Northern boundary of the “island of inversion” and triaxiality in 34Si

Abstract β -decay studies of neutron-rich nuclei in and around the “island of inversion” have been performed. With a systematic investigation of half-lives for the isotonic chains from N = 19 to 22, conspicuous kinks observed at Z = 13 provide a clear signature of a boundary on the northern (high- Z ) side of the island. Based on the comparison with shell model calculations using Gogny D1S and SDPF-M interactions, a newly determined 2 2 + state in 34 Si at 4519 keV presents an experimental evidence of triaxiality in this region and sheds more light on the structure of the transition across the northern boundary of the island.