Connexions for the nuclear geometrical collective model

Abstract

The Bohr–Mottelson–Frankfurt model of nuclear rotations and quadrupole vibrations is a foundational model in nuclear structure physics. The model, also called the geometrical collective model or simply GCM(3), has two hidden mathematical structures, one group theoretic and the other differential geometric. Although the group structure has been understood for some time, the geometric structure is a new feature that this paper investigates in some detail. Using the de Rham Laplacian for the kinetic energy extends significantly the physical scope of the GCM(3) model. This Laplacian contains a ‘magnetic’ term due to the connexion between base manifold rotational and fibre vortex degrees of freedom. When the connexion specializes to irrotational flow, the Laplacian reduces to the Bohr–Mottelson kinetic energy operator.