Covariant density functional theory is used to analyze the evolution of low-lying M1 strength in superfluid deformed nuclei in the framework of the self-consistent Relativistic Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (RQRPA). In nuclei with a pronounced neutron excess two scissor modes are found. Besides the conventional scissor mode, where the deformed proton and neutron distributions oscillate against each other, a new soft M1 mode is found, where the deformed neutron skin oscillates in a scissor like motion against a deformed proton-neutron core.
Pseudo-SU(3) shell-model results are reported for M1 excitation strengths in 157-Gd, 163-Dy and 169-Tm in the energy range between 2 and 4 MeV. Non-zero pseudo-spin couplings between the configurations play a very important role in determining the M1 strength distribution, especially its rapidly changing fragmentation pattern which differs significantly from what has been found in neighboring even-even systems. The results suggest one should examine contributions from intruder levels.
Radiative neutron capture is an important nuclear reaction whose accurate description is needed for many applications ranging from nuclear technology to nuclear astrophysics. The description of such a process relies on the Hauser-Feshbach theory which requires the nuclear optical potential, level density and $γ$-strength function as model inputs. It has recently been suggested that the M1 scissors mode may explain discrepancies between theoretical calculations and evaluated data. We explore statistical model calculations with the strength of the M1 scissors mode estimated to be dependent on th…
A study of the charge and matter densities and the corresponding rms radii for even-even isotopes of Ni, Kr, and Sn has been performed in the framework of deformed self-consistent mean field Skyrme HF+BCS method. The resulting charge radii and neutron skin thicknesses of these nuclei are compared with available experimental data, as well as with other theoretical predictions. The formation of a neutron skin, which manifests itself in an excess of neutrons at distances greater than the radius of the proton distribution, is analyzed in terms of various definitions. Formation of a proton skin is …
All the orbital M1 excitations, at both low and high energies, obtained from a rotationally invariant QRPA, represent the fragmented scissors mode. The high-energy M1 strength is almost purely orbital and resides in the region of the isovector giant quadrupole resonance. In heavy deformed nuclei the high-energy scissors mode is strongly fragmented between 17 and 25 MeV (with uncertainties arising from the poor knowledge of the isovector potential). The coherent scissors motion is hindered by the fragmentation and $B(M1) < 0.25 \; μ^2_N$ for single transitions in this region. The $(e,e^{\prime}…
A low-energy magnetic dipole $(M1)$ spin-scissors resonance (SSR) located just below the ordinary orbital scissors resonance (OSR) was recently predicted in deformed nuclei within the Wigner Function Moments (WFM) approach. We analyze this prediction using fully self-consistent Skyrme Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (QRPA) method. Skyrme forces SkM*, SVbas and SG2 are implemented to explore SSR and OSR in $^{160,162,164}$Dy and $^{232}$Th. Accuracy of the method is justified by a good description of M1 spin-flip giant resonance. The calculations show that isotopes $^{160,162,164}$Dy i…
The consequences of the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetry are investigated in a field theory model for deformed nuclei, based on simple separable interactions. The crucial role of the Ward-Takahashi identities to describe the rotational states is emphasized. We show explicitly how the rotor picture emerges from the isoscalar Goldstone modes, and how the two-rotor model emerges from the isovector scissors modes. As an application of the formalism, we discuss the M1 sum rules in deformed nuclei, and make connection to empirical information.
We investigate ground states properties of Pb isotopes located between neutron and proton drip-lines estimated by two-neutron (two-proton) separation energies and Fermi energies within the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc). First, we report some candidates of nuclear shape coexistence in the isotope chain. They are accessed by calculating total energy as a function of the deformation parameter $β_2$, and for the coexistence candidates we take a couple of the deformation region bringing about minima of the energy within energy difference $ΔE < $ 1 MeV. Second,…
The neutron skin in deformed nuclei is generally not uniformly distributed but has an angular distribution, depending on both the spin-dependent nuclear interaction and the nuclear symmetry energy. To extract the information of the deformed neutron skin, we have explored the possibility of using free spectator nucleons in central tip-tip and body-body collisions at top RHIC energy with four typical deformed nuclei. The density distributions of neutrons and protons are consistently obtained from the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov calculation, and the angular distribution of the neutron skin can…
Available experimental neutron skin thicknesses of even-even stable Ca, Ni, Sn, Pb, and Cd isotopes are evaluated, and separate trends of neutron skin thickness versus relative neutron excess $δ=(N-Z)/A$ are firstly observed for different isotopic chains. This phenomenon is quantitatively reproduced by the deformed Skyrme Hartree-Fock $+$ BCS model with SLy4 force.
The symmetry energy, the neutron pressure and the asymmetric compressibility of deformed neutron-rich even-even nuclei are calculated on the examples of Kr and Sm isotopes within the coherent density fluctuation model using the symmetry energy as a function of density within the Brueckner energy-density functional. The correlation between the thickness of the neutron skin and the characteristics related with the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy is investigated for isotopic chains of these nuclei in the framework of the self-consistent Skyrme-Hartree-Fock plus BCS method. Resul…
We show that a nearly perfect SU(3) symmetry emerges from an extended Projected Shell Model. Starting from a deformed potential we construct separate bases for neutron and proton collective rotational states by exact angular momentum projection. These rotational states are then coupled by diagonalizing a residual pairing plus quadrupole interaction. The states obtained exhibit a one-to-one correspondence with an SU(3) spectrum up to high angular momentum and excitation, and their wave functions have a near-maximal overlap with the SU(3) states. They can also be classified as rotational bands b…
We consider several variants of SU(3) partial dynamical symmetry in relation to quadrupole shapes in nuclei. Explicit construction of Hamiltonians with such property is presented in the framework of the interacting boson model (IBM), including higher order terms, and in its proton-neutron extension (IBM-2). The cases considered include a single prolate-deformed shape with solvable ground and $γ$ or $β$ bands, coexisting prolate-oblate shapes with solvable ground bands, and aligned axially-deformed proton-neutron shapes with solvable symmetric ground and $γ$ bands and mixed-symmetry scissors an…
Based on the deformed nucleon distributions obtained from the constrained Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov calculation using different nuclear symmetry energies, we have investigated the effects of the neutron skin and the collision geometry on the yield of free spectator nucleons as well as the yield ratio $N_n/N_p$ of free spectator neutrons to protons in collisions of deformed nuclei at RHIC energies. We found that tip-tip (body-body) collisions with prolate (oblate) nuclei lead to fewest free spectator nucleons, compared to other collision configurations. While the $N_n/N_p$ ratio is sensiti…
We perform Hartree-Fock+BCS calculations for even-even nuclei with 2 <= Z <= 82 and N ranging from outside the proton drip line to the experimental frontier on the neutron-rich side. The ground state solutions are obtained for 737 nuclei, together with shape-coexistence solutions for 480 nuclei. Our method features the Cartesian-mesh representation of single-particle wavefunctions, which is advantageous in treating nucleon skins and exotic shapes. The results are compared with those of the finite-range droplet model of Moller et al. as well as the experimental values.
Neutron skin thickness and its volume and surface contributions in berkelium isotopes
School of Physics, Zhengzhou University（郑州大学物理学院）；State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology, School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院核物理与核技术国家重点实验室）；State Key Laboratory of Heavy Ion Science and Technology, Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院近代物理研究所重离子科学和技术国家重点实验室）
We studied the charge radius ($r_{c}$), neutron radius ($r_n$), and neutron skin-thickness ($Δr=r_n-r_p$) over a chain of isotopes from C to Zr with the stable region to the neutron drip line. Theoretical calculations are done with axially deformed self-consistent relativistic mean-field theory (RMF) with effective nonlinear NL3 and NL3* interactions. The theoretically estimated values are compared with available experimental data and a reasonable agreement are noted. We additionally assessed the two-neutron separation energy ($S_{2n}$) to mark the drip line nuclei of the considered isotopic s…
We investigate the microscopic structure of the low-lying isovector-dipole excitation mode in neutron-rich $^{36,38,40}$Mg close to the drip line by means of the deformed quasiparticle-random-phase-approximation employing the Skyrme and the local pairing energy-density functionals. It is found that the low-lying bump structure above the neutron emission-threshold energy develops when the drip line is approached, and that the isovector dipole strength at $E_{x} < 10$ MeV exhausts about $6.0 %$ of the classical Thomas-Reiche-Kuhn dipole sum rule in $^{40}$Mg. We obtained the collective dipole mo…
We study the correlation between the thickness of the neutron skin in finite nuclei and the nuclear symmetry energy for isotopic chains of even-even Ni, Sn, and Pb nuclei in the framework of the deformed self-consistent mean-field Skyrme HF+BCS method. The symmetry energy, the neutron pressure and the asymmetric compressibility in finite nuclei are calculated within the coherent density fluctuation model using the symmetry energy as a function of density within the Brueckner energy-density functional. The mass dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy and the neutron skin thickness are also st…
The coordinate space formulation of the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) method enables self-consistent treatment of mean-field and pairing in weakly bound systems whose properties are affected by the particle continuum space. Of particular interest are neutron-rich, deformed drip-line nuclei which can exhibit novel properties associated with neutron skin. To describe such systems theoretically, we developed an accurate 2D lattice Skyrme-HFB solver {\hfbax} based on B-splines. Compared to previous implementations, we made a number of improvements aimed at boosting the solver's performance. These …
The temperature dependence of the symmetry energy for isotopic chains of even-even Ni, Sn, and Pb nuclei is investigated in the framework of the local density approximation (LDA). The Skyrme energy density functional with two Skyrme-class effective interactions, SkM* and SLy4, is used in the calculations. The temperature-dependent proton and neutron densities are calculated through the HFBTHO code that solves the nuclear Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov problem by using the cylindrical transformed deformed harmonic-oscillator basis. In addition, two other density distributions of $^{208}$Pb, nam…
The exotic phenomenon of two-neutron halos and 2n-radioactivity are explored in the neutron-rich $^{40,42,44}$Mg by employing various variants of the relativistic mean-field approach. The extended tail of spatial density distributions including the enhanced neutron radii and skin thickness, pairing correlations, single-particle spectrum and wave functions predict $^{40,42,44}$Mg to be strong candidates for deformed neutron halos. Weakening of magicity at N$=$28 plays a significant role in the existence of a weakly bound halo in $^{40}$Mg which is currently the heaviest isotope of Mg accessible…
In this theoretical study, we establish a correlation between the neutron skin thickness and the nuclear symmetry energy for the even$-$even isotopes of Fe, Ni, Zn, Ge, Se and Kr within the framework of the axially deformed self-consistent relativistic mean field for the non-linear NL3$^*$ and density-dependent DD-ME1 interactions. The coherent density functional method is used to formulate the symmetry energy, the neutron pressure and the curvature of finite nuclei as a function of the nuclear radius. We have performed broad studies for the mass dependence on the symmetry energy in terms of t…
The aim of this work is to develop the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum (DRHBc) theory based on the point-coupling density functionals and extend it to provide a unified description for all even-even nuclei in the nuclear chart by overcoming all possible challenges. The nuclear superfluidity is considered via Bogoliubov transformation. Densities and potentials are expanded in terms of Legendre polynomials to include the axial deformation degrees of freedom. Sophisticated relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov equations in coordinate space are solved in the DiracWoods-Saxon…
A systematic study of the central depletion of proton density has been performed in the isotonic chains of nuclei with neutron numbers $N = 20$ and $28$ using different variants of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) models. These models include either the non-linear contributions from the mesons with the coupling constants being density independent or the non-linearity of the mesonic fields realized through the density dependent coupling strengths. The central depletion in deformed nuclei tends to disappear irrespective of the occupancy of $2s_{1/2}$ state in contrast to the spherical nuclei in…
We have performed deformed Hartree-Fock+BCS calculations with the Skyrme SIII force for the ground states of even-even nuclei with 2 <= Z <= 114 and N ranging from outside the proton drip line to beyond the experimental frontier in the neutron-rich side. We obtained spatially localized solutions for 1029 nuclei, together with the second minima for 758 nuclei. The single-particle wavefunctions are expressed in a three-dimensional Cartesian-mesh representation, which is suitable to describe nucleon skins, halos, and exotic shapes as well as properties of ordinary stable nuclei. After explaining …
The ground-state properties of 64Ge, 68Se, 72Kr and 76Sr (N=Z) nuclei have been investigated by using Hartree-Fock-Bogolibov (HFB)method with Sly4 Skyrme forces and Relativistic Mean Field (RMF) model with NL3 and recently proposed DEFNE interaction parameters sets. For determination of ground-state axially deformed shape and quadrupole moment constrained calculations have been employed in RMF model. The results of the present study have been compared with each other and available experimental data in the literature. The ground-state binding energies,neutron, proton and charge radii, quadrupol…
We analyze recently-measured total reaction cross sections for 24-38Mg isotopes incident on 12C targets at 240 MeV/nucleon by using the folding model and antisymmetrized molecular dynamics(AMD). The folding model well reproduces the measured reaction cross sections, when the projectile densities are evaluated by the deformed Woods-Saxon (def-WS) model with AMD deformation. Matter radii of 24-38Mg are then deduced from the measured reaction cross sections by fine-tuning the parameters of the def-WS model. The deduced matter radii are largely enhanced by nuclear deformation. Fully-microscopic AM…
Isobar collisions which were thought to have the same background and different magnetic fields provide an opportunity to verify the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. However, the first result from the RHIC-STAR isobar experiment did not observe the CME signal, but discovered that the backgrounds are different between $_{44}^{96}\textrm{Ru}+_{44}^{96}\textrm{Ru}$ and $_{40}^{96}\textrm{Zr}+_{40}^{96}\textrm{Zr}$ collisions. We test eighteen cases of Woods-Saxon parameter settings resulting from different nuclear deformation or nuclear structure effects using a m…
We studied dipole excitations in $^{10}$Be based on an extended version of the antisymmetrized molecular dynamics, which can describe 1p-1h excitations and large amplitude cluster modes. Toroidal and compressive dipole operators are found to be good proves to separate the low-energy and high-energy parts of the isoscalar dipole excitations, respectively. Two low-energy $1^-$ states, the toroidal dominant $1^-_1$ state at $E\sim 8$ MeV and the $E1$ dominant $1^-_2$ state at $E\sim 16$ MeV, were obtained. By analysis of transition current densities, the $1^-_1$ states is understood as a toroidal…
We present a review of recent applications of the relativistic mean-field theory to the structure of nuclei close to the drip-lines. For systems with extreme isospin values, the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model provides a unified and self-consistent description of mean-field and pairing correlations. The model has been applied in studies of structure phenomena that include: formation of neutron skin and of neutron halos in light nuclei in the mass region above the s-d neutron shell, the strong isospin dependence of the effective spin-orbit interaction and the resulting modification of sur…
A comprehensive study of various ground-state properties of neutron-rich and neutron-deficient Mg isotopes with $A$=20-36 is performed in the framework of the self-consistent deformed Skyrme-Hartree-Fock plus BCS method. The correlation between the skin thickness and the characteristics related with the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy is investigated for this isotopic chain following the theoretical approach based on the coherent density fluctuation model and using the Brueckner energy-density functional. The results of the calculations show that the behavior of the nuclear c…
Results of charge form factors calculations for several unstable neutron-rich isotopes of light, medium and heavy nuclei (He, Li, Ni, Kr, Sn) are presented and compared to those of stable isotopes in the same isotopic chain. For the lighter isotopes (He and Li) the proton and neutron densities are obtained within a microscopic large-scale shell-model, while for heavier ones Ni, Kr and Sn the densities are calculated in deformed self-consistent mean-field Skyrme HF+BCS method. We also compare proton densities to matter densities together with their rms radii and diffuseness parameter values. Wh…
The nucleus is one of the most multi-faceted many-body systems in the universe. It exhibits a multitude of responses depending on the way one 'probes' it. With increasing technical advancements of beams at the various accelerators and of detection systems the nucleus has, over and over again, surprised us by expressing always new ways of 'organized' structures and layers of complexity. Nuclear magnetism is one of those fascinating faces of the atomic nucleus we discuss in the present review. We shall not just limit ourselves to presenting the by now very large data set that has been obtained i…
