Multistep shell model in the complex energy plane

TL;DR

This paper introduces a multistep shell model approach in the complex energy plane to analyze unbound nuclear states, successfully applying it to lithium isotopes and revealing their virtual and unbound nature.

Contribution

The paper develops and applies a multistep shell model in the complex energy plane to study continuum nuclear excitations, a novel approach for unbound nuclei analysis.

Findings

Ground state of 12Li is an antibound (virtual) state.

No bound or antibound state found in 13Li.

Method effectively analyzes unbound nuclear states.

Abstract

We have adopted the multistep shell model in the complex energy plane to study nuclear excitations occurring in the continuum part of the spectrum. In this method one proceeds by solving the shell model equations in a successive manner. That is, in each step one constructs the building blocks to be used in future steps. We applied this formalism to analyze the unbound nuclei $^{12,13}$Li starting from the one-particle states in $^{10}$Li and two-particle states in $^{11}$Li. In the former case the excitations correspond to the motion of three particles partitioned as the product of a one-particle and two-particle systems. The ground state of $^{12}$Li is thus calculated to be an antibound (virtual) state. In the four-particle system $^{13}$Li the states can be constructed as the coupling of two correlated pairs. We found that there is no bound or antibound state in $^{13}$Li.