One of the strongest research projects in recent years has emerged from a critical, unresolved question about the natural origin of nuclei heavier than iron. The closed neutron shell, N = 126, as the final waiting point in the r-process (rapid neutron capture process), plays an essential role in the formation of these nuclei. However, recent efforts to synthesize superheavy elements and explore N = 126 neutron-rich nuclei have faced significant challenges due to extremely low cross sections using traditional fusion-evaporation reactions.
These factors highlight the urgent need for alternative reaction mechanisms. One alternative has been identified in multinucleon transfer (MNT) reactions, which offer a promising route to neutron-rich heavy nuclei. The challenge is to isolate the desired nuclei from the multitude of products generated during the reaction.
We have been working on this reaction mechanism for several years, performing experiments at Argonne National Laboratory and other international laboratories.
The aim of this thesis is to analyse the data collected during the Argonne experiment (end 2023) and to propose a new experiment at the spectrometer Prisma (Legnaro National Lab) coupled with the Agata germanium detector.