Polarized Deformed Nuclei Studied via Coincidence Polarized Electron Scattering: The case of 21 Ne

Coincidence reactions of the type \svec{A}(\svec{e},e'N)B involving the scattering of polarized electrons from deformed polarized targets are discussed within the context of the plane--wave impulse approximation. A general expression for the polarized spectral function for transitions leaving the residual nucleus in discrete states is presented. General properties and angular symmetries exhibited by the polarization observables are discussed in detail. Results for unpolarized cross sections as well as for polarization ratios (asymmetries) are obtained for typical quasi--free kinematics. The dependences of the polarization observables on the bound neutron momentum, target polarization orientation, nuclear deformation and value of the momentum transfer $q$ are discussed in detail for various different kinematical situations.Comment: 37 pages in Plain TeX, MIT-CTP-209

Shapes and beta decay in proton rich Ge, Se, Kr and Sr isotopes

We study ground states and beta decay properties of the proton rich isotope chains Ge, Se, Kr, and Sr. We use a deformed selfconsistent HF+RPA approach with density-dependent effective interactions of Skyrme type. We find that most of the isotopes present two HF minima corresponding to two different shapes. In addition to static quadrupole moments and other ground state band properties, we present results for Gamow-Teller strength distributions, as well as for half-lives and summed strengths. The role of deformation is particularly emphasized.Comment: 29 pages Revtex, 19 PS figures, to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Nuclear structure calculations for two-neutrino double-beta decay

We study the two-neutrino double-beta decay in 76Ge, 116Cd, 128Te, 130Te, and 150Nd, as well as the two Gamow-Teller branches that connect the double-beta decay partners with the states in the intermediate nuclei. We use a theoretical microscopic approach based on a deformed selfconsistent mean field with Skyrme interactions including pairing and spin-isospin residual forces, which are treated in a proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation. We compare our results for Gamow-Teller strength distributions with experimental information obtained from charge-exchange reactions. We also compare our results for the two-neutrino double-beta decay nuclear matrix elements with those extracted from the measured half-lives. Both single-state and low-lying-state dominance hypotheses are analyzed theoretically and experimentally making use of recent data from charge-exchange reactions and beta decay of the intermediate nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1502.0588

Gamow-Teller strength distributions in Fe and Ni stable isotopes

We study Gamow-Teller strength distributions in some selected nuclei of particular Astrophysical interest within the iron mass region. The theoretical framework is based on a proton-neutron Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation built on a deformed selfconsistent mean field basis obtained from two-body density-dependent Skyrme forces. We compare our results to available experimental information obtained from (n,p) and (p,n) charge exchange reactions.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Warm dark matter sterile neutrinos in electron capture and beta decay spectra

We briefly review the motivation to search for sterile neutrinos in the keV mass scale, as dark matter candidates, and the prospects to find them in beta decay or electron capture spectra, with a global perspective. We describe the fundamentals of the neutrino flavor-mass eigenstate mismatch that opens the possibility of detecting sterile neutrinos in such ordinary nuclear processes. Results are shown and discussed for the effect of heavy neutrino emission in electron capture in Holmium 163 and in two isotopes of Lead, 202 and 205, as well as in the beta decay of Tritium. We study the de-excitation spectrum in the considered cases of electron capture and the charged lepton spectrum in the case of Tritium beta decay. For each of these cases, we define ratios of integrated transition rates over different regions of the spectrum under study, and give new results that may guide and facilitate the analysis of possible future measurements, paying particular attention to forbidden transitions in Lead isotopes.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Isospin mixing and Fermi transitions: Selfconsistent deformed mean field calculations and beyond

We study Fermi transitions and isospin mixing in an isotopic chain 70-78 Kr considering various approximations that use the same Skyrme-Hartree-Fock single particle basis. We study Coulomb effects as well as the effect of BCS and quasiparticle random phase approximation (QRPA) correlations. A measure of isospin mixing in the approximate ground state is defined by means of the expectation value of the isospin operator squared in N=Z nuclei (which is generalized to N different from Z nuclei). Starting from strict Hartree-Fock approach without Coulomb, it is shown that the isospin breaking is negligible, on the order of a few per thousand for (N-Z)=6, increasing to a few percent with Coulomb. Pairing correlations induce rather large isospin mixing and Fermi transitions of the forbidden type (beta- for NZ). The enhancement produced by BCS correlations is compensated to a large extent by QRPA correlations induced by isospin conserving residual interactions that tend to restore isospin symmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

The Spectral Function for Finite Nuclei in the Local Density Approximation

The spectral function for finite nuclei is computed within the framework of the Local Density Approximation, starting from nuclear matter spectral functions obtained with a realistic nucleon-nucleon interaction. The spectral function is decomposed into a single-particle part and a ''correlated'' part; the latter is treated in the local density approximation. As an application momentum distributions, quasi-particle strengths and overlap functions for valence hole states, and the light-cone momentum distribution in finite nuclei are computed.Comment: 21 pages + 9 figures available upon request, RevTex, preprint KVI-108

Theoretical mean field and experimental occupation probabilities in the double beta decay system 76Ge to 76Se

Usual Woods-Saxon single particle levels with BCS pairing are not able to reproduce the experimental occupation probabilities of the proton and neutron levels 1p_{3/2}, 1p_{1/2}, 0f_{5/2}, 0g_{9/2} in the double-beta decay system 76Ge to 76Se. Shifting down the 0g_{9/2} level by hand can explain the data but it is not satisfactory. Here it is shown that a selfconsistent Hartree-Fock+BCS approach with experimental deformations for 76Ge and 76Se may decisively improve the agreement with the recent data on occupation probabilities by Schiffer et al. and Kay et al. Best agreement with available data on 76Ge and 76Se, as well as on neighbor isotopes, is obtained when the spin-orbit strength for neutrons is allowed to be larger than that for protons. The two-neutrino double-beta decay matrix element is also shown to agree with data.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Ground-state properties and symmetry energy of neutron-rich and neutron-deficient Mg isotopes

A comprehensive study of various ground-state properties of neutron-rich and neutron-deficient Mg isotopes with $A$=20-36 is performed in the framework of the self-consistent deformed Skyrme-Hartree-Fock plus BCS method. The correlation between the skin thickness and the characteristics related with the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy is investigated for this isotopic chain following the theoretical approach based on the coherent density fluctuation model and using the Brueckner energy-density functional. The results of the calculations show that the behavior of the nuclear charge radii and the nuclear symmetry energy in the Mg isotopic chain is closely related to the nuclear deformation. We also study, within our theoretical scheme, the emergence of an "island of inversion" at neutron-rich $^{32}$Mg nucleus, that was recently proposed from the analyses of spectroscopic measurements of $^{32}$Mg low-lying energy spectrum and the charge rms radii of all magnesium isotopes in the $sd$ shell.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Physical Review