arXiv subjects

W. Horiuchi

Publications and source records attributed to W. Horiuchi.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

The $\boldsymbol{^{29}}$F nucleus as a lighthouse on the coast of the island of inversion

The exotic, neutron-rich and weakly-bound isotope $^{29}$F stands out as a waymarker on the southern shore of the island of inversion, a portion of the nuclear chart where the effects of nuclear forces lead to a reshuffling of the single particle levels and to a reorganization of the nuclear structure far from stability. This nucleus has become very popular, as new measurements allow to refine theoretical models. We review the latest developments and suggest how to further assess the structure by proposing predictions on electromagnetic transitions that new experiments of Relativistic Coulomb Excitation should soon become able to measure.

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arXiv2020

Coulomb screening correction to the $Q$ value of the triple alpha process in thermal plasmas

The triple alpha reaction is a key to $^{12}$C production and is expected to occur in weakly-coupled, thermal plasmas as encountered in normal stars. We investigate how Coulomb screening affects the structure of a system of three alpha particles in such a plasma environment by precise three-body calculations within the Debye-Hückel approximation. A three-alpha model that has the Coulomb interaction modified in the Yukawa form is employed. Precise three-body wave functions are obtained by a superposition of correlated Gaussian bases with the aid of the stochastic variational method. The energy shifts of the Hoyle state due to the Coulomb screening are obtained as a function of the Debye screening length. The results, which automatically incorporate the finite size effect of the Hoyle state, are consistent with the conventional result based on the Coulomb correction to the chemical potentials of ions that are regarded as point charges in a weakly-coupled, thermal plasma. We have given a theoretical basis to the conventional point-charge approach to the Coulomb screening problem relevant for nuclear reactions in normal stars by providing the first evaluation of the Coulomb corrections to the $Q$ value of the triple alpha process that produces a finite size Hoyle state.

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arXiv2020

Core swelling in spherical nuclei: An indication of the saturation of nuclear density

Background: Nuclear radius is one of the most important and basic properties of atomic nuclei and its evolution is closely related to the saturation of the nuclear density in the internal region but the systematics of the nuclear radii for the neutron-rich unstable nuclei is not well known. Purpose: Motivated by the recent interaction cross section measurement which indicates the 48Ca core swelling in the neutron-rich Ca isotopes, we explore the mechanism of the enhancement of the neutron and proton radii for spherical nuclei. Methods: Microscopic Hartree-Fock calculations with three sets of Skyrme-type effective interactions are performed for the neutron-rich Ca, Ni and Sn isotopes. The total reaction cross sections for the Ca isotopes are evaluated with the Glauber model to compare them with the recent cross section data. Results: We obtain good agreement with the measured cross sections and charge radii. The neutron and proton radii of the various "core" configurations are extracted from the full Hartree-Fock calculation and discuss the core swelling mechanism. Conclusions: The core swelling phenomena occur depending on the properties of the occupying valence single-neutron states to minimize the energy loss that comes from the saturation of the densities in the internal region, which appears to be prominent in light nuclei such as Ca isotopes.

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arXiv2020

A two-neutron halo is unveiled in $^{29}$F

We report the measurement of reaction cross sections ($σ_R^{\rm ex}$) of $^{27,29}$F with a carbon target at RIKEN. The unexpectedly large $σ_R^{\rm ex}$ and derived matter radius identify $^{29}$F as the heaviest two-neutron Borromean halo to date. The halo is attributed to neutrons occupying the $2p_{3/2}$ orbital, thereby vanishing the shell closure associated with the neutron number $N = 20$. The results are explained by state-of-the-art shell model calculations. Coupled-cluster computations based on effective field theories of the strong nuclear force describe the matter radius of $^{27}$F but are challenged for $^{29}$F.

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arXiv2020

Two-neutron halo structure of $^{31}$F and a novel pairing anti-halo effect

Background: A newly identified dripline nucleus $^{31}$F offers a unique opportunity to study the two-neutron ($2n$) correlation at the east shore of the island of inversion where the $N = 28$ shell closure is lost. Purpose: We aim to present the first three-body theoretical results for the radius and total reaction cross sections of $^{31}$F. This will further help to investigate how the pairing and breakdown of the $N = 28$ shell closure influence the formation of the $2n$-halo structure and the anti-halo effect in this mass region. Methods: A $^{29}$F$+n+n$ three-body system is described by the cluster orbital shell model, and its total reaction cross section is calculated by the Glauber theory. Results: Our three-body calculations predict 3.48-3.70 fm for the root-mean-square radius of $^{31}$F, which corresponds to the total reaction cross section of 1530 (1410)-1640 (1500) mb for a carbon target at 240 (900) MeV/nucleon. The binding mechanism and halo formation in $^{31}$F are discussed. Conclusions: The present study suggests a novel anti-halo effect in this mass region: When the pairing overcome the energy gap between the $p_{3/2}$ and $f_{7/2}$ orbits, the inversion of the occupation number of these orbits takes place, and it diminishes the $2n$-halo structure.

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arXiv2020

Exploring two-neutron halo formation in the ground-state of $^{29}$F within a three-body model

Background$\colon$ The $^{29}$F system is located at the lower-N boundary of the "island of inversion" and is an exotic, weakly bound system. Little is known about this system beyond its two-neutron separation energy ($S_{2n}$) with large uncertainties. A similar situation is found for the low-lying spectrum of its unbound binary subsystem $^{28}$F. Purpose$\colon$ To investigate the configuration mixing, matter radius and neutron-neutron correlations in the ground state of $^{29}$F within a three-body model, exploring the possibility of $^{29}$F to be a two-neutron halo nucleus. Method$\colon$ The $^{29}$F ground-state wave function is built within the hyperspherical formalism by using an analytical transformed harmonic oscillator basis. The Gogny-Pires-Tourreil (GPT) nn interaction with central, spin-orbit and tensor terms is employed in the present calculations, together with different core$+n$ potentials constrained by the available experimental information on $^{28}$F. Results$\colon$ The $^{29}$F ground-state configuration mixing and its matter radius are computed for different choices of the $^{28}$F structure and $S_{2n}$ value. The admixture of d-waves with pf components are found to play an important role, favoring the dominance of dineutron configurations in the wave function. Our computed radii show a mild sensitivity to the $^{27}$F$+n$ potential and $S_{2n}$ values. The relative increase of the matter radius with respect to the $^{27}$F core lies in the range 0.1-0.4 fm depending upon these choices. Conclusions$\colon$ Our three-body results for $^{29}$F indicate the presence of a moderate halo structure in its ground state, which is enhanced by larger intruder components. This finding calls for an experimental confirmation.

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arXiv2019

Impact of uncertainties of unbound $^{10}$Li on the ground state of two-neutron halo $^{11}$Li

Recently, the energy spectrum of $^{10}$Li was measured upto 4.6 MeV, via one-neutron transfer reaction d($^{9}$Li, p)$^{10}$Li. Considering the ambiguities on the $^{10}$Li continuum spectrum with reference to new data, we report the configuration mixing in the ground state of the two-neutron halo nucleus $^{11}$Li for two different choices of the $^{9}$Li$+$n potential. For the present study, we employ a three-body (core$+$n$+$n) structure model developed for describing the two-neutron halo system by explicit coupling of unbound continuum states of the subsystem (core$+$n), and discuss the two-neutron correlations in the ground state of $^{11}$Li.

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arXiv2019

Electric-dipole transitions in $^6$Li with a fully microscopic six-body calculation

Exploring new excitation modes and the role of the nuclear clustering has been of great interest. An interesting speculation was made in the recent photoabsorption measurement of $^6$Li that implied the importance of the nuclear clustering. To understand the excitation mechanism of $^6$Li, we perform a fully microscopic six-body calculation on the electric-dipole ($E1$) transitions and discuss how $^6$Li is excited by the $E1$ field as a function of the excitation energy. We show the various cluster components in the six-body wave functions and discuss the role of the nuclear clustering in the $E1$ excitations of $^6$Li.

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arXiv2019

Three-body correlations in mesonic-atom-like systems

Three-body correlations in three-body exotic atoms are studied with simple models that consist of three bosons interacting through a superposition of long- and short-range potentials. We discuss the correlations among particles by comparing the energy shifts given by precise three-body calculations and by the Deser-Trueman formula, in which the long- and short-range contributions are factorized. By varying the coupling of the short-range potential, we evaluate the ranges of the strength where the two-body correlations dominate and where the three-body correlations cannot be neglected.

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arXiv2019

Swelling of doubly magic $^{48}$Ca core in Ca isotopes beyond $N=28$

Interaction cross sections for $^{42\textrm{-}51}$Ca on a carbon target at 280 MeV/nucleon have been measured for the first time. The neutron number dependence of derived root-mean-square matter radii shows a significant increase beyond the neutron magic number $N=28$. Furthermore, this enhancement of matter radii is much larger than that of the previously measured charge radii, indicating a novel growth in neutron skin thickness. A simple examination based on the Fermi-type distribution, and the Mean-Field calculations point out that this anomalous enhancement of the nuclear size beyond $N=28$ results from an enlargement of the core by a sudden increase in the surface diffuseness of the neutron density distribution, which implies the swelling of the bare $^{48}$Ca core in Ca isotopes beyond $N=28$.

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arXiv2019

Three-body Description of $2n$-Halo and Unbound $2n$-Systems: $^{22}$C and $^{26}$O

We study the two-neutron correlations in the ground state of the weakly-bound two-neutron halo nucleus $^{22}$C sitting at the edge of the neutron-drip line and also in the unbound nucleus $^{26}$O sitting beyond the neutron dripline. For the present study, we employ a three-body (core$+n+n$) structure model designed for describing the two-neutron halo system by explicit inclusion of unbound continuum states of the subsystem (core$+n$). We use either a density-independent or a density-dependent contact-delta interaction to describe the neutron-neutron interaction and its strength is varied to fix the binding energy. We report the configuration mixing in the ground state of these systems for different choices of pairing interactions.

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arXiv2019

Two-neutron correlations in a Borromean $^{20}{\rm C}+n+n$ system: Sensitivity of unbound subsystems

The structure of $^{22}$C plays a vital role in the new physics at subshell closure of $N=16$ in the neutron-rich region. We study the two-neutron correlations in the ground state of the weakly-bound Borromean nucleus $^{22}$C sitting at the edge of the neutron-drip line and its sensitivity to ${\rm core}$-$n$ potential. For the present study, we employ a three-body (${\rm core}+n+n$) structure model designed for describing the Borromean system by explicit coupling of unbound continuum states of the subsystem (${\rm core}+n$). We use a density-independent contact-delta interaction to describe the neutron-neutron interaction and its strength is varied to fix the binding energy. Along with the ground-state properties of $^{22}$C, we investigate its electric-dipole and monopole responses, discussing the contribution of various configurations. Our results indicate more configuration mixing as compared to the previous studies in the ground state of $^{22}$C. However, they strongly depend upon the choice of the $^{20}{\rm C}$-$n$ potential as well as the binding energy of $^{22}$C, which call for new precise measurements for the low-lying continuum structure of the binary system ($^{20}{\rm C}+n$) and the mass of $^{22}$C. These measurements will be essential to understand the Borromean three-body system $^{22}$C with more accuracy.

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arXiv2019

Emergence of nuclear clustering in electric-dipole excitations of $^6$Li

Nuclear clustering plays an important role, especially in the dynamics of light nuclei. The importance of the emergence of the nuclear clustering was discussed in the recent measurement of the photoabsorption cross sections as it offered the possibility of the coexistence of various excitation modes which are closely related to the nuclear clustering. To understand the excitation mechanism, we study the electric-dipole ($E1$) responses of $^6$Li with a fully microscopic six-body calculation. The ground-state wave function is accurately described with a superposition of correlated Gaussian (CG) functions with the aid of the stochastic variational method. The final-state wave functions are also expressed by a number of the CG functions including important configurations to describe the six-body continuum states excited by the $E1$ field. We found that the out-of-phase transitions occur due to the oscillations of the valence nucleons against the $^4$He cluster at the low energies around 10 MeV indicating ``soft'' giant-dipole-resonance(GDR)-type excitations, which are very unique in the $^6$Li system but could be found in other nuclear systems. At the high energies beyond $\sim 30$ MeV typical GDR-type transitions occur. The $^3$He-$^3$H clustering plays an important role to the GDR phenomena in the intermediate energy regions around 20 MeV.

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arXiv2019

Complete Glauber calculations for proton-nucleus inelastic cross sections

We perform a parameter-free calculation for the high-energy proton-nucleus scattering based on the Glauber theory. A complete evaluation of the so-called Glauber amplitude is made by using the factorization of the single-particle wave functions. The multiple-scattering or multistep processes are fully taken into account within the Glauber theory. We demonstrate that proton- $^{12}$C, $^{20}$Ne, and $^{28}$Si elastic and inelastic scattering ($J^π=0^+ \to 2^+$ and $0^+ \to 4^+$) processes are very well described in a wide range of the incident energies from $\sim$50 MeV to $\sim$ 1 GeV. We evaluate the validity of a simple one-step approximation andfind that the approximation works fairly well for the inelastic $0^+ \to 2^+$ processes but not for $0^+ \to 4^+$ where the multistep processes become more important. As an application, we quantify the difference between the total reaction and interaction cross sections of proton-$^{12}$C, $^{20}$Ne, and $^{28}$Si collisions.

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arXiv2019

Neutron skin and signature of the $N$ = 14 shell gap found from measured proton radii of $^{17-22}$N

A thick neutron skin emerges from the first determination of root mean square radii of the proton distributions for $^{17-22}$N from charge changing cross section measurements around 900$A$ MeV at GSI. Neutron halo effects are signaled for $^{22}$N from an increase in the proton and matter radii. The radii suggest an unconventional shell gap at $N$ = 14 arising from the attractive proton-neutron tensor interaction, in good agreement with shell model calculations. $Ab$ $initio$, in-medium similarity re-normalization group, calculations with a state-of-the-art chiral nucleon-nucleon and three-nucleon interaction reproduce well the data approaching the neutron drip-line isotopes but are challenged in explaining the complete isotopic trend of the radii.

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arXiv2018

Analysing supersymmetric transformed $α$-nucleus potentials with electric-multipole transitions

Alpha($^{4}$He)-cluster models have often been used to describe light nuclei. Towards the application to multi-cluster systems involving heavy clusters, we study the relative wave functions of the $α+^{16}$O and $α+^{40}$Ca systems generated from phase-shift-equivalent potentials. In general, a potential between clusters is deep accommodating several redundant bound states which should be removed in an appropriate way. To avoid such a complicated computation, we generate a shallow-singular potential by using supersymmetric transformations from the original deep potential. Changes in the relative wave functions by the transformations are quantified with electric-multipole transitions which give a different radial sensitivity to the wave function depending on their multipolarity. Despite the fact that the original and transformed potentials give exactly the same phase shift, some observables are unfavorably modified. A possible way to obtain a desired supersymmetric potential is proposed.

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arXiv2018

Examination of the $^{22}$C radius determination with interaction cross sections

A nuclear radius of $^{22}$C is investigated with the total reaction cross sections at medium- to high-incident energies in order to resolve the radius puzzle in which two recent interaction cross section measurements using $^1$H and $^{12}$C targets show the quite different radii. The cross sections of $^{22}$C are calculated consistently for these target nuclei within a reliable microscopic framework, the Glauber theory. To describe appropriately such a reaction involving a spatially extended nucleus, the multiple scattering processes within the Glauber theory are fully taken into account, that is, the multi-dimensional integration in the Glauber amplitude is evaluated using a Monte Carlo technique without recourse to the optical-limit approximation. We discuss the sensitivity of the spatially extended halo tail to the total reaction cross sections. The root-mean-square matter radius obtained in this study is consistent with that extracted from the recent cross section measurement on $^{12}$C target. We show that the simultaneous reproduction of the two recent measured cross sections is not feasible within this framework.

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arXiv2018

Nuclear surface diffuseness revealed in nucleon-nucleus diffraction

Nuclear surface provides useful information on nuclear radius, nuclear structure as well as properties of nuclear matter. We discuss the relationship between the nuclear surface diffuseness and elastic scattering differential cross section at the first diffraction peak of high-energy nucleon-nucleus scattering as an efficient tool in order to extract the nuclear surface information from limited experimental data involving short-lived unstable nuclei. The high-energy reaction is described by a reliable microscopic reaction theory, the Glauber model. Extending the idea of the black sphere model, we find one-to-one correspondence between the nuclear bulk structure information and proton elastic scattering diffraction peak. This implies that we can extract both the nuclear radius and diffuseness simultaneously, using the position of the first diffraction peak and its magnitude of the elastic scattering differential cross section. We confirm the reliability of this approach by using realistic density distributions obtained by a mean-field model.

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