LABORATORI NAZIONALI DI LEGNARO
The origin and physical consequences of octupole deformation are analysed in several examples of nuclear structure. First I will discuss the regions of the periodic table where permanent octupole deformed ground states are expected. Both experimental results and theoretical predictions will be discussed. The implications of octupole deformation in the design of experiments in other areas of physics like the search of physics beyond the standard model will be also discussed. Next the results of a survey calculation of negative parity states and E3 transition strengths in even-even nuclei all over the periodic table will be presented. The comparison with experimental data will unveil the deficiencies of some assumptions commonly made in the descriptions of the above quantities. Octupole deformation is known to stabilize at high spins, the mechanism behind this stabilization as well as the behaviour of alternating parity bands will be treated. The previous studies are restricted to even-even nuclei. Preliminary results on the impact of octupole correlations in the spectroscopy of odd-A nuclei will be presented and the related physics analysed. Last but not least the relevance of octupole deformed shapes both in traditional fission and the emission of heavy clusters like the 14C emission will be described.

DATA: 08-05-2014