Resonant structure of 18 Na and the N = 8 shell
The resonant structure of the proton-unbound nucleus 18 Na has been studied via knockout reactions of a 20 Mg beam on a 9 Be target. Three resonant states in 18 Na are identified through the invariant-mass reconstruction of 17 Ne+1𝑝 events, including the 1$^−_1$ ground state with one-proton decay energy of 1.38(2) MeV. In comparison with the low-lying states in the mirror neutron-rich nucleus 18 N, the 1$^−_1$ ground state and 2$^−_1$ excited state with 𝜋(1𝑑 5/2 ) 3 ⊗ 𝜈1𝑝 1/2 configurations in 18 Na likely correspond to different proton seniorities, 𝜈=3 and 1, respectively, while the 0$^−_1$ and 1$^−_2$ states with 𝜋(1𝑑 5/2 ) 2 (2𝑠 1/2 ) ⊗ 𝜈1𝑝 1/2 configuration show obvious Thomas-Ehrman shifts. With the more-precise atomic mass of 18 Na, the one-neutron separation energy 𝑆𝑛( 19 Na)=20.31(2)MeV is derived. Based on the systematics of the differences in experimental one-neutron separation energy in the isotopic chains from 𝑍=9 to 12, the shell effects at 𝑁=8 for proton-rich nuclei are discussed.