Publication Type
Journal
Journal Name
Physical Review Letters
Publication Date
Page Number
172501
Volume
117
Issue
17
Abstract
Doubly magic nuclei have a simple structure and are the cornerstones for entire regions of the nuclear chart. Theoretical insights into the supposedly doubly magic 78Ni and its neighbors are challenging because of the extreme neutron-to-proton ratio and the proximity of the continuum. We predict the Jπ=2+1 state in 78Ni from a correlation with the Jπ=2+1 state in 48Ca using chiral nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon interactions. Our results confirm that 78Ni is doubly magic, and the predicted low-lying states of 79,80Ni open the way for shell-model studies of many more rare isotopes.
