arXiv subjects

Shan-Gui Zhou

Publications and source records attributed to Shan-Gui Zhou.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Multidimensionally-constrained covariant density functional theories --- nuclear shapes and potential energy surfaces

The intrinsic nuclear shapes deviating from a sphere not only manifest themselves in nuclear collective states but also play important roles in determining nuclear potential energy surfaces (PES's) and fission barriers. In order to describe microscopically and self-consistently nuclear shapes and PES's with as many shape degrees of freedom as possible included, we developed multidimensionally-constrained covariant density functional theories (MDC-CDFTs). In MDC-CDFTs, the axial symmetry and the reflection symmetry are both broken and all deformations characterized by $β_{λμ}$ with even $μ$ are considered. We have used the MDC-CDFTs to study PES's and fission barriers of actinides, the non-axial octupole $Y_{32}$ correlations in $N = 150$ isotones and shapes of hypernuclei. In this Review we will give briefly the formalism of MDC-CDFTs and present the applications to normal nuclei.

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arXiv2016

Multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean-field study of spontaneous fission: coupling between shape and pairing degrees of freedom

Studies of fission dynamics, based on nuclear energy density functionals, have shown that the coupling between shape and pairing degrees of freedom has a pronounced effect on the nonperturbative collective inertia and, therefore, on dynamic (least-action) spontaneous fission paths and half-lives. Collective potentials and nonperturbative cranking collective inertia tensors are calculated using the multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean-field (MDC-RMF) model. Pairing correlations are treated in the BCS approximation using a separable pairing force of finite range. Pairing fluctuations are included as a collective variable using a constraint on particle-number dispersion. Fission paths are determined with the dynamic programming method by minimizing the action in multidimensional collective spaces. The dynamics of spontaneous fission of $^{264}$Fm and $^{250}$Fm are explored. Fission paths, action integrals and corresponding half-lives computed in the three-dimensional collective space of shape and pairing coordinates, using the relativistic functional DD-PC1 and a separable pairing force of finite range, are compared with results obtained without pairing fluctuations. Results for $^{264}$Fm are also discussed in relation with those recently obtained using the HFB model. The inclusion of pairing correlations in the space of collective coordinates favors axially symmetric shapes along the dynamic path of the fissioning system, amplifies pairing as the path traverses the fission barriers, significantly reduces the action integral and shortens the corresponding SF half-life.

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arXiv2016

From strangelets to strange stars: A unified description

The conventionally separated treatments for strangelets and strange stars are now unified with a more comprehensive theoretical description for objects ranging from strangelets to strange stars. After constraining the model parameter according to the Witten-Bodmer hypothesis and observational mass-radius probability distribution of pulsars, we investigate the properties of this kind of objects. It is found that the energy per baryon decreases monotonously for increasing baryon number and reaches its minimum at the maximum baryon number, corresponding to the most massive strange star. Due to the quark depletion, an electric potential well for negatively charged particles is formed on the surface of the quark part, which may provide some unique observables. For a rotational bare strange star, a magnetic field with the typical strength of pulsars is generated.

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arXiv2015

Systematic study of complete fusion suppression in reactions involving weakly bound nuclei at energies above the Coulomb barrier

Complete fusion excitation functions of reactions involving breakup are studied by using the empirical coupled-channel (ECC) model with breakup effects considered. An exponential function with two parameters is adopted to describe the prompt-breakup probability in the ECC model. These two parameters are fixed by fitting the measured prompt-breakup probability or the complete fusion cross sections. The suppression of complete fusion at energies above the Coulomb barrier is studied by comparing the data with the predictions from the ECC model without the breakup channel considered. The results show that the suppression of complete fusion are roughly independent of the target for the reactions involving the same projectile.

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arXiv2015

Theoretical study of fusion reactions $^{32}$S + $^{94,96}$Zr and $^{40}$Ca + $^{94,96}$Zr and quadrupole deformation of $^{94}$Zr

The dynamic coupling effects on fusion cross sections for reactions $^{32}$S + $^{94,96}$Zr and $^{40}$Ca + $^{94,96}$Zr are studied with the universal fusion function formalism and an empirical coupled channel (ECC) model. An examination of the reduced fusion functions shows that the total effect of couplings to inelastic excitations and neutron transfer channels on fusion in $^{32}$S + $^{94}$Zr ($^{40}$Ca + $^{94}$Zr) is almost the same as that in $^{32}$S + $^{96}$Zr ($^{40}$Ca + $^{96}$Zr). The enhancements of the fusion cross section at sub-barrier energies due to inelastic channel coupling and neutron transfer channel coupling are evaluated separately by using the ECC model. The results show that effect of couplings to inelastic excitations channels in the reactions with $^{94}$Zr as target should be similar as that in the reactions with $^{96}$Zr as target. This implies that the quadrupole deformation parameters $β_2$ of $^{94}$Zr and $^{96}$Zr should be similar to each other. However, $β_2$'s predicted from the finite-range droplet model, which are used in the ECC model, are quite different. Experiments on $^{48}$Ca + $^{94}$Zr or $^{36}$S + $^{94}$Zr are suggested to solve the puzzling issue concerning $β_2$ for $^{94}$Zr.

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arXiv2015

Halos in medium-heavy and heavy nuclei with covariant density functional theory in continuum

The covariant density functional theory with a few number of parameters has been widely used to describe the ground-state and excited-state properties for the nuclei all over the nuclear chart. In order to describe exotic properties of unstable nuclei, the contribution of the continuum and its coupling with bound states should be treated properly. In this Topical Review, the development of the covariant density functional theory in continuum will be introduced, including the relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov theory, the relativistic Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory in continuum, and the deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum. Then the descriptions and predictions of the neutron halo phenomena in both spherical and deformed nuclei will be reviewed. The diffuseness of the nuclear potentials, nuclear shapes and density distributions, and the impact of the pairing correlations on nuclear size will be discussed.

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arXiv2015

Multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean-field study of triple-humped barriers in actinides

Potential energy surfaces (PES's) of actinide nuclei are characterized by a two-humped barrier structure. At large deformations beyond the second barrier the occurrence of a third one was predicted by Mic-Mac model calculations in the 1970s, but contradictory results were later reported. In this paper, triple-humped barriers in actinide nuclei are investigated with covariant density functional theory (CDFT). Calculations are performed using the multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) model, with functionals PC-PK1 and DD-ME2. Pairing correlations are treated in the BCS approximation with a separable pairing force of finite range. Two-dimensional PES's of $^{226,228,230,232}$Th and $^{232,234,236,238}$U are mapped and the third minima on these surfaces are located. Then one-dimensional potential energy curves along the fission path are analyzed in detail and the energies of the second barrier, the third minimum, and the third barrier are determined. DD-ME2 predicts the occurrence of a third barrier in all Th nuclei and $^{238}$U. The third minima in $^{230,232}$Th are very shallow, whereas those in $^{226,228}$Th and $^{238}$U are quite prominent. With PC-PK1 a third barrier is found only in $^{226,228,230}$Th. Single-nucleon levels around the Fermi surface are analyzed in $^{226}$Th, and it is found that the formation of the third minimum is mainly due to the $Z=90$ proton energy gap at $β_{20} \approx 1.5$ and $β_{30} \approx 0.7$. The possible occurrence of a third barrier in actinide nuclei depends on the effective interaction used in multidimensional CDFT calculations. More pronounced minima are predicted by the DD-ME2 functional, as compared to the functional PC-PK1. The depth of the third well in Th isotopes decreases with increasing neutron number. The origin of the third minimum is due to the proton $Z=90$ shell gap at relevant deformations.

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arXiv2014

Hidden pseudospin and spin symmetries and their origins in atomic nuclei

Symmetry plays a fundamental role in physics. The quasi-degeneracy between single-particle orbitals $(n, l, j = l + 1/2)$ and $(n-1, l + 2, j = l + 3/2)$ indicates a hidden symmetry in atomic nuclei, the so-called pseudospin symmetry (PSS). Since the introduction of the concept of PSS in atomic nuclei, there have been comprehensive efforts to understand its origin. Both splittings of spin doublets and pseudospin doublets play critical roles in the evolution of magic numbers in exotic nuclei discovered by modern spectroscopic studies with radioactive ion beam facilities. Since the PSS was recognized as a relativistic symmetry in 1990s, many special features, including the spin symmetry (SS) for anti-nucleon, and many new concepts have been introduced. In the present Review, we focus on the recent progress on the PSS and SS in various systems and potentials, including extensions of the PSS study from stable to exotic nuclei, from non-confining to confining potentials, from local to non-local potentials, from central to tensor potentials, from bound to resonant states, from nucleon to anti-nucleon spectra, from nucleon to hyperon spectra, and from spherical to deformed nuclei. Open issues in this field are also discussed in detail, including the perturbative nature, the supersymmetric representation with similarity renormalization group, and the puzzle of intruder states.

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arXiv2014

Energy-Dependence of Nucleus-Nucleus Potential and Friction Parameter in Fusion Reactions

Applying a macroscopic reduction procedure on the improved quantum molecular dynamics (ImQMD) model, the energy dependences of the nucleus-nucleus potential, the friction parameter, and the random force characterizing a one-dimensional Langevin-type description of the heavy-ion fusion process are investigated. Systematic calculations with the ImQMD model show that the fluctuation-dissipation relation found in the symmetric head-on fusion reactions at energies just above the Coulomb barrier fades out when the incident energy increases. It turns out that this dynamical change with increasing incident energy is caused by a specific behavior of the friction parameter which directly depends on the microscopic dynamical process, i.e., on how the collective energy of the relative motion is transferred into the intrinsic excitation energy. It is shown microscopically that the energy dissipation in the fusion process is governed by two mechanisms: One is caused by the nucleon exchanges between two fusing nuclei, and the other is due to a rearrangement of nucleons in the intrinsic system. The former mechanism monotonically increases the dissipative energy and shows a weak dependence on the incident energy, while the latter depends on both the relative distance between two fusing nuclei and the incident energy. It is shown that the latter mechanism is responsible for the energy dependence of the fusion potential and explains the fading out of the fluctuation-dissipation relation.

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arXiv2014

Effect of tensor force on dissipation dynamics in time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory

The role of tensor force on the collision dynamics of $^{16}$O+$^{16}$O is investigated in the framework of a fully three-dimensional time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory. The calculations are performed with modern Skyrme energy functional plus tensor terms. Particular attention is given on the analysis of dissipation dynamics in heavy-ion collisions. The energy dissipation is found to decrease as an initial bombarding energy increases in deep-inelastic collisions for all the Skyrme parameter sets studied here because of the competition between the collective motion and the single-particle degrees of freedom. We reveal that the tensor forces may either enhance or reduce the energy dissipation depending on the different parameter sets. The fusion cross section without tensor force overestimates the experimental value by about 25\%, while the calculation with tensor force T11 has good agreement with experimental cross section.

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arXiv2014

Dissipation dynamics and spin-orbit force in time-dependent Hartree-Fock theory

We investigate the one-body dissipation dynamics in heavy-ion collisions of $^{16}{\rm O}$+$^{16}{\rm O}$ using a fully three-dimensional time-dependent Hartree-Fock (TDHF) theory with the modern Skyrme energy functional and without any symmetry restrictions. The energy dissipation is revealed to decrease in deep-inelastic collisions of the light systems as the bombarding energy increases owing to the competition between collective motion and single-particle degrees of freedom. The role of spin-orbit force is given particular emphasis in deep-inelastic collisions. The spin-orbit force causes a significant enhancement of the dissipation. The time-even coupling of spin-orbit force plays a dominant role at low energies, while the influence of time-odd terms is notable at high energies. About 40-65\% of the total dissipation depending on the different parameter sets is predicted to arise from the spin-orbit force. The theoretical fusion cross section has a reasonably good agreement with the experimental data, considering that no free parameters are adjusted to reaction dynamics in the TDHF approach.

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arXiv2014

Systematic study of breakup effects on complete fusion at energies above the Coulomb barrier

A large number of complete fusion excitation functions of reactions including the breakup channel were measured in recent decades, especially in the last few years. It allows us to investigate the systematic behavior of the breakup effects on the complete fusion cross sections. To this end, we perform a systematic study of the breakup effects on the complete fusion cross sections at energies above the Coulomb barrier. The reduced fusion functions F(x) are compared with the universal fusion functions which are used as a uniform standard reference. The complete fusion cross sections at energies above the Coulomb barrier are suppressed by the breakup of projectiles. This suppression effect for reactions induced by the same projectile is independent of the target and mainly determined by the lowest energy breakup channel of the projectile. There holds a good exponential relation between the suppression factor and the energy corresponding to the lowest breakup threshold.

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arXiv2014

Superdeformed $Λ$ hypernuclei from relativistic mean field models

We study the superdeformed (SD) states and corresponding SD hypernuclei of Ar isotopes with the multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) models which can accommodate various shape degree of freedom. %The hyperon-nucleon $σ$-$Λ$ and $ω$-$Λ$ interactions are introduced %in the same covariant framework. We found that the density profiles of SD states in Ar isotopes show a strong localization with a ring structure near the surface, while the central part of the density is dilute showing a hole structure. This localization of SD density induces an appreciable deformation in the hyperon wave function and results in a large overlap between the core and the hyperon in the SD hypernuclei of Ar isotopes. Then the $Λ$ separation energy of SD state becomes larger than that of normally deformed or spherical ground state. This feature is different from that found in other nuclei such as $^{32}$S, $^{56}$Ni, and $^{60}$Zn in which the $Λ$ separation energy of larger deformed state is smaller. In this context, the measurement of the $Λ$ separation energy may provide an important information on the localization of the density profile of SD states.

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arXiv2014

Multidimensionally-constrained relativistic mean field models and potential energy surfaces of actinide nuclei

By breaking both the axial and the spatial reflection symmetries, we develop multidimensionally constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) models. The nuclear shape is assumed to be invariant under the reversion of $x$ and $y$ axes, i.e., the intrinsic symmetry group is $V_{4}$ and all shape degrees of freedom $β_{λμ}$ with even $μ$, such as $β_{20}$, $β_{22}$, $β_{30}$, $β_{32}$, $β_{40}$, $\dots$, are included self-consistently. The Dirac wave functions are expanded in an axially deformed harmonic oscillator basis. The RMF functional can be one of the following four forms: the meson exchange or point-coupling nucleon interactions combined with the nonlinear or density-dependent couplings. The pairing effects are taken into account with the BCS approach. The 1-, 2-, and 3-D potential energy surfaces (PES's) of $^{240}$Pu are illustrated for numerical checks and for the study of the effect of the triaxiality on the fission barriers. Potential energy curves of even-even actinide nuclei around the first and second fission barriers are studied systematically. Besides the first ones, the second fission barriers in these nuclei are also lowered considerably by the triaxial deformation. This lowering effect is independent of the effective interactions used in the RMF functionals. Further discussions are made about different predictions on the effect of the triaxiality between the macroscopic-microscopic and MDC-RMF models, possible discontinuities on PES's from self-consistent approaches, and the restoration of broken symmetries. MDC-RMF models give reasonably good description of fission barriers of even-even actinide nuclei. It is important to include both the nonaxial and the reflection asymmetric shapes simultaneously for the study of PES's and fission barriers of actinide nuclei and of those in unknown mass regions such as, e.g., superheavy nuclei.

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arXiv2013

Multi-dimensional constraint relativistic mean field model and applications in actinide and transfermium nuclei

In this contribution we present some results of potential energy surfaces of actinide and transfermium nuclei from multi-dimensional constrained relativistic mean field (MDC-RMF) models. Recently we developed multi-dimensional constrained covariant density functional theories (MDC-CDFT) in which all shape degrees of freedom $β_{λμ}$ with even $μ$ are allowed and the functional can be one of the following four forms: the meson exchange or point-coupling nucleon interactions combined with the non-linear or density-dependent couplings. In MDC-RMF models, the pairing correlations are treated with the BCS method. With MDC-RMF models, the potential energy surfaces of even-even actinide nuclei were investigated and the effect of triaxiality on the fission barriers in these nuclei was discussed. The non-axial reflection-asymmetric $β_{32}$ shape in some transfermium nuclei with $N=150$, namely $^{246}$Cm, $^{248}$Cf, $^{250}$Fm, and $^{252}$No were also studied.

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arXiv2013

Recent progresses on the pseudospin symmetry in single particle resonant states

The pseudospin symmetry (PSS) is a relativistic dynamical symmetry directly connected with the small component of the nucleon Dirac wave function. Much effort has been made to study this symmetry in bound states. Recently, a rigorous justification of the PSS in single particle resonant states was achieved by examining the asymptotic behaviors of the radial Dirac wave functions: The PSS in single particle resonant states in nuclei is conserved exactly when the attractive scalar and repulsive vector potentials have the same magnitude but opposite sign. Several issues related to the exact conservation and breaking mechanism of the PSS in single particle resonances were investigated by employing spherical square well potentials in which the PSS breaking part can be well isolated in the Jost function. A threshold effect in the energy splitting and an anomaly in the width splitting of pseudospin partners were found when the depth of the square well potential varies from zero to a finite value.

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arXiv2013

Decomposition of EOS of Asymmetric Nuclear Matter into Different Spin-isospin Channels

We investigate the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter and its isospin dependence in various spin-isospin $ST$ channels within the framework of the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach extended to include a microscopic three-body force (TBF). It is shown that the potential energy per nucleon in the isospin-singlet T=0 channel is mainly determined by the contribution from the tensor SD coupled channel. At high densities, the TBF effect on the isospin-triplet T=1 channel contribution turns out to be much larger than that on the T=0 channel contribution. At low densities around and below the normal nuclear matter density, the isospin dependence is found to come essentially from the isospin-singlet SD channel and the isospin-triplet T=1 component is almost independent of isospin-asymmetry. As the density increases, the T=1 channel contribution becomes sensitive to the isospin-asymmetry and at high enough densities its isospin-dependence may even become more pronounced than that of the T=0 contribution. The present results may provide some microscopic constraints for improving effective nucleon-nucleon interactions in nuclear medium and for constructing new functionals of effective nucleon-nucleon interaction based on microscopic many-body theories.

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arXiv2013

Theoretical study of the two-proton halo candidate $^{17}$Ne including contributions from resonant continuum and pairing correlations

With the relativistic Coulomb wave function boundary condition, the energies, widths and wave functions of the single proton resonant orbitals for $^{17}$Ne are studied by the analytical continuation of the coupling constant (ACCC) approach within the framework of the relativistic mean field (RMF) theory. Pairing correlations and contributions from the single-particle resonant orbitals in the continuum are taken into consideration by the resonant Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) approach, in which constant pairing strength is used. It can be seen that the fully self-consistent calculations with NL3 and NLSH effective interactions mostly agree with the latest experimental measurements, such as binding energies, matter radii, charge radii and densities. The energy of $π$2s$_{1/2}$ orbital is slightly higher than that of $\pi1d_{5/2}$ orbital, and the occupation probability of the $(π$2s$_{1/2})^2$ orbital is about 20%, which are in accordance with the shell model calculation and three-body model estimation.

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