Intrinsic spin distributions in multinucleon transfer reactions

TL;DR

This paper develops a time-dependent covariant density functional theory with angular momentum projection to study intrinsic spin distributions in multinucleon transfer reactions, revealing broad spin distributions from orbital angular momentum conversion and analyzing correlations via entanglement entropy.

Contribution

The work introduces a novel combination of TD-CDFT and angular momentum projection to analyze intrinsic spins in multinucleon transfer reactions, providing new insights into spin distribution mechanisms.

Findings

Broad intrinsic spin distributions generated in MNT reactions.

Conversion of orbital angular momentum into intrinsic spin due to friction.

Use of mutual information to analyze spin correlations.

Abstract

Time-dependent covariant density functional theory (TD-CDFT) combined with angular momentum projection is developed and applied to study multinucleon transfer (MNT) reactions, with a focus on the intrinsic angular momentum distributions of the final fragments. Using the illustrative reaction $^{40}$Ca + $^{208}$Pb across a range of impact parameters, we find that the MNT process generates broad distributions of intrinsic spins. These distributions arise from the conversion of relative orbital angular momentum into intrinsic spin due to frictional interactions between the colliding nuclei. Additionally, mutual information (entanglement Shannon entropy) is employed to analyze correlations between the intrinsic spins of the fragments.