[en] Neutron-rich nuclei close to N=40 are known for their rapid changes in nuclear structure. While "6"8Ni exhibits signatures of a shell closure, experimental data - e.g. excitation energies of the 2"+_1-state and B(E2;2"+_1 → 0"+_1)-values - along the isotopic chains in even more exotic Fe and Cr-isotopes suggest a sudden rise in collective behaviour for N → 40. Lifetimes of low-lying yrast states in "5"8","6"0","6"2Cr were measured with the Recoil Distance Doppler-shift (RDDS) technique at NSCL, MSU (USA) to deduce model independent B(E2)-values. After fragmentation of a primary "8"2Se beam (E=140 AMeV) on a "9Be target and subsequent filtering with the A1900 fragment separator, high purity "5"9","6"1","6"3Mn-beams (E ∝ 95 AMeV) impinged on the "9Be plunger target, where excited states in the above mentioned Cr-isotopes were then populated in one proton knockout reactions. The S800 spectrograph allowed a clear recoil identification, which then lead to clean γ-spectra as measured by the Segmented Germanium Array (SeGA). Final results of this experiment will be shown and discussed in the context of state-of-the-art shell-model calculations.

[en] To study the nuclear structure of neutron-rich titanium isotopes, a lifetime measurement was performed at the Grand Accelerateur National d'Ions Lourds (GANIL) facility in Caen, France. The nuclei were produced in a multinucleon-transfer reaction by using a 6.76 MeV/u ²³⁸U beam. The Advanced Gamma Tracking Array (AGATA) was employed for the gamma-ray detection and target-like recoils were identified event-by-event by the large-acceptance variable mode spectrometer (VAMOS++). Preliminary level lifetimes of the (5/2^-) to (13/2^-) states of the yrast band in the neutron-rich nucleus ⁵³Ti were measured for the first time employing the recoil distance Doppler-shift (RDDS) method and the compact plunger for deep inelastic reactions. The differential decay curve method (DDCM) was used to obtain the lifetimes from the RDDS data. (authors)

[en] A new method was developed to produce enriched Sulfur targets with minimum loss of material. This was made possible by inserting Sulfur in-between two 0.5 μm Mylar foils (C10H8O4). The initial aim was to ensure that the Sulfur targets reduce by no more than 50% of the initial thickness within 24 hours under the equivalent of 10 J/cm² of integrated energy deposition by an energetic (Eb > 50 MeV) proton beam. There is no loss of enriched material while making the target, as all the material is deposited within the surface area to be exposed to the beam. During beam irradiation, the targets were frequently swivelled in order to expose each part of the target to the beam and achieve homogeneous irradiation. Targets of 0.4 mg/cm² thickness were produced and characterised using ion beam analysis technique with a 3 MeV proton beam.

[en] Whereas it is impossible to describe the Big-Bang, stellar structures or matter birth without understanding what is going on at the infinitely small level (quarks, leptons, bosons, and so on), the author reports what is already known and what is being searched for in the infinitely small and infinitely large in order to develop theoretical models to explain black matter, black energy or quantum gravitation. He also presents large international installations which have been designed to perform these studies at the speed of light, and at the limits of matter properties