Abstract
The status of the mirror state in
9B of the first excited
1
2
+
1.68 MeV state in
9Be is reviewed. The experimental evidence is inconclusive except for an apparent peak recently reported in a spectrum from the
9Be(
6Li,
6He)
9B reaction. This reaction has been reinvestigated at the same energy and angle but with substantially improved resolution and statistics, and the present results provide no evidence for the previously reported peak. Spectra obtained at other energies and angles have very low background and yet similarly fail to exhibit a peak. In addition, no evidence for population of the mirror state is found in spectra taken for the reaction
10B(
9Be,
10Be)
9B at two bombarding energies. The energy and width of the expected
1
2
+
state in
9B remain open questions for which several different theoretical descriptions offer quite different predictions.