Low-energy monopole and dipole response in nuclei at finite temperature

The multipole response of nuclei at temperatures T=0–2 MeV$T=0\text{–}2\text{MeV}$ is studied using a self-consistent finite-temperature RPA (random phase approximation) based on relativistic energy density functionals. Illustrative calculations are performed for the isoscalar monopole and isovector dipole modes and, in particular, the evolution of low-energy excitations with temperature is analyzed, including the modification of pygmy structures. Both for the monopole and dipole modes, in the temperature range T=1–2 MeV$T=1\text{–}2\text{MeV}$ additional transition strength appears at low energies due to thermal unblocking of single-particle orbitals close to the Fermi level. A concentration of dipole strength around 10 MeV excitation energy is predicted in ^60,62Ni. The principal effect of finite temperature on low-energy strength that is already present at zero temperature, e.g. in ⁶⁸Ni and ¹³²Sn, is the spreading of this structure to even lower energy and the appearance of states that correspond to thermally unblocked transitions.     

The multilevel pairing Hamiltonian versus the degenerate case

We study the pairing Hamiltonian in a set of non-degenerate levels. First, we review in the path integral framework the spontaneous breaking of the U(1) symmetry occurring in such a system for the degenerate situation. Then the behaviors with the coupling constant of the ground state energy in the multilevel and in the degenerate case are compared. Next we discuss, in the multilevel case, an exact strong coupling expansion for the ground state energy which introduces the moments of the single particle level distribution. The domain of validity of the expansion, which is known in the macroscopic limit, is explored for finite systems and its implications for the energy of the latter is discussed. Finally the seniority and Gaudin excitations of the pairing Hamiltonian are addressed and shown to display the same gap in leading order.     

Fragment formation in proton induced reactions within a BUU transport model

The formation of fragments in proton-induced reactions at low relativistic energies within a combination of a covariant dynamical transport model and a statistical approach is investigated. In particular, we discuss in detail the applicability and limitations of such a hybrid model by comparing data on fragmentation at low relativistic SIS/GSI-energies.     

Calculations of 6He + p elastic-scattering cross-sections using folding approach and high-energy approximation for the optical potential

Calculations of microscopic optical potentials (OPs) (their real and imaginary parts) are performed to analyze the ⁶ He + p elastic-scattering data at a few tens of MeV/nucleon (MeV/N). The OPs and the cross-sections are calculated using three model densities of ⁶He . Effects of the regularization of the NN forces and their dependence on nuclear density are investigated. Also, the role of the spin-orbit terms and of the non-linearity in the calculations of the OPs, as well as effects of their renormalization are studied. The sensitivity of the cross-sections to the nuclear densities was tested and one of them that gives a better agreement with the data was chosen.     

Mechanism of Proton-Induced Reactions on Targets ^16O, ^27Al, ^56Fe, ^112Cd, ^184W and ^208Pb At Ep = 800 MeV

We investigate the 800 MeV proton-induced spallation reactions on various targets by the improved quantum molecular dynamics （ImQMD05） model incorporated with a statistical decay model （SDM）. The influence of the nucleon-nucleon effective interaction on proton induced spallation reactions is studied by using different Skyrme interactions. It is found that the low energy part of the neutron double differential cross sections （DDCS）, which is mainly contributed from the decay of the excited residue, is influenced by the effective nucleon-nucleon interaction strongly., while the high energy part of neutron DDCS is influenced weakly. Among the Skyrme interactions used in the calculations, the calculation results with SkP give the best agreement with the experimental data.     

Subthreshold φ-meson production and medium effects in proton-nucleus reactions

Within the spectral function approach we study the direct production and decay via the dikaon (dimuon) channel of -mesons in the interactions of 2.4 and 2.7GeV protons with light and medium target nuclei. It is shown that the K⁺K^- ( ^+-) invariant-mass distribution consists of the two components which correspond to the decay outside and inside the target nucleus. The first (narrow) component has the free width, while the second (broad) component is distorted by the nuclear matter due to resonance-nucleon scattering and a possible in-medium modification of the kaons and -meson at finite baryon density. The relative strength of the inside and outside components is analyzed in different scenarios for the width and momentum cut. It is demonstrated that the width of the resulting dimuon invariant-mass distribution on medium nuclei is larger than the free width by a factor of about two if the total in-medium width is used and the respective cutoff for the three-momentum is applied, whereas the resulting dikaon invariant-mass distribution has an insignificant sensitivity to the in-medium properties due to the strong absorption of the K^- in the surrounding nuclear matter. On the other hand, because of the distortion of the K⁺ and K^- on their way out the target nucleus mainly due to the hadronic kaon potentials, the latter distribution is broadened and shifted to higher invariant masses, which means that the measurement of such broadening would give additional evidence for the modification of the kaon and antikaon properties in the nuclear medium.     

Effects of δ Meson on Thermal Protoneutron Star Matter

In the framework of the relativistic mean field theory, the effects of the δ meson on protoneutron star matter with hyperons at finite temperature are investigated. In thermal protoneutron star matter, the δ field potential increases with density first and then decreases. Fixing the density, the increase of the temperature suppresses the δ field potential. With the inclusion of the δ meson, the threshold densities for hyperons become lower and the abundance of trapped neutrinos decreases. The most important effect of the δ meson is to increase the abundance of hyperons in the inner core range of protoneutron stars. With the rise of the temperature, the density range where the δ meson plays an important role is narrowed and the effects of the δ meson are suppressed. Moreover, the protoneutron star mass and radius are nearly not affected by the δ meson     

Hypernuclear Magnetic Moments and λ--N Interaction in 17λO

Hypernuclear magnetic moment and λ--N interaction in ¹⁷_λO has been studied within relativistic mean field theory. Without core polarization, the relativistic results are found to fit the Schmidt value well and not be sensitive to λ--N interaction. The relativistic magnetic moment is enhanced with nearly equal contributions of the relativistic and free masses. When λ hyperon occupies the l=0 or l=1 orbit, the effect of λ--N interaction on the magnetic moment of valence proton is different.     

The E1 capture amplitude in 12C(α,γ0) 16O

An excitation function of the ground-state γ₀-ray capture transition in ¹²C (α,γ)¹⁶O at θ_γ = 90^° was obtained in far geometry using six Ge detectors, where the study of the reaction was initiated in inverse kinematics involving a windowless gas target. The detectors observed predominantly the E1 capture amplitude. The data at E = 1.32 to 2.99 MeV lead to an extrapolated astrophysical S factor S _E1(E ₀) = 90±15 keV b at E ₀ = 0.3 MeV (for the case of constructive interference between the two lowest E1 sources), in good agreement with previous works. However, a novel Monte Carlo approach in the data extrapolation reveals systematic differences between the various data sets such that a combined analysis of all available data sets could produce a biased estimate of the S _E1(E ₀) value. As a consequence, the case of destructive interference between the two lowest E1 sources with S _E1(E ₀) = 8±3 keV b cannot be ruled out rigorously. Received: 6 June 2001 / Accepted: 26 July 2001     

Quantum Monte Carlo calculation for the neutron-rich Ca isotopes

We computed ground-state energies of calcium isotopes from ⁴²Ca to ⁴⁸Ca by means of the Auxiliary Field Diffusion Monte Carlo (AFDMC) method. Calculations were performed by replacing the ⁴⁰Ca core with a mean-field self-consistent potential computed using the Skyrme interaction. The energy of the external neutrons is calculated by projecting the ground state from a wave function built with the single-particle orbitals computed in the self-consistent external potential. The shells considered were the 1F _7/2 and the 1F _5/2 . The Hamiltonian employed is semi-realistic and includes tensor, spin-orbit and three-body forces. While absolute binding energies are too deep if compared with experimental data, the differences between the energies for nearly all isotopes are in very good agreement with the experimental data.     

Subthreshold K<Superscript>-</Superscript>-meson production in proton-nucleus reactions revisited

We study the inclusive K^--meson production in proton-nucleus collisions in the subthreshold energy regime in the framework of a spectral function approach for incoherent primary proton-nucleon and secondary pion-nucleon production processes. Our approach takes properly into account the effect of the nuclear mean-field potentials on these processes, as well as the final-state interaction (FSI) among the outgoing nucleons participating in the one-step antikaon creation process. A detailed comparison of the model calculations of the K^- differential cross-sections for the reactions p + ⁹Be, p + ⁶³Cu, and p + ¹⁹⁷Au at subthreshold energies with the currently available experimental data obtained recently at the ITEP proton synchrotron and at SIS/GSI is given. We find that our calculation, which includes both the nuclear density-dependent mean-field potentials and the elementary NN-FSI effects on the K^- production from the direct mechanism, is able to reproduce the energy dependences of the invariant differential cross-sections for the “hard” antikaon creation in p- ⁹Be and p- ⁶³Cu collisions. This result contradicts previous estimates which used only density-dependent mean fields in calculating the K^- yield from this mechanism. We further show that the NN-FSI effects play a minor role in describing the data on the spectrum of the relatively soft K^--mesons from p- ¹⁹⁷Au interactions at incident energy of 2.5GeV. We find that the relative strength of the proton- and pion-induced reaction channels in the subthreshold energy regime is governed by the kinematics of the experiment under consideration. We also explore the influence of the antikaon mean-field potential on the K^- yield at low antikaon momenta. Received: 26 July 2001 / Accepted: 23 December 2002 / Published online: 8 April 2003