Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments

The paper reviews the recent progress in the description of isospin-symmetry breaking within the nuclear shell model and applications to actual problems related to the structure and decay of exotic neutron-deficient nuclei and nuclei along the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3...

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Main Author: Nadezda A. Smirnova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-03-01
Series:Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2624-8174/5/2/26
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author Nadezda A. Smirnova
author_facet Nadezda A. Smirnova
author_sort Nadezda A. Smirnova
collection DOAJ
description The paper reviews the recent progress in the description of isospin-symmetry breaking within the nuclear shell model and applications to actual problems related to the structure and decay of exotic neutron-deficient nuclei and nuclei along the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>Z</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> line, where <i>N</i> is the neutron number and <i>Z</i> the atomic number. The review recalls the fundamentals of the isospin formalism for two-nucleon and many-nucleon systems, including quantum numbers, the spectrum’s structure and selection rules for weak and electromagnetic transitions; and at the end, summarizes experimental signatures of isospin-symmetry breaking effects, which motivated efforts towards the creation of a relevant theoretical framework to describe those phenomena. The main approaches to construct accurate isospin-nonconserving Hamiltonians within the shell model are briefly described and recent advances in the description of the structure and (isospin-forbidden) decay modes of neutron-deficient nuclei are highlighted. The paper reviews major implications of the developed theoretical tools to (i) the fundamental interaction studies on nuclear decays and (ii) the estimation of the rates of nuclear reactions that are important for nuclear astrophysics. The shell model is shown to be one of the most suitable approaches to describing isospin-symmetry breaking in nuclear states at low energies. Further efforts in extending and refining the description to larger model spaces, and in developing first-principle theories to deal with isospin-symmetry breaking in many-nucleon systems, seem to be indispensable steps towards our better understanding of nuclear properties in the precision era.
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spelling doaj.art-4eef88a74f08478da9519c0da02a768a2023-11-18T12:08:46ZengMDPI AGPhysics2624-81742023-03-015235238010.3390/physics5020026Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and DevelopmentsNadezda A. Smirnova0Laboratoire de Physique des Deux Infinis Bordeaux (LP2IB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules (CNRS/IN2P3), Université de Bordeaux, 33175 Gradignan, FranceThe paper reviews the recent progress in the description of isospin-symmetry breaking within the nuclear shell model and applications to actual problems related to the structure and decay of exotic neutron-deficient nuclei and nuclei along the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mi>N</mi><mo>=</mo><mi>Z</mi></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> line, where <i>N</i> is the neutron number and <i>Z</i> the atomic number. The review recalls the fundamentals of the isospin formalism for two-nucleon and many-nucleon systems, including quantum numbers, the spectrum’s structure and selection rules for weak and electromagnetic transitions; and at the end, summarizes experimental signatures of isospin-symmetry breaking effects, which motivated efforts towards the creation of a relevant theoretical framework to describe those phenomena. The main approaches to construct accurate isospin-nonconserving Hamiltonians within the shell model are briefly described and recent advances in the description of the structure and (isospin-forbidden) decay modes of neutron-deficient nuclei are highlighted. The paper reviews major implications of the developed theoretical tools to (i) the fundamental interaction studies on nuclear decays and (ii) the estimation of the rates of nuclear reactions that are important for nuclear astrophysics. The shell model is shown to be one of the most suitable approaches to describing isospin-symmetry breaking in nuclear states at low energies. Further efforts in extending and refining the description to larger model spaces, and in developing first-principle theories to deal with isospin-symmetry breaking in many-nucleon systems, seem to be indispensable steps towards our better understanding of nuclear properties in the precision era.https://www.mdpi.com/2624-8174/5/2/26nuclear shell modelisospin symmetry and its breakingstructure of neutron-deficient nucleisuperallowed Fermi beta decayfundamental interactionsastrophysical rp-process
spellingShingle Nadezda A. Smirnova
Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments
Physics
nuclear shell model
isospin symmetry and its breaking
structure of neutron-deficient nuclei
superallowed Fermi beta decay
fundamental interactions
astrophysical rp-process
title Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments
title_full Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments
title_fullStr Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments
title_full_unstemmed Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments
title_short Isospin-Symmetry Breaking within the Nuclear Shell Model: Present Status and Developments
title_sort isospin symmetry breaking within the nuclear shell model present status and developments
topic nuclear shell model
isospin symmetry and its breaking
structure of neutron-deficient nuclei
superallowed Fermi beta decay
fundamental interactions
astrophysical rp-process
url https://www.mdpi.com/2624-8174/5/2/26
work_keys_str_mv AT nadezdaasmirnova isospinsymmetrybreakingwithinthenuclearshellmodelpresentstatusanddevelopments