The $p({}^{11}\mathrm{Li},{}^9\mathrm{Li})t$ reaction has been studied for the first time at an incident energy of $3A\mathrm{MeV}$ at the new ISAC-2 facility at TRIUMF. An active target detector MAYA, built at GANIL, was used for the measurement. The differential cross sections have been determined for transitions to the ${}^9\mathrm{Li}$ ground and first excited states in a wide range of scattering angles. Multistep transfer calculations using different ${}^{11}\mathrm{Li}$ model wave functions show that wave functions with strong correlations between the halo neutrons are the most successful in reproducing the observation.

We present precision Penning trap mass measurements of neutron-rich calcium and potassium isotopes in the vicinity of neutron number $N=32$. Using the TITAN system, the mass of ${}^{51}\mathrm{K}$ was measured for the first time, and the precision of the ${}^{51,52}\mathrm{Ca}$ mass values were improved significantly. The new mass values show a dramatic increase of the binding energy compared to those reported in the atomic mass evaluation. In particular, ${}^{52}\mathrm{Ca}$ is more bound by 1.74 MeV, and the behavior with neutron number deviates substantially from the tabulated values. An increased binding was predicted recently based on calculations that include three-nucleon (3N) forces. We present a comparison to improved calculations, which agree remarkably with the evolution of masses with neutron number, making neutron-rich calcium isotopes an exciting region to probe 3N forces.

The first conclusive evidence of a dipole resonance in ${}^{11}\mathrm{Li}$ having isoscalar character observed from inelastic scattering with a novel solid deuteron target is reported. The experiment was performed at the newly commissioned IRIS facility at TRIUMF. The results show a resonance peak at an excitation energy of $1.03\pm 0.03\mathrm{MeV}$ with a width of $0.51\pm 0.11\mathrm{MeV}$ (FWHM). The angular distribution is consistent with a dipole excitation in the distorted-wave Born approximation framework. The observed resonance energy together with shell model calculations show the first signature that the monopole tensor interaction is important in ${}^{11}\mathrm{Li}$. The first ab initio calculations in the coupled cluster framework are also presented.

Penning trap mass measurements of short-lived nuclides have been performed for the first time with highly charged ions, using the TITAN facility at TRIUMF. Compared to singly charged ions, this provides an improvement in experimental precision that scales with the charge state $q$. Neutron-deficient Rb isotopes have been charge bred in an electron beam ion trap to $q=8-12+$ prior to injection into the Penning trap. In combination with the Ramsey excitation scheme, this unique setup creating low energy, highly charged ions at a radioactive beam facility opens the door to unrivaled precision with gains of 1–2 orders of magnitude. The method is particularly suited for short-lived nuclides such as the superallowed $\beta$ emitter ${}^{74}\mathrm{Rb}$ ($T_{1/2}=65\mathrm{ms}$). The determination of its atomic mass and an improved $Q_{EC}$ value are presented.