The ground-state properties of neutron-deficient Hg isotopes have been investigated by the constrained self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach with the Skyrme and Gogny effective forces. In the case of the Skyrme interaction we h ave also applied the Hartree-Fock+BCS model with the state-dependent δ-pairing interaction. Potential energy surfaces and pairing properties have been compared for the both types of forces.
The neutron skin thickness of nuclei is a sensitive probe of the nuclear symmetry energy having multiple implications for nuclear and astrophysical studies. However, precision measurements of this observable are difficult. The analysis of the experimental data may imply some assumptions about the bulk or surface nature of the formation of the neutron skin. Here, we study the bulk or surface character of neutron skins of nuclei following from calculations with Gogny, Skyrme, and covariant nuclear mean-field interactions. These interactions are successful in describing nuclear charge radii and binding energies but predict different values for neutron skins. We perform the study by fitting two-parameter Fermi distributions to the calculated self-consistent neutron and proton densities. We note that the equivalent sharp radius is a more suitable reference quantity than the half-density radius parameter of the Fermi distributions to discern between the bulk and surface contributions in neutron skins. We present calculations for nuclei in the stability valley and for the isotopic chains of Sn and Pb.
The augmented Lagrangiam method (ALM), widely used in quantum chemistry constrained optimization problems, is applied in the context of the nuclear Density Functional Theory (DFT) in the self-consistent constrained Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (CHFB) variant. The ALM allows precise calculations of multidimensional energy surfaces in the space of collective coordinates that are needed to, e.g., determine fission pathways and saddle points; it improves accuracy of computed derivatives with respect to collective variables that are used to determine collective inertia; and is well adapted to supercomputer applications.
We study whether the neutron skin thickness Δrnp of 208Pb originates from the bulk or from the surface of the nucleon density distributions, according to the mean-field models of nuclear structure, and find that it depends on the stiffness of the nuclear symmetry energy. The bulk contribution to Δrnp arises from an extended sharp radius of neutrons, whereas the surface contribution arises from different widths of the neutron and proton surfaces. Nuclear models where the symmetry energy is stiff, as typical of relativistic models, predict a bulk contribution in Δrnp of 208Pb about twice as large as the surface contribution. In contrast, models with a soft symmetry energy like common nonrelativistic models predict that Δrnp of 208Pb is divided similarly into bulk and surface parts. Indeed, if the symmetry energy is supersoft, the surface contribution becomes dominant. We note that the linear correlation of Δrnp of 208Pb with the density derivative of the nuclear symmetry energy arises from the bulk part of Δrnp. We also note that most models predict a mixed-type (between halo and skin) neutron distribution for 208Pb. Although the halo-type limit is actually found in the models with a supersoft symmetry energy, the skin-type limit is not supported by any mean-field model. Finally, we compute parity-violating electron scattering in the conditions of the 208Pb parity radius experiment (PREX) and obtain a pocket formula for the parity-violating asymmetry in terms of the parameters that characterize the shape of the 208Pb nucleon densities.
Collective mass tensor derived from the cranking approximation to the adiabatic time-dependent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (ATDHFB) approach is compared with that obtained in the Gaussian Overlap Approximation (GOA) to the generator coordinate method. Illustrative calculations are carried out for one-dimensional quadrupole fission pathways in 256Fm. It is shown that the collective mass exhibits strong variations with the quadrupole collective coordinate. These variations are related to the changes in the intrinsic shell structure. The differences between collective inertia obtained in cranking and perturbative cranking approximations to ATDHFB, and within GOA, are discussed.
The nuclear fission phenomenon is a magnificent example of a quantal collective motion during which the nucleus evolves in a multidimensional space representing shapes with different geometries. The triaxial degrees of freedom are usually important around the inner fission barrier, and reduce the fission barrier height by several MeV. Beyond the inner barrier, reflection-asymmetric shapes corresponding to asymmetric elongated fragments come into play. We discuss the interplay between different symmetry breaking mechanisms in the case of even-even fermium isotopes using the Skyrme HFB formalism.
Nuclear fission barriers, mass parameters and spontaneous fission half lives of Fermium isotopes calculated in the framework of Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov model with SkM* force are discussed. Zero-point energy corrections in the ground state are determined for each nucleus using Gaussian overlap approximation to generator coordinate method and the cranking formalism. Results of spontaneous fission half lives are compared to the experimental data.
Cluster radioactivity in 114Ba is described as a spontaneous fission with a large mass asymmetry within the self-consistent HFB theory. A new fission valley with large octupole deformation is found in the potential energy surface. The fragment mass asymmetry of this fission mode corresponds to the expected one in cluster radioactivity with the emission of 16O predicted with a very long half-life.
A precise determination of the neutron skin Δrnp of a heavy nucleus sets a basic constraint on the nuclear symmetry energy. The parity radius experiment (PREX) may achieve it by model-independent parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) on 208Pb. We investigate PVES in nuclear mean field approach to allow the accurate extraction of Δrnp of 208Pb from the parity-violating asymmetry Apv that the experiment measures. We demonstrate a close linear correlation between Apv and Δrnp in successful mean field forces as a best means to constrain the neutron skin of 208Pb from this innovative experiment. The quality of the correlation supports the commissioning of an improved PREX run to measure Apv more accurately. We study the consequences for constraining the density slope of the nuclear symmetry energy.
We describe the new version (v2.49s) of the code HFODD which solves the nuclear Skyrme Hartree-Fock (HF) or Skyrme Hartree-Fock-Bogolyubov (HFB) problem by using the Cartesian deformed harmonic-oscillator basis. In the new version, we have implemented the following physics features: (i) the isospin mixing and projection, (ii) the finite temperature formalism for the HFB and HF+BCS methods, (iii) the Lipkin translational energy correction method, (iv) the calculation of the shell correction. A number of specific numerical methods have also been implemented in order to deal with large-scale multi-constraint calculations and hardware limitations: (i) the two-basis method for the HFB method, (ii) the Augmented Lagrangian Method (ALM) for multi-constraint calculations, (iii) the linear constraint method based on the approximation of the RPA matrix for multi-constraint calculations, (iv) an interface with the axial and parity-conserving Skyrme-HFB code HFBTHO, (v) the mixing of the HF or HFB matrix elements instead of the HF fields. Special care has been paid to using the code on massively parallel leadership class computers. For this purpose, the following features are now available with this version: (i) the Message Passing Interface (MPI) framework, (ii) scalable input data routines, (iii) multi-threading via OpenMP pragmas, (iv) parallel diagonalization of the HFB matrix in the simplex breaking case using the ScaLAPACK library. Finally, several little significant errors of the previous published version were corrected.
We study whether the neutron skin thickness Δrnp of 208Pb originates from the bulk or from the surface of the neutron and proton density distributions in mean field models. We find that the size of the bulk contribution to Δrnp of 208Pb strongly depends on the slope of the nuclear symmetry energy, while the surface contribution does not. We note that most mean field models predict a neutron density for 208Pb between the halo and skin type limits. We investigate the dependence of parity-violating electron scattering at the kinematics of the PREX experiment on the shape of the nucleon densities predicted by the mean field models for 208Pb. We find an approximate formula for the parity-violating asymmetry in terms of the central radius and the surface diffuseness of the nucleon densities of 208Pb in these models.
Cluster radioactivity is the emission of a fragment heavier than α particle and lighter than mass 50. The range of clusters observed in experiments goes from 14C to 32Si while the heavy mass residue is always a nucleus in the neighborhood of the doubly-magic 208Pb nucleus. Cluster radioactivity is described in this paper as a very asymmetric nuclear fission. A new fission valley leading to a decay with large fragment mass asymmetry matching the cluster radioactivity products is found. The mass octupole moment is found to be more convenient than the standard quadrupole moment as the parameter driving the system to fission. The mean-field HFB theory with the phenomenological Gogny interaction has been used to compute the cluster emission properties of a wide range of even-even actinide nuclei from 222Ra to 242Cm, where emission of the clusters has been experimentally observed. Computed half-lives for cluster emission are compared with experimental results. The noticeable agreement obtained between the predicted properties of cluster emission (namely, clusters masses and emission half-lives) and the measured data confirms the validity of the proposed methodology in the analysis of the phenomenon of cluster radioactivity.
Reliable calculations of the structure of heavy elements are crucial to address fundamental science questions such as the origin of the elements in the universe. Applications relevant for energy production, medicine, or national security also rely on theoretical predictions of basic properties of atomic nuclei. Heavy elements are best described within the nuclear density functional theory (DFT) and its various extensions. While relatively mature, DFT has never been implemented in its full power, as it relies on a very large number (109−1012) of expensive calculations (day). The advent of leadership-class computers, as well as dedicated large-scale collaborative efforts such as the SciDAC 2 UNEDF project, have dramatically changed the field. This article gives an overview of the various computational challenges related to the nuclear DFT, as well as some of the recent achievements.