Effective field theory for deformed atomic nuclei

TL;DR

This paper develops an effective field theory for deformed atomic nuclei that generalizes the collective model, accurately describing rotational bands and interband transitions with higher-order corrections.

Contribution

It introduces a model-independent EFT framework that extends the collective model to include finer nuclear structure details and finite spin effects.

Findings

Reproduces collective model results at leading order

Accounts for variation of moment of inertia with band head

Describes small interband E2 transition magnitudes

Abstract

We present an effective field theory (EFT) for a model-independent description of deformed atomic nuclei. In leading order this approach recovers the well-known results from the collective model by Bohr and Mottelson. When higher-order corrections are computed, the EFT accounts for finer details such as the variation of the moment of inertia with the band head and the small magnitudes of interband $E2$ transitions. For rotational bands with a finite spin of the band head, the EFT is equivalent to the theory of a charged particle on the sphere subject to a magnetic monopole field.