Evolution of the Ar isotopic chain: the N=28 shell gap south of 48Ca

Abstract The lifetimes of the first excited states of the Z = 18 44 Ar and 46 Ar isotopes have been determined using a novel technique that combines the Recoil Distance Doppler Shift method with the CLARA-PRISMA spectrometers for Multinucleon Transfer Reactions. The B(E2) values extracted for the 2 + → 0 + transitions in both nuclei, as well as for higher excites states in 44 Ar, are discussed and compared with the available experimental results and with the new large-scale shell-model calculations.