Microscopic origin of shape coexistence in the N=90, Z=64 region

Abstract

A microscopic explanation of the nature of shape coexistence in the N=90, Z=64 region is suggested, based on calculations of single particle energies through standard covariant density functional theory. It is suggested that shape coexistence in the N=90 region is caused by the protons, which create neutron particle-hole (p-h) excitations across the N=112 3-dimensional isotropic harmonic oscillator (3D-HO) magic number, signaling the start of the occupation of the 1i13/2 intruder orbital, which triggers stronger proton-neutron interaction, causing the onset of the deformation and resulting in the shape/phase transition from spherical to deformed nuclei described by the X(5) critical point symmetry. A similar effect is seen in the N=60, Z=40 region, in which p-h excitations across the N=70 3D-HO magic number occur, signaling the start of the occupation of the 1h11/2 intruder orbital.

6 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Nuclear magic numbers: new features far from stability
• DIRHB -- a relativistic self-consistent mean-field framework for atomic nuclei
• The islands of shape coexistence within the Elliott and the proxy-SU(3) Models
• The subtle connection between shape coexistence and quantum phase transition. The Zr case
• Why nuclear forces favor the highest weight irreducible representations of the fermionic SU(3) symmetry
• Unified picture of nucleon pairs playing leading roles in nuclear collectivity

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Shape coexistence in even-even nuclei: A theoretical overview
• The proxy-SU(3) symmetry in atomic nuclei
• Islands of shape coexistence from single-particle spectra in covariant density functional theory
• Signatures for shape coexistence and shape/phase transitions in even-even nuclei
• Islands of shape coexistence: theoretical predictions and experimental evidence