arXiv subjects

N. Paar

Publications and source records attributed to N. Paar.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Low-energy multipole response in nuclei at finite temperature

The multipole response of nuclei at temperatures T=0-2 MeV is studied using a self-consistent finite-temperature RPA (random phase approximation) based on relativistic energy density functionals. Illustrative calculations are performed for the isoscalar monopole and isovector dipole modes and, in particular, the evolution of low-energy excitations with temperature is analyzed, including the modification of pygmy structures. Both for the monopole and dipole modes, in the temperature range T=1-2 MeV additional transition strength appears at low energies because of thermal unblocking of single-particle orbitals close to the Fermi level. A concentration of dipole strength around 10 MeV excitation energy is predicted in $^{60,62}$Ni, where no low-energy excitations occur at zero temperature. The principal effect of finite temperature on low-energy strength that is already present at zero temperature, e.g. in $^{68}$Ni and $^{132}$Sn, is the spreading of this structure to even lower energy and the appearance of states that correspond to thermally unblocked transitions.

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arXiv2009

On the isoscalar-isovector splitting of pygmy dipole structures

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 resonance. The results are in qualitative agreement with those obtained in recent $(γ,γ')$ and $(α,α'γ)$ experiments, and provide a simple explanation for the splitting of low-energy E1 strength into two groups of states with different isospin structure and radial dependence of the corresponding transition densities.

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arXiv2009

Relativistic QRPA calculation of muon capture rates

The relativistic proton-neutron quasiparticle random phase approximation (PN-RQRPA) is applied in the calculation of total muon capture rates on a large set of nuclei from $^{12}$C to $^{244}$Pu, for which experimental values are available. The microscopic theoretical framework is based on the Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) model for the nuclear ground state, and transitions to excited states are calculated using the PN-RQRPA. The calculation is fully consistent, i.e., the same interactions are used both in the RHB equations that determine the quasiparticle basis, and in the matrix equations of the PN-RQRPA. The calculated capture rates are sensitive to the in-medium quenching of the axial-vector coupling constant. By reducing this constant from its free-nucleon value $g_A = 1.262$ by 10% for all multipole transitions, the calculation reproduces the experimental muon capture rates to better than 10% accuracy.

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arXiv2008

Comment on "Pygmy dipole response of proton-rich argon nuclei in random-phase approximation and no-core shell model"

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 \cite{Paa.06}, it does not provide any evidence that the low-lying state declared as pygmy dipole resonance in $^{32}$Ar indeed has the resonance-like structure, and that prior to studying exotic modes of excitation away from the valley of stability one should ensure that the model provides reliable description of available experimental data on nuclear ground state properties and excitations in nuclei. Although the authors aimed at testing the UCOM based theory at the proton drip line, available experimental data that are used as standard initial tests of theory frameworks at the proton drip line have not been considered in the UCOM case (e.g., binding energies, one-proton separation energies, two-proton separation energies).

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arXiv2007

Inclusive charged-current neutrino-nucleus reactions calculated with the relativistic quasiparticle random phase approximation

Inclusive neutrino-nucleus cross sections are calculated using a consistent relativistic mean-field theoretical framework. The weak lepton-hadron interaction is expressed in the standard current-current form, the nuclear ground state is described with the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model, and the relevant transitions to excited nuclear states are calculated in the relativistic quasiparticle random phase approximation. Illustrative test calculations are performed for charged-current neutrino reactions on $^{12}$C, $^{16}$O, $^{56}$Fe, and $^{208}$Pb, and results compared with previous studies and available data. Using the experimental neutrino fluxes, the averaged cross sections are evaluated for nuclei of interest for neutrino detectors. We analyze the total neutrino-nucleus cross sections, and the evolution of the contribution of the different multipole excitations as a function of neutrino energy. The cross sections for reactions of supernova neutrinos on $^{16}$O and $^{208}$Pb target nuclei are analyzed as functions of the temperature and chemical potential.

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arXiv2007

Exotic modes of excitation in atomic nuclei far from stability

We review recent studies of the evolution of collective excitations in atomic nuclei far from the valley of $β$-stability. Collective degrees of freedom govern essential aspects of nuclear structure, and for several decades the study of collective modes such as rotations and vibrations has played a vital role in our understanding of complex properties of nuclei. The multipole response of unstable nuclei and the possible occurrence of new exotic modes of excitation in weakly-bound nuclear systems, present a rapidly growing field of research, but only few experimental studies of these phenomena have been reported so far. Valuable data on the evolution of the low-energy dipole response in unstable neutron-rich nuclei have been gathered in recent experiments, but the available information is not sufficient to determine the nature of observed excitations. Even in stable nuclei various modes of giant collective oscillations had been predicted by theory years before they were observed, and for that reason it is very important to perform detailed theoretical studies of the evolution of collective modes of excitation in nuclei far from stability. We therefore discuss the modern theoretical tools that have been developed in recent years for the description of collective excitations in weakly-bound nuclei. The review focuses on the applications of these models to studies of the evolution of low-energy dipole modes from stable nuclei to systems near the particle emission threshold, to analyses of various isoscalar modes, those for which data are already available, as well as those that could be observed in future experiments, to a description of charge-exchange modes and their evolution in neutron-rich nuclei, and to studies of the role of exotic low-energy modes in astrophysical processes.

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arXiv2006

Nuclear collective excitations using correlated realistic interactions: the role of explicit RPA correlations

We examine to which extent correlated realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions, derived within the Unitary Correlation Operator Method (UCOM), can describe nuclear collective motion in the framework of first-order random-phase approximation (RPA). To this end we employ the correlated Argonne V18 interaction in calculations within the so-called "Extended" RPA (ERPA) and investigate the response of closed-shell nuclei. The ERPA is a renormalized RPA version which considers explicitly the depletion of the Fermi sea due to long-range correlations and thus allows us to examine how these affect the excitation spectra. It is found that the effect on the properties of giant resonances is rather small. Compared to the standard RPA, where excitations are built on top of the uncorrelated Hartree-Fock (HF) ground state, their centroid energies decrease by up to 1 MeV, approximately, in the isovector channel. The isoscalar response is less affected in general. Thus, the disagreement between our previous UCOM-based RPA calculations and the experimental data are to be attributed to other effects, mainly to a residual three-body force and higher-order configurations. Ground-state properties obtained within the ERPA are compared with corresponding HF and perturbation-theory results and are discussed as well. The ERPA formalism is presented in detail.

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arXiv2006

Nuclear Structure in the UCOM Framework: From Realistic Interactions to Collective Excitations

The Unitary Correlation Operator Method (UCOM) provides a means for nuclear structure calculations starting from realistic NN potentials. The dominant short-range central and tensor correlations are described explicitly by a unitary transformation. The application of UCOM in the context of the no-core shell model provides insight into the interplay between dominant short-range and residual long-range correlations in the nuclear many-body problem. The use of the correlated interaction within Hartree-Fock, many-body perturbation theory, and Random Phase Approximation gives access to various nuclear structure observables throughout the nuclear chart.

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arXiv2006

Correlation energies in the random phase approximation using realistic interactions

The self-consistent random phase approximation (RPA) based on a correlated realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction is used to evaluate correlation energies in closed-shell nuclei beyond the Hartree-Fock level. The relevance of contributions associated with charge exchange excitations as well as the necessity to correct for the double counting of the second order contribution to the RPA ring summation are emphasized. Once these effects are properly accounted for, the RPA ring summation provides an efficient tool to assess the impact of long-range correlations on binding energies throughout the whole nuclear chart, which is of particular importance when starting from realistic interactions.

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arXiv2006

Relativistic QRPA description of isoscalar compression modes in open-shell nuclei in the A$\approx$60 mass region

Very recent inelastic $α$-scattering data on the isoscalar monopole and dipole strength distributions in $^{56}$Fe, $^{58}$Ni, and $^{60}$Ni are analyzed in the relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (RQRPA) with the DD-ME2 effective nuclear interaction (nuclear matter compression modulus K$_{nm}= 251$ MeV). In all three nuclei the calculation nicely reproduces the observed asymmetric shapes of the monopole strength, and the bimodal structure of the dipole strength distributions. The calculated centroid and mean energies are in very good qualitative agreement with the experimental values both for the monopole, and for the low- and high-energy components of the dipole transition strengths. It is noted, however, that while DD-ME2 reproduces in detail the excitation energies of the giant monopole resonances (GMR) in nuclei with $A \ge 90$, the theoretical centroids are systematically above the experimental values in lighter nuclei with $A \leq 60$. The latter can be reproduced with an effective interaction with a lower value of K$_{nm} \approx $ 230 MeV but, because of the asymmetric shapes and pronounced fragmentation of the monopole strength distributions, isoscalar GMR data in light nuclei cannot provide accurate estimates of the nuclear matter compression modulus.

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arXiv2006

Collective multipole excitations based on correlated realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions

We investigate collective multipole excitations for closed shell nuclei from 16O to 208Pb using correlated realistic nucleon -nucleon interactions in the framework of the random phase approximation (RPA). The dominant short-range central and tensor correlations a re treated explicitly within the Unitary Correlation Operator Method (UCOM), which provides a phase-shift equivalent correlated interaction V_UCOM adapted to simple uncorrelated Hilbert spaces. The same unitary transformation that defines the correlated interaction is used to derive correlated transition operators. Using V_UCOM we solve the Hartree-Fock problem and employ the single-particle state s as starting point for the RPA. By construction, the UCOM-RPA is fully self-consistent, i.e. the same correlated nucleon-nucleon interact ion is used in calculations of the HF ground state and in the residual RPA interaction. Consequently, the spurious state associated with t he center-of-mass motion is properly removed and the sum-rules are exhausted within +-3%. The UCOM-RPA scheme results in a collective character of giant monopole, dipole, and quadrupole resonances in closed-shell nuclei across the nuclear chart. For the isoscalar giant monopole resonance, the resonance energies are in agreement with experiment hinting at a reasonable compressibility. However, in the 1- and 2+ channels the resonance energies are overestimated due to missing long-range correlations and three-body contributions.

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arXiv2005

Nuclear Structure and Response based on Correlated Realistic NN Interactions

Starting from the Argonne V18 nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction and using the Unitary Correlation Operator Method, a correlated interaction v_UCOM has been constructed, which is suitable for calculations within restricted Hilbert spaces. In this work we employ the v_UCOM in Hartree-Fock, perturbation-theory and RPA calculations and we study the ground-state properties of various closed-shell nuclei, as well as some excited states. The present calculations provide also important feedback for the optimization of the v_UCOM and valuable information on its properties. The above scheme offers the prospect of ab initio calculations in nuclei, regardless of their mass number. It can be used in conjunction with other realistic NN interactions as well, and with various many-body methods (Second RPA, QRPA, Shell Model, etc.).

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arXiv2005

Self-Consistent Description of Collective Excitations in the Unitary Correlation Operator Method

The fully self-consistent Random Phase Approximation (RPA) is constructed within the Unitary Correlation Operator Method (UCOM), which describes the dominant interaction-induced short-range central and tensor correlations by a unitary transformation. Based on the correlated Argonne V18 interaction, the RPA is employed in studies of multipole response in closed-shell nuclei across the nuclide chart. The UCOM-RPA results in a collective character of giant resonances, and it describes rather well the properties of isoscalar giant monopole resonances. However, the excitation energies of isovector giant dipole resonances and isoscalar giant quadrupole resonances are overestimated due to the missing long-range correlations and three-body contributions.

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arXiv2005

Hartree-Fock and Many-Body Perturbation Theory with Correlated Realistic NN-Interactions

We employ correlated realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions for the description of nuclear ground states throughout the nuclear chart within the Hartree-Fock approximation. The crucial short-range central and tensor correlations, which are induced by the realistic interaction and cannot be described by the Hartree-Fock many-body state itself, are included explicitly by a state-independent unitary transformation in the framework of the unitary correlation operator method (UCOM). Using the correlated realistic interaction V_UCOM resulting from the Argonne V18 potential, bound nuclei are obtained already on the Hartree-Fock level. However, the binding energies are smaller than the experimental values because long-range correlations have not been accounted for. Their inclusion by means of many-body perturbation theory leads to a remarkable agreement with experimental binding energies over the whole mass range from He-4 to Pb-208, even far off the valley of stability. The observed perturbative character of the residual long-range correlations and the apparently small net effect of three-body forces provides promising perspectives for a unified nuclear structure description.

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arXiv2005

Low-energy dipole excitations towards the proton drip-line: doubly magic 48Ni

The properties of the low-energy dipole response are investigated for the proton-rich doubly magic nucleus $^{48}$Ni, in a comparative study of two microscopic models: fully self-consistent Relativistic Random-Phase Approximation(RRPA) based on the novel density-dependent meson-exchange interactions, and Continuum Random-Phase Approximation(CRPA) using Skyrme-type interactions with the continuum properly included. Both models predict the existence of the low-energy soft mode, i.e. the proton pygmy dipole resonance (PDR), for which the transition densities and RPA amplitudes indicate the dynamics of loosely bound protons vibrating against the rest of the nucleons. The CRPA analysis indicates that the escape width for the proton PDR is rather large, as a result of the coupling to the continuum.

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arXiv2005

Collective excitations in the Unitary Correlation Operator Method and relativistic QRPA studies of exotic nuclei

The collective excitation phenomena in atomic nuclei are studied in two different formulations of the Random Phase Approximation (RPA): (i) RPA based on correlated realistic nucleon-nucleon interactions constructed within the Unitary Correlation Operator Method (UCOM), and (ii) relativistic RPA (RRPA) derived from effective Lagrangians with density-dependent meson-exchange interactions. The former includes the dominant interaction-induced short-range central and tensor correlations by means of an unitary transformation. It is shown that UCOM-RPA correlations induced by collective nuclear vibrations recover a part of the residual long-range correlations that are not explicitly included in the UCOM Hartree-Fock ground state. Both RPA models are employed in studies of the isoscalar monopole resonance (ISGMR) in closed-shell nuclei across the nuclide chart, with an emphasis on the sensitivity of its properties on the constraints for the range of the UCOM correlation functions. Within the Relativistic Quasiparticle RPA (RQRPA) based on Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model, the occurrence of pronounced low-lying dipole excitations is predicted in nuclei towards the proton drip-line. From the analysis of the transition densities and the structure of the RQRPA amplitudes, it is shown that these states correspond to the proton pygmy dipole resonance.

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arXiv2005

The Proton Electric Pygmy Dipole Resonance

The evolution of the low-lying E1 strength in proton-rich nuclei is analyzed in the framework of the self-consistent relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) model and the relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (RQRPA). Model calculations are performed for a series of N=20 isotones and Z=18 isotopes. For nuclei close to the proton drip-line, the occurrence of pronounced dipole peaks is predicted in the low-energy region below 10 MeV excitation energy. From the analysis of the proton and neutron transition densities and the structure of the RQRPA amplitudes, it is shown that these states correspond to the proton pygmy dipole resonance.

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arXiv2004

Isotopic dependence of the pygmy dipole resonance

The isotopic dependence of the excitation energies of the pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) is analyzed in the framework of the self-consistent relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) model and the relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (RQRPA). The DD-ME1 density-dependent meson-exchange interaction is used in the effective mean-field Lagrangian, and pairing correlations are described by the pairing part of the finite-range Gogny interaction D1S. Model calculations reproduce available experimental data on charge radii, the neutron skin, neutron separation energies, and excitation energies of isovector giant dipole resonances in Ni, Sn and Pb nuclei. In all three isotopic chains the one-neutron separation energies decrease with mass number much faster than the excitation energies of the PDR. As a result, already at moderate proton-neutron asymmetry the PDR peak energy is calculated above the neutron emission threshold. This result has important implications for the observation of the PDR in (gamma,gamma') experiments.

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