Study ofpf-shell nuclei with a symmetry conserving generator coordinate method

Bands based on the 0⁺ ground state and the first excited 0⁺ pairing vibrational state of⁴⁸Ti,⁵²Cr and⁵⁶Fe are studied with the generator coordinate method. The generating wave functions for each value of the angular momentumJ are angular momentum and particle number projected selfconsistent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov states where the constrained amount of pairing correlations serves as the generator coordinate. The interaction is given by reaction matrix elements derived from the Hamada-Johnston force. The basis includes the four lowest oscillator shells. The excitation energies of the pairing vibrational states can be reproduced fairly well by the present choice of the generating wave functions, whereas the ground band is not much improved compared to projected Hartree-Bogoliubov calculations. We find that the strength of the pairing correlations in the 0⁺ and 2⁺ states of the ground state and the pairing vibrational bands can be related to data of two-particle transfer reactions. The angular momentum dependence of the pairing correlations and of the moments of inertia are studied. The results show that for a strongly paired ground state the ground state band and the pairing vibrational band intersect. This may produce in the yrast band the anomaly of the moment of inertia known from rare earth nuclei.