Angular and energy dependence of (e,e′)(e,e^{\prime}) cross sections for orbital 1+^+ excitations

The main features of the $(e,e^{\prime})$ cross sections of low-lying orbital excitations with $K^{\pi} = 1^+$ in heavy deformed nuclei are studied in RPA on the example of $^{156}$Gd. The dependence of the DWBA E2 and M1 cross sections on the scattering angle $0^{\circ} < \theta < 180 ^{\circ}$ and incident electron energy $E_i < 210$ MeV is analyzed in PWBA. The cross section is larger for M1 than for E2 transitions at any angle if $E_i < 30$ MeV. The longitudinal (Coulomb) C2 excitation dominates the E2 response for $5^{\circ} < \theta < 170 ^{\circ}$. Only transverse M1 and E2 excitations compete for $\theta > 175 ^{\circ}$ and the former one is dominant for $q < 1.2$ fm$^{-1}$. The M1 response is almost purely orbital up to $q = 1.4$ fm$^{-1}$ even in backward scattering. Qualitative PWBA estimates based on the $q$-dependence of the form factors alone are not able to predict some important features of the $(e,e^{\prime})$ cross sections stemming from the strong magnetic and orbital character of the studied 1$^+$ excitations. The expectation for M1 over E2 dominance in backward scattering should not be extended to higher momentum transfers and incident energies.Comment: Latex, 28 pages, 12 postscript figures included using uufile

Competing electric and magnetic excitations in backward electron scattering from heavy deformed nuclei

Important $E2$ contributions to the $(e,e^{\prime})$ cross sections of low-lying orbital $M1$ excitations are found in heavy deformed nuclei, arising from the small energy separation between the two excitations with $I^{\pi}K = 2^+1$ and 1$^+1$, respectively. They are studied microscopically in QRPA using DWBA. The accompanying $E2$ response is negligible at small momentum transfer $q$ but contributes substantially to the cross sections measured at $\theta = 165 ^{\circ}$ for $0.6 < q_{\rm eff} < 0.9$ fm$^{-1}$ ($40 \le E_i \le 70$ MeV) and leads to a very good agreement with experiment. The electric response is of longitudinal $C2$ type for $\theta \le 175 ^{\circ}$ but becomes almost purely transverse $E2$ for larger backward angles. The transverse $E2$ response remains comparable with the $M1$ response for $q_{\rm eff} > 1.2$ fm$^{-1}$ ($E_i > 100$ MeV) and even dominant for $E_i > 200$ MeV. This happens even at large backward angles $\theta > 175 ^{\circ}$, where the $M1$ dominance is limited to the lower $q$ region.Comment: RevTeX, 19 pages, 8 figures included Accepted for publication in Phys Rev

High-energy scissors mode

All the orbital M1 excitations, at both low and high energies, obtained from a rotationally invariant QRPA, represent the fragmented scissors mode. The high-energy M1 strength is almost purely orbital and resides in the region of the isovector giant quadrupole resonance. In heavy deformed nuclei the high-energy scissors mode is strongly fragmented between 17 and 25 MeV (with uncertainties arising from the poor knowledge of the isovector potential). The coherent scissors motion is hindered by the fragmentation and $B(M1) < 0.25 \; \mu^2_N$ for single transitions in this region. The $(e,e^{\prime})$ cross sections for excitations above 17 MeV are one order of magnitude larger for E2 than for M1 excitations even at backward angles.Comment: 20 pages in RevTEX, 5 figures (uuencoded,put with 'figures') accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

The effects of deformation and pairing correlations on nuclear charge form factor

A set of moderately deformed $s-d$ shell nuclei is employed for testing the reliability of the nuclear ground state wave functions which are obtained in the context of a BCS approach and offer a simultaneous consideration of deformation and pairing correlations effects. In this method, the mean field is assumed to be an axially symmetric Woods-Saxon potential and the effective two-body interaction is a monopole pairing force. As quantities of main interest we have chosen the nuclear form factors, the occupancies of the active (surface) orbits and the Fermi sea depletion, which provide quite good tests for microscopic descriptions of nuclei within many body theories. For our comparisons with results emerging from other similar methods, an axially deformed harmonic oscillator field is also utilized.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 2 table

Self-Consistent Velocity Dependent Effective Interactions

The theory of self-consistent effective interactions in nuclei is extended for a system with a velocity dependent mean potential. By means of the field coupling method, we present a general prescription to derive effective interactions which are consistent with the mean potential. For a deformed system with the conventional pairing field, the velocity dependent effective interactions are derived as the multipole pairing interactions in doubly-stretched coordinates. They are applied to the microscopic analysis of the giant dipole resonances (GDR's) of ${}^{148,154}Sm$, the first excited $2^+$ states of Sn isotopes and the first excited $3^-$ states of Mo isotopes. It is clarified that the interactions play crucial roles in describing the splitting and structure of GDR peaks, in restoring the energy weighted sum rule, and in reducing the values of $B(E\lambda)$.Comment: 35 pages, RevTeX, 7 figures (available upon request), to appear in Phys.Rev.

Spin M1 excitations in deformed nuclei from self-consistent Hartree-Fock plus random-phase approximation

We present a method to study spin magnetic dipole excitations in deformed nuclei within the quasiparticle random phase approximation based on self-consistent Hartree-Fock mean fields and residual interactions derived from the same effective two-body force. We perform a comprehensive study covering different Skyrme forces and various mass regions, and discussing the role of the mean field and of the residual interaction. An overall agreement with experimental data is obtained with the SG2 force. We study the systematics and the deformation dependence of the spin M1 strength distributions of K-pi=1(+) excitations. It is found for the first time that the summed spin MI strength obeys a quadratic dependence on deformation in the two isotope chains studied, Nd-142,Nd-146,Nd-148,Nd-150 and Sm-144,Sm-148,Sm-150,Sm-152,Sm-154.The work is supported by the EC program ‘‘Human Capital and Mobility’’ under Contracts No. CHRX-CT 93-0323 and CHRX-CT 94- 0562. P.S. and E.M.G. are indebted to DGICYT ~Spain! for partial financial support under Contract No. 92/0021-C02-01.Peer reviewe