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J. Bartel

Publications and source records attributed to J. Bartel.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Octupole deformation in quasiparticle states of odd-mass and odd-odd nuclei

As a follow up of [Phys. Scr. 99 055305 (2024)], where we studied axial octupole shapes in two-quasiparticle states of even-even nuclei, we investigate this type of shapes in odd-mass and odd-odd well-deformed nuclei, using the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-BCS approach with selfconsistent blocking and a constraint on the expectation value $Q_{30}$ of the axial octupole moment operator. To interprete the pattern of the resulting deformation energy curve as a function of $Q_{30}$, we extend the perturbative mechanism of Ref. [1]. We deduce selection rules which can predict, from the single-particle spectra at $Q_{30} = 0$, whether in a given multiquasiparticle state the deformation energy curve has a local minimum at a vanishing or a finite value of $Q_{30}$. The predictions of this perturbative mechanism are compared with actual Skyrme-Hartree-Fock-BCS calculations with a constraint on the expectation value $Q_{30}$. Overall we obtain a qualitative agreement and we show that quantitative predictions are limited by the role of pairing correlations and strong octupole coupling between quasi-degenerate members of a single-particle parity doublet.

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Search for shape-isomers in the Pt-Hg-Pb region

Potential energy surfaces of nine even-even isotopes of Pt, Hg, and Pb around $^{186}$Pt are evaluated within a macroscopic-microscopic model based on the Lublin-Strasbourg-Drop macroscopic energy and the microscopic energy obtained using the Yukawa-folded mean-field potential to establish the Strutinski shell corrections and the pairing correlation energy through the BCS approach with a monopole pairing force. The rapidly converging Fourier-over-Spheroid shape parametrization is used to describe nuclear deformations. The stability of the identified shape isomeric states with respect to non-axial and higher-order deformations is investigated. It is also found that in the description of non-axial deformations special attention needs to be devoted to the orientation of the triaxial shape. For the example of the $^{186}$Hg nucleus, where three prolate shape-isomeric states are found, it is shown that the potential energy surface obtained in our model is close to the one obtained in the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory with the Gogny energy-density functional.

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$K$-isomeric states in the isotopic and isotonic chains of $^{178}$Hf

We study the evolution of $K^π=6^{+}$ and $8^{-}$ two-quasiparticle (q.p.) configurations in the isotopic and isotonic chains of even-even deformed nuclei around $^{178}$Hf and their ability to describe series of observed $K$-isomer excitations within the framework of a Skyrme Hartree--Fock--BCS (SHFBCS) approach using SIII interaction and seniority pairing strengths with self-consistent blocking. We apply the approach along the prescription in [Phys. Rev. C {\bf 105}, 044329 (2022)] used to describe $K$-isomers in the actinide and transfermium mass regions. The calculations allow us to identify the regions where proton or neutron configurations or their mixture may be responsible for the $K$-isomer formation. The obtained results provide a detailed test for the Skyrme SIII interaction used and outline the limits of applicability of the overall SHFBCS approach in the regions of well deformed nuclei. The study suggests that similar systematic analysis can be implemented in the heavier mass regions whenever enough data are available.

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Towards a unified description of isotopic fragment properties in spontaneous and fusion-induced fission within a 4D dynamical Langevin model

Spontaneous fission of 252Cf and fusion-induced fission of 250Cf are investigated within a multi-dimensional Langevin model. The potential-energy surface is calculated in the macroscopic-microscopic LSD+Yukawa-folded approach using the four-dimensional Fourier-over-Spheroid shape parametrization. The dynamical evolution described by the Langevin equation is coupled to neutron evaporation, thereby allowing for the possibility of multi-chance fission. Charge equilibration and excitation-energy sharing between the fragments emerging at scission are evaluated, and their de-excitation is finally computed. The correlation between various observables, particularly the isotopic properties of the fragments, is discussed and compared with the experiment whenever available. The theoretical predictions are generally in good agreement with the data.

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Spontaneous fission half-lives of actinides and super-heavy elements

Spontaneous fission half-lives of actinide and super-heavy nuclei are calculated, using the least-action integral, through the WKB tunneling probability of the barrier that appears in the deformation landscape obtained in the macroscopic-microscopic potential-energy surface. This deformation-energy landscape is obtained using a Fourier shape parametrization with 4 deformation parameters, taking into account the nuclear elongation, left-right asymmetry, neck formation and non-axiality degrees of freedom. The collective inertia tensor entering the WKB half-life expression is given through the so-called irrotational flow approach, successfully used in nuclear fission to reproduce observables that characterize the nuclear system in the vicinity of the scission configurations, such as fragment mass or charge distributions. For a comparisons, we have also used the so-called phenomenological mass parameter depending only on the center-of-mass difference of the forming fission fragments. Our approach is shown to be able to reproduce empirical fission half-lives of all here considered nuclei to within 3 orders of magnitude.

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Fission Fragment Mass and Kinetic Energy Yields of Fermium Isotopes

A rapidly converging 4-dimensional Fourier shape parametrization is used to model the fission process of heavy nuclei. Potential energy landscapes are computed within the macroscopic-microscopic approach, on top of which the multi-dimensional Langevin equation is solved to describe the fission dynamics. Charge equilibration at scission and de-excitation by neutron evaporation of the primary fragments after scission is investigated. The model describes various observables, including fission-fragment mass, charge, and kinetic energy yields, as well as post-scission neutron multiplicities and, most importantly, their correlations, which are crucial to unravel the complexity of the fission process. The parameters of the dynamical model were tuned to reproduce experimental data obtained from thermal neutron-induced fission of $^{235}$U, which allows us to discuss the transition from asymmetric to symmetric fission along the Fm isotopic chain.

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Semiclassical and quantum shell-structure calculations of the moment of inertia

Shell corrections to the moment of inertia (MI) are calculated for a Woods-Saxon potential of spheroidal shape and at different deformations. This model potential is chosen to have a large depth and a small surface diffuseness which makes it resemble the analytically solved spheroidal cavity in the semiclassical approximation. For the consistent statistical-equilibrium collective rotations, the MI is obtained within the cranking model in an approach which goes beyond the quantum perturbation approximation based on the non perturbative energy spectrum. For the calculation of the MI shell corrections $δΘ$, the Strutinsky smoothing procedure is used to obtain the average occupation numbers of the particle density generated by the resolution of the Woods-Saxon eigenvalue problem. One finds that the major-shell structure of $δΘ$, as determined in the adiabatic approximation, is rooted, for large as well as for small surface deformations, in the same inhomogenuity of the distribution of single-particle states near the Fermi surface as the energy shell corrections $δE$. This fundamental property is in agreement with the semiclassical results $δΘ\propto δE$ obtained analytically within the non perturbative periodic orbit theory for any potential well, in particular for the spheroidal cavity, and for any deformation, even for large deformations where bifurcations of the equatorial orbits play a substantial role. Since the adiabatic approximation, $ω\ll Ω$, with $\hbar Ω$ the distance between major nuclear shells, is easily obeyed even for large angular momenta typical for high-spin physics at large particle numbers, our model approach seems to represent a tool that could be useful for the description of such nuclear systems.

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Surface corrections to the moment of inertia and shell structure in finite Fermi systems

The moment of inertia for nuclear collective rotations is derived within a semiclassical approach based on the Inglis cranking and Strutinsky shell-correction methods, improved by surface corrections within the nonperturbative periodic-orbit theory. For adiabatic (statistical-equilibrium) rotations it was approximated by the generalized rigid-body moment of inertia accounting for the shell corrections of the particle density. An improved phase-space trace formula allows to express the shell components of the moment of inertia more accurately in terms of the free-energy shell correction. Evaluating their ratio within the extended Thomas-Fermi effective-surface approximation, one finds good agreement with the quantum calculations.

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Fission Fragment Mass and Total Kinetic Energy Distributions of Spontaneously Fissioning Plutonium Isotopes

The fission-fragment mass and total kinetic energy (TKE) distributions are evaluated in a quantum mechanical framework using elongation, mass asymmetry, neck degree of freedom as the relevant collective parameters in the Fourier shape parametrization recently developed by us. The potential energy surfaces (PES) are calculated within the macroscopic-microscopic model based on the Lublin-Strasbourg Drop (LSD), the Yukawa-folded (YF) single-particle potential and a monopole pairing force. The PES are presented and analysed in detail for even-even Plutonium isotopes with $A=236 -246$. They reveal deep asymmetric valleys. The fission-fragment mass and TKE distributions are obtained from the ground state of a collective Hamiltonian computed within the Born-Oppenheimer approximation, in the WKB approach by introducing a neck-dependent fission probability. The calculated mass and total kinetic energydistributions are found in good agreement with the data.

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On the stability of super-heavy nuclei

The potential-energy surfaces of an extended set of heavy and super-heavy even-even nuclei with $92 \le Z \le 126$ and isospins $40 \le N-Z \le 74$ are evaluated within the recently developed Fourier shape parametrization. Ground-state and decay properties are studied for 324 different even-even isotopes in a four-dimensional deformation space, defined by non-axiality, quadrupole, octupole, and hexadecapole degrees of freedom. Nuclear deformation energies are evaluated in the framework of the macroscopic-microscopic approach, with the Lublin-Strasbourg-Drop model and a Yukawa-folded mean-field potential. The evolution of the ground-state equilibrium shape (and possible isomeric, metastable states) is studied as a function of $Z$ and $N$. Alpha-decay $Q$-values and half-lives, as well as fission-barrier heights, are deduced. In order to understand the transition from asymmetric to symmetric fission along the Fm isotopic chain, the properties of all identified fission paths are investigated. Good agreement is found with experimental data wherever available. New interesting features about the population of different fission modes for nuclei beyond Fm are predicted.

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Semiclassical approaches to nuclear dynamics

The extended Gutzwiller trajectory approach is presented for the semiclassical description of nuclear collective dynamics, in line with the main topics of the fruitful activity of V.G. Solovjov. Within the Fermi-liquid droplet model, the leptodermous effective surface approximation was applied to calculations of energies, sum rules and transition densities for the neutron-proton asymmetry of the isovector giant-dipole resonance and found to be in good agreement with the experimental data. By using the Strutinsky shell correction method, the semiclassical collective transport coefficients such as nuclear inertia, friction, stiffness, and moments of inertia can be derived beyond the quantum perturbation approximation of the response function theory and the cranking model.The averaged particle-number dependence of the low-lying collective vibrational states are described in good agreement with basic experimental data, mainly due to an enhancement of the collective inertia as compared to its irrotational flow value. Shell components of the moment of inertia are derived in terms of the periodic-orbit free-energy shell corrections. A good agreement between the semiclassical extended Thomas-Fermi moments of inertia with shell corrections and the quantum results is obtained for different nuclear deformations and particle numbers. Shell effects are shown to be exponentially dampted out with increasing temperature in all the transport coefficients.

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Semiclassical shell-structure moment of inertia within the phase-space approach

The moment of inertia for nuclear collective rotations was derived within the semiclassical approach based on the cranking model and the Strutinsky shell-correction method by using the non-perturbative periodic-orbit theory in the phase space variables. This moment of inertia for adiabatic (statistical-equilibrium) rotations can be approximated by the generalized rigid-body moment of inertia accounting for the shell corrections of the particle density. A semiclassical phase-space trace formula allows to express quite accurately the shell components of the moment of inertia in terms of the free-energy shell corrections for integrable and partially chaotic Fermi systems, in good agreement with the quantum calculations.

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A semiclassical collective response of heated, asymmetric and rotating nuclei

The Landau Fermi-liquid and extended Gutzwiller periodic-orbit theories are presented for the semiclassical description of collective excitations in nuclei, which are close to main topics of the fruitful activity of S.T. Belyaev. Static susceptibilities show the ergodicity of Fermi liquids. Transport coefficients (nuclear friction and inertia) as functions of the temperature for the hydrodynamic and zero-sound modes are derived within the response theory by using the Fermi-liquid droplet model, in agreement with the shell model for large temperatures. The surface symmetry binding-energy constants are obtained as functions of Skyrme force parameters in the approximation of a sharp edged proton-neutron asymmetric nucleus.The energies and sum rules of the isovector dipole giant resonances are in fairly good agreement with the experimental data. An analysis of the specific structure of these resonances in terms of a main, and satellite peaks, in comparison with the experimental data and microscopic theoretical models, might turn out to be of importance for a better understanding of the values of the surface symmetry-energy constant. The semiclassical collective moment of inertia is derived analytically beyond the quantum perturbation approximation of the cranking model for any potential well as a mean field. It is shown that this moment of inertia can be approximated by its rigid-body value for the rotation with a given frequency within the ETF and more general periodic orbit theories in the nearly local long-length approximation. Its semiclassical shell-structure components are derived in terms of the periodic-orbit free-energy shell corrections. We obtained good agreement between the semiclassical and quantum shell-structure components of the moment of inertia for several critical bifurcation deformations for the harmonic oscillator mean field.

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Isospin mixing in a particle-number conserving microscopic approach

We calculate the isospin-mixing parameter for several Tz=-1, Tz=0 and Tz=1 nuclei from Mg to Sn in the particle-number conserving Higher Tamm-Dancoff approach taking into account the pairing correlations. In particular we investigate the role of the Coulomb interaction and the |Tz|=1 pairing correlations. To do so the HTDA approach is implemented with the SIII Skyrme effective nucleon-nucleon interaction in the mean-field channel and a delta interaction in the pairing channel. We conclude from this investigation that the pairing correlations bring a large contribution to isospin-symmetry breaking, whereas the Coulomb interaction turns out to play a less important role. Moreover we find that the isospin-mixing parameters for Tz=-1 and Tz=1 nuclei are comparable while they are about twice as large for Tz=0 nuclei (between 3% and 6%, including doubly magic nuclei).

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Mean-Field Description of Fusion Barriers with Skyrme's Interaction

Fusion barriers are determined in the framework of the Skyrme energy-density functional together with the semi-classical approach known as the Extended Thomas-Fermi method. The barriers obtained in this way with the Skyrme interaction SkM* turn out to be close to those generated by phenomenological models like those using the proximity potentials. It is also shown that the location and the structure of the fusion barrier in the vicinity of its maximum and beyond can be quite accurately described by a simple analytical form depending only on the masses and the relative isospin of target and projectile nucleus.

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Fission-Fragment Mass Distribution and Particle Evaporation at low Energies

Fusion-fission dynamics is investigated with a special emphasis on fusion reactions at low energy for which shell effects and pairing correlations can play a crucial role leading in particular to multi-modal fission. To follow the dynamical evolution of an excited and rotating nucleus we solve a 2-dimensional Langevin equation taking explicitly light-particle evaporation into account. The confrontation theory-experiment is demonstrated to give interesting information on the model presented, its qualities as well as its shortcomings.

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Nuclear Mean Fields through Selfconsistent Semiclassical Calculations

Semiclassical expansions derived in the framework of the Extended Thomas-Fermi approach for the kinetic energy density tau(r) and the spin-orbit density J(r) as functions of the local density rho(r) are used to determine the central nuclear potentials V_n(r) and V_p(r) of the neutron and proton distribution for effective interactions of the Skyrme type. We demonstrate that the convergence of the resulting semiclassical expansions for these potentials is fast and that they reproduce quite accurately the corresponding Hartree-Fock average fields.

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Liquid Drop Model with Different Neutron versus Proton Deformations

The nuclear binding energies for 28 nuclei including several isotopic chains with masses ranging from A=64 to A=226 were evaluated using the Skyrme effective nucleon-nucleon interaction and the Extended Thomas-Fermi approximation. The neutron and proton density distributions are assumed in the form of Fermi functions the parameters of which are determined so as to minimize the total binding energy of any given nucleus. The present study is restricted to quadrupole shapes, but the neutron and proton density distributions are free to have different deformations. A simple expression for the variation of the nuclear energy with the neutron--proton deformation difference is derived.

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