Ab initio predictions link the neutron skin of 208Pb to nuclear forces

Heavy atomic nuclei have an excess of neutrons over protons, which leads to the formation of a neutron skin whose thickness is sensitive to details of the nuclear force. This links atomic nuclei to properties of neutron stars, thereby relating objects that differ in size by orders of magnitude. The nucleus 208Pb is of particular interest because it exhibits a simple structure and is experimentally accessible. However, computing such a heavy nucleus has been out of reach for ab initio theory. By combining advances in quantum many-body methods, statistical tools and emulator technology, we make quantitative predictions for the properties of 208Pb starting from nuclear forces that are consistent with symmetries of low-energy quantum chromodynamics. We explore 109 different nuclear force parameterizations via history matching, confront them with data in select light nuclei and arrive at an importance-weighted ensemble of interactions. We accurately reproduce bulk properties of 208Pb and determine the neutron skin thickness, which is smaller and more precise than a recent extraction from parity-violating electron scattering but in agreement with other experimental probes. This work demonstrates how realistic two- and three-nucleon forces act in a heavy nucleus and allows us to make quantitative predictions across the nuclear landscape

Superdeformed triaxial bands in Lu-163,165

An experimental investigation of the nucleus 165Lu, using the reactions 138Ba(31P,4n) 165Lu and 150Sm(19F,4n) 165Lu at beam energies of E = 155 and 95 MeV, respectively, has been performed. Among other additions to the existing level scheme, a new band, with transition energies almost identical to a strongly deformed (β2 0.42) πi13/2[660 1/2+] band recently discovered in 163Lu has been established. A theoretical analysis of the structure of the two Lu isotopes, 165Lu and 163Lu is carried out by detailed calculations of total potential energy surfaces for specific configurations. By a diabatic treatment of crossings specific proton configurations as πi13/2[660 1/2+] are identified throughout the deformation space and as a function of spin. It is found as a general feature that well deformed local minima of considerable nonaxial symmetry coexist with a normal deformed global minimum. The depth of these local minima depend on configuration. The structure of the different global and local minima found in these surfaces are analysed and discussed in terms of occupation of available basis configurations and their orientation relative to the rotation axis. The strongly deformed minima are found to belong to a group of superdeformed triaxial structures, expected to appear at low energies for certain favourable combinations of proton and neutron numbers