Thermal properties of finite nuclei based on a realistic interaction

Abstract

Within the hot Thomas-Fermi model, thermal properties of 12C, 16O, 40Ca, 208Pb and 238U nuclei are investigated using a realistic effective interaction derived from the Reid soft-core potential at zero temperature. It is found that the dependence of the free and excitation energies and RMS radii on temperature is consistent with the finite temperature Hartree-Fock calculations. The energy level density parameter is found to be of the order 0.16 MeV-1 for light nuclei and 0.1 MeV-1 for heavy nuclei which can be considered as in good agreement with the empirical value 0.12 MeV-1.