Investigation of the high-spin yrast band structure of Pu236–246 isotopes

Abstract

The available data on some actinide nuclei point to certain significant features of the rotational yrast band and other excited bands. The rotational properties of plutonium isotopes ($^{236--346}\mathrm{Pu}$) were studied via projected shell model (PSM). Calculations are based on the Hamiltonian of the PSM which includes the formed part of a single particle, the $Q\ensuremath{-}Q$ force, and the residual interaction of monopole and quadrupole pairings. The results of the calculated energy levels of the yrast band are then compared with available experimental data and a good agreement has been found. The crossing between two-quasiparticle (2qp) excited bands and the ground state band (g band) in the high-spin regions has been analyzed in terms of band diagrams. The upbendings observed in the kinematic moments of inertia (${j}^{(1)}$ MOI) curves for $^{236--346}\mathrm{Pu}$ isotopes are due to the effect of two aligning nucleons that occupy excited bands and the $\ensuremath{\nu}({j}_{15/2}$), $\ensuremath{\pi}({i}_{13/2}$) high-$j$ intruder orbits. The PSM successfully reproduces the observed upbending in ${j}^{(1)}$ as well as the upturning and downturning in ${j}^{(2)}$. For the $^{240}\mathrm{Pu}$ isotope, the PSM predicts a simultaneous alignment of neutrons ${\ensuremath{\nu}}^{2} [1/2,\ensuremath{-}7/2] {K}^{\ensuremath{\pi}}$ = ${4}^{+}$ and protons ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{2} [\ensuremath{-}3/2,5/2] {K}^{\ensuremath{\pi}}$ = ${1}^{+}$ bands cross the g band at spin $I=22$. We expect it to be mainly responsible for the disagreement at $I=22$. Furthermore, electric quadrupole transition probabilities $B(E2)$ and the gyromagnetic factor ($g$ factor) for the yrast band energy levels are also studied.