Critical Symmetry and Supersymmetry in Nuclei

Abstract

The role of dynamic symmetries and supersymmetries in nuclei is reviewed. The concept of critical symmetry, appropriate to describe bosonic systems (even‐even nuclei) at the critical point of a phase transition, is introduced, and the symmetry, E(5), at the critical point of spherical to γ‐unstable shape phase transition, is discussed. The recently introduced concept of critical supersymmetry, appropriate to describe mixed systems of bosons and fermions (odd‐even nuclei) at the critical point of a phase transition is presented. The case of a j=3/2 particle at the critical point of spherical to γ‐unstable transition, called E(5/4), is discussed.