https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/202429201001
Magnetic dipole γ-ray strength functions of heavy nuclei in the configuration-interaction shell model
1 Center for Theoretical Physics, Sloane Physics Laboratory, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA
2 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
* e-mail: yoram.alhassid@yale.edu
** e-mail: paul.fanto@yale.edu
*** e-mail: amercenne@lsu.edu
Published online: 14 March 2024
A low-energy enhancement (LEE) has been observed in the deexcitation γ-ray strength function (γSF) of compound nuclei. The LEE has been a subject of intense experimental and theoretical interest since its discovery, and, if the LEE persists in heavy neutron-rich nuclei, it would have significant effects on calculations of r-process nucleosynthesis. Standard configuration-interaction (CI) shell-model calculations in medium-mass nuclei have attributed the LEE to the magnetic dipole γSF but such calculations are computationally intractable in heavy nuclei. We review a combination of beyond-mean-field many-body methods within the framework of the CI shell model that enables the calculation of γSF in heavy nuclei, and discuss the recent theoretical identification of a LEE in the magnetic dipole γSF of lanthanide isotopes.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2024
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
