*WINNER* The Structure of 34Mg

Abstract

In the chart of nuclides, there exists an area near the N=20 shell closure where some isotopes’ ground states exhibit characteristics of deformed nuclei with an intruder configuration rather than being spherical. This area is known as an “island of inversion”, and the deformed ground states that characterize it are caused by particle hole excitations made possible by a greatly reduced shell gap. This project was part of the ongoing investigation into the island of inversion though gaining more knowledge on how nuclei in and around the island are shaped. The beta-decay of 34Mg into 34Al was observed and the data from this decay was used to make progress towards the creation of a decay level scheme for the excited states of 34Al. To collect the products of this decay, a beam of 34Mg was sent to plastic scintillators (SCEPTAR) and surrounded by high-purity germanium detectors (GRIFFIN) at TRIUMF in Vancouver, BC. The data from this decay was collected into ROOT files, energy calibrated, corrected for gain differences and shifts, and sorted into a coincidence list of transitions in preparation for a decay level scheme. These coincidences between gamma transitions are currently being sorted into angular correlation spectra primarily to make a determination of whether enough statistics were present to continue further analysis, which would involve the assigning of spins and parities to the energy states of 34Al.