Evidence for a doubly magic 24O

Abstract

The decay energy spectrum for neutron unbound states in 24O (Z=8, N=16) has been observed for the first time. The resonance energy of the lowest lying state, interpreted as the 2+ level, has been observed at a decay energy above 600 keV. The resulting excitation energy of the 2+ level above 4.7 MeV, supplies strong evidence that 24O is a doubly magic nucleus. The data is also consistent with the presence of a second excited state around 5.33 MeV which can be interpreted as the 1+ level.