Ground-state nuclear properties of neutron-rich copper isotopes and lepton capture rates in stellar matter

Abstract

This study consists of two separate investigations centered on neutron-rich isotopes of copper, utilizing two distinct nuclear models. In the first part, the nuclear ground-state properties of copper isotopes in the mass range 72 <= A <= 82 were analyzed using the relativistic mean field (RMF) model. Quadrupole moment-constrained RMF calculations were carried out with DD-ME2 and DD-PC1 density-dependent interactions to compute the ground-state binding energies, charge radii, proton and neutron radii, quadrupole moments, and deformation parameters for the 71-82Cu isotopes. The results show good agreement with the limited experimental data available and previous theoretical predictions. In addition, potential energy curves were evaluated to investigate the ground-state geometrical configurations of these isotopes. The second part of the study is devoted to calculating lepton capture rates under stellar conditions. While earlier works have provided allowed Gamow-Teller (GT) and unique first-forbidden (U1F) beta-decay rates for selected neutron-rich Cu isotopes in stellar environments, the corresponding lepton capture rates had not yet been computed. This paper presents, for the first time, those lepton capture rates.