Structure of superheavy hydrogen 7H

Abstract

The properties of nuclei with extreme neutron–to–proton ratios reveal the limitations of state-ofthe-art nuclear models and are key to understand nuclear forces. 7H, with six neutrons and a single proton, is the nuclear system with the most unbalanced neutron–to–proton ratio ever known, but its sheer existence and properties are still a challenge for experimental efforts and theoretical models. We report here the first measurement of the basic characteristics and structure of the ground state of 7H; they depict a system with a triton core surrounded by an extended four-neutron halo, built by neutron pairing, that decays through a unique four–neutron emission with a relatively long half-life. These properties are a prime example of new phenomena occurring in almost pure-neutron nuclear matter, beyond the binding limits of the nuclear landscape, that are yet to be described within our current models.