A clearer view of the structure of exotic lithium

A clearer view of the structure of exotic lithium: The study of the transfer of a single neutron during a nuclear reaction from the target to a rare isotope from a beam provides crucial information on the structure of the nucleus created in the reaction. While most of the nuclei studied in this way are bound, some, such as lithium-10 (¹⁰Li), are not; when formed via the d(⁹Li,p) reaction, ¹⁰Li breaks up promptly into ⁹Li and a neutron. As reported in Physical Review Letters (2017), detecting the protons and ⁹Li breakup products of this reaction in coincidence, TUDA experimenters have provided important new information on the much debated structure of ¹⁰Li.