Abrupt structural transition in exotic molybdenum isotopes unveils an isospin-symmetric island of inversion
Like electrons in atoms, protons and neutrons in nuclei occupy orbitals in a shell structure with energy gaps at magic numbers. Radioactive-beam experiments revealed the disappearance of magic numbers in some neutron-rich isotopes. In these nuclei, configurations involving particles excited across the shell gap gain correlation energy, becoming the ground state. Neutron-rich regions of the nuclear chart that exhibit this property are known as "Islands of Inversion". Here we present the lifetime measurement of the first 2<sup>+</sup> states in <sup>84</sup>Mo (N = Z) and <sup>86</sup>Mo (N = Z + 2) revealing an unexpected sharp structural change between them defining the edge of the region of deformation around <sup>80</sup>Zr. Similarly to the neutron-rich N = 40 Island of Inversion near <sup>64</sup>Cr where cross-shell excitations dominate, we identify this region as an Island of Inversion with symmetrical proton and neutron excitations that we term "Isospin-Symmetric Island of Inversion". Three-nucleon forces are suggested to drive Mo isotope structural changes.
Authors
- M. Grinder
- P. Aguilera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8140-7520)
- K. Rezynkina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3017-6440)
- S. M. Lenzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4666-8431)
- S. Pigliapoco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5956-640X)
- D. Bazin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5663-9693)
- R. Escudeiro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0564-9741)
- T. N. Ginter
- S. Biswas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0385-1308)
- A. Revel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2710-9287)
- M. A. Bentley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8401-3455)
- D. Weißhaar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9190-3971)
- F. Nowacki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7854-8717)
- A. Gade (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8825-0976)
- M L Cortes
- D. D. Dao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9884-4591)
- S. Carollo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5416-9425)
- Robert Elder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5615-8283)
- J. Ash (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5344-3006)
- F. Recchia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8428-0112)
- H. Iwasaki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0750-380X)
- S. Noji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0699-5443)
- D. R. Napoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8154-6958)
- R. Wadsworth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4187-3102)
- J. Li
- A. Poves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7539-388X)
- A. Sanchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3913-4677)
- P. Farris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9781-3451)
- G. de Angelis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0506-3815)
- J. Pereira (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3934-0876)
- Ji Soo Ha
- A Pompermaier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4013-4971)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (IT)
- Universidade de São Paulo (BR)
- Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien (FR)
- Institute for Basic Science (KR)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro (IT)
- University of York (GB)
- Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (ES)
- Université de Strasbourg (FR)
- Michigan State University (US)
- KU Leuven (BE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65621-2
- Primary Topic
- Nuclear physics research studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Università degli Studi di Padova
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Institute for Basic Science
- Vlaamse regering
- Office of Science
- National Nuclear Security Administration
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
- Nuclear Physics
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory