Background: The presence of nuclear ground states with stable reflection-asymmetric shapes is supported by rich experimental evidence. Theoretical surveys of odd-multipolarity deformations predict the existence of pear-shaped isotopes in several fairly localized regions of the nuclear landscape in the vicinity of near-lying single-particle shells with $Δ\ell=Δj=3$. Purpose: We analyze the role of isoscalar, isovector, neutron-proton, neutron-neutron, and proton-proton multipole interaction energies in inducing the onset of reflection-asymmetric ground-state deformations. Methods: The calculations are performed in the framework of axial reflection-asymmetric Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory using two Skyrme energy density functionals and density-dependent pairing force. Results: We show that reflection-asymmetric ground-state shapes of atomic nuclei are driven by the odd-multipolarity neutron-proton (or isoscalar) part of the nuclear interaction energy. This result is consistent with the particle-vibration picture, in which the main driver of octupole instability is the isoscalar octupole-octupole interaction giving rise to large $E3$ polarizability.
Shell structure of the single-particle spectrum for reflection-asymmetric deformed cavity is investigated. Remarkable shell structure emerges for certain combinations of quadrupole and octupole deformations. Semiclassical periodic-orbit analysis indicates that bifurcation of equatorial orbits plays an important role in the formation of this new shell structure.
Single particles moving in a reflection-asymmetric potential are investigated by solving the Schrödinger equation of the reflection-asymmetric Nilsson Hamiltonian with the imaginary time method in 3D lattice space and the harmonic oscillator basis expansion method. In the 3D lattice calculation, the $\bm{l}^2$ divergence problem is avoided by introducing a damping function, and the$\langle \bm{l^2}\rangle_N$ term in the non-spherical case is calculated by introducing an equivalent $N$-independent operator. The efficiency of these numerical techniques is demonstrated by solving the spherical Ni…
Within the nuclear density functional theory (DFT) we study the effect of reflection-asymmetric shapes on ground-state binding energies and binding energy differences. To this end, we developed the new DFT solver AxialHFB that uses an approximate second-order gradient to solve the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov equations of superconducting DFT with the quasi-local Skyrme energy density functionals. Illustrative calculations are carried out for even-even isotopes of radium and thorium.
A microscopic calculation of the equation of state for asymmetric nuclear matter is presented. We employ realistic nucleon-nucleon forces and operate within the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach to nuclear matter. The focal point of this paper is a (momentum-space) G-matrix which properly accounts for the asymmetry between protons and neutrons. This will merge naturally into the development of an effective interaction suitable for applications to asymmetric nuclei, which will be the object of extensive study in the future.
A Reflection ASymmetric Relativistic Mean Field (RAS-RMF) approach is developed by expanding the equations of motion for both the nucleons and the mesons on the eigenfunctions of the two-center harmonic-oscillator potential. The efficiency and reliability of the RAS-RMF approach are demonstrated in its application to the well-known octupole deformed nucleus $^{226}$Ra and the available data, including the binding energy and the deformation parameters, are well reproduced.
The negative parity bands in $^{220}$Th are analyzed within the dinuclear system model which was previously used for describing the alternating-parity bands in deformed actinides. The model is based on the assumption that cluster type shapes are produced by the motion of nuclear system in the mass-asymmetry coordinate. To describe the reflection-asymmetric collective modes characterized by nonzero values of $K$, the intrinsic excitations of clusters are taken into account. The angular momentum dependence of the parity splitting and the staggering behavior of the $B(E1)/B(E2)$ ratios as functio…
A reflection-asymmetric triaxial particle rotor model (RAT-PRM) with a quasi-proton and a quasi-neutron coupled with a reflection-asymmetric triaxial rotor is developed and applied to investigate the multiple chiral doublet (M$χ$D) bands candidates with octupole correlations in $^{78}$Br. The calculated excited energies, energy staggering parameters, and $B(M1)/B(E2)$ ratios are in a reasonable agreement with the data of the chiral doublet bands with positive- and negative-parity. The influence of the triaxial deformation $γ$ on the calculated $B(E1)$ is found to be significant. By changing $γ…
The potential energy surfaces of even-even $^{146-156}$Sm are investigated in the constrained reflection-asymmetric relativistic mean-field approach with parameter set PK1. It is shown that the critical-point candidate nucleus $^{152}$Sm marks the shape/phase transition not only from U(5) to SU(3) symmetry, but also from the octupole-deformed ground state in $^{150}$Sm to the quadrupole-deformed ground state in $^{154}$Sm. By including the octupole degree of freedom, an energy gap near the Fermi surface for single-particle levels in $^{152}$Sm with $β_2 = 0.14 \sim 0.26$ is found, and the impo…
After reviewing our microscopic approach to nuclear and neutron-rich matter, we focus on how nucleon-nucleon scattering is impacted by the presence of a dense hadronic medium, with special emphasis on the case where neutron and proton densities are different. We discuss in detail medium and isospin asymmetry effects on the total elastic cross section and the mean free path of a neutron or a proton in isospin-asymmetric nuclear matter. We point out that in-medium cross sections play an important role in heavy-ion simulations aimed at extracting constraints on the symmetry potential. We argue th…
The potential energy surfaces of even-even $^{142-156}$Ba are investigated in the constrained reflection-asymmetric relativistic mean-field approach with parameter set PK1. It is shown that for the ground states, $^{142}$Ba is near spherical,$^{156}$Ba well quadrupole-deformed, and in between $^{144-154}$Ba octupole deformed. In particular, the nuclei $^{148,150}$Ba with $N=92,94$ have the largest octupole deformations. By including the octupole degree of freedom, energy gaps $N=88$, $N=94$ and $Z=56$ near Fermi surfaces for the single-particle levels in $^{148}$Ba with $β_2\sim 0.26$ and $β_3…
The present paper is a comment regarding the robustness of the chirality in presence of the space-reflection asymmetry, which leads to pairs of interleaved positive- and negative-parity bands. The recent results reported in Ref. \cite{2006.12062} which introduced the $chiture$ and $chiplex$ quantum numbers to describe an ideal nuclear system with simultaneous chiral and reflection symmetry breaking, are commented.
The expression for polarized electric dipole moment of well-deformed reflection asymmetric nuclei is obtained in the framework of liquid-drop model in the case of geometrically similar proton and neutron surfaces. The expression for polarized electric dipole moment consists of the first and second orders terms. It is shown that the second-order correction terms of the polarized electric dipole moment are important for well-deformed nuclei.
Quadrupole and octupole deformation energy surfaces, low-energy excitation spectra and transition rates in fourteen isotopic chains: Xe, Ba, Ce, Nd, Sm, Gd, Rn, Ra, Th, U, Pu, Cm, Cf, and Fm, are systematically analyzed using a theoretical framework based on a quadrupole-octupole collective Hamiltonian (QOCH), with parameters determined by constrained reflection-asymmetric and axially-symmetric relativistic mean-field calculations. The microscopic QOCH model based on the PC-PK1 energy density functional and $δ$-interaction pairing is shown to accurately describe the empirical trend of low-ener…
Reflection asymmetric covariant density functional theory(CDFT) based on the point-coupling interaction is established on a two-center harmonic-oscillator basis and applied to investigate the Ra puzzle, i.e., the anomalous enhancement of the residual proton-neutron interactions for Ra isotopes around N=135. The octupole deformation and shape evolution in the Ra and Rn isotopes are examined in the potential energy surfaces in(beta2, beta3) plane by the constrained reflection asymmetric calculations. The residual proton-neutron interactions extracted from the double difference of the binding ene…
Short-range correlations in nuclear and neutron matter are examined through the properties of the correlated wave function obtained by solving the Bethe-Goldstone equation. Tensor correlations are explored through the dominant tensor-driven transition and central correlations through the singlet and triplet S waves. Predictions from a popular meson-theoretic nucleon-nucleon potential employed in the Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach are compared with those from two- and three-body high-quality chiral interactions in Brueckner G-matrix calculations. Short-range correlations in symmetric mat…
We calculate the mean free path of protons and neutrons in symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter, based on microscopic in-medium nucleon-nucleon cross sections. Those are obtained from calculations of the G-matrix including relativistic "Dirac" effects. The dependence of the mean free path on energy and isospin asymmetry is discussed. We conclude by suggesting possible ways our microscopic predictions may be helpful in conjunction with studies of rare isotopes.
Collective P- and T- odd moments produced by parity and time invariance violating forces in reflection asymmetric nuclei are considered. The enhanced collective Schiff, electric dipole and octupole moments appear due to the mixing of rotational levels of opposite parity. These moments can exceed single-particle moments by more than two orders of magnitude. The enhancement is due to the collective nature of the intrinsic moments and the small energy separation between members of parity doublets. In turn these nuclear moments induce enhanced T- and P- odd effects in atoms and molecules. First a …
Brueckner calculations including a microscopic three-body force have been extended to isospin asymmetric nuclear matter. The effects of the three-body force on the equation of state and on the single-particle properties of nuclear matter are discussed with a view to possible applications in nuclear physics and astrophysics. It is shown that, even in the presence of the three-body force, the empirical parabolic law of the energy per nucleon vs isospin asymmetry $β=(N-Z)/A$ is fulfilled in the whole asymmetry range $0\leβ\le 1$ up to high densities. The three-body force provides a strong enhance…
We review the current status of our microscopic calculations in asymmetric nuclear matter. Updated predictions of the equation of state are made available to potential users. We discuss the features of our EoS in relation to the predicted neutron star maximum masses.
The Microscopic Otical Model Potential is evaluated within a relativistic scheme which provides a natural and consistent relation between the spin-orbit part and the central part of the potential. The Dirac-Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (DBHF) approach provides such a microscopic relativistic scheme, which is based on a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction and reproduce the saturation properties of symmetric nuclear matter without any adjustable parameter. Its solution using the projection technique within the subtracted T-matrix (STM) representation provides a reliable extension to asymmetric nucle…
Microscopic calculation of two-particle-two-hole meson-exchange currents in $^{40}$Ar and asymmetric scaling properties for neutrino and electron scattering
Reflection asymmetric, octupole shapes in nuclei are a prominent aspect of nuclear structure, and have been recurrently studied over the decades. Recent experiments using radioactive-ion beams have provided evidence for stable octupole shapes. A variety of nuclear models have been employed for the related theoretical analyses. We review recent studies on the nuclear octupole shapes and collective excitations within the interacting boson model. A special focus is placed on the microscopic formulation of this model by using the mean-field method that is based on the framework of nuclear density …
Microscopic description of the fission process including intrinsic excitations. Part II: 240Pu excited and asymmetric fission paths within the Schrodinger Collective
CEA（法国原子能和替代能源委员会）；Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；Universidad Politécnica de Madrid（马德里理工大学）；Universidad Autónoma de Madrid（马德里自治大学）；CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab（法国国家科学研究中心/欧洲核子研究组织，伊夫林-雅克·卢瑟福实验室）；Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室）
Properties of asymmetric nuclear matter are derived from various many-body approaches. This includes phenomenological ones like the Skyrme Hartree-Fock and relativistic mean field approaches, which are adjusted to fit properties of nuclei, as well as more microscopic attempts like the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approximation, a self-consistent Greens function method and the so-called $V_{lowk}$ approach, which are based on realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions which reproduce the nucleon-nucleon phase shifts. These microscopic approaches are supplemented by a density-dependent contact interaction…
We present a new equation of state for infinite systems (symmetric, asymmetric and neutron matter) based on an extended Skyrme functional constrained by microscopic Brueckner-Bethe-Goldstone results. The resulting equation of state reproduces with very good accuracy the main features of microscopic calculations and it is compatible with recent measurements of two times Solar-mass neutron stars. We provide all necessary analytical expressions to facilitate a quick numerical implementation of quantities of astrophysical interest.
We investigate the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter and its isospin dependence in various spin-isospin $ST$ channels within the framework of the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach extended to include a microscopic three-body force (TBF). It is shown that the potential energy per nucleon in the isospin-singlet T=0 channel is mainly determined by the contribution from the tensor SD coupled channel. At high densities, the TBF effect on the isospin-triplet T=1 channel contribution turns out to be much larger than that on the T=0 channel contribution. At low densities around and below th…
The phenomenon of reflection-asymmetric nuclear shapes is relevant to nuclear stability, nuclear spectroscopy, nuclear decays and fission, and the search for new physics beyond the standard model. Global surveys of ground-state octupole deformation, performed with a limited number of models, suggest that the number of pear-shaped isotopes is fairly limited across the nuclear landscape. We carry out global analysis of ground-state octupole deformations for particle-bound even-even nuclei with $Z \leq 110$ and $N \leq 210$ using nuclear density functional theory (DFT) with several non-relativist…
We present microscopic calculations of light and medium mass nuclei and the equation of state of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter using different nucleon-nucleon forces, including a new Argonne version that has the same spin/isospin structure as local chiral forces at next-to-next-to-leading order (N2LO). The calculations are performed using Auxiliary Field Diffusion Monte Carlo (AFDMC) combined with an improved variational wave function. We show that the AFDMC method can now be used to successfully calculate the energies of very light to medium mass nuclei as well as the energy of isos…
Microscopic description of the fission process including intrinsic excitations. Part I: 240Pu adiabatic and asymmetric fission path within the Schrodinger Collective Intrinsic Model
CEA, DAM, DIF（法国原子能委员会）；Université Paris-Saclay（巴黎萨克雷大学）；CEA, DES, IRESNE, DER, SPRC, LEPh（法国原子能委员会）；Center for Computational Simulation, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid（马德里理工大学计算模拟中心）；Departamento de Física Teórica and CIAFF, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid（马德里自治大学理论物理系及CIAFF）；Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS/IN2P3, IJCLab（巴黎萨克雷大学）；Nuclear Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory（劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室核科学部）
We investigate the $^1S_0$ neutron and proton superfluidity in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter. We have concentrated on the isospin dependence of the pairing gaps and the effect of a microscopic three-body force. It is found that as the isospin asymmetry goes higher, the neutron $^1S_0$ superfluid phase shrinks gradually to a smaller density domain, while the proton one extends rapidly to a much wider density domain. The three-body force turns out to weaken the neutron $^1S_0$ superfluidity slightly, but it suppresses strongly the proton $^1S_0$ superfluidity at high densities in nuclear mat…
It is well known that most actinides fission into fragments of unequal size. The first attempt to understand this difference suggested that division leading to one of the fragments being near doubly magic $^{132}$Sn is favored by gain in binding energy. After the Strutinsky shell-correction method was developed an alternative idea that gained popularity was that the fission saddle might be lower for mass-asymmetric shapes and that this asymmetry was preserved until scission. Recently it was observed [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105} (2010) 252502] that $^{180}$Hg preferentially fissions asymmetrical…
We investigate asymmetric nuclear matter with two- and three-nucleon interactions based on chiral effective field theory, where three-body forces are fit only to light nuclei. Focusing on neutron-rich matter, we calculate the energy for different proton fractions and include estimates of the theoretical uncertainty. We use our ab-initio results to test the quadratic expansion around symmetric matter with the symmetry energy term, and confirm its validity for highly asymmetric systems. Our calculations are in remarkable agreement with an empirical parametrization for the energy density. These f…
We study the ground state properties, potential energy curves and potential energy surfaces of the superheavy nucleus $^{270}$Hs by using the multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean-field model with the effective interaction PC-PK1. The binding energy, size and shape as well as single particle shell structure corresponding to the ground state of this nucleus are obtained. $^{270}$Hs is well deformed and exhibits deformed doubly magic feature in the single neutron and proton level schemes. One-dimensional potential energy curves and two-dimensional potential energy surfaces are calcula…
[Background] Various cluster states of astrophysical interest are expected to exist in the excited states of $^{28}{\rm Si}$. However, they have not been identified firmly, because of the experimental and theoretical difficulties. [Purpose] To establish the $^{24}$Mg+$α$, $^{16}$O+$^{12}$C and $^{20}$Ne+2$α$ cluster bands, we theoretically search for the negative-parity cluster bands that are paired with the positive-parity bands to constitute the inversion doublets. We also offer the isoscalar monopole and dipole transitions as a promising probe for the clustering. We numerically show that th…
Using the Hugenholtz-Van Hove theorem, we derive general expressions for the quadratic and quartic symmetry energies in terms of single-nucleon potentials in isospin asymmetric nuclear matter. These analytical relations are useful for gaining deeper insights into the microscopic origins of the uncertainties in our knowledge on nuclear symmetry energies especially at supra-saturation densities. As examples, the formalism is applied to two model single-nucleon potentials that are widely used in transport model simulations of heavy-ion reactions.
A Gaussian Process framework for constraining the nuclear equation of state from microscopic calculations with correlated uncertainties
Ohio University（俄亥俄大学）；Argonne National Laboratory（阿贡国家实验室）；University of Washington（华盛顿大学）；University of California, Berkeley（加州大学伯克利分校）；Michigan State University（密歇根州立大学）
