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Sheng-Nan Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Sheng-Nan Wang.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Probing Quadruple Deformation in Transitional Nuclei via Angular Momentum Projection

Within the interacting boson model (IBM), a geometric analysis of transitional nuclei is carried out through angular momentum projection of the intrinsic coherent state. The results indicate that $K$-mixing effects in the calculations are typically negligible, validating the use of $K$-fixed projection for semiclassical analyses of the spin dependence of quadrupole deformation in the IBM. Further analysis indicates that in a rotating transitional system, quadrupole deformation is stretched with increasing angular momentum, providing a geometrically intuitive perspective on the commonly observed Jacobi-type transitions, as exemplified by the case studies of $^{160}$Gd and $^{162}$Dy. The method is additionally applied to the yrast states of $^{170}$Os to probe quadrupole deformation changes linked to the observed low-spin $B(E2)$ anomaly behavior, demonstrating the capability of IBM-based angular momentum projection in interpreting exotic collective phenomena.

nucl-th

Anomalous collective modes in atomic nuclei within the proton-neutron interacting boson model

Novel collective modes characterized by a $B_{4/2}$ ratio ($\equiv B(E2;4_1^+\rightarrow 2_1^+)/B(E2;2_1^+\rightarrow 0_1^+)$) less than 1.0 that were observed recently have been identified within the proton-neutron interacting boson model (IBM-2) using the consistent-$Q$ Hamiltonian. These modes are shown to give rise to triaxial spectral features, including significant band mixing. The results provide a compelling explanation for the deeply suppressed $B_{4/2}$ ratio observed in $^{166}$W, $^{168,170}$Os, and $^{172}$Pt, offering new insights into the $B(E2)$ anomaly phenomenon in neutron-deficient nuclei.

nucl-th

Understanding Xe isotopes near $A=130$ through the prolate-oblate shape phase transition

A simple algebraic scheme incorporating the prolate-oblate shape phase transition (SPT) is proposed within the framework of the interacting boson model to describe the quadrupole deformation features of Xe isotopes near $A=130$. The analysis demonstrates that novel $γ$-soft modes, characterized by the unusual quadrupole moments $Q(2_1^+)<0$ and $0<Q(2_2^+)\ll |Q(2_1^+)|$, can emerge near the critical point of this SPT. This finding is further applied to interpret the properties of low-lying states in the relevant Xe nuclei, particularly the experimentally observed nearly vanishing spectroscopic quadrupole moment $Q(2_2^+)$, thereby offering new insights into the structure of a $γ$-soft deformed nucleus.

nucl-th

Quadrupole and octupole states in $^{152}$Sm using the proton-neutron interacting boson model

A scheme of solving the proton-neutron interacting boson model (IBM-2) in terms of the SU(3) basis is introduced, by which the IBM-2 coupled with an octupole boson is applied to describe the low-energy structure of the critical point nucleus, $^{152}$Sm. The results indicate that the spectral properties of both the positive-parity bands and negative-parity bands in this nucleus can be well captured by the IBM-2 calculations through a simple Hamiltonian, thus providing an example of the IBM-2 in a unified description of quadrupole and octupole states in a transitional system. In addition, a statistical analysis of the low-spin states in the model is also provided.

nucl-th

Prediction of a new ground state of superhard compound B6O at ambient conditions

Boron suboxide B6O, the hardest known oxide, has an R-3m crystal structure (α-B6O) that can be described as an oxygen-intercalated structure of α-boron, or, equivalently, as a cubic close packing of B12 icosahedra with two oxygen atoms occupying all octahedral voids in it. Here we show a new ground state of this compound at ambient conditions, Cmcm-B6O (\b{eta}-B6O), which in all quantum-mechanical treatments that we tested (GGA, LDA, and hybrid functional HSE06) comes out to be slightly but consistently more stable. Increasing pressure and temperature further stabilize it with respect to the known α-B6O structure. \b{eta}-B6O also has a slightly higher hardness and may be synthesized using different experimental protocols. We suggest that \b{eta}-B6O is present in mixture with α-B6O, and its presence accounts for previously unexplained bands in the experimental Raman spectrum.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Exotic stable calcium carbides: theory and experiment

It is well known that pressure causes profound changes in the properties of atoms and chemical bonding, leading to the formation of many unusual materials. Here we systematically explore all stable calcium carbides at pressures from ambient to 100 GPa using variable-composition evolutionary structure predictions. We find that Ca5C2, Ca2C, Ca3C2, CaC, Ca2C3, and CaC2 have stability fields on the phase diagram. Among these, Ca2C and Ca2C3 are successfully synthesized for the first time via high-pressure experiments with excellent structural correspondence to theoretical predictions. Of particular significance are the base-centered monoclinic phase (space group C2/m) of Ca2C, a quasi-two-dimensional metal with layers of negatively charged calcium atoms, and the primitive monoclinic phase (space group P21/c) of CaC with zigzag C4 groups. Interestingly, strong interstitial charge localization is found in the structure of R-3m-Ca5C2 with semimetallic behaviour.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci