The 76Cu conundrum remains unsolved

Abstract

Near the doubly-magic nucleus 78Ni (Z=28, N=50), there has been a decades-long debate on the existence of a long-lived isomer in 76Cu. A recent mass measurement claimed to have settled the debate, by measuring the energy of the isomer and shedding light on the structure of the nucleus. In this work, we present new, more accurate, and precise values of the half-lives of the isomeric and ground states in 76Cu. Our findings suggest that both states have very similar half-lives, in the 600–700 ms range, in disagreement with the literature values, implying that they cannot be differentiated by their decay curves. These results raise more questions than they answer, reopening the debate and showing that the structures in 76Cu are still not fully understood.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Olaizola, B. Illana, A. Benito, J. Suárez-Bustamante, D. P. Del Piccolo, G. Algora, A. Andel, B. Andreyev, A. N. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2828-0262 Araszkiewicz, M. Ayyad, Y. Bark, R. A. Berry, T. Borge, M. J.G. Chrysalidis, K. Cocolios, T. E. Costache, C. Cubiss, J. G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5076-8654 Van Duppen, P. Favier, Z. Fraile, L. M. Fynbo, H. O.U. Galtarossa, F. Georgiev, G. Greenless, P. T. Grzywacz, R. Harkness-Brennan, L. J. Heinke, R. Huyse, M. Ibañez, P. Johnston, K. Jones, P. M. Judson, D. S. Konki, J. Korgul, A. Köster, U. Kurcewicz, J. Labiche, M. Lazarus, I. Lică, R. Llanos-Expósito, M. Madurga, M. Marginean, N. Marginean, R. Marsh, B. A. Mihai, C. Page, C. A.A. Raison, C. Siciliano, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7354-5368 Wadsworth, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4187-3102 Yue, Z. (zixuan.yue@york.ac.uk)
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s)
Keywords:	Cu,Zn,Isomer,β decay
Dates:	Accepted: 5 May 2025 Published (online): 15 May 2025 Published: July 2025
Institution:	The University of York
Academic Units:	The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Physics (York) The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > English and Related Literature (York) The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Health Sciences (York)
Funding Information:	Funder Grant number SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL (STFC) ST/Y000285/1
Depositing User:	Pure (York)
Date Deposited:	20 May 2025 09:50
Last Modified:	25 Sep 2025 13:10
Published Version:	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2025.139551
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1016/j.physletb.2025.139551
Related URLs:	http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?...
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:226870

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The 76Cu conundrum remains unsolved

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