A new scheme for heavy nuclei: proxy-SU(3)

TL;DR

This paper introduces proxy-SU(3), a new fermionic approximation that restores SU(3) symmetry in heavy nuclei by leveraging nucleon-nucleon interaction properties and the Pauli principle, enhancing nuclear structure modeling.

Contribution

The paper presents the novel proxy-SU(3) scheme, a fermionic approximation that extends SU(3) symmetry to heavier nuclei where it was previously broken.

Findings

Proxy-SU(3) predicts new nuclear structure features.

The scheme accounts for short-range nucleon interactions.

It offers a new framework for heavy nuclei analysis.

Abstract

The SU(3) symmetry realized by J. P. Elliott in the sd nuclear shell is destroyed in heavier shells by the strong spin-orbit interaction. However, the SU(3) symmetry has been used for the description of heavy nuclei in terms of bosons in the framework of the Interacting Boson Approximation, as well as in terms of fermions using the pseudo-SU(3) approximation. We introduce a new fermionic approximation, called the proxy-SU(3), and we discuss how some of its novel predictions come out as a consequence of the short range of the nucleon-nucleon interaction and the Pauli principle.