Physicists have discovered that silicon-22 reveals a new proton magic number offering critical insights into nuclear ...

Based on nuclear mirror symmetry, theorists predicted that proton number 14 should also be a magic number in its mirror nucleus, silicon-22 (8 neutrons and 14 protons).

The results provide an important benchmark for the development of nuclear theory. The charge radii difference between the silicon-32 nucleus and its mirror nucleus argon-32, which has 18 protons ...

“We thought it would be impossible for the silicon oxide to provide protection against fully penetrating long-range particles such as the high-energy protons and alpha particles,” Kirmani said.

Researchers from the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have precisely measured for the first time the mass of an extremely short-lived and neutron-deficient nucleus, ...