Isomer studies in the vicinity of the doubly-magic nucleus ¹⁰⁰Sn: Observation of a new low-lying isomeric state in ⁹⁷Ag

Long-lived isomeric states in Ag-97 and In101-109 were investigated with the FRS Ion Catcher at GSI. In the isotope Ag-97, a long-lived (1/2(-)) isomeric state was discovered, and its excitation energy was determined to be 618(38) keV. This is simultaneously the first discovery of a nuclear isomeric state by multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The measured excitation energies were compared to large-scale shell-model calculations, which indicated the importance of core excitation around Sn-100. Furthermore, advanced mean-field calculations for the Ag-97 nucleus and relevant neighboring nuclei were performed, which have contributed to a better understanding of the repetitive appearance of certain isomeric structures in neighboring nuclei, and which have supported the discovery of the isomeric state in Ag-97 in a global shell-evolution scheme. (C) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.