Microscopic description of nuclear quantum phase transitions

TL;DR

This paper uses a relativistic mean-field approach to microscopically analyze nuclear shape phase transitions in Nd isotopes, capturing both general and critical point features of quantum shape transitions.

Contribution

It extends the relativistic mean-field framework to include symmetry restoration and deformation fluctuations, enabling detailed microscopic descriptions of nuclear shape phase transitions.

Findings

Successfully describes spherical to deformed shape transitions.

Captures singular properties at the quantum critical point.

Provides insights into excitation spectra and transition rates.

Abstract

The relativistic mean-field framework, extended to include correlations related to restoration of broken symmetries and to fluctuations of the quadrupole deformation, is applied to a study of shape transitions in Nd isotopes. It is demonstrated that the microscopic self-consistent approach, based on global effective interactions, can describe not only general features of transitions between spherical and deformed nuclei, but also the singular properties of excitation spectra and transition rates at the critical point of quantum shape phase transition.