Coexistence of normal, super-, and hyper-deformation in nuclei: A study with angular momentum projection

TL;DR

This paper investigates the coexistence of normal, super-, and hyper-deformed nuclear shapes in A~110 nuclei using angular momentum projection, revealing multiple energy minima and predicting spectra for specific isotopes.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed study of shape coexistence in A~110 nuclei with angular momentum projection and predicts super- and hyper-deformed spectra for 110Pd.

Findings

Identification of three distinct energy minima corresponding to different deformations.

Prediction of super- and hyper-deformed spectra for 110Pd.

Suggestion that neighboring nuclei also exhibit similar shape coexistence.

Abstract

Angular-momentum-projected energy surface calculations for A~110 nuclei indicate three distinct energy minima occurring at different angular-momenta. These correspond to normal, super-, and hyper-deformed shapes coexisting in one nucleus. 110Pd is studied in detail, with a quantitative prediction on super- and hyper-deformed spectra by the Projected Shell Model calculation. It is suggested that several other neighboring nuclei in the A-110 mass region, with the neutron number around 64, also exhibit clear super- and hyper-deformation minima.