Oliver Forstner

The measurement of the bound-state decay of ²⁰⁵Tl at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI, Darmstadt, has recently been reported, with substantial impact on the use of ²⁰⁵Pb as an early Solar System chronometer and on the low-energy measurement of the solar neutrino spectrum via the LOREX project. Owing to the technical challenges in producing a high-purity ²⁰⁵Tl⁸¹⁺ secondary beam, a robust statistical method was developed to estimate the variation in the contaminant ²⁰⁵Pb⁸¹⁺ produced in the fragmentation reaction, which was subsequently transmitted and stored in the ESR. Here, we show that Bayesian and Monte Carlo methods produce comparable estimates for the contaminant variation, each with unique advantages and challenges given the complex statistical problems for this experiment. We recommend the adoption of such methods in future experiments that exhibit unknown statistical fluctuations.

Using novel metallic magnetic calorimeter detectors at the CRYRING@ESR, we recorded x-ray spectra of stored and electron cooled heliumlike uranium ( U 90 + ) with an unmatched spectral resolution of close to 90 eV. This allowed for an accurate determination of the energies of all four components of the K α transitions in U 90 + . We find good agreement with state-of-the-art bound-state QED calculations for the strong-field regime. Our results do not support any systematic deviation between experiment and theory in heliumlike systems, the presence of which was subject of intense debates in recent years.

We present the first nuclear cross-section measurements of ( p , γ ) and (p,n) reactions on Te 118 at energies relevant for the γ -process nucleosynthesis. Absolute cross-section values for center-of-mass energies of 6, 7 and 10 MeV are provided, together with a theoretical extrapolation to the Gamow window. This experiment marks the first time that direct proton-induced reactions have been measured on a radioactive ion beam at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI, Darmstadt. This paves the way for a large variety of measurements, delivering new constraints for explosive nucleosynthesis and for physics beyond nuclear stability.

We report the application of the new elimination of Rutherford elastic scattering technique for the measurement of proton-induced reaction cross sections utilizing stored ions decelerated to astrophysical energies. This approach results in a background reduction factor of about 1 order of magnitude, enabling the first measurement of a ( p , n ) cross section in a storage ring. Here, the reaction channels Xe 124 ( p , n ) and Xe 124 ( p , γ ) have been studied just above the neutron threshold energy. The new data provide valuable constraints for Hauser-Feshbach theory and extrapolation of the ( p , γ ) cross section to lower energies. Most importantly, for nuclei of limited availability, the method represents a powerful improvement to efficiently study proton-induced reactions at energies within or close to the astrophysical Gamow window, bringing many reaction measurements within reach that were previously inaccessible in the laboratory. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Neutron-induced reaction cross sections of short-lived nuclei are imperative to understand the origin of heavy elements in stellar nucleosynthesis and for societal applications, but their measurement is extremely complicated due to the radioactivity of the targets involved. One way of overcoming this issue is to combine surrogate reactions with the unique possibilities offered by heavy-ion storage rings. In this work, we describe the first surrogate-reaction experiment in inverse kinematics, which we successfully conducted at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of the GSI/FAIR facility, using the Pb 208 ( p , p ′ ) reaction as a surrogate for neutron capture on Pb 207 . Thanks to the outstanding detection efficiencies possible at the ESR, we were able to measure for the first time the neutron-emission probability as a function of the excitation energy of Pb 208 . We have used this probability to select different descriptions of the γ -ray strength function and nuclear level density, and provide reliable results for the neutron-induced radiative capture cross section of Pb 207 at energies for which no experimental data exist.

The probabilities for γ-ray and particle emission as a function of the excitation energy of a decaying nucleus are valuable observables for constraining the ingredients of the models that describe the deexcitation of nuclei near the particle emission threshold. These models are essential in nuclear astrophysics and applications. In this paper, we have for the first time simultaneously measured the γ-ray and neutron emission probabilities of Pb 208 . The measurement was performed in inverse kinematics at the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) of the GSI/FAIR facility, where a Pb 208 beam interacted through the Pb 208 ( p , p ′ ) reaction with a hydrogen gas jet target. Instead of detecting the γ rays and neutrons emitted by Pb 208 , we detected the heavy beamlike residues produced after γ and neutron emission. These heavy residues were fully separated by a dipole magnet of the ESR and were detected with outstanding efficiencies. The comparison of the measured probabilities with model calculations has allowed us to test and select different descriptions of the γ-ray strength function and the nuclear level density available in the literature. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Stable Tl 205 ions have the lowest known energy threshold for capturing electron neutrinos ( ν e ) of E ν e ≥ 50.6 keV . The Lorandite Experiment (LOREX), proposed in the 1980s, aims at obtaining the longtime averaged solar neutrino flux by utilizing natural deposits of Tl-bearing lorandite ores. To determine the ν e capture cross section, it is required to know the strength of the weak transition connecting the ground state of Tl 205 and the 2.3 keV first excited state in Pb 205 . The only way to experimentally address this transition is to measure the bound-state beta decay ( β b ) of fully ionized Tl 81 + 205 ions. After three decades of meticulous preparation, the half-life of the β b decay of Tl 81 + 205 has been measured to be 291 − 27 + 33 days using the Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) at GSI, Darmstadt. The longer measured half-life compared to theoretical estimates reduces the expected signal-to-noise ratio in the LOREX, thus challenging its feasibility. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Radioactive nuclei with lifetimes on the order of millions of years can reveal the formation history of the Sun and active nucleosynthesis occurring at the time and place of its birth^1,2. Among such nuclei whose decay signatures are found in the oldest meteorites, ²⁰⁵Pb is a powerful example, as it is produced exclusively by slow neutron captures (the s process), with most being synthesized in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars^3–5. However, making accurate abundance predictions for ²⁰⁵Pb has so far been impossible because the weak decay rates of ²⁰⁵Pb and ²⁰⁵Tl are very uncertain at stellar temperatures^6,7. To constrain these decay rates, we measured for the first time the bound-state β⁻ decay of fully ionized ²⁰⁵Tl⁸¹⁺, an exotic decay mode that only occurs in highly charged ions. The measured half-life is 4.7 times longer than the previous theoretical estimate⁸ and our 10% experimental uncertainty has eliminated the main nuclear-physics limitation. With new, experimentally backed decay rates, we used AGB stellar models to calculate ²⁰⁵Pb yields. Propagating those yields with basic galactic chemical evolution (GCE) and comparing with the ²⁰⁵Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio from meteorites^9–11, we determined the isolation time of solar material inside its parent molecular cloud. We find positive isolation times that are consistent with the other s-process short-lived radioactive nuclei found in the early Solar System. Our results reaffirm the site of the Sun’s birth as a long-lived, giant molecular cloud and support the use of the ²⁰⁵Pb–²⁰⁵Tl decay system as a chronometer in the early Solar System.