Low-energy multipole response in nuclei at finite temperature

TL;DR

This paper investigates how nuclear multipole responses evolve with temperature up to 2 MeV using a self-consistent finite-temperature RPA, revealing new low-energy excitations due to thermal effects and unblocking mechanisms.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed finite-temperature RPA approach based on relativistic energy density functionals to analyze temperature-dependent nuclear excitations and structures.

Findings

Additional low-energy transition strength appears at T=1-2 MeV.

Thermal unblocking causes low-energy excitations near the Fermi level.

Predicted low-energy dipole strength in $^{60,62}$Ni at finite temperature.

Abstract

The multipole response of nuclei at temperatures T=0-2 MeV is studied using a self-consistent finite-temperature RPA (random phase approximation) based on relativistic energy density functionals. Illustrative calculations are performed for the isoscalar monopole and isovector dipole modes and, in particular, the evolution of low-energy excitations with temperature is analyzed, including the modification of pygmy structures. Both for the monopole and dipole modes, in the temperature range T=1-2 MeV additional transition strength appears at low energies because of thermal unblocking of single-particle orbitals close to the Fermi level. A concentration of dipole strength around 10 MeV excitation energy is predicted in $^{60,62}$Ni, where no low-energy excitations occur at zero temperature. The principal effect of finite temperature on low-energy strength that is already present at zero temperature, e.g. in $^{68}$Ni and $^{132}$Sn, is the spreading of this structure to even lower energy and the appearance of states that correspond to thermally unblocked transitions.