How the study of the continuum structure of light nuclei led to the discovery of 8 new isotopes and exacting tests of nuclear structure models that treat the continuum

Over the past decade our group has studied the continuum structure of p-rich light nuclei using the invariant-mass technique. This effort has led to the discovery of 8 new isotopes beyond the proton-drip line. Just as important are the findings of new resonances in previously known nuclei and parameter refinement of previously known resonances. Some of the more interesting results (e.g. finding of previously unknown near threshold states, fission of 16O, fixing 0+_2 in 10C and the rotational band built on it, and the importance of considering the Wigner congruence energy when considering the evolution of shell structure) will be presented. The failure to find states predicted by state-of-the-art structure theories which include some continuum effects, has also proven to be informative. Such a case is our failure to find a resonance in 7Li just above the proton-decay threshold initially predicted by no-core-shell-model-with-continuum (NCSMC) calculations. Refinements in the NCSMC calculations, spurred by our negative results, confirmed that the initially predicted resonance does not exist when two open decay channels are coupled. In the process of executing this program, we appreciated that we can offer a heuristic qualifier to the well-worn adage in barrier penetration problems that the forbidden momentum-distance (action) cannot be decomposed to inform on the shape of the barrier traversed.