Nuclear rotational bands and SL(3, R) symmetry

Nuclear rotational motion is studied under the assumption that the transition E2 operators generate the algebraic symmetry SL(3, R), as first suggested by Gell-Mann, Ne'eman and Dothan. Besides the K = 0⁺ and K = 0⁻ bands, more general multiband representations are derived. This model predicts ratios of interband transitions in rotational nuclei having no adjustable parameters. These predictions are compared to all available data and show that the model is a semi-quantitative improvement on the rigid-rotator model.