One-neutron removal measurement reveals 24O as a new doubly magic nucleus

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Apr 17;102(15):152501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.152501. Epub 2009 Apr 13.

Abstract

The first measurement of the momentum distribution for one-neutron removal from (24)O at 920A MeV performed at GSI, Darmstadt is reported. The observed distribution has a width (FWHM) of 99 +/- 4 MeV/c in the projectile rest frame and a one-neutron removal cross section of 63 +/- 7 mb. The results are well explained with a nearly pure 2s_{1/2} neutron spectroscopic factor of 1.74 +/- 0.19 within the eikonal model. This large s-wave probability shows a spherical shell closure thereby confirming earlier suggestions that (24)O is a new doubly magic nucleus.