$^{229m}$Th isomer from a nuclear model perspective

TL;DR

This paper investigates the emergence of the low-lying $^{229m}$Th nuclear isomer using a nuclear structure model that emphasizes the interplay of collective and single-particle dynamics, highlighting the importance of octupole deformation.

Contribution

The study introduces a nuclear model that explains the $^{229m}$Th isomer as a result of specific quadrupole-octupole deformations and predicts its properties, offering a general approach for similar isomers.

Findings

Isomer appears only within a limited deformation space.

Model confirms previous predictions for transition probabilities.

Magnetic moment of the ground state shows limited variation.

Abstract

The physical conditions for the emergence of the extremely low-lying nuclear isomer $^{229m}$Th at approximately 8 eV are investigated in the framework of our recently proposed nuclear structure model. Our theoretical approach explains the $^{229m}$Th-isomer phenomenon as the result of a very fine interplay between collective quadrupole-octupole and single-particle dynamics in the nucleus. We find that the isomeric state can only appear in a rather limited model space of quadrupole-octupole deformations in the single-particle potential, with the octupole deformation being of a crucial importance for its formation. Within this deformation space the model-described quantities exhibit a rather smooth behaviour close to the line of isomer-ground state quasi-degeneracy determined by the crossing of the corresponding single-particle orbitals. Our comprehensive analysis confirms the previous model predictions for reduced transition probabilities and the isomer magnetic moment, while showing a possibility for limited variation in the ground-state magnetic moment theoretical value. These findings prove the reliability of the model and suggest that the same dynamical mechanism could manifest in other actinide nuclei giving a general prescription for the search and exploration of similar isomer phenomena.