First Nuclear Reaction Experiment with Stored Radioactive 56Ni Beam and Internal Hydrogen and Helium Targets

The investigation of light-ion induced direct reactions using stored and cooled radioactive beams, interacting with internal targets of storage rings, can lead to substantial advantages over external target experiments, in particular for direct reaction experiments in inverse kinematics at very low momentum transfer, q. This new and challenging experimental technique enables high-resolution measurements down to very low q and provides a gain in luminosity from accumulation and recirculation of the stored beams. For performing first experiments of this kind a dedicated experimental setup housing several DSSD (Double-sided Silicon Strip Detector) and Si(Li) detectors for recoil particles, well suited for meeting the demanding UHV (Ultra High Vacuum) conditions of a storage ring, was recently designed, constructed and installed at the internal target of the ESR storage ring at GSI. From the interaction of a stored 56Ni beam with an internal H2 target, good quality differential cross section data for elastic proton scattering, measured with the aim to determine the radial shape of the nuclear matter distribution of 56Ni, were obtained. Preliminary results are presented. Being the first reaction experiment ever performed with a stored radioactive beam on a world-wide scale, this experiment can be considered as a breakthrough for nuclear structure and astrophysics studies, and, in addition, as a successful proof-of-principle of the new experimental concept. In addition, preliminary results from a feasibility study on inelastic α-scattering from 58Ni in inverse kinematics, where it was demonstrated that the Isoscalar Giant Monopole Resonance in 58Ni can be investigated by the present technique down to CM angles below 1 degree, are discussed. Such an experiment, performed in the future with the doubly magic 56Ni, would provide important information on the EOS of nuclear matter.