arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N. Schunck.
The three-dimensional cranking model is used to investigate the microscopic aspects of the rotation of nuclei with the tetrahedral symmetry. Two classes of rotation axes are studied corresponding to two different discrete symmetries of the rotating hamiltonian. Self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov calculations show that the tetrahedral minimum remains remarkably stable until the first single-particle crossing.
The gamma-ray spectra from the decay of the GDR in the compound nucleus reaction 18O+28Si at bombarding energy of 105 MeV have been measured in an experiment using the EUROBALL IV and HECTOR arrays. The obtained experimental GDR strength function is highly fragmented, with a low energy (10 MeV) component, indicating a presence of a large deformation and Coriolis effects. In addition, the preferential feeding of the highly-deformed band in 42Ca by this GDR low energy component is observed.
Recent theoretical calculations predict a possible existence of nuclei with tetrahedral symmetry: more precisely, the mean-field hamiltonians of such nuclei are symmetric with respect to double point-group Td. In this paper, we focus on the neutron-rich Zirconium isotopes as an example and present realistic mean-field calculations which predict tetrahedral ground-state configurations in 108,110Zr and low-lying excited states of tetrahedral symmetry in a number of N > 66 isotopes. The motivations for focusing on these nuclei, as well as a discussion of the possible experimental signatures of tetrahedral symmetry are also presented.
We recall the main features of the Td (tetrahedral) symmetry in atomic nuclei and present realistic mean-field calculations supporting the existence such a symmetry all over the nuclear chart. A few potential candidate-nuclei are investigated and the possible experimental signatures of the tetrahedral symmetry are also briefly discussed.
We present possible manifestations of octahedral and tetrahedral symmetries in nuclei. These symmetries are associated with the OhD and TdD double point groups. Both of them have very characteristic finger-prints in terms of the nucleonic level properties - unique in the Fermionic universe. The tetrahedral symmetry leads to the four-fold degeneracies in the nucleonic spectra; it does not preserve the parity. The octahedral symmetry leads to the four-fold degeneracies in the nucleonic spectra as well but it does preserve the parity. Microscopic predictions have been obtained using mean-field theory based on the relativistic equations and confirmed by using 'traditional' Schroedinger equation formalism. Calculations are performed in multidimensional deformation spaces using newly designed algorithms. We discuss some experimental fingerprints of the hypothetical new symmetries and possibilities of their verification through experiments.
More than half a century after the fundamental, spherical shell structure in nuclei has been established, theoretical predictions indicate that the shell-gaps comparable or even stronger than those at spherical shapes may exist. Group-theoretical analysis supported by realistic mean-field calculations indicate that the corresponding nuclei are characterized by the $T_d^D$ ('double-tetrahedral') group of symmetry, exact or approximate. The corresponding strong shell-gap structure is markedly enhanced by the existence of the 4-dimensional irreducible representations of the group in question and consequently it can be seen as a geometrical effect that does not depend on a particular realization of the mean-field. Possibilities of discovering the corresponding symmetry in experiment are discussed.