Critical point symmetries in boson-fermion systems. The case of shape transition in odd nuclei in a multi-orbit model

Abstract

We investigate phase transitions in boson-fermion systems. We propose an analytically solvable model (E(5/12)) to describe odd nuclei at the critical point in the transition from the spherical to $\gamma$-unstable behaviour. In the model, a boson core described within the Bohr Hamiltonian interacts with an unpaired particle assumed to be moving in the three single particle orbitals j=1/2,3/2,5/2. Energy spectra and electromagnetic transitions at the critical point compare well with the results obtained within the Interacting Boson Fermion Model, with a boson-fermion Hamiltonian that describes the same physical situation.