Introduction
In past decades, the location of the edge of the nuclear chart has become an important issue in nuclear physics. As is well known, the neutron-side drip line can be experimentally determined from oxygen isotopes up to Z=10 [1, 2]. Generally, nuclei that are far from the β stable line exhibit interesting properties, such as deformation structure [3], new magic number [4], halo [5, 6], giant halo phenomena [7], and β decay[8], owing to the large N/Z ratio. The halo of 11Li and deformed halo of 31Ne can be explained by simultaneously considering the continuum and resonant states. Therefore, the theory of nuclear structure is not only appropriate for investigating the bound states but also for investigating the resonant states and continuum states.
In recent years, relativistic mean-field theory has become established [9] because it successfully explains the β+/EC decay [10], charge-exchange excitations [11], shell correction energies [12],nuclear mass precision [13], shape phase transitions [14, 15] of spherical and deformed nuclei, hypernuclei [16, 17], nuclear matter [18, 19], and descriptions of astrophysical r-process simulations [20, 21]. To date, several methods have been developed to study the properties of resonant states. Some of these methods, such as the R-matrix [22], K-matrix [23], and S-matrix [24, 25], are based on scattering theory. However, resonant states are dealt with in a manner similar to bound states. For example, by the analytic continuation in the coupling constant (ACCC) [26] method, resonance states become bound states, and the physical quantities can be obtained from the bound-state solutions through the Padé approximate (PA) order. Several neutron-rich nuclei have been investigated using the ACCC method combined with relativistic mean-field (RMF) theory [27, 28]. The equation of motion in the real stabilization method (RSM) [29] can be solved based on a box of finite sizes, and the energy is stable against changes in the size of the basis or box. However, this method is not suitable to broad-width resonant states. Satisfactory results for spherical nuclei 120Sn have been obtained by using Green’s function (GF) to solve the density of states in coordinate space [30, 31]. The complex scaling method (CSM) [32] is used in atomic and molecular physics and nuclear physics [33, 34]. Based on the RMF-CSM method, the resonant states of spherical [35, 36] and deformed nuclei have been analyzed [37].
Although RMF-RSM, RMF-ACCC, and RMF-CSM are effective tools for dealing with resonant states, various limitations still exist, and it is difficult to obtain the resonance state near the threshold of the continuum spectrum with satisfactory accuracy. Additionally, the result calculated using the CSM method is affected by the rotation angle. Recently, because the bound and resonant states can be shown simultaneously by solving the equation of motion in complex momentum space, a scheme wherein the complex momentum representation (CMR) is applied to the RMF framework was established [38]. Using the RMF-CMR method, several quantities of the resonance states can be obtained for the spherical system [39, 40]. Additionally, the deformed nuclei characteristics have been investigated using a Woods-Saxon type potential for both nonrelativistic [41, 42] and relativistic cases [43] in a complex momentum plane. Numerous novel conclusions have been drawn for typical halo nuclei such as 37Mg, 31Ne, and 19C. This study considered Titanium isotopes as an example and investigated various properties using the RMF-CMR method within the self-consistent potential obtained by iteratively solving the Dirac equation in the RMF framework. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the derivation of the theoretical formulas. The numerical details and results are presented in Sect. 3. Finally, the summary and direction of future work are presented in Sect. 4.
Theoretical Framework
To deduce the self-consistent potential as the starting point, the following Lagrangian of RMF theory is given:
The corresponding Dirac equation in cylindrical coordinates is used to investigate the characteristics of the deformed nuclei, and is expressed as follows:
Several methods, such as the shooting method [44] and finite element method [45], have been developed to solve the Dirac equation. Notably, spurious states can be completely avoided because the Dirac equation is considered within momentum space. To investigate the resonant states submerged in the continuum, the Dirac equation must be converted into the following complex momentum plane:
By substituting Eq. (5) into Eq. (4), the Dirac equation becomes as follows:
Numerical details and results
Based on the above-mentioned theoretical formula, various properties of Ti isotopes, such as the binding energy, single-particle energy level, S2n, RMS radius, and probability distribution, can be investigated. To study the characteristics of resonant states, the neutron number of the Ti isotopes is considered to be up to 56 (78Ti). In this calculation, the coupled-channel model is adopted and the PK1 parameter group is selected. The number of coupling channels (nch) is equal to four. The infinite complex momentum plane is truncated at Re k=4.0 fm-1, which is sufficient for the convergence of the numerical computation.
Figure 1 shows the calculated binding energy as a function of the mass number. For comparison, the related data from AME2020 [46] are also indicated by blue diamonds. The results of the experimental data are almost in agreement, which validates the calculations carried out by this study. Therefore, the RMF-CMR model can be successfully used to describe the stable nuclei among the Ti isotopes, and the pro model is valid for investigating other properties of neutron-rich nuclei, even close to the drip line. Moreover, the binding energy increases slowly as the neutron number increases, which means that the nucleon becomes increasingly softer.
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The two-neutron separation energy S2n is a physical quality in nuclear physics, and is used for investigating the shell structure of a nucleon, as shown in Fig. 2. As is well known, the drip-line nucleon can be predicted by the value of S2n. As shown in Fig. 2, S2n gradually decreases as the number of neutrons increases. Specifically, the value of S2n decreases abruptly when the neutron number N=40, which corresponds to the subshell. Notably, the shell gap is not obvious in 72Ti with the traditional magic number N=50. Therefore, it is considered that the large N/Z ratio is the main contributor. Additionally, it is shown that S2n is close to the zero-scale line when N > 50. The value of S2n is less than 0 MeV when N=58. Hence, 78Ti is predicted to be the drip-line nucleon for the Ti isotopes. However, some experimental data do not support the shell structure, because the neutron number is equal to 40. For 60-64Ti, the S2n values are significantly different to those of the RMF+CMR model. The three sets of experimental data exhibit linear decrease. The two former values are lower by more than 2 MeV compared with the theoretical calculation, and the last value is larger by 1.45 MeV. With the development of the radioactive isotope beam factory, isotones around neutron number 40 were first observed in 2020 [48, 47]. The experimental results revealed a deformed 62Ti ground state. The Jahn-Teller effect is related to the increase in the two-neutron separation energies in the vicinity of 62Ti. The large-scale shell model calculation reproduced the present measurement and disfavored the doubly-magic character of 60Ca.
-202209/1001-8042-33-09-009/alternativeImage/1001-8042-33-09-009-F002.jpg)
The single-particle spectrum is an important property for describing nuclear structures. In accordance with the CMR method reported in [41, 43], this study tested different contours, and the same momentum integration contour was selected for all Ti isotope nuclei. The selected contour is a triangular contour with the four key points k=0 fm-1, k=0.4-i0.4 fm-1, k=0.8 fm-1, and kmax=4.0 fm-1. To show the resonance states clearly in the triangular contour, the real axis Re(K) and imaginary axis Im(K) are truncated to 1.2 fm-1 and 0.4 fm-1, respectively.
Figure 3 shows various eigenstates of 72-78Ti in the complex momentum plane, corresponding to
-202209/1001-8042-33-09-009/alternativeImage/1001-8042-33-09-009-F003.jpg)
Although not all bound states are drawn, the eigenstates occupied by the last neutron are presented, and their eigenenergies indicate that the last neutrons in 72-76Ti are weakly bounded; therefore, these nuclei become increasingly softer as the number of neutrons increases. As can be seen, the energy level related to 78Ti is positive, and the relevant width of 0.052 MeV can be obtained, which means that the last neutron is resonant and 78Ti should not exist stably. As shown in Fig. 2, this study predicted that the drip line nucleon of Ti is 78Ti. The results of the two assessments are different but very similar.
To better investigate the exotic structure of the even-even neutron-rich titanium isotopes, the single-particle levels of all nuclei (38 ≤ N ≤ 56) are shown in Fig. 4, and are indicated by different colors. The quantum number of the last neutron of each Ti nucleus is also marked in the figure. The shell gap (3.562 MeV) of 62Ti between levels 1/2[301] and 9/2[404] is more significant than that of the adjacent nuclei supporting the subshell structure (N=40). This result is consistent with the description of the two-neutron separation energy. Additionally, the quadruple deformation β2 indicates the spherical structure of 62Ti. For 60-70Ti, the energy levels occupied by the last neutron increase with the isospin. However, the highest energy is lower than 0 MeV; therefore, these nuclei remain bound. With the further increase of the neutron number, the shell structure of 72Ti is considered. Notably, a large shell gap does not exist between the 1/2 [440] and 5/2 [413] levels compared with that of 72Ti. Hence, the traditional magic number (N=50) is not clearly shown. For 74Ti and 76Ti, the Fermi level is -0.400 MeV and -0.371 MeV, respectively. Therefore, these two nuclei are weakly bound. Moreover, the 5/2[413], 3/2[422], and 1/2[431] levels occupied the last neutron of 74-78Ti, and these levels correspond to the 2d5/2 level.
-202209/1001-8042-33-09-009/alternativeImage/1001-8042-33-09-009-F004.jpg)
The Nuclear radius is also an important parameter for investigating the characteristics of exotic nuclei. Figure 5 shows the neutron RMS radii and the difference in the radii between the neutron and proton of Titanium isotopes. As can be clearly seen, the neutron RMS radius increases monotonously with the isospin. According to the calculated data, a fitted dashed line is drawn in the top panel when the neutron number ranges from N=38 to N=48. The neutron RMS radius is approximately linear. However, for neutron-rich nuclei (50 ≤ N ≤ 56), the data points of the neutron RMS radii are above the dashed line and further away.
-202209/1001-8042-33-09-009/alternativeImage/1001-8042-33-09-009-F005.jpg)
The radii differences between the neutrons and protons are shown in the bottom panel. Similar to the neutron RMS radii, when the neutron number N is greater than 48, the properties of the neutron skin are determined by a rapid increase in the differences. Notably, 72Ti is neutron-rich and exhibits a certain exotic character, although its magic number is 50. Thus, several novel points can be observed with regard to S2n and the radius. The radius increase of 72Ti is attributed to the last energy level 1/2[440], where the radial density is slightly diffuse. Hence, the neutron skin phenomenon is particularly evident in 70-78Ti.
The exotic phenomenon is reflected by the energy levels and RMS radius, and is also illustrated by the diffuse spatial distribution. According to the wave functions obtained from the Dirac equation, the radial momentum probability distribution(RMPD) is shown for several states, including those occupied by the last neutron of 72-78Ti in Fig. 6. To clarify the RMPD, the horizontal axis is cut at Re(K)=2 fm-1 and the RMPD vanishes when Re(K) is more than 2 fm-1. Different single-particle levels are indicated by different colors. The density distributions of the last neutron and the other neutrons are expressed by solid and dashed lines, respectively. The background of the continuum is not shown in the figure. As can be seen, all states expand widely with an increase in momentum. In this figure, the blue solid line is the δ function, which gives the eigenstate occupied by the last neutron in 78Ti. In complex momentum space, the radial momentum probability distributions for both the resonant states and bound states converge.
-202209/1001-8042-33-09-009/alternativeImage/1001-8042-33-09-009-F006.jpg)
The density distribution in the coordinate representation, after the wave functions are transformed into a coordinate plane, is also considered. In Fig. 7, the radial density distribution for 72-78Ti is shown as a function of coordinate r. Similar to Fig. 6, the different colors indicate different energy levels. The solid lines represent the eigenstates occupied by the last neutrons of the four nuclei. The three dashed lines in each panel indicate other lower levels. Obviously, almost all lines decrease to zero at the edge of the box (r=15 fm). However, the blue solid line for the density distribution of eigenstate 1/2[431] of 78Ti does not converge at the border, which matches the characteristics of the resonant states. By combining the energy values shown in Fig. 4, the diffuse density distribution confirms that 78Ti is not a stable nucleus. Therefore, 76Ti is the last stable nucleus in the Ti isotopic chain.
-202209/1001-8042-33-09-009/alternativeImage/1001-8042-33-09-009-F007.jpg)
Summary and Prospective
This study investigated even-even titanium isotopes using the RMF-CMR method. The deformed self-consistent potential was derived within the RMF framework, and was then used to investigate the resonant states in the CMR model. First, the binding energies of 52-64Ti are in good agreement with the data in AME2020. The S2n value obtained from the binding energy reproduced the magic number N=40. However, the traditional magic number N=50 shell gap is not obvious. Moreover, the value of S2n predicts that 78Ti is a drip-line nucleon for Ti isotopes. In the complex momentum plane, the bound states and resonant states are displayed and distinguished from the continuum. A subshell structure (N=40) is observed in 62Ti based on the large energy gap, and the traditional magic number (N=50) disappears owing to the large N/Z ratio in 72Ti. The shape of 62Ti is approximately spherical, and 72-78Ti is obviously deformed. The RMS radii of 60-70Ti increase linearly, whereas the RMS radii of 72-78Ti increase abruptly. These energy levels and the RMS radii indicate that 72-76Ti is weakly bound, while 78Ti is resonant. Finally, the radial density distributions in the complex momentum plane and coordinate space were presented based on the calculated wave functions. The radial distribution of the resonant states in 78Ti in the coordinate representation is slightly diffuse. Based on these two assessment criteria, this study predicted that the drip-line nucleus of the Ti isotope is 78Ti or 76Ti.
Satisfactory results were obtained for the titanium isotopic chain using the RMF-CMR method, and this is the first time that the resonant state has been investigated using the CMR model and self-consistent potential. The development of a CMR model is important, and future work will consider the pairing correlation in this theoretical formalism. Tensor interactions [49] or Jahn-Teller effects may also help in elucidating the experimental phenomena and the edge of the nuclear chart.
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