Triaxial deformation of unstable nuclei in the relativistic mean-field theory

Abstract

We study the properties of unstable nuclei including the possibility of triaxial deformation in the relativistic mean-field theory. We calculate the energy surfaces of various light mass nuclei: 16O, 40Ca, 20Ne, 24Ne and 24Mg and a series of even mass sulfur isotopes, in the βγ plane. We find the well-known spherical solution for the 16O and 40Ca nuclei strong prolate solutions for 20Ne, 24Ne and 24Mg, which are in agreement with the experimental data and the non-relativistic density-dependent Hartree-Fock results. For the sulfur isotopes, we find that the energy minimum moves from a prolate shape below 46S through triaxial shapes for 48–52S to an oblate shape above 54S.