New experimental data on the neutron single-particle character of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR) in $^{208}$Pb are presented. They were obtained from $(d,p)$ and resonant proton scattering experiments performed at the Q3D spectrograph of the Maier-Leibnitz Laboratory in Garching, Germany. The new data are compared to the large suite of complementary, experimental data available for $^{208}$Pb and establish $(d,p)$ as an additional, valuable, experimental probe to study the PDR and its collectivity. Besides the single-particle character of the states, different features of the strength distributions are discussed and compared to Large-Scale-Shell-Model (LSSM) and energy-density functional (EDF) plus Quasiparticle-Phonon Model (QPM) theoretical approaches to elucidate the microscopic structure of the PDR in $^{208}$Pb.
The isotopic dependence of the isovector Pygmy dipole response in tin is studied within the framework of the relativistic random phase approximation. Regarded as an oscillation of the neutron skin against the isospin-symmetric core, the pygmy dipole resonance may place important constraints on the neutron skin of heavy nuclei and, as a result, on the equation of state of neutron-rich matter. The present study centers around two questions. First, is there a strong correlation between the development of a neutron skin and the emergence of low-energy isovector dipole strength? Second, could one u…
Inelastic $α$-scattering excitation cross sections are calculated for electric dipole excitations in $^{124}$Sn based on the transition densities obtained from the relativistic quasiparticle time-blocking approximation (RQTBA) in the framework of a semiclassical model. The calculation provides the missing link to directly compare the results from the microscopic RQTBA calculations to recent experimental data measured via the $(α,α'γ)$ reaction, which show a structural splitting of the low-lying E1 strength often denoted as pygmy dipole resonance (PDR). The experimentally observed splitting is …
The electric dipole response of $^{140}$Ce is investigated using the fully consistent relativistic quasiparticle random phase approximation. By analyzing the isospin structure of the E1 response, it is shown that the low-energy (pygmy) strength separates into two segments with different isospin character. The more pronounced pygmy structure at lower energy is composed of predominantly isoscalar states with surface-peaked transition densities. At somewhat higher energy the calculated E1 strength is primarily of isovector character, as expected for the low-energy tail of the giant dipole resonan…
A very important open question related to the pygmy dipole resonance is about its quite elusive collective nature. In this paper, within a harmonic oscillator shell model, generalizing an approach introduced by Brink, we first identify the dipole normal modes in neutron rich nuclei and derive the energy weighted sum rule exhausted by the pygmy dipole resonance. Then solving numerically the self-consistent Landau-Vlasov kinetic equations for neutrons and protons with specific initial conditions, we explore the structure of the different dipole vibrations in the $^{132}Sn$ system and investigate…
The vibrational structure of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR) is investigated within a quantum many-body treatment with extended separable interactions able to encode the dependence of nuclear symmetry energy on density. A new picture of PDR is unveiled in terms of a combined dynamics of the neutron skin and of the core isovector polarization, which determines the isoscalar features of PDR while reproducing the isovector properties of Giant Dipole Resonance. The key role played by the variation with density of the symmetry energy on shaping the low-lying dipole response and its isoscalar-isove…
Within schematic models based on the Tamm-Dancoff Approximation and the Random-Phase Approximation with separable interactions, we investigate the physical conditions which determine the emergence of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance in the E1 response of atomic nuclei. We find that if some particle-hole excitation manifests a different, weaker residual interaction, an additional mode will appear, with an energy centroid closer to the distance between two major shells and therefore well below the Giant Dipole Resonance. This state, together with Giant Dipole Resonance, exhausts all the transition str…
Motivated by a recent experiment, the distribution of electric dipole strength in the neutron-rich 68Ni isotope was computed using a relativistic random phase approximation with a set of effective interactions that - although well calibrated - predict significantly different values for the neutron-skin thickness in 208Pb. The emergence of low-energy "Pygmy" strength that exhausts about 5-8% of the energy weighted sum rule (EWSR) is clearly identified. In addition to the EWSR, special emphasis is placed on the dipole polarizability. In particular, our results suggest a strong correlation betwee…
Stable and unstable nuclei with neutron excess ($N>Z$) show - in the isovector dipole transition strength distribution - a small hump around the neutron emission threshold energy known as Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR). One of its main features is the isospin mixing allowing the experimental studies with both isovector and isoscalar probes. Different theoretical approaches and methodologies are used to deduce the characteristics of the PDR. In this Chapter, the various mean-field theories and their extensions, devoted to understand and reproduce the strength distribution of these low-lying dipol…
We study the correlation between the neutron skin development and the low-energy dipole response associated with the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) in connection with the properties of symmetry energy. We perform our investigation within a microscopic transport model based on the Landau-Vlasov kinetic equation by employing three different equations of state in the isovector sector. Together with the giant dipole resonance (GDR) for all studied systems, we identify a PDR collective mode whose energy centroid is very well described by the parametrization E_{PDR}=41 A^{-1/3}. A linear correlation b…
The strength functions of giant dipole resonance (GDR) in oxygen $^{18 - 24}$O, calcium $^{50 - 60}$Ca, and tin $^{120 - 130}$Sn isotopes are calculated within the phonon damping model under three approximations: without superfluid pairing, including BCS pairing, and exact pairing gaps. The analysis of the numerical results shows that exact pairing decreases the two-neutron separation energy in light nuclei, but increases it in heavy nuclei as compared to that obtained within the BCS theory. In neutron-rich medium and heavy nuclei, exact pairing significantly enhances the strength located at t…
The pygmy dipole resonance has been studied in the proton-magic nucleus 124Sn with the (a,a'g) coincidence method at E=136 MeV. The comparison with results of photon-scattering experiments reveals a splitting into two components with different structure: one group of states which is excited in (a,a'g) as well as in (g,g') reactions and a group of states at higher energies which is only excited in (g,g') reactions. Calculations with the self-consistent relativistic quasiparticle time-blocking approximation and the quasiparticle phonon model are in qualitative agreement with the experimental res…
Pygmy and Giant Dipole Resonance (PDR and GDR) in Ni isotopes have been investigated by Coulomb excitation in the framework of the Isospin-dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics model (IQMD). The spectra of $γ$ rays are calculated and the peak energy, the strength and Full Width at Half Maximum (FWHM) of GDR and PDR have been extracted. Their sensitivities to nuclear equation of state, especially to its symmetry energy term are also explored. By a comparison with the other mean-field calculations, we obtain the reasonable values for symmetry energy and its slope parameter at saturation, which gi…
The electromagnetic dipole strength below the neutron-separation energy has been studied for the xenon isotopes with mass numbers A = 124, 128, 132, and 134 in nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments using the ELBE bremsstrahlung facility at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and the HIgS facility at Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory Durham. The systematic study gained new information about the influence of the neutron excess as well as of nuclear deformation on the strength in the region of the pygmy dipole resonance. The results are compared with those obtained for the chain of m…
Scattering of protons of several hundred MeV is a promising new spectroscopic tool for the study of electric dipole strength in nuclei. A case study of 208Pb shows that at very forward angles J^pi = 1- states are strongly populated via Coulomb excitation. A separation from nuclear excitation of other modes is achieved by a multipole decomposition analysis of the experimental cross sections based on theoretical angular distributions calculated within the quasiparticle-phonon model. The B(E1) transition strength distribution is extracted for excitation energies up to 9 MeV, i.e., in the region o…
The validity of the Brink-Axel hypothesis, which is especially important for numerous astrophysical calculations, is addressed for 116,120,124Sn below the neutron separation energy by means of three independent experimental methods. The $γ$-ray strength functions (GSFs) extracted from primary $γ$-decay spectra following charged-particle reactions with the Oslo method and with the Shape method demonstrate excellent agreement with those deduced from forward-angle inelastic proton scattering at relativistic beam energies. In addition, the GSFs are shown to be independent of excitation energies an…
The low-lying electric dipole (E1) strength in the semi-magic nucleus 136Xe has been measured which finalizes the systematic survey to investigate the so-called pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) in all stable even N=82 isotones with the method of nuclear resonance fluorescence using real photons in the entrance channel. In all cases, a fragmented resonance-like structure of E1 strength is observed in the energy region 5 MeV to 8 MeV. An analysis of the fragmentation of the strength reveals that the degree of fragmentation decreases towards the proton-deficient isotones while the total integrated st…
The authors of the letter "Test of the Brink-Axel Hypothesis for the Pygmy Dipole Resonance" [Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 182503 (2017)] claim a violation of the Brink-Axel hypothesis by (gamma,gamma') data from gELBE for 96Mo [Phys. Rev. C 79, 061302 (2009)]. This violation cannot be concluded from the (gamma,gamma') data and is not at all discussed in that work. The comparison of the (g,g') data with the new (p,p') data in the letter does not give any hint to such a violation.
The $^{112,120}$Sn$(γ,γ')$ reactions have been studied at the S-DALINAC. Electric dipole (E1) strength distributions have been determined including contributions from unresolved strength extracted by a fluctuation analysis. Together with available data on $^{116,124}$Sn, an experimental systematics of the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) in stable even-mass tin isotopes is established. The PDR centroid excitation energies and summed strengths are in reasonable agreement with quasiparticle-phonon model calculations based on a nonrelativistic description of the mean field but disagree with relativis…
In a recent article by C. Barbieri, E. Caurier, K. Langanke, and G. Martínez-Pinedo \cite{Bar.08}, low-energy dipole excitations were studied in proton-rich $^{32,34}$Ar with random-phase approximation (RPA) and no-core shell model (NCSM) using correlated realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions obtained by the unitary correlation operator method (UCOM) \cite{Fel.98}. The main objective of this Comment is to argue that the article \cite{Bar.08} contains an inconsistency with respect to previous study of excitations in the same UCOM-RPA framework using identical correlated Argonne V18 interaction…
To complete earlier studies of the properties of the electric pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) obtained in various nuclear reactions, the excitation of the 1$^-$ states in $^{140}$Ce by $(e,e')$ scattering for momentum transfers $q=0.1-1.2$~fm$^{-1}$ is calculated within the plane-wave and distorted-wave Born approximations. The excited states of the nucleus are described within the Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (QRPA), but also within the Quasiparticle-Phonon Model (QPM) by accounting for the coupling to complex configurations. It is demonstrated that the excitation mechanism of the PD…
The distribution of electromagnetic dipole strength in 92, 98, 100 Mo has been investigated by photon scattering using bremsstrahlung from the new ELBE facility. The experimental data for well separated nuclear resonances indicate a transition from a regular to a chaotic behaviour above 4 MeV of excitation energy. As the strength distributions follow a Porter-Thomas distribution much of the dipole strength is found in weak and in unresolved resonances appearing as fluctuating cross section. An analysis of this quasi-continuum - here applied to nuclear resonance fluorescence in a novel way - de…
A strong isoscalar dipole resonance is known to be excited in a variety of nuclei, including isospin symmetric ones, at approximately 6-7 MeV. A series of theoretical studies and accumulating experimental evidence support an interpretation of the above dipole resonance as an elementary surface vibration. Obviously, such a mode is potentially as interesting as any collective excitation for a variety of reasons. In addition, though, it is found to account for the observed isoscalar segment of pygmy dipole strength. As discussed here, this has important implications for pygmy-strength interpretat…
A high-resolution study of the electromagnetic response of $^{206}$Pb below the neutron separation energy is performed using a ($\vecγ$,$γ'$) experiment at the HI$\vecγ$S facility. Nuclear resonance fluorescence with 100% linearly polarized photon beams is used to measure spins, parities, branching ratios, and decay widths of excited states in $^{206}$Pb from $4.9$ to $8.1$MeV. The extracted $Σ$$B$(E1)$\uparrow$ and $Σ$$B$(M1)$\uparrow$ values for the total electric and magnetic dipole strength below the neutron separation energy are 0.9$\pm$0.2e$^2$fm$^2$ and 8.3$\pm$2.0$μ_{N}^2$, respectivel…
Nuclear level density and $γ$-ray strength functions of $^{121,122}$Sn below the neutron separation energy are extracted with the Oslo method using the ($^3$He,$^3$He$^\primeγ$) and ($^3$He,$αγ$) reactions. The level densities of $^{121,122}$Sn display step-like structures, interpreted as signatures of neutron pair breaking. An enhancement in both strength functions, compared to standard models for radiative strength, is observed in our measurements for $E_γ\gtrsim 5.2 $ MeV. This enhancement is compatible with pygmy resonances centered at $\approx 8.4(1)$ and $\approx 8.6(2)$ MeV, respectivel…
The dipole response of the N=50 nucleus 90Zr was studied in photon-scattering experiments at the electron linear accelerator ELBE with bremsstrahlung produced at kinetic electron energies of 7.9, 9.0, and 13.2 MeV. We identified 189 levels up to an excitation energy of 12.9 MeV. Statistical methods were applied to estimate intensities of inelastic transitions and to correct the intensities of the ground-state transitions for their branching ratios. In this way we derived the photoabsorption cross section up to the neutron-separation energy. This cross section matches well the photoabsorption c…
The gamma strength function and level density of 1- states in 96Mo have been extracted from a high-resolution study of the (p,p') reaction at 295 MeV and extreme forward angles. By comparison with compound nucleus $γ$ decay experiments, this allows a test of the generalized Brink-Axel hypothesis in the energy region of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance. The Brink-Axel hypothesis is commonly assumed in astrophysical reaction network calculations and states that the gamma strength function in nuclei is independent of the structure of initial and final state. The present results validiate the Brink-Axel…
We probe nuclear multipole resonances in the framework of the random-phase approximation by using the interaction obtained from the chiral effective field theory. The three-nucleon force is included in a form of the in-medium two-nucleon interaction which was derived from the chiral three-nucleon force. The isoscalar monopole, isoscalar dipole, isovector dipole and isoscalar quadrupole resonances of the closed-shell $^{56,68,78}$Ni have been investigated. The calculations reasonably reproduce the experimental multipole resonances of $^{56,68}$Ni, and well describe the pygmy dipole resonance an…
The accurate characterization of the nuclear symmetry energy and its density dependence is one of the outstanding open problems in nuclear physics. A promising nuclear observable in order to constrain the density dependence of the symmetry energy at saturation is the neutron skin thickness of medium and heavy nuclei. Recently, a low-energy peak in the isovector dipole response of neutron-rich nuclei has been discovered that may be correlated with the neutron skin thickness. The existence of this correlation is currently under debate due to our limited experimental knowledge on the microscopic …
The isospin character, the collective or single-particle nature, and the sensitivity to the slope of the nuclear symmetry energy of the low-energy isovector dipole response (known as pygmy dipole resonance) are nowadays under debate. In the present work we study, within the fully self-consistent non-relativistic mean field (MF) approach based on Skyrme Hartree-Fock plus Random Phase Approximation (RPA), the measured even-even nuclei ${}^{68}$Ni, ${}^{132}$Sn and ${}^{208}$Pb. To analyze the model dependence in the predictions of the pygmy dipole strength, we employ three different Skyrme param…
The nature of E1 low-energy strength (LES), often denoted as a "pygmy dipole resonance", is analyzed within the random-phase-approximation (RPA) in $^{208}$Pb using Skyrme forces in fully self-consistent manner. A first overview is given by the strength functions for the dipole, compressional and toroidal operators. More detailed insight is gained by averaged transition densities and currents where the latter provide very illustrative flow pattern. The analysis reveals clear isoscalar toroidal flow in the low-energy bin 6.0-8.8 MeV of the LES and a mixed isoscalar/isovector toroidal/compressio…
The pygmy dipole resonances and photon strength functions in stable and unstable Ni and Sn isotopes are calculated within the microscopic self-consistent version of the extended theory of finite fermi systems which includes phonon coupling effects.The Skyrme forces SLy4 is used. A pygmy dipole resonance in $^{72}$Ni is predicted at the mean energy of 12.4 MeV exhausting 25.7\% of the total energy-weighted sum rule. The microscopically obtained photon E1 strength functions are compared with available experimental data and used to calculate nuclear reaction properties. Average radiative widths a…
We study relationships between properties of collective excitations in finite nuclei and the phase transition density $n_t$ and pressure $P_t$ at the inner edge separating the liquid core and the solid crust of a neutron star. A theoretical framework that includes the thermodynamic method, relativistic nuclear energy density functionals and the quasiparticle random-phase approximation is employed in a self-consistent calculation of $(n_t,P_t)$ and collective excitations in nuclei. The covariance analysis shows that properties of charge-exchange dipole transitions, isovector giant dipole and qu…
First observation of the fine structure of the Pygmy Dipole Resonance in a nucleus away from stability via the $β^-$ decay of $^{92}$Rb to $^{92}$Sr
University of Liverpool（利物浦大学）；Simon Fraser University（西蒙菲莎大学）；University of York（约克大学）；University of Jyväskylä（于韦斯屈莱大学）；International Centre for Advanced Training and Research in Physics (CIFRA)（国际高级培训与物理研究中心）；Helmholtz Zentrum Hereon（亥姆霍兹海雷恩中心）；CERN（欧洲核子研究组织）；TRIUMF（特利安夫实验室）；University of Guelph（圭尔夫大学）
Experimental study of excited states of ${}^{62}$Ni via one-neutron $(d,p)$ transfer up to the neutron-separation threshold and characteristics of the pygmy dipole resonance states
I undertake an anatomy of the nuclear electric-dipole spectrum and discuss selected observations. First, using data and calculations on 208Pb as a representative case, I identify five conspicuous structures in the spectra of heavy nuclei: (1) the giant dipole resonance (GDR), (2) the dipole compression mode, (3) the isoscalar low-energy dipole mode (IS-LED),(4) the isoscalar mode in the region of the GDR, and (5) a concentration of "pygmy" dipole strength (PDS) between the latter two. Next, compiling the data from Texas A&M I show that the energy of (4) follows roughly a A^{-1/6} dependence on…
An unexpected enhancement in the $γ$-ray strength function, as compared to the low energy tail of the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR), has been observed for Sc, Ti, V, Fe and Mo isotopes for $E_γ<4$ MeV. This enhancement was not observed in subsequent analyses on Sn isotopes, but a Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR) centered at $E_γ\approx8$ MeV was however detected. The $γ$-ray strength functions measured for Cd isotopes exhibit both features over the range of isotopes, with the low-energy enhancement decreasing- and PDR strength increasing as a function of neutron number. This suggests a transitional…
The $α$ ($^4$He) - clustering structure is a common phenomenon in light nuclei due to the decreasing contribution of mean field in few-body system. In this work we presented calculations of giant dipole resonance (GDR) excitations for two non $α$-conjugate light nuclei, namely $^{6}$Li and $^{9}$Be, within a framework of an extended quantum molecular dynamics model. For $^{6}$Li, we investigated the GDR spectra from the two-body clustering structure with $α$ + deuteron as well as the three-body structure with $α$ + $n$ + $p$, and found that the major $α$-clustering contribution on the GDR peak…
The pygmy dipole resonance and photon strength functions (PSF) in stable and unstable Ni and Sn isotopes are calculated within the microscopic self-consistent version of the extended theory of finite fermi systems in the quasiparticle time blocking approximation. The approach includes phonon coupling (PC) effects in addition to the standard QRPA approach. The Skyrme force SLy4 is used. A pygmy dipole resonance in 72Ni is predicted at the mean energy of 12.4 MeV exhausting 25.7% of the total energy-weighted sum rule. With our microscopic E1 PSFs in the EMPIRE 3.1 code, the following radiative n…
Nuclear collective motion provides valuable constraint on the size of neutron-skin thickness and the properties of nuclear matter symmetry energy. By employing relativistic nuclear energy density functional (RNEDF) and covariance analysis related to $χ^2$ fitting of the model parameters, relevant observables are identified for dipole excitations, which strongly correlate with the neutron-skin thickness $(r_{np})$, symmetry energy at saturation density $(J)$ and slope of the symmetry energy $(L)$. Using the RNEDF framework and experimental data on pygmy dipole strength ($^{68}$Ni, $^{132}$Sn, $…
The recent availability of radioactive beams has opened up a new era in nuclear physics. The interactions and structure of exotic nuclei close to the drip lines have been studied extensively world wide, and it has been revealed that unstable nuclei, having weakly bound nucleons, exhibit characteristic features such as a halo structure and a soft dipole excitation. We here review the developments of the physics of unstable nuclei in the past few decades. The topics discussed in this Chapter include the halo and skin structures, the Coulomb breakup, the dineutron correlation, the pair transfer r…
To further study the "pygmy" resonance phenomena in the photon strength function, we reanalyzed the two-step cascade data for the target nucleus $^{197}$Au using the Dubna group approach. The range of obtained values allows for meaningful conclusions: the level density at low excitation energy shows a step-like behavior; the electric dipole photon strength function has a broad maximum around $E_γ=5$ MeV and is not typical of a "pygmy" resonance; the level density below $B_{n}$ also demonstrates step-like behavior.
We propose a new concept for determining the interior magnetic field vector components in neutron electric dipole moment experiments. If a closed three-dimensional boundary surface surrounding the fiducial volume of an experiment can be defined such that its interior encloses no currents or sources of magnetization, each of the interior vector field components and the magnetic scalar potential will satisfy a Laplace equation. Therefore, if either the vector field components or the normal derivative of the scalar potential can be measured on the surface of this boundary, thus defining a Dirichl…
Giant resonances encapsulate the dynamic response of the nuclear ground state to external perturbations. As such, they offer a unique view of the nucleus that is often not accessible otherwise. Although interesting in their own right, giant resonances are also enormously valuable in providing stringent constraints on the equation of state of asymmetric matter. We this view in mind, we focus on two modes of excitation that are essential in reaching this goal: the isoscalar giant monopole resonance (GMR) and the isovector giant dipole resonance (GDR). GMR energies in heavy nuclei are sensitive t…
Inelastic proton scattering under extreme forward angles including $0^\circ$ and at energies of a few hundred MeV has been established as a new spectroscopic tool for the study of complete dipole strength distributions in nuclei. Such data allow an extraction of the electric dipole polarizability which provides important constraints parameters of the symmetry energy, which determine the neutron skin thickness and the equation of state (EOS) of neutron-rich matter. Also new insight into the much-debated nature of the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) is obtained. Additionally, the isovector spin-M1 …
Coulomb excitation of the exotic neutron-rich nucleus $^{26}$Ne on a $^{nat}$Pb target was measured at 58 A.MeV in order to search for low-lying E1 strength above the neutron emission threshold. Data were also taken on an $^{nat}$Al target to estimate the nuclear contribution. The radioactive beam was produced by fragmentation of a 95 A.MeV $^{40}$Ar beam delivered by the RIKEN Research Facility. The set-up included a NaI gamma-ray array, a charged fragment hodoscope and a neutron wall. Using the invariant mass method in the $^{25}$Ne+n channel, we observe a sizable amount of E1 strength betwe…
