No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

In light of present (EXO) and future (BOREXINO & XMASS) projects searching for evidence of the, as yet, unobserved double-beta decay of 136Xe, an atomic mass difference of 136Xe – 136Ba was determined using the high-precision Manitoba II mass spectrometer at the University of Manitoba. The Q-value for this difference was determined to be 2458.72(56) keV. The double-beta decay mode can be either neutrino (ββ2υ) or neutrinoless (ββ0υ), where the latter would be proof of the Majorana nature of neutrinos. A ββ0υ decay, which violates several principles of the Standard Model of particle physics, would emit only electrons and would provide a defined peak at the Q-value for the decay. This decay would also require the Majorana neutrino to have a non-zero rest mass and be its own antiparticle. Results of mass measurements on mass doublets of 135Ba, 136Ba, 137Ba, and 138Ba will be given. An improved measurement of the 116Cd35Cl - 114Cd37Cl doublet, previously done by Meredith et al. in 1973, will also be given.

The decay properties of the neutron deficient nuclei $ sp{144}$Gd, $ sp{142}$Gd, $ sp{ rm 141g}$Gd, $ sp{ rm 141m}$Gd and $ sp{140}$Gd are investigated in detail for the first time and the new beta decaying isomers $ sp{ rm 141g,m}$Gd, $ sp{141}$Tb(A) and $ sp{140}$Gd are discovered. A gas-jet recoil-transport system and a conversion electron spectrometer are designed and constructed in order to measure the electromagnetic transitions emitted following their decay. Levels schemes are deduced for the daughter nuclei $ sp{144}$Eu, $ sp{142}$Eu, $ sp{141}$Eu, $ sp{140}$Eu, and $ sp{141}$Gd and spin-parity assignments are established for several states. The decay half-life of these nuclei is also measured. / The deduced information is discussed in the general context of the Z $ geq$ 50, N $ leq$ 82 mass region. The low lying structure of the N = 76, 77, 78, 79, 81 and 82 isotones is compared to the predictions of theoretical calculations using either spherical BCS or deformed Hartree-Fock plus BCS formalism with a semi-realistic interaction derived from the Tabakin potential. Contributions to original knowledge are outlined in Chapter V.

Graduate

No description available.

In light of present (EXO) and future (BOREXINO & XMASS) projects searching for evidence of the, as yet, unobserved double-beta decay of 136Xe, an atomic mass difference of 136Xe – 136Ba was determined using the high-precision Manitoba II mass spectrometer at the University of Manitoba. The Q-value for this difference was determined to be 2458.72(56) keV. The double-beta decay mode can be either neutrino (ββ2υ) or neutrinoless (ββ0υ), where the latter would be proof of the Majorana nature of neutrinos. A ββ0υ decay, which violates several principles of the Standard Model of particle physics, would emit only electrons and would provide a defined peak at the Q-value for the decay. This decay would also require the Majorana neutrino to have a non-zero rest mass and be its own antiparticle. Results of mass measurements on mass doublets of 135Ba, 136Ba, 137Ba, and 138Ba will be given. An improved measurement of the 116Cd35Cl - 114Cd37Cl doublet, previously done by Meredith et al. in 1973, will also be given.

No description available.