arXiv subjects

Chong Qi

Publications and source records attributed to Chong Qi.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

The anomalous quadrupole collectivity in Te isotopes

We present systematic calculations on the spectroscopy and transition properties of even-even Te isotopes by using the large-scale configuration interaction shell model approach with a realistic interaction. These nuclei are of particular interest since their yrast spectra show a vibrational-like equally-spaced pattern but the few known E2 transitions show anomalous rotational-like behavior, which cannot be reproduced by collective models. Our calculations reproduce well the equally-spaced spectra of those isotopes as well as the constant behavior of the $B(E2)$ values in $^{114}$Te. The calculated $B(E2)$ values for neutron-deficient and heavier Te isotopes show contrasting different behaviors along the yrast line. The $B(E2)$ of light isotopes can exhibit a nearly constant bevavior upto high spins. We show that this is related to the enhanced neutron-proton correlation when approaching $N=50$.

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arXiv2016

Odd-even staggering in neutron drip line nuclei

We have done systematic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations in coordinate space on the one-quasi-particle energies and binding energy odd-even staggering (OES) in semi-magic nuclei with the zero-range volume, mixed and surface pairing forces in order to explore the influence of their density dependence. The odd-$N$ isotopes are calculated within the blocking scheme. The strengths for the pairing forces are determined in two schemes by fitting locally to reproduce pairing gap in $^{120}$Sn and globally to all available data on the OES of semi-magic nuclei with $Z\geq8$. In the former calculations, there is a noticeable difference between the neutron mean gaps in neutron-rich O, Ca, Ni and Sn isotopes calculated with the surface pairing and those with the mixed and volume pairing. The difference gets much smaller if the globally optimized pairing strengths are employed. The heavier Pb isotopes show the opposite trend. Moreover, large differences between the mean gap and the OES may be expected in both calculations when one goes towards the neutron drip line.

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arXiv2016

Alpha decay as a probe for the structure of neutron-deficient nuclei

The advent of radioactive ion beam facilities and new detector technologies have opened up new possibilities to investigate the radioactive decays of highly unstable nuclei, in particular the proton emission, $α$ decay and heavy cluster decays from neutron-deficient (or proton-rich) nuclei around the proton drip line. It turns out that these decay measurements can serve as a unique probe for studying the structure of the nuclei involved. On the theoretical side, the development in nuclear many-body theories and supercomputing facilities have also made it possible to simulate the nuclear clusterization and decays from a microscopic and consistent perspective. In this article we would like to review the current status of these structure and decay studies in heavy nuclei, regarding both experimental and theoretical opportunities. We then discuss in detail the recent progress in our understanding of the nuclear $α$ formation probabilities in heavy nuclei and their indication on the underlying nuclear structure.

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arXiv2016

Generalized-Seniority Pattern and Thermal Properties in Even Sn Isotopes

Even tin isotopes of mass number $A = 108 \sim 124$ are calculated with realistic interactions in the generalized-seniority approximation of the nuclear shell model. For each nucleus, we compute the lowest ten thousand states ($5000$ of each parity) up to around $8$ MeV in excitation energy, by allowing as many as four broken pairs. The lowest fifty eigen energies of each parity are compared with the exact results of the large-scale shell-model calculation. The wavefunctions of the mid-shell nuclei show a clear pattern of the stepwise breakup of condensed coherent pairs with increasing excitation energy. We also compute in the canonical ensemble the thermal properties -- level density, entropy, and specific heat -- in relation to the thermal pairing phase transition.

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arXiv2016

$N=Z$ nuclei: A laboratory for neutron-proton collective mode

The neutron-neutron and proton-proton pairing correlations have long been recognised to be the dominant many-body correlation beyond the nuclear mean field since the introduction of pairing mechanism by Bohr, Mottelson and Pines nearly 60 year ago. Nevertheless, few conclusion has been reached concerning the existence of analogous neutron-proton (np) pair correlated state. One can see a renaissance in np correlation studies in relation to the significant progress in radioactive ion beam facilities and detection techniques. The np pairs can couple isospin T = 1 (isovector) or 0 (isoscalar). In the isovector channel, the angular momentum zero component is expected to be the most importance one. On the other hand, as one may infer from the general properties of the np two-body interaction, in the isoscalar channel, both the np pairs with minimum (J=1) and maximum (J=2j) spin values can be important. In this contribution, we will discuss the possible evidence for np pair coupling from different perspective and analyze its influence on interesting phenomena including the Wigner effect and mass correlations in odd-odd nuclei. In particular, we will explain the spin-aligned pair coupling scheme and quartet coupling involving pairs with maximum (J=2j) spin values.

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arXiv2016

Exact solution of the pairing problem for spherical and deformed systems

There has been increasing interest in studying the Richardson model from which one can derive the exact solution for certain pairing Hamiltonians. However, it is still a numerical challenge to solve the nonlinear equations involved. In this paper we tackle this problem by employing a simple hybrid polynomial approach. The method is found to be robust and is valid for both deformed and nearly spherical nuclei. It also provides important and convenient initial guesses for spherical systems with large degeneracy. As an example, we apply the method to study the shape coexistence in neutron-rich Ni isotopes.

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arXiv2016

Empirical residual neutron-proton interaction in odd-odd nuclei

Two types of average neutron-proton interaction formulas are compared: In the first type, neutron-proton interactions for even-even and odd-$A$ nuclei extracted from experimental binding energies show a smooth behavior as a function of mass number $A$ and are dominated by the contribution from the symmetry energy. Whereas in the second type large systematic staggering is seen between even-$A$ and odd-$A$ nuclei. This deviation is understood in term of the additional neutron-proton interaction in odd-odd nuclei relative to the neighboring even-even and odd-$A$ systems. We explore three possible ways to extract this additional interaction from the binding energy difference of neighboring nuclei. The extracted interactions are positive in nearly all cases and show weak dependence on the mass number. The empirical interactions are also compared with theoretical values extracted from recent nuclear mass models where large unexpected fluctuations are seen in certain nuclei. The reproduction of the residual neutron-proton interaction and the correction of those irregular fluctuations can be a good criterion for the refinement of those mass models.

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arXiv2015

Empirical pairing gaps, shell effects, and di-neutron spatial correlation in neutron-rich nuclei

The empirical pairing gaps derived from four different odd-even mass staggering formulas are compared. By performing single-$j$ shell and multi-shell seniority model calculations as well as by using the standard HFB approach with Skyrme force we show that the simplest three-point formula $Δ_C^ {(3)}(N)=\frac{1}{2}\left[B(N,Z)+B(N-2,Z)-2B(N-1,Z)\right]$ can provide a good measure of the neutron pairing gap in even-$N$ nuclei. It removes to a large extent the contribution from the nuclear mean field as well as contributions from shell structure details. It is also less contaminated by the Wigner effect for nuclei around $N=Z$. We also show that the strength of $Δ^ {(3)}_C(N)$ can serve as a good indication of the two-particle spatial correlation in the nucleus of concern and that the weakening of $Δ^ {(3)}_C(N)$ in some neutron-rich nuclei indicates that the di-neutron correlation itself is weak in these nuclei.

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arXiv2015

Density dependence of the pairing interaction and pairing correlation in unstable nuclei

This work aims at a global assessment of the effect of the density dependence of the zero-range pairing interaction. Systematic Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations with the volume, surface and mixed pairing forces are carried out to study the pairing gaps in even-even nuclei over the whole nuclear chart. Calculations are also done in coordinate representation for unstable semi-magic even-even nuclei. The calculated pairing gaps are compared with empirical values from four different odd-even staggering formulae. Calculations with the three pairing interactions are comparable for most nuclei close to $β$-stability line. However, the surface interaction calculations predict neutron pairing gaps in neutron-rich nuclei that are significantly stronger than those given by the mixed and volume pairing. On the other hand, calculations with volume and mixed pairing forces show noticeable reduction of neutron pairing gaps in nuclei far from the stability.

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arXiv2015

Global calculations on the microscopic energies and nuclear deformations: Isospin dependence of the spin-orbit coupling

The microscopic energies and nuclear deformations of about 1850 even-even nuclei are calculated systematically within the macroscopic-microscopic framework using three Woods-Saxon parameterizations, with different isospin dependences, which were constructed mainly for nuclear spectroscopy calculations. Calculations are performed in the deformation space $(β_2, γ, β_4)$. Both the monopole and doubly stretched quadrupole interactions are considered for the pairing channel. The ground state deformations obtained by the three calculations are quite similar to each other. Large differences are seen mainly in neutron-rich nuclei and in superheavy nuclei. Systematic calculations on the shape-coexisting second minima are also presented. As for the microscopic energies of the ground states, the results are also very close to each other. Only in a few cases the difference is larger than 2 MeV. The total binding energy is estimated by adding the macroscopic energy provided by the usual liquid drop model with its parameters fitted through the least square root and minimax criteria. Calculations are also compared with the results of other macroscopic-microscopic mass models. All the three calculations give similar values for the deformations, microscopic energies and binding energies of most nuclei. One may expect to have a better understanding of the isospin dependence of the spin-orbital force with more data on proton- and neutron-rich nuclei.

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arXiv2014

A short explanation of the Duflo-Zuker mass model

In this note we give a short introduction to the Duflo-Zuker shell model mass formula which has been shown to have great prediction power but is mostly used as a black box due to its complex nature.

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arXiv2014

Theoretical uncertainties within the Duflo-Zuker mass model

It is becoming increasingly important to understand the uncertainties of nuclear mass model calculations and their limitations when extrapolating to driplines. In this paper we evaluate the parameter uncertainties the Duflo-Zuker (DZ) shell model mass formulae by fitting to the latest experimental mass compilation AME2012 and analyze the propagation of the uncertainties in binding energy calculations when extrapolated to driplines. The parameter uncertainties and uncertain propagations are evaluated with the help of the covariance matrix thus derived. Large deviations from the extrapolations of AME2012 are seen in superheavy nuclei. A simplified version of the DZ model (DZ19) with much smaller uncertainties than that of DZ33 is proposed. Calculations are compared with results from other mass formulae. Systematics on the uncertainty propagation as well as the positions of the driplines are also presented. The DZ mass formulae are shown to be well defined with good extrapolation properties and rather small uncertainties, even though some of the parameters of the full DZ33 model cannot be fully determined by fitting to available experimental data.

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arXiv2014

Mirror energy difference and the structure of loosely bound proton-rich nuclei around A = 20

The properties of loosely bound proton-rich nuclei around A = 20 are investigated within the framework of nuclear shell model. In these nuclei, the strength of the effective interactions involving the loosely bound proton s1=2 orbit are significantly reduced in comparison with those in their mirror nuclei. We evaluate the reduction of the effective interaction by calculating the monopole-baseduniversal interaction (VMU) in the Woods-Saxon basis. The shell-model Hamiltonian in the sd shell, such as USD, can thus be modified to reproduce the binding energies and energy levels of the weakly bound proton-rich nuclei around A = 20. The effect of the reduction of the effective interaction on the structure and decay properties of these nuclei is also discussed.

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arXiv2013

Nucleon pair approximation description of the low-lying structure of $^{108,109}$Te and $^{109}$I

The low-lying level schemes and electromagnetic transitions of $^{109}$Te, $^{109}$I, and the neighboring even-even nucleus $^{108}$Te, are calculated within the framework of the $SD$-pair approximation of the nuclear shell model. Good agreement is obtained between the calculated results and experimental data. The favored components of low-lying bands are discussed in the collective nucleon-pair subspace. The weak-coupling picture shown in these nuclei and its relationship with residual quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between valence protons and neutrons are analyzed.

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arXiv2013

Novel Monte Carlo representation for shell model in the complex energy plane

A Monte Carlo method is presented to evaluate quantum states with many particles moving in the continuum. The scattering state is generated at each time by a Monte Carlo random sampling algorithm. The same calculation are repeated until the average energies of all calculations converge. For systems with one and a few particles, our calculations show that the exact solution can be approached with around only one hundred iterations. As examples, we apply the approach to study the structure of neutron-rich oxygen isotopes.

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arXiv2013

Shell evolution and its indication on the isospin dependence of the spin-orbit splitting

The available experimental data on shell evolution indicate that the strength of the spin-orbit (SO) single-particle potential may be enhanced in neutron-rich nuclei. We observe that such a simple scheme destroys the Harmonic Oscillator (HO) magic numbers N=8 and 20 and generates new SO magic numbers like N=6, 14, 16, 32 and 34. The traditional SO magic numbers like N=28 and 50 and N=14 seen in $^{22}$O are eroded somehow in neutron-rich nuclei due to the sensitivity of larger-$l$ orbitals to the depth of the central potential but they are more robust than the HO magic numbers. The N=82 shell closure persists in neutron-rich nuclei while HO shell closures like N=40 and 70 do not emerge. Both mechanisms contribute to enhancing the N=56 and 90 gaps by splitting the $1d_{5/2}$ and $0g_{7/2}$ and the $0h_{9/2}$ and $1f_{7/2}$ orbitals.

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arXiv2012

Double binding energy differences: Mean-field or pairing effect?

In this paper we present a systematic analysis on the average interaction between the last protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, which can be extracted from the double differences of nuclear binding energies. The empirical average proton-neutron interaction $V_{pn}$ thus derived from experimental data can be described in a very simple form as the interplay of the nuclear mean field and the pairing interaction. It is found that the smooth behavior as well as the local fluctuations of the $V_{pn}$ in even-even nuclei with $N\neq Z$ are dominated by the contribution from the proton-neutron monopole interactions. A strong additional contribution from the isoscalar monopole interaction and isovector proton-neutron pairing interaction is seen in the $V_{pn}$ for even-even $N=Z$ nuclei and for the adjacent odd-$A$ nuclei with one neutron or proton being subtracted.

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arXiv2012

A monopole-optimized effective interaction for tin isotopes

We present a systematic configuration-interaction shell model calculation on the structure of light tin isotopes with a new global optimized effective interaction. The starting point of the calculation is the realistic CD-Bonn nucleon-nucleon potential. The unknown single-particle energies of the $1d_{3/2}$, $2s_{1/2}$ and $0h_{11/2}$ orbitals and the T=1 monopole interactions are determined by fitting to the binding energies of 157 low-lying yrast states in $^{102-132}$Sn. We apply the Hamiltonian to analyze the origin of the spin inversion between $^{101}$Sn and $^{103}$Sn that was observed recently and to explore the possible contribution from interaction terms beyond the normal pairing.

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