Symmetry in exotic nuclei

Symmetries have played an important role in the elucidation of the structure of nuclei and will continue to do so for exotic nuclei. As an example, an application of pseudo-SU(4) symmetry is discussed. It can be used as a starting point for a boson model that includes T = 0 as well as T = 1 bosons (IBM-4); applications are presented for N = Z nuclei from ⁵⁸Cu to ⁷⁰Br. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: isacker@ganil.fr     

Molecular structure of nuclei

Cluster structures of nuclei are discussed, with emphasis on nuclear clustering in unstable nuclei. The subjects we discuss are alpha condensed states, clustering in Be and B isotopes, and clustering in ³²Mg and ³⁰Ne. The subject of alpha cluster condensation comes from the clustering nature of dilute nuclear matter. We discuss that recent heavy-ion central collision experiments give us nice evidence of the clustering in dilute nuclear matter. We then present a new prediction of the existence of the “alpha cluster condensed states” in the self-conjugate 4n nuclei around the breakup threshold energy into n alpha-particles. As for the clustering in neutron-rich Be, we discuss the comparison between the antisymmetrized molecular-dynamics results and the recent experimental data, which shows that the clustering feature manifests itself very clearly in neutron-rich Be isotopes both in the ground and excited states. Clustering in Be isotopes near neutron dripline is intimately related to the breaking of the neutron magic number N = 8. We report our recent study about the possible relationship between the clustering and the breaking of the neutron magic number N = 20 in ³²Mg and ³⁰Ne. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: horiuchi@ruby.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp     

Large-scale shell model calculations for exotic nuclei

Recent shell model calculations for the neutron-rich nuclei around the magic numbers N = 20, N = 28 and N = 40 are reviewed. We stress two points: i) The crucial role played by the monopole part of the effective interaction that determines the evolution of the spherical mean field. In particular, the reduction in the quasiparticle gaps at the magic numbers can erode or even erase the shell closures. ii) The rich variety of structures that can be found in these situations, with coexisting deformed and spherical states, rapid changes of behaviour with N or Z, and the massive occurrence of intruder states as ground states. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: alfredo.poves@uam.es     

Three-body decays of light nuclei: 6Be, 8Li, 9Be, 12O, 16Ne, and 17Ne

The theoretical approach to the two-proton radioactivity and three-body decays developed in (L.V. Grigorenko, R.C. Johnson, I.G. Mukha, I.J. Thompson, M.V. Zhukov, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 22 (2000) and to be published in Phys. Rev. C) is applied to the range of light nuclear systems. We study nuclear structures, widths, and momentum correlations for the decay fragments. Strong contradictions with experiment, as well as effects of special interest, are found in ¹²O and ¹⁶Ne nuclei. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: l.grigorenko@surrey.ac.uk     

Ternary clusterization and quadrupole deformation

The deformation-dependence of ternary clusterization of atomic nuclei is investigated. In particular, allowed and forbidden ternary cluster-configurations are determined for the ground, superdeformed, and hyperdeformed states of some light and heavy nuclei, based on a microscopic (real and effective SU(3)$\mathit{SU}(3)$) selection rule. The energetic stability of the clusterizations is also considered.     

High-spin study of odd- A 49In isotopes beyond the neutron mid-shell

The ^{115, 117, 119, 121}In nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in three reactions induced by heavy ions: ¹²C + ²³⁸U at 90MeV bombarding energy, ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb reaction at 85MeV, and ³¹P + ¹⁷⁶Yb at 152MeV. Their level schemes have been built from gamma-rays detected using the EUROBALL III and IV arrays. High-spin states of ^{117, 119, 121}In nuclei have been identified for the first time. Moreover, isomeric states lying around 2.5MeV have been established in ^{119, 121}In from the delayed coincidences between the fission fragment detector SAPhIR and the gamma array. Most of the observed states can be described by coupling a proton g _9/2 hole to a Sn core, while the intruder band based on an orbital from the π[g _7/2/d _5/2] sub-shells behaves as the ground-state band of neighbouring Cd isotopes. Received: 24 May 2002 / Accepted: 11 June 2002 / Published online: 19 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: porquet@csnsm.in2p3.fr RID="b" ID="b"Present address: CEA-DIF, DAM/DCRE/SDE/LDN, 91680 Bruyères-le-Chatel, France. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: CSNSM IN2P3-CNRS and Université Paris-Sud 91405 Orsay, France. RID="d" ID="d"Present address: CEA/Saclay, DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France. Communicated by D. Schwalm     

Candidates for chiral doublet bands in 136Nd

The even-even nucleus ¹³⁶Nd was studied via in-beam γ-ray spectroscopy using the ¹⁶O + ¹²⁵Te reaction at 100 MeV and the EUROBALL array. One new dipole band was observed. Together with a previously identified dipole band, whose position in the level scheme is revised, the new band forms a doublet structure similar to the recently observed chiral bands in the odd-odd neighboring nuclei. This would be the first case of a chiral doublet in an even-even nucleus. Received: 23 May 2002 / Accepted: 30 September 2002 / Published online: 27 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: costel.petrache@unicam.it RID="b" ID="b"Present address: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany. Communicated by C. Signorini     

High-spin structure of the neutron-rich odd-odd 106, 108 45Rh and 110, 112 47Ag isotopes

The ^{106, 108}Rh and ^{110, 112}Ag nuclei have been produced as fission fragments following the fusion reaction ²⁸Si + ¹⁷⁶Yb at 145 MeV bombarding energy and studied with the Eurogam2 array. The yrast high-spin states of these four odd-odd nuclei, which are observed for the first time, consist of rotational bands in which the odd proton occupies the πg _9/2 subshell and the odd neutron the νh _11/2 subshell. Their behaviour as a function of spin values does not vary with the number of neutrons: as observed in the odd-N neighbouring nuclei, the motion of the odd neutron remains decoupled from the motion of the core, from N = 61 to N = 65. Moreover, the staggering observed in the yrast bands of odd-odd isotopes is strongly reduced as compared to the large values displayed by the rotational bands built on the πg _9/2 subshell in the odd-A Rh and Ag isotopes. The results of particle-rotor calculations indicate that this reduction is related to a change of the core deformation. Received: 1 June 2001 / Accepted: 23 July 2002 / Published online: 10 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: porquet@csnsm.in2p3.fr RID="b" ID="b"Present address: CSNSM IN2P3-CNRS and Université Paris-Sud 91405 Orsay, France. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: NAC, Faure, ZA 7131, South Africa. RID="d" ID="d"Present address: Department of Nuclear Physics, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. Communicated by D. Schwalm     

Bivariate distributions in statistical spectroscopy studies: IV. Interacting particle Gamow-Teller strength densities and β-decay rates offp-shell nuclei for presupernova stars

A method to calculate temperature dependent-decay rates is developed by writing the expression for the rates explicitly in terms of bivariateGT strength densities (I _O ^H _(GT)) for a given hamiltonianH=h+V and state densities of the parent nucleus besides having the usual phase space factors. The theory developed in the preceding paper (III) for constructing NIP strength densities is applied for generatingI _O ^h _(GT) and thenI _O ^H _(GT) is constructed using the bivariate convolution formI _O ^H _(GT)= _S I _O(GT) ^h,S _O(GT) ^V,S ; _BIV-G . The spreading bivariate Gaussian _O(GT) ^V ;BIV-G, forfp-shell nuclei, is constructed by assuming that the marginal centroids are zero, the marginal variances are same as the corresponding state density variances and fixing the bivariate correlation coefficient using experimental-decay half lifes. With the deduced values of 0.67,-S-decay rates for^61,62Fe and^62–64Co isotopes are calculated at presupernova matter densities=10⁷–10⁹ gm/cc, temperaturesT=(3–5)×10⁹ K and electron fractions Y_e=0.43–0.5. The convolution form forI _O(GT) ^H led to a simple expression for calculatingGT non-energy weighted sum rule strength and it describes (within 10%) the shell model results offp-shell nuclei.The work presented in this paper has grown out of many discussions and correspondence one of the authors (VKBK) has with J.B. French in the last five years and also out of an ongoing project one of the authors (VKBK) is carrying out with J.B. French and R.U. Haq. Thanks are due to K. Kar and S. Sarkar for supplying some of their results before publishing. The authors thank V. Potbhare for his interest in the work presented in this paper.     

Rotational bands and signature inversion phenomena in πh9/2⊗νi13/2 and πi13/2⊗νi13/2 structures in odd-odd 176Ir

The ^109,111,113Rh nuclei have been produced as fission fragments in the fusion reaction ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb at 85 MeV. Their level schemes have been built from gamma-rays detected using the Euroball IV array. High-spin states of the neutron-rich ^111,113Rh nuclei have been identified for the first time. Several rotational bands with the odd proton occupying the πg _9/2, πp _1/2 and π(g _7/2/d _5/2) sub-shells have been observed. A band of low-energy transitions has been identified at excitation energy around 2 MeV in ^109,111Rh, which can be interpreted in terms of three-quasiparticle excitation, πg _9/2νh _11/2νg _7/2/d _5/2. In addition another structure built on states located at low excitation energy (608 keV in ¹¹¹Rh, 570 keV in ¹¹³Rh) points out that, as already observed in the lighter isotopes ^107,109Rh, triaxial deformation plays a role in the neutron-rich Rh isotopes well beyond the mid-shell. Received: 15 July 2002 / Accepted: 9 October 2002 / Published online: 3 December 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: porquet@csnsm.in2p3.fr RID="b" ID="b"Present address: CSNSM IN2P3-CNRS and Université Paris-Sud 91405 Orsay, France. RID="c" ID="c"Present address: CEA/Saclay, DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France. Communicated by D. Schwalm     

Microscopic calculation of pion production in nucleus-nucleus collisions around 1 GeV·A

New phonon operators are introduced for describing deformed nuclei which consist of the electric and magnetic parts. The Hamiltonian of the quasiparticle-phonon nuclear model is constructed and the basic equations for the finite rank separable isoscalar and isovector multipole and spin-multipole particle-hole and particle-particle interactions between quasiparticles are derived. It is shown that calculations of one-phonon states in the RPA encounter some difficulties due to the finite rankn _max>1 separable interaction of the electric and magnetic type. The use of complex separablen _max>1 interactions does not lead to complication of the QPNM equations for describing fragmentation of vibrational states. The matrix elements are obtained for describingE- andM- transitions between excited states of deformed nuclei. It is stated that the QPNM can serve as a basis for calculating many characteristics of excited states of deformed nuclei.     

Extension of the spectroscopic Monte Carlo method to realistic effective interactions

We propose an extension of the spectroscopic Monte Carlo method to realistic effective interactions. The scheme is applied to the recently introduced GXPF1 interaction for fp nuclei for the ground state of ⁶⁰Fe, ⁵⁶Ni, ⁶⁴Ni and ⁶⁰Zn. The method hinges on the use of Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov wave functions (properly projected before variation) and on a reformulation of the effective interaction so that it is a sum of negative squares of Hermitian one-quasi-particle operators, so the application of the Hubbard-Stratonovich transformation to the elementary propagator exp[- ] gives a functional integral over a Hermitian propagator. Limitations and difficulties encountered in the calculation are discussed.     

First observation of the ν9/2[404] orbital in the A ∼ 100 mass region

A new band, populated by the spontaneous fission of ²⁴⁸Cm and studied by means of prompt γ-ray spectroscopy using the EUROGAM2 array, was observed in ⁹⁹Zr. The 1038.8 keV band head with a half-life T _1/2 = 54(10) ns is interpreted as a K-isomer, corresponding to the 9/2[404] neutron-hole excitation. It is the first observation of this orbital in the mass A ∼ 100 region. The quadrupole moment, Q ₀ = 3.9(3) eb deduced for the new band indicates a large deformation of β = 0.41, which is produced by a specific shape-coexistence mechanism, known in other regions and now found in the A ∼ 100 nuclei. Received: 11 September 2002 / Accepted: 31 October 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: urban@fuw.edu.pl Communicated by D. Schwalm     

New region of deformation in the neutron-rich 60 24Cr36 and 62 24Cr38

The neutron-rich nuclei ₂₃ ^60-63V have been produced at GANIL via interactions of a 61.8A·MeV ⁷⁶Ge beam with a ⁵⁸Ni target. Beta-decay to ₂₄ ^60-63Cr has been investigated using combined β- and γ-ray spectroscopy. Half-lives of the ^60-63V nuclei have been determined, and the existence of a beta-decay isomer in the ⁶⁰V nucleus is strongly supported. The observation of low-energy 2⁺ states in ⁶⁰Cr (646keV) and ⁶²Cr (446keV) suggests that these isotopes are strongly deformed with β₂ ∼ 0.3. This is confirmed by shell model calculations which show the dominant influence of the intruder g and d orbitals to obtain low 2⁺ energies in the neutron-rich Cr isotopes. Received: 13 June 2002 / Accepted: 27 August 2002 / Published online: 17 January 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: sorlin@ipno.in2p3.fr Communicated by D. Guerreau     

The spectroscopy and structure of the transitional nucleus219Ra

The interchange of two sets of spins in the level structure of²¹⁹Ra observed following the alpha decay of²²³Th and the suggestion that the ground state of²¹⁹Ra was not observed in the heavy ion reaction spectroscopy²⁰⁸Pb(¹⁴C, 3n), allow the correlation of these levels which were previously unconnected. The resulting level structure is interpreted in terms of and parity doublet bands which evolve from anomalous rotational structures into vibrational-like structures with alternating spins and parities. The level structure of²¹⁹Ra is successfully interpreted both in terms of octupole deformed (ε ₃=0.08) Nilsson levels and in terms of intermediate coupling using normal Nilsson levels with very strong octupole correlations. The levels in²¹⁹Ra are then compared to the corresponding levels in a series of isotopic and isotonic nuclei to trace the collapse of octupole-quadrupole deformed nuclear structure into the more degenerate shell-model spectroscopy.     

Microscopic structure of superdeformed states in Th, U, Pu and Cm isotopes with Gogny force

The structure properties of the even-even nuclei ^{226, 228, 230, 232, 234}Th, ^{230, 232, 234, 236, 238, 240}U, ^{240, 242, 244, 246}Pu, and ^{242, 244, 246, 248}Cm have been investigated at normal and superdeformed shapes in microscopic mean-field calculations based on Gogny force. Collective levels are predicted from constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov and configuration mixing calculations. Two quasiparticle states are also predicted from blocking calculations for neutron and proton configurations. Predictions are shown and compared with experimental data at superdeformed shapes. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: michel-g.girod@cla.tr     

Deformed shell model for T = 0, 1 and 2 bands in <Superscript>52</Superscript>Fe and <Superscript>72</Superscript>Kr

Deformed configuration mixing shell model based on Hartree-Fock states with extension to include isospin projection (DSMT) for two- and four-particle configurations (generated by particle-hole excitations) is applied to study the structure of the low-lying T = 0, 1 and 2 bands (or levels) in the even-even N = Z nuclei ⁵²Fe and ⁷²Kr. The pf-shell KB3 interaction for ⁵²Fe and a modified Kuos interaction for ⁷²Kr are employed in the calculations. In this first application of DSMT with four-particle T projection, low-spin (J 10) members of the T = 0, 1 and 2 bands in ⁵²Fe are compared with experiment including the known E2 transition strengths. The agreement between DSMT and experiment is reasonably good. Similarly, the low-spin members of the observed (prolate) yrast band in ⁷²Kr are also well described by DSMT.     

Probing shell structure in neutron-rich nuclei with in-beam γ-spectroscopy

The structure of neutron-rich light nuclei around N = 20 and 28 has been investigated at GANIL by means of in-beam gamma-spectroscopy using fragmentation reactions of ³⁶S and ⁴⁸Ca beams on a Be target. Gamma-decay of relatively high-lying excited states have been measured for the first time in nuclei around ³²Mg and ⁴⁴S. Level schemes are proposed and discussed for a large number of these neutron-rich nuclei around N = 20 and N = 28. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: azaiez@ipno.in2p3.fr     

The strength of octupole correlations in neutron-rich Xe isotopes

Excited levels in ¹⁴⁰Xe and ¹⁴²Xe nuclei, populated in the spontaneous fission of ²⁴⁸Cm, were studied by means of prompt γ-ray spectroscopy, using EUROGAM2 array. We report the first observation of an octupole band in ¹⁴²Xe and extend the octupole band in ¹⁴⁰Xe. Level schemes of ¹⁴⁰Xe and ¹⁴²Xe obtained in this work show patterns characteristic of ocupole-vibrational bands. Properties of octupole bands in Xe isotopes indicate that octupole correlations in these nuclei are lower than in the corresponding Ba nuclei. The electric dipole moment of ¹⁴²Xe was found to be larger than in other Xe isotopes, contrary to theoretical predictions. This may be due to the special role of the N = 88 neutron number. Received: 18 November 2002 / Accepted: 15 December 2002 / Published online: 25 February 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: urban@fuw.edu.pl Communicated by D. Schwalm