One hundred years after Rutherford’s first measurement, nuclear reactions continue to be a critical probe of the properties of atomic nuclei and informing the synthesis of elements in the cosmos. The frontiers involve reactions with unstable nuclei and pushing towards the limits of nuclear stability. To realize these studies requires the development of accelerated radioactive ion beams (RIBs) with sufficient intensity for measurements and high-efficiency, large solid angle arrays of detectors of nuclear radiations. Of particular interest is the measurement of neutron-transfer reactions often now with a RIB interacting with a CD2 target to realize (d,pγ) studies. The Oak Ridge Rutgers University Barrel Array (ORRUBA), an almost a 4-π array of position-sensitive silicon strip detectors, has become a key instrument for these studies. It can now be coupled to large arrays of gamma-ray detectors, such as Gammasphere or GRETINA or in the future GRETA, to realize GODDESS: Gamma-array ORRUBA: Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies. The GODDESS commissioning experiment identified new states in 135Xe with configurations above the N=82 shell closure. The winter 2019 campaign studied the (d,pγ) reaction with beams of 30P and 134Te. The 30P measurement populates 31P states that are mirrors to states populated in the 30P(p,γ)31S reaction that is a potential bottleneck in nucleosynthesis in novae. The 134Te(d,pγ) study could be interpreted as a surrogate for neutron capture on this fission fragment near the r-process path of nucleosynthesis. The present talk will provide an overview of the GODDESS instrumentation and capabilities. Preliminary results from the first measurements would be reported.

Nuclear reaction studies with GODDESS

2019 Fall National Meeting

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