J. E. Garcia-Ramos

Quantum phase transitions in the interacting boson model: integrability, level repulsion, and level crossing.

We study the quantum phase transition mechanisms that arise in the interacting boson model. We show that the second-order nature of the phase transition from U(5) to O(6) may be attributed to quantum integrability, whereas all the first-order phase transitions of the model are due to level repulsion with one singular point of level crossing. We propose a model Hamiltonian with a true first-order phase transition for finite systems due to level crossings.

Nuclear binding energies: Global collective structure and local shell model correlations

In this contribution the global behaviour of nuclear binding energies, or alternatively two-neutron separation energies, are studied. Recent high-precision mass measurements show local deviations from an overall macroscopic behaviour, and it is shown how a consistent and simultaneously description of both can be given within the Interacting Boson Model.

Mean field study of structural changes in Pt isotopes with the Gogny interaction

The evolution of the nuclear shapes along the triaxial landscape is studied in the Pt isotopic chain using the self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approximation based on the Gogny interaction. In addition to the parametrization D1S, the new incarnations D1N and D1M of this force are also included in our analysis to assess to which extent the predictions are independent of details of the effective interaction. The considered range of neutron numbers 88 N 126 includes prolate, triaxial, oblate, and spherical ground-state shapes and serves as a detailed comparison of the predictions obtained with the new sets D1N and D1M against the ones provided by the standard parametrization Gogny-D1S in a region of the nuclear landscape for which experimental and theoretical fingerprints of shape transitions have been found. Structural evolution along the Pt chain is discussed in terms of the deformation dependence of single-particle energies.

Nuclear shape coexistence: A study of the even-even Hg isotopes using the interacting boson model with configuration mixing

Background: The Po, Pb, Hg, and Pt region is known for the presence of coexisting structures that correspond to different particle-hole configurations in the shell model language or equivalently to nuclear shapes with different deformation. Purpose: We intend to study the configuration mixing phenomenon in the Hg isotopes and to understand how different observables are influenced by it. Method: We study in detail a long chain of mercury isotopes, Hg172-200, using the interacting boson model with configuration mixing. The parameters of the Hamiltonians are fixed through a least-squares fit to the known energies and absolute B(E2) transition rates of states up to 3 MeV. Results: We obtained the IBM-CM Hamiltonians and we calculate excitation energies, B(E2)s, quadrupole shape invariants, wave functions, isotopic shifts, and mean-field energy surfaces. Conclusions: We obtain a fairly good agreement with the experimental data for all the studied observables and we conclude that the Hamiltonian and the states we obtain constitute a good approximation to the Hg isotopes.

Proton-proton correlations observed in two-proton decay of 19Mg and 16Ne

Proton-proton correlations were observed for the two-proton decays of the ground states of 19 Mg and 16 Ne. The trajectories of the respective decay products, 17 Ne + p + p and 14 O + p + p, were measured by using a tracking technique with microstrip detectors. These data were used to reconstruct the angular correlations of fragments projected on planes transverse to the precursor momenta. The measured three-particle correlations reflect a genuine three-body decay mechanism and allowed us to obtain spectroscopic information on the precursors with valence protons in the sd shell.

Two-neutron separation energies, binding energies and phase transitions in the interacting boson model

Abstract In the framework of the interacting boson model the three transitional regions (rotational–vibrational, rotational– γ -unstable and, vibrational– γ -unstable transitions) are reanalyzed. A new kind of plot is presented for studying phase transitions in finite systems such as atomic nuclei. The importance of analyzing binding energies and not only energy spectra and electromagnetic transitions, describing transitional regions is emphasized. We finally discuss a number of realistic examples.

α-particle production in the scattering of 6He by 208Pb at energies around the Coulomb barrier

New experimental data from the scattering of 6He + 208Pb at energies around and below the Coulomb barrier are presented. The yield of breakup products coming from projectile fragmentation is dominated by a strong group of α particles. The energy and angular distribution of this group have been analyzed and compared with theoretical calculations. This analysis indicates that the α particles emitted at backward angles in this reaction are mainly due to two-neutron transfer to weakly bound states of the final nucleus.

Phase diagram of the proton-neutron interacting boson model

We study the phase diagram of the proton-neutron interacting boson model with special emphasis on the phase transitions leading to triaxial phases. The existence of a new critical point between spherical and triaxial shapes is reported.

Partial Dynamical Symmetry in Quantum Hamiltonians with Higher-Order Terms

A generic procedure is proposed to construct many-body quantum Hamiltonians with partial dynamical symmetry. It is based on a tensor decomposition of the Hamiltonian and allows the construction of a hierarchy of interactions that have selected classes of solvable states. The method is illustrated in the SO(6) limit of the interacting boson model of atomic nuclei and applied to the nucleus 196Pt.

Two-level interacting boson models beyond the mean field

The phase diagram of two-level boson Hamiltonians, including the interacting boson model (IBM), is studied beyond the standard mean field approximation using the Holstein-Primakoff mapping. The limitations of the usual intrinsic state (mean field) formalism concerning finite-size effects are pointed out. The analytic results are compared to numerics obtained from exact diagonalizations. Excitation energies and occupation numbers are studied in different model space regions (Casten triangle for IBM) and especially at the critical points.