Triaxial shapes in even-even nuclei: A theoretical overview

TL;DR

This paper reviews theoretical predictions of triaxial shapes in even-even nuclei, identifying specific regions on the nuclear chart where pronounced triaxiality is favored, supported by various models and global calculations.

Contribution

It compiles and compares different theoretical approaches to identify regions of favored triaxiality in nuclei, highlighting the robustness of these predictions across models.

Findings

Pronounced triaxiality appears in specific regions on the nuclear chart.

Low triaxiality is found between these regions, consistent with the proxy-SU(3) model.

Global FRDM calculations support the robustness of triaxiality predictions.

Abstract

Triaxial shapes in even-even nuclei have been considered since the early days of the nuclear collective model. Although many theoretical approaches have been used over the years for their description, no effort appears to have been made for grouping them together and identifying regions on the nuclear chart where the appearance of triaxiality might be favored. In addition, over the last few years, discussion has started on the appearance of small triaxiality in nuclei considered so far as purely axial rotors. In the present work we collect the predictions made by various theoretical approaches and show that pronounced triaxiality appears to be favored within specific stripes on the nuclear chart, with low triaxiality being present in the regions between these stripes, in agreement with parameter-free predictions made by the proxy-SU(3) approximation to the shell model, based on the Pauli principle and the short-range nature of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. The robustness of triaxiality within these stripes is supported by global calculations made in the framework of the Finite-Range Droplet Model (FRDM), which is based on completely different assumptions and possesses parameters fitted in order to reproduce fundamental nuclear properties.