Testing the importance of collective correlations in neutrinoless ββ decay

Javier Menéndez, Nobuo Hinohara, Jonathan Engel, Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo, and Tomás R. Rodríguez
Phys. Rev. C 93, 014305 – Published 11 January 2016

Abstract

We investigate the extent to which theories of collective motion can capture the physics that determines the nuclear matrix elements governing neutrinoless double-β decay. To that end we calculate the matrix elements for a series of isotopes in the full pf shell, omitting no spin-orbit partners. With the inclusion of isoscalar pairing, a separable collective Hamiltonian that is derived from the shell model effective interaction reproduces the full shell-model matrix elements with good accuracy. A version of the generator coordinate method that includes the isoscalar pairing amplitude as a coordinate also reproduces the shell model results well, an encouraging result for theories of collective motion, which can include more single-particle orbitals than the shell model. We briefly examine heavier nuclei relevant for experimental double-β decay searches, in which shell-model calculations with all spin-orbit partners are not feasible; our estimates suggest that isoscalar pairing also plays a significant role in these nuclei, though one we are less able to quantify precisely.

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  • Received 23 October 2015
  • Revised 4 December 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.93.014305

©2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Nuclear Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Javier Menéndez1,2,3,*, Nobuo Hinohara4,5,†, Jonathan Engel6,‡, Gabriel Martínez-Pinedo2,7,§, and Tomás R. Rodríguez8,∥

  • 1Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
  • 2Institut für Kernphysik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany
  • 3ExtreMe Matter Institute EMMI, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany
  • 4Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan
  • 5NSCL/FRIB Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
  • 6Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3255, USA
  • 7GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, D-64291 Darmstadt, Germany
  • 8Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain

  • *menendez@nt.phys.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp
  • hinohara@ccs.tsukuba.ac.jp
  • engelj@email.unc.edu
  • §Gabriel.Martinez@physik.tu-darmstadt.de
  • tomas.rodriguez@uam.es

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 1 — January 2016

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