title: Blurring the boundaries: decays of multiparticle isomers at the proton drip line.
abstract: A multiparticle spin-trap isomer has been discovered in the proton-unbound nucleus (73)(158)Ta85 . The isomer mainly decays by γ-ray emission with a half-life of 6.1(1) μs. Analysis of the γ-ray data shows that the isomer lies 2668 keV above the known 9+ state and has a spin 10ℏ higher and negative parity. This 19- isomer also has an 8644(11) keV, 1.4(2)% α-decay branch that populates the 9+ state in (154)Lu. No proton-decay branch from the isomer was identified, despite the isomer being unbound to proton emission by 3261(14) keV. This remarkable stability against proton emission is compared with theoretical predictions, and the implications for the extent of observable nuclides are considered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Oliver Lodge Laboratory, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Jyväskylä, P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland.
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