Evidence for the ${}^{15}\text{Be}$ ground state from ${}^{12}$Be$+3$n events

Abstract

Background: ${}^{15}$Be is an unbound nuclide that has been observed to decay by one-neutron emission. Shell model calculations predict two low-lying states in its energy spectrum, however, only a single resonance has been observed from coincident measurements of ${}^{14}$Be+n. It has been suggested that the yet unobserved state may decay sequentially through the first excited state in ${}^{14}$Be followed by a two-neutron emission to ${}^{12}$Be. Purpose: The ground state of ${}^{15}$Be has yet to be confirmed. A search for this predicted ${}^{15}$Be state by reconstructing ${}^{12}$Be$+3$n events allows a possible determination of its ground state properties. Methods: A neutron-pickup reaction was performed with a ${}^{14}$Be beam on a CD${}_2$ target to populate unbound ${}^{15}$Be states. Decay energies were reconstructed using invariant mass spectroscopy by detecting ${}^{12}$Be daughter nuclei in coincidence with up to three neutrons. Results: Evidence for at least one resonance in ${}^{15}$Be is presented based on the reconstruction of ${}^{12}$Be$+3$n events. Through comparison with simulations, the energy of the strongest resonance in the analyzed reaction and decay channel is determined to be $E_{{}^{12}Be+3n}=330(20)$ keV. Conclusions: The inclusion of a new ${}^{15}$Be state among the ${}^{12}$Be+$3$n events lower in relative decay energy than the previous ${}^{14}$Be+n observations provides the best fit to the data. Because this suggested new state would be lower in energy than the previously observed state, it is a candidate for the ground state of ${}^{15}$Be.

Accepted to Physical Review C