Nuclear chiral rotation induced by superfluidity

Abstract

The microscopic understanding on the influence of the pairing correlations or the superfluidity on the nuclear chiral rotation has been a longstanding and challenging problem. Based on the three-dimensional cranking covariant density functional theory, a shell-model-like approach with exact particle number conservation is implemented to take into account the pairing correlations and applied for the chiral doublet bands built on the configuration πh11/22⊗νh11/2−1 in 135Nd. The data available, including the I−ω relation, as well as the electromagnetic transition probabilities B(M1) and B(E2), are well reproduced. It is found that the superfluidity can reduce the critical frequency and make the chiral rotation easier. The mechanism is that the particle/hole alignments along the short/long axis are reduced by the pairing correlations, resulting in the enhanced preference of the collective rotation along the intermediate axis, and inducing the early appearance of the chiral rotation.

Keywords

• Nuclear chiral rotation
• Critical frequency
• Pairing correlations
• Covariant density functional theory
• Shell-model-like approach