On the nucleon instability of heavy oxygen isotopes

Abstract

The instability of the ${}^{26}$O nucleus with respect to decay through the two-neutron channel is investigated. It is shown that this isotope, unobserved in the fragmentation experiments, can exist as a narrow resonance in the system ${}^{24}$O+2n. A role of deformation in formation of the neutron-drip line in the region $N\sim 20$ is discussed.

5 pages, LaTeX