Effects of orbital occupation on 0 νββ nuclear matrix element

Abstract

We have used the recently measured neutron occupancies in the 76 Ge and 76 Se nuclei as a guideline to define the neutron quasiparticle states in the 1p0f0g shell. The adjacent odd-mass nuclei help define the corresponding proton quasiparticle states. We insert the obtained quasiparticles in a proton-neutron quasiparticle random-phase approximation (pnQRPA) calculation of the nuclear matrix element of the neutrinoless double beta (0 νββ ) decay of 76 Ge. It is found that the resulting value of the 0 νββ matrix element is not far from the recently reported shell-model result.