Probing Quadruple Deformation in Transitional Nuclei via Angular Momentum Projection

Abstract

Within the interacting boson model (IBM), a geometric analysis of transitional nuclei is carried out through angular momentum projection of the intrinsic coherent state. The results indicate that $K$-mixing effects in the calculations are typically negligible, validating the use of $K$-fixed projection for semiclassical analyses of the spin dependence of quadrupole deformation in the IBM. Further analysis indicates that in a rotating transitional system, quadrupole deformation is stretched with increasing angular momentum, providing a geometrically intuitive perspective on the commonly observed Jacobi-type transitions, as exemplified by the case studies of $^{160}$Gd and $^{162}$Dy. The method is additionally applied to the yrast states of $^{170}$Os to probe quadrupole deformation changes linked to the observed low-spin $B(E2)$ anomaly behavior, demonstrating the capability of IBM-based angular momentum projection in interpreting exotic collective phenomena.