Universal properties and structure of halo nuclei

The universal properties and structure of halo nuclei composed of two neutrons (2n) and a core are investigated within an effective quantum mechanics framework. We construct an effective interaction potential that exploits the separation of scales in halo nuclei and treat the nucleus as an effective three-body system. The uncertainty from higher orders in the expansion is quantified through theoretical error bands. First, we investigate the possibility to observe excited Efimov states in 2n halo nuclei. Based on the experimental data, ²⁰C is the only halo nucleus candidate to possibly have an Efimov excited state, with an energy less than 7 keV below the scattering threshold. Second, we study the structure of ²⁰C and other 2n halo nuclei. In particular, we calculate their matter form factors, radii, and two-neutron opening angles.     

Structure of nuclei far from the stability in relativistic approach

The recent progress of the relativistic many-body approach by the group at Peking University will be reviewed. In particular, axially deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov approach in Woods-Saxon basis aiming at halo nucleus, time-odd triaxial RMF approach, the adiabatic and configuration-fixed constrained triaxial RMF approaches, a Reflection ASymmetric RMF (RAS-RMF) approach, and a new relativistic Hartree-Fock (RHF) approach with density-dependent σ,ω,ρ and π meson-nucleon couplings for finite nuclei and nuclear matter, will be highlighted.     

Relativistic Mean Field Study on Halo Structures of Mirror Nuclei

Halo structures of some light mirror nuclei are investigated with the relativistic mean field （RMF） theory. The calculations show that the dispersion of the valence proton is larger than that of the valence neutron in its mirror nucleus, the difference between the root-mean-square （rms） radius of the valence nucleon in each pair of mirror nuclei becomes smaller with the increase of the mass number A, and all the ratios of the rms radius of the valence nucleon to that of the matter in each pair of mirror nuclei decrease almost linearly with the increase of the mass number A.     

Study of the structure of neutron halo using neutron transfer reaction

To estimate the probability of two-neutron configurations in halo nuclei, we propose an experimental method of studying neutron-neutron correlations at periphery of such nuclei by measuring two-neutron transfer reaction. The experimental study of ⁶He + A ↦ ⁴He + B for various targets is performed using ⁶He beam of Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions (JINR, Dubna) at energy of about 15 MeV/u and technique of nuclear photoemulsions. Searching for events of two-nucleon transfer reaction and their processing is performed using the PAVICOM-setup at P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute.     

Nuclear-matter distributions of halo nuclei from elastic proton scattering in inverse kinematics

Proton-nucleus elastic scattering at intermediate energies, a well-established method for probing nuclear-matter density distributions of stable nuclei, was applied for the first time to exotic nuclei. This method is demonstrated to be an effective means for obtaining accurate and detailed information on the size and radial shape of halo nuclei. Absolute differential cross-sections for small-angle scattering were measured at energies near 700 MeV/u for the neutron-rich helium isotopes ⁶He and ⁸He, and more recently for the lithium isotopes ⁶Li, ⁸Li, ⁹Li and ¹¹Li, using He and Li beams provided by the fragment separator FRS at GSI Darmstadt. Experiments were performed in inverse kinematics using the hydrogen-filled ionization chamber IKAR which served simultaneously as target and recoil-proton detector. For deducing nuclear-matter distributions, differential cross-sections calculated with the aid of the Glauber multiple-scattering theory, using various parametrizations for the nucleon density distributions as input, were fitted to the experimental cross-sections. The results on nuclear-matter radii and matter distributions are presented, and the significance of the data for a halo structure is discussed. Nuclear-matter distributions obtained for ⁶He and ⁸He conform with the concept that both nuclei compose of α-particle like cores and significant neutron halos. The matter distribution in ¹¹Li exhibits, as expected from previous reaction cross-section studies with nuclear targets, the by far most extended halo component of all nuclei being investigated. In addition the present data allow a quantitative comparison of the structure of the He and Li isobares of either the mass number A = 6 or A = 8. The measured differential cross-sections have also been used for probing density distributions as predicted from various microscopic calculations. A few examples are presented. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: p.egelhof@gsi.de     

Reactions with fast radioactive beams of neutron-rich nuclei

The neutron dripline has presently been reached only for the lightest nuclei up to the element oxygen. In this region of light neutron-rich nuclei, scattering experiments are feasible even for dripline nuclei by utilizing high-energy secondary beams produced by fragmentation. In the present article, reactions of high-energy radioactive beams will be exemplified using recent experimental results mainly derived from measurements of breakup reactions performed at the LAND and FRS facilities at GSI and at the S800 spectrometer at the NSCL. Nuclear and electromagnetically induced reactions allow probing different aspects of nuclear structure at the limits of stability related to the neutron-proton asymmetry and the weak binding close to the dripline. Properties of the valence-neutron wave functions are studied in the one-neutron knockout reaction, revealing the changes of shell structure when going from the beta-stability line to more asymmetric loosely bound neutron-rich systems. The vanishing of the N = 8 shell gap for neutron-rich systems like ¹¹Li and ¹²Be, or the new closed N = 14, 16 shells for the oxygen isotopes are examples. The continuum of weakly bound nuclei and halo states can be studied by inelastic scattering. The dipole response, for instance, is found to change dramatically when going away from the valley of stability. A redistribution of the dipole strength towards lower excitation energies is observed for neutron-rich nuclei, which partly might be due to a new collective excitation mode related to the neutron-proton asymmetry. Halo nuclei, in particular, show strong dipole transitions to the continuum at the threshold, being directly related to the ground-state properties of the projectile. Finally, an outlook on future experimental prospects is given.     

Measurements of g-Factor of Rotational Band States in 82Sr

The g-factors of the positive parity rotational states up to spin I = 8^＋ for the ground state band in even-even nuclei S2Sr have been measured by a transient-magnetic-field ion implantation perturbed angular distribution method. The experimentally measured 9-factors increase with the increasing spin along the band and show that the g9/2 proton aligns only and the alignment starts from I =6^＋. The measured g-factors also indicate that the nuclei ^82Sr gain their spins by the quasi-proton alignment at higher spin.     

The halo of the exotic nucleus 11Li: a single Cooper pair

If neutrons are progressively added to a normal nucleus, the Pauli principle forces them into states of higher momentum. When the core becomes neutron saturated, the nucleus expels most of the wave function of the last neutrons outside to form a halo, which, because of its large size, can have a lower momentum. It is an open question how nature stabilizes such a fragile system and provides the glue needed to bind the halo neutrons to the core. Here, we show that this problem is similar to that of the instability of the normal state of an electron system at zero temperature solved by Cooper, a solution which is at the basis of BCS theory of superconductivity. By mimicking this approach using, aside from the bare nucleon-nucleon interaction, the long wavelength vibrations of the nucleus ¹¹Li, the paradigm of halo nuclei, as tailored glues of the least bound neutrons, we are able to obtain a unified and quantitative picture of the observed properties of ¹¹Li. Received: 9 May 2001 / Accepted: 17 November 2001     

Realistic nuclear Hamiltonian: Ab exitu approach

Fully-microscopic no-core shell model (NCSM) calculations of all stable s and p shell nuclei are used to determine a realistic NN   interaction, JISP16, describing not only the two-nucleon data but the binding energies and spectra of nuclei with A?16$A?16$ as well. The JISP16 interaction, providing rapid convergence of the NCSM calculations, is obtained in an ab exitu approach by phase-equivalent transformations of the JISP6 NN interaction.     

Towards a new Gogny force parameterization: Impact of the neutron matter equation of state

A new parameterization of the effective nucleon–nucleon Gogny interaction is proposed. It reproduces the neutron matter equation of state much better than the commonly used D1S Gogny interaction and furthermore reduces the binding energies' drift for the major part of the isotopic chains. Other important nuclear properties related both to nuclear matter and finite nuclei are studied and shown to be of similar quality as with D1S.     

Structure of even-even beryllium isotopes studied by AMD+GCM method

The ground state properties and the properties of low-lying states of the even-even⁶Be-¹²Be beryllium isotopes are investigated using the extended version of the Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics Multi-Slater Determinant model. The theoretical method is found to be very useful to study ground state properties of various nuclei covering light unstable nuclei. Many experimental data can be successfully reproduced by the adopted approach. Binding energies, the energies of the 2 ₁ ⁺ states, electromagnetic transition strengths and quadrupole moments of proton and neutron distribution are calculated. This work is supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (13740145) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.     

Partial widths for the decays η:(1295) →γγ and η:(1440) →γγ

We discuss γγ partial widths of pseudoscalar/isoscalar mesons η:(M) in the mass region M∼ 1000–1500 MeV. The transition amplitudes η:(1295) →γγ and η:(1440) →γγ are studied within an assumption that the decaying mesons are the members of the first radial excitation nonet 2¹ S ₀qˉq. The calculations show that partial widths being of the order of 0.1 keV are dominantly due to the nˉn meson component while the contribution of the sˉs component is small. Received: 24 September 1999     

晕核反应总截面和密度分布

利用考虑了量子修正、库仑修正、核子–核子碰撞同位旋效应和假定有效原子核密度分布后得到的改进的Glauber理论,计算了晕核与稳定核反应总截面,研究了晕核结构对反应总截面的影响.结果发现对于¹¹Be,¹⁴Be和¹¹Li等入射核,必须考虑它们的晕核结构和利用自由的核子–核子碰撞截面才能得到与实验符合的反应截面,并可依据反应总截面来确定晕核的密度分布和均方半径等信息.     

Theoretical Calculation for Half-Lives of Spherical Proton Emitters

Half-lives of the proton radioactivity for spherical proton emitters are investigated theoretically in the Wentzel- Kramers-Brillouin approximation. Microscopic proton-nucleus interaction potentials are obtained by folding the densities of the residual daughter nuclei with renormalized M3Y effective interactions. We also take the spectroscopic factor （Sp） into account in the calculation, which is evaluated in the relativistic mean field approach using the force NL3. The calculated results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Total Nuclear Reaction Cross Section Induced by Halo Nuclei and Stable Nuclei

We develop a method for calculation of the total reaction cross sections induced by the halo nuclei and stable nuclei. This approach is based on the Glauber theory, which is valid for nuclear reactions at high energies. It is extended for nuclear reactions at low energies and intermediate energies by including both the quantum correction and Coulomb correction under the assumption of the effective nuclear density distribution. The calculated results of the total reaction cross section induced by stable nuclei agree well with 30 experimental data within 10 percent accuracy.The comparison between the numerical results and 20 experimental data for the total nuclear reaction cross section induced by the neutron halo nuclei and the proton halo nuclei indicates a satisfactory agreement after considering the halo structure of these nuclei, which implies quite digerent mean fields for the nuclear reactions induced by halo nuclei and stable nuclei. The halo nucleon distributions and the root-mean-square radii of these nuclei can be extracted from the above comparison based on the improved Glauber model, which indicates clearly the halo structures of these nuclei. Especially,it is clear to see that the medium correction of the nucleon-nucleon collision has little effect on the total reaction cross sections, induced by the halo nuclei due to the very weak binding and the very extended density distribution.     

Total Nuclear Reaction Cross Section Induced by Halo Nuclei and Stable Nuclei

We develop a method for calculation of the total reaction cross sections induced by the halo nuclei and stable. nuclei. This approach is based on the Glauber theory, which is valid for nuclear reactions at high energies. It is extended for nuclear reactions at low energies and intermediate energies by including both the quantum correction and Coulomb correction under the assumption of the effective nuclear density distribution. The calculated results of the total reaction cross section induced by stable nuclei agree well with 30 experimental data within 10 percent accuracy. The comparison between the numerical results and 20 experimental data for the total nuclear reaction cross section induced by the neutron halo nuclei and the proton halo nuclei indicates a satisfactory agreement after considering the halo structure of these nuclei, which implies quite different mean fields for the nuclear reactions induced by halo nuclei and stable nuclei. The halo nucleon distributions and the root-mean-square radii of these nuclei can be extracted from the above comparison based on the improved Glauber model, which indicates clearly the halo structures of these nuclei. Especially,it is clear to see that the medium correction of the nucleon-nucleon collision has little effect on the total reaction cross sections induced by the halo nuclei due to the very weak binding and the very extended density distribution.     

Neutron halos in hypernuclei

Properties of single- Λ and double- Λ hypernuclei for even-N Ca isotopes ranging from the proton dripline to the neutron dripline are studied using the relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov theory with a zero-range pairing interaction. Compared with ordinary nuclei, the addition of one or two Λ-hyperons lowers the Fermi level. The predicted neutron dripline nuclei are, respectively, ⁷⁵ _ΛCa and ⁷⁶ _2ΛCa, as the additional attractive force provided by the Λ-N interaction shifts nuclei from outside to inside the dripline. Therefore, the last bound hypernuclei have two more neutrons than the corresponding ordinary nuclei. Based on the analysis of two-neutron separation energies, neutron single-particle energy levels, the contribution of continuum and nucleon density distribution, giant halo phenomena due to the pairing correlation, and the contribution from the continuum are suggested to exist in Ca hypernuclei similar to those that appear in ordinary Ca isotopes. Received: 21 October 2002 / Accepted: 11 January 2003 / Published online: 8 April 2003