Spectroscopy of proton unbound states in 32Cl

Abstract

This project aimed to investigate proton unbound states in 32Cl using the 32S(3He; t) charge-exchange reaction. This research is relevant both in the context of nuclear structure and astrophysics. Excited states in 32Cl up to Ex 6 MeV were produced using a 50 MeV 3He++ beam from the K200 separated sector cyclotron at iThemba LABS. The triton ejectiles were mass analysed and detected at the focal plane of the K600 magnetic spectrometer. An additional segmented silicon detector array called CAKE was used to detect the unbound protons from states in 32Cl in conjunction with the tritons. In this work we looked for potential sources of isospin admixture that could explain the apparent violation of the Isobaric Multiplet Mass Equation (IMME) for the A = 32, T = 2 quintet. We also investigated the possibility of determining the 31S(p; ) reaction rate indirectly, via measurements of the partial proton widths of unbound states in 32Cl.