Experimental investigation of ground-state properties of 7H with transfer reactions

Abstract

The properties of nuclei with extreme neutron–to–proton ratios, far from those naturally occurring on Earth, are key to understand nuclear forces and how nucleons hold together to form nuclei. 7H, with six neutrons and a single proton, is the nuclear system with the most unbalanced neutron–to–proton ratio known so far. However, its sheer existence and properties are still a challenge for experimental efforts and theoretical models. Here we report experimental evidences on the formation of 7H as a resonance, detected with independent observables, and the first measurement of the structure of its ground state. The resonance is found at ∼0.7 MeV above the 3H+4n mass, with a narrow width of ∼0.2 MeV and a spin and parity. These data are consistent with a 7H as a 3H core surrounded by an extended four-neutron halo, with a unique four-neutron decay and a relatively long half-life thanks to neutron pairing; a prime example of new phenomena occurring in what would be the most pure-neutron nuclear matter we can access in the laboratory.