arXiv:nucl-th/0205059·v1·Nuclear Theory
Nuclear Tetrahedral Symmetry: Possibly Present Throughout the Periodic Table
J. Dudek (Institut de Recherches Subatomiques, IN2P3/CNRS and Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France) A. Gozdz (Katedra Fizyki Teoretycznej, Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej, Lublin, Poland) N. Schunck (Institut de Recherches Subatomiques, IN2P3/CNRS and Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France) M. Miskiewicz (Katedra Fizyki Teoretycznej, Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej, Lublin, Poland)
Abstract
More than half a century after the fundamental, spherical shell structure in nuclei has been established, theoretical predictions indicate that the shell-gaps comparable or even stronger than those at spherical shapes may exist. Group-theoretical analysis supported by realistic mean-field calculations indicate that the corresponding nuclei are characterized by the ('double-tetrahedral') group of symmetry, exact or approximate. The corresponding strong shell-gap structure is markedly enhanced by the existence of the 4-dimensional irreducible representations of the group in question and consequently it can be seen as a geometrical effect that does not depend on a particular realization of the mean-field. Possibilities of discovering the corresponding symmetry in experiment are discussed.
Comments: 4 pages in LaTeX and 4 figures in eps format