Alternative interpretation of sharply rising E0 strengths in transitional regions

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Oct 8;93(15):152502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.152502. Epub 2004 Oct 4.

Abstract

It is shown that strong 0(+)(2)-->0(+)(1) E0 transitions provide a clear signature of phase transitional behavior in finite nuclei. Calculations using the interacting-boson approximation (IBA) show that these transition strengths exhibit a dramatic and robust increase in spherical-deformed shape transition regions, that this rise matches well the existing data, that the predictions of these E0 transitions remain large in deformed nuclei, that they arise from the specific d-boson coherence in the wave functions, and do not necessarily require the explicit mixing of normal and intruder configurations from different IBA spaces.