Theoretical Study on N = 126 Shell Evolution

The nuclei around magic number N = 126 are investigated in the deformed relativistic mean field （RMF） model with effective interactions TMA. We focus investigations on the N = 126 isotonic chain. The N = 126 shell evolution is studied by analyzing the variations of two-neutron （proton） separation energies, quadruple deformations, single particle levels etc. The good agreement of two-neutron separation energies between experimental data and calculated values is reached. The RMF theory predicts that the sizes of N = 126 shell become smaller and smaller with the increasing of proton number Z. However, the N = 126 shell exists in our calculated region all along. According to the calculated two-proton separation energies, the RMF theory suggests ^220Pu is a two-proton drip-line nucleus in the N = 126 isotonic chain.     

轻核区双中子滴线核的研究

运用形变相对论平均场（RMF）理论系统地研究了轻核区的元素O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar和 Ca及Ni。 计算了这8个元素的偶 偶核基态的一些性质, 如结合能、 四极形变、 平均每核子结合能以及双中子分离能等。 计算中采用了NL3参数组, 并用BCS方法处理对关联。 限于篇幅, 文中只给出O和Mg元素的计算结果。 RMF理论计算的结果和实验值基本一致。 从双中子分离能的分析可知, RMF理论计算的各元素的双中子滴线核分别为 30O, 38Ne, 42Mg, 52Si, 54S, 60Ar, 80Ca和98Ni。 最后简单讨论了Ca和Ni同位素中的中子幻数情况。 The ground state properties of even even O, Ne, Mg, Si, S, Ar, Ca and Ni isotopes were studied with the self consistent deformed relativistic mean field theory with NL3 parameter set. The calculated results of O and Mg isotopes were presented in detail. The calculated binding energies and the two neutron separation energies were in good agreement with experimental values. By examining the two neutron separation energies, it was suggested that 30O, 38Ne, 42Mg, 52Si, 54S, 60Ar, 80Ca and 98Ni are the two neutron drip line nuclei. We also briefly discussed the possible changes of neutron magic numbers in Ca and Ni isotopes. Key words: relativistic mean field; drip line nucleus; two neutron separation energy     

Nuclear structure and decay modes of Ra isotopes within an axially deformed relativistic mean field model

We examine the structural properties and half-life decay of Ra isotopes within the axially deformed Relativistic Mean-Field(RMF)theory with NL3 force parameters.We work out the binding energy(BE),RMS radii,two-neutron separation energies(S_(2n)),and some other observables.The results are in good agreement with the finite-range droplet model(FRDM)and experimental results.Considering the possibility of neutron magic number,theα-decay and cluster decay half-lives of Ra isotopes are calculated systematically using the Q-values obtained from the RMF formalism.These decay half-life calculations are carried out by taking three different empirical formulae.The calculated decay half-lives are found to be highly sensitive to the choice of Q-values.Possible shell or sub-shell closures are found at daughter nuclei with N=128 and N=126 when alpha and~8Be,~(12)C,~(18)O respectively are emitted from Ra isotopes.Though the cluster radioactivity is affected by the shell closure of parent and daughter,a long half-life indicates the stability of the parent,and a small parent half-life indicates that the shell stability of the daughter against decay.     

Anomalously Large Deformation in Some Medium and Heavy Nuclei

We investigate the properties of the Ce isotopes with neutron number N =60 - 90 and the properties of the heavy nuclei near 242Am within the framework of deformed relativistic mean-field （RMF） theory. A systematic comparison between theoretical results and experimental data is made. The calculated binding energies, two-neutron separation energies, and two-proton separation energies are in good agreement with experimental ones. The variation trend of experimental quadrupole deformation parameters on the Ce isotopes can be approximately reproduced by the RMF model. It is found that there exists an abnormally large deformation in the ground state of proton-rich Ce isotopes. This phenomenon can be the general behavior of proton-rich nuclei on the neighboring isotopic chains such as Nd and Sin isotopes. For the heavy nuclei near ^242 Am the properties of the ground state and superdeformed isomeric state can be approximately reproduced by the RMF model. The mechanism of the appearance of anomalously large deformation or superdeformation is analyzed and its influence on nuclear properties is discussed. Parther experiments to study the anomalously large deformation in some proton-rich nuclei are suggested.     

Branching Ratios of α Decay for Nuclei near Deformed Shell Closures

The generalized liquid drop model （GLDM） is extended to the region around deformed shell closure ^270Hs by taking into account the excitation energy EI＋ of the residual daughter nucleus and the centrifugal potential energy Vcen（r）. The branching ratios of a decays from the ground state of a parent nucleus to the ground state 0^＋ of its deformed daughter nucleus and to the first excited state 2^＋ are calculated in the framework of the GLDM. The results support the proposal that a measurement of a spectroscopy is a feasible method to extract information on nuclear deformation of superheavy nuclei around the deformed nucleus ^270Hs.     

Anomalously Large Deformation in Some Medium and Heavy Nuclei

We investigate the properties of the Ce isotopes with neutron number N = 60 ～ 90 and the properties of the heavy nuclei near 242 Am within the framework of deformed relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory. A systematic comparison between theoretical results and experimental data is made. The calculated binding energies, two-neutron separation energies, and two-proton separation energies are in good agreement with experimental ones. The variation trend of experimental quadrupole deformation parameters on the Ce isotopes can be approximately reproduced by the RMF model. It is found that there exists an abnormally large deformation in the ground state of proton-rich Ce isotopes.This phenomenon can be the general behavior of proton-rich nuclei on the neighboring isotopic chains such as Nd and Sm isotopes. For the heavy nuclei near 242 Am the properties of the ground state and superdeformed isomeric state can be approximately reproduced by the RMF model. The mechanism of the appearance of anomalously large deformation or superdeformation is analyzed and its influence on nuclear properties is discussed. Further experiments to study the anomalously large deformation in some proton-rich nuclei are suggested.     

Shell evolution at N=20 in the constrained relativistic mean field approach

The shell evolution at N=20, a disappearing neutron magic number observed experimentally in very neutron-rich nuclides, is investigated in the constrained relativistic mean field (RMF) theory. The trend of the shell closure observed experimentally towards the neutron drip-line can be reproduced. The predicted two-neutron separation energies, neutron shell gap energies and deformation parameters of ground states are shown as well. These results are compared with the recent Hartree-Fock-Bogliubov (HFB-14) model and the available experimental data. The perspective towards a better understanding of the shell evolution is discussed.     

Disentangling the Effects of Thickness of the Neutron Skin and Symmetry Potential in Nucleon Induced Reactions on Sn Isotopes

The effects of density dependence of symmetry energy and the thickness of the neutron skin in proton （neutron） induced reactions on Sn isotopes are investigated by means of the improved molecular dynamics model. The investigation shows that the target size dependence of the reaction cross sections for proton induced reactions on Sn isotopes is sensitive to the density dependence of the symmetry energy and less sensitive to the thickness of the neutron skin of the target nuclei, but that, for neutron induced reactions on Sn isotopes, it is less sensitive to the density dependence of the symmetry energy and sensitive to the thickness of the neutron skin of the target nucleus.     

Symmetry energy at subsaturation densities and the neutron skin thickness of ~(208)Pb

The mass-dependent symmetry energy coefficients asym(A) has been extracted by analysing the heavy nuclear mass differences reducing the uncertainties as far as possible in our previous work.Taking advantage of the obtained symmetry energy coefficient asym(A) and the density profiles obtained by switching off the Coulomb interaction in208 Pb,we calculated the slope parameter L0.11 of the symmetry energy at the density of 0.11 fm-3.The calculated L0.11 ranges from 40.5 Me V to 60.3 Me V.The slope parameter L0.11 of the symmetry energy at the density of 0.11 fm-3is also calculated directly with Skyrme interactions for nuclear matter and is found to have a fine linear relation with the neutron skin thickness of208 Pb,which is the difference of the neutron and proton rms radii of the nucleus.With the linear relation the neutron skin thickness Rn pof208 Pb is predicted to be 0.15–0.21 fm.     

Equilibrium geometries and electronic properties of BenLi （n=2-15） clusters from first principles

This paper studies the equilibrium geometries and electronic properties of Ben and BenLi clusters, up to n=15, by using density-functional theory（DFT） at B3LYP/6-31G（d） level. The lowest-energy structures of Ben and BenLi clusters were determined. The results indicate that a single lithium impurity enhances the stability and chemical reactivity of the beryllium clusters. It finds that the geometries of the host clusters change significantly after the addition of the lithium atom for n ≥8. The lithium impurity prefers to be on the periphery of beryllium clusters, and occupies vertex sites. Both Be4Li, Be9Li, and Be13Li were found to be particularly stable with higher average binding energy, local peaks of second-order energy difference and fragmentation energies. For all the BenLi clusters studied, we found charge transfers from the Li to Be site and co-existence of covalent and metallic bonding characteristics.     

Systematic Calculation on Ground State Properties of Even-even Superheavy Nuclei Using Relativistic Mean Field Theory

In recent years the discovery of Super Heavy Element (SHE) with atomic number Z=108～116 has opened up a new era of research in nuclear physics, however, the extreme difficulties to synthesize SHE greatly restrict the experimental studies on it, so that the theoretical studies are very important. The Relativistic Mean Field theory (RMF) is proved to be a simple and successful theory due to its great success in describing the bulk properties at the β-stable valley, as well as nuclei far from the β-stable line, and gives good predictions for nuclei far beyond the end of the known periodic table. In the framework of RMF we have calculated the properties on SHN such as the binding energy, the deformation, single and double neutron separation energy, and the a-decay half-life and so on for nuclei Z=108～114 and N=156～190. The axial deformations considered by using the expansion of harmonic oscillator basis. The Lagrangian wc have used is as the following form:     

Investigation on the deformation of Ne and Mg isotope chains within relativistic mean-field model

Ne and Mg isotope chains are investigated based on constrained calculations in the framework of a deformed relativistic mean-field （RMF） model with the NL075 parameter set. The calculated quadrupole deformation and binding energy are compared with other theoretical results as well as the available experimental data. It shows that the calculated deformations of Ne and Mg with the NL075 are more accurate than those obtained with the NL-SH. It is predicted that ^19,29,32Ne and ^20,31Mg maybe have a triaxial deformation and ^25-28Ne and ^27-30Mg exhibit a shape coexistence probably. The closure effect of neutron number N=8 for ^20Mg is predicted to be very weak.     

New observations on hydrogen bonding in ice by density functional theory simulations

In this paper, we report on a series of computational simulations on hydrogen bonding in two ice phases （Ih and Ic） using CASTEP with PW91 and RPBE exchange-correlation based on ab initio density functional theory. The strength of the H-bond is correlated with intramolecular O-H stretching, and the energy splitting exists for both the H-bond and covalent O-H stretching. By analyzing the dispersion relationship of to（q）, we observe the separation of the longitudinal optic （LO） mode from transverse optic （TO） mode at the gamma point, seemingly interpreting the controversial two H-bond peaks in the vibrational spectrum of ice recorded by inelastic incoherent neutron scattering experiments. The test of ambient environment on phonon density of sates （PDOS） shows that the relaxed tetrahedral structure is the most stable structural configuration for water clusters.     

Multi-modal analysis for low energy neutron-induced fission of 235U

Low energy neutron induced fission of 235U is studied in the framework of the multi-modal fission model. The fission fragment properties, such as the yields, the average total kinetic energy distribution and the average neutron separation energy, are investigated for incident neutron energies from thermal to 6.0 MeV. The multi-modal fission approach is also used to evaluate the prompt fission neutron multiplicity and spectra for the neutron-induced fission of 235U with an improved version of the Los Alamos model for incident neutrons below the （n, nf） threshold. The three most dominant fission modes are taken into account. The model parameters are determined on the basis of experimental data. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

A possible experimental observable for the determination of neutron skin thickness

The dependence between neutron skin thickness and neutron abrasion cross section （σnabr） for neutron-rich nuclei is investigated within the framework of the statistical abrasion ablation model. Assuming that the density distributions for proton and neutron are of Fermi-type, and adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutron density distribution in the droplet model, we find out the good linear correlation between the neutron skin thickness and the abrasion cross section σnabr for neutron-rich nuclei. The uncertainty of neutron skin thickness determined from σnabr is very small. It is suggested that σnabr can be used as a new experimental observable to extract the neutron skin thickness for neutronrich nucleus. The scaling behaviours between neutron skin thickness and σnabr, separately, for isotopes of ^26-35Na, ^44-56Ar, ^48-60Ca, ^67-78Ni are also investigated.     

RMF理论中Zr同位素链壳结构的形变依赖性

基于球形与轴对称形变的相对论平均场（Relativistic Mean Field, 简称RMF）理论模型, 分别计算了Zr同位素链的基态总能量, 并根据其差值提取了形变修正能后发现, Zr同位素链丰中子区的核具有大的长椭形变, 对应的形变修正能可达到10 MeV。 利用RMF理论计算的基态能量, 在扣除液滴模型计算的结合能后, 得到了Zr同位素链的壳修正能。 通过对壳修正能的分析后发现, 形变使N=50壳效应显著减弱。 特别是在丰中子区, 大形变导致了N=50壳结构的消失。 The total binding energy of nuclei for Zr isotopic chain is calculated by the spherical and axial deformed relativistic mean field(RMF) theory respectively, and the energy contribution due to the deformation(i.e., deformation correction energy) is extracted. It is found that the neutron rich nuclei in the isotopic chain have large prolate deformation, and corresponding deformation correction energy can be up to 10 MeV. The shell correction energy is obtained by the difference between the binding energies calculated by the liquid model and those by the RMF calculations. Detailed analysis indicates that the deformation weakens the shell effect of N=50 remarkably. Especially for the neutron rich nuclei, large deformation leads to disappearance of the N=50 shell structure.     

Deformed Potential Energy of Super Heavy Element Z = 120 in a Generalized Liquid Drop Model

The macroscopic deformed potential energy for super-heavy elements Z=120 is determined within a generalized liquid drop model (GLDM). The shell correction is calculated with the Strutinsky method and the microscopic single particle energies are derived from the shell model in an axially deformed Woods-Saxon potential with the same quasi-molecular shape. The total potential energy of a nucleus is calculated by the macro-microscopic method as the summation of the liquid-drop energy and the Strutinsky shell correction. The theory is adopted to describe the deformed potential energies in a set of cold reactions. The neck in the quasi-molecular shape is responsible to the deep valley of the fusion barrier due to shell corrections. In the cold fusion path, the double-hump fusion barrier is predicted by the shell correction and complete fusion events may occur. The results show that some of projectile-target combinations in the entrance channel, such as ^50Ca ^252Fm→120 and 58Fe 244 pu→^302 120 , favour the fusion reaction, which can be considered as candidates for the synthesis of super heavy nuclei Z=120 and the former might be the best cold fusion reaction to produce the nucleus ^302 120among them.     

Constraints on neutron skin thickness and symmetry energy of 208Pb through Skyrme forces and cluster model

We used the cluster structure properties of the 212Po to estimate the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb.For this purpose,we considered two important components:(a)alpha decay is a low energy phenomenon;therefore,one can expect that the mean-field,which can explain the ground state properties of 212Po,does not change during the alpha decay process.(b)212Po has a high alpha cluster-like structure,two protons and two neutrons outside its core nucleus with a double magic closed-shell,and the cluster model is a powerful formalism for the estimation of alpha decay preformation factor of such nuclei.The slope of the symmetry energy of 208Pb is estimated to be 75±25 MeV within the selected same mean-fields and Skyrme forces,which can simultaneously satisfy the ground-state properties of parent and daughter nuclei,as their neutron skin thicknesses are consistent with experimental data.     

Coulomb expansion of deuterated methane clusters irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse

The simulations of three-dimensional particle dynamics show that when irradiated by an ultrashort intense laser pulse, the deuterated methane cluster expands and the majority of deuterons overrun the more slowly expanding carbon ions, resulting in the creation of two separated subelusters. The enhanced deuteron kinetic energy and a narrow peak around the energy maximum in the deuteron energy distribution make a considerable contribution to the efficiency of nuclear fusion compared with the ease of homonuelear deuterium clusters. With the intense laser irradiation, the nuclear fusion yield increases with the increase of the cluster size, so that deuterated heteronuelear clusters with larger sizes are required to achieve a greater neutron yield.