The evolution of quadrupole and octupole collectivity and their coupling is investigated in a series of even-even isotopes of the actinide Ra, Th, U, Pu, Cm, and Cf with neutron number in the interval $130\leqslant N\leqslant 150$. The Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation, based on the parametrization D1M of the Gogny energy density functional, is employed to generate potential energy surfaces depending upon the axially-symmetric quadrupole and octupole shape degrees of freedom. The mean-field energy surface is then mapped onto the expectation value of the $sdf$ interacting-boson-model Hamiltonian in the boson condensate state as to determine the strength parameters of the boson Hamiltonian. Spectroscopic properties related to the octupole degree of freedom are produced by diagonalizing the mapped Hamiltonian. Calculated low-energy negative-parity spectra, $B(E3;3^{-}_{1}\to 0^{+}_{1})$ reduced transition rates, and effective octupole deformation suggest that the transition from nearly spherical to stable octupole-deformed, and to octupole vibrational states occurs systematically in the actinide region.
The cranked Skyrme III effective Hamiltonian is applied for the analysis of the rotational dependence of the quadrupole and octupole moments in Ra, Th, and U isotopes. A comparison of the intrinsic electric dipole moments calculated in the model with available experimental and theoretical values is presented. It is found that the non-axial octupole deformation $Y_{32}$ becomes favorable at high spins for the actinide nuclei.
$J^π$= 0$^+$ states have been investigated in the actinide nucleus ${}^{240}$Pu up to an excitation energy of 3 MeV with a high-resolution (p,t) experiment at $E_{p}$= 24 MeV. To test the recently proposed $J^π$= 0$^+_2$ double-octupole structure, the phenomenological approach of the spdf-interacting boson model has been chosen. In addition, the total 0$^+$ strength distribution and the $0^+$ strength fragmentation have been compared to the model predictions as well as to the previously studied (p,t) reactions in the actinides. The results suggest that the structure of the 0$^+_2$ states in th…
We discuss the octupole deformation properties of many even-even actinide isotopes. The analysis is carried out in the mean field framework (Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation) by using the axially symmetric octupole moment as a constraint. A one-dimensional octupole collective Hamiltonian is used to obtain properties like excitation energies or $E1$ and $E3$ transition probabilities of the negative parity band-heads associated to the lowest lying $1^{-}$ and $3^{-}$ states. The evolution of these values with neutron number is discussed and a comparison with available experimental data is m…
The quadrupole-octupole coupling and the related spectroscopic properties have been studied for the even-even light actinides $^{218-238}$Ra and $^{220-240}$Th. The Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation, based on the Gogny-D1M energy density functional, has been employed as a microscopic input, i.e., to obtain (axially symmetric) mean-field potential energy surfaces as functions of the quadrupole and octupole deformation parameters. The mean-field potential energy surfaces have been mapped onto the corresponding bosonic potential energy surfaces using the expectation value of the $sdf$ Interac…
A systematic analysis of low-lying quadrupole and octupole collective states is presented, based on the microscopic energy density functional framework. By mapping the deformation constrained self-consistent axially symmetric mean-field energy surfaces onto the equivalent Hamiltonian of the $sdf$ interacting boson model (IBM), that is, onto the energy expectation value in the boson condensate state, the Hamiltonian parameters are determined. The study is based on the global relativistic energy density functional DD-PC1. The resulting IBM Hamiltonian is used to calculate excitation spectra and …
``Beat'' patterns are shown to appear in the octupole bands of several actinides and rare earths, their appearance being independent from the formula used in order to isolate and demonstrate them. It is shown that the recent formalism, making use of discrete approximations to derivatives of the transition energies (or of the energy levels) gives results consistent with the traditional formulae. In both regions it is seen that the first vanishing of the staggering occurs at higher values of the angular momentum I in nuclei exhibiting higher staggering at low I. Since these nuclei happen to be g…
An analytic, parameter-free (up to overall scale factors) solution of the Bohr Hamiltonian involving axially symmetric quadrupole and octupole deformations, as well as an infinite well potential, is obtained, after separating variables in a way reminiscent of the Variable Moment of Inertia (VMI) concept. Normalized spectra and B(EL) ratios are found to agree with experimental data for 226-Ra and 226-Th, the nuclei known to lie closest to the border between octupole deformation and octupole vibrations in the light actinide region.
The analytic quadrupole octupole axially symmetric model, which had successfully predicted 226Ra and 226Th as lying at the border between the regions of octupole deformation and octupole vibrations in the light actinides using an infinite well potential (AQOA-IW), is made applicable to a wider region of nuclei exhibiting octupole deformation, through the use of a Davidson potential (AQOA-D). Analytic expressions for energy spectra and B(E1), B(E2), B(E3) transition rates are derived. The spectra of 222-226Ra and 224,226Th are described in terms of the two parameters phi_0 (expressing the relat…
The Delta I = 1 staggering (odd--even staggering) in octupole bands of light actinides is found to exhibit a ``beat'' behaviour as a function of the angular momentum I, forcing us to revise the traditional belief that this staggering decreases gradually to zero and then remains at this zero value. Various algebraic models (spf-Interacting Boson Model, spdf-IBM, Vector Boson Model, Nuclear Vibron Model) are shown to predict in their su(3) limits constant staggering for this case, being thus unable to describe the ``beat'' behaviour. An explanation of the ``beat'' behaviour is given in terms of …
Octupole deformed shapes in neutron-rich actinides and superheavy nuclei as well as extremely deformed shapes of the N~Z light nuclei have been investigated within the framework of covariant density functional theory. We confirmed the presence of new region of octupole deformation in neutron-rich actinides with the center around Z~96, N~196 but our calculations do not predict octupole deformation in the ground states of superheavy Z~108 nuclei. As exemplified by the study of 36Ar, the nodal structure of the wavefunction of occupied single-particle orbitals in extremely deformed structures allo…
Quadrupole and octupole deformation energy surfaces, low-energy excitation spectra, and electric transition rates in eight neutron-rich isotopic chains -- Ra, Th, U, Pu, Cm, Cf, Fm, and No -- are systematically analyzed using a quadrupole-octupole collective Hamiltonian model, with parameters determined by constrained reflection-asymmetric and axially-symmetric relativistic mean-field calculations based on the PC-PK1 energy density functional. The theoretical results of low-lying negative-parity bands, odd-even staggering, average octupole deformations $\langleβ_3\rangle$, and $B(E3; 3^-_1\to …
We show that the measured intrinsic octupole moments of $^{220}$Rn, $^{224}$Ra, and $^{226}$Ra constrain the intrinsic Schiff moments of $^{225}$Ra$^{221}$Rn, $^{223}$Rn, $^{223}$Fr, $^{225}$Ra, and $^{229}$Pa. The result is a dramatically reduced uncertainty in intrinsic Schiff moments. Direct measurements of octupole moments in odd nuclei will reduce the uncertainty even more. The only significant source of nuclear-physics error in the laboratory Schiff moments will then be the intrinsic matrix elements of the time-reversal non-invariant interaction produced by CP-violating fundamental physi…
An analytic collective model in which the relative presence of the quadrupole and octupole deformations is determined by a parameter (phi_0), while axial symmetry is obeyed, is developed. The model [to be called the analytic quadrupole octupole axially symmetric model (AQOA)] involves an infinite well potential, provides predictions for energy and B(EL) ratios which depend only on phi_0, draws the border between the regions of octupole deformation and octupole vibrations in an essentially parameter-independent way, and describes well 226-Th and 226-Ra, for which experimental energy data are sh…
A systematic search for axial octupole deformation in the actinides and superheavy nuclei with proton numbers $Z=88-126$ and neutron numbers from two-proton drip line up to $N=210$ has been performed in covariant density functional theory (DFT) using four state-of-the-art covariant energy density functionals representing different model classes. The nuclei in the $Z\sim 96, N\sim 196$ region of octupole deformation have been investigated in detail and the systematic uncertainties in the description of their observables have been quantified. Similar region of octupole deformation exists also in…
The interplay between quadrupole and octupole degrees of freedom is discussed in a series of neutron-rich actinides and superheavy nuclei with $92 \le$ Z $\le 110$ and $186 \le$ N $\le 202$. In addition to the static Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach, dynamical beyond-mean-field correlations are taken into account via both parity restoration and symmetry-conserving Generator Coordinate Method calculations based on the Gogny-D1M energy density functional. Physical properties such as correlation energies, negative-parity excitation energies as well as reduced transition probabilities $B(E1)$ and …
In this work we examine the possibility to describe yrast positive- and negative-parity excitations of deformed even-even nuclei through a collective rotation model in which the nuclear surface is characterized by triaxial quadrupole and octupole deformations. The nuclear moments of inertia are expressed as sums of quadrupole and octupole parts. By assuming an adiabatic separation of rotation and vibration degrees of freedom we suppose that the structure of the positive- and negative- parity bands may be determined by the triaxial-rigid-rotor motion of the nucleus. By diagonalizing the Hamilto…
An angular momentum dependence of the parity splitting in the alternating parity bands of nuclei with strong octupole correlations is considered basing on the model of the octupole motion in a one-dimensional potential well conserving axial symmetry. A sign reversal of the parity splitting at higher values of the angular momentum is interpreted as a result of the Coriolis coupling to K=1 octupole mode. New experimental data on the spectra of the alternating parity octupole bands are used.
The interplay between quadrupole and octupole degrees of freedom is discussed in a series of U, Pu, Cm and Cf isotopes both at the mean-field level and beyond. In addition to the static Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach, dynamical beyond-mean-field correlations are taken into account via both parity restoration and symmetry-conserving Generator Coordinate Method calculations based on the parametrization D1M of the Gogny energy density functional. Physical properties such as correlation energies, negative-parity excitation energies as well as reduced transition probabilities $B(E1)$ and $B(E3)$ …
We have developed multi-dimensional constrained covariant density functional theories (MDC-CDFT) for finite nuclei in which the shape degrees of freedom β_{λμ} with even μ, e.g., β_{20}, β_{22}, β_{30}, β_{32}, β_{40}, etc., can be described simultaneously. The functional can be one of the following four forms: the meson exchange or point-coupling nucleon interactions combined with the non-linear or density-dependent couplings. For the pp channel, either the BCS approach or the Bogoliubov transformation is implemented. The MDC-CDFTs with the BCS approach for the pairing (in the following label…
The dynamics of nuclear collective motion is investigated in the case of reflection-asymmetric shapes. The model is based on a new parameterization of the octupole and quadrupole degrees of freedom, valid for nuclei close to the axial symmetry. Amplitudes of oscillation in other degrees of freedom different from the axial ones are assumed to be small, but not frozen to zero. The case of nuclei which already possess a permanent quadrupole deformation is discussed in some more detail and a simple solution is obtained at the critical point of the phase transition between harmonic octupole oscilla…
The model, introduced in a previous paper, for the description of the octupole and quadrupole degrees of freedom in conditions close to the axial symmetry, is applied to situations of shape phase transitions where the quadrupole amplitude can reach zero. The transitional nuclei 224,226Ra and 224Th are discussed in the frame of this model. Their level schemes can be reasonably accounted for assuming a square-well potential in two dimensions. Electromagnetic transition amplitudes are also evaluated and compared with existing experimental data.
The evolution of quadrupole and octupole collectivity in neutron-deficient Xe, Ba, Ce, and Nd nuclei near the "octupole magic" neutron number $N=56$ is investigated within the mapped $sdf$-IBM framework. Microscopic input is obtained via quadrupole and octupole constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations, based on the parametrization D1M of the Gogny energy density functional. Octupole-deformed mean-field ground states are predicted for Ba and Ce isotopes near $N=56$. Excitation energies of positive- and negative-parity states as well as electric transition rates are computed with wave fu…
For the first time the potential energy surfaces of actinide nuclei in the $(β_{20}, β_{22}, β_{30})$ deformation space are obtained from a multi-dimensional constrained covariant density functional theory. With this newly developed theory we are able to explore the importance of the triaxial and octupole shapes simultaneously along the whole fission path. It is found that besides the octupole deformation, the triaxiality also plays an important role upon the second fission barriers. The outer barrier as well as the inner barrier are lowered by the triaxial deformation compared with axially sy…
A model is presented that simultaneously describes shape coexistence and quadrupole and octupole collective excitations within a theoretical framework based on the nuclear density functional theory and the interacting boson model. An optimal interacting-boson Hamiltonian that incorporates the configuration mixing between normal and intruder states, as well as the octupole degrees of freedom, is identified by means of self-consistent mean-field calculations using a universal energy density functional and a pairing interaction, with constraints on the triaxial quadrupole and the axially-symmetri…
Nuclear fission of heavy (actinide) nuclei results predominantly in asymmetric mass-splits. Without quantum shells, which can give extra binding energy to these mass-asymmetric shapes, the nuclei would fission symmetrically. The strongest shell effects are in spherical nuclei, so naturally the spherical "doubly-magic" ${^{132}}$Sn nucleus (${Z=50}$ protons), was expected to play a major role. However, a systematic study of fission has shown that the heavy fragments are distributed around ${Z=52}$ to 56, indicating that ${^{132}}$Sn is not the only driver. Reconciling the strong spherical shell…
We propose a collective model formalism which describes the strong parity shift observed in low-lying spectra of nuclei with octupole deformations together with the fine rotational band structure developed at higher angular momenta. The parity effect is obtained by the Schroedinger equation for oscillations of the reflection asymmetric (octupole) shape between two opposite orientations in an angular momentum dependent double-well potential. The rotational structure is obtained by a collective quadrupole-octupole rotation Hamiltonian. The model scheme reproduces the complicated beat staggering …
The model of coherent quadrupole and octupole motion (CQOM) is applied to describe non-yrast split parity-doublet spectra in odd-mass nuclei. The yrast levels are described as low-energy rotation-vibration modes coupled to the ground single-particle (s.p.) state, while the non-yrast parity-doublet structures are obtained as higher-energy rotation-vibration modes coupled to excited s.p. states. It is shown that the extended model scheme describes both the yrast and non-yrast quasi parity-doublet spectra and the related B(E1) and B(E2) transition rates in different regions of heavy odd-A nuclei.…
Quadrupole and octupole softness in the even-even N=Z nucleus 64Ge is studied on the spherical shell model basis. We carry out the shell model calculation using the pairing plus quadrupole (QQ) plus octupole (OO) interaction with monopole corrections. It is shown that 64Ge is an unstable nucleus with respect to both the quadrupole and octupole deformations, which is consistent with the previous discussions predicting the gamma softness and octupole instability. It is demonstrated that proton-neutron part QpQn of the QQ interaction is important for the gamma softness or triaxiality.
A general form of the octupole collective Hamiltonian is introduced and analyzed based on fundamental tensors in the seven-dimensional tensor space. Possible definitions of intrinsic frames of reference possessing cubic symmetry for the octupole tensor are considered. Cubic intrinsic octupole coordinates or deformations are introduced. Shapes of the octupoloid are investigated. The octupole collective Hamiltonian is expressed in intrinsic coordinates. An intrinsic angular momentum carried by the octupole vibrations is discovered. Small oscillations about an axially-symmetric pear shape are ana…
We study the interplay of quadrupole and octupole degrees of freedom in the structure of the isotope $^{144}$Ba. A symmetry conserving configuration mixing method (SCCM) based on a Gogny energy density functional (EDF) has been used. The method includes particle number, parity and angular momentum restoration as well as axial quadrupole and octupole shape mixing within the generator coordinate method. Predictions both for excitation energies and electromagnetic transition probabilities are in good agreement with the most recent experimental data.
We propose a collective Hamiltonian which incorporates the standard quadrupole terms, octupole terms classified according to the irreducible representations of the octahedron group, a quadrupole-octupole interaction, as well as a term for the bandhead energy linear in K (the projection of angular momentum on the body-fixed z-axis). The energy is subsequently minimized with respect to K for each given value of the angular momentum I, resulting in K values increasing with I within each band, even in the case in which K is restricted to a set of microscopically plausible values. We demonstrate th…
The direct transition-matrix approach to determination of the electric polarizabilities of quantum bound systems developed in my recent work is applied to study the electric multipole polarizabilities of a two-particle bound complex with a central interaction between the particles. Expressions for the electric quadrupole and octupole polarizabilities of the deuteron are derived and their values in the case of the S-wave separable interaction potential are calculated.
The evolution of quadrupole and octupole shapes in Th isotopes is studied in the framework of nuclear Density Functional Theory. Constrained energy maps and observables calculated with microscopic collective Hamiltonians indicate the occurrence of a simultaneous quantum shape phase transition between spherical and quadrupole-deformed prolate shapes, and between non-octupole and octupole-deformed shapes, as functions of the neutron number. The nucleus $^{224}$Th is closest to the critical point of a double phase transition. A microscopic mechanism of this phenomenon is discussed in terms of the…
The interplay between the collective dynamics of the quadrupole and octupole deformation degree of freedom is discussed in a series of Sm and Gd isotopes both at the mean field level and beyond, including parity symmetry restoration and configuration mixing. Physical properties like negative parity excitation energies, E1 and E3 transition probabilities are discussed and compared to experimental data. Other relevant intrinsic quantities like dipole moments, ground state quadrupole moments or correlation energies associated to symmetry restoration and configuration mixing are discussed. For the…
The model, introduced in a previous paper, for the description of the octupole and quadrupole degrees of freedom in conditions close to the axial symmetry, is used to describe the negative-parity band based on the first octupole vibrational state in nuclei close to the critical point of the U(5) to SU(3) phase transition. The situation of 150Nd and 152Sm is discussed in detail. The positive parity levels of these nuclei, and also the in-band E2 transitions, are reasonably accounted for by the X(5) model. With simple assumptions on the nature of the octupole vibrations, it is possible to descri…
A parametrization of octupole plus quadrupole deformation, in terms of intrinsic variables defined in the rest frame of the overall tensor of inertia, is presented and discussed. The model is valid for situations close to the axial symmetry, but non axial deformation parameters are not frozen to zero. The properties of the octupole excitations in the deformed Thorium isotopes Th-226, Th-228 are interpreted in the frame of this model. A tentative interpretation of octupole oscillations in nuclei close to the X(5) symmetry, in terms of an exactly separable potential, is also discussed.
Using a covariant spectator constituent quark model we predict an electric quadrupole moment -0.043 efm^2 and a magnetic octupole moment -0.0035 efm^3 for the Delta+ excited state of the nucleon.
A collective Hamiltonian for the rotation-vibration motion of nuclei is considered, in which the axial quadrupole and octupole degrees of freedom are coupled through the centrifugal interaction. The potential of the system depends on the two deformation variables $β_2$ and $β_3$. The system is considered to oscillate between positive and negative $β_3$-values, by rounding an infinite potential core in the $(β_2,β_3)$-plane with $β_2>0$. By assuming a coherent contribution of the quadrupole and octupole oscillation modes in the collective motion, the energy spectrum is derived in an explicit an…
A model assuming coherent quadrupole-octupole vibrations and rotations is applied to describe non-yrast energy sequences with alternating parity in several even-even nuclei from different regions, namely $^{152,154}$Sm, $^{154,156,158}$Gd, $^{236}$U and $^{100}$Mo. Within the model scheme the yrast alternating-parity band is composed by the members of the ground-state band and the lowest negative-parity levels with odd angular momenta. The non-yrast alternating-parity sequences unite levels of $β$-bands with higher negative-parity levels. The model description reproduces the structure of the c…
A collective bands of positive and negative parity could be composed of the vibrations and rotations. The rotations of the octupole configurations can be based either on the axial or the non-axial octupole vibrations. A consistent approach to the quadrupole-octupole collective vibrations coupled with the rotational motion enables to distinguish between various scenarios of disappearance of the E2 transitions in negative-parity bands. The here presented theoretical estimates are compared with the recent experimental energies and transition probabilities in and between the ground-state and low-e…
The interrelation between the octupole phonon and the low-lying proton-neutron mixed-symmetry quadrupole phonon in near-spherical nuclei is investigated. The one-phonon states decay by collective E3 and E2 transitions to the ground state and by relatively strong E1 and M1 transitions to the isoscalar 2+ state. We apply the proton-neutron version of the Interacting Boson Model including quadrupole and octupole bosons (sdf-IBM-2). Two F-spin symmetric dynamical symmetry limits of the model, namely the vibrational and the γ-unstable ones, are considered. We derive analytical formulae for excitati…
Low-energy positive and negative parity collective states in the equilibrium minimum, and the dynamics of induced fission of actinide nuclei are investigated in a unified theoretical framework based on the generator coordinate method (GCM) with the Gaussian overlap approximation (GOA). The collective potential and inertia tensor, both at zero and finite temperature, are computed using the self-consistent multidimensionally constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) model, based on the energy density functional DD-PC1. Pairing correlations are treated in the BCS approximation with a separabl…
Octupole deformations and related collective excitations are analyzed using the framework of nuclear density functional theory. Axially-symmetric quadrupole-octupole constrained self-consistent mean-field (SCMF) calculations with a choice of universal energy density functional and a pairing interaction are performed for Xe, Ba, and Ce isotopes from proton-rich to neutron-rich regions, and neutron-rich Se, Kr, and Sr isotopes, in which enhanced octupole correlations are expected to occur. Low-energy positive- and negative-parity spectra and transition strengths are computed by solving the quadr…
Nuclear forces violating parity and time reversal invariance (${\cal P},{\cal T}$-odd) produce ${\cal P},{\cal T}$-odd nuclear moments, for example, the nuclear Schiff moment. In turn, this moment can induce the electric dipole moment in the atom. The nuclear Schiff moment is predicted to be enhanced in nuclei with static quadrupole and octupole deformation. The analogous suggestion of the enhanced contribution to the Schiff moment from the soft collective quadrupole and octupole vibrations in spherical nuclei is tested in this article in the framework of the quasiparticle random phase approxi…
A scheme of solving the proton-neutron interacting boson model (IBM-2) in terms of the SU(3) basis is introduced, by which the IBM-2 coupled with an octupole boson is applied to describe the low-energy structure of the critical point nucleus, $^{152}$Sm. The results indicate that the spectral properties of both the positive-parity bands and negative-parity bands in this nucleus can be well captured by the IBM-2 calculations through a simple Hamiltonian, thus providing an example of the IBM-2 in a unified description of quadrupole and octupole states in a transitional system. In addition, a sta…
We discuss anharmonicity of the multi-octupole-phonon states in $^{208}$Pb based on a covariant density functional theory, by fully taking into account the interplay between the quadrupole and the octupole degrees of freedom. Our results indicate the existence of a large anharmonicity in the transition strengths, even though the excitation energies are similar to those in the harmonic limit. We also show that the quadrupole-shape fluctuation significantly enhances the fragmentation of the two-octupole-phonon states in $^{208}$Pb. Using those transition strengths as inputs to coupled channels c…
Collective quadrupole and octupole states are described in a series of Sm and Gd isotopes within the framework of the interacting boson model (IBM), whose Hamiltonian parameters are deduced from mean field calculations with the Gogny energy density functional. The link between both frameworks is the ($β_2β_3$) potential energy surface computed within the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov framework in the case of the Gogny force. The diagonalization of the IBM Hamiltonian provides excitation energies and transition strengths of an assorted set of states including both positive and negative parity states.…
We show that the potential in the radial equation in the model of coherent quadrupole-octupole motion (CQOM) in nuclei generates a sequence of superpotentials and subsequent series of effective potentials which satisfy the shape-invariance condition and correspond to a SUSY-QM hierarchy of Hamiltonians. On this basis we suggest that the original CQOM level scheme possesses a generic supersymmetric structure of the spectrum inherent for the coherent quadrupole-octupole mode. We outline the mechanism in which the real quadrupole-octupole spectra in even-even and odd-even nuclei deviate from the …
The onset of octupole deformation and its impact on related spectroscopic properties is studied in even-even neutron-rich lanthanide isotopes Xe, Ba, Ce, and Nd with neutron number $86\leqslant N\leqslant 94$. Microscopic input comes from the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation with constrains on the axially symmetric quadrupole and octupole operators using the Gogny-D1M interaction. At the mean-field level, reflection asymmetric ground states are predicted for isotopes with neutron number around $N=88$. Spectroscopic properties are studied by diagonalizing the interacting boson model Hamilt…
Properties of octupole vibrations in rapidly rotating nuclei are discussed. Microscopic RPA calculations based on the cranked shell model are performed to investigate the interplay between rotation and vibrations. The ability of this model to describe the properties of collective vibrations built on the ground bands in rare-earth and actinide nuclei is demonstrated at high angular momentum. The octupole vibrational states in even-even superdeformed Hg nuclei are also predicted and compared with available experimental data. A new interpretation of the observed excited superdeformed bands invoki…
Octupole correlations in the low-energy collective states of neutron-rich nuclei with the neutron number $N\approx56$ are studied within the interacting boson model (IBM) that is based on the nuclear density functional theory. The constrained self-consistent mean-field (SCMF) calculations using a universal energy density functional and a pairing interaction provide the potential energy surfaces in terms of the axially-symmetric quadrupole and octupole deformations for the even-even nuclei $^{86-94}$Se, $^{88-96}$Kr, $^{90-98}$Sr, $^{92-100}$Zr, and $^{94-102}$Mo. The SCMF energy surface is the…