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# Direct-decay properties of charge-exchange spin giant resonances

## Abstract

An extended continuum-RPA approach is applied to describe direct-decay properties of spin giant resonances in 208Bi and 90Nb. Partial branching ratios for direct proton decay from these resonances are evaluated. The branching ratio for $`\gamma `$-decay from the spin-dipole resonance to the Gamow-Teller resonance (main peak) is estimated. The saturation-like behaviour of the mean doorway-state spreading width in 208Pb is discussed in connection with the branching ratio for direct proton decay from the spin-monopole resonance and the Gamow-Teller strength distribution.

For the last few years, considerable efforts have been undertaken at RCNP (Osaka) and at KVI (Groningen) to investigate direct-decay properties of charge-exchange spin giant resonances. In particular, (i) the partial branching ratios for proton decay from the Gamow-Teller (GT) and spin-dipole (SD) giant resonances in 208Bi  and 90Nb  to neutron-hole states in, respectively, 207Pb and 89Zr have been deduced from (3He,tp) coincidence experiments; (ii) the same type of experiment has been performed to search for the isovector spin-monopole (IVSM) and isovector monopole (IVM) giant resonances in 208Bi ; (iii) the branching ratio for $`\gamma `$-decay from the SDR to the GTR in the mentioned nuclei is expected to be deduced from the (3He,t$`\gamma `$) coincidence experiments .

These experimental studies stimulate us to develop a rather simple and transparent approach to describe the branching ratios for direct proton decay and $`\gamma `$-emission and, as a result, to understand better the particle-hole (p-h) structure of the mentioned spin giant resonances. The approach originally proposed in Refs.  and extended in Refs.  is based on: (i) the continuum-RPA (CRPA) with the use of a phenomenological mean field and the Landau-Migdal p-h interaction, as input quantities; (ii) a phenomenological description for the coupling of (p-h)-type doorway states to many-quasiparticle configurations. The isoscalar part of the nuclear mean field and the Landau-Migdal parameters are ingredients of the approach. The isovector part of the nuclear mean field and the mean Coulomb field are calculated in a self-consistent way. Some parameters of the model used in calculations of properties of spin GRs in 208Bi and 90Nb (the isoscalar mean field depth $`U_0`$, and the Landau-Migdal parameters $`f^{}`$ and $`g^{}`$) are listed in Table 1. Other parameters of the isoscalar field are taken from Ref. . Another ingredient of the approach is the smearing parameter, or the mean doorway-state spreading width, $`I`$. The $`I`$ value is found for each considered GR to reproduce the experimental total width of the resonance in calculations of the energy-averaged strength function. In Table 2 the calculated partial branching ratios for direct proton decay from the GTR and SDR in 208Bi  are given and show a rather good agreement with the experimental data . Regarding its physical meaning the smearing parameter is close to the imaginary part of the optical potential. For this reason, we propose to use a saturation-like parametrization for $`I(\omega )`$ ($`\omega `$ is the excitation energy measured from the parent-nucleus ground-state). Such a parametrization, originally used in applying to the familiar dipole GR , allows us to roughly reproduce the $`I`$ values from Table 2 as well (Figure 1).

The reason why the IVSM/IVM giant resonances are observed in the proton decay channel  can be understood by comparing the total width of these resonances in the CRPA monopole strength functions (about 11 - 12 MeV ) with the appropriate value $`I=4.2`$ MeV (Figure 1). As follows from this comparison, the proton direct-decay channel is expected to be the main decay channel for these resonances. To estimate the partial and total proton direct-decay branching ratios for the IVSMR in 208Bi, we solve the respective CRPA equations with substitution of $`\omega `$ by $`\omega +\frac{i}{2}I`$. In calculations with the corrected spin-monopole one-body operator (see below) the above-mentioned model parameters were also used. The results in Table 2 show that the proton direct-decay channel is the main decay channel for the IVSMR. A similar result is also obtained for the IVMR . The calculated total width of these monopole resonances (about 14 MeV) is not in desagreement with the experimental data . However, as follows from recent data on searching for the IVSMR in natPb and 90Zr target nuclei via the (p,n)-reaction at 795 MeV incident energy , the IVSMR total width may be larger. In this case, the larger $`I`$ value results in decreasing the calculated value of $`b^{tot}`$ without a marked change of the relative partial branching ratios.

We also calculated the CRPA spin-monopole strength functions using the corrected one-body operators $`({\displaystyle \frac{r^2}{R^2}}a^2)\sigma \tau ^{(,+)}`$ ($`R`$ is the nuclear radius). The parameter $`a^2=0.78`$ is found from the condition that the GTR (main peak) has zero corrected spin-monopole strength. Such a choice of the spin-monopole operator ensures exhausting the main part of the corrected NEWSR (equals to 6.3) by the IVSMR, which is actually the overtone of the GTR. The calculated strength functions exhibit resonance-like behaviour. Some parameters of the resonances in the 208Pb (mean excitation energy $`\overline{\omega }`$, peak energy $`\omega _{peak}`$, FWHM, the resonance strength x related to the respective NEWSR) are listed in Table 3 in comparison with the parameters from Ref. , where the strength functions corresponding to the noncorrected spin-monopole one-body operators ($`a^2=0`$) were calculated using the “HF+Skyrme forces” mean field and the Landau-Migdal p-h interaction with $`g^{}=0.78`$. The main differences of the strength functions are in exhausting the respective NEWSR and in the peak and mean energies. Note that $`\overline{\omega }^{exp}`$ around 35.5 MeV is found in Ref. .

Another interesting observation in our CRPA calculations is that the pygmy- IVSMR forms the high-energy “tail” of the GT-strength distribution in 208Bi and exhausts about $`17\%`$ of the Ikeda sum rule (ISR) within the excitation energy interval $`E_x=1930`$ MeV, while the low-energy part of the GT-strength distribution exhausts about $`12\%`$. The calculated relative strength $`y`$ of the GT main peak of $`69\%`$ (Table 1) is not in disagreement with the experimental value $`y^{exp}=(60\pm 15)\%`$ . The smeared distribution can be evaluated with the use of $`I(\omega )`$ shown in Figure 1. The comparison of the calculated GT strength distribution (Figure 2) with that deduced from the (pn) data  allows one to verify the p-h structure of the GT-strength distribution in 208Bi.

The isospin splitting of spin GRs in nuclei having not-too-large neutron excess is an additional element of the description. We calculate the CRPA strength function for the GTR T\>-component in 90Nb by the equation:

$$S_>(\omega )=\frac{1}{2T}S_{M1}(\omega \mathrm{\Delta }).$$
(1)
Here $`T=5`$ is the isospin of the parent-nucleus ground state, $`S_{M1}`$ is the CRPA strength function corresponding to the M1 one-body operator $`\sigma \tau ^{(3)}`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is the Coulomb displacement energy. In calculations of $`S_{M1}`$ we put the Landau-Migdal parameter $`g=0`$, because the results only slightly depend on this parameter. The calculated mean excitation energy of the T\> GTR exceeds the energy of the main GTR peak by 4.9 MeV. This value agrees with the experimental GTR isospin-splitting energy 4.7 MeV  and 4.4 MeV .

We evaluate the partial branching ratios for direct proton decay from the GTR (main peak) and SDR in 90Nb in the same way as it was done for the spin GRs in 208Bi . The results are listed in Table 4. The total branching ratio for direct proton decay from the GTR in 90Nb is found to be much smaller than that for the GTR in 208Bi (Table 2). The difference is due to the relatively low GTR excitation energy in 90Nb as compared with the escape-proton threshold.

Another possibility to check the p-h structure of spin GRs is to study $`\gamma `$-transitions between the resonances. In connection with the expected experimental data  we evaluate the branching ratios $`b_\gamma `$ for E1-transitions from the SDR to the GTR (main peak) in 208Bi and 90Nb. To simplify the consideration, we assume that the main GT state has a wave function close to that of the “ideal” GT state:

$$|G_i=(NZ)^{1/2}\underset{a}{}\sigma _a^{(i)}\tau _a^{()}|0.$$
(2)
Such an assumption allows us to express the decay probability for each SD doorway state via its SD strength and, therefore, to reduce the problem to the calculation of the SD energy-averaged strength function. The evaluated branching ratio is multiplied by the factor $`y`$, which is the calculated relative (to the ISR) strength of the main GT state. In such a way we take into account the difference of the real main GT state from the “ideal” one. The calculated values of $`b_\gamma `$ are given in Table 1 .

In conclusion, we apply an extended continuum-RPA approach to evaluate: (i) the partial branching ratios for direct proton decay from the GTR and SDR in 90Nb, and from the IVSMR in 208Bi; (ii) the branching ratio for $`\gamma `$-decay from the SDR to the GTR (main peak) in 90Nb and 208Bi; (iii) the GT strength distribution in 208Bi for a wide excitation energy interval. The calculation results are expected to be compared with the coming experimental data.

The authors are grateful to M. Fujiwara, M.N. Harakeh and J. Jänecke for stimulating discussions and valuable remarks. The authors acknowledge generous financial supports from the “Nederlansdse organisatie voor wetenshappelijk onderzoek” (V.A.R.) and from the RCNP COE fund (M.H.U.).