<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>β</mi></math>-Decay Half-Lives of Neutron-Rich Sulfur to Potassium: Evolution of the <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mi>N</mi><mo>=</mo><mn>32</mn></math> and 34 Subshell Closures below Calcium

Q. B. Zeng; S. Nishimura; V. H. Phong; S. Yoshida; Z. H. Li; Z. Liu; H. Y. Wu; C. Y. Fu; D. S. Hou; H. Ishiyama; Y. Jang; M. Khandelwal; J. Lee; A. I. Morales; T. Niwase; M. Rosenbusch; P. Schury; A. Takamine; M. Wada; W. D. Xian; T. T. Yeung; A. Estrade; N. Fukuda; L. Guo; Y. Hirayama; B. Hong; S. Iimura; Y. Ito; Y. H. Kim; S. Kimura; J. Lee; X. Ma; S. Michimasa; B. Moon; Y. F. Niu; J. Park; H. Sakurai; Y. Shimizu; H. Suzuki; H. Takeda; M. Tanaka; Y. Togano; Y. X. Watanabe; J. M. Yap; M. Yoshimoto; C. X. Yuan; F. F. Zeng; J. Z. Zhang; X. L. Zhi

doi:10.1103/227j-q7zf

$β$ -Decay Half-Lives of Neutron-Rich Sulfur to Potassium: Evolution of the $N = 32$ and 34 Subshell Closures below Calcium

Q. B. Zeng ^1,2,3,*, S. Nishimura^3,†, V. H. Phong ³, S. Yoshida ^3,4, Z. H. Li⁵, Z. Liu ^1,2, H. Y. Wu ^6,5, C. Y. Fu^7,3, D. S. Hou ⁷ et al.

H. Ishiyama ³, Y. Jang⁸, M. Khandelwal ⁹, J. Lee ⁸, A. I. Morales ^10,3, T. Niwase ¹¹, M. Rosenbusch ³, P. Schury ¹², A. Takamine ¹¹, M. Wada ¹², W. D. Xian ^7,13, T. T. Yeung^14,3, A. Estrade¹⁵, N. Fukuda³, L. Guo ¹⁶, Y. Hirayama¹², B. Hong ⁸, S. Iimura ¹⁷, Y. Ito ¹⁸, Y. H. Kim ¹⁹, S. Kimura¹², J. Lee⁷, X. Ma ^1,2, S. Michimasa³, B. Moon ^19,3, Y. F. Niu ¹⁶, J. Park ¹⁹, H. Sakurai ³, Y. Shimizu³, H. Suzuki³, H. Takeda³, M. Tanaka ¹¹, Y. Togano ³, Y. X. Watanabe ¹², J. M. Yap ^7,12, M. Yoshimoto ³, C. X. Yuan ¹³, F. F. Zeng ^1,2, J. Z. Zhang ⁵, and X. L. Zhi ¹⁶

¹Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
²School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
³RIKEN Nishina Center, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
⁴School of Data Science and Management, Utsunomiya University, Mine, Utsunomiya 321-8505, Japan
⁵School of Physics and State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
⁶Key Laboratory of Nuclear Data, China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing 102413, China
⁷Department of Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China
⁸Department of Physics, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Republic of Korea
⁹RCNP, Osaka University, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
¹⁰Instituto de Física Corpuscular, CSIC-Universitat de València, E-46071 València, Spain
¹¹Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
¹²KEK Wako Nuclear Science Center, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan
¹³Sino-French Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, Guangdong, China
¹⁴Department of Physics, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
¹⁵Department of Physics and Science of Advanced Materials Program, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859, USA
¹⁶School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
¹⁷Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, Toshima, Tokyo 171-8501, Japan
¹⁸Advanced Science Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
¹⁹Center for Exotic Nuclear Studies, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34126, Republic of Korea

^*Contact author: zengquanbo@impcas.ac.cn
^†Contact author: nishimu@ribf.riken.jp

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 232501 – Published 2 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/227j-q7zf

Abstract

The half-lives of 24 isotopes ranging from sulfur to potassium were measured using the ZeroDegree Advanced Decay Station at the Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory, including six of the most neutron-rich— ${}^{47}S$ , ${}^{48, 49}{Cl}$ , ${}^{51, 52}{Ar}$ , ${}^{55}K$ —for the first time, while the precision for ${}^{48}{Ar}$ and ${}^{53, 54}K$ was significantly improved. Two prominent features are found: First, a half-life drop at ${}^{54}{K_{35}}$ relative to ${}^{52, 53}K$ , supporting the persistence of the $N = 34$ subshell closure in potassium with $Z = 19$ . Second, a high $β$ -decay rate for ${}^{48}{Cl}_{31}$ compared to ${}^{47}{Cl}$ and ${}^{49}{Cl}$ , which can be explained by the critical role of the $ν 1 p_{1 / 2}$ orbital in shell-model calculations. The present calculations indicate that the $N = 32$ subshell gap in chlorine with $Z = 17$ is slightly smaller than that in calcium ( $Z = 20$ ), and the significant excitation across the $N = 32$ subshell in ${}^{48}{Cl}_{31}$ is mainly due to strong configuration mixing.

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$β$ -Decay Half-Lives of Neutron-Rich Sulfur to Potassium: Evolution of the $N = 32$ and 34 Subshell Closures below Calcium

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β-Decay Half-Lives of Neutron-Rich Sulfur to Potassium: Evolution of the N=32 and 34 Subshell Closures below Calcium

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$β$ -Decay Half-Lives of Neutron-Rich Sulfur to Potassium: Evolution of the $N = 32$ and 34 Subshell Closures below Calcium