Anomalously hindered E2 strength B(E2; 2+1 → 0+) in 16C -: art. no. 062501

The electric quadrupole transition from the first 2(+) state to the ground 0(+) state in C-16 is studied through measurement of the lifetime by a recoil shadow method applied to inelastically scattered radioactive C-16 nuclei. The measured mean lifetime is 77+/-14(stat)+/-19(syst) ps. The central value of mean lifetime corresponds to a B(E2;2(1)(+)-->0(+)) value of 0.63e(2) fm(4), or 0.26 Weisskopf units. The transition strength is found to be anomalously small compared to the empirically predicted value.