how *r*-process observables can be exploite d to provide clues as to the nature of *r*-process site(s) of production\, and note how current and upcoming experiments at radioactive beam facili ties can provide crucial data and fresh insight.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.a c.za/event/101/contributions/1929/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1929/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Isospin dependence of NN correlations\, quenching of spectroscopic factors\, and effects on other nuclear structure observables DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T110000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T113000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1932@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Marina Petri (University of York)\nAlthough the atom ic nucleus consists of strongly interacting nucleons\, it is noteworthy th at for such strongly interacting quantum system the independent-particle m odel is proven to be a valid approximation and has provided a basic framew ork to explain many properties of nuclei. However\, correlations between t he nucleons\, both of short- and long-range nature\, modify the mean-field approximation and dilute the pure independent-particle picture. Notably\, these correlations are thought to be the reason for the quenching of spec troscopic factors observed in (e\,e’p)\, (p\,2p) and single-nucleon dire ct reactions [1]. Following from the observed increase of the high-momentu m component of the proton momentum density in a neutron-rich nucleus [2]\, we proposed a phenomenological approach to examine the role of NN short- and long-range correlations and their evolution in asymmetric systems [3]. The model predictions correlate well with the reduced proton occupancies for states below or near the Fermi level [4\,5]\, as a function of the asy mmetry (N-Z)/A\, and also shed light on the question of quenching in inter mediate energy single-nucleon knockout on complex targets [6].\n\nIn this talk I will discuss our work [3] and further implications of our approach to other low-energy nuclear structure observables. \n\n[1] W. Dickhoff an d C. Barbieri\, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. **52** (2004) 377. \n[2] M. Duer e t al.\, Nature **560** (2018) 617. \n[3] S. Paschalis\, M. Petri\, A.O. Ma cchiavelli\, O. Hen\, and E. Piasetzky\, Phys. Lett. B **800** (2020) 1351 10. \n[4] G. Kramer\, H. Blok and L. Lapikas\, Nucl. Phys. A **679** (2001 ) 267. \n[5] L. Atar et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. **120** (2018) 052501. \n[6 ] J. A. Tostevin and A. Gade\, Phys. Rev. C **103** (2021) 054610.\n\nhttp s://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1932/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1932/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Coexistence of single-particle and collective structures in 1f $_{ 7/2}$ nuclei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T104000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1863@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Ritwika Chakrabarti (Department of Physics\, Univers ity of Mumbai\, Mumbai\, India)\nNuclei in $A\\sim50$ region that are clos e to the line of stability and have ($1f_{7/2}$)$^{n}$ ground state config uration for both proton and neutron\, were investigated. Particularly\, $^ {51}Cr$ (Z =24) and $^{50}V$(Z =23) are of special interest as the proton $1f_{7/2}$ is only about half-occupied\, but number of neutrons in neutr on $1f_{7/2}$ orbital is just one short of the shell closure. The proton configuration is expected to induce collective behavior while the neutron configuration should lead to a single-particle structure. Hence these nuc lei provide a fertile ground for studying the interplay of collective and single-particle effects. Two different experiments employing $^{27}Al$( $ ^{28}Si$\, 3$p1n$)$^{51}Cr$ and $^{48}Ti$($α$\, $pn$)$^{50}V$ reactions w ere carried out at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research\, Mumbai\, India and Variable energy Cyclotron Centre\, Kolkata\, India to investigate the level structures of these nuclei.\n\nEarlier work on $^{50}V$ level schem e dates back to the sixties and seventies decade that were carried out wit h a modest number of Ge(Li) detectors[ 1\, 2]. The latest work on $^{51}Cr $ nucleus was reported in the beginning of the decade of nineties employin g only five HPGe detectors [3]. The present experimental setups consisted of large clover detector arrays (INGA: Indian National Gamma Array)\, and this has led to considerable extension in the level scheme of both of thes e nuclei. The level schemes mostly reveal irregular spacing of the levels and follow shell model pattern. However deformation\, though not substanti al\, has been considered in the interpretation of non-yrast bands. Particu larly both show a non-yrast band decaying to the ground state along with t he yrast band. In $^{51}Cr$\, long-elusive fast feeding transitions to cer tain yrast states have been observed. Lifetimes of these states have been extracted employing DSAM technique. Large Scale Shell Model (LSSM) calcula tions using NuShellX @MSU[4] code has been carried out for both the nuclei in the full $fp$ valence space in the present work\, unlike the previous calculations that restricted the number of particle excitations. Experimen tal results\, theoretical calculations and their interpretations will be p resented in detail during the conference.\n\n[1] A. Giorni et al.\, Nucl. Phys. A 292 (1977) 213\n[2] D. L Kennedy et al.\, Nucl. Phys. A 293 (1977) 150\n[3] J. A. Cameron etal.\, Phys. Rev. C 44 (1991) 2358\n[4] B. A Brow n and W. D. M Rae\, Nucl. Data Sheets 120 (2014) 115\n\nhttps://indico.tla bs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1863/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1863/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Statistical properties of the well deformed $^{153\,155}$Sm nuclei and the scissors resonance DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T102000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T104000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1945@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kgashane Malatji (iThemba LABS)\nThe rare-earth isot opic chain of Samarium provides an excellent opportunity to systematically investigate the evolution of nuclear structure effects from the near-sphe rical ($β_{2}$=0.00) $^{144}$Sm isotope to the well-deformed system ($β_ {2}$=0.27) $^{154}$Sm. As the nuclear shape changes\, statistical properti es such as the nuclear level density (NLD) and $\\gamma$-strength function ($\\gamma$SF) are expected to be affected. In particular resonance modes\ , such as the Pygmy Dipole (PDR)\, Scissors Resonances (SR)\, and the rece ntly discovered Low-Energy Enhancement (LEE) in the rare-earth region may reveal interesting features when their evolution is investigated across se veral nuclei in an isotopic chain. An experiment was performed at Oslo Cyc lotron Laboratory (OCL) where the NaI(Tl) $\\gamma$-ray array and silicon particle telescopes were utilized to measure particle-$\\gamma$ coincidenc e events from which the NLDs and $\\gamma$SFs have been extracted below th e neutron threshold\, Sn\, using the Oslo Method (A. Schiller et al.\, 200 0). The deuteron beam was used to populate excited states in $^{153\,155}$ Sm through transfer reaction (d\,p$\\gamma$). Based on the results from th ese measurements\, the extracted NLDs and $\\gamma$SFs have been used to i nvestigate the evolution of nuclear structure effects\, in particular the SR\, in $^{153\,155}$Sm. In this talk\, I will present results of statisti cal properties for $^{153\,155}$Sm and compare them to previous measuremen ts of $^{148\,149}$Sm and $^{151-154}$Sm.\n\nThis work is based on the res earch supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Afric a (Grant Number 118846) and by the IAEA under Research Contract 20454.\n\n https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1945/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1945/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ab initio theory and the structure of heavy nuclei DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T102000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1850@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jason Holt (TRIUMF)\nBreakthroughs in our treatment of the many-body problem and nuclear forces are rapidly transforming moder n nuclear theory into a true first-principles discipline. This allows us t o address some of the most exciting questions at the frontiers of nuclear structure and physics beyond the standard model\, such as the nature of da rk matter and neutrino masses\, as well as searches for violations of fund amental symmetries in nature. \n\nIn this talk I will briefly outline our many-body approach\, the valence-space in-medium similarity renormalizatio n group\, and how recent advances now allows us to calculate converged pro perties of closed- and open-shell nuclei to the $^{208}$Pb region and beyo nd. In particular correlations of the neutron skin and dipole polarizabili ty in heavy nuclei provide new constraints on symmetry energy parameters f or determining neutron star properties. Finally\, I will finally highlight new results for converged calculations of neutrinoless double beta decay and WIMP-nucleus scattering in heavy nuclei.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za /event/101/contributions/1850/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1850/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Optical Spectroscopy of the Heaviest Elements DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1928@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mustapha Laatiaoui (JGU)\nFollowing their discovery\ , great progress has been made in recent years in elucidating the atomic a nd nuclear properties of the superheavy elements\, driven by the need to u nderstand nuclear stability and how these atoms behave chemically.\nOptica l spectroscopy enables experimental exploration of the atomic structure of the elements and equally provides an alternative access to important nucl ear properties\, such as spins\, moments\, and changes in the mean squares of the charge radii. In this respect\, however\, the superheavy elements are still unexplored territory.\nEven certain isotopes of fermium (Fm\, $Z =100$)\, which can still be obtained in macroscopic quantities\, are chall enging for such studies\, not to mention transfermium elements that can be produced only at in-flight separator facilities.\nIn recent decades\, las er resonance ionization spectroscopy has emerged as the method of choice f or initial atomic level searches and subsequent hyperfine spectroscopy in the region of the heaviest elements. The successful application of this me thod to the element nobelium (No\, $Z=102$)\, has fueled efforts to study even heavier\, more exotic radionuclides.\nIn this talk\, I will present r esults from recent spectroscopy of $^{252-255}$No and $^{248-250\,254\,255 \,257}$Fm\, followed by a brief outlook towards the spectroscopy of lawren cium ($Z=103$).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1928 / LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1928/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nucleosynthesis in Novae and X-Ray Bursts – Open Issues DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T085500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T091500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1851@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jordi Jose (UPC Barcelona)\nClassical novae are ther monuclear explosions that take place in the H-rich envelopes of accreting white dwarfs in stellar binary systems. The material piles up under degene rate conditions\, driving a thermonuclear runaway. The energy released by the suite of nuclear processes operating at the envelope heats the materia l up to peak temperatures of 100 - 400 MK. During these events\, about $10 ^{-7}$ – $10^{-4}$ solar masses\, enriched in CNO and\, sometimes\, othe r intermediate-mass elements (e.g.\, Ne\, Na\, Mg\, Al) are ejected into t he interstellar medium. This suggests mixing between solar composition mat erial transferred from the secondary and the outermost layers of the under lying white dwarf during the thermonuclear runaway. This paper explores a new methodology that combines 1D and 3D simulations. The early stages of t he explosion (i.e.\, mass-accretion and initiation of the runaway) were co mputed with the 1D hydrodynamic code SHIVA. When convection extended throu ghout the entire envelope\, the structures for each model were mapped into 3D Cartesian grids and were subsequently followed with the multidimension al code FLASH. Two key physical quantities were extracted from the 3D simu lations and were subsequently implemented into SHIVA\, which was used to c omplete the simulation through the late expansion and ejection stages: the time-dependent amount of mass dredged-up from the outer white dwarf layer s\, and the time-dependent convective velocity profile throughout the enve lope. Implications for nova nucleosynthesis\, with emphasis on $^7$Li\, wi ll be discussed.\n\nA similar type of explosion\, X-Ray Bursts (XRB)\, occ urs in the envelopes of accreting neutron stars in stellar binary systems. The overall energy output in a typical XRB\, $10^{39}$ erg\, is released in a timescale between 10 - 100 s. Maximum temperatures during the explosi on reach 1 GK\, with a nuclear activity reaching species with atomic masse s around A = 60 (and probably beyond). A major challenge in the modeling o f XRBs is associated with the lack of observational nucleosynthetic constr aints. It is unclear whether XRBs contribute to Galactic abundances becaus e of the extremely large escape velocities from a neutron star surface. In deed\, the energy required to escape from the strong gravitational field o f a neutron star of mass M and radius R is G M mp/R ∼ 200 MeV/nucleon\, whereas the nuclear energy released from thermonuclear fusion of solar-lik e matter into Fe-group elements is only ∼ 5 MeV/nucleon. New results bas ed on the coupling of hydrodynamic simulations and radiation-driven winds will be presented.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1 851/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1851/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Ferromagnetism in neutron matter DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T083500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T085500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1860@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Jacobus Diener (Botswana International University of Science and Technology)\nA neutron star is one of the possible end states of a massive star. It is compressed by gravity and stabilized by the nuc lear degeneracy pressure. Despite its name\, the composition of these obj ects are not exactly known. However\, from the inferred densities\, neutr ons will most likely compose a significant fraction of the star’s interi or. While all neutron stars are expected to have a magnetic field\, some neutron stars ("magnetars") are much more highly magnetized than others: t he inferred magnetar surface magnetic field is between $10^{14}$ to $10^{1 5}$ gauss.\n\nWhile neutron stars are macroscopic objects\, due to the ext reme value of the stars' energy\, pressure\, and magnetic field the physic s of the microscopic scale can be imprinted on the star's large scale beha viour. Hence a possible significant contribution to the superstrong magne tar magnetic field could come from a neutron ferromagnetic state in the ma gnetar interior. \n\nThis talk will focus on describing the thermodynamics of magnetized dense neutron matter\, its equation of state\, and possible observational implications for neutron stars.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac. za/event/101/contributions/1860/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1860/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Nuclear Astrophysics with the K600 and the CAKE DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T081500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T083500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1836@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Philip Adsley (iThemba LABS/Wits)\nThe K600 magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS has been augmented over the last few years w ith various ancillary detectors for coincidence measurements. One of these ancillary detector arrays is the Coincidence Array for K600 Experiments ( the CAKE) which consists of double-sided silicon strip detectors.\n\nOne o f the mainstays of the experimental programme of the K600 and the CAKE has been nuclear astrophysics\, in particular the measurement of decay modes from excited states in nuclei\, populated in direct reactions using the K6 00. Recent highlights include the observation and characterisation of poss ible low-energy resonances in the $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C fusion reaction using the $^{24}$Mg($\\alpha\,\\alpha^\\prime$)$^{24}$Mg reaction\, and a measur ement of proton branching ratios in $^{22}$Mg populated with the $^{24}$Mg ($p\,t$)$^{22}$Mg reaction.\n\nThis talk will introduce the K600 and the C AKE and discuss some recent highlights from experimental studies.\n\nhttps ://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1836/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1836/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Neutron capture cross section measurements for the astrophysical s -process DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T074500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210921T081500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1926@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Claudia Lederer-Woods ()\nThe slow neutron capture p rocess (s-process) is responsible for producing about half of the elementa l abundances between Fe and Bi in our cosmos. It occurs in low mass stars (1-5 solar masses) during their Asymptotic Giant Branch phase\, and in mas sive stars during He core\, and C shell burning. Neutron capture cross sec tions at stellar neutron energies are a key input for stellar models to pr edict abundances produced in the s-process. I will present recent results of cross section measurements and their astrophysical implications.\n\nht tps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1926/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1926/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Flow measurement and characterisation from positron annihilation DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T125000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T131000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1857@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Thomas Leadbeater (University of Cape Town)\nFlow fo llowing tracer particles containing short lived positron emitting species are placed inside physical and engineering devices. The pairs of photons p roduced by positron annihilation are detected in coincidence by large arra ys of high speed position sensitive detectors\, and used to determine the near-instantaneous position of the tracer. Hence the resulting bulk dynami cs occurring inside the device are inferred in a technique known as Positr on Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT).\n\nAt the largest multidisciplinary national research facility in South Africa\, the iThemba Laboratory for Ac celerator Based Sciences (iThemba LABS)\, PEPT is used by the University o f Cape Town group to study dynamic physical processes\, turbulent\, and mu ltiphase flow phenomena. Such studies are of interest to industry\, partic ularly in the South African context of mining and minerals processing. Fur ther applications address global challenge topics including problems of wa ter scarce environments\, reducing industrial wastes\, and towards sustain able economies through improved process efficiencies and design led approa ches.\n\nThe applications of PEPT\, and alternative complimentary measurem ent techniques\, have enabled the development of flow metrology systems ap plicable to real world problems. Recent research produced by the PEPT Cape Town laboratory will be discussed\, including aspects of our four key the mes: instrumentation & detector development\, radioisotope tracer techniqu es (physical and chemical)\, data acquisition & processing\, and applicati ons.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1857/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1857/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Upgrade of the iThemba LABS Fast Neutron Beam Facility towards ISO /IEC 17025 Accreditation DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T123000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T125000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1859@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Zina Ndabeni (University of Cape Town / iThemba LABS )\nThe iThemba LABS fast neutron beam facility (D-line vault) is an intern ational niche facility that can provide ns-pulsed quasi-monoenergetic neut ron beams in the energy range of 30 to 200 MeV. Other available neutron be am facilities\, with energy range similar to this facility\, are described in details by the EURADOS (European Radiation Dosimetry) Report [1]. In t he D-line\, quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams are typically produced via $ ^7$Li(p\,xn) or $^9$Be(p\,xn) reactions using proton beams available from the separated sector cyclotron (SSC). The facility first became operationa l in the late 1980s [2] and had remained practically unchanged for over 30 years. The Themba LABS fast neutron beam facility has been designated by the National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA) to be an entity r esponsible for providing traceability for the medium and high-energy neutr on measurements in South Africa. As a result\, the facility has to undergo a major upgrade and development in order to achieve ISO/IEC 17025 accredi tation status for the medium and high-energy neutron region. We present th e status on the progress of the D-line vault upgrade\, including prelimina ry results from previous measurements of the neutron background from the o riginal configuration of the vault.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/10 1/contributions/1859/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1859/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Precision electroweak measurements of the neutron radii of calcium and lead DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T120000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T123000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1927@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mark Dalton (Jefferson Lab)\nThe RMS radius of neutr ons within a nucleus may be measured cleanly\, and without model dependenc e arising from hadronic interactions\, through the parity-violating electr oweak asymmetry in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized elec trons. The PREX2 and CREX experiments recently measured the neutron radiu s of lead-208 and calcium-48 with varied physical implications from the un derstanding of neutron stars to the role of 3-neutron forces in microscopi c models\, and together provide a meaningful constraint on the density dep endence of the symmetry energy in neutron rich nuclear matter\, a paramete r of the nuclear equation of state. The analysis and results of the exper iment will be presented\, along with a brief discussion of the experimenta l techniques and challenges required to achieve this precise measurement.\ n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1927/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1927/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy at RIKEN DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T110000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T113000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1931@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Kathrin Wimmer ()\nAt the Radioactive Isotope Beam F actory at the RIKEN Nishina Center in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy experime nts take advantage of the wide range of radioactive ion beams produced by the projectile fragmentation and fission. Isotopes of interest are separat ed by the BigRIPS fragment separator and guide to a secondary target. Reac tion residues are identified either in the ZeroDegree spectrometer or with the SAMURAI setup. Gamma rays emitted at the reaction target are detected with high efficiency in the DALI2 NaI(Tl) array. The HiCARI project (High -resolution Cluster Array at RIBF) aimed at overcoming the limitations of the DALI2 array by combining several germanium based detectors from around the world. In 2020/21\, an experimental campaign was launched studying ne utron-rich nuclei from Ca to Te isotopes with high resolution using HiCARI . \nThe physics program includes a wide range of topics in nuclear structu re addressing collective and single-particle structure of nuclei very far from stability. In this talk\, I will present selected results on the spec troscopy of very exotic nuclei and discuss future prospects of in-beam gam ma-ray spectroscopy at the RIBF.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/c ontributions/1931/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1931/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Low-lying dipole and quadrupole states as new excitation modes DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T104000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T110000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1853@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Edoardo G. Lanza ()\nWe briefly review the propertie s of the low-lying dipole states known as Pygmy Dipole Resonance trying to select the main one which could define this new excitation mode. A good c andidate seems to be the isoscalar-isovector mixing which has been proved by both theoretical and experimental investigations. On the other hand\, t he study of the low-lying quadrupole states do not seem to provide clear e vidence for a new excitation mode. The theoretical approaches used to inve stigate the quadrupole response reach different conclusions and the experi mental data can only clearly establish the multipolarities of the states a nd their one-phonon character. Moreover\, cross section calculations are n ot sensitive enough to disentangle between quadrupole states which are con sidered\, in one of the theoretical approach\, as due to different excitat ion mode.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1853/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1853/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Transfer reactions to populate the PDR in 96Mo DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T102000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T104000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1837@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Thuthukile Khumalo (iThemba LABS)\nThe pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) is a cluster of 1- states around and below the neutron sep aration energy and has gained traction in nuclear structure studies. The m icroscopic nature of the PDR is still an open question in particular\, whe ther these 1- states could be defined as collective or being dominated by specific single-particle configurations. The study here presented is one of the first attempts to investigate the question of collectivity by explo iting the sensitivity of one-particle transfer reactions to excite single- particle states. The measurements of transfer reactions (p\,d) and (d\,p) were performed on two different targets to populate the $^{96}$Mo residual nucleus. The ejectiles were detected\, identified and momentum-analyzed b y the MAGNEX spectrometer and its focal-plane detector which is installed at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud of Instituto di Fisica Nucleare (INFN- LNS) in Catania\, Italy. In this talk\, the data reduction process of the (p\,d) reaction will be presented together with some preliminary results. \nThis work is based on the research supported in part by the National Res earch Foundation (NRF) of South Africa grant number 118846.\n\nhttps://ind ico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1837/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1837/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Electric and magnetic dipole response in $^{58}$Ni from inelastic proton scattering DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T102000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1861@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Isabelle Brandherm (TU Darmstadt)\nInelastic proton scattering at very forward angles is an excellent tool for studying the di pole response in nuclei [1]. Reactions with intermediate proton energies o f a few hundred MeV and scattering angles close to 0$^\\circ$ are particul arly suited to investigate the isovector spin-flip M1 resonance due to the strong spin-isospin dependent part of the effective proton-neutron intera ction in this kinematics. Furthermore\, the electric dipole response can b e measured over a wide excitation energy range. This provides information about the electric dipole polarizability which is related to the neutron-s kin thickness and the density dependence of the symmetry energy parameter [2\,3].\nAn inelastic proton scattering experiment with a 295 MeV proton b eam on a $^{58}$Ni target was performed at the Reserach Centre for Nuclear Physics (RCNP) in Osaka. A high energy resolution of $\\approx$ 20 keV FW HM could be achieved. Electric and magnetic dipole contributions to the cr oss section were obtained by a multipole decomposition analysis based on D WBA calculations. The dipole strength distribution of $^{58}$Ni has been e xtensively measured with nuclear resonance fluorescence [4\,5] and inelast ic electron scattering [6]. A comparison of the different methods sheds li ght on various features of nuclear structure such as spin and orbital cont ributions to the magnetic dipole strength and the nature of low-energy ele ctric dipole transitions. \n$ $\n[1] P. von Neumann-Cosel and A. Tamii\, E ur. Phys. J. A 55\, 110 (2019).\n[2] A. Tamii et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 10 7\, 062502 (2011).\n[3] J. Birkhan et al.\, Phys. Rev. Lett. 118\, 252501 (2017).\n[4] M. Scheck et al.\, Phys. Rev. C 88\, 044304 (2013).\n[5] J. S inclair\, priv. com. (2019). \n[6] W. Mettner et al.\, Nucl. Phys. A473\, 160 (1987). \nSupported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG\, Germ an Research Foundation) - Project-ID 279384907 - SFB 1245.\n\nhttps://indi co.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1861/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1861/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Complementarity and Future Prospects on experiments using the high -resolution magnetic spectrometers at RCNP and iThemba LABS DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1941@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Atsushi Tamii (Research Center for Nuclear Physics\, Osaka University)\nStudies of nuclear excited states using High-resolutio n light-ion reactions have extensively been performed at RCNP and iThemba LABS in the past decades. Both facilities are unique for realizing zero-de gree inelastic scattering experiments using proton or alpha particles and for the high-resolution capability of 20 keV.\nFor example\, the proton-sc attering experiment at zero degrees [1] has enabled the studies of electri c dipole (E1) strengths of the giant and pygmy dipole resonances by Coulom b excitation\, gamma-strength function\, and spin-M1 excitations by nuclea r excitation. Fluctuation analysis of high-resolution spectra has provided information on the level density above the neutron threshold. Isoscalar e xcitation strength distribution\, e.g.\, giant monopole resonance\, has be en measured by inelastic alpha scattering [2].\nWe have recently started a joint project\, PANDORA (Photo-Absorption of Nuclei and Decay Observation for Reactions in Astrophysics) [3]\, among RCNP\, iThemba LABS\, and ELI- NP\, aiming to study photo-nuclear reactions below a mass of A=60. The pri mary motivation of the project is to measure reliable systematic data on t he photo-absorption cross-sections and p-\, alpha-\, n- and gamma-decay br anching ratios by combining Coulomb excitation and real-gamma beam experim ents. Both the RCNP and iThemba LABS employ the Coulomb excitation by prot on scattering. The former facility can measure excited states up to the hi gher energy of 32 MeV\, but the latter is advanced for the efficient char ged-particle and gamma detectors.\nAt the conference\, I plan to introduce the unique features and the highlights of the RCNP and iThemba LABS facil ities\, including the advantages of each facility and the complementary fu ture projects.\n\n[1] P. vonNeumann-Cosel and A. Tamii\, Eur. Phys. J. A 5 5\, 110 (2019).\n\n[2] U. Garg and G. Colò\, Prog. in Part. and Nucl. Phy s. 101\, 55 (2018).\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/ 1941/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1941/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Heavy Ions in Therapy and Space DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T084500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T091500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1933@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Marco Durante (GSI)\nResearch in the field of biolog ical effects of heavy charged particles is needed for both heavy-ion thera py (hadrontherapy) and protection from the exposure to galactic cosmic rad iation in long-term manned space missions. Although the exposure condition s (e.g. high- vs. low-dose rate) are different in therapy and space\, it i s clear that a substantial overlap exists in several research topics\, suc h as individual radiosensitivity\, mixed radiation fields\, and tissue deg enerative effects. Late effects of heavy ions are arguably the main health risk for human space exploration\, and with the increasing number of canc er patients treated by heavy-ion therapy\, including young adults and chil dren\, this issue is now becoming the main source of uncertainty for the s uccess of hadrontherapy as well. Reducing uncertainty in both cancer and n oncancer late risk estimates is therefore the first priority in heavy-ion radiobiology. In addition\, researchers involved either in experimental st udies on space radiation protection or heavy-ion therapy often use the sam e accelerator facilities. Several heavy-ion therapy facilities are now und er construction or planned in Europe\, USA\, and Japan. Beamtime will be a vailable at these facilities for clinical radiobiology and basic heavy-ion effects experimental research\, as already happens since several years at the HIMAC in Japan. The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) in Brookha ven (Long Island\, NY) provides beams of very heavy ions at energies aroun d 1 GeV/n which are of specific interest for space radiobiology. In Europe \, these very high energy beams are available at GSI in Germany\, where th e new Facility for Antiprotons and Ion Research (FAIR) is currently under construction. It is foreseeable that the availability of beamtime and the presence of many dedicated research programs will lead to great improvemen ts in our knowledge of biological effects of heavy ions in the coming few years.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1933/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1933/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Highlights from GANIL DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T081500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T084500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-2035@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Olivier Sorlin (GANIL)\nIn this presentation I will show some recent results obtained at GANIL.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/ event/101/contributions/2035/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/2035/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:R-process in neutron star mergers and magneto-rotational supernova e DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T074500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20210920T081500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260719T132922Z UID:indico-contribution-101-1930@indico.tlabs.ac.za DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Almudena Arcones (TU Darmstadt and GSI)\nThe heavies t elements form by the rapid neutron capture process (r-process) in neutro n star mergers and rare core-collapse supernovae. The light curve of the k ilonova following the neutron star merger GW170817 showed indications of h eavy elements being produced and direct observation of Strontium. This tal k will report on recent breakthroughs in understanding the extreme environ ment in which the formation of the heavy elements occurs\, as well as open questions regarding the astrophysics and nuclear physics involved.\n\nhtt ps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1930/ LOCATION: URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/101/contributions/1930/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR