Lasers at ISOLDE. RILIS experiment
(Image: CERN)
Geneva 1 st October 2018. An unprecedented combination of experimental nuclear physics and theoretical and computational modelling techniques has been brought together to reveal the full extent of the odd-even shape staggering of exotic mercury isotopes, and explain how it happens. The result, from an international team at the ISOLDE nuclear physics facility at CERN 1 , published today , demonstrates and explains a phenomenon unique to mercury isotopes where the shape of the atomic nuclei dramatically moves between a football and rugby ball. Isotopes are forms of an element that contain the same number of protons in their nuclei but different numbers of neutrons. The properties of different isotopes can be exploited in a variety of ways including archaeological and historical dating (Carbon 14) and medical diagnostics. Stable isotopes have an optimal ratio of protons to neutrons. However, as the number of neutrons decreases or increases, structural changes to the nucleus are required and the isotope typically becomes unstable.
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