Excitation Energies in Rare Isotopes as Indicators of Shell Evolution

Abstract

The quest for a comprehensive and predictive model of atomic nuclei drives experimental and theoretical research endeavors around the world. The properties of short-lived, rare isotopes emerge as key ingredients for the development of nuclear models not only because they serve as crucial benchmarks for extrapolations into uncharted nuclear territory, but many important aspects of the interactions between the constituent nucleons are amplified in the regime of largely unbalanced proton and neutron numbers.