On the nucleon instability of heavy oxygen isotopes

The instability of the $^{26}$O nucleus with respect to decay through the two-neutron channel is investigated. It is shown that this isotope, unobserved in the fragmentation experiments, can exist as a narrow resonance in the system $^{24}$O+2n. A role of deformation in formation of the neutron-drip line in the region $N\sim 20$ is discussed.