Abstract
A measurement of the direct two-proton removal from Si42 has provided the first structural information on the N=28 isotone Mg40. The value for the inclusive cross section for two-proton removal from Si42 of 40+27−17 μb is significantly lower than that predicted by structure calculations using the recent SDPF-MU shell-model effective interaction combined with eikonal reaction theory. This observed discrepancy is consistent with the interpretation that only one of the predicted low-lying 0+ states in Mg40 is bound. A two-state mixing analysis describing two-proton knockout cross sections along N=28 provides support for the interpretation of a prolate-deformed Mg40 ground state.