Magnesium-37

Properties and data of the isotope ³⁷Mg.

Contents

Magnesium-37 is a radioisotope of the chemical element Magnesium, which, in addition to the element-specific 12 protons, has 25 neutrons in the atomic nucleus, resulting in the mass number 37. The very short-lived, unstable and therefore radioactive nuclide, which can only be produced artificially, has no practical significance; The study of ³⁷Mg is for academic purposes only.

It is assumed that the nuclide has an exotic nuclear structure and forms halo nuclei with one neutron (one-neutron halo).

The neutron-rich isotope was first detected by irradiating a Ta template with titanium-50 ions (80 MeV/nucleon) [1].

General data

Name of the isotope:Magnesium-37; Mg-37Symbol:³⁷Mg or 3712MgMass number A:37 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:12 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:25Isotopic mass:37.03029(75) u (atomic weight of Magnesium-37)Nuclide mass:37.0237071 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:28.21495 MeVMass defect:0.280233284 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:261.03562265 MeV (per nucleus)
7.05501683 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 0.24(11) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 24.98(98) MeV (first proton)Half-life:8(4) msDecay constant λ:86.643397569993 s^-1Specific activity α:1.410212823648 × 10⁺²⁴ Bq g^-1
38113860098611 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(7/2-)Year of discovery:1996

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 8(4) ms respectively 8 × 10^-3 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	³⁷Al	?	18.40(72) MeV
β^-, n	³⁶Al	?	14.19(71) MeV
β^-, 2n	³⁵Al	?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 25) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 37) with Magnesium-37. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 25	Isobar A = 37
11	³⁶Na	³⁷Na
12	³⁷Mg	³⁷Mg
13	³⁸Al	³⁷Al
14	³⁹Si	³⁷Si
15	⁴⁰P	³⁷P
16	⁴¹S	³⁷S
17	⁴²Cl	³⁷Cl
18	⁴³Ar	³⁷Ar
19	⁴⁴K	³⁷K
20	⁴⁵Ca	³⁷Ca
21	⁴⁶Sc	³⁷Sc
22	⁴⁷Ti
23	⁴⁸V
24	⁴⁹Cr
25	⁵⁰Mn
26	⁵¹Fe
27	⁵²Co
28	⁵³Ni
29	⁵⁴Cu
30	⁵⁵Zn

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 37Mg

Literature and References

[1] - H. Sakurai, N. Aoi, A. Goto et al.:
Production and identification of new neutron-rich nuclei, ³¹Ne and ³⁷Mg, in the reaction 80A MeV ⁵⁰Ti+¹⁸¹Ta.
In: Physical Review C, 54, R2802(R), (1996), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.54.R2802.

[2] - N. Kobayashi et al.:
Observation of a p-Wave One-Neutron Halo Configuration in ³⁷Mg.
In: Physical Review Letters, 112, 242501, (2014), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.242501.

[3] - K.Y. Zhang et al.:
Missed prediction of the neutron halo in ³⁷Mg.
In: Physics Letters B, 844, 138112, (2023), DOI 10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138112.