The path of the astrophysical r process and the resulting elemental distribution are dependent on the neutron-separation energies of species far from stability. The mass models used to extrapolate these energies have increasing uncertainties with neutron number. Therefore, precision mass measurements of species near the r-process path are vital to generate more precise predictions of elemental ...

Results of tests on NaI scintillation crystals operated at cryogenic temperatures are described. Crystals grown using both the Bridgeman-Stockbarger and Czochralski techniques were tested. Light output and scintillation pulse shape properties are assessed as functions of temperature using gamma and 252 Cf neutron sources and the results are interpreted with a view to optimising detector perform...

Experimental data on angular distributions of γ rays emitted from binary and ternary spontaneous fission of 252 Cf are analyzed. Their difference indicates that the alignment of fragments is higher in ternary fission than in binary one. The consequences of possible relation between the mechanism of ternary fission and the excitation of collective modes during the saddle-to-scission stage are di...

Using triple-coincidence events of prompt fission gamma rays from 1995 Gammasphere data on spontaneous fission of Cf, we made a careful analysis of the yield matrix of coincident pairs of barium (Z556) and molybdenum (Z542) fission fragments. Branching from gamma bands (K52) and octupole bands (K50) are presented for even-even partners, where observable. From this reanalysis the previously prop...

We predict a molecular vibrational state in the cold binary fission of 252 Cf using a simple decay cluster model. The Hamiltonian of two even-even fragments in the pole-pole configuration is built in the same fashion as that for the dinuclear molecule formed in heavy-ions collisions. The interaction between the two fragments is described by the double-folding M3Y potential. The spectrum of the ...