The statistical distributions of deformation in nuclear spectra

Yoram Alhassid, Yale University
Tuesday, Apr 17, 11:00 AM - Theory Seminar
1200 FRIB Laboratory

Abstract:  The dependence of statistical properties of nuclei on intrinsic deformation is an important input to dynamical nuclear processes such as fission. The auxiliary-field Monte Carlo (AFMC) method is a powerful technique for computing statistical properties of nuclei. However, the statistical distribution of intrinsic shapes is not readily accessible due to the formulation of AFMC in a spherical configuration-interaction shell-model approach. Instead, theory of deformation up to now has largely relied on a mean-field approximation which breaks rotational symmetry. We present a novel method for calculating the statistical distributions of intrinsic deformation within the rotationally invariant framework of the shell model, and show results for spherical, transitional, and strongly deformed nuclei.