No Arabic abstract
The quartet condensation model (QCM) is extended for the treatment of isovector and isoscalar pairing in odd-odd N=Z nuclei. In the extended QCM approach the lowest states of isospin T=1 and T=0 in odd-odd nuclei are described variationally by trial functions composed by a proton-neutron pair appended to a condensate of 4-body operators. The latter are taken as a linear superposition of an isovector quartet, built by two isovector pairs coupled to the total isospin T=0, and two collective isoscalar pairs. In all pairs the nucleons are distributed in time-reversed single-particle states of axial symmetry. The accuracy of the trial functions is tested for realistic pairing Hamiltonians and odd-odd N=Z nuclei with the valence nucleons moving above the cores $^{16}$O, $^{40}$Ca and $^{100}$Sn. It is shown that the extended QCM approach is able to predict with high accuracy the energies of the lowest T=0 and T=1 states. The present calculations indicate that in these states the isovector and the isoscalar pairing correlations coexist together, with the former playing a dominant role.
We propose a particle number conserving formalism for the treatment of isovector-isoscalar pairing in nuclei with $N>Z$. The ground state of the pairing Hamiltonian is described by a quartet condensate to which is appended a pair condensate formed by the neutrons in excess. The quartets are built by two isovector pairs coupled to the total isospin $T=0$ and two collective isoscalar proton-neutron pairs. To probe this ansatz for the ground state we performed calculations for $N>Z$ nuclei with the valence nucleons moving above the cores $^{16}$O, $^{40}$Ca and $^{100}$Sn. The calculations are done with two pairing interactions, one state-independent and the other of zero range, which are supposed to scatter pairs in time-revered orbits. It is proven that the ground state correlation energies calculated within this approach are very close to the exact results provided by the diagonalization of the pairing Hamiltonian. Based on this formalism we have shown that moving away of N=Z line, both the isoscalar and the isovector proton-neutron pairing correlations remain significant and that they cannot be treated accurately by models based on a proton-neutron pair condensate.
The binding energies of even-even and odd-odd N=Z nuclei are compared. After correcting for the symmetry energy we find that the lowest T=1 state in odd-odd N=Z nuclei is as bound as the ground state in the neighboring even-even nucleus, thus providing evidence for isovector np pairing. However, T=0 states in odd-odd N=Z nuclei are several MeV less bound than the even-even ground states. We associate this difference with a pair gap and conclude that there is no evidence for an isoscalar pairing condensate in N=Z nuclei.
We study the interplay between the isoscalar (T=0) and isovector (T=1) pairing correlations in N=Z odd-odd nuclei from 14N to 58Cu by using three-body model calculations. The strong spin-triplet T=0 pairing correlation dominates in the ground state of 14N, 18F, 30P, and 58Cu with the spin-parity J^{pi}=1+, which can be well reproduced by the present calculations. The magnetic dipole and Gamow-Teller transitions are found to be strong in 18F and 42Sc as a manifestation of SU(4) symmetry in the spin-isospin space. We also discuss the spin-quadrupole transitions in these nuclei.
Neutron-proton (np-) pairing is expected to play an important role in the N Z nuclei. In general, it can have isovector and isoscalar character. The existence of isovector np-pairing is well established. On the contrary, it is still debated whether there is an isoscalar np-pairing. The review of the situation with these two types of pairing with special emphasis on the isoscalar one is presented. It is concluded that there are no substantial evidences for the existence of isoscalar np-pairing.
$alpha$ decay is usually associated with both ground and low-lying isomeric states of heavy and superheavy nuclei, and the unpaired nucleon plays a key role on $alpha$ decay. In this work, we systematically studied the $alpha$ decay half-lives of odd-$A$ nuclei, including both favored and unfavored $alpha$ decay within the two-potential approach based on the isospin dependent nuclear potential. The $alpha$ preformation probabilities are estimated by using an analytic formula taking into account the shell structure and proton-neutron correlation, and the parameters are obtained through the $alpha$ decay half-lives data. The results indicate that in general the $alpha$ preformation probabilities of even-$Z$, odd-$N$ nuclei are slightly smaller than the odd-$Z$, even-$N$ ones. We found that the odd-even staggering effect may play a more important role on spontaneous fission than $alpha$ decay. The calculated half-lives can well reproduce the experimental data.