Shell-model calculations for two-neutron transfer near the $$N=20$$ island of inversion

Abstract

AbstractWe describe connections between shell-model calculation results and predictions for two-nucleon transfer reactions. Measurements of the $$^{30}$$ 30 Mg(t,p)$$^{32}$$ 32 Mg reaction were used to identify a low-lying shape-coexisting 0$$^+$$ + state in $$^{32}$$ 32 Mg. Interpretations of those early, limited data were based on simple empirical models. The cross sections for two-nucleon transfer are, however, extremely sensitive to the details of the nuclear-structure. Motivated by the possibility of new high-resolution two-nucleon transfer measurements around the $$N=20$$ N = 20 Island of Inversion, we have performed shell-model calculations wave functions for states in the nuclei $$^{30,32}$$ 30 , 32 Mg using the SDPF-M and SDPF-MU interactions, and from those calculations obtain the two-nucleon transfer amplitudes that we use to predict cross sections for the $$^{28,30}$$ 28 , 30 Mg(t,p)$$^{30,32}$$ 30 , 32 Mg reactions. The combined results show how the nuclear structure properties influence experimental observables for the (t,p) reaction. We compare our results with the existing data.