Robust predictions of the interacting boson approximation model.

Abstract

The Interacting Boson Approximation Model (IBA) has existed for nearly twenty years and has now entered the lexicon of standard nuclear models used to interpret data on low-energy nuclear structure. While most recognized for its symmetries and algebraic structure, the model has a number of other less-well-known but equally intrinsic properties which gave unavoidable, parameter-free predictions. Since these predictions cannot be altered and since they concern central aspects of low-energy nuclear collective structure, they provide a set of basic tests of the inherent framework of the model. This paper outlines these ``robust'' predictions and compares them with the data.