No Arabic abstract
Although many random-phase approximation (RPA) calculations of the Gamow-Teller (GT) response exist, this is not the case for calculations going beyond the mean-field approximation. We apply a consistent model that includes the coupling of the GT resonance to low-lying vibrations, to nuclei of the $fp$ shell. Among other motivations, our goal is to see if the particle-vibration coupling can redistribute the low-lying GT$^+$ strength that is relevant for electron-capture processes in core-collapse supernova. We conclude that the lowering and fragmentation of that strength are consistent with the experimental findings and validate our model. However, the particle-vibration coupling cannot account for the quenching of the total value of the low-lying strength.
We develop a fully self-consistent subtracted second random-phase approximation for charge-exchange processes with Skyrme energy-density functionals. As a first application, we study Gamow-Teller excitations in the doubly-magic nucleus $^{48}$Ca, the lightest double-$beta$ emitter that could be used in an experiment, and in $^{78}$Ni, the single-beta-decay rate of which is known. The amount of Gamow-Teller strength below 20 or 30 MeV is considerably smaller than in other energy-density-functional calculations and agrees better with experiment in $^{48}$Ca, as does the beta-decay rate in $^{78}$Ni. These important results, obtained without textit{ad hoc} quenching factors, are due to the presence of two-particle -- two-hole configurations. Their density progressively increases with excitation energy, leading to a long high-energy tail in the spectrum, a fact that may have implications for the computation of nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double-$beta$ decay in the same framework.
The isovector dipole E1 strength in Mo isotopes with A=92,94,96,98,100 is analyzed within the self-consistent separable random-phase approximation (SRPA) model with Skyrme forces SkT6, SkM*, SLy6, and SkI3. The special attention is paid to the low-energy region near the particle thresholds (4-12 MeV), which is important for understanding of astrophysical processes. We show that, due to a compensation effect, the influence of nuclear deformation on E1 strength below 10-12 MeV is quite modest. At the same time, in agreement with previous predictions, the deformation increases the strength at higher energy. At 4-8 MeV the strength is mainly determined by the tail of E1 giant resonance. The four Skyrme forces differ in description of the whole giant resonance but give rather similar results below 12 MeV.
The scope of the paper is to apply a state-of-the-art beyond mean-field model to the description of the Gamow-Teller response in atomic nuclei. This topic recently attracted considerable renewed interest, due, in particular, to the possibility of performing experiments in unstable nuclei. We study the cases of $^{48}$Ca, $^{78}$Ni, $^{132}$Sn and $^{208}$Pb. Our model is based on a fully self-consistent Skyrme Hartree-Fock plus random phase approximation. The same Skyrme interaction is used to calculate the coupling between particles and vibrations, which leads to the mixing of the Gamow-Teller resonance with a set of doorway states and to its fragmentation. We compare our results with available experimental data. The microscopic coupling mechanism is also discussed in some detail.
The Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (QRPA) is used in evaluation of the total muon capture ratesfor the final nuclei participating in double-beta decay. Several variants of the method are used, depending on the size of the single particle model space used, or treatment of the initial bound muon wave function. The resulting capture rates are all reasonably close to each other. In particular, the variant that appears to be most realistic, results in rates in good agreement with the experimental values. There is no necessity for an empirical quenching of the axial current coupling constant $g_A$. Its standard value $g_A$ = 1.27 seems to be adequate.
We make use of a subtraction procedure, introduced to overcome double--counting problems in beyond--mean--field theories, in the second random--phase--approximation (SRPA) for the first time. This procedure guarantees the stability of SRPA (so that all excitation energies are real). We show that the method fits perfectly into nuclear density--functional theory. We illustrate applications to the monopole and quadrupole response and to low--lying $0^+$ and $2^+$ states in the nucleus $^{16}$O. We show that the subtraction procedure leads to: (i) results that are weakly cutoff dependent; (ii) a considerable reduction of the SRPA downwards shift with respect to the random--phase approximation (RPA) spectra (systematically found in all previous applications). This implementation of the SRPA model will allow a reliable analysis of the effects of 2 particle--2 hole configurations ($2p2h$) on the excitation spectra of medium--mass and heavy nuclei.