Nuclear tetrahedral configurations at spin zero

TL;DR

This paper investigates the potential for stable tetrahedral nuclear deformations at spin zero using advanced nuclear modeling techniques, finding that such configurations are unlikely to be clearly identified due to mode mixing.

Contribution

It applies the Skyrme-HFBCS and GCM methods to analyze tetrahedral deformations in nuclei, providing a detailed quantum mechanical assessment of their stability and excitation energies.

Findings

Tetrahedral deformations are strongly mixed with axial octupole modes.

Clear identification of tetrahedral shapes is unlikely.

Tetrahedral excitation energies are systematically lower than axial octupole energies.

Abstract

The possibility of the existence of stable tetrahedral deformations at spin zero is investigated using the Skyrme-HFBCS approach and the generator coordinate method (GCM). The study is limited to nuclei in which the tetrahedral mode has been predicted to be favored on the basis of non self-consistent models. Our results indicate that a clear identification of tetrahedral deformations is unlikely as they are strongly mixed with the axial octupole mode. However, the excitation energies related to the tetrahedral mode are systematically lower than those of the axial octupole mode in all the nuclei included in this study.