HNPS Proceedings

Vol. 2, 1991

SPECTROSCOPY IN A ROTATING DEFORMED

NUCLEUS

Papadopoulos C.
Vlastou R.
http://dx.doi.org/10.12681/hnps.2857

Copyright © 1991 C. T. Papadopoulos, R. Vlastou

To cite this article:

Papadopoulos, & Vlastou (1991). SPECTROSCOPY IN A ROTATING DEFORMED NUCLEUS. HNPS Proceedings, 2,
295-307.

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 295

SPECTROSCOPY IN A ROTATING DEFORMED NUCLEUS

CT. PAPADOPOULOS* and R. VLASTOU

National Technical University of Athens, Athens 157 73, Greece

Abstract

Recent advances in the physics of nuclei at high spin are presented. In

particular the new phenomena observed by the latest generation of τ-rays
spectrometers are discussed. An overview of experimental and theoretical
treatment of "backbending·'' effect, quasiparticle alignment and band crossing
is described in more detail. The outlines of the Cranked Shell Model, which is
a successful!frameworkfor the interpretation of experimental data, are also
reported.

* Presented by CT. Papadopoulos

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1. Introduction

In the past decade major advances nave been achieved in the spectro-
scopic study of the nucleus due to the new generation of 7-ray spectrometers
of high resolution1^ (47r-arrays of escape suppressed Ge-detectors) as well as
to the high energy heavy ion beams to produce nuclei at high angular momen-
tum by fusion-evaporation reactions. Thus the 7-ray spectroscopy has been
extended to the study of nuclei in "extreme" conditions like the fast rotating
nuclei, nuclei far from the J-etabiiity line, nuclei at high-spin, super-deformed
nuclei (a:b=2) and hyper-deformed nuclei (a:b=3).
The physics of a nucleus at high-spin is just ordinary nuclear physics.
However, the nucleus under different conditions exhibits new interesting phe-
nomena, as the Î(backbending}' effect, the pair correlation, the band termi-
nations etc. The Coriolis and centrifugal forces in these fast rotating and
deformed nuclei play a decisive role in the derivation of these phenomena.
Most of the experimental data an high spin spectroscopy refer to states near
the yrast line, so in spite of the high energy of the nucleus the density of the
levels is small and the nucleus is "cold".

2. Theoretical and experimental basis

The atomic nucleus is a many body quantum system with a finite number
of strongly interacting fermions. The contribution of the pair correlation
between the fermions, gives rise to the superâuid liquid drop behaviour of
the nucleus. Gross properties of the nucleus, as mass and binding energy, are
well reproduced by this liquid drop concept. The strong interaction between
the nucléons is thus weak enough to allow them to behave as independent
particles, but sufficiently strong to allow a finite number of valence nucléons
to influence the nuclear shape. So. deformed nuclei can be generated by a few
nucléons moving outside of dosed shells and occupying anisotropic orbits.
Independent particle motion can be treated by a number of approxima-

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 297

tions to the miciear potential. The most important of them are illustrated
in Fig. 1 (taken from rei. 2). The spectrum of energy levels corresponding
to independent particle motion, becomes increasingly complex by introducing
more realistic approximations to the nuclear potential.

(ir.cn

N=r-!:>->

€ - fiCü-

I Ite n i Woods Shtl Modti ODooity Corioiis » Centnf uqai

Osai Soxon i S dtformtd

Fig. 1. The spectrum of Ν = 2 (or s-d) shell independent particle

states m a variety of potential* describing the nucleus.

In the single-particle levels of the deformed harmonic oscillator large gaps

appear causing extra stability as the quadrupoie deformation e of the nucleus
gets bigger. In addition the Corioiis and centrifugal forces acting when a
deformed nucleus is rotated, split the two-fold degeneracy of the Nilsson levels.
The resulting energy levels are labeled by the conserved quantum numbers
parity (τ m + or -) and signature (a = +1/2 or -1/2).
According to the suggestions of ref. 3 a pair of nucleone in a high j
• orbital can be broken and aligned along the axis of rotation, causing the
well known "backbend" in the energy sequence of rotational 7-rays. This
alignment occurs at rotationalfrequencieswhere the Corioiis force is sufficient

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 298

to overcome the pairing force.

The enect of Corioiis and centrifugal forces to the spectrum of energy
levels if strongest on the highly-alignable high-;, low-Ω arhitals, lowering
them to the Fermi-levei from shells normally much higher in energy (intruder
arbitals). The form of the nuclear potential can thus strongly influence the
independent particle energy spectrum giving rise to new shells and new phe­
nomena and driving the nucleus to extreme deformations where they can be
stabilized by the nuclear rotation.
The aim of the high-spin spectroscopy is to provide information concern­
ing the correlation between the macroscopic parameters (size, shape, surface
diffusen.ess. pairing energy, moment of inertia, rotational frequency etc) and
the microscopic configuration (proton and neutron numbers, fermi energy,
particle configuration etc). This entails investigation of detailed properties
of discrete energy levels of nuclei, such as excitation energy, spin, magnetic
dipole moment, electric quadrupoie moment etc.

3. Backbend and particle alignments

When a deformed nucleus with moment of inertia 3, is rotated with a

frequency - (Fig. 2) the rotational energy is classically ER — 1/23ω2 and
quantum mechanically ER = (h2/2J) IR{IR + 1), as the rotational angular
momentum is I\ = J2ω2. Hence E2 electric quadrupoie transitions between
two rotational states (IR —• IR —2) with AIR = 2 will have a photon energy
ΕΊ = (h2/ J) (2IR — 1). Thus the energies of the 7-rays are approximatelly
ΕΊ a (2îi/J) IR ~ 21iu and will increase linearly with the rotational
component of the angular momentum and with rotational frequency.
As an example, the spectrum of 7-rays from the yrast states in the
nucleus13' Er1 ) is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that initially Ey increases
with spin up to I=12 + . However, the energy of the 7-raye transitions starts
to decrease up to spin 16 "p and then increases again, thus producing the well
known ijackbend". As suggested in ref. 3) the Corioiis force Fe *~ ϋ χ ώ

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 299

actinz an a pair of nucléons in the highest j orbital tends to separate them

(see Fig. 4).

X*

Fig. 2

As the nucleus rotates taster, the Corioiis force becomes sufficient (of the
ordex of 0.5 MeV) to overcome the pairing correlation energy
(Δ ~ lMeV) and the pair is broken. The two nucléons align their angular
momentum j s with the axis χ σί rotation so that the total angular momen­
tum I = IR + ;'r and the rotational angular momentum IR then decreases.
This in turn lowers the 7-ray energy between states at well as the rotational
frequency ω, producing the "backbend" in 7-ray spectra seen in Fig. 3. In
158
Er, at I =s 12"*" an alignment of a pair of z'u/2 neutrons takes place. Then,
as it can be seen from Fig. 3, another backbend is observed at about I = 28+,
which can be attributed to the alignment of a pair of hn/2 protons. Between
spins 38+ and 40 + the nucleus becomes energetically favourable to change its
shape from prolate to oblate. There is another sudden decrease in the 7-ray
energy at 40+ as all the four valence protons align and finally all the valence
nucléons are aligned at spin 46+.

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 300

4000
158-,
er
(Λ
•—

Ζ
§ 3000 V I , „ , MJGMMNT
Ü 2*
U.
Ο
r\tt,ut*uGMiBn
,β
S 2000 t- Γ-—Π"~^
2 MNJtO*
3
Ζ
ΤζΗΜΝΑΠΟΝ

1000 PHASE CHANGE

250 500 750 1QQQ 1250 1500

ε γ (K.v)

Fig. 3. Spectrum of yrast 7-rayj m 1 5 1 Er tip to spin 46. The alignment

of a pair of ΐχ3/2 neutrons and of ^1/2 protons, the prolate to oblate phase
change and the band termination are indicated. The figure is taken from
ref>).

Appait from the 7-ray spectra, the backbending effect can also be il­
lustrated in the plots of the total angular momentum It or the moment of
inertia S with respect to the rotational frequency ω.
It is apparent from the above discussion that the experimentally ob­
served discontinuities in the rotating deformed nuclei are strongly related to
excitations of intrinsic states of the nucleus.

4. The Cranked Shell Model

The theory of the alignment of quasiparticles in a deformed nucleus, as

developed by Bengtsson and ïrauendorf**, gave a particularly elegant and suc-
cessful framework to interpret the experimental data. This, so called, Cranked

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 301

Sheil Model is based on the Hartree-Fock-Bogoiyubovformalismwhich leads

to the description of the rotating nucleus in terms of quaai-particles (which
are mixtures of both particle and hole states) moving in a deformed uniformly
rotating potential about the x-axis (z being the symmetry axis).

Fig. 4.

The properties of the nudeonic motion in a potential cranked about

the intrinsic x-axis with a frequency of Ηώ is obtained from the cranking
h ami i toni an, considered in the rotating frame h' — hap-iujx, where htp is the
single-particle hamiltonian in the laboratory frame and j x is the component
of the single particle angular momentum an the rotational x-axis. The term
uijx represents the centrifugal and Corioiis forces acting an the nucléon. The
eigen values c' = etp-uijx of h' are referred to as the single particle energies
in the rotating system or the "routhiana". The rotational alignment of a
single particle is given bv:

' ·=-£
For heavier nuclei, where the pairing correlation energy Δ is larger than

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 302

h' = hfcp. - Δ(Ρ%Ρ') - X N - ω]

ie„-xi
I e'«( h ω )

OL

2 4
ft ω (MeV)

Fig. 5. Spectra of Nilsson states (left), qaasiparticle energies, Eu, for

the Niîsson model plus pairing (center), and routhians, e', as a function of Κω

(right) indicating the effects of pairing and rotation on independent-particle

motion in a deformed potential. The hamtltoman for independent'particle

motion m a rotating deformed potential is given at the top of the figure, and

the various terms associated with each predicted spectrum are indicated. These

spectra were calculated assuming ei =B 0.242, t\ — η — 0.0 and Δη = 0.87

MeV and are appropriate for the u = I quasineutron spectra of ltsYb. The

figure is taken from ref. 2.

the average spacing of the independent particle states, it is necessary to in­

clude the enects of pairing expiicity in the ha.mil toni an

h! = hsp - \N - Δ ( ρ + + p ~ ) - ω; Γ , (2)

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 303

where p T and p~ are the two particle creation and annihilation operators,
N' ia the particle number operator (eigenvalue Ν for particle states and -N
for hole states) and Λ is the chemical potential (represents the average Fermi
level corresponding to the appropriate particle number).

Fig. 5 illustrates the effects cf pairing and rotation on independent-

particle motion in a deformed potential The right part of the figure demon­
strates the routhians e', eigen values cf the cranked hamiltonian h' of eq. (2),
as a function of flu. The style cf lines and the letter labels indicate the parity
and signature of the quasi-ρ arti de trajectories as described in Table I

lable I
Letter labels and corresponding Parity·Signature labels
used to identify the one·quasiparticle routhians

Parity - signature label

Letter label neutrons orotons

A (+, +1/2) (-, -1/2)

Β (+, -1/2) (-, +1/2)
C (+, +1/2) (-, -1/2)
D (+, -1/2) (-, +1/2)
E (-, +1/2) (+, -1/2)
F (-, -1/2) (+, +1/2)

Only positive eigenvalues are plotted, since the information is repeated

for negative e' due to the symmetry of HFB equations. Every configuration
corresponding to a certain distribution of quasiparticles over the trajectories
is associated with a rotational band. ΊΊχβ ground-state band or g-band of
the system corresponds to zero quaaiparticle configuration (referred to as a
quaaiparticle vacuum state). Excitations of the system above the quaaiparti­
cle vacuum-state energy in the rotating coordinate frame are constructed by
placing one or more quasiparticles into unoccupied states of positive eigenval­
ues leaving the conjugate state free. Different bands can cross at certain ro-

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 304

Utionaifrequenciescalled crossing frequencies. The band crossing is strongly

related to the characteristic multivalued behaviour exhibited by the angular
momentum and the moment of inertia, the so called "backbending effect".
The first excited rotational band crossed with the ground state band is called
the ''Stockholm* or S band.
It is apparent from fig. 5 that the levels with the highest slopes, such
as levels A and B, play an important role in the behaviour of the rotating
system, as they are easiest to align (see eq. (1)). The abrupt change in the
slope corresponds to a rapid increase in nuclear alignment and therefore to a
backbending.
For example, the slopes of curves A and Β change sign at a rotational
frequency ω ~ 0.23 MeV and the vacuum contribution to the total angular
momentum increases by the amount given by the change in slope according
to eq. (1). Moreover the total excitation of the S-Band (defined by levels A
and Β occupied by quasiparticles) equals c£' +e£* 2 0 and thus the S-band
crosses the ground-state band at u>e, becoming yrast (AB crossing). For an
odd-nucieon system the odd particle occupies the lowest level, for example
level A in fig. 5, while level Β is empty. It then follows from the properties
of HFB solutions that the conjugate state (which is not shown in fig. 5) -A
is empty, while -B is occupied. Thus the gain of alignment coming from the
change in slope of -B is compensated exactly by the loss in level A, producing
no jump in angular momentum and consequently no backbending. This effect
is referred to as "blocking'*' of the backbending an the yrast line by the odd
nucléon.

5. Analysis of experimental data

In order to study the single-particle motion in a rotating system it is

necessary to separate the energies associated with the single particle motion
and the collective rotation. Further, in order to compare the experimental
data with the cranked shell model, the experimentally observed excitation

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énergies E and angular momentum I must be transformed into the equivalent

quantities in the rotating frame, the routians E' and the angular frequency
ω.
The angularfrequencyof a rotation about the x-axis at the discrete inter­
mediate spin value / is obtained from the observed energy difference between
two adjacent members of the rotational band by means of the relationship:

uyi
> wi + i) - ui-1) ^'

where h{I) represents the projection of the total angular momentum an the
rotational axis and can be obtained from the total angular momentum / and
its projection an the symmetry axis Κ according to the expression:

2
J, = y/îïTh/ψ - Κ

The energy in the rotatingframe,Le. the routhian E' (I), is defined for the
transition 7 + 1 - ^ i - l a i follows:

E\I) = \{E{I +1) + E(I - 1)] - ω(Ι)Ιχ(Ι)

The routhians E'(I) contain the energy associated with both the collective
rotation and the quaaiparticle excitation, further, the angular momentum Ix
also contains both the rotational and quasiparticle contributions. However,
in the analysis by means of the independent quasiparticles only the excitation
spectra rather than the absolute energies are of interest. So it is necessary to
isolate the quasiparticle routhians t' and the quasiparticle alignment i from
those associated with the collective rotation. This is achieved by referring the
experimental routhians and alignments to a reference configuration. Usually
the ground state of the even-even nucleus is chosen at such a reference since it
contains no quasiparticle excitations. The moment of inertia of the reference
5
configuration is often parametrized according to the Harris formula * :

J = J0 + JlUJ2

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 ουυ

The reference energy Eg and the reference projection of the angular momen­
tum on the rotation axis Ixg axe given by:

and
Ι„(ω) = (9τ#+ω*3ι)«

The quasiparticle routhians and alignments are therefore given by:

e' = E'-Eg ,

This article reviews some of the new physics that has been revealed in
the-structure of nuclei by the latest generation of 7-ray spectrometer arrays.
The subjects presented here are closely related to the experimental work
undertaken at Daresbury Laboratory in an extented scientific collaboration
between 9 European laboratories financially supported by the EEC (ESSA-
30 collaboration). The aim of this collaboration was the systematic study of
fast rotating rare earth nuclei in the region of A ~ 170 at high spins. The
Athens group, consisted of C.A. Kalfas, S. Kossionides and the authors, in
collaboration with the Stockholm group undertook the study of the region
of Re and Os isotopes8, r ) . A part of this work, the study of
173
0 s will be
presented in the next contribution by R. Vlastou. Our group has now been
enlarged by including two more members, Dr. S. Harissopulos and Mr. N.
Fotiades, and is still heavily involved in the high-spin 7-epectroscopy.

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5. S.M. Harris, Phys. Rev. 138(1965)B509.
6. L. Hildingseon, W. Klamra, Th. Lindblad, CG. Lindon, CA. Kalfas,
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