arXiv subjects

P. -G. Reinhard

Publications and source records attributed to P. -G. Reinhard.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Electric and Magnetic Moments and Transition Probabilities in $^{208}$Pb $\pm 1$ Nuclei

We present moments and transition probabilities in the neighboring odd-mass nuclei of $^{208}$Pb calculated fully self-consistently from the s.p. properties of $^{208}$Pb with polarization corrections from its excitations, both given from previous Skyrme-Hartree-Fock and RPA calculations. The electric results agree nicely with the data with two very interesting exceptions. In the magnetic case we obtain similar results. We discuss also polarization contributions to the $l$-forbidden $M1$ transitions, which are, however, much too small compared to the data. With a modified external field operator which accounts effectively for mesonic and many-body effects the description of the data can be substantially improved.

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arXiv2021

Nuclear Charge Radii of the Nickel Isotopes $^{58-68,70}$Ni

Collinear laser spectroscopy is performed on the nickel isotopes $^{58-68,70}$Ni, using a time-resolved photon counting system. From the measured isotope shifts, nuclear charge radii $R_c$ are extracted and compared to theoretical results. Three ab initio approaches all employ, among others, the chiral interaction NNLO$_{\rm sat}$, which allows an assessment of their accuracy. We find agreement with experiment in differential radii $δ\left\langle r_\mathrm{c}^2 \right\rangle$ for all employed ab initio methods and interactions, while the absolute radii are consistent with data only for NNLO$_{\rm sat}$. Within nuclear density functional theory, the Skyrme functional SV-min matches experiment more closely than the Fayans functional Fy($Δr$,HFB).

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arXiv2021

Self-consistent description of high-spin states in doubly magic $^{208}$Pb

We analyze recent data on a long series of high-spin states in $^{208}$Pb with a self-consistent phonon-coupling model for nuclear excitations based on the Skyrme functionals. The model is the renormalized time-blocking approximation (RenTBA) which takes the coherent one-particle-one-hole (1p1h) states of the random-phase approximation (RPA) as starting point and develops from that more complex configurations beyond RPA. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation of high spin states in $^{208}$Pb using self-consistent nuclear models. The interesting point here is that complex configurations are compulsory to describe the upper end of the long spin series at all. The data thus provide an ideal testing ground for phonon-coupling models as they give direct access to complex configurations. We find that standard Skyrme functionals which perform well in ground state properties and giant resonance excitations deliver at once an agreeable description of these high spin states.

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arXiv2021

Isoscalar monopole and dipole transitions in $^{24}$Mg, $^{26}$Mg and $^{28}$Si

Nuclei in the $sd$-shell demonstrate a remarkable interplay of cluster and mean-field phenomena. The $N=Z$ nuclei, such as $^{24}$Mg and $^{28}$Si, have been the focus of the theoretical study of both these phenomena in the past. The cluster and vortical mean-field phenomena can be probed by excitation of isoscalar monopole and dipole states in scattering of isoscalar particles such as deuterons or $α$ particles. Inelastically scattered $α$ particles were momentum-analysed in the K600 magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS, Cape Town, South Africa. The scattered particles were detected in two multi-wire drift chambers and two plastic scintillators placed at the focal plane of the K600. In the theoretical discussion, the QRPA and AMD+GCM were used. The QRPA calculations lead us to conclude that: i) the mean-field vorticity appears mainly in dipole states with $K=1$, ii) the dipole (monopole) states should have strong deformation-induced octupole (quadrupole) admixtures, and iii) that near the $α$-particle threshold, there should exist a collective state (with $K=0$ for prolate nuclei and $K=1$ for oblate nuclei) with an impressive octupole strength. The results of the AMD+GCM calculations suggest that some observed states may have a mixed (mean-field + cluster) character or correspond to particular cluster configurations. A tentative correspondence between observed states and theoretical states from QRPA and AMD+GCM was established. The QRPA and AMD+GCM analysis shows that low-energy isoscalar dipole states combine cluster and mean-field properties. The QRPA calculations show that the low-energy vorticity is well localized in $^{24}$Mg, fragmented in $^{26}$Mg, and absent in $^{28}$Si.

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arXiv2021

Fine Structure of the Isovector Giant Dipole Resonance in $^{142-150}$Nd and $^{152}$Sm

Background: Inelastic proton scattering at energies of a few hundred MeV and very-forward angles including $0^\circ$ has been established as a tool to study electric-dipole strength distributions in nuclei. The present work reports a systematic investigation of the chain of stable even-mass Nd isotopes representing a transition from spherical to quadrupole-deformed nuclei. Purpose: Extraction of the equivalent photo-absorption cross sections and analysis of their fine structure in the energy region of the IsoVector Giant Dipole Resonance (IVGDR). Method: Proton inelastic scattering reactions of 200 MeV protons were measured at iThemba LABS in Cape Town, South Africa. The scattering products were momentum-analysed by the K600 magnetic spectrometer positioned at $θ_{\mathrm{Lab}}=0^\circ$. Using dispersion-matching techniques, energy resolutions of $ΔE \approx 40 - 50$ keV were obtained. After subtraction of background and contributions from other multipoles, the spectra were converted to photo-absorption cross sections using the equivalent virtual-photon method. Results: Wavelet-analysis techniques are used to extract characteristic energy scales of the fine structure of the IVGDR from the experimental data. Comparisons with the Quasiparticle-Phonon Model (QPM) and Skyrme Separable Random Phase Approximation (SSRPA) predictions provide insight into the role of different giant resonance damping mechanisms. Conclusions: Fine structure is observed even for the most deformed nuclei studied. Fragmentation of the one particle-one hole ($1p1h$) strength seems to be the main source of fine structure in both spherical and deformed nuclei. Some impact of the spreading due to coupling of the two particle-two hole ($2p2h$) states to the $1p1h$ doorway states is seen in the spherical/transitional nuclei, where calculations beyond the $1p1h$ level are available.

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arXiv2020

Charge radii of exotic potassium isotopes challenge nuclear theory and the magic character of $N = 32$

Nuclear charge radii are sensitive probes of different aspects of the nucleon-nucleon interaction and the bulk properties of nuclear matter; thus, they provide a stringent test and challenge for nuclear theory. The calcium region has been of particular interest, as experimental evidence has suggested a new magic number at $N = 32$ [1-3], while the unexpectedly large increases in the charge radii [4,5] open new questions about the evolution of nuclear size in neutron-rich systems. By combining the collinear resonance ionization spectroscopy method with $β$-decay detection, we were able to extend the charge radii measurement of potassium ($Z =19$) isotopes up to the exotic $^{52}$K ($t_{1/2}$ = 110 ms), produced in minute quantities. Our work provides the first charge radii measurement beyond $N = 32$ in the region, revealing no signature of the magic character at this neutron number. The results are interpreted with two state-of-the-art nuclear theories. For the first time, a long sequence of isotopes could be calculated with coupled-cluster calculations based on newly developed nuclear interactions. The strong increase in the charge radii beyond $N = 28$ is not well captured by these calculations, but is well reproduced by Fayans nuclear density functional theory, which, however, overestimates the odd-even staggering effect. These findings highlight our limited understanding on the nuclear size of neutron-rich systems, and expose pressing problems that are present in some of the best current models of nuclear theory.

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arXiv2020

M1 resonance in $^{208}$Pb within the self-consistent phonon-coupling model

The main goal of the paper is to investigate theoretically the experimentally observed fragmentation of the isovector $M1$ resonance in $^{208}$Pb within a self-consistent model based on an energy-density functional (EDF) of the Skyrme type. This fragmentation (spread of the $M1$ strength) is not reproduced in a conventional one-particle--one-hole ($1p1h$) random-phase approximation (RPA) and thus has to be investigated in the framework of more complicated models. However, previously applied models of this type were not self-consistent. In the present work, we use a recently developed renormalized version of the self-consistent time blocking approximation (RenTBA) in which the $1p1h\otimes$phonon configurations are included on top of the RPA $1p1h$ configurations. We have determined several sets of the parameters of the modified Skyrme EDF fitted within the RenTBA and RPA and have found the necessary condition of producing the fragmentation of the $M1$ resonance in $^{208}$Pb in our model. We present also the results of the RenTBA and RPA calculations for the first excited states of the natural parity modes in $^{208}$Pb obtained with these modified parametrizations.

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arXiv2020

Evolution of the dipole polarizability in the stable tin isotope chain

The dipole polarizability of stable even-mass tin isotopes 112,114,116,118,120,124 was extracted from inelastic proton scattering experiments at 295 MeV under very forward angles performed at RCNP. Predictions from energy density functionals cannot account for the present data and the polarizability of 208Pb simultaneously. The evolution of the polarizabilities in neighboring isotopes indicates a kink at 120Sn while all model results show a nearly linear increase with mass number after inclusion of pairing corrections.

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arXiv2020

Electric and magnetic dipole strength in 112,114,116,118,120,124Sn

Inelastic proton scattering experiments were performed at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka, with a 295 MeV beam covering laboratory angles 0°-6° and excitation energies 6-22 MeV. Cross sections due to E1 and M1 excitations were extracted with a multipole decomposition analysis and then converted to reduced transition probabilities with the "virtual photon method" for E1 and the "unit cross section method" for M1 excitations, respectively. Including a theory-aided correction for the high excitation energy region not covered experimentally, the electric dipole polarizability was determined from the E1 strength distributions. Total photoabsorption cross sections derived from the E1 and M1 strength distributions show significant differences compared to those from previous ($γ$,xn) experiments in the energy region of the isocvector giant dipole resonance (IVGDR). The widths of the IVGDR deduced from the present data with a Lorentz parameterization show an approximately constant value of about 4.5 MeV in contrast to the large variations between isotopes observed in previous work. The IVGDR centroid energies are in good correspondence to expectations from systematics of their mass dependence. Furthermore, a study of the dependence of the IVGDR energies on bulk matter properties is presented. The E1 strengths below neutron threshold show fair agreement with results from ($γ$,$γ$') experiments on 112,116,120,124Sn in the energy region between 6 and 7 MeV. At higher excitation energies large differences are observed pointing to a different nature of the excited states with small ground state branching ratios. The isovector spin-M1 strengths exhibit a broad distribution between 6 and 12 MeV in all studied nuclei.

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arXiv2020

Measurement and microscopic description of odd-even staggering of charge radii of exotic copper isotopes

The mesoscopic nature of the atomic nucleus gives rise to a wide array of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena. The size of the nucleus is a window into this duality: while the charge radii globally scale as $A^{1/3}$, their evolution across isotopic chains reveals unanticipated structural phenomena [1-3]. The most ubiquitous of these is perhaps the Odd-Even Staggering (OES) [4]: isotopes with an odd number of neutrons are usually smaller in size than the trend of their even-neutron neighbours suggests. This OES effect varies with the number of protons and neutrons and poses a significant challenge for nuclear theory [5-7]. Here, we examine this problem with new measurements of the charge radii of short-lived copper isotopes up to the very exotic $^{78}$Cu $(Z=29, N=49)$, produced at only 20 ions/s, using the highly-sensitive Collinear Resonance Ionisation Spectroscopy (CRIS) method at ISOLDE-CERN. Due to the presence of a single proton outside of the closed Z=28 shell, these measurements provide crucial insights into the single-particle proton structure and how this affects the charge radii. We observe an unexpected reduction in the OES for isotopes approaching the $N=50$ shell gap. To describe the data, we applied models based on nuclear Density Functional Theory [2,8] (DFT) and ab-initio Valence-Space In-Medium Similarity Renormalization Group (VS-IMSRG) theory [9,10]. Through these comparisons, we demonstrate a relation between the global behavior of charge radii and the saturation density of nuclear matter, and show that the local charge radii variations, which reflect the many-body polarization effects due to the odd neutron, naturally emerge from the VS-IMSRG calculations.

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arXiv2020

Skyrme RPA for nuclear resonances: trouble with magnetic modes

We discuss major differences between electric and magnetic excitations in nuclei appearing in self-consistent calculation based on Skyrme energy-density functionals. Tools of analysis are Landau-Migdal parameters for bulk properties and RPA for resonance modes of $^{208}$Pb as representative of finite nuclei. We show that the relation between the effective mass and the effective particle-hole interaction, well known in the Landau-Migdal theory, explains the success of self-consistent calculations of electric transitions in such approaches. This effect, however, does not automatically exist in the magnetic case. This calls for further developments of the Skyrme functional in the spin channel.

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arXiv2019

A Survey of Nuclear Pasta in the Intermediate Density Regime: Structure Functions for Neutrino Scattering

Background: Nuclear pasta matter, emerging due to the competition between the long-range Coulomb force and the short-range strong force, is believed to be present in astrophysical scenarios, such as neutron stars and core-collapse supernovae. Its structure can have a high impact e.g. on neutrino transport or the tidal deformability of neutron stars. Purpose: We investigate the impact of nuclear pasta on neutrino interactions and compare the results to uniform matter. Method: We calculate the elastic and inelastic static structure factors for nuclear pasta matter using density functional theory (DFT), which contain the main nuclear input for neutrino scattering. Results: Each pasta structure leaves a unique imprint in the elastic structure factor and it is largely enhanced. The inelastic structure factors are very similar for all configurations. Conclusion: Nuclear pasta has a noticeable impact on neutrino neutral-current scattering opacities. While for inelastic reactions the cross section is reduced, the elastic coherent scattering increases dramatically. The effect can be of importance for the cooling of neutron stars as well as for core-collapse supernova models.

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arXiv2019

Individual dipole toroidal states: main features and search in (e,e') reaction

Individual low-energy E1 toroidal and compressional states (TS and CS) produced by the convective nuclear current ${\bf j}_{\rm c}$ were recently predicted for $^{24}$Mg in the framework of quasiparticle random-phase-approximation (QRPA) with Skyrme forces. In the present QRPA study with Skyrme parametrization SLy6, we explore in more detail properties of these states (toroidal and compressional responses, current distributions, and transitions probabilities $B(E1K, 0^+0 \to 1^-K),\; B(E3K, 0^+0 \to 3^-K)$, $B(M2K, 0^+0 \to 2^-K)$ with $K=$0 and 1) and analyze the possibility to discriminate and identify TS in inelastic electron scattering to back angles. The interplay of the convective ${\bf j}_{\rm c}$ and magnetization ${\bf j}_{\rm m}$ nuclear currents is thoroughly scrutinized. A two-step scheme for identification of TS in $(e,e')$ reaction is proposed. The key element of the scheme is the strong interference of the orbital and spin contributions, resulting in specific features of E1 and M2 transversal form factors.

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arXiv2019

Beyond the charge radius: the information content of the fourth radial moment

Measurements of atomic transitions in different isotopes offer key information on the nuclear charge radius. The anticipated high-precision experimental techniques, augmented by atomic calculations, will soon enable extraction of the higher-order radial moments of the charge density distribution. To assess the value of such measurements for nuclear structure research, we study the information content of the fourth radial moment $\rf$ by means of nuclear density functional theory and a multiple correlation analysis. We show that $\rf$ can be directly related to the surface thickness of nuclear density, a fundamental property of the atomic nucleus that is difficult to obtain for radioactive systems. Precise knowledge of these radial moments is essential to establish reliable constraints on the existence of new forces from precision isotope shift measurements .

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arXiv2019

Systematics of toroidal dipole modes in Ca, Ni, Zr, and Sn isotopes

We analyze the relation between isoscalar toroidal modes and so-called pygmy dipole resonance (PDR) which both appear in the same region of low-energy dipole excitations. To this end, we use a theoretical description within the fully self-consistent Skyrme quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA). Test cases are spherical nuclei $^{40,48}$Ca, $^{58,72}$Ni, $^{90,100}$Zr, and $^{100,120,132}$Sn which cover four different elements and for each element at least two isotopes with different neutron excess, one small and another large. The structure of the modes is investigated in terms of strength functions, transition densities (TD) and transition currents (TC). For all considered nuclei, we see that, independently on whether PDR strength exists or not, the flow pattern in the lower part of the "PDR energy region" is basically the isoscalar vortical toroidal motion with a minor irrotational fraction. A one-to-one correspondence between calculated TD and TC can be established. The toroidal flow appears already in the uncoupled two-quasiparticle (2qp) excitations and becomes definitively strong for the QRPA modes. Altogether, we find that low-lying dipole strength often denoted as isoscalar PDR is actually an oversimplified imitation of the basically toroidal motion in nuclei with a sufficient neutron excess.

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arXiv2019

Low-energy M1 excitations in $^{208}$Pb and the spin channel of the Skyrme energy-density functional

We investigate the spin dependent part of the Skyrme energy-density functional, in particular its impact on the residual particle-hole interaction in self-consistent calculations of excitations. Test cases are the low-energy M1 excitations in $^{208}$Pb treated within the self-consistent random-phase approximation based on the Skyrme energy-density functional. We investigate different parametrizations of the functionals to find out which parameters of the functional have strongest correlations with M1 properties. We explore a simple method of the modification of the spin-related parameters which delivers a better description of M1 excitations while basically maintaining the good description of ground state properties.

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arXiv2018

Individual low-energy E1 toroidal and compression states in light nuclei: deformation effect, spectroscopy and interpretation

The existence of individual low-energy E1 toroidal and compression states (TS and CS) in $^{24}$Mg was predicted recently in the framework of quasiparticle random-phase-approximation (QRPA) model with Skyrme forces. It was shown that the strong axial deformation of $^{24}$Mg is crucial to downshift the toroidal strength to the low-energy region and thus make the TS the lowest E1(K=1) dipole state. In this study, we explain this result by simple mean-field arguments. Comparing TS in two strongly axial nuclei, $^{24}$Mg and $^{20}$Ne, we show that the lowest TS is not not a universal phenomenon but rather a peculiarity of $^{24}$Mg. The spectroscopy of TS and CS is analyzed and some additional interpretation of these states is suggested.

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arXiv2018

Excitation spectra of exotic nuclei in a self-consistent phonon-coupling model

We explore giant resonance spectra and low-lying dipole strength in the Ni and Sn chains from proton rich to very neutron rich isotopes, relevant in astrophysical reaction chains. For the theoretical description we employ the random-phase approximation (RPA) plus many-body effects through a phonon coupling model with optimized selection of phonons. The nuclear force is based on the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock energy functional carried consistently through all steps of modelling. The main effect of phonon coupling is a broadening of the spectral distributions (collisional width). This broadening is particularly dramatic for low-lying dipole strength in very neutron rich nuclei delivering there a qualitative change of the spectra.

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