Overview of Seniority Isomers

TL;DR

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of seniority isomers in nuclear physics, discussing their classification, underlying concepts, and factors affecting their occurrence, including seniority and generalized seniority, with insights into where seniority mixing inhibits isomerism.

Contribution

It offers a detailed synthesis of the concepts, classifications, and conditions related to seniority isomers, highlighting the role of seniority and generalized seniority in their formation and suppression.

Findings

Seniority isomers are classified based on hindrance mechanisms.

Seniority and generalized seniority are key to understanding isomer formation.

Seniority mixing can prevent the occurrence of isomers.

Abstract

Nuclear isomers are the metastable excited states of nuclei. The isomers can be categorized into a few classes including spin, seniority, \emph{K}, shape and fission isomers depending upon the hindrance mechanisms. In this paper, we aim to present an overview of seniority isomers, which is a category related to the seniority quantum number. The discussion is mainly based on the concepts of seniority and generalized seniority. Various aspects of seniority isomers and their whereabouts have been covered along with the situations where seniority mixing prevents the isomerism.