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Nuclear Rotations in the Rigid Rotor Model

Research · May 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4857.4883

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 NUCLEAR ROTATIONS
HUSSEIN AL GHOUL and ARISTEIDIS TSARIS
December 5, 2011

1 Rigid Body Rotations in Quantum Mechanics

The rigid-rotor model was introduced into quantum mechanics in an effort to
predict the rotational energy of diatomic mocules. In a diatomic molecule, the
two consisting particles rotate about their center of mass keeping a constant
distance between their centers. The vibrational motion that the molecule expe-
riences is of no importance in this model and is neglected considering the fact
that the level of the vibration in the bond between the particles is small com-
pared to the bond length. The model is analogous to the classical rigid rotor,
where the energy is[2] X
E= Iij ωi ωj (1)
i,j

where ωi is the angular velocity about the ith axis and Iij is the rank two tensor
representing the moment of inertia[2] . In quantum mechanics, however, the
rotational Hamiltonian is characterized by the angular momentum operator.
X I2
i
H= (2)
i
2= i

where =i is the angular momentum projection along the ith axis, and Ii are the
body-fixed angular momentum operators.
In what follows, we will be discussing the axially symmetric rotor and the triaxial
rotor. We expect to get the first from the latter by simply manipulating the
parameters in the triaxial rotor model.

1.1 Wavefunctions and Wigner D-Matrices

The rotation operator is given by

R(α, β, γ) = e−iαJz e−iβJy e−iγJx (3)

Introducing the Wigner D-matrices:

J 0 −iαJz −iβJy −iγJx
DM 0 M (α, β, γ) = hJM | e e e | JM i (4)

1
 As we previously discussed, the Hamiltonian is directly dependent on the
angular momentum operator. The set of angular momentum operators in the
laboratory frame are Jx Jy Jz , and their tansformations in the body-fixed frame
are I1 I2 I3 . In general, one can get the body-fixed momentum operators using:

Iˆi = (J.e
ˆ (i) ) (5)

The angular momentum J is related to I by:

Jˆ2 =
X
(Iˆk )2 and [Jˆk , Iˆl ] = 0 (6)
k

These operators commute with each other and thus can be diagonalized simul-
taneously. If | JM Ki were the corresponding wave functions, then j(j+1), M
and K can be defined as the eigenvalues of Jˆ2 , Jˆz and Iˆ3 respectively. The
wavefunctions are therefore,
r
2J + 1 J
| JM Ki = DM K (ω) (7)
8π 2
The D-matrices form a complete orthogonal set of wavefunctions and will be
later used for diagonalizing the rotational Hamiltonian of the model.

1.2 Deformation Parameters

The radius vector, according to the Liquid Drop Model is
 ∞ X
X λ 
∗
R = R(θ, φ) = R0 1 + αλµ Yλµ (θ, φ) (8)
λ=2 µ=−λ

In this model, the radius of the nucleus is expressed in terms of the Hill-Wheeler
deformation parameters γ and β. Once we finish implementing these parameters
into (8), the radius then becomes[1]
 r 
5  2π 
Rλ = R0 1 + β cos γ − λ (9)
4π 3

where λ = 1,2,3.

2 Axially Symmetric Rotor

A special case of a rotor, is that of an axially symmetric one. For this part, we
restricted ourselves to cases where β = β0 and γ = 0. The Hamiltonian is

I12 I2 I2
H= + 2 + 3 . (10)
2=1 2=2 2=3

2
Now implementing the fact that =1 = =2 6= =3 for an axially symmetric rotor,
the Hamiltonian becomes[3]
J2  1 1  2
H= + − I (11)
2=1 2=3 2=1 3
However, since the =3 vanishes for γ = 0, we can define a new Hamiltonian HA
I32 I2 I2
HA = H − = − 3 (12)
2=3 2=1 2=1
I
In this case the wave functions | IM Ki are the Wigner D-functions DM K , and
[6]
are related as follows
I I+K I
| IM Ki ∝ DM K + (−1) DM −K (13)
The energies in this case are grouped in ”Rotational Bands” which are charac-
terized by K, the lowest of which corresponds to K = 0. When we examine the
wave function for the special case of K = 0, we notice that only even vlaues
of ”I” are allowed. Generally speaking, I = K, K + 1, K + 2, .., and so on.
Consequently, the corresponding energy is
I(I + 1) K2
EIK = hIM K | H | IM Ki = − (14)
2=1 2=1

3 The Triaxial Rotor

We define the Hamiltonian for the triaxial model
H = A1 Iˆ12 + A2 Iˆ22 + A3 Iˆ32 (15)
where A1 , A2 , and A3 are parameters related to the inertia tensor =1 , =2 , and
=3 by Ai = 1/(2=i ), =1 ≥ =2 ≥ =3 . Iˆ12 , Iˆ22 , Iˆ32 are the body-fixed operators [1] .
We can, however, rewrite the Hamiltonian in terms of the raising and lowering
operators Iˆ+ and Iˆ− respectively. This Hamiltonian form will make it easier for
us to diagonalize the Triaxial Rotor Hamiltonian in our attempt to analyze this
model. The Hamiltonian becomes[4]
H = AIˆ2 + F Iˆ32 + G(Iˆ+
2
+ Iˆ−
2
) (16)

Where A = 21 (A1 + A2 ), F = A3 − A, G = 14 (A1 − A2 ), and Iˆ± = Iˆ1 ± iIˆ2 .[5]

As a part of this project, we wrote a script to diagonalize our Hamiltonian and
eventually provide the Eigenstates. We start off by noticig that the first two
terms are diagonal in the basis | IM Ki, giving
hIM K | H | IM Ki = AI(I + 1) + F K 2 (17)

The off-diagonal elements rise from

p
hIM K ± 2 | H | IM Ki = G (I ∓ K)(I ± K + 1)(I ∓ K − 1)(I ± K + 2) (18)

3
 We should notice that the wave function for K = 2 has the following form[2]
1
| I, M, K = 2i = √ (| I, M, K = 2i + (−1)I | I, M, K = −2i (19)
2
In general, the wave functions are directly related to the Wigner D-functions
I
DM K in a manner similar to the one used for an axially symmetric rotor.
Applying this model to doubly even nuclei, and setting E(0) = 0 for I = 0, we
got the following Hamiltonian for I = 2
 √ 
√6A 4 3G
H=
4 3G 6A + 4F
Higher order Hamiltonians are obtained following the same procedure. As a
part of this project, we wrote a program that found, diagonalized, and sim-
plified the Hamiltonians for higher orders of ”I”. The obtained eigenenergies
for I = 2, 3, 4, 5 are plotted as functions of the deforming parameter γ in the
figure below. Notice the good agreement with the results from Davydov’s and
Filippov’s paper ([1]).

Fig.[1]: Dependence of energies on the deformation parameter γ for different values of

the angular momentum J (I).

4 Electric Quadrupole Transitions

E2 transitions are determined using the nuclear Quadrupole Moment Operator[1] :

r Z
4π X 2
Q̂2µ = 2e ri Y2µ (θi , φi ) (20)
5
i=1

4
 This operator can be expressed in terms of the Eulerian angles in the intrin-
Y2ν (θi0 , φ0i )[1] . Applying the Hill-
P 2
sic reference frame using Y2µ (θi , φi ) = ν Dµν
Wheeler parametrization under the assumption of uniformally distributed pro-
tons within the nucleus, we obtained the following expression for the µth component

2 D2 + D2 µ2

µ−2
Q̂2µ = eQ0 Dµ0 cosγ + √ sinγ (21)
2
√
where Q0 = 3ZR2 β/ 5π is the intrinsic quadrupole moment. Assuming an ini-
0
tial state | Jn M i and a final state | Jm M 0 i and using Clebsch-Gordan coefficients
and integration relations for 3D-functions, we got[8]
r
2J + 1 J M sinγ J K
0 0
h 0 0 0 0 0 0
i
0
hJm M 0 | Qµ | Jn M i = eQ0 C J K
cosγCJK20 + √ (CJK22 J K
+ CJK2−2 ) (22)
2J 0 + 1 JM 2µ 2

Implementing this simplified form, we can determine the reduced probability of

the electric quadrupole transition, B(E2), directly from
X
0 0
B(E2, Jn → Jm )= | hJm M 0 | Q µ | Jn M i | 2 (23)
M0µ

Fig.[2]: B(E2) for selected transitions as a function of the deformation parameter γ.

In an attempt to predict the type of deformation of a 24 Mg atom, we

used its shell model spectral data (CoSMo)[7] . We then calculated the ratio
B(E2, 22 → 01 )/B(E2, 21 → 01 ), and obtained the gaph in the figure below.

5
 Fig.[3]: Ratios of B(E2) as a function of the deformation parameter γ in comparison
with Shell Model 24 Mg .

From the figure, we noticed that a deformation of about γ = 24◦ can be assigned
to the Shell Model states. Refering to the fact that the deformation parameter
is fairly close to 30 degrees, we could ”safely” say that the J = 2 states of a
24
Mg nucleus have an oblate quadrupole-deformation shape.//
As a final part of this project, we calculated the deformation parameters γ,
Γ, and γDF as defined in Davydov-Filippov model of irrotational flow[9] ,
9 R21 22 1  cos 4γ + 2 cos 2γ 
sin2 (3 γDF ) = , Γ = − cos−1 p (24)
2 (1 + R21 22 )2 2 9 − 8 sin2 3γ

where R21 22 = E(21 )/E(22 ),

Using the 24 M g data from ENDSF and the equations mentioned above, we
found that Γ ' −11 and γDF = 21◦ which is fairly close to γ = 21◦ as predicted
by the rotational model. This obviously stands as an indication of fluid inner
dynamics within the 24 M g nucleus.

[1] A. Davydov and G. F. Filippov, Nuclear Physics 8, 237 (1958).

[2] B. Eakins, Nuclear Rotations (2009).
[3] D. Rowe, J. Wood, Fundamentals of Nuclear Models: Foundational Models (2009).
[4] J.M. Allmond, R. Zaballa, J.L. Wood, Physical Review C 78, 014302 (2008).
[5] J.L. Wood, J.M. Allmond, R. Zaballa, Physical Review C 70, 024308 (2004).
[6] D. Rowe, Nuclear Collective Motion: Moddels and Theory (1970).
[7] A. Volya, D. Morris, http://cosmo.volya.net
[8] D. Santiago, Nuclear Rotations (2010).
[9] V. Abramkina, A. Volya, Physical Review C 84, 024322 (2011).

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