Structure properties of even-even actinides

Structure properties of fifty five even-even actinides have been calculated using the Gogny D1S force and the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach as well as the configuration mixing method. Theoretical results are compared with experimental data.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, proceeding of FUSION0

Structure properties of 226{}^{226}Th and 256,258,260{}^{256,258,260}Fm fission fragments: mean field analysis with the Gogny force

The constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov method is used with the Gogny interaction D1S to calculate potential energy surfaces of fissioning nuclei ${}^{226}$Th and ${}^{256,258,260}$Fm up to very large deformations. The constraints employed are the mass quadrupole and octupole moments. In this subspace of collective coordinates, many scission configurations are identified ranging from symmetric to highly asymmetric fragmentations. Corresponding fragment properties at scission are derived yielding fragment deformations, deformation energies, energy partitioning, neutron binding energies at scission, neutron multiplicities, charge polarization and total fragment kinetic energies.Comment: 15 pages, 23 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C (2007

Structure of even-even nuclei using a mapped collective Hamiltonian and the D1S Gogny interaction

A systematic study of low energy nuclear structure at normal deformation is carried out using the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory extended by the Generator Coordinate Method and mapped onto a 5-dimensional collective quadrupole Hamiltonian. Results obtained with the Gogny D1S interaction are presented from dripline to dripline for even-even nuclei with proton numbers Z=10 to Z=110 and neutron numbers N less than 200. The properties calculated for the ground states are their charge radii, 2-particle separation energies, correlation energies, and the intrinsic quadrupole shape parameters. For the excited spectroscopy, the observables calculated are the excitation energies and quadrupole as well as monopole transition matrix elements. We examine in this work the yrast levels up to J=6, the lowest excited 0^+ states, and the two next yrare 2^+ states. The theory is applicable to more than 90% of the nuclei which have tabulated measurements. The data set of the calculated properties of 1712 even-even nuclei, including spectroscopic properties for 1693 of them, are provided in CEA website and EPAPS repository with this article \cite{epaps}.Comment: 51 pages with 26 Figures and 4 internal tables; this version is accepted by Physical Review

Probing Correlated Ground States with Microscopic Optical Model for Nucleon Scattering off Doubly-Closed-Shell Nuclei

The RPA long range correlations are known to play a significant role in understanding the depletion of single particle-hole states observed in (e, e') and (e, e'p) measurements. Here the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) theory, implemented using the D1S force is considered for the specific purpose of building correlated ground states and related one-body density matrix elements. These may be implemented and tested in a fully microscopic optical model for NA scattering off doubly-closed-shell nuclei. A method is presented to correct for the correlations overcounting inherent to the RPA formalism. One-body density matrix elements in the uncorrelated (i.e. Hartree-Fock) and correlated (i.e. RPA) ground states are then challenged in proton scattering studies based on the Melbourne microscopic optical model to highlight the role played by the RPA correlations. Effects of such correlations which deplete the nuclear matter at small radial distance (r $<$ 2 fm) and enhance its surface region, are getting more and more sizeable as the incident energy increases. Illustrations are given for proton scattering observables measured up to 201 MeV for the $^{16}$O, $^{40}$Ca, $^{48}$Ca and $^{208}$Pb target nuclei. Handling the RPA correlations systematically improves the agreement between scattering predictions and data for energies higher than 150 MeV.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

PHARAO Laser Source Flight Model: Design and Performances

In this paper, we describe the design and the main performances of the PHARAO laser source flight model. PHARAO is a laser cooled cesium clock specially designed for operation in space and the laser source is one of the main sub-systems. The flight model presented in this work is the first remote-controlled laser system designed for spaceborne cold atom manipulation. The main challenges arise from mechanical compatibility with space constraints, which impose a high level of compactness, a low electric power consumption, a wide range of operating temperature and a vacuum environment. We describe the main functions of the laser source and give an overview of the main technologies developed for this instrument. We present some results of the qualification process. The characteristics of the laser source flight model, and their impact on the clock performances, have been verified in operational conditions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Review of Scientific Instrument

Total Cross Sections for Neutron Scattering

Measurements of neutron total cross-sections are both extensive and extremely accurate. Although they place a strong constraint on theoretically constructed models, there are relatively few comparisons of predictions with experiment. The total cross-sections for neutron scattering from $^{16}$O and $^{40}$Ca are calculated as a function of energy from $50-700$~MeV laboratory energy with a microscopic first order optical potential derived within the framework of the Watson expansion. Although these results are already in qualitative agreement with the data, the inclusion of medium corrections to the propagator is essential to correctly predict the energy dependence given by the experiment.Comment: 10 pages (Revtex 3.0), 6 fig

Charge radii and structural evolution in Sr, Zr, and Mo isotopes

The evolution of the ground-state nuclear shapes in neutron-rich Sr, Zr, and Mo isotopes, including both even-even and odd-A nuclei, is studied within a self-consistent mean-field approximation based on the D1S Gogny interaction. Neutron separation energies and charge radii are calculated and compared with available data. A correlation between a shape transition and a discontinuity in those observables is found microscopically. While in Sr and Zr isotopes the steep behavior observed in the isotopic dependence of the charge radii is a consequence of a sharp prolate-oblate transition, the smooth behavior found in Mo isotopes has its origin in an emergent region of triaxiality.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.