A modern variation of the Rutherford experiment to probe the tunneling of exotic nuclear matter from the measurement of the residues formed in the bombardment of 197Au by extremely neutron-rich 8He nuclei is presented. Using a novel off-beam technique the most precise and accurate measurements of fusion and neutron transfer involving re-accelerated unstable beams are reported. The results show unusual behavior of the tunneling of 8He compared to that for lighter helium isotopes, highlighting the role of the intrinsic structure of composite many-body quantum systems and pairing correlations.

A. Lemasson, A. Shrivastava, A. Navin, M. Rejmund, N. Keeley, V. Zelevinsky, S. Bhattacharyya, A. Chatterjee, G. de France, B. Jacquot, V. Nanal, R. G. Pillay, R. Raabe, and C. Schmitt

 Received Tuesday Sept 15, 2009
 Accepted Friday Oct 16, 2009
 Published Monday Nov 30, 2009

Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 232701 (2009)

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Viewpoint : A 21st century Rutherford experiment

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Press Release : L’expérience fondatrice de Rutherford revisitée

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